everybody was obliged to go down and join in it. 'Haul ye, call ye,' is the supposed derivation; but, as the game, though in vogue in 1830, was not played as late as 1845, there is some difficulty in defining it in detail.
Aunt, subs. (old).—Applied, especially during the Elizabethan period, to either a procuress, a prostitute, or a concubine. It survived till the commencement of the present century and then gradually died out. For synonyms, see Mother.
1608. Middleton. Trick to Catch the Old One. II., i. Was it not then better bestowed upon his uncle than upon one of his aunts?—I need not say bawd, for everyone knows what aunt stands for in the last translation.
1623. Shakspear. Winter's Tale, iv., 3.
Summer songs for me and my aunts. While we lie tumbling in the hay.
To go and see one's aunt (common).—To go to the W.C. —See Mrs. Jones.
Aunt Sally, subs. (familiar).—A well-known game, common to race-courses and fairs, which consists in throwing short staves at a wooden head mounted on a stick, placed upright in the ground, and forming a kind of target. In the mouth of the image is placed a clay pipe, and the object of the player, who stands at say twenty or thirty yards distance, is to demolish this. The amusement is not unlike the more popular 'three shies a penny.' The origin of Aunt Sally is wrapped in mystery; nor is it known whether she is any relation to the black lady whose effigy some few years since was frequently to be met with suspended outside the shops of rag and 'marine store' dealers. A writer in Notes and Queries [2 S., x., 117] affirms that Aunt Sally is the heroine of a popular negro melody, in which the old lady meets with several ludicrous adventures, but evidence in support of this theory is at present wanting.
1866. G. A. Sala. Gaslight and Daylight, ch, i., p. 11. They will go to Epsom by the rail, and create disturbances on the course, and among the 'sticks' and aunt sallies.
1883. Punch. June 2, p. 264, col. 1. The average number of 'chucks' at cocoa-nuts before achieving success is six, and of 'shies' at aunt sally, four.
Au Reservoir! intj, phr. (common).—Au revoir. A mere play upon sounds. Common in America, where it originated, and now often heard in England.
Australian Flag, subs. (Anglo-Australian).—The tail of a shirt, when, after exertion, it rucks up in folds between the trousers and the waistcoat—an 'up-country' phrase.—See Cornstalk.
Australian Grip, subs. (Australian).—A hearty shake of the hands.
Autem. Autum. Autom. Subs. (old cant).—A church. The term first appears in Harman's Caveat [1573]; again in Rowland's Martin Mark-all [1610]; in Head's English Rogue [1665]; in Cole's English Dictionary [1724]; in Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue [1785], and in Duncombe's Sinks of London Laid Open [1848].—See also Autem mort.
Adj..—Married. So quoted in
