Wayzgoose
Encyclopedia
A wayzgoose was at one time an entertainment given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew's Day (24 August). It marked the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight. Later, the word came to refer to an annual outing and dinner for the staff of a printing
works or the printers on a newspaper.
for "sheaf", thus meaning "sheaf" or "harvest goose
", a bird eaten at harvest-time, cf. the "stubble-goose" mentioned by Chaucer in The Cook's Prologue.
Another plausible origin is a more general word for a merry-making or feast, reputedly referring to the grand goose-feast annually held at Waes, in Brabant
, at Martinmas. However that is pronounced quite differently, as "Waas". It apparently means "cloud-veil" in Dutch: also there are no places called Waes or Waas in Brabant, but there are several places with "Waes" in their name in East Flanders.
Relations between England
and the Low Countries
were often very close, and it is plausible that such entertainments might have grown to be called colloquially a "Waes-Goose". It is not clear why the term should have survived later in the printing trade. Certainly the goose has long ago parted company with the printers' wayzgoose, which was usually held in July, though it had no fixed season.
A keepsake was often printed to commemorate the occasion. It could be printed ahead of time, or the printing could form part of the evening's activities.
Some bookbinders believe that Wayzgoose was held on St Bartholomew's Day because he was the patron saint of leather workers. It was no coincidence that on August 24, 1456 the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed, perhaps triggering the very first wayzgoose party at Fust–Schöffer shop in Mainz.
The holiday, a break in printing, was traditionally also the day that papermakers took a break from making paper for the printers, and used up the last of the pulp to make paper for windows, waxed paper being the traditional window material for the yeoman class before the use of glass became more widespread, and after this was done, the pulp vats would be cleaned out for the new fibre, made from rags collected in the spring, and retted (prepared by rotting) over the summer.
The paper windows were fitted on St. Martin's Day (November 11). Just as the saint had supposedly cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, so yeoman farmers would give offcuts of the windows to the poor, to help them keep warm during the coming winter.
Parchment was the original mediaeval material for keeping northern homes warm, for those who could not afford glass for the windows. The patron saint of parchment makers was the same St Bartholomew. With paper replacing parchment, the name of the traditional Martinmas party, the Wayzgoose, might have been transferred to both papermakers' and printers' parties.
In 1928 poet Roy Campbell
wrote a satirical poem entitled The Wayzgoose.
Wharfedale
Wayzgoose is also the name of a Border Morris
side
from Otley
, West Yorkshire
, a town renowned for the development of the Wharfedale printing press
.
The University of California, Irvine
's student government (ASUCI
) hosts a medieval fair called Wayzgoose every April in conjunction with an open house event known as Celebrate UCI.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
, a contemporary art center preserving traditional printing and bookmaking crafts, celebrates an annual Wayzgoose in appreciation of its donors and members.
Tacoma, Washington
holds an annual Wayzgoose event dubbed a "printer's celebration". This event, which includes a large-scale relief printing project using a steamroller
, is designed to get the community interested and involved in the art of printmaking. The School of Visual Concepts
in Seattle, Washington
also celebrates an annual Wayzgoose festival which includes a "Steamroller Smackdown" competition.
In 1977 a children's sketch comedy TV show entitled Wayzgoose was produced and screened for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
. The series ran for about ten 30 minute episodes.
Coach House Books
, an independent Canadian press, began hosting an annual Wayzgoose party in 2009, in celebration of buying the building which they had rented since 1965.
The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum
holds an annual Wayzgoose every November. The event typically includes presentations and hands-on workshops by some of the top letter press printers and historians in the world.
Printing
Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....
works or the printers on a newspaper.
Possible derivations
The derivation of the term is doubtful. It may be a misspelling for "wasegoose", from wase, Middle EnglishMiddle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
for "sheaf", thus meaning "sheaf" or "harvest goose
Goose
The word goose is the English name for a group of waterfowl, belonging to the family Anatidae. This family also includes swans, most of which are larger than true geese, and ducks, which are smaller....
", a bird eaten at harvest-time, cf. the "stubble-goose" mentioned by Chaucer in The Cook's Prologue.
Another plausible origin is a more general word for a merry-making or feast, reputedly referring to the grand goose-feast annually held at Waes, in Brabant
Duchy of Brabant
The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...
, at Martinmas. However that is pronounced quite differently, as "Waas". It apparently means "cloud-veil" in Dutch: also there are no places called Waes or Waas in Brabant, but there are several places with "Waes" in their name in East Flanders.
Relations between England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
were often very close, and it is plausible that such entertainments might have grown to be called colloquially a "Waes-Goose". It is not clear why the term should have survived later in the printing trade. Certainly the goose has long ago parted company with the printers' wayzgoose, which was usually held in July, though it had no fixed season.
