Cango, noun

/ˈkæŋɡəʊ/
Forms:
Also Kango.
Origin:
KhoikhoiShow more Name of a region on the southern slopes of the Swartberg, Oudtshoorn district (from Khoikhoi kango wet mountain).
obs. except in historical contexts
A brandy produced in the Oudtshoorn district of the Western Cape. Also attributive. See also Cape brandy.
1870 [see dop noun sense 2 a].
1871 Diamond News in Diggers’ Ditties (1989) 4I’d have drunk a whole gallon ‘Cango’ If the canteens had given me trust.
1874 ‘P.’ in A.M.L. Robinson Sel. Articles from Cape Monthly Mag. (1978) 168These [dainties], washed down with a stiff glass of the ‘cognac of the country’ yclept ‘cango’, proved a capital supper.
1880 F.G. Browning Fighting & Farming 119Two fellows had been drinking pretty freely (principally ‘cango’ and ‘Cape smoke’) and became very quarrelsome.
1889 H.A. Bryden Kloof & Karroo 84Cango..is the best kind of colonial-made brandy; it is of rich yellow colour, is produced in the Oudtshoorn district, and when matured, is really a very reasonable substitute for the more expensive foreign liquors.
1891 H.J. Duckitt Hilda’s ‘Where Is It?’ 134Dissolve three pounds of candied sugar in six bottles of good brandy (best Cango will do).
1899 B. Mitford Weird of Deadly Hollow 87After a good supper, washed down by plenteous libations of Cango brandy and strong coffee, pipes were lit.
1962 A.P. Cartwright Gold Miners 115A wine merchant’s advertisement in 1892 gives us this list of prices: ‘Pure Dop Brandy 2s. 6d. a bottle, Best Cango 3s. a bottle,..Gin 5s. 6d. a flask’.
1983 D.E. Schaefer in Optima Vol.31 No.2, 86Favourite drinks among the diggers were Bass light ale, Hennessey’s Battle Axe brandy, Irish whiskey, Kango brandy, Spengler’s Red gin, Letterstedt’s Dop brandy and Guinness stout.
A brandy produced in the Oudtshoorn district of the Western Cape. Also attributive.
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18711983

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