heir, to be heir to, to inherit. Dryden, Hind and Panther, iii. 714; Chapman, tr. of Iliad, v. 161.
hell, the ‘den’ for prisoners in the games of Barley-break and Prison-bars; ‘Here’s the last couple in hell’, Beaumont and Fl., Scornful Lady, v. 4 (Elder Loveless). See [barley-break].
hell-waine, a phantom wagon, seen in the sky at night. Middleton, The Witch, i. 2 (Hecate); R. Scott, Disc. Witchcraft, vii. 15 (ed. 1886, 122). In the Netherlands the Great Bear is called Hellewagen, see Grimm, Teut. Myth. 802.
helm, the helmet or head of a still. B. Jonson, Alchemist, ii. 1 (Subtle).
helm, a handle. Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, v. 312. See Dict.
helmster, the tiller of a helm. A Knack to know a Knave, in Hazlitt’s Dodsley, vi. 571.
helo(e, healo, bashful; ‘Il est né tout coiffé, hee is verie maidenlie, shamfaced, heloe’, Cotgrave (ed. 1611); ‘Honteux, shamefast, bashful, helo, modest’, id.; ‘Heloe or helaw, bashful, a word of common use’, Ray, North Country Words, 25; hala, Shadwell, Squire of Alsatia, iii. 1 (Lolpool). In common prov. use in the north country as far south as Cheshire and Derbysh. (EDD.).
helops, a savoury sea-fish. Middleton, Game at Chess, v. 3. 13. L. helops, ellops; Gk. ἔλλοψ. See [ellops].
hempstring, a worthless fellow; a term of reproach, with reference to a halter. Gascoigne, Supposes, iv. 2 (Psiteria); ‘A perfect young hemp-string’, Chapman, Mons. D’Olive, v. 1 (Vaumont). In Scotland (Forfarsh.) a hangman’s halter is called a hempstring (EDD.).
†hemule, hemuse, a roebuck in its third year. Hemule, Book of St. Albans, fol. E4, back; hemuse, Turbervile, Hunting, c. 45, p. 143. See NED.