Ya' think the English were just messin' with us frown

W.W. Greener "Manufacture of Iron for Gun Barrels"
http://books.google.com/books?id=LAsAAAAAQAAJ
"It is the twisting of the different metals that gives the various figures in the finished barrel. The steel being hard resists the acids, and retains a white or light brown hue, whilst the iron, or softer metal, is so acted upon by the acid as to be changed into a dark brown or black colour."