▪ I. shepherd, n.
(ˈʃɛpəd)
Forms: α. 1 scéaphirde, scéap-, scéphyrde, 2–3 (Ormin) shephirde, 3 seopheorde, 4 schepeherde, shepehurde, 4–5 sheepherde, scheephirde, 5 shepehirde, (sheepperde), 5–6 schepehirde, 6 scheephird, shepeheard, Sc. scheipherde, -hird, sheephirde, 7 sheep(e)heard, sheepherd, (8 sheaperd). β. 4–5 schipherd, 5 schipherde, 6 schiphird(e, shiphearde; 4 schipard(e, 5 schippart, 7 shippard. γ. 3–6 schepherde, 4 shephurde, 4–6 shepherde, 5 s(c)hepherde, schepphirde, schephord, chepherd, 6 schephird(e, 7 sheppherd; 3 ssepurde, 3–5 scheperd, 4–5 scheperde, -ard(e, 4–6 shep(p)arde, sheperde, 5 sheppard, 5–7 sheperd, 6 shepperd, 6– 8 shepard; 5 schepheerde, 6 schepheird, 6–7 shepheard(e, 7 sheppheard; 5 schepeerde; 6– shepherd.
[OE. scéaphirde: see sheep and herd n.2 Cf. MLG., MDu. schâphirde (mod.Du. has schaapherder), MHG. schâfhirte, mod.G. dial. schafhirt.
The shortened vowel of the first syllable is normal in compounds.]
1. a. A man who guards, tends, and herds a flock of sheep (grazing at large); usually one so employed for hire; or one of a pastoral people who herds (his own) sheep, goats, etc.
| a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. lv. (1883) 288 Swa swa sceaphyrde tosceat sceap fram gatum. c 1200 Ormin 3587 Crist iss all se Daviþþ wass Shephirde, & king, & kemmpe. c 1275 Passion our Lord 133 in O.E. Misc. 41 Beo þe seopheorde aquold and of lyue bireued Þenne scule sone his seop alle beon todreued. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 7210 Ssepurdes hii beþ luþere vor hii ne witeþ noȝt Her ssep fram þe wolues. 1315 Shoreham 5 Joys of Virg. 135 Out com an aungel wyþ great leem In-to þe feld of bedleem, Amonges þe schepherden, Te telle þat cryst was y-bore. c 1450 Mirk's Festial 22 Þay..speken godely and louyngly to pore schephordes þat kepten hor schepe yn þe contre by. 1459 Inventory in Paston Lett. I. 479 Inprimis, j. clothe of arras, clyped the Schipherds clothe. Ibid. 482 Item, j. clothe of arras, of the Schipherds. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. i. 5 The good sheppard exposeth his lyf for his sheep. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. Prol. 46 Sum schippart slayis the lordis sheip, and sais he is a sant. 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. 30 Rude sheepeheardes olde and decrepite. 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 87 A foreste-like Cuntrie, wheare we saw nether towne nor villidge, but somtime a shipheardes Hoote. 1606 Sir G. Goosecappe v. i. in Bullen Old Pl. (1884) III. 77 If the sunne of thy beauty doe not white me like a shippards holland, I am a Iewe to my Creator. 1657 Penit. Conf. ix. 283 The next denomination is of a sheepherd and flock. 1815 Elphinstone Acc. Caubul (1842) II. 97 The greater part of the tribe is composed of shepherds. 1891 Spectator 28 Feb., Every one hastened to turn shepherd, and cultivate wool and mutton. |
b. Applied to the rustic personages of pastoral poetry. Hence, in poetry more or less adopting the pastoral convention, formerly often used to designate the writer and his friends or fellow-poets.
| 1591 Spenser Daphn. 526 And ye faire Damsels, Shepheards dere delights, That with your loues do their rude hearts possesse. a 1599 ? Raleigh in Pass. Pilgr. xix. Love's Answ., If that the World and Loue were young, And truth in euery shepheards toung. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. v. 82 Dead Shepheard, now I find thy saw of might. a 1763 Shenstone Elegies xviii. 2 Near Avon's bank,..A tuneful shepherd [note, Mr. Somerville] charm'd the list'ning wave. |
† c. = shepherdess.
