Old Dart

English Etymology Possibly from the river Dart in Devonshire which enters the sea at Dartmouth, location of a Royal Navy College. Royal Navy officers who were returning to England at the end of a foreign tour of duty referred to going back to the "Old Dart" for further training.L. Brown, Ex-Royal Navy, April 23 Dee Why, Letters to the Editor, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, New South Wales, 05 May 1998, page 16 Alternatively a variation of "old dirt" (compare old sod). Pronunciation en en-au-Old Dart.ogg AU Proper noun Old Dart en Australia New Zealand Britain, England, London, or Ireland; the Old Country. en the old country en 1872 Pen-name Auld Lang Syne Original Correspondence, Ovens and Murray Advertiser, Beechworth, Victoria, 20 July 1872 2 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM18760624.2.9?query=old%20dart J. A. W. has still, I am persuaded, any amount of friends in the Old Dart. en 1876 Magguffin Random Notes, Oamaru Mail, 24 June 1876 2 https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OAM18760624.2.9?query=old%20dart You recollect that when I left the Colony to visit the old dart, besides the usual allowance granted... en 2003 John Williams German Anzacs And The First World War 9 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oPpa3BOx9xwC&pg=PA9&dq=%22Old+Dart%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=EdTET8jMKOipiAeI8OisCg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Old%20Dart%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false The ‘Old Dart’ mattered little to German Australians but the empire was another matter and Australia was their home. en 2003 Di Morrissey Barra Creek http://books.google.com.au/books?id=JTox_SYyPnAC&pg=PA432&dq=%22Old+Dart%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L8rET6zZEoq4iQfpw6G9Cg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Old%20Dart%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false 432 2010 ‘I have a whole range of new talents, Dad. I can muster a mob of cattle, break in a horse, speak pidgin, and at a pinch, stitch up someone′s head.’‘Very useful in the Old Dart,’ he commented dryly and returned to his newspaper. en 2004 Mark Browning Rod Marsh: A Life in Cricket 55 http://books.google.com.au/books?id=Dkxpkpcd14MC&pg=PA55&dq=%22Old+Dart%22+-intitle:%22%22+-inauthor:%22%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=L8rET6zZEoq4iQfpw6G9Cg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Old%20Dart%22%20-intitle%3A%22%22%20-inauthor%3A%22%22&f=false Marsh′s experiences during his first days in the Old Dart were no different from most Australian cricketers′. en colloquial UK naval Dartmouth Royal Navy College. References en Nicknames for countries England United Kingdom