King Billy
English
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Proper noun
King Billy
- (Australia, obsolete) Imaginary king of the Australian aboriginal people.
- 1901, Henry Lawson, A Bush Publican's Lament, republished in Children of the Bush, Gutenberg eBook #7065,
- An' supposen Ole King Billy an' his ole black gin comes round at holiday time and squats on the verander, […] .
- 1901, Henry Lawson, A Bush Publican's Lament, republished in Children of the Bush, Gutenberg eBook #7065,
- Tasmanian aboriginal man William Lanne (c.1835-1869) believed to have been the last Tasmanian aboriginal man.[1]
- Any one of various other aboriginal men at times referred to as King Billy.[1]
- (Ireland, Scotland, informal) King William III of England.
Derived terms
- King Billy pine
References
- “King Billy”, entry in 1970, Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1979, →ISBN, page 333.