1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 20. Whenever there’s hens on the
crow, ’Arry’s good for a hinnings,—no fear!
Verb (Scots’).—To funk; to turn tail; to hen on = to fear to attempt.
Cock and hen club, subs. phr. (common).—A club composed of men and
women.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Hens and Chickens, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Pewter measures; quarts and
pints. Cf., Cat and Kittens.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. i., p. 276. The
hens and chickens of the roguish low lodging-houses are the
publicans’ pewter measures; the bigger vessels are ‘hens,’ the
smaller are ‘chickens.’
Hen-drinking, subs. (provincial).—See quot.
1859. Notes and Queries, 2 S. viii., 239. There is yet another
[Yorkshire marriage-custom], viz., the hen-drinking. On the evening
of the wedding day the young men of the village call upon the
bridegroom for a hen—meaning money for refreshments ... should the
hen be refused, the inmates may expect some ugly trick to the house
ere the festivities terminate.
Hen Frigate, subs. (nautical).—A ship commanded by the captain’s wife.
Cf., Hen-pecked.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1883. Clark Russell, Sailors’ Language, s.v.
Hen-fruit, subs. (American).—Eggs.
Hen (or Chicken)-hearted, adj. (old: now recognised).—Timorous;
cowardly.
d. 1529. Skelton, Why Come Ye not to Courte. They kepe them in
their holdes Lyke hen-hearted cuckoldes.
1506–56. Udal, James I. He is reconed a lowte and a henne-hearted
rascall.
1639–61. Rump Songs, i., [1662] 319. Let the hen-hearted Cit drink
whey.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th Ed.). Hen-hearted, of a cowardly,
fearful, or timorous disposition.
1754. B. Martin, Eng. Dict. (2nd Ed.), s.v. ‘Poltron.’ A coward, or
hen-hearted fellow.
1762. Foote, Liar, iii., 2. Why, what a dastardly, hen-hearted——But
come, Papillion, this shall be your last campaign.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1812. Johnson, Eng. Dict., s.v. Hen-hearted ... a low word.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, ch. xxviii. Are you turned hen-hearted,
Jack?
Hen-house, subs. (old).—See quot.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v. Hen-house, a house where the woman
rules, called also a she-house.
Hen of the game. See Game.
Hen-party (Convention- or Tea-), subs. (common).—An assemblage of women
for political or social purposes. Cf., Bull or Stag-party. Also,
Bitch-, Tabby-, and Cat-party.
Hen-pecked, adj. (old: now recognised).—Petticoat government; ruled by
a woman.
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Henpeckt Friggat, whose
Commander and Officers are absolutely sway’d by their Wives. Ibid.
Henpeckt Husband, whose Wife wears the Breeches.
1695. Congreve, Love for Love, iv., 13. I believe he that marries
you will go to sea in a hen-pecked frigate.
1712. Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, Pt. I., ch. v. He had a
termagant wife, and, as the neighbours said, was playing henpecked!
1712. Spectator, No. 479. Socrates, who is by all accounts the
undoubted head of the sect of the hen-pecked.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th Ed.). Hen-pecked, a man that is
over-awed by his wife, and dares do nothing disagreeable to her
inclinations.
1771. Smollett, Humphry Clinker, l. 27. I shall never presume to
despise or censure any poor man for suffering himself to be
henpecked, conscious how I myself am obliged to truckle to a
domestic demon.
1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, ch. xxxvii. He had fallen from all the
height and pomp of beadleship, to the lowest depth of the most
snubbed hen-peckery.
1857. A. Trollope, Barchester Towers, ch. iii. But Mrs. Proudie is
not satisfied with such home dominion, and stretches her power over
all his movements, and will not even abstain from things spiritual.
In fact, the bishop is hen-pecked.
Hen’s-arsehole.—See Mouth.
Hen-snatcher, subs. (American).—A chicken thief.
1888. Bulletin, 24 Nov. All the dead-beats and suspected
hen-snatchers plead when before the Bench that they were only
‘mouching round,’ etc.
Hens’-rights, subs. (American).—Women’s rights.
Hen-toed, adj. phr. (common).—To turn the toes in walking like a fowl.
Here. Here’s to you (at you, unto you, now, or luck), phr. (common).—An
invitation to drink; here’s a health to you. For synonyms, see Drinks.
1651. Cartwright, Royal Slave. Here’s to thee, Leocrates.
1717. Ned Ward, Wks. ii., 71. Then we were fain To use
Hertfordshire kindness, here’s to you again.
1853. Diogenes ii., 46. Each a pot in his hand.... Observed in a
style of remarkable ease, ‘Old Buck here’s luck,’ And then at the
pewter proceeded to suck.
Here’s luck, phr. (tailors’).—I don’t believe you.
I am not here, phr. (tailors’).—‘I don’t feel inclined to work’; ‘I
wish to be left alone.’
Here’s to it, phr. (common).—An obscene toast. See It, sense 2.
Here-and-Thereian, subs. phr. (old).—A rolling stone; a person with no
permanent address. Lex. Bal., 1811.