Obs. rare.
| 1588 Greene Pandosto Wks. (Grosart) IV. 274 The maide with the garland on her heade was Fawnia, the faire shepheard. |
d. A representation (in china, etc.) of a youthful shepherd;
cf. shepherdess.
| 1866 Cornh. Mag. Sept. 358 Like a Dresden shepherd and shepherdess. |
e. Fr. Hist. the Shepherds [
= Fr. les Pastoureaux]: the name applied to those who took part in the peasant insurrections of 1251 ff. and 1320.
| 1759 Universal Hist., Mod. XIII. 308 The irruption of a band of enthusiastick shepherds, who pretended to work miracles. [note] The origin of these shepherds is variously related. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XI. 710/1 marg., [1251] The Crusade of Shepherds. 1874 G. W. Cox Crusades xv. 215 The outbreak of the Pastoureaux, or Shepherds (so called from their supposed simplicity),..took place..while Louis IX. was a captive in Egypt. |
2. fig. a. A spiritual guardian or pastor of a ‘flock’;
= pastor n. 2.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 28278 Quare i was scheperd hade sauls to kepe To reckelesly i geit my schepe. 1382 Wyclif Ephes. iv. 11 He ȝaf summe sotheli apostlis,..othere forsoth schepherdis [so Tindale and Coverdale; 1611 pastors] and techeris. a 1536 Songs, Carols, etc. (1907) 81 The cheff sheperd in this world þat ys, Shuld be the pope. 1588 Marprel. Epist. (Arb.) 7 Appointed to be pastors and shepheards to feed others. 1693 Prior To Dr. Sherlock 68 'Midst thy own Flock, great Shepherd, be receiv'd. 1812 Cary Dante, Parad. xxi. 121 Modern Shepherds need Those who on either hand may prop and lead them. |
¶ In comic fiction, represented as an official title of the ‘pastor’ or ‘minister’ of a sect.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxii, ‘The kiss of peace’, says the shepherd; and then he kissed the women all round. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkback 52 Then the shepherd read, and supposed that he was explaining a portion of Scripture. |
b. In Biblical use, applied to God in relation to Israel or the Church; also to Christ (
esp. with reference to John x. 12).
| 1382 Wyclif John x. 12, I am a good schepherde; a good schepherde ȝyueth his soule, that is, his lyf, for his scheep. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxix. 1 Heare o thou shepherde of Israel, thou y{supt} ledest Iacob like a flocke of shepe. 1655 Evelyn Let. to Jer. Taylor 18 Mar., The shepheards are smitten, and the sheepe must of necessity be scattered, unless the greate Shepheard of Soules oppose. 1738 Wesley Ps. lxxx. i. Shepherd of Souls, the Great, the Good. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxvii, I have not given to the wolf any of the stray lambs whom the Great Shepherd of souls had intrusted to my charge. |
c. Applied to temporal rulers.
Cf. Gr. ποιµὴν λαῶν (Homer) ‘shepherd of the peoples’, and similar uses in the Old Testament.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 113 b, Poets..oftentimes call kings and princes by the names of shepheardes, and feeders of the people. Yea the Lorde of the whole worlde doth call himselfe a shephearde. 1780 J. Brown Lett. Toleration i. (1803) 23 Political shepherds ought never to overdrive their flocks. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. i. i, The shepherd of the people has..been put to bed in his own Château of Versailles. |
3. (With initial capital.)
