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The Champagne of Ciders

February 1, 2011
08:11 AM

Come on all you artisan cider makers.
What an opportunity to make a “champagne of ciders ” with an immaculate Irish pedigree and what a name .

(And I checked with Seedsavers , they have the seeds ) !

This is my favourite entry (so far ) in the online OED.

coccagee, n.
Forms: Also cock a gee, cokaghee, cocko-gee, cockygee.

Etymology: modern Irish cac a’ ghéidh: goose dung, from its greenish-yellow (‘goose shit’) colour.

A cider apple formerly in high repute; also, the cider made from it.
In A Treatise on Cyder-making 1753 p. 23 it is said:
‘This fruit is of Irish extraction, the name signifying in that language Goose-turd.
Counsellor Pyne, who resided near Exeter, and who had care of Sir William Courtenay’s estates in Ireland, is said to have brought it into England.’

1727 H. Stafford Cyder-Fruits Devonsh. in Langley Pomona (1729) 149,
I must mention to you another sort [of cider] which hath not been heard of among us more than six or seven years: The name of it is Cockagee, or Cackagee (for the word, as far as I can learn, is Irish).
The fruit is originally from Ireland, and the cyder much valued in that country.

1837 R. Southey Doctor IV. 382 What in his parlance used to be called Stingo; Stire, Cokaghee, or Fox-whelp, a beverage as much better than Champagne, as it is honester, wholesomer and cheaper.

1862 D. T. Ansted & R. G. Latham Channel Islands iv. xxi. 488 The coccagee carries off the palm for cider.

Comments

  1. isabel

    on February 2, 2011

    so ‘caca’ is an Irish word?

  2. Martin

    on February 2, 2011

    It sure as shit is .

  3. Paul Deegan

    on September 10, 2013

    Hello Martin,
    You will be happy to hear that Cockagee is about to make a reappearance, in the burgeoning craft cider sector in Ireland. Look out for it at Applest: The Slow Food Apple & Craft Cider Festival on the 21st and 22nd September

  4. Martin Dwyer

    on September 10, 2013

    Paul! You have made my week!

The comments are closed.


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