Wattle and daub

noun WAT-l an DAAB ˈwatl an daːb

Also spelled wattle-and-daub, wattle an daub, wattle house

An old way of building a house wall from a woven framework of sticks ('wattle') packed and plastered over with mud, clay, or lime ('daub'). Wattle-and-daub houses were the common country dwelling in earlier generations — cheap, cool, and built with bush materials and neighbourly help — and the term still calls up the humble board-and-mud house of the past, before block and steel.

  • Grandpa grow up inna wattle-an-daub house.

    Grandpa grew up in a wattle-and-daub house.

  • Dem daub di stick wall wid mud an lime.

    They plastered the stick wall with mud and lime.

  • Wattle an daub cool inna di hot sun.

    Wattle and daub is cool in the hot sun.

From English building terms 'wattle' (woven sticks) + 'daub' (mud plaster); the traditional country house. See [[board-house]], [[spanish-wall]].

A traditional stick-frame-and-mud house wall; the old country dwelling. See [[board-house]], [[spanish-wall]].