= shepherd king 1.
| 1813 Pritchard Phys. Hist. Man viii. §2. 428 Manetho reckons eighteen years between Sethosis and the exit of the Shepherds from Egypt. The dynasty of Shepherds consists of six monarchs. 1860 R. S. Poole in W. Smith's Dict. Bible I. 509/2 (Egypt) There can be no question that he [Pharaoh of Joseph's time] was, if the dates be correct, a Shepherd of the xvth dynasty. |
4. Austral. A miner who holds a claim but does not work it.
| 1855 R. Carboni Eureka Stockade 9 The faithful shepherds..were sure to snore in peace a foot and a half under ground from the surface and six score feet from ‘bang on the gutter’. 1864 J. Rogers New Rush ii. 30 Shame, vagrant shepherds! cast your coat of sloth; other miners..have ris'n to rule the State, and so may you. 188. Argus in E. E. Morris Austral Eng. s.v., Dr. Quick retorted with a declaration that the Grand Junction Company were all ‘shepherds’, and that ‘shepherds’ are the worse of the two classes. |
† 5. The shepherd-spider.
Obs. rare.
| 1608 Topsell Serpents 271 This kind of Spyder..delighting in the company of Sheepe: and for this cause I take it, that we Englishmen do call her a Shepheard. 1658 Rowland tr. Moufet's Theat. Ins. 944 These are called in English Shepherds, in Latine Opiliones, because they are most often seen where sheep use to feed. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 238 Those long-legged ones [spiders] we call Shepherds, which never spin any thred. |
6. = German shepherd (
dog)
s.v. German a.
2 and n.2 4 a.
| 1938 J. Steinbeck Long Valley 13 The rangy dog darted from between the wheels and ran ahead. Instantly the two ranch shepherds flew out at him. 1978 R. Ludlum Holcroft Covenant ix. 104 Suddenly, the menacing faces of enormous long-haired black shepherds lunged at the windows on both sides of the car. |
7. attrib. and
Comb. a. Simple
attrib., as (appositive)
shepherd-band,
shepherd-boy,
shepherd folk,
shepherd-girl,
shepherd-poet, etc.: (pertaining to a shepherd or shepherds)
shepherd-care,
shepherd haunt,
shepherd life,
shepherd staff, etc.
| 1902 L. Housman Bethlehem 53 Back to their folds have gone the *shepherd-band. |
| 1802 Wordsw. To Young Lady 7 There, healthy as a *shepherd boy. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxi, As a shepherd boy flourishes his light crook. |
| 1845 G. Murray Islaford 17 How lamb-like in his *shepherd-care he was. |
| 1900 H. Sutcliffe Shameless Wayne xix. (1905) 241 Loose-limbed *shepherd folk. |
| 1757 Collins Or. Eclogues i. 56 Here make thy court amidst our rural scene, And *shepherd-girls shall own thee for their queen. |
| 1600 Fairfax Tasso vii. v, Swaines and *shepherd groomes. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe i. 11 What sprinklings of blithe company! Of lasses and of shepherd grooms. |
| 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 154 The Prophet's first thought..was towards his own *shepherd-haunts. |
| 1508 Kennedie Flyting w. Dunbar 254 Put I nocht sylence to the, *schiphird knaif. |
| 1833 Tennyson May Queen i. vii, The *shepherd lads on every side 'ill come from far away. |
| 1591 Spenser Daphn. 316 But now ye *Shepheard lasses, who shall lead Your wandring troupes, or sing your virelayes? |
| 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 150 The *shepherd-life of Amos. |
| 1807 Wordsw. Song at Feast of Brougham Castle 107 The *Shepherd-lord was honoured more and more. |
| 1825 J. Wilson Poems II. 310 Quietly slumber *shepherd-men In the silence of some inland glen. |
| 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. xliii, In vain the keeper calls his *shepherd peers. |
| 1835 Wordsw. Extemp. Effus. Death J. Hogg 12 And death upon the braes of Yarrow Has closed the *Shepherd-poet's eyes. |
| a 1352 Minot Poems (ed. Hall) ix. 20 None letes him þe way to wende whore he will: Bot with *schipherd staues fand he his fill. 14.. Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 564/9 Angivs, a shepardstaf. 1867 Hawker Pr. Wks. (1893) 110 A damsel in the bloom of youth stood leaning on her shepherd-staff. |
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. vi. 15 The gentle *shepheard swaynes. |
| 1775 Mickle Camoens' Lusiad iv. 163 To the Massylian *shepherd-tents she flies. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) I. 43 Our knight opprest Begs from some *shepherd-wife her simple fare. |
b. Egypt. Hist. [sense 3], as
Shepherd-invasion,
Shepherd-period,
Shepherd-prince, etc.; see also
shepherd king.
