“Goose pulling”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

It is still practiced today, using a dead goose, in parts of Belgium and in Grevenbicht in the Netherlands^[4] as part of Shrove Tuesday and in some towns in Germany as part of the Shrove Monday celebrations. It is referred to as Ganstrekken in the Netherlands, Gansrijden in Belgium and Gänsereiten in Germany using a dead goose that has been humanely killed by a veterinarian.

The practice

Spain

In El Carpio de Tajo goose pulling is practised on every July 25th to celebrate the liberation (Reconquista) from the Arabs in 1141.^[5] Later, during the dictatorship of Franco, the use of live geese was prohibited by a new animal protection law. Instead of geese, ribbons tied to sticks were used, which the riders had to insert into metal rings. When democracy returned to Spain, the use of geese was again allowed.

Netherlands

Goose pulling is attested in the Netherlands as early as the start of the 17th century; the poet Gerbrand Adriaensz Bredero referred to it in his 1622 poem Boerengeselschap ("Company of Peasants"), describing how a party of peasants going to a goose-pulling contest near Amsterdam end up in a brutal brawl, leading to the lesson that it is best for townspeople to stay away from peasant pleasures.^[6]

Although the use of live geese was banned in the 1920s, the practice still arouses some controversy. In 2008 the Dutch Party for Animals (PvdD) proposed that it should be banned; the organisers, Folk Verein Gawstrèkkers Beeg, rejected the proposal, pointing out that there was no question of cruelty to animals because the geese were already dead.^[4]

Belgium

Belgian goose pulling is accompanied by an elaborate set of customs. The rider who succeeds in pulling off the goose's head is "crowned" as the "king" for one year and given a crown and mantle. At the end of his "king year" the ruling king has to treat his "subjects" to a feast of beer, drinks, cigars and bread pudding or sausages held either at his home or at a local pub. The kings compete with each other to become the "emperor".^[7] Children participate as well; in 2008, the children's goose pulling tournament in Lillo near Antwerp was won by a 14-year-old who won 390 euros and a trip to the Plopsaland theme park.^[8]

Germany

In Wattenscheid it is believed that the custom was brought by Spanish soldiers who were stationed in 1598 and 1599 during the Eighty Years' War and later in the Thirty Years' War.^[9]

In some other places of Germany it was forbidden. In Dortmund and Essen rattraps are used.

United Kingdom

The sport appears to have been relatively uncommon in Britain, as all references are to it as a curiosity practiced somewhere else. The 1771 Philip Parsons locates it in "Northern parts of England" and assumes it is unknown in Newmarket in Southern England. Parsons described how it was carried out in England:

In a satirical letter to Punch in 1845 it is regarded as a barbarous practice known only to the bloodthirsty Spaniards, like bull-fighting.^[11]

The serious work Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain, of 1849, calls it "Goose-riding" and says it has been "practiced in Derbyshire within the memory of persons now living", and that the antiquary Francis Douce (1757–1834) had a friend who remembered it "when young" in Edinburgh in Scotland.^[12]

From these references it would appear to have died out in Britain by the end of the 18th century.

United States

The Dutch settlers of North America brought it to their colony of New Netherland and from there it was transmitted to English-speaking Americans. Goose-pulling was taken up by those at the lower levels in American society,^[3] though it could attract the interest of all social strata. In the pre-Civil War South, slaves and whites competed alongside each other in goose-pulling contests watched by "all who walk in the fashionable circles."^[13] Charles Grandison Parsons described the course of one such contest held in Milledgeville, Georgia in the 1850s:

Tickets were issued by the proprietor of the gander, at fifty cents each, to all gentlemen present who wished for them, and they entered their names as "pullers". The pullers were to start about ten rods [about 50 m / 165 ft] from the gander, on horseback, riding at full speed, and as they passed along under the gander, they had the privilege of pulling off his head – which would entitle them to the additional privilege of eating him...

