Red handed

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I found this: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/caught-red-handed.html

Caught red-handed

Meaning

To be

caught in the act of committing a misdemeanour, with the evidence there for all

to see.

Origin

The Red Hand has long been a

heraldic and cultural symbol of the northern Irish province of Ulster. One of

the many myths as to its origin is the tale of how, in a boat race in which the

first to touch the shore of Ulster was to become the province's ruler, one

contestant guaranteed his win by cutting off his hand and throwing it to the

shore ahead of his rivals. The potency of the symbol remains and is used in the

Ulster flag, and as recently as the 1970s a group of Ulster loyalist

paramilitaries named themselves the Red Hand Commandos.

Red-handed doesn't have

a mythical origin however - it is a straightforward allusion to having blood on

one's hands after the execution of a murder or a poaching session. The term

originates, not from Northern Ireland, but from a country not so far from

there, socially and geographically, i.e. Scotland. An earlier form of

'red-handed', simply 'red hand', dates back to a usage in the ish Acts

of Parliament of I, 1432.

Red-hand appears in

print many times in ish legal proceedings from the 15th century onward.

For example, this piece from Sir Mackenzie's A discourse upon the

laws and customs of Scotland in matters criminal, 1674:

" If he be not taken

red-hand the sheriff cannot proceed against him. "

The earliest known printed

version of 'red-handed' is from Sir Walter 's Ivanhoe, 1819:

" I did but tie one

fellow, who was taken redhanded and in the fact, to the horns of a wild

stag. "

was an avid

student of ish history and folklore, which he relentlessly mined for

inspiration in his novel writing. He is certain to have heard 'redhand' before

writing Ivanhoe. The step from 'redhand' to 'redhanded' isn't large, so calling

the originator of the term is perhaps being over generous to him.

Nevertheless, the enormous popularity of his books certainly brought

'red-handed' to a wide audience and, without him, the term might now be long

forgotten.

16th and 17th century

ish sources provide various examples of 'apprehended redhand', 'taken with

redhand' etc. but the earliest known citation of the currently used 'caught

red-handed' phrase is in the English novelist Alfred Lawrence's work Guy

Livingstone; or, 'Thorough', 1857:

My companion picked up

the object; and we had just time to make out that it was a bell-handle and

name-plate, when the pursuers came up - six or seven " peelers " and

specials, with a ruck of men and boys. We were collared on the instant. The

fact of the property being found in our possession constituted a 'flagrans

delictum' - we were caught " red-handed. "