Hockey Invented In England ... Not Canada

[Gary Gillman]

I must say, despite all the above, I would change my view on the etymology if there is no evidence that hocquet meant shepherd's crook in any form of French (modern, old) or a Norman or other patois. In fact, I can't find confirmation of this. Does anyone have such a reference? In the French dictionaries online, "hoquet", of which hocquet is described as a variant spelling along with others, means a number of things, from a term in music to a disturbance, but I can't find any term related to shepherd's staff or crook. "Houlette" is modern French for sheperd's staff and that seems different from hocquet although the "ho" is the same in both. Without clear evidence hockey/hocquet was a French or French patois term for a crooked stick, I think the term may have another origin, perhaps as a derivative of hook or similar English words. Hook in French is crochet which doesn't sound like hook, hockey or hocquet. Hook in German is haken, so perhaps the origin is more from the German element of English than the French.

But even if so, I still think the game itself is an Anglo-Norman continuation from the other side of the Channel.

Gary

 

[Theokritos]

So many great contributions in this thread, thumbs up to everybody!

King Edward III's proclamation 1363 was written in latin and the supposed word 'hockey' was in fact the latin word 'Cambucam'. His letter was sent to all Sheriffs in England. In the first English translation in 1598 by John Stow, the word hockey was not used but rather Bandy-ball and Cambuck.

Thanks for that invaluable piece of information. Cambucam must be the Accusative, so Cambuca (Nominative) would be the actual name of that 14th century game. And indeed, Wiktionary has an entry on Cambuca, describing it as a "hooked rod or stick" used in a medieval stick-and-ball game in England.

The book linked above by Gary Gillman quotes the original prohibition by Edward III: Pilam manualem, pedinam, et bacculoream, et ad cambucam, etc. The substantive clause containing the prohibition must have followed, but is not quoted. Nevertheless the preceding list shows what the King didn't want his subjects to do: play games where a ball (pila, accusative pilam) was played/driven/thrown/etc by hand (manualem), by foot (pedinam), by a club/bat (bacculorea, obviously from baculum which means rod/stick/...) and with a cambuca.

I wonder if cambucam is Latinised Gaelic so to speak, i.e., not Latin or French, since it sounds like cambogie a lot, the women's field game still played in Ireland, and that term has a Gaelic origin I believe.

I'm not a Latinist, but I looked into it a bit. Cambut(t)a and varities like cambuc(c)a and others do appear in Medieval Latin literature referring to a curved stick, specifically to the episcopal crozier. See list of appearances of the term (unfortunately work of 19th century scholarship and therefore in Latine too). Among the authors cited are 11th and 12th century clerical scholars from Italy. I'm not aware of the etymology, but a Gaelic origin is not the first thing one would think of in this case. On top of that, it is said Cambuca was played in France too under the name Chambot. Why would the French take over a Latinized Gaelic expression? It seems more likely the Latin term cambuca was there first and the similarity between the pastoral Cambuca and the "hockey" stick prompted people to call the hockey stick Cambuca/Chambot subsequently.

This, is, I believe, the source of the 1527 Galway prohibition of "horlinge" (hurling) in which "hockie sticks" are used:

http://books.google.com.na/books?id...&ved=0CCsQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=hockey&f=false

It's a book from 1801, by Joseph Strutt, but the reference to the Galway statute appears added by the 1903 editor, J. Charles Cox (since it is identified by asterisk and speaks of Strutt as a third person).

Another great find. So the earliest mentioning of "hockey" is from 1527 and, to be precise, it reads: The horlinge of the litill balle with hockie stickes or starves.

Also, "hockey" is just too similar to words such as hook and hooky for it to have appeared spontaneously in my view in the 1700's: it has to be connected to the 1500's Galway usage and these other words.

Agreed and the Norman hypothesis seems to make a lot of sense, although it is not more than a working hypothesis at this point, but a very tempting one.

 

[Gary Gillman]

All very interesting and helpful, thanks in turn. The etymology link back to Normandy would be frustrated though if no French or patois source can be found for "hocquet" as meaning a shepherd's crook. Because we have read it so often, I think many, me as well, have assumed that the term hockey derives from hocquet in old French as meaning a crooked shepherd's stick. But where does a source state that hocquet actually meant that...?

