Chapter Hallelujah to Hand of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Hammer (Anglo-Saxon, hamer.)
   (1) Pierre d'Ailly, Le Marteau des Hérétiques, president of the council that condemned John Huss. (1350-1425.)
   (2) Judas Asmonæus, surnamed Maccabæus, "the hammer." (B.C. 166-136.)
   (3) St. Augustine is called by Hakewell "That renowned pillar of truth and hammer of heresies." (B.C. 395-430.)
   (4) John Faber, surnamed Malleus Hereticorum, from the title of one of his works. (1470- 1541.)
   (5) St. Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, Malleus Arianorum. (350-367.)
   (6) Charles Martel. (689-741.)

"On prétend qu'on lui donna le surnom de Martel, parcequ'il avait écrasé comme avec un marteau les Sarrasins, qui, sous la conduite d'Abdérame, avaient envahi la France." - Bouillet. Dictionnaire Universel, etc.

Hammer
   PHRASES AND PROVERBS.
   Gone to the hammer. Applied to goods sent to a sale by auction; the auctioneer giving a rap with a small hammer when a lot is sold, to intimate that there is an end to the bidding.
   They live hammer and tongs. Are always quarrelling. They beat each other like hammers, and are as "cross as the tongs."

"Both parties went at it hammer and tongs; and hit one another anywhere and with anything." - James Payn.

   To sell under the hammer. To sell by auction. (See above.)

Hammer of the Scotch Edward I. On his tomb in Westminster Abbey is the inscription "Edwardus longus Scotorum Malleus hic est " (Here is long Edward, the hammer of the Scots).

Hammercloth The cloth that covers the coach-box, in which hammer, nails, bolts, etc., used to be carried in case of accident. Another etymology is from the Icelandic hamr (a skin), skin being used for the purpose. A third suggestion is that the word hammer is a corruption of "hammock," the seat which the cloth covers being formed of straps or webbing stretched between two crutches like a sailor's hammock. Still another conjecture is that the word is a corruption of "hamper cloth," the hamper being used for sundry articles required, and forming the coachman's box. The word box seems to favour this suggestion.

Hampton Court Conference A conference held at Hampton Court in January, 1604, to settle the disputes between the Church party and the Puritans. It lasted three days, and its result was a few slight alterations in the Book of Common Prayer.

Hamshackle To hamshackle a horse is to tie his head to one of his fore-legs.

Hamstring To disable by severing the tendons of the ham.

Han Sons of Hân. The Chinese are so called from Hân the founder of the twenty-sixth dynasty, with which modern history commences. (206-220.)

Hanap A costly goblet used at one time on state occasions. Sometimes the cup used by our Lord at the Last Supper is so called. (Old High German, hnapp, a cup.)

"He had, indeed, four silver hanaps of his own, which had been left him by his grandmother." -"Sir W. Scott: Quentin Durward, chap. iv. p. 71.

Hanaper Exchequer. "Hanaper office," an office where all writs relating to the public were formerly kept in a hamper (in hanaperio). Hanaper is a cover for a hanap.

Hand A measure of length = four inches. Horses are measured up the fore leg to the shoulder, and are called 14, 15, 16 (as it may be), hands high.
   i. Hand (A). A symbol of fortitude in Egypt, of fidelity in Rome. Two hands symbolise concord; and a hand laid on the head of a person indicates the right of property. Thus if a person laid claim to a slave, he laid his hand upon him in the presence of the prætor. (Aulus Gellius, xx. 19.) By a closed hand Zeno represented dialectics, and by an open hand eloquence.
    Previous to the twelfth century the Supreme Being was represented by a hand extended from the clouds; sometimes the hand is open, with rays issuing from the fingers, but generally it is in the act of benediction, i.e. with two fingers raised.
   ii. Hand. (The final word.)
   BEAR A HAND. Come and help. Bend to your work immediately.
   CAP IN HAND. Suppliantly, humbly; as, "To come cap in hand."
   DEAD MAN'S HAND. It is said that carrying a dead man's hand will produce a dead sleep. Another superstition is that a lighted candle placed in the hand of a dead man gives no light to anyone but him who carries the hand. Hence