a scup; scupping

[Dan Goncharoff]

I believe that the "swings" shown here:

http://www.palisadespark.com/photos_earlyrides.html

are scup swings. Palisades Amusement Park had them, I know. If you look
carefully, you see a third rope connected to a short piece, orthogonal to
the long bar, above each scup. I am guessing that pulling that third rope
made the scup swing.

Question: is there a connection between scup and scoop?

DanG


On Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:30 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: a scup; scupping
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 11/18/2013 05:44 PM, George Thompson wrote:
> >Also, the ropes were said to be attached
> >to the top of the frame.  Joel's vision would require the ropes to be
> >attached to the ends of the frame, or off the frame.
>
> Not exactly.  I saw a horizontal support rod, *along* which the scups
> are hung, not at the ends.  Like the modern playground swing set; see
> illustration in Wikipedia, "Swing (seat)".  The word "frame" might
> refer to what supports the rod -- in the illustration, the angled metal
> bars.
>
> However, it is true that my prototype did not have the rope (two
> ropes per scup) "attached" to the frame -- one end was attached to
> the scup and the other end merely slung over the frame (rod).  I
> await an engineering solution that more exactly fits the quotation.
>
> I empathize with George's desire to go back in time.  I've recently
> been reading about the exhibition of 18th century optical devices
> (such as the camera obscura) and automata, and wishing I couldda been
> there, since I can hardly envision how they worked or which ones were
> hoaxes.
>
> Joel
>
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