Hob

“ One of these diminutive beings, called Hob, is reputed to be a watchful preserver of the farmer’s property, and a most industrious workman. At Close-house, near Skipton in Craven, Hob used to do as much work in one night as twenty human workmen could in the same time; and, as I have been informed by an individual, who resided there about twenty years ago, Hob was accustomed to house the hay, stack the corn, and churn the butter, as well as perform several other offices, which tended materially to lessen the labour of the husbandman and the dairy maid. ”

“ Digging only served to send him further into a perfect labyrinth that should have been dug out or blown up at the end of the previous season, and when sunset made the weary and angry diggers desist from their labours, Hob was free once more. By the following morning he had left the earth a long way behind him, and was sleeping in security by the remains of the rabbit that had yielded him supper and breakfast in one long meal. He could not run about as he did when he first made his escape into the world—lack of exercise and consequent illness had made him weak, nervous and slow in pursuit. ”

“ In Welsh of or ov means “atoms, first principles”; [597] in French œuf, in Latin ova, means an egg; the little egg-like berry of the hawthorn is termed a hip; to ebb is to diminish, and in S.W. Wiltshire is “a small river,” named the Ebbe. Hob, with his flickering candlestick, or the homely Hob crouching on the hob, seems rarely to have been thought of otherwise than as the child Elf, such as that superscribed Ep upon the British coin here illustrated: yet to the ubiquitous Hob may no doubt be assigned up, which means aloft or overhead, and hoop, the symbol of the Sun or Eye of Heaven.
Fig. ”

“ Hob's readiness to fulfil the wishes of his friends was sometimes productive of ludicrous incidents. One evening there was every prospect of rain next day, and a farmer had all his grain out. "I wish," said he, "I had that grain housed." Next morning Hob had housed every sheaf, but a fine stag which had helped him was lying dead at the barn door. The day however became extremely fine, and the farmer thought his grain would have been better in the field: "I wish," said he, "that Hob-Thross was in the mill-dam;" next morning all the farmer's grain was in the mill-dam. ”

“ T. A. communicates that there is a custom very common in Cheshire called Old Hob: it consists of a man carrying a dead horse’s head, covered with a sheet, to frighten people. This frolic is usual between All Soul’s day and Christmas. ”

“ Robert, Gilbert, Clement, and Andrew—in the proper Border diminutives, Hob, Gib, Clem, and Dand Elliott—these ballad heroes, had much in common; in particular, their high sense of the family and the family honour; but they went diverse ways, and prospered and failed in different businesses. According to Kirstie, 'they had a' bees in their bonnets but Hob.' Hob the laird was, indeed, essentially a decent man. ”

“ Hob, hob, n. the projecting nave of a wheel: a projection on the side of a fireplace, on which anything may be laid to keep hot: a game in which coins are placed on the end of a short stick at which stones are thrown, those that fall head up going to the thrower—also the round stick used in this game: a hardened threaded steel mandrel used in forming the cutting ends of screw-chasing tools, &c.—n. ”

“ And from that moment we will skip to the time of the opening paragraphs of this story, which was two weeks and one day later—to the time when we behold the camp fire made of railway ties, with the four hoboes grouped around it, having enjoyed their evening meal and now ready to smoke and rest; for if there is anything in the world which a hobo really enjoys, it is rest. ”

“ Hob and Nob (or Hob Nob) , verb. (old) .—1. To invite to drink; to clink glasses.
1756. Foote, Englishman from Paris, i. With, perhaps, an occasional interruption of ‘Here’s to you, friends,’ ‘Hob or nob,’ ‘Your love and mine.’
1759. Townley, High Life Below Stairs, ii. Duke. Lady Charlotte, hob or nob. Lady Char. Done, my lord; in Burgundy, if you please.
1772. Graves, Spiritual Quixote, bk. VIII., ch. xxi. (new Ed., 1808) . Having drunk hob or nob with a young lady in whose eyes he wished to appear a man of consequence, he hurried out into the summer-house. ”

“ Ever the melancholy hobo climbed down and up the steep bank, and ever the coon called for more. He drank more water than all the rest of us put together. The twilight deepened into night, the stars came out, and he still drank on. I do believe that if the whistle of the freight hadn't sounded, he'd be there yet, swilling water and revenge while the melancholy hobo toiled down and up. ”

