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Billycan: Difference between revisions
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A '''billycan''', more commonly known simply as a '''billy''' or occasionally as a '''billy can''', is the traditional | A '''billycan''', more commonly known simply as a '''billy''' or occasionally as a '''billy can''', is the traditional Australian utensil for boiling water, making tea and cooking anything liquid on a [[campfire]]. | ||
==What is a 'billy'?== | == What is a 'billy'? == | ||
A billy is cylindrical, with its height about one and a half to two times its diameter. It comes with a wire handle, to allow any handy stick to be used to move the hot billy off the fire or to its edge to keep it hot, and normally a close-fitting lid with its own wire handle is also provided. Traditionally there is no spout or pouring lip of any kind. Originally made of thin tin-plated steel, billies are now more commonly made of aluminium, and stainless steel billies are also available. Billies come in many sizes, from about two [[cup]]s capacity to a [[gallon]] or more. Modern Australians often boil a billy on a [[portable stove]] rather than on a campfire. | A billy is cylindrical, with its height about one and a half to two times its diameter. It comes with a wire handle, to allow any handy stick to be used to move the hot billy off the fire or to its edge to keep it hot, and normally a close-fitting lid with its own wire handle is also provided. Traditionally there is no spout or pouring lip of any kind. Originally made of thin tin-plated steel, billies are now more commonly made of aluminium, and stainless steel billies are also available. Billies come in many sizes, from about two [[cup]]s capacity to a [[gallon]] or more. Modern Australians often boil a billy on a [[portable stove]] rather than on a campfire. | ||
A quite adequate billy, but without a lid, can be made from one of the larger sizes of tin can (so long as the lining is metal and not plastic!) and a piece of fencing-wire for the handle, and this was possibly how the first billies were made. A [[number 10 can]] makes a medium large billy, and has just the right proportions. | A quite adequate billy, but without a lid, can be made from one of the larger sizes of tin can (so long as the lining is metal and not plastic!) and a piece of fencing-wire for the handle, and this was possibly how the first billies were made. A [[number 10 can]] makes a medium large billy, and has just the right proportions. | ||
==Using a billy== | == Using a billy == | ||
'''Billy tea''' is made by boiling the water in a billy, adding the [[tea]] immediately after removing the billy from the fire, and allowing the tea to draw for a time. Then often one of several methods is employed to make the tea-leaves settle to the bottom of the billy before pouring, preferably into mugs known as ''pannikins''. | '''Billy tea''' is made by boiling the water in a billy, adding the [[tea]] immediately after removing the billy from the fire, and allowing the tea to draw for a time. Then often one of several methods is employed to make the tea-leaves settle to the bottom of the billy before pouring, preferably into mugs known as ''pannikins''. | ||
==''"Billy Tea"''== | == ''"Billy Tea"'' == | ||
"Billy Tea" is also the registered brand name of a popular brand of tea long sold in Australian grocers and supermarkets, but this Billy Tea makes equally good tea in a [[teapot]], and conversely any good black tea will make well in a billy. | "Billy Tea" is also the registered brand name of a popular brand of tea long sold in Australian grocers and supermarkets, but this Billy Tea makes equally good tea in a [[teapot]], and conversely any good black tea will make well in a billy. | ||
To '''boil the billy''' most often means to make tea, but coffee is also made occasionally, either instead of or as well as. | To '''boil the billy''' most often means to make tea, but coffee is also made occasionally, either instead of or as well as. | ||
==Etymology== | == Etymology == | ||
There are many theories on the origin of 'billy': | There are many theories on the origin of 'billy': | ||
* It was derived from the local [[indigenous language]] ''billa'', meaning [[creek]]. | * It was derived from the local [[indigenous language]] ''billa'', meaning [[creek]]. | ||
* It was derived from North of England [[slang]] 'billy', meaning [[mate]]. | * It was derived from North of England [[slang]] 'billy', meaning [[mate]]. | ||
* A corruption of 'bally': [[Scots language]] meaning milk-pail. | * A corruption of 'bally': [[Scots language]] meaning milk-pail. | ||
* Large '[[ | * Large '[[Bully Beef|bully beef]]' cans may have been cleaned out to become the first billys. This became 'bullycans' then 'billycans'. | ||
==Methods of settling the leaves== | == Methods of settling the leaves == | ||
There are two common methods for settling the leaves; one more spectacular than the other. | There are two common methods for settling the leaves; one more spectacular than the other. | ||
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The second, more dramatic method, is to stand away from any overhead obstructions and swing the billy in a vertical circle. | The second, more dramatic method, is to stand away from any overhead obstructions and swing the billy in a vertical circle. | ||
==The billy in Australian literature== | == The billy in Australian literature == | ||
===Henry Lawson=== | === Henry Lawson === | ||
A billy features in many of [[Henry Lawson]]'s stories and poems. Some examples: | A billy features in many of [[Henry Lawson]]'s stories and poems. Some examples: | ||
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"Then he lifted his swag quietly from the end of the floor, shouldered it, took up his water-bag and billy, and sneaked over the road, away from the place, like a thief." - [http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/L/LawsonHenry/prose/overthesliprail/stiffner.html An Incident at Stiffner’s] | "Then he lifted his swag quietly from the end of the floor, shouldered it, took up his water-bag and billy, and sneaked over the road, away from the place, like a thief." - [http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/L/LawsonHenry/prose/overthesliprail/stiffner.html An Incident at Stiffner’s] | ||
===Banjo Paterson === | === Banjo Paterson === | ||
[[Banjo Paterson]]'s most famous of many references to the billy is surely in the first verse and chorus of [[Waltzing Matilda]]: | [[Banjo Paterson]]'s most famous of many references to the billy is surely in the first verse and chorus of [[Waltzing Matilda]]: | ||
"And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled..." | "And he sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled..." | ||
==References== | == References == | ||
* {{Comic book reference | writer=[[Ken Emerson|Emerson, Ken]] | story=[[The Warrumbunglers]] | title=The Warrumbunglers Bushed! | date=[[1983]] | publisher=[[The Dominion Press - Hedges and Bell]] | page=23-24 }} | * {{Comic book reference | writer=[[Ken Emerson|Emerson, Ken]] | story=[[The Warrumbunglers]] | title=The Warrumbunglers Bushed! | date=[[1983]] | publisher=[[The Dominion Press - Hedges and Bell]] | page=23-24 }} | ||
==External Links== | == External Links == | ||
* {{Citation | * {{Citation | ||
| last = brislib | | last = brislib | ||
