Pl. woodmen. Forms and etym.: see WOOD sb.1 and MAN sb.1 (Cf. WOODSMAN.)
The meaning in the following is uncertain:—
972. in Birch, Cartul. Sax., III. 603. Fram hwitingho to wudemannes tune.
1275. Rot. Hundr., II. 19. Johanni Wodeman.
1. One who hunts game in a wood or forest; a huntsman. Obs. or arch.
c. 1410. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), xxxiii. As of þe manere howe he shulde be vndo y passe ouere lightly, for þer is no wodemann nor good hunter in Inglonde, but þei cann do it wele ynowgh.
1555. Instit. Gentl., H v. Ther is a saying emonge hunters that he cannot be a gentleman which loueth not hawkyng and hunting, whiche I haue heard olde woodmen wel allowe.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., V. v. 30. Am I a Woodman, ha? Speake I like Herne the Hunter?
1616. Boys, Expos. Proper Ps. xlvii. 9, Wks. (1629), 935. Woodmen say that Deere are most circumspect in fat pasture.
1676. Shadwell, Virtuoso, III. I have taken more Pains to single you out, than ever Wood-man did for a Deer.
1805. Scott, Last Minstrel, VI. vii. Conrad … Was by a woodman’s lyme-dog found.
[1835. W. Irving, Tour Prairies, xi. 85. He looked down with contempt upon the rangers, as … inexperienced woodmen, but little skilled in hunting lore.]
b. fig. or allusively.
1590. Greene, Never too late (1600), 47. He was not … so ill a Woodman to giue ouer the chace at the first default.
1603. Shaks., Meas. for M., IV. iii. 170. He’s a better woodman then thou tak’st him for.
1618. Fletcher, Chances, I. ix. I see ye are a wood-man, and can chuse Your dear.
1673. Dryden, Marr. à la Mode, II. i. 18. Has the old Cupid, your Father, chosen well for you? is he a good Woodman?
2. One who looks after the trees in a wood or forest; one who fells or lops trees for timber or fuel; also, one who provides or purveys wood.
1426. Lydg., De Guil. Pilgr., 17745. Her ys a woode off lytel prys, Wych a woodeman selleth me.
1530. Palsgr., 289/2. Wodman that lyveth by fellyng wode, bocquillon.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomencl., 519/2. Dendrophori,… woodemen or such as carrie wood about streetes to be sold.
1634. Milton, Comus, 484. Either som one like us night-founder’d here, Or els som neighbour Wood-man.
1726. J. Laurence, New Syst. Agric., 229. Of the Aspen Tree our Woodmen make Hoops, Firewood, and Coals.
1800. Campbell, Beech-Tree’s Petition, 2. Spare, woodman, spare the beechen tree.
1856. Kane, Arctic Expl., II. vii. 83. Bonsall and Petersen are now woodmen, preparing our daily fuel.
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket Bk., vii. (ed. 2), 250. Each half company providing 2 woodmen, 2 watermen.
1903. Maud S. Rawson, Apprentice, 141. The oldest woodmen say that it takes a hundred years to grow a perfect oak for an English ship.
† 3. A forester having charge of the king’s woods.
1594. Crompton, Jurisd., 146 b. Auant que sera perfect Forest, le Roy couient appointer certaine officers, come vn keeper, Forester, Woodmen, Regarders, Agistors.
1604. Manwood, Lawes Forest, xxi. (1615), 193. The foresters & woodmen did take no good regard to the forests.
† 4. An inhabitant of the woods, a wild man, a savage; a person representing one in a pageant, or a figure of one in heraldry: = WOODWOSE. Obs.
1442. Extr. Aberd. Reg. (1844), I. 9. The fleschowares sal fynd [for a play], twa or four wodmen.
1566. in J. Nicholl, Comp. Ironmongers (1866), 85. They shall fynde us two woodmen, wt clubbes, squibbes and powder.
1601. in Moryson, Itin., II. (1617), 106. To march … into Colrane … to have brought into subjection all the woodmen.
1660. J. Tatham, Royal Oake, 10. Several persons in the habit of Wood-men and Wood-Nymphs.
1780. Edmondson, Heraldry, II. Gloss., Woodman, a name given by several Writers to the wild man, or savage.
5. A workman who makes something of wood, esp. the woodwork of a carriage.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 175/1. When the body is finished from the hands of the woodman, it passes into the hands of the currier.
1908. Advt., Wanted Coach Builders and Wheelwrights.—Good woodman.
Hence Woodman(s)craft, Woodmanship, the business or skill of a woodman; † Woodmanlike, † Woodmanly advs., in the manner of or befitting a woodman.
c. 1410. Master of Game (MS. Digby 182), xxxiii. If þe lorde will haue þe deere vndone, he þat he biddeth … shulde vndo hym þe moste wodemanly and clenly þat he cann. And wonderth ye nought, þough y say wodmanly, for it is a poynte of wodemancrafte.
1479. [see WOODSALE].
1575. Gascoigne, Hearbes, 156. Gascoignes woodmanship written to the L. Grey of Wilton.
1627. J. Taylor (Water P.), Armado, Ep. Ded. A 3 b. You know what belongs to the Wood-manship, the Wardship, and Stewardship.
a. 1650. Marr. Sir Gawaine, in Furniv. & Hales, Percy Folio, I. 106. The kyng in hys hand toke a bowe, And wodmanly he stowpy’d lowe.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., xxix. It were bad woodmanship to raise the hollo upon the game, ere it had been driven within compass of the nets.
1881. Sat. Rev., 23 July, 122/1. Colonel Fraser’s political sagacity hardly seems on a par with his woodmanscraft.
1911. A. C. Benson, Ruskin, v. 180. He was fond of woodmanship. His … hedging-gloves and his chopper were very characteristic signs of his presence.
