patter to help off their goods--but while describing them it has
been deemed advisable to say a few words, also, on the class who _do
nothing but patter_, as a means of exciting commiseration to their
assumed calamities. These parties, it should be distinctly understood,
are in no way connected with the puffing street-sellers, but in the
exaggerated character of the orations they deliver, they are mostly
professional beggars--or bouncers (that is to say cheats of the lowest
_kind_), and _will_ not work or do anything for their living. This, at
least, cannot be urged against the pattering street-sellers who, as was
before stated, do _something_ for the bread they eat.
Further to show the extent, and system, of the lodging and routes
throughout the country of the class of “lurkers,” &c., here
described--as all resorting to those places--I got a patterer to write
me out a list, from his own knowledge, of divers routes, and the extent
of accommodation in the lodging-houses. I give it according to the
patterer’s own classification.
“_Brighton_ is a town where there is a great many furnished cribs,
let to needys (nightly lodgers) that are molled up,” [that is to say,
associated with women in the sleeping-rooms.]
SURREY AND SUSSEX.
Dossing Cribs, Beds. Needys,
or Lodging-houses or Nightly
Lodgers.
Wandsworth 6 9 108
Croydon 9 8 144
Reigate 5 6 60
Cuckfield 2 8 32
Horsham 3 7 52
Lewis 7 6 84
Kingston 12 8 192
Brighton 16 9 228
“_Bristol._--A few years back an old woman kept a padding-ken here.
She was a strong Methodist, but had a queer method. There was thirty
standing beds, besides make-shifts and furnished rooms, which were
called ‘cottages.’ It’s not so bad now. The place was well-known to the
monkry, and you was reckoned flat if you hadn’t been there. The old
woman, when any female, old or young, who had no tin, came into the
kitchen, made up a match for her with some men. Fellows half-drunk had
the old women. There was always a broomstick at hand, and they was both
made to jump over it, and that was called a broomstick wedding. Without
that ceremony a couple weren’t looked on as man and wife. In course the
man paid, in such case, for the dos (bed.)
Kensington 6 7 84
Brentford 12 8 192
Hounslow 6 5 60
Colebrook 2 7 20
Windsor 7 10 140
Maidenhead 4 5 40
Reading 12 9 216
Oxford 14 7 196
Banbury 10 12 240
Marlboro’ 8 7 112
Bath 10 8 160
Bristol 20 11 440
“_Counties of Kent and Essex._--Here is the best places in England for
‘skipper-birds;’ (parties that never go to lodging-houses, but to barns
or outhouses, sometimes without a blanket.) The Kent farmers permit it
to their own travellers, or the travellers they know. In Essex it’s
different. There a farmer will give 1_s._ rather than let a traveller
sleep on his premises, for fear of robbery. ‘Keyhole whistlers,’ the
skipper-birds are sometimes called, but they’re regular travellers.
Kent’s the first county in England for them. They start early to good
houses for victuals, when gentlefolk are not up. I’ve seen them doze
and sleep against the door. They like to be there before any one cuts
their cart (exposes their tricks). Travellers are all early risers.
It’s good morning in the country when it’s good night in town.
KENT.
Dossing Cribs, Beds. Needys,
or Lodging-houses or Nightly
Lodgers.
Deptford 18 9 324
Greenwich 6 8 26
Woolwich 9 8 144
Gravesend 6 7 84
Chatham 20 10 400
Maidstone 5 7 70
Sittingbourne 3 6 36
Sheerness 4 5 40
Faversham 3 5 30
Canterbury 11 8 176
Dover 12 9 216
Ramsgate 4 5 40
Margate 6 6 72
ESSEX.
Stratford 10 9 180
Ilford 3 7 52
Barking 4 6 48
Billericay 5 7 70
Orsett 2 8 32
Rayleigh 3 9 54
Rochford 3 8 48
Leigh 4 8 64
Prettywell 2 7 28
Southend 3 8 48
Maldon 5 9 90
Witham 4 8 64
Colchester 15 10 300
“_Windsor._--At Ascot race-time I’ve paid many 1_s._ just to sit up all
night.