On cambuca, your reasoning is excellent. The nomenclature discussion for camogie here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camogie

suggested to me a Gaelic origin for cambuca and similar words but reading it again I think that is probably wrong and if anything the influence is the other way around, the cam part possibly.

Gary

 

[Theokritos]

All very interesting and helpful, thanks in turn. The etymology link back to Normandy would be frustrated though if no French or patois source can be found for "hocquet" as meaning a shepherd's crook. Because we have read it so often, I think many, me as well, have assumed that the term hockey derives from hocquet in old French as meaning a crooked shepherd's stick. But where does a source state that hocquet actually meant that...?

How about the following:

French Wikipedia
Le terme anglais « hockey » est issu du mot hoquet en moyen français : en 1808, Jean-Baptiste-Bonaventure de Roquefort, a écrit le Glossaire de la langue romane qui note que le hoquet était un ancien mot pour désigner une houlette, un bâton de berger (la forme incurvée de la houlette ressemblant à la crosse de hockey) ; et l'action de lever le menton de quelqu'un, en lui portant la main dessous.

Online Etymology Dictionary, entry "hockey (n.)"
...of unknown origin, perhaps related to Middle French hoquet "shepherd's staff, crook," diminutive of Old French hoc "hook."

 

[Killion]

He did mean 1818. He has stated that he misspoke during the interview. (As did the host, who got the precise name of the book wrong both times he said it!)

Ya, rather what I figured. People can freeze up a bit when seated in front of a camera like that. Doubt very much he was suggesting some new theory of Darwinian Evolution. Past Lives. Reincarnation.

....Perhaps the love of hockey has been handed down through generations in Quebec as an inheritance from Normandy: the bulk of French immigrants to Quebec were from - Normandy.

Theres that of course along with a fairly substantial influx of the Irish into the Maritimes & Quebec. Montreal, Quebec City and most notably the Ottawa Valley which arguably was in many ways the cradle of hockey in Canada having produced so many of the late 19th & early 20th centuries greatest sportsmen, lacrosse & hockey players in particular. .

...So the earliest mentioning of "hockey" is from 1527 and, to be precise, it reads: The horlinge of the litill balle with hockie stickes or starves.

Yes, if we discount Edward the III's decree it appears to be. Now even more intriguing, and for the life of me I cant recall where I read it otherwise Id provide a link, something to back it up, so take this with a grain of salt I guess, but the etymology of the word "puck" is also a cousin to this particular train of pursuit. I recall reading that in protest to the Norman invasion Anglo-Saxons would throw "puc's" (or some word that was a derivative there-of but closely related to "puck") at troops and individual soldiers & officers.

Its possible Edward the III three centuries after the initial Norman Invasion and even then still with some presentments by the Anglo-Saxons being usurped as the Ruling Classes outlawed the game (including Handball) of "hockey" as it was being used an "alibi" by those caught whipping "pucks" at passing Norman Troops & Troopers...... huh? How ya like them apples Theo? Make sense? Does ta me. Like a patented Bobby Hull slapshot right at your head. "Oops. Sure didnt mean to do that". Of course he did actually mean to do that & did it often early in a game to put the fear of God in the opposing goaltender. Many players did it & still do. Edward the III perhaps outlawed Hockey & Handball because everyone was claiming when hauled before the Magistrates "was an accident. Sawwy". Getting away with it like Bobby Hull 700yrs later.