One entered the list – a "gentleman of property and standing" – and dashed over the course. The poor gander – seeming quite resigned to his fate, or not comprehending his danger, and not knowing how to "dodge" – had his neck seized by the first rider; but being well oiled, and his head so small, and his strength not yet exhausted, he slipped his head through the puller's hand without suffering much from the twist... After this he kept a sharp look out, and many pullers passed by without being able to grapple his neck. The game went on, and the pullers increased, till the jaded gander could elude their grasp no longer. An old Cracker – with a sandpaper glove on – pulled off his head at last, amid the shouts of a wondering host of intoxicated competitors.^[13]}}

The prizes of a goose-pulling contest were trivial – often the dead bird itself, other times contributions from the audience or rounds of drinks. The main draw of such contests for the spectators was the betting on the competitors, sometimes for money or more often for alcoholic drinks.^[3] One contemporary observer commented that "the whoopin', and hollerin', and screamin', and bettin', and excitement, beats all; there ain't hardly no sport equal to it."^[14] Goose-pulling contests were often held on Shrove Tuesday and Easter Monday, with competitors "engaged in this sport not just for its excitement but also to prove they were "real men," physically strong, brave, competitive and willing to take risks."^[15]

Unlike some other contemporary blood sports, goose pulling was often frowned upon. In New Amsterdam (modern New York) in 1656, Director General Pieter Stuyvesant issued ordinances against goose pulling, calling it "unprofitable, heathenish and pernicious."^[2] Many contemporary writers professed disgust at the sport; an anonymous reviewer in the Southern Literary Messenger, writing in 1836, described goose pulling as "a piece of unprincipled barbarity not infrequently practised in the South and West."^[16] William Gilmore Simms described it as "one of those sports which a cunning devil has contrived to gratify a human beast. It appeals to his skill, his agility, and strength; and is therefore in some degree grateful to his pride; but, as it exercises these qualities at the expense of his humanity, it is only a medium by which his better qualities are employed as agents for his worser nature."^[22]

The sport was challenging, as the oiling of the goose's neck made it difficult to retain a grip on it, and the bird's flailing made it difficult to target in the first place. Sometimes the organisers would add an extra element of difficulty; one writer describing an event in the American South witnessed "a [man], with a long whip in hand ... stationed on a stump, about two rods [10 m / 32 ft] from the gander, with orders to strike the horse of the puller as he passed by."^[17] The reaction of the startled horse would make it even more difficult for the puller to grab the goose as he went by. Many riders missed altogether; others broke the goose's neck without snapping off the head.^[18] The American poet and novelist William Gilmore Simms wrote that

Goose-pulling largely died out in the United States after the Civil War, though it was still occasionally practised in parts of the South as late as the 1870s; a local newspaper in Osceola, Arkansas reported of an 1870s picnic that "after eats, gander-pulling was engaged in. Mr. W.P. Hale succeeded in pulling in twain the gander's breathing apparatus, after which dancing was resumed."^[20]

A variant called "rooster pulling" has survived in New Mexico for some time. A rooster was buried in the sand up to its neck, and riders would try to pull it up as they rode past. This was later done with bottles buried in the sand. "Rooster racing in the Hispanic villages of northern New Mexico exists only in the history books and in the minds of a few men and women who ... still recall the popular sport of yesteryear".^[21]

