Language: en
Meaning: (idiomatic,intransitive,Ireland,informal)Togofor analcoholicdrink, especially aspartof avictorycelebrationor onSaint Patrick's Day.[1727,Caleb Threlkeld, “TRIFOLIUM PRATENSE ALBUM, White Flowered Meadow Trefoyl.”, inSynopsis stirpium Hibernicarum alphabetic[a]e dispositarum. Sive commentatio de plantis indigenis præsertim Dublinensibus instituta. Being a Short Treatise of Native Plants, especially Such as Grow Spontaneously in the Vicinity of Dublin;[…], Dublin:[…]S. Powell, for the author; and are to be sold by T. Sanders,[…],→OCLC,signature [K8], verso:TheMeadovv Trefoylsare called inIriſhShamrocks,[…]The VVordSeamar LeauneandSeamar-orge, being in ſignification the ſame,[…]This Plant is vvorn by the People in their Hats upon the 17. Day ofMarchyearly, (vvhich is calledSt.Patrick’s Day.)[…]Hovvever that be, vvhen theyvvet theirSeamar-oge, they often commit Exceſs in Liquor, vvhich is not a right keeping of a Day to the Lord; Error generally leading to Debauchery.]1869March 13,R. C., “Notes. St. Patrick’s Day: The Shamrock and Shillelah”, inNotes and Queries: A Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., volume III (4th Series), number63, London:[…]George Andrew Spottiswoode,[…][for]William Greig Smith,[…],→OCLC,page235, column 1:In the days of our forefathers it was always customary towet the shamrock, and indeed this good old custom has by no means become obsolete. And to carry it into effect, the saint's [Saint Patrick's] health is drunk in the morning from a brimming bowl called "Paddy's pot," which has a very inspiring influence, and is considered to be an excellent preliminary for the joys of the day;[…]1878March 16, “The Library. St Patrick’s Day.”, inThe Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart, and Journal of the Household, volume XVIII, London:[s.n.],→OCLC,page173, column 3:He [Caleb Threlkeld] refers to the custom ofwetting the shamrock.1885, James McQuade, “St. Kitt’s”, inThe Cruise of the Montauk to Bermuda, the West Indies and Florida, New York, N.Y.: Thomas R. Knox & Co. successors to James Miller[…],→OCLC,page120:We remembered friends at home in our potations,wet the shamrock, and sang the "Wearing of the Green."1888May, “News and Notes. The Month.”, inThe Australian Journal: A Family Newspaper of Literature, Science, and the Arts, volume XXIII, number276, Melbourne, Vic.: A. H. Massina & Co.,[…],→OCLC,page519, column 1:St. Patrick's Day passed off very quietly indeed, partly owing to the uncertainty of the weather. A number of the militia menwetted the shamrockso much that they forgot the legitimate use of their weapons, and employed them in knocking people on the head. A few threw their rifles away.2002,Mike Cronin, Daryl Adair, “Famine and Exodus”, inThe Wearing of the Green: A History of St Patrick’s Day, London; New York, N.Y.:Routledge, published2006,→ISBN,page40:Given long-standing drinking customs among the Irish at home and abroad, temperance was a difficult prospect. Traditions such as drinking to the health of Ireland and the patron saint, as well as the renowned ‘wetting the shamrock’ held considerable sway on St Patrick's Day.2010, Claire Hopper, “Wetting the Shamrock”, inA Fine Irish Season,[Morrisville, N.C.]: [Lulu.com],→ISBN,page65:[T]he crowd drifted away towards the hotel in search of something towet the shamrockand warm themselves up. Unlike America, there was no green beer and no one I knew would dream of adding anything to their pint unless it was to tip in a shot of whiskey.
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