An Elizabethan Lexicon
Language in the sixteenth century was rich,
poetic – and coarse. Here are some of the words I have gleaned in many years of reading histories and plays of the
period. Some still in use, many sadly long gone.
I apologise for the extraordinary number of derogatory
words there were for women, especially when men do not suffer the same
treatment. But you’ll have to blame our sexist ancestors for that!
 H
Haberdasher: seller of sewing articles such as ribbons, tapes; a gentlemen’s outfitter
Hagbut, hackbut: slang for arquebus
Hair o’ the same wolf: hair of the dog – a hangover cure
Halberd, halberdier: long-staffed weapon with a point, axe on one side and billhook on the other
Halek: The astrologer and physician Simon Forman’s secret word for copulation
Hand-fasting: betrothal, solemnising of wedding vows
Hands: 1) signatures; 2) applause
Harman beck: parish constable or beadle
Harmans: the stocks
Harrow: heavy, spiked frame for breaking up soil
Headborough: parish officer, petty constable
Hearing cheats: ears
Hedge-priest: itinerant preacher
Herbs: plants, vegetables, fruit and flowers
Hewing and punching: slashing the neck followed by a stab in the belly
Hewing blades: axes
High law: highway robbery
High lawyer: footpad or highway robber
Hilling: a bed-quilt or covering
Hippocras: spiced wine
Hogshead: large cask containing 52.5 gallons
Hobby horse: prostitute
Hobby horse man: frequenter of whores
Hole: worst prison cell
Honest: chaste, virginal
Hopharlots: coarse coverlets for beds
Horn-book: board with letters or prayers with thin, transparent horn covering
Horn-thumb, a child of the: a cutpurse - cutpurses protected their fingers with a horn thimble so they did not cut themselves while stealing purses
Horse courser or jingler: dealer in trained horses, expert in sharp practice
Horse leeches: 1) farriers; 2) rapacious predators
Horse lock: shackle to keep horse still while being shod
Hospitaller: man in charge of admissions and discharges from hospital and seeing that funds and supplies were accounted for and that valuables brought in by patients were safeguarded
Hot: hectic
Hot codlings: roasted apples, commonly sold in London streets
House of easement: toilet, privy
Hoy: Dutch sailing ship used as freighter or transport
Hoyting: maculine behaviour
Huddipick: coward
Hulk: 1) sailing ship stripped of masts and used as store/ hospital/ prison/ barracks 2) large northern European ship of burden, often used in Baltic trade.
Hurden: Coarse material woven from flax
Hurst staff: wooden staff
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