| 1854 W. Osburn Mon. Hist. Egypt II. v. 208 The Shepherd invasion. Ibid. 209 When Amosis first attacked the Shepherd kingdom. 1860 R. S. Poole in W. Smith's Dict. Bible I. 509/1 (Egypt) The period of Egyptian history to which the Shepherd-invasion should be assigned is a point of dispute. 1863 Ibid. III. s.v. Zoan, Remains of the Shepherd-period. 1877 J. E. Carpenter Tiele's Hist. Relig. 53 The Arab Shepherd-Princes (the Hyksos). |
c. Similative, as
shepherd-hearted; also
shepherd-like adj. and
adv.| 1853 T. T. Lynch Self-Improv. ii. 31 A *shepherd-hearted and royal youth like David. |
| 1591 Spenser Ruins of Rome 251 Peters successor..Who, *shepheardlike,..doth shew, that all things turne to their first being. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. ii. 520 Showing now defiled His hireling hands, a better help's achieved Than if they blessed us shepherd-like and mild. |
d. Special comb.:
shepherd-bird = pastor n. 4;
shepherd-check = shepherd's check;
shepherd-dog = shepherd's dog (see 8 b);
† shepherd fly (see
quot.);
shepherd land,
Sc. (see
quot.);
shepherd plaid = shepherd's plaid (see 8 c);
† shepherd silver, ? a tax paid for the keeping of shepherds;
shepherd spider, the harvest-spider (also
shepherd's: see 8 b);
shepherd tartan = shepherd's tartan.
| 1869 T. R. Jones Cassell's Bk. of Birds I. 227 The Rose Starling, or *Shepherd-bird (Pastor roseus). |
| 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 3980, Cloakings, coatings, livery Valencias, *shepherd checks, trouserings, &c. |
| c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 699/17 Hic aggregarius, a *scheperd dog. 1846 E. J. Lewis Youatt's Dog iii. (1858) 105 The descendants of the Spanish shepherd dog, so highly prized in protecting the Merino flocks from the wolves. |
| 1664 Power Exp. Philos. i. 6 The *Shepherd-flye or Spinster-flye, which Muffet calls Opilionum Muscam. |
| 1892 C. Patrick Mediæval Scot. ii. 20 ‘*Shepherd land’ seems to have been generally hill pasturage, to which the sheep were sent at suitable seasons. |
| 1940 *Shepherd plaid [see killer 7]. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 25 Sept. 3/1 (Advt.), New multiple colored striped worsteds, shepherd plaids and a host of plains are now ready for your inspection. |
| 1665 Hooke Microgr. 198 The Carter, *Shepherd Spider, or long-legg'd spider. 1854 A. Adams, etc. Man. Nat. Hist. 278 Shepherd-Spiders (Phalangidæ). |
| a 1377 Abingdon Rolls (Camden) 40 Item pro hidagio xijd. Item pro *schepersulfer ijd. q{supa}. |
| 1865 D. C. Boyd in Blaikie Livingstone xviii. (1881) 362 He wore..*shepherd-tartan trousers. |
8. Combinations with
shepherd's (sometimes varying with combs. of
shepherd, see 7).