“_Colchester._--Life in London at the Bugle; called ‘Hell upon earth’
sometimes.
Barnet 5 1 80
Watford 6 8 90
Hemel-Hempstead 3 5 30
Uxbridge 6 7 84
Tring 2 6 24
Dunstable 6 5 60
Stony-Stratford 3 6 36
Northampton 13 9 234
Towcester 4 7 56
Daventry 5 9 90
Coventry 16 9 288
Birmingham 50 11 1100
HERTS AND BEDFORDSHIRE.
Edmonton 14 7 196
Waltham-Abbey 3 6 36
Cheshunt-Street 2 7 28
Hoddesden 3 8 48
Hertford 9 9 162
Ware 7 10 140
Puckeridge 2 5 20
Buntingford 3 8 48
Royston 4 10 40
Hitchin 7 9 126
Luton 6 8 96
Bedford 9 7 126
St. Alban’s 8 6 96
SUFFOLK AND NORFOLK.
Ipswich 24 8 384
Hadleigh 8 7 112
Halsted 5 6 60
Stowmarket 4 7 56
Woodbridge 6 5 60
Sudbury 4 7 56
Bury St. Edmund’s 8 8 128
Thetford 3 6 36
Attleboro’ 2 5 20
Wymondham 1 11 22
Norwich 40 9 720
Yarmouth 16 8 256
OF THE “SCREEVERS,” OR WRITERS OF BEGGING-LETTERS AND PETITIONS.
“Screeving”--that is to say, _writing_ false or exaggerated accounts of
afflictions and privations, is a necessary corollary to “Pattering,”
or making pompous _orations_ in public--and I here subjoin a brief
description of the “business”--for although the “screevers,”
“economically” considered, belong properly to the class who will _not
work_, yet as they are intimately connected with the street-trade of
begging I have thought it best to say a few words on the subject here,
reserving a more comprehensive and scientific view of the subject
till such time as I come to treat of the _professional_ beggar, under
the head of those who are _able_ but _unwilling_ to labour for their
livelihood, in contradistinction to the involuntary beggars, who
belong more properly to those who are _willing_ but _unable_ to work.
The subjoined information has been obtained from one who has had many
opportunities of making himself acquainted with the habits and tricks
of the class here treated of,--indeed, at one part of his life he
himself belonged to the “profession.”
“In England and Wales the number of vagrants committed to prison
annually amounts to 19,621; and as many are not imprisoned more
than a dozen times during their lives, and a few never at all, the
number of tramps and beggars may be estimated, at the very lowest, at
22,000 throughout England and Wales. The returns from Scotland are
indeterminate. Of this wretched class many are aged and infirm; others
are destitute orphans; while not a few are persons whose distress is
real, and who suffer from temporary causes.
“With this excusable class, however, I have not now to do. Of
professional beggars there are two kinds--those who ‘do it on the
_blob_’ (by word of mouth), and those who do it by ‘_screeving_,’ that
is, by petitions and letters, setting forth imaginary cases of distress.
“Of these documents there are two sorts, ‘slums’ (letters) and
‘fakements’ (petitions). These are seldom written by the persons who
present or send them, but are the production of a class of whom the
public little imagine either the number or turpitude. I mean the
‘professional begging-letter writers.’
“Persons who write begging-letters for others sometimes, though seldom,
beg themselves. They are in many cases well supported by the fraternity
for whom they write. A professional of this kind is called by the
‘cadgers,’ ‘their man of business.’ Their histories vary as much as
their abilities; generally speaking they have been clerks, teachers,
shopmen, reduced gentlemen, or the illegitimate sons of members of the
aristocracy; while others, after having received a liberal education,
have broken away from parental control, and commenced the ‘profession’
in early life, and will probably pursue it to their graves.
