W — Ward to Water (Part 1 of 3)

Ward (Artemus). (See Artemus Ward .)

Ward Money, Ward-penny or Wardage. Money paid for watch and ward. (Domesday.)

Warden-pie Pie made of the Warden pear. Warden pears are so called from Warden Abbey, Berks, where they are grown in great profusion.

“Myself with denial I mortify
With a dainty bit of a Warden-pie.”
The Friar of Orders Grey.

Ware (See Bed .)

Warlock A wandering evil spirit; a wizard. (Anglo-Saxon, woer-loga, a deceiver, one who breaks his word. Satan is called in Scripture “the father of lies,” the arch-warlock.)

Warm Reception (A). A hot opposition. Also, a hearty welcome.

“The Home Rule members are prepared to give the Coercion Bill a warm reception; Mr. Parnell's followers will oppose it tooth and nail.”- Newspaper paragraph, May 19th, 1885.

Warm as a Bat Hot as burning coal. In South Staffordshire that slaty coal which will not burn, but which lies in the fire till it becomes red-hot, is called “bat.”

Warming-pan (A). One who keeps a place warm for another, i.e. holds it temporarily for another. The allusion is to the custom in public schools of making a fag warm his “superior's” bed by lying in it till the proper occupant was ready to turn him out.

“If Mr. Mellor took a judgeship, Grantham might object to become a warming-pan for ambitious lawyers.”- Newspaper paragraph, March 5th, 1886.

Warming-pan (See Jacobites .)

Warning Stone Anything that gives notice of danger. Bakers in Wiltshire and some other counties used to put a “certain pebble” in their ovens, and when the stone turned white it gave the baker warning that the oven was hot enough for his bankings.

Warp (To). A sea term, meaning to shift the position of a vessel. This is done by means of a rope called a warp. Kedging is when the warp is bent to a kedge, which is let go, and the vessel is hove ahead by the capstan.

“The potent rod
Of Amram's son [Moses], in Egypt s evil day,
Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud
Of locusts, warping [shifting about] in the eastern
wind.” Milton: Paradise Lost, i. 338.

    In Lancashire, warping means laying eggs; and boys, on finding a bird's nest, will ask- “And how many eggs has she warped?”

Warp and Weft or Woof. The “warp” of a fabric are the longitudinal threads; the “weft” or “woof” are threads which run from selvage to selvage.

“W cave the warp and weave the woof,
The winding-sheet of Edward's race;
Give ample room and verge enough
The characters of hell to traco.”
Gray: The Bgrd.

Warrior Queen (The). Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni.

“When the British warrior queen,
Bleeding from the Roman rods,
Sought, with an indignant mien,
Counsel of her country's gods ...”
Cowper: Boadicea.

   The Iceni were the faithful allies of Rome; but, on the death of Prasutagus, king of that tribe, the Roman procurator took possession of the kingdom of Prasutagus; and when the widow Boadicea complained thereof, the procurator had her beaten with rods like a slave.

Warwick (Anglo-Saxon, war-wic, contracted from waering-wic (the fortified or garrisoned town). A translation of the ancient British name Caer Leon.