hough-band, n.
In Sc. also hoch-ban'.
‘A band which confines one of the legs of a restless animal; it passes round the neck and one of the legs’ (Gallovid. Encycl. 1824).
| 1568 Satir. Poems Reform. xlvi. 12 Gar heiss hir quhill hir howbandis skaill. 1686 G. Stuart Joco-ser. Disc. 14 Nae hough-bands now for Godly helping. |
Hence hough-band v., trans. ‘to tie a band round the hough of a cow, or horse, to prevent it from straying’ (Jam.); fig. to confine, put restraint upon, coerce.
| 1687–8 D. Granville Let. to Mr. Lumley 19 Mar. in Misc. (Surtees 1858) 228 Nor will I hough-band, or so much as hamper or fetter my Soveraign, God's deputy. |