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A Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith 1. adz (adze): an ax-like tool with an arching blade used for dressing wood 2. allapattah: Seminole for alligator 3. auger: a tool for boring holes 4. auger bit: a bit with a blade like that of an auger 5. bay head: a low, swampy place with bay trees growing thick -- very difficult to go through; the only thing worse is a marsh 6. bandana: a large, colorful handkerchief or scarf 7. barn raising: a community effort to quickly build a barn 8. black jacks: scrub oaks 9. blizzard: violent snowstorm 10. boar: a wild hog with a hairy coat and long snout. Also, an uncastrated hog 11. bowler hat: small, rounded hat 12. brackish: a mixture of salt water and fresh water 13. broad axe: an ax with a broad blade used as a weapon or to cut down trees 14. buckboard: a long, flat wagon 15. bushwhack: to be caught off guard; attacked 16. bushwhacker: someone who attacks in the form of an ambush; or someone who is accustomed to cutting his/her way through the bushes 17. cabbage palm: a type of palm tree that has an edible heart 18. cantankerous: grumpy, moody, ill of temperament 19. canter: smooth, easy pace like a moderate gallop 20. carcass: the dead body of an animal 21. cattle lowing: mooing 22. chandelier: a fancy light that hangs from the ceiling 23. chickee-hut: an open-air platform raised off the ground with no walls and a thatched roof-- mostly used by the Seminoles 24. clan: a family 25. coal oil lamp: an oil-burning lamp used for light prior to electricity 26. cocoplum bush: a small tree that has edible fruit like a plum; native to tropical America 27. collard: a kind of kale with coarse, green leaves; usually boiled to eat 28. commercial: having to do with stores, businesses, etc. 29. contrasting: looking at differences between things 30. conquistador: any one of the Spanish conquerors of South or Central America in the 16th century 31. coontie bread: bread made from the flour produced from the roots of the Sago palm 32. corral: a pen or enclosure for animals-- cows and horses mostly 33. cracklins: animal skin fried very crispy (usually pig skin) 34. cranked the car: cars used to be started with a crank that had to be "wound" on the front of the car 35. cure meat: to flavor and preserve meat-- usually with salt 36. cypress: any of a large group of cone-bearing trees of the pine family native to America, Europe, and Asia 37. cypress stand or head: an area where most of the trees are cypress 38. "deef": slang for deaf; unable to hear 39. deformed: misshapen 40. devastated: completely overwhelmed with grief 41. dike: a barrier put around a body of water to prevent flooding 42. down: soft feathers from ducks and geese 43. drawing knife: a knife with a handle at both ends, usually at right angles to the blade 44. dredge: a device consisting of a net attached to a frame, dragged along the bottom of a river bay 45. drench: to soak completely -- as with water 46. dressed cows: ready to eat 47. drought: a time of little or no rain 48. drover: one who drives cattle or sheep to market 49. dutch oven: a cast iron cooking oven 50. eerie: spooky 51. egret plumes: feathers from an egret 52. encounter: to come across or meet 53. endure: to suffer hardships without giving in 54. entrails: the inner organs of people or animals 55. eye of the hurricane: the center of the storm -- a very still, quiet time during a hurricane 56. fate: your destiny, where life takes you 57. ferry: to carry or transport something across a river ( water) by boat 58. fetch: to go after things and bring them back 59. financial bloom: profitable time 60. flanks: sides 61. fodder: livestock feed 62. froe: a wedge-shaped cleaving tool with a handle set into the blade at right angles to the back 63. fury: violent anger 64. gaily: happily 65. gibberish: rapid, inarticulate talk -- unintelligible chatter 66. gloom: darkness 67. gnarled: twisted, full of knots 68. gorging: eating too much 69. gunslingers: men that carried guns 70. hammock: a dry area where hardwood trees such as oaks, cedars, and pines grow 71. hardwood: any tough, heavy timber with a compact texture 72. heed: to take advice 73. hightail it: to leave quickly 74. hitching rail: a place to harness or attach a horse to a vehicle, or a pole used to tie animals to 75. hog scrapin': scraping the hide of a hog 76. hog slop: food for hogs 77. homestead: a home--the seat of a family--including the land, house and out-buildings 78. horrified: to cause or feel horror 79. hover: to linger close by 80. huckleberries: large, sweet berries similar to blueberries 81. humdinger: amazing 82. hurl: to throw 83. irrigate: to bring water to something 84. isolation: separation from others 85. itinerant preacher: traveling minister of the church 86. Julia Tuttle: founder of Miami 87. knead: to work dough by pressing and squeezing it 88. knickerbockers: knee-length men's pants 89. lanky: tall and slender 90. lard: melted hog fat 91. lean-to: a roof with a single slope, its upper edge abutting a wall or building 92. lobby: main entrance 93. lumber: wood used for building things 94. malaria: a disease caused by mosquitoes 95. mangled: damaged; twisted 96. mangrove: any of several coastal or aquatic tropical trees or shrubs that form large colonies in swamps 97. manure: natural animal fertilizers 98. mare: female horse 99. mark-brand: a mark placed on cattle to prove ownership 100. marsh: low, wet swamp 101. marshtackie: a horse-- offspring