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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the word “hobbyhorse” originate and What does hobbyhorse mean?

Where does the word “hobbyhorse” originate and What does hobbyhorse mean?

June 21, 2020 by Karen Hill

The term itself is merely repetition, as, six centuries ago, a hobby was a horse, a small horse, probably a nickname for Robin.

But hobbyhorse comes to us from the sixteenth-century morris dance, commonly held throughout England at Whitsuntide, mid-May.

Although the characters in these festivals chiefly represented Robin Hood and others of his company, Friar Tuck and Maid Marian invariably, there was also always a horseman ostensibly astride a small horse, dancing fantastically among the group.

In reality the horse was a gaily caparisoned framework of wicker or the like, surmounted by an imitation of a horse’s head, all carried by the rider.

The morris dance has long since departed; the hobbyhorse, considerably modified for the sport of young children, is the sole survivor.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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