subs. (old).—1. The head (GROSE, HALLIWELL = ‘Old Cant’); whence (2) sense, judgment, brains.
1567. EDWARDS, Damon and Pithias [DODSLEY, Old Plays, iv. 65]. Had broke his knave’s SCONCE.
1593. G. HARVEY, New Letter [GROSART, Wks., i. 283]. That can play vpon his warped SCONCE, as vpon a tabor, or a fiddle.
1598. FLORIO, A Worlde of Wordes, 82. A head, a pate, a nole, a SCONCE.
1602. SHAKESPEARE, Hamlet, v. 1. Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock him about the SCONCE with a dirty shovel?
1611. L. BARRY, Ram Alley, xii. 436.
| I say no more, | |
| But ’tis within this SCONCE to go beyond them. |
1642. H. MORE, Psychodia Platonica, iii. 13. Which their dull SKONSES cannot eas’ly reach.
1655. FANSHAWE, Lusiad, viii. 51. Th’ infused poyson working in his SCONCE.
1664. COTTON, Burlesque upon Burlesque: or, The Scoffer Scofft [Works (1725), 179].
| Merc. I go, and if I find him once, | |
| With my battoon I’ll bang his SCONCE. |
1771. SMOLLETT, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, lxiii. And, running into the house, exposed his back and his SCONCE to the whole family.
1840. THACKERAY, The Paris Sketch Book, no. At last Fips hits the West Indian such a blow across his SCONCE, that the other grew furious.
1856. R. BURTON, Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, xxv. Though we might take advantage of shade, and even form it with upraised hands, we must by no means cover our SCONCES.
1895. H. B. MARRIOTT-WATSON, The King’s Treasure, in The New Review, July, 7. I’ve a mind to open that ugly SCONCE of yours.
2. (old: now university).—A fine; a score. Hence TO BUILD A SCONCE (or TO SCONCE) = (1) to run up a score: spec. with no intention of paying; (2) to be mulcted in fines; and (3) TO SCONCE also = to pay out, to chastise (B. E., DYCHE, GROSE, BEE, HOTTEN).
1630. RANDOLPH, Aristippus [HAZLITT, Works (1875), i. 14]. 2d Schol. ’Twere charity in him TO SCONCE ’em soundly.
1633. SHIRLEY, The Witty Fair One, iv. 3. I have had a head in most of the butteries of Cambridge, and it has been SCONCED to purpose.
c. 1640. [SHIRLEY], Captain Underwit, i. [BULLEN, Old Plays, ii. 323]. Tho. I can teach you to build a SCONCE, sir.
d. 1704. T. BROWN, Works, ii. 282. I never parted with any of my favours, nay, not … a clap gratis, except a lieutenant and ensign … once … BUILT UP A SCONCE, and left me in the lurch.
1730. JAMES MILLER, The Humours of Oxford, i. I understand more manners than to leave my friends to go to church—no, though they SCONCE me a fortnight’s commons, I’ll not do it.
1760. C. JOHNSTONE, Chrysal, xxviii. These youths have been playing a small game, cribbing from the till, and building SCONCES, and such-like tricks.
1763. COLMAN, Terræ-Filius, 5 July, No. 1. Any SCONCE imposed by the Proctors.
1768. FOOTE, The Devil on Two Sticks, ii. 1. She paid my bill the next day without SCONCING off sixpence.
1821. The Etonian, ii. 391. Was SCONCED in a quart of ale for quoting Latin, a passage from Juvenal; murmured, and the fine was doubled.
1883. ELLACOMBE [Notes and Queries, 6 S., viii. 326]. Men were SCONCED if accidentally they appeared in hall undressed. I think the SCONCE was a quantity of beer to the scouts. The SCONCE-table was hung up in the buttery.
1899. Answers, 14 Jan., i. 1. The average freshman is not very long at Oxford before he is acquainted with the mysteries of SCONCING. A SCONCE is a fine of a quart of ale, in which the unlucky fresher is mulcted for various offences in Hall.
Verb. (common).—4. To reduce; to discontinue: e.g., TO SCONCE ONE’S DIET = to BANT (q.v.): TO SCONCE THE RECKONING = to reduce expenses.
5. (Winchester).—To hinder; to get in the way: as of a kick at football, a catch at cricket, &c.: e.g., “If you had not SCONCED, I should have made a flyer.”
1899. Public School Magazine, Dec., 466. Opponents, who get in each other’s way and ‘SCONCE’ the ‘kicks.’
