Tuesday 29 March 2011

lillydale, lilly dale and lilydale

I visited Lillydale Lake recently. It's odd that this lake is smack in the middle of a township called Lilydale.



Apparently there are a few theories as to why the township was originally spelled with the doubled letters. Here's an explanation from OnlyMelbourne:
The discovery of gold in the upper Goulburn River and Woods Point areas in the late 1850s caused the formation of a miners' access track. The place where the Woods Point Road crossed the Olinda Creek was chosen for a town survey. The origin of the name is uncertain. One version is that the Government surveyor, John Hardy, suggested that the town be named Lillydale after hearing his chainman singing a popular song "Lilly Dale". The name was also inspired by the surveyor observing lilies growing in pools of the creek. The other version is that a district surveyor's wife was name Lilly. Council clerks and the local schoolmaster shortened the spelling to Lilydale.
Given that the town was named in the 1850s, the song theory seems possible, as the tune was written in 1852 and was sung in America in the 1850s. Many Americans worked on the Australian goldfields.

10 comments:

Papillon Bleu said...

Oh I love to hear about the origin of names, whether they are places or family names!
When I was in France, I used to own a house in a lovely village called Nyoiseau. The spelling of the name changed through history. The village was known for it Benedictine Abbey built in the 12th century.I could write so much about this abbey...the lovely thing about the village's name though, and which you will probably enjoy to know, is that Nyoiseau is the only village in France which name contains all the vowels! Not a lot of people know this, even in Nyoiseau! He!he!

You know, I would be happy to sign a copy of my first book for you. I am sure you will have pleasure to compare the French text with the English one as it is written in both the languages I love :-)

Please I hope I will not offend by asking your name again. I always think of you as a Catherine but I am soooooooooo bad with names that I do confuse myself way too often and doubt. Imagine how many times I have been in this very awkward position when you have to introduce two people and ...blank...

I hope you will spend a lovely Easter. Will you follow the Royal Wedding tomorrow?It is such a big event here!

Patricia.

parlance said...

Patricia, my name is Catherine. You have a good memory.

I'll be looking forward to receiving my very own copy of your first published book!

You're right, I do find it interesting that the village's name has all the vowels. And I'll LOVE trying to read your book in both French and English. I just love languages.

parlance said...

Oops! I forgot to comment on the Royal Wedding. It's a big deal here, too, but I must admit I had forgotten it was tomorrow. An Easter wedding!

Papillon Bleu said...

EEEEEEEEEEEeeeek!!!
No, I was completely in the wrong with the wedding!!! It is NEXT week! Silly me...sorry...

parlance said...

Oh, yes. I hadn't been following all the hype about the Wedding, but now I see that it is the most important news all around the place. Tomorrow!

Papillon Bleu said...

Bonjour Catherine!

I hope you are fine.
Sorry for not paying a little visit sooner.

Am still learning a lot here in England with the language. The latest thing that really made me laugh was a joke that can only work in English. In fact it was a passage in a film on tv . It is a butler reading the title on the cover of abook. He struggles but manages to read at loud " Me- in- Kamp -F"!!!
You can tell he is rather pleased with himself . In fact, he happens to be holding "MEIN KAMPF".

This is the sort of thing that cannot be transcribed in French unfortunately. I am still laughing my head off when I think about it!! he!he!

Thought I could share this with you!

parlance said...

Papillon Bleu, that must have been a complex joke, I guess, because presumably the butler didn't know about the repercussions of that book having been written.
You've reminded me of a time many years ago when I watched the film "The Graduate", in a German cinema. It was in English, subtitled in German, and one of my Australian friends laughed at the name the young man chose as his pseudonym, "Mr Gladstone". None of the Germans laughed, because they didn't know that he'd chosen the name because he was holding a gladstone bag. People in the theatre turned around to look at her laughing out loud, perhaps thinking she was weird.

Papillon Bleu said...

Nice to meet you here once again in your little Parlance boudoir. very cosy, I like it!

It is funny to see that culture can create gaps even in humour.

I have received your order, I am really happy and I thank you for supporting my little book. As you can imagine, you are one of the person whose feedback is going to be very important to me. Would you be happy to write a little review about it?
In fact, I am starting to get a bit nervous ... it is like stage fright. Are you nervous when you speak in public or publish about your research?

parlance said...

I ordered your book because I thought it looked interesting and beautifully written and illustrated, so I'd love to write a review.

Don't be nervous, be proud!

Papillon Bleu said...

Thank you.