That delightful magazine The Oldie has drawn my attention to the fact that the word “hobgoblin” has fallen out of favour.
They pointed out that Prince Philip’s Memorial Service at Westminster Abbey (March 29 this year) was entirely designed and planned by the Prince himself.
He wanted the old hymn “To Be a Pilgrim” included.
This hymn was written by the great John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress.
Bunyan’s original lyrics include the words: “Hobgoblin nor foul fiend / Can daunt his spirit.”
The Oldie was upset because these words were changed to “Since Lord Thou dost defend us with Thy Spirit / We know that at the end we shall life inherit.”
The Oldie decried the absence of that fine old word “hobgoblin.”
It is first recorded in 1530 with the meaning of “A mischievous, tricksy imp or sprite.”
The “goblin” part of the word is older (around 1350) and on its own meant “a small, ugly, gnome-like creature of folklore.”
To this was added the prefix “hob” which was a personal name—a contraction of Robin or Rob, and was often given to a rustic or a clown, or someone who was a bit devilish.
Now, since the word “hobgoblin” does not appear anywhere in the Bible I can understand why Westminster Abbey might like to drop it.
However, it seems to me that the idea behind “hobgoblin” is perfectly sound.
Namely, that there are evil forces at work as well as good forces, and sometimes those evil forces are not big but small, and irritating, and teasing—tricksy and mischievous.
There are some attempts to revive that old word today.
I am told that there are evil hobgoblins in some “sword and sorcery” computer games, and J. K. Rowling (in her Harry Potter books) gave us “Dobby”—this being an old Northern-English synonym for a hobgoblin.
Although we have to add that Dobby was a good hobgoblin, not a bad one.
MEDIA:
Last night I joined Peta Credlin on her Sky News show for the "Words Matter" segment. You can see our conversation here (although some hobgoblin has got into the works and renamed me "Kel Smith"!): https://www.skynews.com.au/opinion/peta-credlin/linguists-unable-to-track-origins-of-word-bogan/video/a06f5a02f75c8bd59c5b09b01edd8a86
Tonight on 2GB, 4BC, 2CC and the Nine Radio Network I'll be talking to Bill Woods--filling in on The John Stanley Show--for the "Words with Kel" segment from 10pm to 11pm.
In the next issue of The Spectator Australia (out Tomorrow) my "Language" column looks at how we define the word "racism"
And remember I have two small language columns (on "Ozwords" and "Place-names") in every issue of Australian Geographic. In the latest issue (out now) these look at the word "nark" and the place-name "Diamantina." So look for the new issue with the beautiful picture of a mountain hut in the snow country on the front.
BOOKS:
* If you're looking for my most recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonishing story of the convict fraudster who wrote Australia's first dictionary by Kel Richards | 9781460759769 | Booktopia
* You can find all my books currently in print here -- Booktopia Search Results for 'kel richards'. We sell books, hardback, paperback, audio, CDs.
* And also here -- Results for kel richards | Book Depository
* And you'll find more here -- Search: 4 results found for "Kel Richards" – matthiasmedia.com.au
* Many of my out of print books can be found at ABE Books -- Kel Richards - AbeBooks