So theres that, and I'll keep trying to find the source..... and going even deeper, what to make of the Normans brethren in the Vikings? Long since invaded England prior to 1066. The Duchy of Normandy itself established in 911, treaty between King Charles the III of "West Francia" & Rollo, Leader of the Norse. It would seem to make sense to me that the Scandinavians who for eons had used skating as a means of transportation would have naturally & organically developed stick & ball, possibly even early just using wood blocks or chips to play recreational games. They used long poles to propel themselves over the ice and for balance. The handiest item being a Shepherds Stave, hooked on one end, very convenient if hauling a sled or a trail of people, for playing hockey. You also had King Ethelred of England fleeing to Normandy when Sweyn Forkbeard came crashing ashore in 1013, all kinds of Viking Raiders arriving en mass not only then but for several hundred years previously..... then theres the Dutch Connection. Amazing battle that took place in December 1572 against the Spanish. Armed Dutch Musketeers forming raiding parties attacking on skates beyond proficiently & with deadly consequences. The Dutch for centuries like the Norse skating out of necessity & one would just naturally have to think developing stick & ball or puck games as sport. Sticks, staves, poles in hand for balance, hand power like a punter on some tributary of the Thames or wherever. Only natural youd start playing shinny seems to me.

 

[Gary Gillman]

How about the following:

Perfect, thanks!

Gary

 

[Gary Gillman]

And Killion's last is all very interesting. You had, with the Irish, a ready group in Quebec and Ottawa Valley for whom hockey/hurley was a tradition or interest, one can project at any rate. Descendants of aristocrat Norman-English and the Scots-Irish elite popularize a game in 1875 that was kind of intramural in Britain under the name hockey. Once "out" in Canada it is taken up by other groups who would have known of it as well via that original influence back home.

As for banning hockey 300 years after 1066 and all that, surely there was no fighting by then between Anglo-Saxons and the Norman knights, or was there? (Or were you joshing?). Interesting about puck though, I always wondered about that word.

On the Vikings, very true of course that this influence was shared by England and Normandy. The link to the Vikings - in which case the mediation of les Normands would be superflu if I may say, would be stronger if the countries where they originated maintain a game similar to a field game of Normandy, but is this so, in Sweden say? These games tend to be long-lived as one can see from the survival of kolf or kolven in Holland and the various old games that will be demonstrated at La St-Michel in September at Mont St-Michel, France.

Gary

 

[tarheelhockey]

How about the following:

French Wikipedia
Le terme anglais « hockey » est issu du mot hoquet en moyen français : en 1808, Jean-Baptiste-Bonaventure de Roquefort, a écrit le Glossaire de la langue romane qui note que le hoquet était un ancien mot pour désigner une houlette, un bâton de berger (la forme incurvée de la houlette ressemblant à la crosse de hockey) ; et l'action de lever le menton de quelqu'un, en lui portant la main dessous.

For the sake of completeness in sourcing our info, the 1808 Glossaire can be viewed for free on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=b3gSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA759#v=onepage&q&f=false

The entry in question:

HOQUET : Houlette, bâton de berger; et l'action de lever le menton de quelqu'un, en lui portant la main dessous.

HOQUET : Crook, shepherd's crook; and the action of raising someone's chin, bringing her hand below.

 

[Gary Gillman]

For the sake of completeness in sourcing our info, the 1808 Glossaire can be viewed for free on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=b3gSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA759#v=onepage&q&f=false

The entry in question:

HOQUET : Houlette, bâton de berger; et l'action de lever le menton de quelqu'un, en lui portant la main dessous.

HOQUET : Crook, shepherd's crook; and the action of raising someone's chin, bringing her hand below.

That's great, great to see it in black and white like that.

Gary

 

[Gary Gillman]

Just a further thought. Francais moyen means Middle French, whose era post-dated the Norman Invasion (1066). Before Francais moyen you had Vieux Francais, whose era spans the Invasion. I checked one glossary online of Vieux Francais, and hoquet/hocquet isn't in it. Norman (the language) was a sub-set of Vieux Francais. Interesting that the word hockey first appears in 1527, an era when one would assume Francais moyen or a certain influence from it still held sway (in France), and doesn't appear in Britain earlier at least by the available evidence. Maybe this means Norman, which became Anglo-Norman in England, didn't include that word and maybe that is why the field hockey of Normandy today does not bear the word hoquet. Maybe, in other words, Francais moyen, or Middle French, is responsible for the implantation of the hockey term in Britain, not Norman.

