An old one from Wordsmith's list. I remember as a kid
at Brockton MA fair, seeing lumberjacks competing for prizes. Sawing through logs, chopping through logs, and two men on one log in a large pool, wearing anklehigh shoes with long spikes, making the log spin, then suddenly checking the spin, trying to make one of the competitors
fall into the water. That was called birling.
I once visited Muir Woods near San Francisco and learned about “burl sprouting”. I wonder if, despite the slightly different spelling, there is any connection between the two words?
“Burl sprouting is an alternative, cloning method of reproduction in redwoods~ and 90 percent of the redwoods at Muir Woods began as sprouts, not seeds.
First a single bud forms in the growing layer of the trunk. Instead of immediately growing into a branch, the bud remains dormant until a stress to the tree stimulates it. Dividing and subdividing, buds proliferate, establishing a burl. Eventually a lump forms and if needed, the lump can sprout into a new branch, or grow into a tree.
"Most burls form on root crowns below the ground. The burls forming at this point are unusually high and large. Though burls can weigh up to several tons, they do not disrupt any of the tree's functions.
"All the trees here with large burls could be called "relatives," sprouting from the same root stock and sharing the same genetic traits. In fact the genetic material that comprises some trees may be thousands of years old. One sign of trees that began by sprouting is when groups form circles around a dead central tree.”
Dear dxb: You know more about burls than I do. Some veneers
made from burls have a very attractive appearance, and can be very expensive wainscoting.
I cannot think of any connection between the log rolling
birl, and veneer burl.
Looking at the etymology in Faldage's link for burl, I guess you're both right. I thought perhaps 'birl' had come from 'burl' in some way perhaps to do with gripping the knots in the log with your feet in order to spin it, but pure imagination I'm afraid! The best I could get for 'birl' was in MW, suggesting it might be imitative, not sure of what. But it has a longish pedigree. If I remember, I'll look in the OED tonight.
Main Entry: 2birl
Function: verb
Etymology: perhaps imitative
Date: 1790
transitive senses
1 : SPIN
2 : to cause (a floating log) to rotate by treading
intransitive senses : to progress by whirling