“ L. L. L. iii. 1. 30; Beaumont and Fl., Knt. of the B. Pestle, iv. 5 (Ralph) .
hobler, for hobbler, a child’s top that wobbles, or spins unsteadily. Hence, a useless toy, Lyly, Mother Bombie, v. 3 (Bedunenus) .
hob-man-blind, a name for the game of blind-man’s-buff. Two Angry Women, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vii. 364; Heywood, Wise Wom. Hogsdon, iii. (Works, v. 310) . ‘Hobman’ in Yorkshire is a name for a sprite, hobgoblin, see EDD. (s.v. Hob, sb.1 4 (2) ) . ”

“ Flight into the open availed very little, for there were one or two active terriers in the garden; hiding-places did not avail, for there was no hole so small but that a ferret could follow if a rat could lead; and as for fighting, it was no better—the ferret knew how to dodge the sharp teeth and plant his own before the rat could try again. There were no muzzles and no lines to hinder progress, and Hob killed as he had killed in the few weeks when he was a free ferret and all the rabbits in the woodland were at his mercy. ”

“ Ribby—having assured herself by careful search that there was really no one hiding in the cupboard or in the larder—went upstairs to change her dress.
She put on a lilac silk gown, for the party, and an embroidered muslin apron and tippet.
"It is very strange," said Ribby, "I did not think I left that drawer pulled out; has somebody been trying on my mittens?"
She came downstairs again, and made the tea, and put the teapot on the hob. She peeped again into the bottom oven, the pie had become a lovely brown, and it was steaming hot. ”

“ I ventured.
"The Hobo--" He fixed his eyes on my Spencer and ran along the titles while he cast his definition. "The Hobo, my dear fellow, is the name for that particular place of detention in city and county jails wherein are assembled tramps, drunks, beggars, and the riff-raff of petty offenders. The word itself is a pretty one, and it has a history. Hautbois--there's the French of it. Haut, meaning high, and bois, wood. In English it becomes hautboy, a wooden musical instrument of two-foot tone, I believe, played with a double reed, an oboe, in fact. ”

“ The bear was in thick, scrubby oak brush, and Hobbs, making his dog lie down, crawled behind a rock to get a favourable shot at the beast. He drew a bead on him and fired, but the bear only snarled at the wound made by the ball and started tearing through the brush, biting furiously at it as he went. Hobbs reloaded his rifle carefully, and as quickly as he could, in order to get a second shot; but, to his amazement, he saw the bear rushing down the ravine chasing McIntire, who was only about ten feet in advance of the enraged beast, running for his life, and making as much noise as a mad bull. ”

“ Hence swith to Doctor Rat hie thee, that thou were gone,
And pray him come speak with me, cham not well at ease:
Shalt have him at his chamber, or else at Mother Bee's,
Else seek him at Hob Filcher's shop; for, as cheard it reported,
There is the best ale in all the town, and now is most resorted.
Cock. And shall ich bring him with me, gammer?
Gammer. Yea, by and by, good Cock.
Cock. [266] Shalt see that shall be here anon, else let me have on the dock.
Hodge. Now, gammer, shall we two go in, and tarry for his coming?
What devil, woman, pluck up your heart, and leave off all this glooming. ”

“ Mr. Hobbs said of his wife that she had been in poor 71 health for a year past, and hadn’t been able to keep things in order. When I had examined the pictures I got ready to start on. Mr. Hobbs said there was a hotel a mile up the road. I unhitched my horse, and the little boy, with a lantern, ran before me and guided me through the gateway.
ONE OF THE LITTLE RIVERS
At the hotel, when I had made the horse comfortable in the barn I betook myself to the bar-room, where a brisk open fire was burning. ”

“ It is due, in part, to the fact that the hobo, in so far as he is a congenital type, finds in casual and seasonal labor a kind of occupation congenial to his temperament, for the hobo is the bohemian in the ranks of common labor. He has the artistic temperament. Aside from the indispensable labor of his hands, the only important contribution which he has made to the permanent common fund of our experience which we call our culture has been his poetry. ”

“ Coming off the road with a roll, the hobo is likely to invest in a whole outfit—shoes, suit, and overcoat—only to sell them again in a few days when he is broke. The second-hand dealer meets him both ways, coming and going. ”

