A fisherman's word.

GURRY. The slime and blood of fish.

The fisherman dips a bucket of fresh water from the spring, and, washing the gurry from his hands and face, starts for home. - Peter Gott, the Fisherman.

GUSH. A great abundance. A Texan would say, "We have got a gush of peaches in our neck of the woods."

GUT. A tidal inlet or narrow strait. Used also in England.

H.

HABITAN. (French.) A term applied to what, in English, is called a yeoman; i. e. a small country proprietor. Canada and Louisiana.

My coachman was a habitan, and I had a fine opportunity of studying the conflicting traits of character which distinguish the race. - Lanman's Tour to the Saguenay.

At Lake Megantic, Gen. Arnold met an emissary whom he had sent in advance to ascertain the feelings of the habitans, or French yeomanry.-Irving's Life of Washington, Vol. II. p. 96.

HACKBERRY. (Celtis occidentalis.) A small or middle-sized tree, with sweet and edible fruits as large as bird-cherries, and which makes good firewood. It is also called Sugar Berry.

HACKEE. A name given, in some of the Eastern States, to the Chipmuk. HACKMATACK. The American larch, or Tamarack (Larix Americana). This tree abounds in the North-eastern States and British America. It is a hard, strong, and durable wood, is frequently used in ship-building, while the houses of the settlers are almost entirely constructed of it. The name is probably of Indian origin.

HAD HAVE. This astonishing combination of auxiliaries is often used by speakers and writers who should know better.

Had we have known this.- Nott, on Hamilton's Duel.

HAD N'T OUGHTER, i. e. had not ought to, for "ought not to," a common vulgarism in New England. See Ought.

TO HAIL FROM. A phrase probably originating with seamen or boatmen, and meaning to come from, to belong to; as, "He hails from Kentucky,” i. e. he is a native of Kentucky, or lives in Kentucky.

HAINT, for have not. A contraction much used in common conversation in New England. It is also used in various parts of England.

HAKE. The New Jersey name for the King-Fish.

HALF COCK.

"To go off at half cock" is a metaphorical expression borrowed from the language of sportsmen, and is applied to a person who attempts a thing in a hurry without due preparation, and consequently fails.

Mr. Clayton of Georgia is a fine speaker; he is always ready, and never goes off half cock. Crockett, Tour down East.

HALF-FACED CAMP. A shelter of the frontiersmen of the South of the last generation, and perhaps of the present. They are sometimes open on the south side, whence the name.

You may talk about your reunions, your soirées, and all that the world calls social refinement; but for true-hearted benevolence, void of parade, commend me to a hunting-party in a half-faced camp. — The Americans at Home, Vol. I. p. 95. HALF-SAVED. Half-witted. Provincial in Herefordshire, England, and in New England.

HAMMOCK. (Carib, amaca.) A swinging-bed. This word, now in such general use, especially among seamen, and the etymology of which has been so much disputed, is undoubtedly of West Indian origin.

Cotton for the making of hamacas, which are Indian beds. - Raleigh, Disc. of Guiana, 1596.

The Brazilians call their beds hamacas; they are a sheet laced at both ends, and so they sit rocking themselves in them. ·Sir R. Hawkins, Voy. to South Sea.

HAND. An adept or proficient in any thing; one who is fond of any thing.

It is a wonder to me how some folks can content themselves doin' nothin'; I never could. I must be doin' something, or I should gape myself to death. I'm a great hand to gape why afore now I've gaped so much on Sundays that my mouth would n't stay shut for a week after. - Yankee Hill's Stories.

"Take a pickle, Mr. Crane," said the Widow Bedott, "I'm glad you like pickles -they're a delightful beverage. Melissa never eats 'em- she ain't no pickle hand."- Widow Bedott Papers, p. 71.

HAND RUNNING. Consecutively; as, "He can hit the bull's eye at fifty paces ten times hand running." So too in the North of England.

TO HANDLE. To manage, to overcome an opponent; particularly in wrestling. Ex. "You can't handle him."

HANDSOMELY. Carefully, steadily. A term used by seamen when giving an order.

HANDWRITE, for handwriting, a common barbarism at the South; as, “I can't read his handwrite."

HANG. "To get the hang of a thing" is to get the knack, or habitual

facility, of doing it well; also, to get acquainted with. A low expression frequently heard among us.

If ever you must have an indifferent teacher for your children, let it be after they have got a fair start and have acquired the hang of the tools for themselves. — Prime, Hist. of Long Island, p. 82.

He had been in pursuit of the science of money-making all his life, but could never get the hang of it. — Pickings from the Picayune.

Suggs lost his money and his horse, but then he had n't got the hang of the game. - Simon Suggs, p. 44.

Well, now, I can tell you that the sheriffs are the easiest men for you to get the hang of, among all the public officers. — Greene on Gambling.

TO HANG. To stick fast, come to a stand still; as, the jury hung, and "the man got a new trial." Probably borrowed from the sportsman's term "to hang fire," said of a gun which does not go off at once.

TO HANG around. hang about.

To loiter about.

The English expression is to

Every time I come up from Louisiana, I found Jess hangin' round that gal, lookin' awful sweet, and a fellow could n't go near her without raisin' his dander. - Robb, Squatter Life.

To HANG UP ONE'S FIDDLE. To desist; to give up.

When a man loses his temper and ain't cool, he might as well hang up his fiddle. - Sam Slick.

If a man at forty-two is not in a fair way to get his share of the world's spoils, he might as well hang up his fiddle, and be content to dig his way through life as best he may. Dow's Sermons, p. 78.

