spirit
Language:
Australian:
Mawn
English JS Main:
spirit
English:
They call a spirit, Mawn: they often scruple to approach a corpse, saying that the mawn will seize them, and that it fastens upon them in the night when asleep.
Category:
death and superstition
Sub-category:
superstition
Source:
Tench
Page:
280
Line:
20
Respelt:
mån
Part of speech:
noun
Date:
1793
Meaning Clue:
‘man’: man = ‘To take’ Dawes [a:37:0.1] [BB]
Source Details:
Captain Watkin Tench: A Narrative of the expedition to Botany Bay (1789) and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson 1788-1791 (1793): Republished at Sydney’s First Four Years (1961), Library of Australian History
Comment:
‘Mawn’ man = ‘They call a spirit, Mawn: they often scruple to approach a corpse, saying that the mawn will seize them, and that it fastens upon them in the night when asleep.’: Tench [280:20] [BB]