“ Workers of that sort pick our berries, fruit, hops, and help to harvest the crops on the western farms. They follow the seasons around giving their time to farms in spring, summer, and autumn, and ending up in the ice fields in winter. We could not get in our crops without them for the hobo is the boy who does the work. The name originated from the words “hoe-boy” plainly derived from work on the farm. A tramp is one who travels but does not work, and a bum is a man who stays in one place and does not work. ”

“ I went out through the rear of the saloon and jumped the fence. It was a swift sneak, and a few minutes later I was on board a freight and heading south on the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad.
Hoboes that Pass in the Night In the course of my tramping I encountered hundreds of hoboes, whom I hailed or who hailed me, and with whom I waited at water-tanks, "boiled-up," cooked "mulligans," "battered" the "drag" or "privates," and beat trains, and who passed and were seen never again. ”

“ In a vague way the veteran hobos, classified by the various nationalities, are fairly representative of the make-up of the whole American nation, in accordance with the number of hobos each nationality turns out. ”

“ As I came along the quiet street, I saw three men coming toward me along the sidewalk. They were walking abreast. Hoboes, I decided, like myself, who had got up early. In this surmise I was not quite correct. I was only sixty-six and two-thirds per cent correct. The men on each side were hoboes all right, but the man in the middle wasn't. I directed my steps to the edge of the sidewalk in order to let the trio go by. ”

“ Their dead bodies are not less useful. Their thick skin provides clothes, their hair makes very good thread, and their flesh is palatable; so that they are really the most valuable animals to be found in these latitudes, and Hobson, being assured of their presence, was relieved from half his anxiety. ”

“ When bought, they are broad, flexible strips of leather about eighteen inches long, with cuffs which buckle around each fore leg above the hoof. Hobbles can be made on the spot by twisting soft rope from fore leg to fore leg and tying the ends by lapping in the middle. ”

“ The hobo dived out through the door. I followed to see him disappear. But he was not in flight; he was squatting down over the foot prints. And a moment later he rocked back on his haunches with a little exultant yelp.
"'Dope's wrong, Governor,' he said; 'he was sure comin' this way.' Then he explained: 'If a man's walkin' forward in sand or mud or snow the toe of his shoe flirts out a little of it, an' if he's walkin' backward his heel flirts it out.'
"At this point I began to have some respect for the creature's ability. He got up and came back into the shed. ”

“ Perhaps the greatest charm of tramp-life is the absence of monotony. In Hobo Land the face of life is protean--an ever changing phantasmagoria, where the impossible happens and the unexpected jumps out of the bushes at every turn of the road. The hobo never knows what is going to happen the next moment; hence, he lives only in the present moment. He has learned the futility of telic endeavor, and knows the delight of drifting along with the whimsicalities of Chance. ”

“ Hand-Out: a bundle of food handed out to a beggar at the back door.
Hang-Out: the hobo's home.
Hit the Road: to go tramping.
Hobo: a tramp. Derivation obscure. Farmer's "Americanisms" gives: "Ho-Boy, or Haut-Boy: a New York night-scavenger."
Hoister, or Hyster: a shoplifter.
Hoosier: a "farmer." Everybody who does not know the world as the hobo knows it is to him a "farmer," "hoosier," or outsider.
Horn, The: a triangular extension of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, running from Red Oak, Iowa, southwest some twenty miles, and then northwest to Pacific Junction on the main line. ”

“ Some kinds of nails, such as those used for defending the soles of coarse shoes, called hobnails, require a particular form of the head, which is made by the stroke of a die. ”

“ We took up a collection and sent a telegram to the authorities of that town. The text of the message was that eighty-five healthy, hungry hoboes would arrive about noon and that it would be a good idea to have dinner ready for them. ”

“ On fol. 29v of MS. Aubr. 9, Anthony Wood notes:—'Send to Malmsburie to take out of the register the Christian name of Mr. Hobs' father, when Mr. Hobbs was borne, or when his said father was buried.' [On this Aubrey notes:—'As I remember he dyed at Thistleworth; vide the register booke at Thistleworth, where Mr. Hobbes his father lived in obscurity a reader, and there dyed about 1630.'] Wood goes on:—'I remember when I was there' 'there were two inscriptions of the Hobs on brass plates; one dyed 1606, quaere. ”