LesPitt wrote: > In the 1874 diary I am working on are references to "pypys grass", he > buys the seed and sows it. > I have been unable to find what it is, anyone have any clues? I have > googled it to no avail. "Pypys" is an old (time of Chaucer) and Scots dialect form of the word "pipes", and applied to grass appears to mean mainly a kind of Bent Grass (genus Agrostis). However, in a new land a common name like that could be applied to almost any grass that looked somewhat similar to the stuff at home. Some of the native grasses of the Poa family such as Ehrharta are sometimes called pipe-grass. Was the diarist a Scot? Was he sowing it for lawn or for pasture? -- Regards John

Sounds about right John, he was Welsh and he was sowing pasture grass for milking cows.The diary I have had translated was in Welsh and the word 'pypys' has no Welsh equivalent. Les -----Original Message----- From: John Holmes [mailto:jhaue@tpg.com.au] Sent: Monday, 5 September 2005 10:23 PM To: LesPitt; AUS-VIC-GOLDFIELDS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: Any farmers out there? Pypys Grass LesPitt wrote: > In the 1874 diary I am working on are references to "pypys grass", he > buys the seed and sows it. > I have been unable to find what it is, anyone have any clues? I have > googled it to no avail. "Pypys" is an old (time of Chaucer) and Scots dialect form of the word "pipes", and applied to grass appears to mean mainly a kind of Bent Grass (genus Agrostis). However, in a new land a common name like that could be applied to almost any grass that looked somewhat similar to the stuff at home. Some of the native grasses of the Poa family such as Ehrharta are sometimes called pipe-grass. Was the diarist a Scot? Was he sowing it for lawn or for pasture? -- Regards John -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.10.18/90 - Release Date: 5/09/2005