On the basis of a few words in a poem written in Old English.
O lodre of Ipocrites,
Nowe shut vpp your wickettes,
And clappe to your clickettes!
A! Farewell, kings of crekettes!
The term 'wickette' is used by Chaucer and refers to a window (typically arched).
The term 'clickettes' refers to the old English word for a door knocker or window latch.
The term 'crekettes' refers to the old English word for 'someone who lives by a creek'.
NB: Belgium, like the Netherlands is/was boggy/marshy land with lots of rivers and creeks. The Flemish word 'krik' refered to in the article is an old weaving term - there were two main types of looms commonly used in Europe at the time 'countermarch' and 'jack'... the translation from Dutch to English of 'krik'? Jack... We then run into a typical counter explanation problem that throws the ball back in the air (so to speak)... the phrase 'every man Jack' means 'every person in a group'. Originally it referred to the last person batting in a cricket team, the 11th person (a term from playing cards 9, 10, Jack)
I have seen numerous explanations for the last word ranging from the 'cricket' mentioned, crotchet, to croquette. The supposed use of a Flemish/Dutch word just does not truly match. Where there may be a clever/accidental . The nearest possible alternative would be a shepherds 'crook' or walking stick. However, John Skelton, the individual to whom the poem is attributed, would not have won a spelling competition. In much of his work he was clever with his use of words and there are several common sayings attributed to him:
There is nothynge that more dyspleaseth God,
Than from theyr children to spare the r0d
By hoke ne by croke.
Than from theyr children to spare the r0d
By hoke ne by croke.
... like all of these however, they appear in several works by other authors either earlier or at the same time. Common phrase usage and terminology.
The tenuous linking of the words used is poorly researched to say the least. Using that quaint 'ye olde English' term, I refer to this as "Bollocks"...
As a side note, it is worthwhile bearing in mind one of the biggest faults with Google (or my knowledge of searching with it) is that result are returned by frequency/popularity, not necessarily by relevance. For the etymological searching I had to refer back to my printed books on the subject. Try to find anything relating to cricket at the moment to see what I mean.
As a side note, it is worthwhile bearing in mind one of the biggest faults with Google (or my knowledge of searching with it) is that result are returned by frequency/popularity, not necessarily by relevance. For the etymological searching I had to refer back to my printed books on the subject. Try to find anything relating to cricket at the moment to see what I mean.
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