Hobby horse (toy)

A hobby horse (or hobby-horse) is a child's toy horse, particularly popular during the days before cars. Children played at riding a wooden hobby horse made of a straight stick with a small horse's head (of wood or stuffed fabric), and perhaps reins, attached to one end. The bottom end of the stick sometimes had a small wheel or wheels attached. This toy was also sometimes known as a cock horse (as in the nursery rhyme Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross) or stick horse.

Hobby horses feature in the worship of Rajasthani folk deity Baba Ramdevji, a reference to a story about his childhood; wooden toy horses are popular offerings at his temple at Ramdevra. They also figured in the public rites of the Romanian Călușari.

Woodcut illustration from Dryander, Der Arzney gemeiner Inhalt, 1542

Woodcut illustration from Dryander, Der Arzney gemeiner Inhalt, 1542

Detail from Children's games by Pieter Breugel the Elder, 1560

Detail from Children's games by Pieter Breugel the Elder, 1560

Hobby horse

The term hobby horse is used, principally by folklorists, to refer to the costumed characters that feature in some traditional seasonal customs, processions and similar observances around the world. They are particularly associated with May Day celebrations, Mummers Plays and the Morris dance in England.

Types of hobby horse

Hobby horses may be constructed in several different ways. The types most frequently found in the United Kingdom have been categorised as follows:

Hobby horse (disambiguation)

A hobby horse is a costume or character involved in traditional customs such as the morris dance and mummers' play.

Hobby horse (or hobbyhorse) may also refer to:

See also

Mary Hopkin

Mary Hopkin (born 3 May 1950), credited on some recordings as Mary Visconti, is a Welsh folk singer best known for her 1968 UK number one single "Those Were The Days". She was one of the first musicians to sign to The Beatles' Apple label.

Biography

Early singing career

Hopkin was born in Pontardawe, Wales, into a Welsh-speaking family; her father worked as a housing officer. She took weekly singing lessons as a child and began her musical career as a folk singer with a local group called the Selby Set and Mary. She released an EP of Welsh-language songs for a local record label called Cambrian, based in her home town, before signing to The Beatles' Apple Records. The model Twiggy saw her winning the British ITV television talent show, Opportunity Knocks and recommended her to Paul McCartney. She became one of the first artists to record on The Beatles' Apple record label.

Her debut single, "Those Were the Days", produced by McCartney, was released in the UK on 30 August 1968 (catalogue number APPLE 2). Despite competition from a well-established star, Sandie Shaw, who released her version of the song as a single that year, Hopkin's version became a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart, reached number two in the US Billboard Hot 100, where for three weeks it was held out of the top spot by The Beatles' Hey Jude, and two weeks at number 1 in the Canadian RPM Magazine charts (Apple 1801). It sold over 1,500,000 copies in the United States alone, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. Global sales topped 8,000,000.