On the practice of feaguing

 

Nurse Myra has found a new word, feague, which according to Francis Grose’s (1811) Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, means:

“to put ginger up a horse’s fundament, or a live eel, to make him lively and carry his tail well; it is said, a forfeit is incurred by any horse-dealer’s servant, who shall shew a horse without first feaguing him. Feague is used, figuratively, for encouraging or spiriting one up”.

Thanks to Project Gutenberg, this resource is available online for hours of fun with the vulgar tongue.

Wikipedia elaborates on the continued use of ginger to "liven up" horses:

Ginger is an irritant, and when administered to a horse, the horse will carry its tail high and generally act somewhat restless and more lively. In the past, the purpose was often to make an older horse behave like one that was younger, or to temporarily liven up a sick or weakened animal.

 

You can read about the movement to stop the practice of gingering [feaguing] here (which is where I found the excellent illustration).

Comments

[CraigC]

Is that anything like felching?

[Spacegirl]

Although "would be considered to be an act of cruelty in any civilized community"...some humans do it (to themselves, not horses) for pleasure...It's called figging. Just wanted to share....LOL

[gail]

Interesting, Spacegirl. The modern word is obviously derived from the original "feaguing."