Sly-grog shop
An unlicensed Australian alcohol vendor, often selling poor-quality grog.
A sly-grog shop, also called a shanty, is an unlicensed vendor of alcoholic beverages in Australia, often associated with poor-quality products. The term gained prominence during the early closing of hotels and pubs from the First World War until the 1960s in some states. It also refers to illegal alcohol sales in Indigenous areas where bans or restrictions apply.
Quick Facts
- First known use
- 1820s
- Earliest printed reference
- 18 March 1825, Hobart Town Gazette
- Indigenous area with restrictions
- Palm Island, Queensland
Facts from the source article.
Etymology
The term combines two older English slang expressions. "On the sly" means secret or covert, as defined in James Hardy Vaux's 1812 Vocabulary of the Flash Language. "Grog" originally referred to a naval rum-and-water mixture, but in Australia came to mean diluted or adulterated rum, and later any alcoholic drink.
History
The phrase entered general Australian usage in the 1820s, with an early mention in the Hobart Town Gazette of 18 March 1825. Sly-grog shops spread from urban areas into rural south-east Australia as farms and pastoral runs expanded, often beyond police reach. During the 1850s, sheep replaced cattle on inland river runs, and large workforces at shearing time created demand for these shops, which became social hubs. As towns and police stations grew along the rivers in the later 1800s, sly-grog operations moved further inland. An example from the Lower Murrumbidgee region shows police efforts: on 31 December 1869, Edward Harpur was charged at Hay Police Court with carrying spirits for sale, having been arrested on the road to Mr. Severne's station.
Literary quotes
In Mary Theresa Vidal's "Susan's Dream" (1845), a man returns drunk from a sly grog shop, causing his wife and children distress. Henry Lawson's "The Blindness of One-eyed Bogan" (1907) describes a woman who looked as if she might keep a sly-grog shop. Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson's The Shearer's Colt (1936) mentions a Chinese hawker's cart that served as a travelling sly-grog shop, frequented by shearers.
More in Alcohol in Australia
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced