birlers

The bench-voice wax'd brighter, gave forth the birlers

The Tale of Beowulf Sometime King of the Folk of the Weder Geats Anonymous

Here were the best of the Fighting Forty, -- men with a reputation as "white-water birlers" -- men afraid of nothing.

The Blazed Trail Stewart Edward White 1909

Saginaw birlers, Flat River drivers, woodsmen from the forests of Lower Canada, bully boys out of the

The Blazed Trail Stewart Edward White 1909

Here were the best of the Fighting Forty -- men with a reputation as "white-water birlers" -- men afraid of nothing.

The Blazed Trail 1902

Saginaw birlers, Flat River drivers, woodsmen from the forests of lower Canada, bully boys out of the Muskegon waters, peavey men from Au Sable, white-water daredevils from the rapids of the Menominee -- all were there to do him honor, him in whom they had learned to see the supreme qualities of their calling.

The Blazed Trail 1902

"If I had a half-crew of good, old-fashioned white-water birlers, I'd rest easy.

The Rules of the Game Stewart Edward White 1909