Ship of Fools: The term "spikey" for Anglo Catholics

Thread: The term "spikey" for Anglo Catholics Board: Oblivion / Ship of Fools.

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Posted by Vidi Aquam (# 18433) on :

I have never heard Anglo Catholics called spikey before (maybe because I'm American?). Why is this term used, and how did it come into being? Do UK ACs tend to spike their hair? Do they wear crucifixes with sharp nails sticking out? An extensive googling did not shed any light.

And is it it spikey or spiky?

Posted by BroJames (# 9636) on :

According to The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang the usage goes back as far as 1893*, and the adjective in this usage precedes the noun or verb related to it. The dictionary shows it as 'spiky'. I can't find anything online about how/why the usage developed.

(*The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang puts it as early as 1881.)

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

I heard at one time (probably anecdotal) that High Church types liked lots and lots of candles. The candle holders had a nail-like spike to hold the candles, so lots of candles meant lots of spikes.

Posted by basso (# 4228) on :

The OED has this:

quote:

1893 W[illiam] Bright Let. 20 Oct. (1903) 348 The ultras, as they might be called, on the Catholic side, present Church ideas, too often, in a form altogether too hard to be attractive; I believe I am said to have called it ‘spiky’, in a letter to my friend the Principal of Ely College.

[I hope that's within fair use - the hosts will know what to do if I've stepped over the line.]

Posted by M. (# 3291) on :

Interesting - I'd always just assumed it was because they are high up the candle.

M.

Posted by leo (# 1458) on :

I am used to the term referring to people obssessed with ceremonial.

Posted by Albertus (# 13356) on :

Yes. I don't think you'd accuse say Keble or Pusey, if they came back to earth, of being 'spikey'. On the other hand Rose Macaulay's Fr Chantry-Pigg, and his real-life models, are definitely spikes.

Posted by bib (# 13074) on :

I have never heard the term used in Australia. Which countries actually use the term?

Posted by Sipech (# 16870) on :

Well, I've learned something new.

I thought they were called spikey because they were ill-tempered towards anyone from a different expression/tradition/denomination of christianity.

Posted by Gamaliel (# 812) on :

No, that's a by-product, Sipech ... [Big Grin]

I'm with leo, I've tended to hear the term in connection with anyone overly obsessed with ceremonial - rather like the 'tat-queens' we sometimes encounter on Ecclesiantics here aboard Ship.

I've never really thought much about the derivation of the term, but I am familiar with very High Church Anglicans being called 'spikes' - I've always assumed that it means that they are so high up that there's a spike on the end - rather like a paling or railing ...

I was aware of the term before my involvement with Ship have tended to use it more since I came here.

Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :

Nothing to add about the derivation of 'spike,' but I can verify that the term was in use in and around Chicago (a diocese said to be part of the 'Biretta Belt) as long ago as 1960. In fact a group of young men in our parish were known as 'The Spike Patrol.'

Posted by Bishops Finger (# 5430) on :

'Spiky' always seems to me to give the impression of awkwardness.......and perhaps even nastiness....

I prefer terms relating to one's parish's position on The Candle i.e. 'high up the candle', 'nosebleed high' or 'beneath the floorboards'.

Ian J.

Posted by Pigwidgeon (# 10192) on :

quote:
Originally posted by Bishops Finger:

I prefer terms relating to one's parish's position on The Candle i.e. 'high up the candle', 'nosebleed high' or 'beneath the floorboards'.

Ian J.

Or "snake-belly low."

Posted by balaam (# 4543) on :

I have only heard the term as an insult, but then I'm low enough to be subterranean. Does anyone say spiky in a non-derogatory way?

Posted by L'organist (# 17338) on :

I understood the term 'spikey' came about because of the coincidence of the emergence of the Oxford Movement and the flowering of the Gothic Revival: the architectural forms featured multitudinous pinnacles or spikes, hence the term.

Posted by georgiaboy (# 11294) on :

I can't find my copy at the moment, but the introduction to John Betjeman's 'Slick but not Streamlined,' published in 1947, includes this line IIRC

'and mildly deplored the spikiness of Aunt Maud, who attended a church with Benediction and the Silent Canon.'

I can't recall who wrote the introduction, but it's a classic in its own right!

Posted by Jengie jon (# 273) on :

I have always thought it an architectural reference in comparison with Nonconformist barns.

Jengie

Posted by Ricardus (# 8757) on :

The Screwtape Letters has an Anglo-Catholic priest called Father Spike.

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