a. Obvious combs. denoting a thing such as is used by or is characteristic of shepherds, as
shepherd's crook,
shepherd's horn,
shepherd's life,
shepherd's staff, etc.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 445/1 Schepeerdys croke, pedum. Ibid., Scheperdys logge, or cory, magalis, mapale. 1530 Palsgr. 266/2 Schepherdes bagge, pannetiere. Ibid. Schepherdes staffe, hovlette. 1538 Elyot Dict., Bardocucullum, a thrummed hatte, or a shepardes cloke. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 11 And how like you this shepherds life M{supr} Touchstone? 1688 Lond. Gaz. No. 2383/4 Lost... Three Mares, one black,..a Shepherds-hook on the near Hip behind. 1797 Mrs. Radcliffe Italian xiii, Is not that a shepherd's horn sounding at a distance? |
b. Special comb.:
shepherd's calendar, a calendar containing weather predictions and seasonable instructions for the use of shepherds (
app. proverbially referred to as an unreliable source of information); hence adopted as the title of certain pastoral poems; see also 8 d;
shepherd's chess, a game,
perh. nine-men's morris;
shepherd's club, two varieties of moth (see
quot.);
shepherd's companion (see
quots.);
shepherd's crook arm, a chair-arm shaped somewhat like a shepherd's crook;
shepherd's crown = shepherd's purse 2;
shepherd's dog, a large variety of dog employed by shepherds to control and protect flocks of sheep (
cf. sheep-dog);
† shepherd's fly = shepherd-fly (7 d);
† shepherd's harp (see
quot.);
† shepherd's hour, the lover's opportunity (
tr. F.
l'heure du berger);
shepherd's knot (see
quot.);
shepherd's lamp dial., the evening star;
† shepherd's mastie = shepherd's dog;
shepherd's pie, a pie consisting of chopped meat and potatoes, covered with a crust of mashed potatoes browned;
shepherd's pipe (see
quot. 1881);
† shepherd's spider = shepherd-spider (7 d).
| 1506 Kal. Shepherdes (Sommer) 8 These be the contentis of this present Boke of the *Shepeherdes kalender. 1565 Jewel Repl. Harding xvi. vi. 552 His Reader woulde also longe to know..in what Chronicle..thei were recorded. Otherwise he wil suspecte, M. Hardinge founde it in the Shepeheardes Calendare. 1579 Spenser (title) The Shepheardes Calender. |
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxxvii, They were..playing at push-pin, or *shepherd's chess, or basset; or some trivial game of that sort. |
| 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 90 The *Shepherd's Club (Cucullia Thapsiphaga..) appears in June. Ibid. 100 The Shepherd's Club (Euclidia glyphica). |
| 1844 Leichhardt Jrnl. iii. (1847) 80 We also observed..the *shepherd's companion, or fan-tailed fly-catcher (Rhipidura). 1890 Hardwicke's Sci. Gossip XXVI. 11/1 The Shepherd's Companion is a curious little bird, which much resembles a wagtail in its habits. |
| 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 256/2 *Shepherd's crook arm, chair or settee arm of elegantly curving shape, the end in the form of a shepherd's crook, fashionable during the first three decades of the 18th cent. 1973 Country Life 30 Aug. (Suppl.) 74/2 Walnut Queen Anne armchair..has a spoon-back, shepherds' crook arms and graceful cabriole legs. |
| 1893 Wilts. Gloss., *Shepherds'-crown, fossil Echini [see also shepherd's purse 2]. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 445/1 *Scheperdys dogge, gregarius. 1840 D. P. Blaine Encycl. Rural Sports §1415 The shepherd's dog. |
| 1688 Holme Armoury ii. ix. 190/2 *Shepherds fly. |
| Ibid. iii. xvi. (Roxb.) 76/2 An Instrument of Musick, termed a *shepards harpe; it is no other then a Board cut Bevile on both sides, with wyer or bowell strings fastned there on with pins and pegs. |
| 1690 Dryden Amphitryon iv. Pastoral Dial., Fair Iris and her swain Were in a shady Bow'r, Where Thyrsis long in vain Had sought the *shepherd's hour. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm II. 33 These ropes are wound round the stakes [of a net enclosing sheep] by a peculiar sort of knot called the ‘*shepherd's knot’. |
| 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 111 The *Shepherd's Lamp, which even children know. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. 154 b, marg., The *shepheardes Mastie. |
| 1877 E. S. Dallas Kettner's Bk. of Table 256 In Scotland they produce..such a stew, cover it over with a crust, and call it *shepherd's pie... The shepherd's pie of Scotland is..too farinaceous—potatoes within and paste without. 1896 Daily News 30 Nov. 8/5 Shepherd's pie. 1969 R. Wollheim Family Romance 228 What I couldn't face was ordering shepherd's pie. 1977 B. Pym Quartet in Autumn xviii. 164 Put a shepherd's pie in the oven. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 445/1 *Scheperdys pype, barbita. 1881 W. H. Stone in Grove Dict. Mus. III. 486 Shepherd's Pipe, a name given to the pastoral oboe or musette. |
| 1688 Holme Armoury ii. x. 215/2 The long legged Spider of the Garden, or Field,..is called the *Shephards-Spider, because they are generally in the grounds where sheepe pasture. |
c. In certain names of textile fabrics:
shepherd's check,
plaid,
tartan, a woollen cloth with a black-and-white check pattern;
† shepherd's cloth,
† shepherd's velvet = fearnought;
† shepherd's grey, grey cloth worn by shepherds.
