Chapter Hawse-hole to Heart of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Hawse-hole to Heart

Hawse-hole He has crept through the hawse-hole, or He has come in at the hawse-hole. That is, he entered the service in the lowest grade; he rose from the ranks. A naval phrase. The hawse-hole of a ship is that through which the cable of the anchor runs.

Hawthorn in florology, means "Good Hope," because it shows the winter is over and spring is at hand. The Athenian girls used to crown themselves with hawthorn flowers at weddings, and the marriage-torch was made of hawthorn. The Romans considered it a charm against sorcery, and placed leaves of it on the cradles of new-born infants.
    The hawthorn was chosen by Henry VII. for his device, because the crown of Richard III. was discovered in a hawthorn bush at Bosworth.

Hay, Hagh or Haugh. A royal park in "which no man commons"; rich pasture-land; as Bilhagh (Billa- haugh), Beskwood- or Bestwood-hay, Lindeby-hay, Welley-hay or Wel-hay. These five hays were "special reserves" of game for royalty alone.
   A bottle of hay. (See Bottle.)
   Between hay and grass. Too late for one and too soon for the other.
   Neither hay nor grass. That hobby-de-hoy state when a youth is neither boy nor man.
   Make hay while the sun shines.
   Strike while the iron is hot.
   Take time by the forelock.
   One to- day is worth two to-morrows.
   (Franklin.)

Hayston (Frank). The laird of Bucklaw, afterwards laird of Girnington. (Sir Walter Scott: Bride of Lammermoor.)

Hayward A keeper of the cattle or common herd of a village or parish. The word hay means "hedge," and this herdsman was so called because he had "ward" of the "hedges" also. (Anglo-Saxon, heg, hay; hege, a hedge.)

Hazazel The Scape-goat (q.v.).

Hazel (See Divining Rod .)

Hazel-nut (Anglo-Saxon, haeselhnut, from haesel, a hat or cap, the cap-nut or the nut enclosed in a cap.)

Head (Latin, caput; Saxon, headfod; Scotch, hafet; contracted into head.)
   Better be the head of an ass than the tail of a horse. Better be foremost amongst commoners than the lowest of the aristocracy; better be the head of the yeomanry than the tail of the gentry. The Italians say, "E meglio esser testa di luccio che coda di sturione. "
   He has a head on his shoulders. He is up to snuff (q.v.); he is a clever fellow, with brains in his head.
   He has quite lost his head. He is in a quandary or quite confused.
   I can make neither head nor tail of it. I cannot understand it at all. A gambling phrase.
   Men with heads beneath the shoulders. (See Caora.)
   Men without heads. (See Blemmyes.)
   Off one's head. Deranged; delirious; extremely excited. Here "head" means intelligence, understanding, etc. His intelligence or understanding has gone away.
   To bundle one out head and heels. "Sans cérémonie, " altogether. The allusion is to a custom at one time far too frequent in cottages, for a whole family to sleep together in one bed head to heels or pednamene, as it was termed in Cornwall; to bundle the whole lot out of bed was to turn them out head and heels.
   To head off. To intercept.
   To hit the nail on the head. You have guessed aright; you have done the right thing. The allusion is obvious. The French say, "Vous avez frappé au but " (You have hit the mark); the Italians have the phrase, "Havete dato in brocca " (You have hit the pitcher), alluding to a game where a pitcher stood in the place of Aunt Sally (q.v.). The Latin, "Rem acu tetigisti " (You have touched the thing with a needle), refers to the custom of probing sores.
   To keep one's head above water. To avoid bankruptcy. The allusion is to a person immersed in water; so long as his head is above water his life remains, but bad swimmers find it hard to keep their heads above water.
   To lose one's head. To be confused and middle-minded.
   To make head. To get on.

Head Shaved (Get your). You are a dotard. Go and get your head shaved like other lunatics. (See Bath.)

"Thou thinkst that monarchs never can act ill,
Get thy head shaved, poor fool, or think so still."
Peter Pindar: Ode Upon Ode.

Head and Ears Over head and ears [in debt, in love, etc.], completely; entirely. The allusion