Black stump, The. A notional tree stump, blackened by bush-fires, that in Australia marks the boundary between civilization and the lawless limbo of the remote outback. Hence ‘beyond the black stump’, an expression first recorded in 1965, implies the sparsely populated interior that lies beyond the narrow rim of ‘European’ Australia.
How to cite this entry: "Black stump, The" Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable. Edited by John Ayto and Ian Crofton. Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. 13 February 2012
