The Mohocks were allegedly a gang of violent, well-born criminals that terrorized London during the early 18th century, attacking men and women alike, and taking their name from the Mohawks . Their activities, which were perhaps sensationalized, were said to include murder. The matter ended in 1712 when a bounty of £100 was issued by the royal court for their capture.
24-416: According to Lady Wentworth, "They put an old woman into a hogshead , and rolled her down a hill; they cut off some noses, others' hands, and several barbarous tricks, without any provocation. They are said to be young gentlemen; they never take any money from any." (Wentworth Papers, 277) Historians have found little evidence of any organized gang, though in spring 1712 there was a flurry of print accounts of
48-937: A bank director, Osborne, an American, and "Capt." Frederick. Various other gangs of street bullies are alleged to have terrorized London at different periods, beginning during the 1590s with the Damned Crew and continuing after the Restoration with the Muns, the Tityré Tūs, the Hectors, the Scourers, the Nickers, and the Hawkubites . In the Victor Hugo novel, The man who Laughs , Hugo writes "The most fashionable of
72-495: A fellow at Christ's College in July 1860. In 1860 Skeat was ordained an Anglican deacon and married Bertha Clara. In December 1860, he became a curate at East Dereham , where he served during 1861 and most of 1862. From 1862 to 1863, Skeat served as the curate at Godalming , Surrey. In October 1864, he returned to Cambridge University as a mathematics lecturer, a position he held until 1871. Skeat soon developed an interest in
96-408: A hogshead can consist of anything from (presumably) 62.5 to 140 US gallons (52 to 117 imp gal; 237 to 530 L). A hogshead of Madeira wine was approximately equal to 45–48 gallons (0.205–0.218 m ). A hogshead of brandy was approximately equal to 56–61 gallons (0.255–0.277 m ). Eventually, a hogshead of wine came to be 63 US gallons (52.5 imp gal ; 238.5 L ), while
120-562: A hogshead of beer or ale is 54 gallons (250 L if old beer/ale gallons, 245 L if imperial). A hogshead was also used as unit of measurement for sugar in Louisiana for most of the 19th century. Plantations were listed in sugar schedules by the number of hogsheads of sugar or molasses produced. Used for sugar in the 18th and 19th centuries in the British West Indies, a hogshead weighed on average 16 cwt / 812kg. A hogshead
144-774: A passenger, broke his nose with a blow of the fist, and then shoved both thumbs into his eyes. If his eyes were gouged out, he was paid for them. Such were, towards the beginning of the eighteenth century, the pastimes of the rich idlers of London." Meshon Cantrill, "Who has not trembled at the Mohocks' name?" Narratives of Control and Resistance in the Press in Early Eighteenth-Century London University of Saskatchewan 2011, (Thesis) Jonathan Swift "Journal to Stella", 1712, March 9 Hogshead A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds")
168-430: A prick of his sword, which made him spring round; another prick in the back warned the fellow that one of noble blood was behind him, and so on, each one wounding him in his turn. When the man, closed round by the circle of swords and covered with blood, had turned and danced about enough, they ordered their servants to beat him with sticks, to change the course of his ideas. Others "hit the lion"--that is, they gaily stopped
192-674: Is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity ). It refers to a specified volume , measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoholic beverages , such as wine , ale , or cider . English philologist Walter William Skeat (1835–1912) noted the origin is to be found in the name for a cask or liquid measure appearing in various forms in Germanic languages , in Dutch oxhooft (modern okshoofd ), Danish oxehoved , Old Swedish oxhuvud , etc. The Encyclopædia Britannica of 1911 conjectured that
216-762: The Anglo-Saxon Gospels , and did work both in Old English and the Gothic language . Skeat is best known for his work in Middle English , and for his standard editions of Chaucer and William Langland 's Piers Plowman . Skeat was the founder and only president of the English Dialect Society from 1873 to 1896. The society's purpose was to collect materials for the publication of The English Dialect Dictionary . The society
240-609: The Early English Text Society : For the Scottish Text Society : Skeat produced what is still the main edition of Ælfric of Eynsham 's Lives of the Saints ; the edition includes translations which were largely the work of two women referred to as Mss Gunning and Wilkinson, who were credited in the preface to his edition. According to A. J. Wyatt, Skeat "was not a great teacher ... he left
264-464: The Mohocks, their lawlessness, impunity and luridly violent acts. In response there was also some derision from satirists at what they perceived to be sensationalism by the Grub Street press. John Gay 's first drama, The Mohocks , was written that year but was not performed for political reasons. It was, however, published as a pseudonymous pamphlet. In 18th century London, the name Mohawks
SECTION 10
#1732765989691288-455: The OED cites an 1897 edition of Whitaker's Almanack , which specified the gallons of wine in a hogshead varying most particularly across fortified wines: claret / Madeira 46 imperial gallons (55 US gal; 209 L), port 57 imperial gallons (68 US gal; 259 L), sherry 54 imperial gallons (65 US gal; 245 L). The American Heritage Dictionary claims that
