Buskins

Our birdwatching, or rather bird-listening, at Fingringhoe Wick left us hungry and we made our way to the nearby ‘Donkey and Buskins’ at Layer de la Haye, which we discovered a few years ago and were eager to return to. The food is great and the staff cheerful and efficient. It has a real garden, with flowers, shrubs and a fishpond and of course, a delightful name.

But what are buskins? In the picture above they are the donkey’s shin pads!

The word properly means half-boots or high-laced shoes – the forbears of today’s ankle boots perhaps? The word entered English around 1500, and the precise origin is unknown. The word exists in different forms in most continental languages, though the exact relationship between them is obscure. Our English word may derive from Old French broissequin - a kind of cloth.

Apparently a high-heeled buskin was worn by Athenian tragic actors to make them look taller. So buskins sometimes appear as a symbol of tragedy, contrasted with sock (from Latin soccus), the low shoe worn by comedians.

Since ancient times, buskins have sometimes been worn by hunters, soldiers and farmers to protect the lower legs against thorns and dirt. And seemingly some soldiers and farmers have afforded this protection to their animal co-workers. How humane.