Footnotes

1. ^Edward Brooke-Hitching. Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling, and Other Forgotten Sports, p.102. Simon and Schuster, 2015. {{ISBN|978-1-4711-4899-6}}
2. ^¹"Dutch". Bird, Thomas E. in Encyclopedia of ethnicity and sports in the United States, eds. Kirsch, George B.; Harris, Othello; Nolte, Claire Elaine. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0-313-29911-7}}
3. ^¹²{{cite book|last=Vickers|first=Anita|title=The new nation|page=147|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-31264-9}}
4. ^¹{{cite news|title=Dierenpartij wil komaf maken met ganstrekken|url=http://demorgen.be/dm/nl/990/Buitenland/article/detail/176081/2008/02/18/Dierenpartij-wil-komaf-maken-met-ganstrekken.dhtml|work=De Morgen Buitenland|date=2008-02-18|accessdate=2010-05-04}}
5. ^Artikel zum Gänsereiten.
6. ^{{cite book|title=Dutch literature in the age of Rembrandt: themes and ideas|last=Schenkeveld|first=Maria A|page=80|publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company|year=1991|isbn=978-90-272-2216-9}}
7. ^{{cite news|title=Het abc van het gansrijden |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=GP2M7ASP |work=het Nieuwsblad |date=2010-02-13 |accessdate=2010-05-04 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611190716/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/article/detail.aspx?articleid=GP2M7ASP |archivedate=2011-06-11 |df= }}
8. ^{{cite news|title=Michaël (14) wint gansrijden voor kinderen |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=HD1UVEJ5_2 |work=het Nieuwsblad |date=2008-08-05 |accessdate=2010-05-04 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611190844/http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=HD1UVEJ5_2 |archivedate=2011-06-11 |df= }}
9. ^so Bochum's Stadtarchivar Eduard Schulte in his study from 6 February 1925, cited by donews.de – Karneval mit den Gänsereitern
10. ^{{cite book|last=Parsons|first=Philip|title=Newmarket: or, An essay on the turf|publisher=R. Baldwin and J. Dodsley|year=1771|pages=174–5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7kBAAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22essay%20on%20the%20turf%22%201771&pg=PA174#v=onepage&q=%22essay%20on%20the%20turf%22%201771&f=false}}
11. ^{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wyEIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA121&dq=goose+pulling+England&hl=en&ei=cpLhS57qC835-AbP69jwDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CGIQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=goose%20pulling%20England&f=false|title=Sports for Queens|work=Punch|date=1845|volume=9}}
12. ^{{cite book|title=Observations on the popular antiquities of Great Britain: chiefly illustrating the origin of our vulgar and provincial customs, ceremonies, and superstitions, Volume 2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDcFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA419&dq=goose+pulling+England&hl=en&ei=1I7hS_iAEILK-Qbw8tj1Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CEEQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q&f=false|author1=Brand, John|author2=Ellis, Sir Henry|author3=Halliwell-Phillipps, James Orchard|publisher=Bohn|location=London|year=1849}}
13. ^¹{{cite book|last=Parsons|first=Charles Grandison|title=Inside view of slavery: or A tour among the planters|pages=136–7|publisher=John P. Jewett and Co|year=1855}}
14. ^{{cite book|last=Bartlett|first=John Russell|title=Dictionary of Americanisms: A glossary of words and phrases usually regarded as peculiar to the United States|pages=166–7|publisher=Little, Brown, and Company|year=1859}}
15. ^{{cite book|last=Pleck|first=Elizabeth Hafkin|title=Celebrating the family: ethnicity, consumer culture, and family rituals|page=76|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-0-674-00279-1}}
16. ^Anonymous, review of Georgia Scenes. Southern Literary Messenger, p. 289, vol. II, no. 4. March 1836
17. ^p. 157. INSIDE VIEW OF SLAVERY: OR A TOUR AMONG THE PLANTERS, by C.G. PARSONS, 1855.
18. ^{{cite book|last=Forret|first=Jeff|title=Race relations at the margins: slaves and poor whites in the antebellum Southern countryside|page=62|publisher=LSU Press|year=2006|isbn=978-0-8071-3145-9}}
19. ^¹{{cite book|title=As good as a comedy: or, The Tennesseean's story|last=Simms|first=William Gilmore|page=115|publisher=A. Hart|year=1852}}
20. ^{{cite book|last=Cochran|first=Robert|title=Our own sweet sounds: a celebration of popular music in Arkansas|page=17|year=2005|publisher=University of Arkansas Press|isbn=978-1-55728-793-9}}
21. ^{{cite book|page=94|last=Garcia|first=Nasario|title=Grandma's Santo on Its Head: Stories of Days Gone By in Hispanic Villages of New Mexico|year=2013|location=Albuquerque|publisher=University of New Mexico Press}}