ˈsaddle-bow Now arch. or poet.
[bow n.1 Cf. OHG. satilpogo (MHG. satelboge, mod.G. sattelbogen).]
The arched front part of a saddle-tree or of a saddle.
| c 725 Ags. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 11/17 Carpella, sadulboᵹa. a 1250 Prov. Alfred 229 in O.E. Misc. 116 If þu hauest seorewe, ne seye þu hit nouht þan arewe, seye hit þine sadelbowe [a 1275 seit þin sadilbowe] and ryd þe singinde forþ. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 8148 (Kölbing) Wawain him ȝaue a dent of howe & cleued him to þe sadel bowe. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ix. xvi, And the lady of the lake took vp her heed and henge it vp by the heyre of her sadel bowe. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 14 Vouchsafe, thou wonder, to alight thy steed, And rein his proud head to the saddle-bow. 1658 tr. Porta's Nat. Magick xiv. 314 We use to hang up Turkies alive by the bills, at the sadle-bow, when we ride. 1757 Burke Abridgm. Eng. Hist. Wks. X. 411 The beast..plunged, and threw his rider violently on the saddle-bow. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. i. v, Steeds..Barb'd with frontlet of steel, I trow, And with Jedwood-axe at saddlebow. 1879 ‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine's Gage 7 He lifted his hat, and bowed down to his saddle-bow as he passed her. |