[Northkeep] newbie

[Zenobia Mira Vallis]

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Welcome, Danielle!

The explanation below is from the Mavens' Word of the Day - http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001108
Not strictly period, but it will give you a general idea.

Hope this helps!

Zenobia

huzzah

Chuck Brady wrote:
  My wife and I recently went to Colonial Williamsburg and noticed that the interpreters shouted Huzzah, huzzah when cheering something. When, and how, did huzzah degenerate into hurrah and then today's hurray?
Huzza or huzzah is first attested in 1573. According to a number of writers in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was originally a sailor's cheer or salute: "It was derived from the marine and the shouts the seamen make when friends come aboard or go off." (North, Examen, 1740). It might be related to the earlier hauling or hoisting cries, heisau! and hissa!, as in these citations:"With 'howe! hissa!' then they [the sailors] cry, 'What, howe, mate! thow stondyst to ny, Thy felow may nat hale the by.'" (The Pilgrims sea-voyage and sea-sickness, 1430) and "The marynals began to heis up the sail, cryand heisau heisau." (Complaynt of Scotland, 1549). There is an old word heeze or heize, meaning 'to raise', which has cognates in both the North and West Germanic languages.

The latest citations I found for huzzah are from the 19th century. Dickens used it in Oliver Twist (1837-39): "Strokes, thick and heavy, rattled upon the door and lower window-shutters as he ceased to speak, and a loud huzzah burst from the crowd." And Mark Twain used it in Tom Sawyer (1876): "...the population massed itself..., and swept magnificently up the main street roaring huzzah after huzzah!"

Hurrah and hurray first appeared late in the 17th century: "Our Capt. ordered all his Guns to fire; at which they all of them (which were about twenty) fil'd the very Heavens with Hurras and Shouts." (J. Dunton, Letter from New-England, 1686). It is clearly a later version of huzzah, possibly influenced by Middle High German hurr and hurrâ, interjections which are imperative forms of the verb meaning 'to rush or hurry'. Swedish, Danish, Dutch, and Russian all have similar shouts which were used in hunting and chasing. Presumably, the hunters shouted hurra when they spotted their quarry, and the word came to express a sense of triumph.

However hurrah replaced huzzah as a cry of praise or exultation, it had pretty much happened by the 19th century. Hooray is a variant on hurrah that first appeared in 19th century America, along with hurroo and hoorah. The OED says, "In English the form hurrah is literary and dignified; hooray is usual in popular acclamation." The Web site of the Royal Navy notes that the navy "cheers hooray, not hurrah."

I will end with a quotation from Emerson: "They can do the hurras, the placarding, the flags -- and the voting, if it is a fair day." You will read this on the 8th of November. I am writing on the 7th, hoping to be able to join the huzzahs and hurrahs on the morrow.

Georgia


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Danielle
  To: northkeep at ansteorra.org
  Sent: Tuesday, 28 January, 2003 12:44 PM
  Subject: [Northkeep] newbie


  i was at populace last night and have already started working on my
  personnae.

  1) who do i talk to  about calligraphy? i used to have my own very small
  wedding invitation mundanely but obviously need to brush up (haha) and put
  my work back in time. the scroll awards last night looked fantastic. looking
  forward to doing that again. i have no period equipment.

  2) husband & i are both interested in archery. who do i talk to? i have no
  equipment.

  3) i think i'm interested in the needleworkers guild. i already do crochet
  and crosstitch. but obviously have to get back into the period. definitely
  interested in weaving and looming. who do i talk to? where does the guild
  meet?

  4) where does "huzzah" come from as well as the hurray exclamation we made
  last night?

  5) how do i go about "registering" my personna? when do i do that?

  danielle hegdale

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