I was informed that South Australians were known as "Crow eaters" the other day and I had to wonder why.

"As for South Australians: there are two options - they were either called 'crow eaters' or else 'magpies'. Of those two I suspect that 'crow eaters' was more common in colonial times - especially north of the Goyder line where farmers tried to grow wheat in an excessively arid climate, failed, and suffered from a scanty diet as a result. Hence, 'crow eaters'. That is pretty much the complete and matching set."

I *had* to wonder, hey?


Posted at 7:44 AM #

Comments:

View Comments »

Crow Eaters

I was informed that South Australians were known as "Crow eaters" the other day and I had to wonder why.

"As for South Australians: there are two options - they were either called 'crow eaters' or else 'magpies'. Of those two I suspect that 'crow eaters' was more common in colonial times - especially north of the Goyder line where farmers tried to grow wheat in an excessively arid climate, failed, and suffered from a scanty diet as a result. Hence, 'crow eaters'. That is pretty much the complete and matching set."

I *had* to wonder, hey?