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Shire draught horse, of typical draft conformation.

The Society of the Horseman's Word was a fraternal secret society that operated in Scotland from the eighteenth through to the twentieth century. Its members were drawn from those who worked with horses, including horse trainers, blacksmiths and ploughmen, and involved the teaching of magical rituals designed to provide the practitioner with the ability to control both horses and women. It also acted as a form of trade union, aiming to gain better rights for its members.^[1]

The initiation rituals into the society incorporated a number of elements such as reading passages from the Bible backwards, and the secrets included Masonic-style oaths, gestures, passwords and handshakes. Like the similar societies of the Miller's Word and the Toadsmen, they were believed to have practiced witchcraft. In East Anglia, horsemen with these powers were sometimes called Horse Witches.

History

The formation of the Horseman's Word in the late eighteenth century coincided with the draft horse becoming the primary working animal in the farming areas of Northern Scotland, replacing oxen in the hinterland of Aberdeen and the Moray Firth and ponies in Caithness and Orkney. As a result, the ability to raise and control these animals became a valued skill and people possessing this ability were in high demand. This created a desirable form of well paid and respectable work.^[2] It was in this context that the Horseman's Word was founded as a trade union whose goal was to protect these horse trainers and ploughmen, along with their trade knowledge, from the threat of an encroaching economic system in which the resources for production were becoming privately owned and wages and prices for goods and services were being taken out of the skilled laborers control and put into the hands of large farm owners.^[3] The Society, aside from protecting trade knowledge, wanted to ensure that the men engaged in this profession were efficiently trained and that the quality of their work was consistently good and that the remunerations for that work were appropriate.^[4] As Ben Fernee related, "The ploughmen did not own the land, the horses, the harness, the ploughs or their homes but they took control of the new technology, the horses, and ensured that only a brother of the Society of the Horseman’s Word might work them."^[5]

According to Ben Fernee, "Unmarried ploughmen lived hard lives, drank hard, played rough and chased women."^[6] The Horseman's Word took much influence from Freemasonry, another fraternal organisation to have developed in Scotland, albeit two centuries before. It was also influenced by a similar magical secret society, the Miller's Word, which was primarily for those in the milling proffession.^[7]

Praxes

Initiation Ceremony

The Horseman's Word borrowed much from the Miller's Word initiation ceremony where bread and whisky were given as pseudo sacraments and the inductee was blindfolded.^[8] Like the Miller's Word, throughout the society's meetings they imbibed alcohol, sang songs, and told jokes that mocked traditional morality and Christianity.^[9] The members of The Horseman’s Word did however add their own designs in the form of passwords and oaths as well as rites of initiation.^[10] It has been speculated that these initiation rituals could have been influenced by the witches sabbat, absorbed directly from Scottish folklore or from published accounts of witches and their ceremonies.^[11] The witch trials had ended not long before so many of the details of these trials would have been known to them.^[12]

Prior to the initiation ceremony the candidate, often a ploughboy, was told to come to the barn where the ceremonial procedures were to take place, normally held between 11pm and 1 am. Once at the door he was blindfolded and taken before the master of ceremonies, who was often an elder ploughman.^[13] As in Masonic rituals there was then a prearranged and established exchange of questions and answers that was to be given.^[14] In the case of the Horseman's Word and the Miller's Word this exchange was often a parody of catechism.^[15] After this was completed the inductee was then asked to seal the pact and shake hands with the devil, which would often be a branch or pole covered in animal fur.^[16]

The Word

After the candidate completed the initiation ceremony he was then given a word that was supposed to give him power over horses. So aside from being a secret society "The Horseman’s Word" was actually a spoken word. This secret word, which varied by location, was said to have magical and mystical qualities which would allow the keeper of the word to possess the ability by merely whispering it to bring horses under their complete control.^[17] Apart from gaining knowledge of the secret word more practical information and techniques about controlling and training horses was also passed on to members of the society. These methods were kept secret and done in such a way that the horseman maintained their reputation as having unique and even magical power over horses.^[18]

Techniques and Secrets of the Horseman's Word

"Question: Who caught the first horse?
Answer: It was Adam.
Question: Where did he catch him?
Answer: At the east side of the garden of Eden, in the way of the Land of Nod."

