Crossword clues for swagman
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Sundowner \Sun"down`er\, n. A tramp or vagabond in the Australian bush; -- so called from his coming to sheep stations at sunset of ask for supper and a bed, when it is too late to work; -- called also traveler and swagman (but not all swagmen are sundowners).
Sundowners, -- men who loaf about till sunset, and then
come in with the demand for unrefusable rations.
--Francis
Adams.
Wiktionary
alt. 1 (context Australia historical English) An itinerant person who walks from farm to farm carrying a swag and seeking work, often in exchange for food and lodging. 2 (context US slang English) A fence, a middleman for transactions of stolen goods. n. 1 (context Australia historical English) An itinerant person who walks from farm to farm carrying a swag and seeking work, often in exchange for food and lodging. 2 (context US slang English) A fence, a middleman for transactions of stolen goods.
WordNet
Wikipedia
A swagman (also called a swaggie, sundowner or tussocker) was a transient labourer who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying his belongings in a swag (bedroll). The term originated in Australia in the 19th-century and was later used in New Zealand.
Swagman were particularly common in Australia during times of economic uncertainty, such as the 1890s and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Many unemployed men travelled the rural areas of Australia on foot, their few meagre possessions rolled up and carried in their swag. Typically, they would seek work in farms and towns they travelled through, and in many cases the farmers, if no permanent work was available, would provide food and shelter in return for some menial task.
The figure of the "jolly swagman", represented most famously Banjo Patterson's bush poem " Waltzing Matilda", became a folk hero in 19th-century Australia, and is still seen today as a symbol of anti-authoritarian values that Australians considered to be part of the national character.
The Swagman is a fictional character, a supervillain, appearing within comic books published by DC Comics. Appearing within the fictional DC Universe, Swagman is primarily an enemy of Batman and the Dark Ranger.
Usage examples of "swagman".
I drift from my theme, for my memory strays To the carrying, digging, and bushranging days -- Far back to the seasons that I love the best, When a stream of wild diggers rushed into the west, But the `rushes' grew feeble, and sluggish, and thin, Till scarcely a swagman passed Cherry-tree Inn.
And lived like a dog, as the swagmen do, till the Western stations shore.
Winos, tramps, vagabonds, swagmen, and other ladies and gentlemen of leisure drift away from their daytime endeavors to find a private corner here where one can spread his kip and not be bothered.
It wasn't much more than an association, after all, a lodge or fellowship rooted in wistful ness for a grandeur long vanished, not unlike the Ronin, the Swagmen, or the Believers.
It wasn’t much more than an association, after all, a lodge or fellowship rooted in wistful ness for a grandeur long vanished, not unlike the Ronin, the Swagmen, or the Believers.