halshn.

1664 in J. Napier Folk Lore (1879) ix. 131 Margaret Reid,..suspect of witchcraft, confessed she put a woman newlie delivered, thrice through a green halshe.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. vi. 288/2 A Knot, is a Hundred threds round the Reel, at which place Housewives make a Halch, as some call it, or a Knot, or an Hank.

1830 N. Scatcherd Hist. Morley 342/1 Halsh, to tie or fasten—also a noose.

1883 T. Lees Easther's Gloss. Dial. Almondbury & Huddersfield Halsh or halsh-knot, a slip-knot.

1901 Notes & Queries 9th Ser. 8 81/1 ‘Halsh’.—This word is in every-day use in various ways. So far as the cotton trade goes it refers to the band of coloured ‘tie yarn’ that encircles the ‘knot’... The ‘halsh’ is also—in the case of a necktie in the form of a bow, for example—that part in the centre that runs in a vertical or slightly oblique direction, embracing the whole bow... Saddlers also use the word, and possibly it is known in the woollen and worsted industries.

1927 Dict. Occupational Terms (Ministry of Labour) §399 Halsher (worsted); (Yorkshire term) secures loose ends, after yarn has been spun on to paper tubes, by means of halshes or loops, to prevent its unravelling.

2002 A. Kellett Yorks. Dict. (ed. 2) Halsh, loop, knot (esp. around neck).

1901 Notes & Queries 27 July 81/1 ‘Halsh’.—So far as the cotton trade goes it refers to the band of coloured ‘tie yarn’ that encircles the ‘knot’, in addition to the ordinary tie yarn that holds each lea in the knot separately. This is called the ‘halsh-band’, and when the band is tied the knot is said to be ‘halshed’.

1919 Textile Amer. Sept. 31/2 Often a halch band is placed round a certain number of hanks before removing from the swift.