| c 1640 A. Townshend Poems & Masks (1912) 27 And cast thy purple roabes away, To take a scripp and sheapherds grey. 1791 E. Nairne Poems 76 A bran new coat Of shepherd's velvet. 1794 Sporting Mag. III. 193 The wadding..is made of the cloth called fear-naught or shepherd's cloth. 1834 Dickens Sk. Boz, Boarding Ho. ii, He wore shepherd's⁓plaid inexpressibles. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ Valerie's Fate i, A large soft shawl of shepherd's plaid. 1896 ‘L. Keith’ Indian Uncle xvi. 253 Let himself be instantly ‘happet’ in the sheriff's shepherd-check plaid. 1897 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 4/2 Shepherd's check tartan. Ibid., These shepherd's check gowns. |
d. In the names of plants, chiefly
dial.:
† shepherd's bag = shepherd's purse 1;
shepherd's beard = sheep's beard s.v. sheep n. 9;
shepherd's bedstraw,
Asperula cynanchica (Britten & Holland 1886);
† shepherd's bodkin (see
quot.);
shepherd's calendar, the scarlet pimpernel;
shepherd's clock, (
a)
= prec.; (
b) the goatsbeard,
Tragopogon pratensis (B. & H.);
shepherd's club, the common mullein,
Verbascum Thapsus;
shepherd's comb,
Scandix Pecten (B. & H.);
shepherd's cress, the dwarf cruciferous plant,
Teesdalia nudicaulis;
shepherd's delight,
dial,
glass, the scarlet pimpernel,
Anagallis arvensis;
shepherd's gourd, the common mullein;
shepherd's hour-glass, the yellow pimpernel,
Lysimachia nemorum;
shepherd's joy (see
quot.);
shepherd's knot = tormentil;
shepherd's myrtle,
Ruscus aculeatus;
shepherd's needle,
† (
a)
Geranium, (
b)
Scandix Pecten;
shepherd's pedler,
pouch = shepherd's purse 1;
shepherd's rod,
Dipsacus pilosus;
shepherd's root = tormentil (B. & H.);
shepherd's rose, ? some species of rose growing in hedges;
shepherd's scrip = shepherd's purse 1;
shepherd's staff, (
a)
= shepherd's rod; (
b) the common mullein;
shepherd's sun-dial = shepherd's dial above;
shepherd's thyme, (
a) the wild thyme,
Thymus Serpyllum; (
b) the chalk milkwort;
shepherd's warning,
watch, the scarlet pimpernel (B. & H.);
shepherd's weatherglass, (
a) the scarlet pimpernel; (
b)
Stellaria Holostea (B. & H.).