TO HAPPEN IN. To happen to call in; to go or come in accidentally. Happening into the Suffolk jail on a business errand, we were somewhat startled by hearing our name familiarly called from a prisoner's cell, etc. - ·Boston Bee, Feb.

1855.

To HAPPIFY. To make happy. This mongrel barbarism, according to Mr. Pickering, is sometimes heard in our pulpits.

HAPPY AS A CLAM is a common simile in New England, sometimes enlarged to "happy as a clam at high-water."

Inglorious friend! most confident I am

Thy life is one of very little ease;

Albeit men mock thee with their smiles,

And prate of being happy as a clam. - Saxe, Sonnet to a Clam.

The poor peasant who satisfies his hunger with submission and salt pork, penitence and potatoes, is as sound as a live oak corporeally, and as happy as a clam at high-water. Dow's Sermons.

HARD CASE. A worthless, dissipated fellow; a drunkard.

HARD COAL. Anthracite coal, so called to distinguish it from bituminous coal, which is called soft coal.

Since the introduction of hard coal, the infernal regions have become greatly enlarged, so that they can now uncomfortably accommodate the whole human race, whither they all appear to be bound, for a certainty. - Dow's Sermons, Vol. III. p.

112.

HARDHACK. (Spiræa tomentosa.) The popular name of a well-known and common plant in pastures and low grounds. It is celebrated for its astringent properties.

She made a nosegay of the mountain laurel, red cedar with blueberries, and a bunch of the white hardhack. - Margaret, p. 206.

HARDHEAD. A fish of the herring species, the menhaden; so called in the State of Maine. See Menhaden.

HARD PUSHED. Hard pressed, in a difficulty; and especially, as a mercantile phrase, hard pressed for money, short of cash.

As I said, at the end of six months we began to be hard pushed. Our credit, however, was still fair. - Perils of Pearl Street, p. 123.

A HARD ROW TO HOE. A metaphor derived from hoeing corn, meaning a difficult matter or job to accomplish.

Gentlemen, I never opposed Andrew Jackson for the sake of popularity. I knew it was a hard row to hoe; but I stood up to the rack, considering it a duty I owed to the country that governed me. Crockett's Speech, Tour down East, p. 69.

HARD RUN. To be hard pressed; and especially to be in want of money. The same as hard pushed.

We knew the Tammany party were hard run; but we did not know it was reduced to the necessity of stealing the principles of Nativism.-N. Y. Tribune, Nov. 1, 1845.

HARD UP. In straits for want of money; short of funds.

HARDSHELL BAPTISTS. The name of a sect of Baptists in the Southern States, known as those of the strait-laced order; while those of liberal views are called "Softshell Baptists."

We had a variety of passengers in the stage to Milledgeville. There was an old gentleman in black, a dandy gambler, an old Hardshell preacher, as they call them in Georgia, with the biggest mouth I ever seed, a circus clown, a cross old maid, a beautiful young lady, etc. — N. Y. Spirit of the Times.

In a debate in the House of Representatives, in 1857, Mr. Elliott, of Kentucky, in nominating the Rev. John Morris for chaplain, said:

Mr. Morris is a regular member of the Hardshell Baptist Church, a very pious man, not of very eminent ability, but just the man to pray for such a crowd as

this.

HARDSHELL DEMOCRATS, also called " HARDSHELLS," and again abbreviated into "HARDS." The name of a political party, of which the following history is given by the New York Tribune of April 2, 1853:

These terms date from the efforts made to reunite the Cass and Van Buren democracy of 1848, who were known as Hunkers and Barnburners. Some difficulty attended this reunion, which gave rise to the use of the new political epithets. The difference between a Hardshell and a Softshell is this: one favors the execution of the Fugitive Slave Law and goes for a distribution of the offices among the Nationals, while the other is a loud stickler for Union and Harmony. The Hards embrace the Cass Hunkers of 1848, of the National school of politics; while the Softs are composed of the remnants of the Van Buren and Adams party of 1848, and such Hunkers as Secretary Marcy and Governor Seymour. HARD WOOD. A term applied to woods of solid texture that soon decay, including generally, beech, birch, maple, ash, etc. Used by shipwrights and farmers in Maine, in opposition to oak and pine. In the South and West it is opposed to "light wood."

HARNESS-CASK. A conical cask bound with iron hoops, from which salt meat is served out at sea. The cask is usually painted green and the hoops black; the resemblance of the latter to the black leathern straps of harness, has probably given rise to the name.

HASTY PUDDING. Indian meal stirred into boiling water until it becomes a thick batter or pudding, and eaten with milk, butter, and sugar or molasses. In Pennsylvania and some other States it is called mush; in New York, suppawn. Joel Barlow wrote a poem on the subject, in which he thus accounts for its name:

Thy name is Hasty Pudding! thus our sires
Were wont to greet thee fuming from their fires;

And while they argued in thy just defence,
With logic clear they thus explain'd the sense:
"In haste the boiling caldron o'er the blaze
Receives and cooks the ready-powder'd maize;
In haste 't is serv'd; and then in equal haste,
With cooling milk, we make the sweet repast."
Such is thy name, significant and clear,

A name, a sound to every Yankee dear. Canto I.

Father and I went down to camp,

Along wi' Captain Goodin,

And there we see the men and boys,

As thick as hasty puddin. — Song, Yankee Doodle.

Hasty pudding has long been eaten in England, where it is made of milk and flour. Mr. Greave, in his Spiritual Quixote, printed in Lon