“I shall take a cursory view of the various pretences set forth in
these begging documents,” says my informant, “and describe some of the
scenes connected with their preparation. The documents themselves are
mournful catalogues of all the ills that flesh is heir to.
“I address myself first to that class of petitions which represent
losses by sea, or perhaps shipwreck itself. These documents are very
seldom carried by one person, unless indeed he is really an old sailor;
and, to the credit of the navy be it spoken, this is very seldom the
case. When the imposition under notice has to be carried out, it is,
for the most part, conducted by half-a-dozen worthless men, dressed in
the garb of seamen (and known as turnpike sailors), one of their number
having really been at sea and therefore able to reply to any nautical
inquiries which suspicion may throw out. This person mostly carries the
document; and is, of course, the spokesman of the company. Generally
speaking, the gang have a subscription-book, sometimes only a fly-leaf
or two to the document, to receive the names of contributors.
“It may not be out of place here, to give a specimen--drawn from
memory--of one of those specious but deceitful ‘fakements’ upon which
the ‘swells,’ (especially those who have ‘been in the service,’)
‘come down with a _couter_’ (sovereign) if they ‘granny the mauley’
(perceive the signature) of a brother officer or friend. The document
is generally as follows--
“‘=These are to Certify=, to all whom it may concern, that the
THUNDERER, Captain Johnson, was returning on her homeward-bound passage
from China, laden with tea, fruit, &c., and having beside, twenty
passengers, chiefly ladies, and a crew of thirty hands, exclusive
of the captain and other officers. That the said vessel encountered
a tremendous gale off the banks of Newfoundland, and was dismasted,
and finally wrecked at midnight on’ (such a day, including the hour,
latitude, and other particulars). ‘That the above-named vessel speedily
foundered, and only the second mate and four of the crew (the bearers
of this certificate) escaped a watery grave. These, after floating
several days on broken pieces of the ship, were providentially
discovered, and humanely picked up by the brig INVINCIBLE, Captain
Smith, and landed in this town and harbour of Portsmouth, in the county
of Hants. That we, the Master of Customs, and two of her Majesty’s
Justices of the Peace for the said harbour and county, do hereby grant
and afford to the said’ (here follows the names of the unfortunate
mariners) ‘this our vouchment of the truth of the said wreck, and
their connection therewith, and do empower them to present and use
this certificate for twenty-eight days from the date hereof, to enable
them to get such temporal aid as may be adequate to reaching their
respective homes, or any sea-port where they may be re-engaged. And
this certificate further showeth, that they are not to be interrupted
in the said journey by any constabulary or other official authority;
provided, that is to say, that no breach of the peace or other
cognizable offence be committed by the said Petitioners,
‘As witness our hands,
_John Harris, M.C._ £1 0 0
_James Flood, J.P._ 1 0 0
_Capt. W. Hope, R.N., J.P._ 1 10 0
‘Given at Portsmouth, this 10th day of October, 1850.
‘GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
_Rev. W. Wilkins_ £1 0 0
_An Officer’s Widow_ 0 10 0
_An Old Sailor_ 0 5 0
_A Friend_ 0 2 6’
“I have already hinted at the character and description of the persons
by whom these forgeries are framed. It would seem, from the example
given, that such documents are available in every sea-port or other
considerable town; but this is not the case. It is true that certain
kinds of documents, especially sham hawkers’ licenses, may be had in
the provinces, at prices suited to the importance of their contents,
or to the probable gains of their circulation; but all the ‘regular
bang-up fakes’ are manufactured in the ‘Start’ (metropolis), and
sent into the country to order, carefully packed up, and free from
observation. The following note, sent to ‘Carotty Poll, at Mrs.
