Locust

The pseudo-acacia.

1640.  The second is called Locus by that Nation resident in Virginia.—Parkinson, ‘Theat. Bot.,’ p. 1552. (N.E.D.)

1705.  The Locust, which resembles much the Jasmine, [is fragrant in its Season].—Beverley, ‘Virginia,’ ii. 25.

1772.  The culture of trees promises great advantages, more especially that of the Locusts and Mulberries.—Mass. Spy, Jan. 2.

1775.  Rows of pseudo-acacias, or locust-trees, which are said with their leaves to manure and fertilize the land.—Andrew Burnaby, ‘Travels in North America,’ p. 166.

1792.  Locust (robinia pseudo-acacia) is excellent fewel. Its trunk serves for durable posts set in the ground, and may be split into trunnels for ships, which are equal to any wood for that purpose.—Jeremy Belknap, ‘New Hampshire,’ iii. 98.

1791.  Who is that fellow, with a countenance as fixed and solemn as if he had been cut out of a locust-tree?—Mass. Spy, Dec. 8.

1799.  The woods [in certain cotton lands in North Carolina] are the various oaks, hickory, wheatland pine, chesnut, poplar, with some wild cherry, black walnut, and locust.—The Aurora, Phila., Nov. 12.

1800.  Wanted to purchase a large quantity of Locust Tree Nails.… N.B. Formerly called Locust Trunnells, and to be from 18 to 30 inches long.—Id., Nov. 20.

1808.  The woodland is timbered with locust, hickory, walnut, and oak.—Lancaster (Pa.) Journal, Jan. 29.

1818.  The locust, not found in any part south of Red River, is plentiful on the Ouachitta and Red river…. This tree abounds also at Natchez.—W. Darby, ‘Emigrant’s Guide,’ p. 100, note.

1821.  Orchards of apple-trees, defended from the sea winds by a barrier of cherry-trees and locusts.—T. Dwight, ‘Travels,’ iii. 89.

1823.  The bottom lands are timbered with black walnut, honey locus, pawpaw, beech, maple, and buckeye.—Geo. W. Ogden, ‘Letters from the West,’ p. 54 (New Bedford).

1833.  He … planted his yard full of catalpas and black locusts.—James Hall, ‘Legends of the West,’ p. 153 (Phila.).

1842.  It seems a long time to wait till our locusts and horse-chestnuts grow.—Mrs. Kirkland, ‘Forest Life,’ i. 49.

1855.  Look out for the long sharp thorns of those locust-trees!—Knick. Mag., xlv. 316 (March).

1862.  

  The following anecdote deserves a place:—
  USES OF AMERICAN GRASSHOPPERS.  In a French translation of one of J. Fenimore Cooper’s novels there is a curious blunder on the part of the translator, and his attempts to explain only make the matter worse. The author wrote that a certain personage rode up to the house, dismounted from his carriage, and “hitched his horse to a locust.” “Locust” here, of course, refers to a species of tree. The Frenchman’s dictionary doubtless gave only “sauterelle” as an equivalent, a word applied both to the common grasshopper and the migrating locust. He translated: “Il attacha son cheval a une sauterelle” (he hitched his horse to a grasshopper), but was apparently dissatisfied. It probably struck him that the reader would be mystified, so he introduced a footnote at the bottom of the page, in French, of course, which translated into English reads as follows: “In the United States, grasshoppers occasionally grow to enormous, incredible size. When a particularly gigantic specimen is met with, it is customary to stuff it, weighing it down with lead for greater solidity. The animal is placed in front of the outside door and used for hitching horses.”—Goodwill Record.