[Editor: This article about Wattle Day was published in the “Schools column” section of the Macleay Argus (Kempsey, NSW), 9 September 1910.]
Wattle Day.
Wattle Day was celebrated in this State, and in fact the whole Commonwealth on Thursday last September 1st. The Wattle Day movement is a national one, and branches have been formed in most of the Australian States. We are all co-operating to a common end, and that is to have the wattle recognised as the Australian national flower, and through it to assist in the expression of wholesome Australian national sentiment, the wattle is very widely diffused over this continent; it is distinctly Australian, it is beautiful, it is an emblem of purity and brightness.
Whilst writing on this subject it will perhaps interest some of our readers to know the origin of the term “Wattles.” The early settlers, in constructing their wattle-and-dab huts, used the branches of the Acacia, which thus obtained the name “wattle.” The branches were “wattled” or interwoven, and then plastered with clay.
Source:
Macleay Argus (Kempsey, NSW), 9 September 1910, p. 7 (9th page of that issue, including the covering or outside pages)
Editor’s notes:
acacia = a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Acacia, bearing clusters of small white or yellow flower clusters; in Australia, Acacia trees are known as Wattle trees
Commonwealth = the Commonwealth of Australia; the Australian nation, federated on 1 January 1901
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