RE: Calcant please blow!

In Latin "calcare" means "to kick", as in the proverb "Mors calcat ipso pede
... " (Death strikes with the same foot ...).
Thus in pre-electric times, when bellows were operated by a man with his
feet, he was called "the kicker", i.e. calcant.
The stop would activate a signal, e.g. draw from a chord sounding a small
bell in the blower's room, warning the "calcant" to start blowing as the
organist was about to start playing.

Kind regards

Claudio

http://harps.braybaroque.ie/

>
> On 4/30/09, Pianoman <pianoman@...> wrote:
> >
> > Can anyone tell me what calcant means? It is on an 1896 console.
> >
>
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