Axe Question

CutlassCollector · 4th June 2024, 08:20 PM

Terminology is always interesting!

Essentially a Poll Axe is a meaningless term as all axes have them.

The Poll of an axe, as A. G. Maisey has already said, is the opposite end of the head to the blade also called the Butt. The word poll comes from an old word for head, still used in the context of voting/elections, polling - counting heads, poll tax etc. Yes, head and butt seem opposite - no idea why.

If Poll is linked with square, round, hammer, spike etc which describes the shape then, it is valid as a means of classifying a type.

I accept that terminology changes with time and locality and I have no problem with that but I think we should respect the old terminology when talking about the items of that period.

Neumann in 'Swords and Blades of the American Revolution' classifies many axes from 1600 to 1800 as round, square, hammer, or spiked polls. Kaufmann's 'American Axes' traces the development of axes from much earlier and also uses the term. This axe would be classed as a square poll axe.

A. G. Maisey · 4th June 2024, 11:30 PM

I cannot disagree with that, but since the way in which a word is understood changes from place to place & time to time, and in some places from person to person, if we are to classify anything with reasonable accuracy, then we must place it into context.

So, if the hatchet that started this thread is a square poll axe, then I feel that we must place that terminology into a frame of when & where it would have been named as a square poll axe. Here in Australia I believe most people would simply call it an old tomahawk, or tommyhawk, or hawk, or hatchet.

When the way in which we use & understand words arises as a subject for discussion, I cannot help but recall some of my early lessons in the English language, and the word "occupy". From the 1500's through to the early 1800's "occupy" could be understood in a very different way to our current understanding. Apparently, in Shakespeare's England, use of the word in public could get you time in the stocks.

4th June 2024, 08:20 PM	#1
CutlassCollector Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Scotland Posts: 369	Terminology is always interesting! Essentially a Poll Axe is a meaningless term as all axes have them. The Poll of an axe, as A. G. Maisey has already said, is the opposite end of the head to the blade also called the Butt. The word poll comes from an old word for head, still used in the context of voting/elections, polling - counting heads, poll tax etc. Yes, head and butt seem opposite - no idea why. If Poll is linked with square, round, hammer, spike etc which describes the shape then, it is valid as a means of classifying a type. I accept that terminology changes with time and locality and I have no problem with that but I think we should respect the old terminology when talking about the items of that period. Neumann in 'Swords and Blades of the American Revolution' classifies many axes from 1600 to 1800 as round, square, hammer, or spiked polls. Kaufmann's 'American Axes' traces the development of axes from much earlier and also uses the term. This axe would be classed as a square poll axe.

4th June 2024, 11:30 PM	#2
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 7,085	I cannot disagree with that, but since the way in which a word is understood changes from place to place & time to time, and in some places from person to person, if we are to classify anything with reasonable accuracy, then we must place it into context. So, if the hatchet that started this thread is a square poll axe, then I feel that we must place that terminology into a frame of when & where it would have been named as a square poll axe. Here in Australia I believe most people would simply call it an old tomahawk, or tommyhawk, or hawk, or hatchet. When the way in which we use & understand words arises as a subject for discussion, I cannot help but recall some of my early lessons in the English language, and the word "occupy". From the 1500's through to the early 1800's "occupy" could be understood in a very different way to our current understanding. Apparently, in Shakespeare's England, use of the word in public could get you time in the stocks.