Chapter Stannary Courts to Steeplechase of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Steal a Horse One man may steal a horse, but another must not look over the hedge. Some men are chartered libertines, while others are always eyed with suspicion. (Latin: “Dat veniam corvis, vexat censura columbas. ”)

Steal a March on One (To). To come on one unexpectedly, as when an army steals a march or appears unexpectedly before an enemy.

Steam-kettles Contemptuous name applied to vessels propelled by steam-power, whether steamers, men-of-war, or any other craft.

“These steam-kettles of ours can never be depended upon. I wish we could go back to the good old sailing ships. When we had them we knew what we were about. ... Now we trust to machinery, and it fails us in time of need.”- Kingston: The Three Admirals, chap. xvi

Steelyard (London, adjoining Dowgate); so called from being the place where the king's steelyard or beam was set up, for weighing goods imported into London.

Steenie (2 syl.). A nickname given by James I. to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. The half-profane allusion is to Acts vi. 15, where those who looked on Stephen the martyr “saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”

Steeple-engine A form of marine engine common on American river-boats.

Steeple-Jack (A). A man who ascends a church spire to repair it. This is done by a series of short ladders, tied one to another as the man ascends, the topmost one being securely tied to the point of the spire. Not many men have nerve enough for the dangerous work of a steeple-Jack.

Steeplechase A horse-race across fields, hedges, ditches, and obstacles of every sort that happen to lie in the way. The term arose from a party of fox-hunters on their return from an unsuccessful chase, who agreed to race to the village church, the steeple of which was in sight; he who first touched the church with his whip was to be the winner. The entire distance was two miles.

    The Grand National Steeplechase is run on the Aintree course, Liverpool.