1823. Bee, Dict. Turf, s.v. Hen. In Black-boy Alley I’ve a ken, A tyke and fighting cock; A saucy tip-slang moon-eyed hen, Who is oft mill-doll at block.
2. (common).—Drink money. See Hen drinking.
1892. Milliken, ’Arry Ballads, p. 20. Whenever there’s hens on the crow, ’Arry’s good for a hinnings,—no fear!
Verb (Scots’).—To funk; to turn tail; to hen on = to fear to attempt.
Cock and hen club, subs. phr. (common).—A club composed of men and women.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v.
Hens and Chickens, subs. phr. (thieves’).—Pewter measures; quarts and pints. Cf., Cat and Kittens.
1851. H. Mayhew, Lond. Lab. and Lond. Poor, Vol. i., p. 276. The hens and chickens of the roguish low lodging-houses are the publicans’ pewter measures; the bigger vessels are ‘hens,’ the smaller are ‘chickens.’
Hen-drinking, subs. (provincial).—See quot.
1859. Notes and Queries, 2 S. viii., 239. There is yet another [Yorkshire marriage-custom], viz., the hen-drinking. On the evening of the wedding day the young men of the village call upon the bridegroom for a hen—meaning money for refreshments … should the hen be refused, the inmates may expect some ugly trick to the house ere the festivities terminate.