The modern form riding was the result of the initial th being absorbed in the final th or t of the words north, south, east and west, by which it was normally preceded.
[2][3][4] A common misconception holds that the term arose from some association between the size of the district and the distance that can be covered or encircled on horseback in a certain amount of time (compare the Walking Purchase).
The Canadian use of riding is derived from the English local government term, which was widely used in Canada in the 19th century.
Nonetheless, it was common, especially in Ontario, to divide counties with sufficient population into multiple electoral districts, which thus became known as ridings in official documents.
It was later used in the description of the new electoral districts which were created by the Constitution Act, 1867, for the first elections to the new federal House of Commons and the new provincial Legislative Assembly of Ontario, immediately following Confederation.
Rural constituencies therefore became geographically larger through the 20th century and generally encompassed one or more counties each, and the word riding was then used to refer to any electoral division.
The ancient county of Yorkshire had three ridings,[4][6][7] North, West and East, originally each subdivided into wapentakes which were created by the Vikings.
The title of the novel trilogy Red Riding by David Peace, set in Yorkshire, is a play on the word.
[16] Ridings existed in rural New Zealand in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century as part of larger county councils in the area.
For example, The Taranaki County Council was divided into three separate ridings: Moa (south), Omata (west) and Waitara (east).
[citation needed] J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, The Shire, is divided into farthings, into the Fourth Age.