Régale There is a sense of this word régale that is unique to Canadian history. But first, this is not regale, the singular of regalia or kingly things. “The mayor of the little town wore his symbol of office, one tin regale, a small star. The town was too poor to afford regalia, multiple symbols of office.” In English, to regale is a verb meaning ‘to entertain pleasantly.’ “Prime Minister Martin regaled the audience with delightful anecdotes about his manifold talent for leadership.” Our subject today, the regale of French origin, is an obsolete English noun meaning a feast, a delicacy, a choice treat of drink or food. For example, in one of her novels, Shirley: A Tale, published in 1849, Charlotte Brontë writes of her eponymous heroine, “This sort of impromptu regale…was Shirley’s delight.” When using régale in its special Canadian French meaning, I prefer to keep the French acute accent to remind me that régale derives from Old French gale ‘rejoicing,’ ‘pleasure,’ ‘merry-making.’ The prime meaning of the root was ‘shout of joy.’ The same gale stem gives us the words gala and gallant. The prefix re-, while literally indicating repetition, often merely intensifies the sense of the root word to which it is added, as it does in régale. This use of re- was common even in the language in which the prefix originated, Classical Latin.
The special historical Canadian use of this medieval French word for festive celebration involved the canniness of the superintendent factors of the North West Company, and later the Hudson ’s Bay Company. The fur-trading outposts were called ‘factories’ and the person in charge was a ‘factor.’ Drinking on post property was not Régale is not used today by French-speaking young people. Distinct, modern Québec terms for what the British call “a right piss-up” or wild drinking party include une buverie, une fringue, une ripe, and une soûlade. Continental French dictionaries still list le régal as a sumptuous feast but label the word ‘archaic.’ In the 19th century the novelist Zola could write: «Son grand régal était un certain potage.» ‘His favorite food treat was a special soup.’ But the verb is common in modern French. Régaler can mean ‘to offer a great meal [to someone]’ or ‘to treat someone to...’
© 2007 William Gordon Casselman
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often encouraged. But when trappers were setting out on a long, hazardous canoe journey, probably return-ing to tend distant trap lines, they were issued a pint of rum for régale, with the understanding that said spirits should be drunk well away from the fort, trading post, or factory. A rum régale might be passed out to men coming in after a lengthy trip too, as long as they went off in the bush to drink it. A ration of liquor, usually a noggin of rum, given out on New Year’s Eve or near Christmas, was also a régale. When whites and Aboriginal trappers had been given their rum ration and were getting ready to party, their wives and womenfolk, long before the preparation of festive foods, often took the initial precaution of hiding all the knifes, rifles, bows and arrows, and other objects that might become weaponry if party antics escalated to violence. 