[Ads-l] Take a knee

[MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US)]

It's not hard to find other even earlier cites.  I just picked the one I did because it was self-explanatory.

"taking a knee rest" -- 1893
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044099874067;view=1up;seq=332

"took a knee rest" - 1894
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015084559007;view=1up;seq=546

"took a knee rest" - 1895
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006947421;view=1up;seq=186


> 
> Interesting, Bill. Here is an instance in 1909 of "take a knee rest"
> used as a command to fellow hunters who are about to shoot a deer.
> This probably refers to the one-knee-on-the-ground crouched position of a person aiming a rifle.
> 
> Date: March 1909
> Periodical: Hunter-Trader-Trapper
> Volume XVII, Number 6
> Article: Interesting California Letter
> Stat Page 74, Quote Page 75
> Publisher Location: Columbus, Ohio
> 
> https://books.google.com/books?id=xSEPAAAAYAAJ&q=%22knee+rest%22#v=snippet&
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> Then when we were coming towards home I said, "boys let's cross this big gulch, I think I can find another over there."
> 
> So away we went, and just as we came up on top of the ridge I said, "hold on John, see that fellow." "Now," I said, "let's all take a knee rest
> and count three." Everyone held on his neck, as he hadn't seen us and was lying down. Well, when I said three they were surely on time and
> his head dropped. John said, "I bet my old mare I hit that fellow," and Arthur wanted to bet his house and lot in Oregon that he had done the
> deer.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> In 1916 "Popular Mechanics" printed an illustration of the "knee rest position" on page 629 (the page before the text excerpt below). This
> excerpt does not use the verb "to take".
> 
> Date: October 1916
> Periodical: Popular Mechanics Magazine
> Volume 26, Number 4
> Article: the Sporting Rifle and How to Use It
> Author: Stillman Taylor
> Start Page 627, Illustration Page 629, Quote Page 630
> Publisher: Popular Mechanics Company, Chicago, Illinois
> 
> https://books.google.com/books?id=KdY1AQAAMAAJ&q=%22knee+rest%22#v=snippet&
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> The knee rest position is often useful for the sportsman in stalking game, when it is desirable to expose oneself as little as possible. A
> steadier aim may be secured, especially if a strong wind is blowing.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> 
> On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 1:04 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY RDECOM AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at mail.mil>
> wrote:
> > Possibly related . . .
> >
> > _Omaha [NE] World-Herald_ 3/6/1910 p W-9 col 5
> >
> > "I remember well the time when, having already killed two deer, and beginning to fancy myself a great hunter, and having practiced rifle
> shooting until I was reasonably sure of hitting a prairie chicken off-hand at 50 yards, and the first tracking snow of the season having come,
> I took the trail of a doe and two fawns on the west bank of the Nishnabotna river, just above Big Grove, and making a successful crawl upon
> the watchful creatures until I was within seventy-five  yards of the unsuspecting doe grazing peacefully broadside to, I took a knee rest (that
> is, with one knee on the ground), and missed the big target completely."
> >
> >
> >> ----


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