bluey

n.

1) A blue blanket commonly used byswagmen in Australia. He wraps his bundle in it, and the wholeis called a Swag (q.v.). To hump bluey means togo on the tramp, carrying a swag on the back.

2) In the wet wildernesses of Western Tasmania a rough shirtor blouse is made of this material, and is worn over the coatlike an English smock-frock. Sailors and fishermen in Englandcall it a «Baltic shirt.»

1890. `The Argus,' Aug. 16, p. 13, col. 2:

«We shall have to hump bluey again.»

1891. R. Wallace, `Rural Economy and Agriculture of Australiaand New Zealand,' p. 73:

«`Humping bluey' is for a workman to walk in search of work.»

1891. W. Tilley, `The Wild West of Tasmania,' p. 29:

«Leehan presents an animated scene . . . . Heavily ladendrays, pack-horses and mules, form constant processionsjourneying from Dundas or Trial; miners with their swags,surveyors in their `blueys' . . . all aid effectively in thepanorama.»