shiralee

Etymology
First attested in print 1892. Later popularised through its use in the title of ′s 1955 novel  (and two film adaptations, in 1957 and 1987)). Its meaning is no longer well known.

Sometimes claimed to be from an (unidentified) Australian Aboriginal language.

Alternatively, an anglicisation of Irish which came to be applied to his swag or matilda, and later (inspired by Niland's novel) to mean not only a physical burden but also a psychological one.

Noun

 * 1)  Burden; load.
 * 2)  A type of swag that when rolled up resembles a leg of mutton, carried over the shoulder, usually with another load on the chest to balance it.
 * 3) * 2006, Pip Wilson, Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push, |%22shiralees%22+-intitle:%22shiralee%22+-inauthor:%22%22&source=bl&ots=cwh_5XpyLU&sig=dU_dFYM9EEJcOSTTDfgw6Orv_KY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D79EULWJI46jiAfHnoG4DA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22shiralee%22|%22shiralees%22%20-intitle%3A%22shiralee%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false page 8,
 * “Nothin′. A prickly gecko, mate. He dropped off your shiralee.”
 * “Nothin′. A prickly gecko, mate. He dropped off your shiralee.”