_"Haul over the Coals"_ (Vol. viii., p. 125.).--This appears to mean just
the same as "roasting"--to inflict upon any one a castigation _per verbum_
and in good humour.
_To cover over the coals_ is the same as to cower over the coals, as a
gipsy over a fire. Thus Hodge says of Gammer Gurton and Tib, her maid:
"'Tis their daily looke,
They cover so over the coles their eies be bleared with smooke."
_To carry coals to Newcastle_ is well understood to be like giving alms to
the wealthy; but viewed in union with the others would show what a
prominent place coals seem to have in the popular mind.