hufflern.
/ˈhʌflə/ (See quots.)‘Still used of bargemen’ ( O.E.D. Suppl. (1976)).
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > sailor > sailors involved in specific duties or activities > [noun] > helmsman or pilot > unlicensed pilot
huffler1723
hoveller1769
hobbler1840
hobbling pilot1891
1723 J. Lewis Hist. Isle Tenet 23 Huffler, one that carrys off fresh provisions, and refreshments to Ships.
1808 Athenæum III. 115 Until very lately the hufflers, or pilots of Heligoland were under no sort of subordination.
1824 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 111/2 We have a class of people in these parts called Ufflers, i.e. men in the barging line out of employ, who attend as extra help to get the craft home in our inland navigation.
1918 Chambers's Jrnl. Feb. 109/1 Here it is that the barge skippers and the barge mates and the river ‘hufflers’ congregate.
1927 Daily News 27 May 6/6 If it is necessary to take on a third hand, he is generally regarded as being quite an inferior person, and is known as a ‘huffler’.
1948 H. Benham Last Stronghold of Sail ii. 29 There were ‘hufflers’ in plenty in those days to come aboard and lend a hand.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
<
n.1723