Cela rime comme hallebarde et miséricorde = That does not rhyme at all.
[The usual explanation of this expression is, that, on the death of the verger of St. Eustache, one of his friends—a small shopkeeper of the neighbourhood—wished to write an epitaph for his tomb. Being entirely ignorant of the rules of verse, he composed the following:—
“Ci-gît mon ami Mardoche
Il a voulu être enterré à Saint Eustache
Il y porta trente-deux ans la hallebarde
Dieu lui fasse miséricorde.”
(Par son ami, J. Cl. Bombet, 1727.)
But in reality the proverb is much older. It dates from the time of the old versifiers, one of whose rules was that two consonants followed by an e mute were sufficient to form a feminine rhyme. This led to abuses like the above, and this rule was superseded by another, that the vowel preceding the two consonants must be alike in both cases.]
Hanter
Dis-moi qui tu hantes, je te dirai qui tu es = A man is known by his company; Birds of a feather flock together.
Haro
Crier haro sur quelqu’un = To raise an outcry against any one.
[“À ces mots on cria haro sur le baudet.”
La Fontaine, Fables, vii. 1.
The origin of the word haro is disputed; Littré quotes Diez, who connects it with O.H.G. hera = here. The old opinion was that it was derived from Ha-Raoul, an appeal to Rollo, or Hrolf, first Duke of Normandy, and a mighty lawgiver. However, within living recollection the cry of Ha-Ro! à l’aide, mon Prince! was used in the Channel Islands as a protection against force and fraud, when no other defence was possible. See a curious tale in “The Gossiping Guide to Jersey,” by J. Bertrand Payne, London, 1863, p. 15.]