Patten (shoe) shoes of Japan and other Asian countries. What are in effect snowshoes for mud, as used by wildfowlers, boatmen, and Coast Guards may also be called pattens, or "mud-pattens". These are shaped boards attached to the sole of a shoe, which extend sideways well beyond the shape of the foot, and therefore are a different sort of footwear from the patten discussed here. "Horse-pattens" were used on horses, especially for ploughing muddy fields. The word was also used for ice-skates, as it is in French ("patiner", to skate). In London, the Worshipful Company of Pattenmakers remains the Livery Company, formerly
Hulk (medieval ship type) Hulk (medieval ship type) A hulk (or "holk") was a type of medieval sea craft, a technological predecessor of the carrack and caravel. The hulk appears to have remained a relatively minor type of sailing ship apparently peculiar to the low countries of Europe where it was probably used primarily as a river or canal boat, with limited potential for coastal cruising. The only evidence of hulks that we have are from legal documents and iconography. The name hulk may come from the Greek word "holkas", meaning a towed boat, which would be consistent with the use of the hulk