By Betty Kirkpatrick
Nowadays, the word hustings refers to the political activities, meetings, rallies and speeches that take place in the period before an election. In England in the 11th century a husting was a kind of deliberative council summoned by the king
English borrowed the word from Old Norse husthing which is, in turn, derived from hus, a house and thing, a meeting or assembly. Husthing, thus, meant literally a house assembly and referred to a council consisting of the king and members of his immediate household rather than a more general assembly.
In some towns in the 12th century the word husting began to be used of a court conducting legal business. It was used particularly of the court of law held in the Guildhall in London, which for a long time was the city of London’s highest court. Nominally this court was presided over by the Lord Mayor and the sheriffs, but it was really presided over by the Recorder of London.
Later, around the 17th century, the term husting or hustings began to be used of the platform at the end of the Guildhall where the Lord Mayor sat when the court was in session. In Britain before 1872 the term hustings was used to refer to another platform, the platform from which parliamentarian candidates were nominated and from which they addressed the electors. Later its meaning was extended to refer to the entire election proceedings.
Betty Kirkpatrick is the former editor of several classic reference books, including Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary and Roget’s Thesaurus. She is also the author of several smaller language reference books, including The Usual Suspects and Other Clichés published by Bloomsbury, and a series of Scots titles, including Scottish Words and Phrases, Scottish Quotations, and Great Scots, published by Crombie Jardine.
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