Quote from a Horseman’s Word ritual.^[19]

Until the initiation ceremony and induction into the society and the receiving of the word, the horseman who were not members of the society but potential candidates would have trouble with horses. This would often be caused by older ploughmen who were members of the society tampering with their horses. They would put things like tacks under the horse's collar to cause it to behave irrationally.^[20] This would be unknown to the potential candidate as the techniques for training and controlling the horses were not yet given to him. Most of these techniques were based on the horse's sharp sense of smell. Foul substances placed in front of the horse or on the animal itself would cause it to refuse to move forward. This technique is known as jading and is still used by horse trainers today. There were also pleasant smelling things that were used to make a horse move forward or calm down. If the substance was an oil it could be wiped on the trainer's forehead, they would then stand in front of the animal and the smell would draw it towards them. This practice was often used in taming unruly horses. There were also pleasant smelling and inviting materials, such as sweets, that the horseman could keep in their pocket in order to calm, attract, and subdue a crazed horse.^[21] Keeping these techniques secret, along with the myth that there was a word that only the horseman knew that gave them and them alone power over horses helped guarantee their reputation, prestige, job security, and pay. The same type of logic and protection of trade secrets can be seen among modern magicians who keep their tricks secret and only share them with other members of their trade.

One critic of the Society, a ploughman who later became a grocer and published a book entitled Eleven Years at Farm Work; being a true tale of farm servant life (1879), claimed that "Without betraying any secret, it may be said the real philosophy of the horseman's word, consists in the thorough, careful, and kind treatment of the animals, combined with a reasonable amount of knowledge of their anatomical and physiological structure."^[22]

Legacy

Historical study

In the twentieth century, a number of scholars began to study the history and origins of the Society. The first of these, J.M. McPherson, published his findings and theories in his Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland (1929), in which he outlined the idea that it was a survival of an ancient pagan cult that had been persecuted in the witch trials in the Early Modern period.^[23] Such ideas were supported by the folklorist Thomas Davidson in an article of his published on the subject of the Horseman's Word (1956),^[24] and then by George Ewart Evans, who purported the theory in four books of his published in the 1960s and 1970s.^[25]^[26]^[27]^[28] Nonetheless, around the same time that Evans was publishing his theory of a pagan survival, there were also researchers who had examined the origins of the Society and criticised the idea that it had ancient roots. In 1962, Hamish Henderson detailed how it had arisen in the eighteenth century,^[29] with his information being expanded upon by Ian Carter in his 1979 study of agricultural life in Scotland.^[30]

In 2009, The Society of Esoteric Endeavour published a compilation of nineteenth and early twentieth century texts about the Society in a volume entitled The Society of the Horseman's Word. Limited to an edition of one thousand copies, the first hundred copies contained an envelope inside within which was contained a piece of horse hair knotted in exactly the same manner as that which was originally used to invite prospective members into the Society.^[31]

Fiction

In 1981, a novel written by Georgess McHargue that was entitled The Horseman's Word was published.^[32]

References

Notes

Footnotes

^ Samuel 1981.
^ Hutton 1999. p. 62.
^ Samuel 1981. p. 88.
^ Hutton 1999. p. 62.
^ Fernee et al 2009. p. 15.
^ Fernee et al. p. 03.
^ Hutton 1999. p. 61-62.
^ Ibid.
^ Bengt Ankarloo and Stuart Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999), 8.
^ Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, 62.
^ Ankarloo and Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, 8.
^ Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, 62.
^ James Porter, "The Folklore of Northern Scotland: Five Discourses on Cultural Representation" (Folklore, Vol. 109 1998), 1-14.
^ Hutton, The Triumph of the Moon, 62.
^ ibid.
^ Ankarloo and Clark, Witchcraft and Magic in Europe, 8.
^ Peter Kerr, Thistle Soup: A Ladleful of Scottish Life (Globe Pequot, 2004), 11.
^ Society Meetings. (Folklore, Vol. 82, No. 1. Spring, 1971), 88.
^ Fernee et al 2009. p. 04.
^ Porter, The Folklore of Northern Scotland, 6.
^ Society Meetings, 88.
^ Quoted in Fernee et al 2009. p. 30.
^ McPherson 1929. p.290-292.
^ Davidson 1956. p. 70-72.
^ Evans 1966. p. 228-235.
^ Evans 1972. p. 225.
^ Evans 1975. p. 42-43.
^ Evans 1979. p. 137-141.
^ Hamish 1962. p.696-698.
^ Carter 1979. p.154-156
^ Fernee et al 2009. p. 01.
^ McHargue 1981.