Alternatively, hoquet meaning a shepherd's crook was in fact part of Old French or the Norman variant and did come in in 1066, but for one reason or another the Old French glossaires don't mention it, or maybe one of them does and I haven't found it. And perhaps field hockey in Normandy today has another name because for some reason or another the very old term hoquet became abandoned, although, who knows whether it might be an alternate dialectical term known by certain people in Normandy. It would be interesting to ask the people who will demonstrate choule crosse in September at Mont St-Michel, hey did you ever hear that choule crosse or a variant was called hocquet? Maybe they will say, my gran-dad used to call it that - you never know.

Either way though, it shows (IMO) a likely French origin for the term hockey in English games terminology. Presumably there was regular communication and movement between the elites of France and England (including Ireland) into the 1500's, a time when French was still a prestigious language and evident in daily use in the law courts and to a certain degree in Parliament for example. The King and court had ceased to speak it for many years, but it was an important language in the educational system, to which organised sport was always connected, and in trade. I do not want to over-emphasize this later French connection and to be sure the 100 Years War was a pivotal event, but still the old ties to France must have held sway on this matter of hocquet and hockey. It's speculation to be sure, but I think more plausible than any other explanation of the emergence and meaning of the term hockey in England and Ireland.

Gary

 

[Killion]

It would be interesting to ask the people who will demonstrate choule crosse in September at Mont St-Michel, hey did you ever hear that choule crosse or a variant was called hocquet? Maybe they will say, my gran-dad used to call it that - you never know.

Im not sure, but it could well have been and or then anglicized shortly after 1066 in Ireland & England. There are apparently in Bricquebec in Northwestern France (Manche) on the Cotentin Peninsula written references of verbal accounts to Choule Crosse pre-1066. And again intriguingly the area of Bricquebec was a Norman stronghold that had been settled & colonized earlier (pre 10th Century) by Vikings. Indeed, the name Bricquebec also extremely intriguing for obvious reasons as bolded, etymologically from the Scandanavian bekkr (water) and brekka (slope).

 

[Gary Gillman]

Im not sure, but it could well have been and or then anglicized shortly after 1066 in Ireland & England. There are apparently in Bricquebec in Northwestern France (Manche) on the Cotentin Peninsula written references of verbal accounts to Choule Crosse pre-1066. And again intriguingly the area of Bricquebec was a Norman stronghold that had been settled & colonized earlier (pre 10th Century) by Vikings. Indeed, the name Bricquebec also extremely intriguing for obvious reasons as bolded, etymologically from the Scandanavian bekkr (water) and brekka (slope).

And now one thinks of breakaway!

Gary

 

[Canadiens1958]

Great Post

One factor that might (possibly) help support this argument is this illustration from the SIHR document linked above:

[/URL]

Granted, the semantics of bandy/shinty/hockey are very muddy. But it seems pretty clear that the term "hockey" appeared in Britain around the turn of the 19th century, and only in the south.

That suggests three possible interpretations:

1) For reasons unknown, the population of London and southward counties spontaneously started using an invented word for the familiar old game. This seems somewhat unlikely, as broad semantic changes are usually not quite that random.

2) The concept of "hockey" was different in the south than elsewhere in Britain, necessitating a change in terminology to distinguish it as a regional variation. We don't have any record to support that theory.

3) The word was imported from elsewhere through London and the southern port towns, and became widespread in those places which experienced a steady inward flow of former colonists, military, merchants, etc.


Based on the very piecemeal evidence, IMO the best explanation on the table is #3. Which isn't to say this is anything like a smoking gun, but the sudden emergence of a new word in a limited geographic area is consistent with an imported new concept of the game.

Interestingly, the SIHR folks drew the exact opposite conclusion:

"It is likely that British officers from the London area brought the name Hockey to the New World in the 19th Century -- however, the other names of the game was [sic] already in use throughout North America at the time, introduced by earlier generations of immigrants.

The people behind the earliest Canadian references using the word hockey -- all had their military education located southeast of London."

That last line is striking to me -- the military academies in question were located in Southampton (a port city on the southern coast) and Kent (the far southeastern county, where one would cross to France).