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbs (E.D.S.) 83 Bursa pastoris is also called in englishe of many Bursa pastoris and of other *Shepherdes bag or Shepherdes purse. |
| 1840 Paxton Bot. Dict., *Shepherd's Beard, see Arnopogon. |
| 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), *Shepherds-Bodkin, a sort of Herb. |
| 1832 A. E. Bray Tamar & Tavy xviii. (1836) I. 318 We have..the *shepherd's calendar, and the one o'clock, the very dial of poetry. |
| 1878 Susan Phillips On Seaboard 86 We..Read the ‘*shepherd's clock’. |
| 1790 Alex. Wilson Morning Poet. Wks. (? 1846) 3 *Shepherds clubs hang nodding o'er the steep. Ibid. Monkey & Bee 41 O'ertopt with stately shepherds clubs. |
| c 1710 Petiver Cat. Ray's Eng. Herbal Tab. 50 *Shepherd's-cress. 1863 Sowerby's Eng. Bot. (ed. 3) I. 209 Teesdalia nudicaulis..Shepherd's Cress. |
| 1865 Cornh. Mag. July 34 The scarlet pimpernel, from its susceptibility to the changes of the weather, is his [the peasant's] ‘*shepherd's dial’. |
| 1886 Britten & Holland Dict. Plant-n., *Shepherd's glass. Anagallis arvensis. |
| 1896 Garden Work 4 Mar. 112/1 A young man..called the plant Verbascum Thapsus ‘*Shepherd's Gourd’. |
| 1909 Essex Rev. XVIII. 77 The *Shepherd's Hour-glass. |
| 1884 W. Miller Plant-n. 124/2 *Shepherd's-joy, Australian. The genus Geitonoplesium. |
| Ibid. 125/1 *Shepherd's-knot. Tormentilla officinalis. |
| c 1840 W. A. Bromfield Flora Vectensis (1856) 508 *Shepherd's Myrtle. |
| 1562 W. Bullein Bulwarke, Bk. Simples (1579) 42 b, What is the vertue of Geranium, called *Sheepherdes needell? 1597 Gerarde Herbal ii. cccc. 884 Pecten Veneris, siue Scandix. Shepheards Needle, or Venus combe. 1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 564 The scandix pecten veneris of botanists, and what is often known to agricultors by the names of Shepherd's needle, Beggar's needle, &c. |
| 1811 T. Davis Agric. Wilts 267 Crowpeck, Shepherd's purse, or *shepherd's pedler. |
| 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 14 Bursa pastoris is called in some places of England *shepherdes pouche. |
| 1633 T. Johnson Gerarde's Herbal ii. 1168 Dipsacus minor, sive Virga pastoris. *Shepheards-rod. 1735 Keogh Bot. Univ. Hibern. 122 Wild Teasel, great Shepherds Rod, venus Bason, or carde Thistle. 1796 Withering Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 182 Shepherd's Rod. Shepherd's Staff. Small Teasel. |
| 1817–8 Cobbett Resid. Amer. (1822) 43 No *shepherd's rose, no honey⁓suckle, none of that endless variety of beauties that decorate the hedges and the meadows in England. 1578 *Shepherds scrip [see shepherd's purse 1]. |
| 1760 J. Lee Introd. Bot. App. 327 *Shepherd's Staff, Dipsacus. 1882 Trans. Cumb. Assoc. Lit. & Sci. vii. 142 Verbascum thapsus:..the ‘Shepherd's Staff’ of the rustic population. |
| 1823 Moor Suffolk Words, *Shepherd's Sun-dial. |
| 1857 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 168 Thymus Serpyllum..*Shepherd's Thyme. 1878 Hardy Ret. Native vi. ii. (1890) 395 On the green turf and shepherd's-thyme. 1893 Wilts. Gloss., Shepherds'-Thyme, Polygala calcarea,..chalk Milkwort. |
| 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 47 Pimpernel, dreading nights and showers, Oft call'd ‘the *Shepherd's Weather-glass’. 1872 C. Rossetti Sing Song 86 Scarlet shepherd's-weatherglass Spreads wide open at her feet. |
Hence (
nonce-wds.)
