HORSE FOALED OF AN ACORN, subs. phr. (old cant).—The gallows: see LADDER and NUBBING-CHEAT (GROSE).
1694. MOTTEUX, Rabelais, V. xxviii. May I ride on a HORSE that was FOALED OF AN ACORN, if this be not as honest a cod as ever the ground went upon.
1760–61. SMOLLETT, Sir Launcelot Greaves, viii. I believe as how ’tis … a devil incarnate…. I’d like to have rid A HORSE THAT WAS FOALED OF AN ACORN (i.e., he had nearly met with the fate of Absalom).
1827. BULWER-LYTTON, Pelham, lxxxii. The cove … is as pretty a Tyburn blossom as ever was brought up to ride A HORSE FOALED BY AN ACORN.
1839. W. H. AINSWORTH, Jack Sheppard [1889], 8. … As to this little fellow … he shall never mount A HORSE FOALED BY AN ACORN, if I can help it.
