> -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > On Behalf Of Bruce Napier > Sent: 11 April 2009 20:11 > To: Canals List > Subject: [canals-list] Huffler vs hobbler > > Extract from the latest post on my blog: > > > Huffling: offering to help with lock working in the expectation of > > a small reward. Normally innocuous, but can sometimes become > > threatening. > > and Mr Millin's comment thereon: > > > Huffler? I always thought that the trad name for someone who helped > > you through locks was a 'hobbler'..........or am I wrong? Or is > > 'huffler' a modern term for someone who does it with possible > > malicious intent? > > He might be right, you know (it has been known). If he is, where did > I get "huffler" from?
>From memory (dodgier and dodgier with every passing year) 'cos all my reference books are, once again, put away whilst we undertake yet another major DIY project, a 'huffler', or possibly (a brain cell tells me) 'huffer', was the colloquial term for the men who dragged boats up and down the Thames haling way But I might be wrong! The term is certainly familiar in a waterways context Bru
