_By Hook or Crook_.--"As in the phrase 'to get by hook or crook;' in the
sense of, to get by any expedient, to stick at nothing to obtain the
end; not to be over nice in obtaining your ends--_By hucke o'er krooke_;
e.g. _by bending the knees, and by bowing low_, or as we now say, by
bowing and scraping, by crouching and cringing."--Bellenden Ker's
_Essay on the Archaeology our Popular Phrases and Nursery Rhymes_, vol.
i. p. 21. ed. 1837.
I wish your correspondent, "J.R.F.," had given a reference to the book
or charter from which he copied his note.
Has Mr. B. Ker's work ever been reviewed?