G'day again,

Having argued for language citations on "didgeridoo" ... I though I should check the only Australian dictionary giving the full OED treatment: The Australian National Dictionary, a dictionary of Australianisms on historical pronciples, ed. W. S. Ransom, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Australia, 1988.

The AND gives the word, in general, as "Yolngu" (Northern territory Aboriginal) ... and as "imitative", not native language. Interestingly, the first citation for didgeridoo comes from about as far from didgeridoos as you get in Australia -Jan 3/4 1919, The Huon Times, Franklin Tasmania - almost as far south as you get without swimming! (i was outside of their little office in February, visiting friends in Franklin.)

Anyway, this is clearly used in imitation of the sound: "The ... crew is making merry with the Didgery doo and the eternal ya-ya-ya-ye-ye-ye cry ...".

The second citation, 5 April, 1919, from Smith's Weekly, Sydney, also appears "imitative" in nature: "It produces but one sound - 'didjerry, didjerry, didjerry -" and so on ad infinitum ...".

I don't see anything in either of these, or the 10 following citations, that provides evidence of the putative Irish Gaelic phrase ever being applied to the instrument. Ms Lonergan (as I said of Luke Kelly, in a thread on another latter-day musical hijack) "should have taken more water with it!".

Regards,

Bob Bolton