ere anciently fraudulent persons, who went from place to place buying and selling brass, pewter, and other merchandise, which should have been exposed in open market. In this sense the word is mentioned in 25 Henry VIII. cap. 6, and 33 of the same king, cap. 4. The appellation of hawkers seems to have arisen from their uncertain wandering, like those who, with hawks, seek their game where they can find it. The term is now used as synonymous with pedlar, a person who travels about the country selling wares.