Dingaan’s Day, noun phrase

/ˈdɪŋɡɑːnz ˌdeɪ/
Forms:
Also Dingane’s Day.
Origin:
See Dingaan’s apricot.
1. obsolete. The 16th of December 1838, the day of the Battle of Blood River.
1881 F.R. Statham Blacks, Boers & Brit. 106It was owing to that defeat of the Zulus on ‘Dingaan’s Day’ that Natal only became colonisable.
1889 F. Jeppe Tvl Almanac & Dir. 28December 31 days..Dec. 16 Dingaan’s Day, 1838 Holiday.
1893 J.F. Ingram Story of Gold Concession 237‘Ah! yes,’ the president says, ‘I remember Dingaan’s Day well. I was then but a boy of about twelve years of age, but every incident..is still engraved in my memory.’
1913 V.R. Markham S. Afr. Scene 82This was the period of Weenen, of Dingaan’s Day, of those fierce struggles in the remote interior of the itinerant Boers with the Zulu hosts.
2. Obsolete except in historical contexts Day of the Vow. Also attributive.
Note:
So named by Act 3 of 1910 (although in use before this). Officially renamed Day of the Covenant in 1952: see note at Day of the Vow.
1885 Lady Bellairs Tvl at War 246About the 12th of December..the Boers had announced their intention of retaking their old capital and hoisting their flag on the 16th December, this day being conspicious to them as the anniversary of their victory over the Zulu King Dingaan, and commonly known as ‘Dingaan’s Day’.
1897 F.R. Statham S. Afr. as It Is 92The anniversary of this famous battle — the 16th of December, known as ‘Dingaan’s Day’ — is regarded by the descendants of the emigrant farmers as a national festival.
1899 Mafeking Mail 15 Dec.To-morrow, Saturday, the 16th of December, will be ‘Dingaan’s Day,’ the anniversary of the day on which the Boers..made..a sucessful stand against about 10,000 Kafirs under Dingaan.
1900 P.J. Du Toit Diary (1974) 2016.12.1900 Dingaansday! Independence day! Where are they now? Poor Transvaal!
1911 E. Prov. Herald 18 Dec.The celebrations of Dingaan’s Day brought some 3,000 people from many miles around to Vryheid, the festivities being spread over three days.
1936 E. Rosenthal Old-Time Survivals 30From Dingaan’s Day, December 16th, until after New Year, the villages virtually suspend business..and everybody concentrates on holidaying.
1946 T. Macdonald Ouma Smuts 37The Boers were outnumbered by thousands, but their weapons mowed down the attacking Zulus in a massacre which made the river run red. Dingaan’s Day came into the South African calendar as a holy day.
1955 W. Illsley Wagon on Fire 207December the sixteenth has for many years been observed as Dingaan’s Day, in commemoration of the defeat inflicted on the Zulu chief by a party of Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius in 1838.
1964 M. Benson Afr. Patriots 79On December 16, Dingaan’s Day, 1935, the All-African Convention met in Bloemfontein location.
c1965 State of S. Afr. 1965 107Day of the Covenant (December 16, formerly known as Dingaan’s Day).
1970 M. Dikobe Marabi Dance. 67December 16, Ja, it’s Dingaan’s Day. Ja, it will be his day off.
1976 M. Tholo in C. Hermer Diary of Maria Tholo (1980) 157The youths have declared that December 16 is to be our black Christmas. December 25 is for whites only. Ours must be what used to be called Dingaan’s Day because Boer blood was shed on that day.
1986 P. Maylam Hist. of Afr. People 160The following year (sc. 1930) the leader of the Communist Party in Durban, Johannes Nkosi, organised a Dingane’s Day pass-burning campaign.
1991 A. Van Wyk Birth of New Afrikaner 44School and church served as centres for public functions, except for the annual Dingane’s Day festival, which was chiefly observed elsewhere.
The 16th of December 1838, the day of the Battle of Blood River.
Day of the Vow. Also attributive.
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Dingaan’s apricot, noun phrasen. phr.dinges, dingus, nounn.
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