A brand-new word for a very old and already-named game arises among young military officers who are living right along the coastline... and SIHR concluded that the word is an export? That doesn't seem right to me. I think a linguist would take one look at the evidence here and suggest that the word came into Britain around that time, and was picked up by students who were frequently exposed to imperial globetrotters. This seems even more likely considering the word "hockey" itself isn't a compound, corruption, or back-formation of an existing English word. It would be one thing if it were suddenly called something similar to "baseball" or "football" or "basketball", but "hockey" has a foreign ring to it.

The real question, IMO, is where did these military brats learn the word?

Great post tarheelhockey,

A few comments that will serve to clarifiy the discussion.

There is a temptation to interchange Great Britain with England. Not the same. Great Britain includes Ireland, Scotland and Wales plus England. Ireland post Henry VIII was the home to the Catholic Church in Great Britain.

Hockey from its French roots has to be viewed in the context of its French synonyms and translated according paying attention to the original usage - whether the usage represented a noun or an adjective. Also references from Catholic priests should consider the Catholic order they belonged to - Jesuit, etc and the writing style they favoured - style favoured biblical similies, metaphors, etc.

The role of French Catholic missionaries in North America cannont be overlooked. See previous references to the French missionary priest Gabriel Sagard. Irish Catholic priests were an early factor in Canadian hockey development.

British Military thru WWII had international exposure, all cultures, languages, sports, etc. Though their military training was in SE England they came from the rest of England, Ireland, Scotland,Wales and other British Commonwealth countries including Canada. Even before their first journey outside the British Isles they would have been exposed to international influences.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Exactly

For the sake of completeness in sourcing our info, the 1808 Glossaire can be viewed for free on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=b3gSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA759#v=onepage&q&f=false

The entry in question:

HOQUET : Houlette, bâton de berger; et l'action de lever le menton de quelqu'un, en lui portant la main dessous.

HOQUET : Crook, shepherd's crook; and the action of raising someone's chin, bringing her hand below.

As noted - noun, verb, adjective, adverb qualities are found in the definition or in Père Gabriel Sagard's imagery of a shepherd's staff.

 

[Iain Fyffe]

The discussion of French origins based on the term hoquet must be tempered by the fact that the derivation of hockey is unknown - hoquet is only one possibility. Indeed in On the Origin of Hockey the authors indicate that in the earliest uses of the term in England, "hockey" referred to the object being struck by the stick, not the stick itself. As such it being named after a hook is questionable. They propose another possible derivation, hack, which refers to a type of ale since it was about that time cork bungs began to be used instead of wooden balls.

 

[Gary Gillman]

The discussion of French origins based on the term hoquet must be tempered by the fact that the derivation of hockey is unknown - hoquet is only one possibility. Indeed in On the Origin of Hockey the authors indicate that in the earliest uses of the term in England, "hockey" referred to the object being struck by the stick, not the stick itself. As such it being named after a hook is questionable. They propose another possible derivation, hack, which refers to a type of ale since it was about that time cork bungs began to be used instead of wooden balls.

I will buy the book and am interested in the evidence for the ball being called "hockey". This makes no sense to me. As for hock ale, this was a type of beer known in 1700's and 1800's England. It was a minor type, nothing in sales compared to porter (a black beer from which Guinness is descended), mild ale, pale ale or strong ale. Hock ale seemed to be used mostly for blending, to boot. I can understand that bungs were taken from a beer cask to play hockey, but why only from hock ale? They would have been taken from any beer keg, and most dispensed other types of beer, from my understanding of the history.

Here is a reference to hock ale from Richard Shannon's 1805 manual on brewing beer:

http://books.google.ca/books?id=3zs...ved=0CDYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=hock beer&f=false

To parse the old language, it was a strongish beer (porter then, also brown stout, was around 6-7% ABV), but light-coloured. He explains that it was used to blend because the light colour would take the colour of the beer it was blended with. The language is a little vague, he might be saying, they would colour the hock first with the colour of the beer it was being blended with, then mix the two. Thus, say a batch of stout turned sour and was returned to the brewery (the returns spoken of): the brewer might mix strong pale hock with the sourish stout to take the edge off the latter. Not as many brewing manuals as Shannon's give as much space to hock, it wasn't a major item in brewers' inventories. I mean, you can't rule out a connection to hockey and I await reviewing the evidence in the new book with interest, but so far I just don't see it.

