[A humble request: If you can, please donate to help me carry on tracing word histories. Thank you.]
CONTENTS:
MEANING
EARLY OCCURRENCES
ORIGIN
MEANING OF THE EXPRESSION HARRY FREEMAN’S
Originally and chiefly a British-English naval-slang expression, Harry Freeman’s is used of something gratis.
This expression occurs, for example, in the following letter to the Editor, published in the Manchester Evening News (Manchester, Lancashire, England) of Wednesday 6th June 1962 [page 6, column 5]:
It’s on the house!
Variety is the spice of life, says the old adage.
I was recently on a bus where an inspector was checking tickets.
Believe it or not six passengers nipped off after “Harry Freeman’s” ride.
Observer.
Heywood House,
Ardwick.
EARLY OCCURRENCES OF THE EXPRESSION HARRY FREEMAN’S
These are, in chronological order, the earliest occurrences of the expression Harry Freeman’s that I have found:
1-: From a letter to the Editor, by Robert Cain, Chief Petty Officer, H.M.S. Marlborough, published in The Evening Post (St. Helier, Jersey) of Wednesday 20th January 1915 [page 4, column 6]:
We receive plenty of warm clothing and tobacco from kind friends; we call them all “Harry Freeman’s” gifts. I myself have four mufflers, etc.: one wants them in the ice and snow that we get.
2-: From Common Language of the Sea. Alf Writes About Naval Slang, published in The Illustrated Leicester Chronicle (Leicester, Leicestershire, England) of Saturday 7th July 1917 [page 2, column 2]:
Any “gear” (articles of clothing, etc.) obtained from the ship’s stores is obtained through the paymaster, and hence you hear the terms “Pusser’s Boots,” “Pusser’s Dirks,” “Pusser’s Socks,” and “Pusser’s Soap,” whilst any article supplied gratis through the Service is called “Harry Freeman’s” or “Harry Frampton’s,” the latter name probably being a corruption of the former.
Occasionally, after the issue of certain articles of clothing for which the men are not charged, a member of the crew may be heard walking along the deck softly singing to himself:
“Old Harry Freeman; nothing to pay,
“Old Harry Freeman’s swimming this way.”(To be continued).
3-: From Common Language of the Sea. Alf Writes About Naval Slang, published in The Illustrated Leicester Chronicle (Leicester, Leicestershire, England) of Saturday 14th July 1917 [page 2, column 1]—“this name” refers to the expression Harry Freeman’s:
(Continued).
AN AMUSING INCIDENT.In connection with this name, I must tell you of an amusing incident which occurred to a friend of mine. He, too, was a temporary officer, and although but recently joined, was in charge of a Division. Whilst mustering kit one day, his eye was caught by some new flannels in the possession of one of his men, and he inquired: “What’s that? Why isn’t that gear marked?” The sailor replied: “Oh, that’s just issued, sir; it’s a Harry Freeman’s.” My friend being ignorant of the term, and new to the Service, was not quite sure whether the article ought to be in the man’s possession or not. However, he contented himself with the remark: “You tell Freeman from me to get his name put on it at once,” and he left a much surprised and bewildered matloe [sic] gazing after him in open-eyed astonishment.
4-: From Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases (London: George Routledge and Sons, Ltd., 1925), by Edward Fraser and John Gibbons [page 115]:
HARRY FREEMAN’S, IT’S: A gift. Something gratis. (Navy).
5-: From Sea Slang: A Dictionary of the Old-timers’ Expressions and Epithets (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., [1929]), by the British maritime journalist and writer Frank Charles Bowen (1894-1957) [page 64]:
Harry Freeman’s. Given away, used almost exclusively in the Royal Navy.
Harry Frees. The name given in the Grand Fleet to the very welcome fruit and vegetables sent up as gifts by the public.
ORIGIN OF THE EXPRESSION HARRY FREEMAN’S
ORIGIN OF HARRY IN THIS EXPRESSION
Here, Harry is perhaps simply a generic forename—as in the expression every Tom, Dick and Harry.
However, according to the Royal-Navy medical officer Richard Jolly (1946-2018) in Jackspeak: A guide to British Naval Slang and Usage (Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd, 2018) [page unnumbered, s.v. Harry Freeman’s]:
The word Harry was a classic emphasis for something.
Richard Jolly illustrates this use of the word Harry by mentioning, for example, Harry flakers, an intensive form of flakers (which means tired), and Harry crappers, an intensive form of crappers (which means drunk).
ORIGIN OF FREEMAN’S IN THIS EXPRESSION
Here, Freeman is perhaps simply a jocular generic surname for anyone who provides something for free.
However, the expression Harry Freeman’s may be an adaptation of the slang phrase to drink at Freeman’s Quay and variants, meaning: to drink at another’s expense. This phrase was defined as follows:
1-: In Lexicon Balatronicum. A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence (London: Printed for C. Chappel, 1811), by the British antiquary and lexicographer Francis Grose (1731-1791), and by “a Member of the Whip Club” (i.e., the British author Hewson Clarke (1787-1832?)) [page unnumbered]:
Freeman’s Quay. Free of expence. To lush at Freeman’s Quay; to drink at another’s cost.
2-: In A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words: Used at the Present Day in the Streets of London; the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge; the Houses of Parliament; the Dens of St. Giles; and the Palaces of St. James (London: John Camden Hotten, 1859), by the British publisher and lexicographer John Camden Hotten (1832-1873) [page 42]:
FREEMAN’S QUAY, “drinking at Freeman’s quay,” i.e. at another’s cost. This quay was formerly a celebrated wharf near London Bridge, and the saying arose from the beer which was given gratis to porters and carmen who came there on business.
word histories 