Item Reference: 001582
Category: Toys and Games
Format: Artefact
Description: A wooden figure of a town crier wearing a grey coat with red and yellow details, carrying a handbell and a script with the words “Oyez, oyez, oyez!”
Date: c. 1970s
Further Information: The word ‘oyez’ derives from Anglo-Norman linguistics and translates to ‘hear ye’, commonly utilised by town criers, especially in medieval England and France. The term continued to enjoy heavy use in English courts until the eighteenth-century. Oyez is still utilised in the opening patter of sessions of the U.S. Supreme Court, amongst various federal courts.
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