Gary

 

[ADifferentTim]

I personally find it refreshing to learn something new about England outside of (NTR), Victorianism, and colonialism, to name a few.

Safe to claim, "England invented hockey, but Canada perfected it" just like how "England invented association football, but Brazil perfected it."

 

[Iain Fyffe]

I will buy the book and am interested in the evidence for the ball being called "hockey". This makes no sense to me.

The hack ale connection is certainly speculative, but then so is hoquet, really. The evidence for the object of play (not necessarily a ball) being called the hockey is simply a bunch of references where it's clear that hockey is the term applied to the object of play, while the sticks were called hockey sticks.

But get the book, you will not be sorry.

 

[Theokritos]

Its possible Edward the III three centuries after the initial Norman Invasion and even then still with some presentments by the Anglo-Saxons being usurped as the Ruling Classes outlawed the game (including Handball) of "hockey" as it was being used an "alibi" by those caught whipping "pucks" at passing Norman Troops & Troopers...... huh? How ya like them apples Theo?

The Middle Ages aren't my speciality, but Wikipedia has a good entry on attempted bans on football and other sports.

It would seem to make sense to me that the Scandinavians who for eons had used skating as a means of transportation would have naturally & organically developed stick & ball, possibly even early just using wood blocks or chips to play recreational games.

Would make sense for sure and the Nordic Sagas of Iceland show that the Norsemen there knew a stick-and-ball game they called Knattleikr. Not a word about it being played on ice and no evidence from Scandinavia though, but how knows what's yet to be discovered.

then theres the Dutch Connection. Amazing battle that took place in December 1572 against the Spanish. Armed Dutch Musketeers forming raiding parties attacking on skates beyond proficiently & with deadly consequences.

From what I've read it were actually Catholic pro-Spanish farmers attacking Protestant "Watergeuzen" raiding parties, but yes, as opposed to Scandinavia we have clear evidence of stick-and-ball games played on ice in the Netherlands in the 16th and 17th century, courtesy of paintings of that time.

For the sake of completeness in sourcing our info, the 1808 Glossaire can be viewed for free on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=b3gSAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA759#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thanks! I was looking through various links and couldn't find the right one.

The discussion of French origins based on the term hoquet must be tempered by the fact that the derivation of hockey is unknown - hoquet is only one possibility. Indeed in On the Origin of Hockey the authors indicate that in the earliest uses of the term in England, "hockey" referred to the object being struck by the stick, not the stick itself. As such it being named after a hook is questionable.

I will have to read the book, but at this stage we know the latin word cambuca (curved stick/pastoral crozier) was used to name a stick-and-ball game (or the stick used in that game) in England (14th century) and apparently France, we know the Middle French (14th-16/17th century) word hoquet (sheperd's crook) comes very close to cambuca in meaning and we know that the Galway prohibition from 1527 refers to a stick-and-ball game involving "hockie sticks". Still, looking forward to read the book.

 

[Canadiens1958]

Français Moyen

Just a further thought. Francais moyen means Middle French, whose era post-dated the Norman Invasion (1066). Before Francais moyen you had Vieux Francais, whose era spans the Invasion. I checked one glossary online of Vieux Francais, and hoquet/hocquet isn't in it. Norman (the language) was a sub-set of Vieux Francais. Interesting that the word hockey first appears in 1527, an era when one would assume Francais moyen or a certain influence from it still held sway (in France), and doesn't appear in Britain earlier at least by the available evidence. Maybe this means Norman, which became Anglo-Norman in England, didn't include that word and maybe that is why the field hockey of Normandy today does not bear the word hoquet. Maybe, in other words, Francais moyen, or Middle French, is responsible for the implantation of the hockey term in Britain, not Norman.

