Literary notes about mullock (AI summary)
The term "mullock" appears to serve a dual purpose in literary contexts, functioning both as a descriptor for physical debris and tailings—often in mining settings—and as a metaphor for disorder or botched endeavors. In narratives, characters might clear away mullock to reveal something of true value or lament having made a "mullock" of a situation, suggesting a mess or failure in execution ([1], [2], [3], [4]). The word also emerges in detailed descriptions of disordered landscapes, such as heaps of fragmented material or spoil hills, conjuring images of clutter and neglect ([5], [6], [7], [8]). Additionally, it is occasionally encountered as a surname, lending historical or regional flavor to the text ([9], [10], [11]). This layered usage enriches the language by intertwining literal and figurative meanings, giving "mullock" a distinctive presence in literary discourse.
- They went to work as soon as it was dawn, in order to get mullock cleared away and dirt-winding over before the heat of the day began.
— from The Black Opal by Katharine Susannah Prichard - “I was afraid you’d make a mullock of it, lad,” said his father at length.
— from Men of Mawm by W. (William) Riley - You may bet I hollered for Baldwin, and when he came up he stood on t’ edge and says—‘Now, tha’s made a mullock on it!
— from Men of Mawm by W. (William) Riley - mullock: the tailings left after gold has been removed.
— from While the Billy Boils by Henry Lawson - The finer gravel and the mullock goes through and down over a sloping board covered with blanket, and with ledges on it to catch the gold.
— from Joe Wilson and His Mates by Henry Lawson - The day was far spent when the straggling tents and red-streaked mullock-heaps around the Tin Pot Reef came in view.
— from Nevermore by Rolf Boldrewood - One cannot go half a block but one has mullock-heaps and poppet-heads in view.
— from Australian Pictures, Drawn with Pen and Pencil by Howard Willoughby - This little old State is dotted all over with poppet-heads and mullock-heaps like plums in a pudding.
— from Dick Lester of Kurrajong by Mary Grant Bruce - Rev. J. Mullock, D.D., Bishop of Newfoundland.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 18, October, 1873, to March, 1874. A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various - Shorter Route to Europe suggested by Bishop Mullock.
— from The Story of the Atlantic Telegraph by Henry M. (Henry Martyn) Field - Life of S. Alphonsus Liguori, by Bishop Mullock, 718 .
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 18, October, 1873, to March, 1874. A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various
