n.
1) A tree of the genus Casuarina (q.v.). The timber, which is very hard andmakes good fuel, was thought to resemble oak. See Oak,and quotation from Captain Cook. The prefix she is usedin Australia to indicate an inferiority of timber in respectof texture, colour, or other character; e.g. She-beech, She-pine. The reason for He-oak is given inquotation 1835. Bull-oak, Marsh-oak, Swamp-oak, were invented to represent variationsof the Casuarina. Except in its timber, the She-oak isnot in the least like an oak-tree ( Quercus). Thespelling in quotation 1792 makes for this simple explanation,which, like that of Beef-eater in English, and Mopokein Austral-English, was too simple; and other spellings,e.g. Shea-oak, were introduced, to suggest a differentetymology. Shiak (quotation, 1853) seems to claim anaboriginal origin (more directly claimed, quotation, 1895),but no such aboriginal word is found in the vocabularies.In quotations 1835, 1859, a different origin is assigned,and a private correspondent, whose father was one of the firstto be born of English parents in New South Wales, says thatEnglish officers who had served in Canada had named the treeafter one that they had known there. A higher authority,Sir Joseph D. Hooker (see quotation, 1860), says, «I believeadapted from the North-American Sheack.» This origin,if true,is very interesting; but Sir Joseph Hooker, in a letterdated Jan. 26, 1897, writes that his authority was Mr. Gunn(see quotation, 1835). That writer, however, it will be seen,only puts «is said to be.» To prove the American origin, we mustfind the American tree. It is not in the `Century,' nor in thelarge `Webster,' nor in `Funk and Wagnall's Standard,' nor ineither of two dictionaries of Americanisms. Dr. Dawson,director of the Geological Survey of Canada, who is thoroughlyacquainted with Indian folk-lore and languages, and Mr. Fowler,Professor of Botany in Queen's University, Kingston, say thatthere is no such Indian word.
1792. G. Thompson, in `Historical Records of New SouthWales,' vol. ii. (1893) p. 799:
«There are two kinds of oak, called the he and the she oak,but not to be compared with English oak, and a kind of pineand mahogany, so heavy that scarce either of them will swim.»
1802. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales,'vol. ii. p. 166 (Bass' diary at Port Dalrymple, Tasmania,Nov. 1798):
«The She oaks were more inclined to spread than grow tall.»
1834. Ross, `Van Diemen's Land Annual,' p. 134
« Casuarina torulosa, the she-oak. The young fruit andyoung shoots afford an agreeable acid by chewing, which allaysthirst.»
1835. Ross, `Hobart-town Almanack,' p. 75 [Article said bySir Joseph Hooker (Jan. 26, 1897) to be by Mr. Ronald Gunn]:
«Casuarina torulosa? She-oak. C. stricta? He-oak. C.tenuissima? Marsh-oak. The name of the first of these is saidto be a corruption of Sheac, the name of an American tree,producing the beef wood, like our Sheoak. The second specieshas obtained the name of He-oak in contradistinction ofShe-oak, as if they constituted one dioecious plant, the onemale and the other female, whereas they are perfectly distinctspecies.»
1842. `Western Australia,' p. 80:
«The Shea-oak (a corruption of sheak, the native name for this,or a similar tree, in Van Diemen's Land) is used chiefly forshingles.»
1845. R. Howitt, `Australia,' p. 91:
«Then to cut down the timber, gum, box, she-oak, andwattle-trees, was an Herculean task.»
1847. J. D. Lang, «Phillipsland,' p. 95:
«They are generally a variety of Casuarinae, commonlycalled she-oak by the colonists, and the sighing of the windamong the sail-needle-like leaves, that constitute theirvegetation, produces a melancholy sound.»
1852. G. C. Mundy, `Our Antipodes' (edition 1855), p. 219:
«Most of the trees of this colony owe their names to thesawyers who first tested their qualities; and who were guidedby the colour and character of the wood, knowing and caringnothing about botanical relations. Thus the swamp-oak andshe-oak have rather the exterior of the larch than any quercineaspect.»
1853. S. Sidney, `Three Colonies of Australia,' p. 277:
«A dull scene, sprinkled with funereal shiak or `she-oaktrees.'»
Ibid. p. 367:
«Groves of shea-oaks, eucalyptus and mimosa.»
1857. W. Howitt, `Tallangetta,' vol. i. p. 24:
«Trees of a peculiar character – – the Casuarinas or Shiacks – – part of which, with their more rigid and outstretched branches,resemble pine-trees, and others, with theirs drooping gracefully,resembling large trees of bloom.»
1859. D. Bunce, `Australasiatic Reminiscences,' p. 33:
«The trees forming the most interesting groups were the Casuarina torulosa, she-oak, and C. stricta,he-oak. . . . The name of the first is said to have beenderived from `sheeac,' the name of an American tree producingthe beef-wood like our she-oak. C. stricta, or he-oak,has been named in contradistinction to the sexes, as if theyconstituted one dioecious plant, whereas they are two perfectlydistinct species.»
1860. J. D. Hooker, `Botany of the Antarctic Voyage,'part iii. [Flora Tasmaniae], p. 348:
« Casuarina suberosa. This is an erect species, growing15 feet high. . . It is well known as the `He-oak,' incontradistinction to the C. quadrivalvis, or `She-oak,'a name, I believe, adapted from the North American `Sheack'though more nearly allied botanically to the Northern Oaks thanany Tasmanian genus except Fagus, they have nothing todo with that genus in habit or appearance, nor with theCanadian `Sheack.'»
1864. J. McDouall Stuart, `Explorations in Australia,' p. 150:
«Within the last mile or two we have passed a few patches ofShea-oak, growing large, having a very rough and thick bark,nearly black. They have a dismal appearance.»
1868. J. Bonwick, `John Batman, Founder of Victoria,' p.103:
«Even Batman's hill, the memorial of his ancient encampment,has been levelled; and the she-oaks upon that grassy mound nolonger sigh in the breeze a dirge for the hero of exploration.»
1869. `The Argus,' May 25, p. 5, col. 2:
«The she-oak trees, of which there are large quantities in thesandy soil of the salt-bush country, proved very serviceableduring the late drought. Some of the settlers caused thousandsof she-oaks to be stripped of their boughs, and it was a sightto see some of the famishing cattle rushing after the men whowere employed in thus supplying the poor animals with the meansof sustaining life. The cattle ate the boughs and the barkwith the greatest avidity, and the bushman's axe as it felledthe she-oak was music to their ears.»
1885. H. Finch-Hatton, `Advance Australia,' p. 258:
«She-oaks are scraggy-looking poles of trees, rather likefir-trees.»
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 203:
«The rough bark of the she-oak and its soft sappy wood . . .»
1890. `The Argus,' June 14, p. 4, col. 2:
«I came to a little clump of sheoaks, moaning like livingthings.»
1895. `Notes and Queries,' Aug. 3, p. 87:
«The process followed by the Australian colonists when theyconverted a native word for the Casuarina trees into`she-oak.'»
1896. H. Lawson, `When the World was Wide,' p. 204:
«The creek went down with a broken song,
'Neath the she-oaks high;
The waters carried the song along,
And the oaks a sigh.»
2) Slang name for colonial beer.
1888. Cassell's `Picturesque Australasia,' vol. iii. p. 83:
«Their drivers had completed their regulation half-score of`long-sleevers' of `she-oak.'»
1890. Rolf Boldrewood,' Miner's Right,' c. vi. p. 59:
«Then have a glass of beer – – it's only she-oak, but there'snothing wrong about it.»