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all the posts regarding driving on the right (or not) have reminded me of one of my quixotic word quests. there is an actual word, purportedly of Scottish origin, which means "the right-hand hindmost horse that walks in the furrow in plowing" -- the word is 'furrahin' [it's in W3]. so, what is the word (if it exists) for the left-hand hindmost horse; and, if the word doesn't exist, why did they have a word for the right-hand one?
hopelessly,
the obscure word guy
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enthusiast
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In reply to:
all the posts regarding driving on the right (or not) have reminded me of one of my quixotic word quests. there is an actual word, purportedly of Scottish origin, which means "the right-hand hindmost horse that walks in the furrow in plowing" -- the word is 'furrahin' [it's in W3]. so, what is the word (if it exists) for the left-hand hindmost horse; and, if the word doesn't exist, why did they have a word for the right-hand one?
Do you ever have non-quixotic word quests, tsuwm?
'Furrahin' has me intrigued. Ahin is a Scottish word for behind, and fur or furr for furrow, so the word itself gives no clue to the horse being on the right. I found a glossary of Robbie Burns' poems that gave 'fur-ahin' (sic) as "the hindmost plough-horse in the furrow". I can't claim to be an expert on horse-drawn ploughs, but I wondered whether the reason 'right' isn't specified is that the usual configuration would result in the horses on the right walking in the furrow, while those on the left walk on the unploughed ground. As in this photo:
http://www.eastdevon.net/landscapes/old_new/page_90.htm
None of which answers your questions.
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My uncle used to have a team of Clydesdale or Shire horses (I can't tell one from the other) which competed in single-furrow ploughing competitions.
He had three horses although he often only used two. When he had all three in harness, there was one at the front and two at the back. The horses were always harnessed in the same combination. The one at the back on the right in the troika was called "Giddup, Jim!". The one on the left at the back was called "You lazy bastard, Alistair!".
This from the perspective of a child of between eight and ten years ... it could have been the other way round, of course.
Does this help your quest for that particular word? It could be "Jim". Or "Alastair". Alastair's Scottish, isn't it?
Incidentally the third horse which was always at the front was a mare called Nan. No fool, my uncle!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Pooh-Bah
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No fool, my uncle!
I guess you can't truthfully call a farmer a fool for much more than a year! 
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I used to use Shire horses for farmwork. The key point about ploughing is that as Marty was getting at, the horse walking in the furrow is the more important one, as this determines the mouldboard of the plough is placed to correctly turn only unbroken land. Perhaps this horse would therefore naturally get a unique name? BTW, my favourite Shire gelding came from Yorkshire, so I had to learn Y. dialect terms to talk to him - "Gee back", "Arve" and others! The local Welsh terms were totally different and he would put on his most cunning "Wot, me?" look if I didn't speak Yorkshire. PS Singles, pairs, and tricorn hitches are all fairly common, though a tricorn hitch would more normally be used for really heavy work like pulling a binder (precursor of the 'combined harvester' or combine). The harness and equipment didn't vary enormously from one end of the UK to the other, but the words and terminology certainly did! For example, the spreader bar used to hitch a number of horses to one point of pull was variously known as 'swingle tree', 'swivel tree', and 'whipple tree' in almost adjacent counties. Just goes to show what we know on this board: even if you have a shovel in common, some folks will call it by a different name entirely
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Marty disclaims: None of which answers your questions.
au contraire, mon ami, the photograph (the horse on the right in the furrow) does explain the 'right' part of the definition (if it is typical). and the Robbie Burns connection is brilliant! the alternate spelling, furr-ahin, googled me this Robbie Burns poem:
The Inventory^1 In answer to a mandate by the Surveyor of the Taxes
Sir, as your mandate did request,I send you here a faithfu' list,
O' gudes an' gear, an' a' my graith,To which I'm clear to gi'e my aith.
Imprimis, then, for carriage cattle,I hae four brutes o' gallant mettle,
As ever drew afore a pettle.My hand-afore 's a guid auld has-been,
An' wight an' wilfu' a' his days been:My hand-ahin 's a weel gaun fillie,
That aft has borne me hame frae Killie.^2An' your auld borough mony a time
In days when riding was nae crime.But ance, when in my wooing pride
I, like a blockhead, boost to ride,The wilfu' creature sae I pat to,
(Lord pardon a' my sins, an' that too!)I play'd my fillie sic a shavie,
She's a' bedevil'd wi' the spavie.My furr-ahin 's a wordy beast,
As e'er in tug or tow was traced.The fourth's a Highland Donald hastle,
A damn'd red-wud Kilburnie blastie!Foreby a cowt, o' cowts the wale,
As ever ran afore a tail:Gin he be spar'd to be a beast,
He'll draw me fifteen pund at least.Wheel-carriages I ha'e but few,
Three carts, an' twa are feckly new;An auld wheelbarrow, mair for token,
Ae leg an' baith the trams are broken;I made a poker o' the spin'le,
An' my auld mither brunt the trin'le.
[Footnote 1: The "Inventory" was addressed to Mr. Aitken of Ayr, surveyor of
taxes for the district.]
---
so, a careful perusal <g> gives us 1) hand-afore 2) hand-ahin 3) furr-ahin and 4) ?furr-afore? for his four-brute team.
anyway, the question I had (the left-hand hindmost) would be the handahin, n'est-ce pas?
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Mav responded, inter alia: PS Singles, pairs, and tricorn hitches are all fairly common, though a tricorn hitch would more normally be used for really heavy work like pulling a binder (precursor of the 'combined harvester' or combine).
The breadth of experience displayed on this board never ceases to amaze me. Thanks Mav. You've explained a couple of things which I didn't understand about what my unc did (with his horses, of course). Damn - that just made it worse, didn't it?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Tsuwm, that was absolutely brilliant.
That's the kind of thing I was hoping to find--I love discovering treasures in unlikely places!
I proffer a deep bow, sir.
Now--it's obvious, as you said, why the one in the furrow is the 'furr--'; but why is t'other one the 'hand--'?
mav--my father and his brothers called it a singletree.
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>The fourth's a Highland Donald hastle,
>so, a careful perusal <g> gives us 1) hand-afore 2) hand-ahin 3) furr-ahin and 4) ?furr-afore? for his four-brute team.
I would say it's probably a bridge. We have a bridge for fourth!!!
TEd
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why is t'other one the 'hand?
Because that's the one 'in hand' when leading a pair or other hitch (you always lead from the left hand of the horse or horses, so with a pair you have the 'hand horse').
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