Red Indians (of Newfoundland).

So called because they daub their skin, garments, canoes, weapons, and almost everything with red ochre.

“Whether it is merely a custom, or whether they daub their skin with red ochre to protect it from the attacks of mosquitos and black-flies, which swarm by myriads in the woods and wilds during the summer, it is not possible to say.”—Lady Blake: Nineteenth Century, Dec. 1888, p. 905.

previous entry · index · next entry

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

Red Cross (The)
Red Cross Knight
Red Feathers (The)
Red Flag (A)
Red Hand of Ulster
Red-handed
Red Hat (The)
Red Heads
Red Herring (The)
Red Herring
Red Indians (of Newfoundland)
Red Kettle (A)
Red-laced Jacket
Red Land (The)
Red-lattice Phrases
Red Laws (The)
Red-letter Day
Red Man
Red Men
Red Rag (The)
Red Republicans