312-590: The United Kingdom. Skeat was born in London to architect William Skeat, of Perry Hill, Sydenham , later of Mount Street, Park Lane , City of Westminster , and his wife Sarah, daughter of Timothy Bluck. The Skeat family were a branch of an ancient Surrey family, and were resident in the parish of St George Hanover Square since the 1700s. He was educated at King's College School ( Wimbledon ), Highgate School , and Christ's College, Cambridge . He became
336-524: The clubs was presided over by an emperor, who wore a crescent on his forehead, and was called the Grand Mohawk. The Mohawk surpassed the Fun. Do evil for evil's sake was the programme. The Mohawk Club had one great object--to injure. To fulfil this duty all means were held good. In becoming a Mohawk the members took an oath to be hurtful. To injure at any price, no matter when, no matter whom, no matter where,
360-671: The history of the English language. In 1870, Skeat and Henry Bradshaw collaborated on an edition of Geoffrey Chaucer for the University of Oxford . However, the project fell through when Bradshaw failed to keep his commitment. In 1894, Skeat published a six-volume edition of Chaucer; a supplementary volume, Chaucerian Pieces , was published in 1897. In 1878 Skeat was elected the Elrington and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge . He completed Mitchell Kemble 's edition of
384-411: The teaching to those who had learned from him" – i.e. Wyatt himself and Israel Gollancz – "his teaching was episodic. Yet his lectures were eagerly followed by the fit though few; they were always interesting when least utilitarian, when he forgot examinations and syllabuses, and poured forth from the quaint storehouse of his motley memory things new and old." Skeat's pedagogical works include: Skeat
408-474: The width in the middle). Fully packed with tobacco, it weighed about 1,000 pounds (454 kg) . A hogshead in Britain contains about 300 L (66 imp gal; 79 US gal). The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) notes that the hogshead was first standardized by an act of Parliament ( 2 Hen. 6 . c. 14) in 1423, though the standards continued to vary by locality and content. For example,
432-468: The word should therefore be "oxhead", "hogshead" being a mere corruption. A tobacco hogshead was used in British and American colonial times to transport and store tobacco. It was a very large wooden barrel. A standardized hogshead measured 48 inches (1.22 m) long and 30 inches (76.20 cm) in diameter at the head (at least 550 L or 121 imp gal or 145 US gal, depending on
456-539: Was a matter of duty. Every member of the Mohawk Club was bound to possess an accomplishment. One was "a dancing master;" that is to say he made the rustics frisk about by pricking the calves of their legs with the point of his sword. Others knew how to make a man sweat; That is to say, a circle of gentlemen with drawn rapiers would surround a poor wretch, so that it was impossible for him not to turn his back upon some one. The gentleman behind him chastised him for this by
480-492: Was also used for the measurement of herring fished for sardines in Blacks Harbour, New Brunswick and Cornwall. Walter William Skeat Walter William Skeat , FBA (21 November 1835 – 6 October 1912) was a British philologist and Anglican deacon. The pre-eminent British philologist of his time, he was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in
504-624: Was dissolved in 1897. Skeat is buried at the Ascension Parish Burial Ground in Cambridge . Skeat's wife, Bertha Clara, born 6 February 1840, died 15 July 1924, is buried with him, as is a daughter Bertha Marian Skeat who was a writer and headmistress. His son was the anthropologist Walter William Skeat . His grandsons include the noted palaeographer T. C. Skeat and the stained glass painter Francis Skeat . In pure philology , Skeat's principal achievement
SECTION 20
#1732765989691528-579: Was his An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language (4 parts, 1879–1882; rev., and enlarged, 1910). While preparing the dictionary, he wrote hundreds of short articles on word origins for the London-based journal Notes and Queries . Skeat also coined the term ghost word and was a leading expert in this subject. Skeat was also a pioneer of place-name studies. His major publications in this field include: Skeat edited works for
552-449: Was one of the very few scholars in English studies who had sufficient expertise to compete with the state-employed and tenured colleagues from German universities. Like Henry Sweet , Skeat regarded Geoffrey Chaucer and other medieval English authors as part of his national heritage and objected to German scholars publishing works on them. At one point, Skeat exclaimed that even though he was "...to some extent disqualified, as being merely
576-537: Was subsequently applied to other upper-class drunken rowdies and bravos. William Hickey recalled "In the winter of 1771, a set of wild young men made their appearance, who, from the profligacy of their manners and their outrageous conduct in the theatres, taverns, and coffee houses in the vicinity of Covent Garden , created general indignation and alarm.... They were distinguished under the title of Mohawks." Hickey identified their boss as Rhoan Hamilton, "a man of fortune" and later an Irish rebel, and Messrs Hayter, son of
#690309