Bibliography

2

Ankarloo, Bengt, and Stuart Clark. Witchcraft and Magic in Europe. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999.
Kerr, Peter. Thistle Soup: A Ladleful of Scottish Life. Globe Pequot, 2004.
Porter, James. "The Folklore of Northern Scotland: Five Discourses on Cultural Representation." Folklore, Vol. 109 (1998): 1-14.
Society Meetings. Folklore, Vol. 82, No. 1. (Spring, 1971): 88.

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ==Legacy==
 === Historical study ===
-In the twentieth century, a number of scholars began to study the history and origins of the Society. The first of these, J.M. McPherson, published his findings and theories in his ''Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland'' (1929), in which he outlined the idea that it was a survival of an ancient pagan cult that had been persecuted in the [[witch trials in the Early Modern period]].<ref>[[#McP29|McPherson 1929]]. p.290-292.</ref> Such ideas were supported by the folklorist Thomas Davidson in an article of his published on the subject of the Horseman's Word (1956),<ref>[[#Dav56|Davidson 1956]]. p. 70-72.</ref> and then by [[George Ewart Evans]], who purported the theory in four books of his published in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>[[#Eva66|Evans 1966]]. p. 228-235.</ref><ref>[[#Eva72|Evans 1972]]. p. 225.</ref><ref>[[#Eva75|Evans 1975]]. p. 42-43.</ref><ref>[[#Eva79|Evans 1979]]. p. 137-141.</ref> Nonetheless, around the same time that Evans was publishing his theory of a pagan survival, there were also researchers who had examined the origins of the Society and criticised the idea that it had ancient roots. In 1962, Hamish Henderson detailed how it had arisen in the eighteenth century,<ref>[[#Ham62|Hamish 1962]]. p.696-698.</ref> with his information being expanded upon by Ian Carter in his 1979 study of agricultural life in Scotland.<ref>[[#Car79|Carter 1979]]. p.154-156</ref>
+In the twentieth century, a number of scholars began to study the history and origins of the Society. The first of these, J.M. McPherson, published his findings and theories in his ''Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland'' (1929), in which he outlined the idea that it was a survival of an ancient pagan cult that had been persecuted in the [[witch trials in the Early Modern period]].<ref>[[#McP29|McPherson 1929]]. p.290-292.</ref> Such ideas were supported by the folklorist Thomas Davidson in an article of his published on the subject of the Horseman's Word (1956),<ref>[[#Dav56|Davidson 1956]]. p. 70-72.</ref> and then by [[George Ewart Evans]], who purported the theory in four books of his published in the 1960s and 1970s.<ref>[[#Eva66|Evans 1966]]. p. 228-235.</ref><ref>[[#Eva72|Evans 1972]]. p. 225.</ref><ref>[[#Eva75|Evans 1975]]. p. 42-43.</ref><ref>[[#Eva79|Evans 1979]]. p. 137-141.</ref> Nonetheless, around the same time that Evans was publishing his theory of a pagan survival, there were also researchers who had examined the origins of the Society and criticised the idea that it had ancient roots. In 1962, [[Hamish Henderson]] detailed how it had arisen in the eighteenth century,<ref>[[#Ham62|Hamish 1962]]. p.696-698.</ref> with his information being expanded upon by Ian Carter in his 1979 study of agricultural life in Scotland.<ref>[[#Car79|Carter 1979]]. p.154-156</ref>
 In 2009, The Society of Esoteric Endeavour published a compilation of nineteenth and early twentieth century texts about the Society in a volume entitled ''The Society of the Horseman's Word''. Limited to an edition of one thousand copies, the first hundred copies contained an envelope inside within which was contained a piece of horse hair knotted in exactly the same manner as that which was originally used to invite prospective members into the Society.<ref>[[#Soc10|Fernee et al 2009]]. p. 01.</ref>