In the
British Isles since
Anglo-Saxon times, a 'riding' is traditionally a sub-division (especially in three) of a
county[Online Entymology Dictionary - riding. URL accessed 21 April 2007.].
The term has similar or analogous meanings in other countries.
Word history
The word ''riding'' is descended from late
Old English ★ ''þriðing'' or
★ ''þriding'' (recorded only in Latin contexts or forms, e.g. ''trehing'', ''treding'', ''trithing'', with Latin initial ''t'' here representing the Old English letter
thorn). It came into Old English as a loanword from
Old Norse ''þriðjungr'', meaning a third part (especially of a county), cf.
farthing. The modern form ''riding'' was the result of initial ''th'' being absorbed in the final ''th'' or ''t'' of the words ''north'', ''south'', ''east'' and ''west'', by which it was normally preceded.
[1][Online Entymology Dictionary - riding. URL accessed 21 April 2007.]
A common misconception holds that the term arose from some association between the size of the district and the distance that can be covered on horseback in a certain amount time.
Norse states
Ridings are originally Scandinavian institutions.
In
Iceland the third part of a
thing which corresponded roughly to an English county was called ''þrithjungr''.
However in the mother-country
Norway the ''þrithjungr'' seems to have been an ecclesiastical division.
British Isles
Yorkshire
Since
Viking rule,
Yorkshire has had three ridings
[Online Entymology Dictionary - riding. URL accessed 21 April 2007.][2][3],
North,
West, and
East, originally each subdivided into
wapentakes.
The Yorkshire ridings were in many ways treated as separate counties, having had separate
Quarter Sessions and also separate
Lieutenancies since the
Restoration. This practice was followed by the
Local Government Act 1888, which made each of the three ridings an
administrative county with an elected county council. These county councils, and the historic Lieutenancies were abolished in 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972.
A local government area
East Riding of Yorkshire was re-established in 1996, with a corresponding Lieutenancy, but this does not include the entire area of the historic East Riding and even includes some of the historic West Riding.
According to the 12th-century compilation known as the laws of
Edward the Confessor, the riding was the third part of a county (''provincia''); to it causes were brought which could not be determined in the
wapentake, and a matter which could not be determined in the riding was brought into the court of the shire.
There is abundant evidence that riding courts were held after the Norman Conquest. A charter which
Henry I granted to the Church of St Peters at York mentions ''wapentacmot, 'triding'mot'' and ''shiresmot'' (-mot designates popular assemblies), and exemptions from suit to the thriding or riding may be noticed frequently in the charters of the Norman kings. As yet, however, the jurisdiction and functions of these courts have not been ascertained. It seems probable from the silence of the records that they had already fallen into disuse early in the 13th century.
Although no longer having any administrative role the Ridings of Yorkshire still play a part as cultural entities - they are used for the names of a number of groups and organisations and some people in Yorkshire associate themselves with one Riding or another (see
West Riding of Yorkshire#Current usage and
Yorkshire Ridings Society).
Ireland
County Tipperary in the
Republic of Ireland was divided in
1838 into two (not three) ridings,
Tipperary North Riding and
Tipperary South Riding — the divisions remain as local government counties, but were renamed simply 'North Tipperary' and 'South Tipperary' in
2002.
County Cork was divided into East and West Ridings in
1823. The ridings still exist for judicial purposes, and
Garda Siochana divisions are based on them. Cork county council is divided for some purposes into the two ridings, with councillors for the ridings meeting separately to perform some functions.
County Galway was also divided into East and West Ridings.
Elsewhere
Lindsey, a subdivision of
Lincolnshire, also possessed ridings, in this case the
North,
West, and
South ridings.
Other Commonwealth nations
Canada
The term was used in 19th century
Canada to refer to sub-divisions of counties.
In
Canadian politics, a "riding" is a colloquial term for a
constituency or electoral district. Officially, "
electoral district" is generally used, although government documents sometimes use the colloquial term. In colloquial Canadian French, a riding is confusingly known as ''comté'', i.e., "county", as the electoral districts in Quebec were historically identical to its
counties; the official French term is ''circonscription''.
The Canadian use of "riding" is derived from the
English local government term, which was widely used in Canada in the 19th century. Most Canadian counties never had sufficient population to justify administrative sub-divisions. Nonetheless, it was common, especially in
Ontario, to divide counties with sufficient population into multiple electoral districts, which thus became known as "ridings" in official documents. Soon after Confederation, the urban population grew (and more importantly, most city dwellers gained the franchise after property ownership was no longer required to gain the vote). Rural constituencies therefore became geographically larger through the 20th century and generally encompassed one or more counties each, and the word "riding" was then used to refer to any electoral division.
The local association for a political party is known as a
riding association.
Australia
The term is also used in
Australia as a division of
Shire Councils, similar to a
Ward in City councils.
New Zealand
Ridings existed in rural
New Zealand until the popularisation of the automobile with the improvement of roads, and the concurrent
urban drift. Then (c. ), the ridings were merged into larger "
Councils", which in the were merged again into "district councils". In towns the equivalent administrative unit was called a "
borough council".
See also
The term '
farthing' is analogous for quarters of a county.
Gloucestershire was once divided into Farthings. In
Tolkien's fictional world of
Middle-earth, the
Shire is divided into four Farthings, into the
Fourth Age.
Sources and references
1. Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, edited by John Simpson and Edmund Weiner, Clarendon Press, 1989, twenty volumes, hardcover, ISBN 0-19-861186-2.
2. The Yorkshire Ridings Society. URL accessed 21 April 2007.
3. About Yorkshire - The Yorkshire Ridings. URL accessed 21 April 2007.
★
★
Etymology on line
★
Information about Canadian ridings
★ Felix Liebermann, ''Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen'' (Halle, 1888-89)
★ William Stubbs, Constitutional History of England
★ Richard Cleasby, Icelandic Dictionary
★ New English Dictionary
★ William Dugdale, ''Monasticon Anglicanum'', vol. vi., edited by John Caley and others (1846).
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