Hailse, vb. to greet, salute. Bruce, II, 153; C.S., 141. O. N. helsa, older hæilsa, to hailsay one, to greet, O. Sw. helsa, Dan. hilse, Norse helsa, id., M. E. hailsen. This word is entirely different from O. E. healsian, which is heals + ian and meant "beseech, implore," literally "embrace." The form of this was halsian in O. Nhb., from which Sco. hawse, to embrace.
Hailsing, halsing, sb. a salute, greeting. Douglas, II, 243, 31; Dunbar "Freires of Berwick" 57; Rosw. and Lill. 589. O. N., O. Sw., Norse helsa, see above; Norse helsing, Dan. hilsning, a greeting. Hailsing formed direct from the vb. hailse.
Haine, vb. to protect, save. Fergusson, 171; Psalms LXXVIII, 50; LXXX, 19; we're hain'd, we are saved. O. N. hegna, to hedge in, protect, hegnaðr, defence, Norse hegna, Dan. hegne, O. Sw. häghna, to hedge in for the sake of protecting. Cu. hain.
Hained, pp. adj. sheltered, secluded, cp. a hained rig, Burns, 8, 1. In modern usage very frequently means "saved up, hoarded," so hained gear, hoarded money. See haine above.
Hainin' tower, sb. fortress. Psalms XVIII, 2; XXXI, 2; LXII, 7. See hain.
Haling (hēling), pr. p. pouring down. Douglas, II, 47, 31. O. N. hella, to pour out water, helling, sb. pouring. See Wall under hell. We should expect a short vowel as generally in Eng. diall. The form hale, however, occurs in Yorkshire too. Both are from O. N. hella. There is no Scand. or L. G. word with original a to explain hale, but cp. the two words dwell and wail, to choose. Dwell from O. N. dvelja, preserves both quality and quantity of the original vowel. The Sco. form is, however, dwall. Here the vowel has been opened according to Sco. tendency of changing e to a before liquids, cp. félag > falow, also frequently before other consonants. Cp. the same tendency in certain dialects in America, so tăll or even tǣl for tell, băll for bell, wăll for well, etc. If e before l in hell, to pour, was changed to a, as e in dwell, and later lengthened, we would have the form hǣl out of which hale would be regularly developed, and so a double development from the same word, hell and hale. Wail, to choose, might be explained in the same way from O. N. vb. velja. Well would be the regular form, but this is not found. The O. N. val, choice, is, however, sufficient to explain wail.
Hame-Sucken, sb. the crime of assaulting a person within his own house. O. N. hæim-sókn, O. Dan. hem-sokn, an attack on one's house. O. Sw. hem-sokn, O. E. hamsocn, E. ham-socne. See Steenstrup, pp. 348-349. The word seems to have come into Eng. during the time of the Danes in England, though both elements are Eng. as well as Scand. See Kluge, P. G.2 I, 933.
Hammald, adj. domestic. Douglas, II, 26, 7. O. N. heimoll, heimill, domestic, O. Sw. hemoll, Norse heimholt. Excrescent d after l quite common in Scand. and appears in Sco. in a few words. See fald.
Hank, sb. thread as it comes from the measuring reel, a coil of thread. Burns, 584. See Skeat. Cu. hankle, to entangle, is probably the same word.
Hansel, sb. gift. O. N. handsal. Bruce, V, 120, hansell used ironically means "defeat." See Skeat.