"leatherhead"

[Joel S. Berson]

First, George:  I'm wondering how you decided upon the sense
"watchman".  In your quote below, isn't "leather-head" rather the
OED's "slang, a blockhead" (s.v. "leather n.")?  In which case the
OED has it as a1700 (from a dictionary) -- and not ever again!  (Its
other two instances of "leather-head" are the name of a bird.)  And
the OED has "leather-headed dunce" a1668.

Second, I find it in 1802 -- Independent Whig, published as The
Independent Whig, and Philadelphia Commercial Gazette; Date:
07-28-1802; Issue: 12; Page: [2].  [EAN]

We are informed that some leatherhead, without either talents or
honesty, and who probably wishes to mount himself on the shoulders of
the people, went about yesterday very busily, insinuating, that the
Independent Whig is endeavoring to divide the republican interest.

P.S.  The a1700 quotation is "Leather-head, a Thick-skull'd,
Heavy-headed Fellow".  It might have been hard for O'Brien's cohorts
to "beat  the d----d leather-heads' heads off."

Joel

At 2/27/2010 09:50 PM, George Thompson wrote:
>1837:   . . . the boy O'Brien was identified as a kind of
>powder-monkey in the action, having been seen . . . carrying his
>arms full of stones and brick-bats in an alley way leading to the
>houses of the rioters, and heard to exclaim, "Let's beat the d----d
>leather-heads' heads off."
>         N-Y D Express, September 11, 1837, p. 2, cols. 4-5
>
>HDAS: (3) 1845

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org