mob

n.

a large number, the Australian noun ofmultitude, and not implying anything low or noisy. It was not used very early, as the first few of the followingquotations show.

1811. G. Paterson, `History of New South Wales,' p. 530:

«Besides herds of kangaroos, four large wolves were seenat Western Port.»

1830. R. Dawson, `Present State of Australia':

[p. 110]: «Herds of kangaroos.»

[p. 139]: «An immense herd of kangaroos.»

[p. 196]: «Flocks of kangaroos of every size.»

1835. T. B. Wilson, `Voyage round the World,' p. 243:

«We started several flocks of kangaroos.»

1836. Dec. 26, Letter in `Three Years' Practical Experienceof a Settler in New South Wales,' p.44:

«A man buying a flock of sheep, or a herd of cattle . . .While I watched the mop I had collected.» [This, thus spelt,seems the earliest instance.]

1847. L. Leichhardt, `Overland Expedition,' p. 6:

«Droves of kangaroos.»

Of Men – – [But with the Australian and not the ordinary Englishsignification.]

1874. W. M. B., `Narrative of Edward Crewe,' p. 223:

«A contractor in a large way having a mob of men in hisemploy.»

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

«It doesn't seem possible to get a mob of steady men for workof that sort now.»

1884. Rolf Boldrewood, `Melbourne Memories,' c. ix. p. 69:

«He, tho' living fifty miles away, was one of the `Dunmoremob,' and aided generally in the symposia which were thereenjoyed.»

Of Blackfellows – – 1822. J. West, `History of Tasmania' (1852), vol. ii.p. 12:

«The settlers of 1822 remember a number of natives, who roamedabout the district, and were known as the `tame mob'; theywere absconders from different tribes.»

1830. Newspaper (Tasmanian), March, (cited J. West, `Historyof Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 42):

«A mob of natives appeared at Captain Smith's hut, at his run.»

1835. H. Melville, `History of Van Diemen's Land,' p. 75:

«A mob of some score or so of natives, men, women, andchildren, had been discovered by their fires.»

1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia', p. 107:

«A whole crowd of men on horseback get together, with a mobof blacks to assist them.»

1892. Rolf Boldrewood, `Robbery under Arms,' p. 134:

«At the side of the crowd was a small mob of blacks with theirdogs, spears, possum rugs, and all complete.»

Of Cattle – – 1860. R. Donaldson, `Bush Lays,' p. 14:

«Now to the stockyard crowds the mob;

'Twill soon be milking time.»

1872. C. H. Eden, `My Wife and I in Queensland,' p. 70:

«A number of cattle collected together is colonially termeda mob.»

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. ii.p. 105:

«A mixed mob of cattle – – cows, steers, and heifers – – had to be collected.»

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 120:

«`Mobs' or small sub-divisions of the main herd.»

Of Sheep – – 1860. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 169:

«It was more horrible to see the drowning, or just drowned,huddled-up `mob' (as sheep en masse are technically called)which had made the dusky patch we noticed from the hill.»

1875. `Spectator' (Melbourne), May 22, p. 34, col. 2:

«A mob of sheep has been sold at Belfast at 1s. 10d. perhead.»

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `A Colonial Reformer,' p. 83

«The army of sheep – – about thirty thousand in fifteen flocks – – at length reached the valley before dark, and the overseer,pointing to a flock of two thousand, more or less, said,`There's your mob.'»

Of Horses – – 1865. Lady Barker, `Station Life in New Zealand,' p. 27:

«All the animals to make friends with, mobs of horses to lookat.»

1879. W. J. Barry, `Up and Down,' p. 197:

«I purchased a mob of horses for the Dunstan market.»

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 111:

«The stockman came suddenly on a mob of nearly thirty horses,feeding up a pleasant valley.»

Of Kangaroos – – 1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 59:

«The `old men' are always the largest and strongest in theflock, or in colonial language `mob.'»

1864. `Once a Week,' Dec. 31, p. 45, `The Bulla BullaBunyip':

«About a mile outside the town a four-rail fence skirted therough track we followed. It enclosed a lucerne paddock.Over the grey rails, as we approached, came bounding a mobof kangaroos, headed by a gigantic perfectly white `old man,'which glimmered ghostly in the moonlight.»

Of Ducks – – 1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia, p. 99:

«They [the ducks] all came in twos and threes, and small mobs.»

Of Clothes – – 1844. `Port Phillip Patriot,' July 22, p. 2, col. 6:

«They buttoned up in front; the only suit to the mob whichdid so.»

Of Books – – 1892. Gilbert Parker, `Round the Compass in Australia,' p. 72:

«If it was in your mob of books, give this copy to somebodythat would appreciate it.»

More generally – – 1852. Mrs. Meredith, `My Home in Tasmania,' vol. ii. p. 20:

«A number of cattle together is here usually termed a `mob,'and truly their riotous and unruly demeanour renders thedesignation far from inapt; but I was very much amused atfirst, to hear people gravely talking of `a mob of sheep,'or `a mob of lambs,' and it was some time ere I becameaccustomed to the novel use of the word. Now, the commonannouncements that `the cuckoo hen has brought out a rare mobof chickens,' or that `there's a great mob of quail in the bigpaddock,' are to me fraught with no alarming anticipations.»

1853. H. Berkeley Jones, `Adventures in Australia,' p. 114:

«`There will be a great mob of things going down to-day,' saidone to another, which meant that there would be a heavy cargoin number; we must remember that the Australians have a patoisof their own.»

1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xiii. p. 135:

«What a mob of houses, people, cabs, teams, men, women andchildren!»