HELTER SKELTER. To run helter skelter, hand over head, in defiance of order.
HEMP. Young hemp; an appellation for a graceless boy.
HEMPEN FEVER. A man who was hanged is said to have died of a hempen fever; and, in Dorsetshire, to have been stabbed with a Bridport dagger; Bridport being a place famous for manufacturing hemp into cords.
HEMPEN WIDOW. One whose husband was hanged.
HEN-HEARTED. Cowardly.
HEN HOUSE. A house where the woman rules; called also a SHE HOUSE, and HEN FRIGATE: the latter a sea phrase, originally applied to a ship, the captain of which had his wife on board, supposed to command him.
HENPECKED. A husband governed by his wife, is said to
be henpecked.
HEN. A woman. A cock and hen club; a club composed
of men and women.
HERE AND THEREIAN. One who has no settled place of
residence.
HERRING. The devil a barrel the better herring; all equally
bad.