Hostler

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An hostler, pronounced (and occasionally spelled) ostler, is an archaic word for a groom or stableman, i.e. the occupation of someone employed in a stable to take care of horses.^[1]

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Other uses 3 Cultural references 4 References

[edit] Etymology

The word, recorded since c.1386, meaning "one who tends to horses at an inn," also, occasionally, "innkeeper" is derived from Anglo-French hostiler (modern French hostelier), itself from Medieval Latin hostilarius "the monk who entertains guests at a monastery," from hospitale "inn" (compare hospital, hospitaller, hospitality).^[1]

[edit] Other uses

In modern usage, hostler is also used to mean a person who services a truck or railroad engine at the end of a run.^[2]

[edit] Cultural references

The Ostler is the title of an 1855 novel by Victorian writer Wilkie Collins.

In the 1906 poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, a classic love triangle leads to doom: because Tim the hostler is in love with Bess, the landlord's daughter, and Bess loves the outlaw highwayman, Tim betrays the couple to the soldiers.^[3]

John Keats (1795- 1821) The famous Romantic Poet was the son of an hostler. Thomas Keats was Head Ostler at the Swan and Hoop, Moorgate, London. The income of a Head Ostler at this time was a respectable amount, enough to ensure that Frances Keats was not required to work, and therefore considered Middle Class. ^[4]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} EtymologyOnLine- Hostler
2. ^ "Hostler - Definition". YourDictionary. Referenced May 19, 2008.
3. ^ The Highwayman at Wikisource
4. ^ Romanticism, An Anthology Third Edition, Duncan Wu, ed., p. 1332