Green’s Dictionary of Slang

crackmans n.

also crack, cragmans
[SE crack, dry firewood + -mans sfx]

(UK Und.) a hedge.

[UK]Rowlands Martin Mark-all 41: Cragmans is now used for the hedge. [Ibid.] 43: Budg a beak the Crackmans & tip lowr with thy prat.
[UK]Jonson Gypsies Metamorphosed 4: ’Tis thought fit he marche in the Infants Equipage With the convoy cheates, and peckage out of the clutch of Harman-beckage, to theire Libkens at the Crackmans or some skipper of the Black-mans.
[UK]J. Taylor Crabtree Lectures 193: Mort. If you tower any states [sic] lye upon the Cracke, mill them, and budge a beak.
[UK]Dekker Canters Dict. Eng. Villainies (9th edn).
[Ire]Head Eng. Rogue I 48: Crackmans, Hedges.
[Ire] ‘A Wenches complaint for . . . her lusty Rogue’ Head Canting Academy (1674) 17: When the Darkmans have been wet / Thou the Crackmans down did beat / For Glymmar whilst a quacking cheat / Or Tib o’th Buttery was our meat.
[UK]W. Nevison in Newgate Calendar I (1926) 291: ‘Now,’ saith he, ‘that thou art entered into our fraternity, thou must not scruple to act any villainies which thou shalt be able to perform, whether it be to nip a bung, bite the Peter Cloy, [...] or to cloy a mish from the crack man’s.’.
[UK]B.E. Dict. Canting Crew.
[UK]J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 200: [as cit. a.1674].
[UK]A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) 204: Crackmans, hedges.
[UK]New Canting Dict. n.p.: crackmans Hedges; as, The Cull thought to have loap’d, by breaking through the Crackmans; but we fetch’d him back by a Nope on the Costard, which made him silent; i.e. The Gentleman thought to escape, by breaking through the Hedges; but we brought him back by a great Blow on the Head, which laid him for Dead.
[UK]Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725].
[UK]B.M. Carew Life and Adventures.
[UK]Scoundrel’s Dict.
[UK]Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Crackmans, hedges. The cull thought to have loped, by breaking through the crackmans, but we fetched him back by a nope on the costard, which stopped his jaw; the man thought to have escaped by breaking through the hedge, but we brought him back by a great blow on the head, which laid him speechless.
[UK]Lex. Balatronicum.
[UK]Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
[UK]Duncombe New and Improved Flash Dict.

In phrases