Bruce Napier <[email protected]> wrote: >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?
Working strictly from memory, and too lazy even to Google, I thought a hobbler was someone who helped with the boat horse (e.g. leading it), or perhaps provided an additional horse for taking a butty through narrow locks? Adrian . Adrian Stott 07956-299966
