Chapter Horse-vetch to Hound of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Horse-vetch to Hound

Horse-vetch The vetch which has pods shaped like a horse-shoe; sometimes called the "horse-shoe vetch." (See Horse-Chestnut.)

Horse and his Rider One of Æsop's fables, to show that nations crave the assistance of others when they are aggrieved, but become the tools or slaves of those who rendered them assistance. Thus the Celtic Britons asked aid of the Saxons, and the Danish Duchies of the Germans, but in both cases the rider made the horse a mere tool.

Horse-shoes and Nails (for rent). In 1251 Walter le Brun, farrier, in the Strand, London, was to have a piece of land in the parish of St. Clements, to place there a forge, for which he was to pay the parish six horse-shoes, which rent was paid to the Exchequer every year, and is still rendered to the Exchequer by the Lord Mayor and citizens of London, to whom subsequently the piece of ground was granted.

"In the reign of King Edward I. Walter Marescullus paid at the crucem lapideam six horse-shoes with nails, for a certain building which he held of the king in capite opposite the stone cross." - Blount: Ancient Tenures.

Horsemen
   Light horsemen. Those who live by plundering ships.
   Heavy horsemen. Those who go aboard to clear ships.

Horsey Man (A). One who affects the manners and style of a jockey or horse-dealer.

Hortus Siccus (Latin, "a dry garden.") A collection of plants dried and arranged in a book.

Horus The Egyptian day-god, represented in hieroglyphics by a sparrow-hawk, which bird was sacred to him. He was son of Osiris and Isis, but his birth being premature he was weak in the lower limbs. As a child he is seen carried in his mother's arms, wearing the pschent or atf, and seated on a lotus- flower with his finger on his lips. As an adult he is represented hawk-headed. (Egyptian, har or hor, "the day" or "sun's path.") Strictly speaking, Horus is the rising sun, Ra the noonday sun, and Osiris the setting sun. (Whence Greek and Latin hora, and our hour.)

Hose Stockings, or stockings and breeches both in one. French, chausses. There were the haut de chausses and the bas de chausses.

"Their points being broken, down fell their hose." - Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., ii. 4.

Hospital From the Latin hospes (a guest), being originally an inn or house of entertainment for pilgrims; hence our words host (one who entertains), hospitality (the entertainment given), and hospitaller (the keeper of the house). In process of time these receptacles were resorted to by the sick and infirm only, and the house of entertainment became an asylum for the sick and wounded. In 1399 Katherine de la Court held a "hospital" at the bottom of the court called Robert de Paris; after the lapse of four years her landlord died, and the tavern or hospital fell to his heirs Jehan de Chevreuse and William Cholet.

Hospital (The), in Post-office phraseology, is the department where loose packages are set to rights.

Hospitallers First applied to those whose duty it was to provide hospitium (lodging and entertainment) for pilgrims. The most noted institution of the kind was at Jerusalem, which gave its name to an order called the Knights Hospitallers. This order was first called that of the Knights of St. John at Jerusalem, which still exists; afterwards they were styled the Knights of Rhodes, and then Knights of Malta, because Rhodes and Malta were conferred on them by different monarchs.

"The first crusade ... led to the establishment of the Christian kingdom of Jerusalem, in 1099. The chief strength of the kingdom lay in the two orders of military monks - the Templars and the Hospitallers or Knights of St. John." - Freeman: General Sketch. chap. xi.

Host A victim. The consecrated bread of the Eucharist is so called in the Latin Church because it is believed to be a real victim consisting of flesh, blood, and spirit, offered up in sacrifice. (Latin, hostia.) At the service known as the Benediction it is set up for adoration, and with it the blessing is given in a transparent vessel called a "monstrare." (Latin, monstrare, to show).
   Host. An army. At the breaking up of the Roman Empire the first duty of every