Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1960 (SND Vol. V). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1957-1981
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,0]
HENDERSON, n. Also Hinnerson (ne.Sc.). In phr. as hard as Henderson('s erse, backside), extremely hard (Abd., Ags. 1957).Abd.30 1957:
A full form of the expression is: As hard as Hinnerson's erse, that wis fifty times harder nor flint, an reeshled fan he ran. Abd. 1981 Jack Webster A Grain of Truth (1988) 12:
His standard description of anything which was intolerably tough, for example, was to say that it was 'as hard as Hinnerson's erse' (Henderson's arse' Henderson being a North-East name for the Devil). If questioned on how hard 'Hinnerson's erse' was supposed to be, he would explain that it was ten times harder than flint, which surely made the point!