Alternatively, hoquet meaning a shepherd's crook was in fact part of Old French or the Norman variant and did come in in 1066, but for one reason or another the Old French glossaires don't mention it, or maybe one of them does and I haven't found it. And perhaps field hockey in Normandy today has another name because for some reason or another the very old term hoquet became abandoned, although, who knows whether it might be an alternate dialectical term known by certain people in Normandy. It would be interesting to ask the people who will demonstrate choule crosse in September at Mont St-Michel, hey did you ever hear that choule crosse or a variant was called hocquet? Maybe they will say, my gran-dad used to call it that - you never know.

Either way though, it shows (IMO) a likely French origin for the term hockey in English games terminology. Presumably there was regular communication and movement between the elites of France and England (including Ireland) into the 1500's, a time when French was still a prestigious language and evident in daily use in the law courts and to a certain degree in Parliament for example. The King and court had ceased to speak it for many years, but it was an important language in the educational system, to which organised sport was always connected, and in trade. I do not want to over-emphasize this later French connection and to be sure the 100 Years War was a pivotal event, but still the old ties to France must have held sway on this matter of hocquet and hockey. It's speculation to be sure, but I think more plausible than any other explanation of the emergence and meaning of the term hockey in England and Ireland.

Gary

Français moyen is also an expression refering to the middle class as opposed to the middle ages etc. An expression or word that arose from the middle class as opposed to the aristocratic or lower class.

 

[Gary Gillman]

Français moyen is also an expression refering to the middle class as opposed to the middle ages etc. An expression or word that arose from the middle class as opposed to the aristocratic or lower class.

But in the source originally quoted the writer was referring I believe to a certain stage in the development of the French tongue:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moyen_français

Gary

 

[Gary Gillman]

Here now on the other side of the Channel, from an Anglo-Norman lexicon:

http://www.anglo-norman.net/cgi-bin/form-s1

(Search "hoket" in the search box if the link takes you to the home page only).

The relation of "hoket" to a hooked implement is clear especially if you check the links to the "hoquet" spelling which takes you over the water to a Middle French dictionary. That dictionary gives a primary meaning of words related to "hoc" or hook, with secondary and other meanings connected to hiccuping and music - meanings which are now primary.

http://atilf.atilf.fr/scripts/dmfX.exe?LIEN_DMF;LEMME=hoquet1

This all makes sense to me since the primary meaning of words connected to hook, which would encompass the shepherd's crook idea, would have been the oldest and probably existed in Vieux Francais or at least the Norman variant. It looks like that connotation held on into Middle French but expired later. Note however the comment of Pierre Giraud in the Wikipedia entry on Middle French that there is no clear demarcation between the eras of Old French (Vieux Francais) and Middle French and he opined that Old French continued to the degree of 50% until the 1300's. What he means here exactly is not clear but one gets the general idea. To me, this suggests that many words in a Middle French lexicon were in fact Old French. Middle French "tout court" is good enough for me on this issue, though.

Gary

P.S. I am neither a language expert nor a beer expert, except to add that as a hobby I have studied English beer history, in particular, for many years. I offer these opinions for what they are worth.

 

[Uncle Rotter]

So if hockey arrived in Canada fully formed from England...what were they playing in Nova Scotia the first half of the 19th century and why were they calling it everything but hockey?

 

[Iain Fyffe]

So if hockey arrived in Canada fully formed from England...what were they playing in Nova Scotia the first half of the 19th century and why were they calling it everything but hockey?

Who said it arrived "fully formed" from England? It was enough to be called hockey, with little difference between it and the 1875 Montreal version of the game.

 

[Iain Fyffe]

and we know that the Galway prohibition from 1527 refers to a stick-and-ball game involving "hockie sticks".

The authors explain this with the idea that the 1527 reference to "hockie" should not be rendered as "hockey" but as "hooky", meaning simply hooked. So they were referring to hooked sticks, not hockey sticks.

Moreover, the Galway statute seems to be banning hurling, and used that word. So it's a prohibition against hurling using hooked sticks and a ball.

This makes a good deal of sense given that otherwise we would have a 1527 reference to hockey, and then a period of over 200 years before it's used again to describe a game called hockey.

And it's surely not a coincidence that in the mid-1700s, when hockey begins to be used to describe the game in the London area, the term bandy ceases to be used there.