of those left behind by the Spanish soldiers-- very small and runty, but strong 102. mine: a large excavation in the earth to extract metallic ores, coal, precious stones, salt, or certainother minerals 103. muck: fertile ground left after swamps are drained 104. musket: a smoothbore, long-handled firearm used especially by infantry soldiers before the invention of the rifle 105. Okeechobee: a lake in south Florida 106. outhouse: outdoor toilet 107. palmetto: one of several species of palm trees growing in the West Indies and in the southern part of the United States 108. parasol: fashionable umbrella used primarily for sun protection 109. pastries: sweet baked goods 110. Pay-Hay-Okee: Seminole Indian word for the Everglades meaning "river of grass" 111. pewter: an alloy of tin with lead, brass, or copper; it takes on a grayish, silvery color when polished 112. phosphate: a salt of phosphoric acid containing PO4 113. pickerel weed: a sprawling evergreen perennial with heart-shaped leaves, growing to 4 feet tall 114. planks: heavy, thick boards 115. plumes: feathers 116. plunder: to rob 117. plunge: to drive into 118. podium degree: college degree given to someone who did not earn it 119. poke greens: an edible weed cooked and eaten as a vegetable 120. poinciana tree: a small, sub-tropical tree with red or yellowish flowers 121. poultice: hot, soft mass applied to a sore spot on the body 122. predators: plunderers or robbers ( also bears, panthers, wolves, etc.) 123. predilection: a foretelling-- like of the future 124. prism: triangular piece of crystal or glass that refracts light into rainbow colors 125. procession: a number of people or things moving forward 126. pukin': vomiting 127. raid: a sudden, unexpected attack 128. rampant: running wild 129. ramrod straight: very erect and straight 130. rations: small portions of food 131. recruits: hired help 132. reservation: a guaranteed spot at a hotel or restaurant 133. roasting pit: a device used over an open fire that slowly turns a hog or cow while cooking 134. Royal Poinciana Hotel: a luxury hotel in Miami 135. quilting bee: a social gathering of women at which they sew quilts 136. saliva: the watery fluid secreted by glands in the mouth 136. savannah: an extensive open plain in a tropical region of seasonal rains, destitute of trees and covered with grass 137. saw grass: a marsh grass having linear leaves with sharp, saw-toothed edges 138. scalded hog: butchered hog placed in a pot of boiling water, then the hide scraped to remove hair and bristles 139. scrawny: lean, thin, scraggy, scrubby 140. scrub: a high, sandy, dry Florida ecosystem of tall, twisted, leaning sand pines, scrub oaks, rosemary, holly, bay and hickory. Thousand of years ago, these areas were Florida's beaches. Today, very little Florida scrub remains in its natural state. Much of this high, dry land has been turned into golf courses, citrus groves and housing developments, and the non-human scrub animals -- Florida scrub jays, gopher tortoises and Florida black bears -- are quickly disappearing. 141. scurrying: running away 142. second phase: the second and more violent part of a hurricane after the eye passes through 143. sharecropper: a tenant farmer who obtains land, a house, tools, and seeds for farming on credit from a landowner 144. shinny: to climb by using the shins for gripping 145. sidewheel steamer: a steamboat having a paddle wheel on each side 146. slaughter: the killing of animals for food 147. sleet: frozen, or partly frozen, rain 148. slough: wet, swampy area 149. slush: partially melted ice and snow 150. smokehouse: where the meat was smoked and cured 151. "sommers": somewhere 152. Spanish bayonets: a species of Yucca growing in deserts having sword-shaped, sharp, pointed, rigid leaves 153. squatters: people who live on property they do not own 154. stallion: male horse 155. stern-wheeler: a steam vessel propelled by a single paddle wheel at the back 156. stirrups: foot rings attached by straps to a saddle 157. stockpiling: storing food supplies for lean times 158. stoked the fire: stirred, added more fuel 159. suite: several rooms in a hotel grouped together as a unit 160. surplus: more than what is needed 161. swamp cabbage: the center of a cabbage palm, boiled and eaten 162. sweet gum: a North American tree with lobbed leaves and hard wood 163. Thomas Edison: inventor of the incandescent light bulb 164. thunderhead: storm clouds 165. time capsule: a container that can be opened at a later time, to preserve a time in history 166. Timucuan: native tribesman; a tribe of native Americans 167. titi: a small evergreen tree or shrub with fragrant white or pinkish flowers, found in the swamps in the southern United States 168. trudging: moving slowly with difficulty 169. turban: any of various styles of headdress worn by men in the middle east and orient 170. turkey oak: scrub oaks 171. tusk: a long, pointed tooth--usually one of a pair--projecting outside the mouth and used for defense and digging 172. twilight: the time of day when it is not quite light or dark 173. udder: a mammary gland, especially one that is large and pendulous with two or more teats, as in cows 174. varmints: animals or bugs considered to be pests 175. veranda: covered porch 176. "vittles": what food was commonly called 177. wheeled about: turned quickly 178. whiskey into wound: antiseptic 179. whiskey still: a distillery to make whiskey 180. wicker: woven sticks made into furnishings 181. yellowhammer: a type of cow |