The Mathews journal. (Mathews C.H. [Court House]) 1903-1937, 1911-08-17
TAKING SLANG is AS OLD
AS The USE OF LANGUAGE
Origin of Tarring and Featherng to CrusadeFc
ing the Bucket and What 1t Drinking Bumpers

II there is any one thing that the
average man would be willing TO
wager was OF American origin it would
be the practice of dealing with offend
ers against the unwritteu luNa of GER
tain rural communities 10y o.cring
them with a coat of tar and feathers
The individuals, who, shrouded i'm
sheets and masks made of pillow cases
officiate at these functions would
doubtless agree that they were met
ing out a punishment peculiar TO the
United States.
This punishment. which is sup
posed TO tit particularly one class of
tranSgreSSiOuS. however. was inStl-
tUted long before the Cnited States
was ever thought of and before this
continent was even discovered.
In the time of the CrusadeS Rich
ard Occur de Lion and Philip Angus
tus, two OF the Crusading kings, con-
ferred together as 70 the policing Of
their respective armies and agreed
upon the penalties that should be IN
licted for infractious of discipline.
Among the punishmcnts provided
by their code were that whoever killed
another crusader was TO be cast alive
into the sea, or. If no water was at
hand. should be burned alive; that
whoever wounded another should haN C
his hand cut on; that whoever struck
into -.l. and that whoever stole
frC.s her should have warm
pitch .....ed over his head. which
should then he powdered with feathers
and the offender afterVard be left
abandoned ON the first shore
it would seem that only the riding
upon the sharp edge of hewn rail
was of latter day invention as suit
able climax to the punishment, and
even this may have been pracuced by
the ancient fanatics. although not IN
cluded in the prescribed code.
Kicking the Bucket.
When we speak facetiOusly of some
one for whom we have no reverence as
having Kicked the bucket, we en-
ploy a phrase that would seem to be
a piece of latter day slang, but. as
matter of fact. it dates back TO old
England, when about the year 1925
one BolsOver hung himself TO beam
while standing on the bottom OF a
bucket and then kicked the bucket
away. Although at first used only in
cases of suicides, it has been applied
in the course OF years TO any death
without distinction.
Then there is The good, expressive
phrase "Skedaddle,' meaning TO de-
part hastily along the line of least
resistance. and frequently applied to
defaulters who "skedaddled' to Can
ada and other places promising pleas
ant refuge. This expression tirst APP
peared in the United states after the
battle of Bull Run, when many sol
diers "skedaddled" to the discomfi-
ture of their commanders, and for
sometime the word was supposed to
be an invention of the soldier boys.
However, an antiquarian has recently
found in an old version of the New
Testament. printed in ireland years
ago. this phrase: For il is written
will smite the shepherd and the
sheep of the flock shall be squedad
oil" That certainly meant all scat
tered, and il is not unlikely that some
son of Erin at that memorable flight
made use of this expression which
had stayed ia his mind since his child
hood days in the old country, and
that it was rapidly caught up by his
compatriots.
When we take what we can get
and not what we want and call il
"Hobson's choice" we are not refer
ring to the gentleman who once was
famous because of his kissing capac-
ity and is now endeaVOring TO scare
the wits out Of us with dire predic
tons OF a japanese invasion.
HObsOn'S Choice OF Mays.
The Hobson OF the popular phrase
was another one, and his vocation was
more peaceful, although he preYed
upon the pOcketbooks of his country
men. His given name was Tobias, and
he FIRST man i'm England t.