"His Father's Mate had always been a general favourite with the diggers and fossickers, from the days when he used to slip out first thing in the morning and take a run across the frosty flat in his shirt."
<hw>Digger's Delight</hw>, <i>n</i>. a flower, <i>Veronica perfoliata</i>, R. Br., <i>N.O. Scrophularaneae</i>, described in quotations.
1878. W. R. Guilfoyle, `First Book of Australian Botany,' p. 64:
"Digger's Delight, <i>Veronica perfoliata</i>, <i>N.O. Scrophularineae</i>. A pretty, blue-flowering shrub, with smooth stem-clasping leaves; found in the mountainous districts of Victoria and New South Wales, and deriving its common name from a supposition that its presence indicated auriferous country. It is plentiful in the elevated cold regions of Australia."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 147:
"Such native flowers as the wild violet, the shepherd's purse, or the blue-flowered `digger's delight.' This latter has come, perhaps, with the seeds from some miner's holding amongst the iron-barks in the gold country, and was once supposed to grow only on auriferous soils. When no one would think of digging for gold in this field, the presence of the flower is, perhaps, as reliable an indication of a golconda underneath as the reports and information on the strength of which many mining companies are floated."
<hw>Diggerdom</hw>, <i>n</i>. collective noun, the diggers.
1855. W. Howitt, `Two Years in Victoria,' vol. i. p. 43:
"Diggerdom is gloriously in the ascendant here."
<hw>Diggeress</hw>, <i>n</i>. a digger's wife.