"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Monday 11 January 2010

Hobelar

 
Hobelars were a type of light cavalry, or mounted infantry during the Middle Ages, used for skirmishing. They originated in 13th century Ireland, and generally rode hobbies, a type of light and agile horse.

 

1 comment:

  1. As if 'skirmishing' would be of help to understand anything...! LOL

    Looking that up, I found I did not even know the origin of the Swedish word for skirmish, which I've only ever seen used in a figurative sense (for a minor disagreement)

    The mentioning of hobbies also set me wondering if that has anything to do with 'hobby horse' as in toy horse.

    ReplyDelete