A keepsake was often printed to commemorate the occasion. It could be printed ahead of time, or the printing could form part of the evening's activities.
Some bookbinders believe that Wayzgoose was held on St Bartholomew's Day because he was the patron saint of leather workers. It was no coincidence that on August 24, 1456 the printing of the Gutenberg Bible was completed, perhaps triggering the very first wayzgoose party at Fust–Schöffer shop in Mainz.
The holiday, a break in printing, was traditionally also the day that papermakers took a break from making paper for the printers, and used up the last of the pulp to make paper for windows, waxed paper being the traditional window material for the yeoman class before the use of glass became more widespread, and after this was done, the pulp vats would be cleaned out for the new fibre, made from rags collected in the spring, and retted (prepared by rotting) over the summer.
The paper windows were fitted on St. Martin's Day (November 11). Just as the saint had supposedly cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, so yeoman farmers would give offcuts of the windows to the poor, to help them keep warm during the coming winter.
Parchment was the original mediaeval material for keeping northern homes warm, for those who could not afford glass for the windows. The patron saint of parchment makers was the same St Bartholomew. With paper replacing parchment, the name of the traditional Martinmas party, the Wayzgoose, might have been transferred to both papermakers' and printers' parties.
Contemporary uses
For almost 20 years the Letterpress Guild of New England has met in late September for their annual Wayzgoose.In 1928 poet Roy Campbell
Roy Campbell (poet)
Ignatius Royston Dunnachie Campbell, better known as Roy Campbell, was an Anglo-African poet and satirist. He was considered by T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas and Edith Sitwell to have been one of the best poets of the period between the First and Second World Wars...
wrote a satirical poem entitled The Wayzgoose.
Wharfedale
Wharfedale
Wharfedale is one of the Yorkshire Dales in England. It is the valley of the River Wharfe. Towns and villages in Wharfedale include Buckden, Kettlewell, Conistone, Grassington, Hebden, Ilkley, Burley-in-Wharfedale, Otley, Pool-in-Wharfedale, Arthington, Collingham, and Wetherby...
Wayzgoose is also the name of a Border Morris
Border Morris
The term Border Morris refers to a collection of individual local dances from villages along the English side of the Wales-England border in the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire. They are part of the Morris dance tradition.- History :...
side
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
from Otley
Otley
-Transport:The main roads through the town are the A660 to the south east, which connects Otley to Bramhope, Adel and Leeds city centre, and the A65 to the west, which goes to Ilkley and Skipton. The A6038 heads to Guiseley, Shipley and Bradford, connecting with the A65...
, West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, a town renowned for the development of the Wharfedale printing press
Printing press
A printing press is a device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium , thereby transferring the ink...
.
The University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
's student government (ASUCI
Student Activities and Traditions at UC Irvine
In spite of its suburban location and relative youth compared to other traditional universities, the University of California, Irvine has a number of student activities and traditions that make the university a distinct social hub for students...
) hosts a medieval fair called Wayzgoose every April in conjunction with an open house event known as Celebrate UCI.
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minnesota Center for Book Arts
Minnesota Center for Book Arts is the largest and most comprehensive independent non-profit book arts center in the United States. Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, MCBA is a nationally recognized leader in the celebration and preservation of traditional crafts including hand papermaking,...
, a contemporary art center preserving traditional printing and bookmaking crafts, celebrates an annual Wayzgoose in appreciation of its donors and members.
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
holds an annual Wayzgoose event dubbed a "printer's celebration". This event, which includes a large-scale relief printing project using a steamroller
Steamroller
A steamroller is a form of road roller – a type of heavy construction machinery used for levelling surfaces, such as roads or airfields – that is powered by a steam engine...
, is designed to get the community interested and involved in the art of printmaking. The School of Visual Concepts
School of Visual Concepts
The School of Visual Concepts in Seattle, Washington, is a vocational school training students and working professionals in the fields of graphic design, advertising art direction, advertising copywriting, web design, and marketing communications....
in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
also celebrates an annual Wayzgoose festival which includes a "Steamroller Smackdown" competition.
In 1977 a children's sketch comedy TV show entitled Wayzgoose was produced and screened for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
. The series ran for about ten 30 minute episodes.
Coach House Books
Coach House Books
Coach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. Coach House publishes innovative and experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundaries of convention.-History:The company was...
, an independent Canadian press, began hosting an annual Wayzgoose party in 2009, in celebration of buying the building which they had rented since 1965.
The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum
Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum
The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum was founded in the year 2000 and is located in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, USA. The museum is run by the Two Rivers Historical Society. It is dedicated to the preservation, study, production and printing of wood type used in letterpress printing...
holds an annual Wayzgoose every November. The event typically includes presentations and hands-on workshops by some of the top letter press printers and historians in the world.