ˈshepherddom, the state of shepherds;
ˈshepherdhood (in
quot.), the personality of a shepherd.
| 1905 Edin. Rev. Apr. 319 The attributes of shepherddom, milk-jar, crook, pipes [etc.]. 1596 W. Smith Chloris (1877) 30 But that it pleased thy graue shepherdhood The Patron of my maiden verse to bee. |
▪ II. shepherd, v. (
ˈʃɛpəd)
[f. shepherd n.] 1. trans. To tend, guard and watch (sheep) as a shepherd. Also rarely to keep or breed (sheep).
| 1790 [implied in shepherding vbl. n.]. 1862 Ruskin Unto this Last 43 He must..shepherd his own flocks. 1881 Cheq. Career 36 In Australia, sheep..are shepherded and yarded every night. 1885–94 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Apr. xiii, Talos..who shepherded the sea-goats on the coast. |
| absol. 18.. Househ. Words XXXV. 11 (Flügel) When he used to go shepherding with me on his rough pony. 1884 Kendal Mercury 26 Sept. 2/6 Two farmers..were out shepherding, when they were overtaken by an awful storm. 1887 Pall Mall Gaz. 26 Oct. 3/1 The Virgin is said to have appeared to two children..who were shepherding up there in the mountains. |
2. transf. and
fig. To tend, watch over, or guide as a shepherd does his sheep.
| 1820 Shelley Arethusa 6 Arethusa arose From her couch of snows..Shepherding her bright fountains. a 1851 Edin. Rev. in Arch. Stud. neu. Spr. VIII. 276 Shepherding a lady. 1862 H. H. Dixon Scott & Sebright (1895) 380 He would put out twenty couple of puppies for him, and go round twice a week to shepherd them. 1868 Lowell Dara 19 So Dara shepherded a province wide, Nor in his viceroy's sceptre took more pride Than in his crook before. 1885 M. Arnold Poor Matthias, French canary-merchant old Shepherding his flock of gold In a low dim-lighted pen. 1898 G. B. Shaw You never can tell ii. Stage Dir., The waiter shepherds his assistants along with him into the hotel by the kitchen entrance. |
3. Austral. and
N.Z. trans. and intr. To watch over or guard (a mining claim) by working on it superficially (
esp. by digging small pits) so as to retain legal rights.
| 1855 R. Carboni Eureka Stockade 8 Here begins as a profession the precious game of ‘shepherding’, or keeping claims in reserve; that is the digger turned squatter. 1861 T. M'Combie Australian Sk. 135 Few of their claims, however, are actually ‘bottomed’, for the owners merely watch their more active contemporaries. Footnote, This is termed ‘shepherding’ a claim. 1863 Once a Week VIII. 507 (Farmer), Having sunk their holes, each about a foot, and placed in them a pick or shovel as a sign of ownership, they devoted themselves to the laborious occupation of shepherding. 1864 Append. Jrnls. House Reps. N.Z. C. iv. 8 Shepherding forbidden. 1880 D. C. Davies Metallif. Min. 421 Shepherding, Aus., keeping possession of a mining claim by doing the least quantity of work on it allowed by law. |
4. a. colloq. or
slang. To watch over, to follow closely and watchfully; chiefly
slang, see
quot. 1890; also
Austral. slang, to follow a person so as to get something out of him or to cheat him.
| 1885 Times 13 Apr. 5/3 Admiral Dowell is reported to be closely shepherding the Russian vessels in these seas. 1890 Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang s.v., Adversaries opposite each other at football are said to shepherd or watch each other. A man may shepherd a rich uncle or rich heiress, a detective shepherds a criminal whom he suspects of planning a felony. A man shepherds one of his own side at football by keeping off adversaries while he is running or kicking. 1893 Kipling Many Invent., Lost Legion, You must know that all along the north-west frontier of India there is spread a force of some thirty thousand foot and horse, whose duty it is to quietly and unostentatiously shepherd the tribes in front of them. 1899 Shearman, etc. Football 313 Off goes the ball again; a player seizes it, bouncing it as he goes, ‘shepherded’ along the way by his friends. 1905 Sat. Rev. 10 June 761 He..should have shepherded at an earlier date the Russian fleet out of French waters. |
b. Mil. slang. To force (a body of the enemy) into an unfavourable position.
| 1900 Daily Tel. 2 Apr. (Ware Passing Engl.), Cronje was shepherded with his army into the bed of the Modder by a turning movement. |
Hence
ˈshepherded ppl. a., protected, guarded.
| 1884 Ruskin Fors Clav. xcvi. 306 To be kept from its evil in shepherded peace. |