Horse Dealer
Was your ancestor a “maquignon”, or horse dealer? Learn more about this occupation, both the honest and dishonest versions, in New France and Canada.
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Le Maquignon | The Horse Dealer or Trader
“Maquignon”, drawing by Joseph-Alphonse-Ubald Baudry in 1857. Credit: BAnQ.
The "maquignon" was a horse dealer or a person trading in live cattle, especially cattle or pack animals..
However, the French term "maquignon" is often pejorative, meaning a cunning or unscrupulous entrepreneur. The origin of the term comes from dishonest horse sellers, who used deceptive means to make foals look older, or to rejuvenate old horses. According to La Gazette des campagnes, the art of maquillonnage consisted of "trading in worn out and vicious horses, hiding the faults of some, selling others for what they are not worth."
Sources:
“Commerce des chevaux”, La Gazette des Campagnes, 12Feb 1880, p. 254. Digitized by Canadiana/Héritage https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_06185_691/7?r=0&s=1.
Martin Baron, L'ÉLOGE DE LA GRISE : LE CHEVAL ET LA CULTURE POPULAIRE AU QUÉBEC (1850-1960), thesis presented to obtain the Master of Arts (History), Université de Sherbrooke. 1997. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq26534.pdf.
Claude Lemay, “Fonctions et métiers délaissés”, L'Ancêtre, 2007 & 2008, number 281, volume 34, winter 2008, and number 280, volume 34, winter 2007, digital version. Société généalogique de Québec. www.sgq.qc.ca/images/_SGQ/R_LAncetre_plus_libre/ENT-FONCTIONS-METIERS-DELAISSES.pdf.
“Maguignon, maguignonne”, definition, Larousse. https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/maquignon/49311.