Lost Word Of The Day (59)

As I was struggling with a heavy box the other day, I consoled myself with the thought that I was bajulating, the present participle of the now obscure verb to bajulate meaning to carry a heavy burden.

Its origin is not clear but is thought to have been derived from a badger, the term used to describe an itinerant wholesaler who would buy corn and other commodities in one place and then carry them off to sell in another location. The word is on record from the 13th century, one Richard le bagger being recorded in 1297 in Hipperholme. A description of Malton market from 1642 noted that “the market is the quickest aboute 9 of the clocke -because the badgers come farre”.

If I sell the contents of the box, I will be following a long tradition and resuscitating a word that sheds light on the mercantile world of our ancestors.