_By Hook or by Crook_ (pp. 205, 237. 281. &c.).--In confirmation of this
phrase having reference to forest customs, my hind told me that my
plantations were plundered by hook or by crook, and he and I once caught
a man in _flagrante delicto_, with a hook for cutting green wood, and a
crook at the end of a long pole for breaking off dry branches, which
could not be otherwise reached. For an early use of the term, see
Bacon's _Fortress of the Faithful_, 1550.
"Whatsoever is pleasant or profitable must be theirs by hook or
by crook."