Finder’s Login-ouse facin the orse and trumpet bere shop han street
Westminster London with spede,’ may tend to illuminate the uninitiated
as to how such ‘fakements’ are obtained:
‘Dere pol--I ope this will find yu an george in good helth and
spirits--things is very bad ere, yure sister Lizer has been konfined
an got a fine strappin boye, they was very bad off wen it happend.
they say in mi country it never ranes but it pores and so it was pol,
for mi William as got a month along with Cockny Harry for a glim lurk
and they kum out nex Mundie and i av porned my new shift and every
indivigual thing to get them a brekfust and a drop a rum the mornin
they kums out. They wont hav no paper to work and I dont know what
they will do. Tayler Tom lent me a shillin wish I send inklosed and
yu must porn sumthing for anuther shilling and get Joe the Loryer to
rite a fake for William not a glim’ (loss by fire) ‘but a brake say as
e ad a hors fell downe with the mad staggurs an broke all is plates
and dishes an we are starvin you can sa that the children is got the
mesuls--they av ben ill thats _no_ lie--an we want to rase a little
munney to git anuther hanimul to dror the kart put a fu monekurs’
(names) ‘tu it and make it durty and date it sum time bak do not
neglect and dont fale to pay the post no more at preasant from yure
luvin sister Jane N---- at Mister John H---- the Sweep--nex dore to
the five Bels grinsted Colchester Essex. good by.’
“The person from whom the above letter was obtained, was in the
lodging-house when it arrived, and had it given him to read and retain
for reference. Lawyer Joe was soon sent for; and the following is an
outline of the scene that occurred, given in my informant’s own words:
“I had called at the house whither the above letter had been addressed,
to inquire for a man whom I had known in his and my own better days.
The kitchen-door, or rather cellar-door, was thrust open, and in came
Carrotty Poll herself.
“‘Well, Poll,’ asked the deputy, ‘how does the world use you?’
“‘B-- bad,’ was the reply, ‘where’s Lawyer Joe?’
“‘Oh, he’s just gone to Mother Linstead’s for some tea and sugar; here
he comes.’
“‘Joe, I’ve a job for you. How much do you charge for screeving a
“brake?”’
“‘Oh, half a bull (half-a-crown).’
“‘No, I’ll give you a deuce o’ deeners (two shillings), co’s don’t ye
see the poor b-- is in “stir” (prison).’
“‘Well, well, I shan’t stand for a tanner. Have you got paper?’
“‘Yes, and a Queen’s head, and all.’
“The pen and ink were found, a corner of the table cleared, and
operations commenced.
“‘He writes a good hand,’ exclaimed one, as the screever wrote the
petition.
“‘I wish I could do it,’ said another.
“‘If you could, you’d soon be transported,’ said a third; while the
whole kitchen in one chorus, immediately on its completion, proclaimed,
that it was d--d well done, adding to that, not one ‘swell’ in a score
would view it in any other light than a ‘ream’ (genuine) concern.
“Lawyer Joe was up to his trade--he folded the paper in official
style--creased it as if it was long written and often examined,
attached the signatures of the minister and churchwardens, and dipping
his fingers under the fireplace, smeared it with ashes, and made the
whole the best representation of a true account of ‘a horse in the mad
staggers’ and ‘a child in the measles’ that could be desired by the
oldest and best cadger on the monkry.
“These professional writers are in possession of many autographs
of charitable persons, and as they keep a dozen or more bottles of
different shades of ink, and seldom write two documents on exactly the
same sort of paper, it is difficult to detect the imposition. A famous
lurker who has been previously alluded to in this work, was once taken
before a magistrate at York whose _own_ signature was attached to his
fakement. The imitation was excellent, and the ‘lurker’ swore hard and
fast to the worthy justice that he (the justice) _did_ write it in
his own saddle-room, as he was preparing to ride, and gave him five
shillings, too. The effrontery and firmness of the prisoner’s statement
gained him his discharge!
“It is not uncommon in extensive districts--say, for instance, a
section of a county taking in ten or a dozen townships--for a school
of lurkers to keep a secretary and remit his work and his pay at the
same time. In London this functionary is generally paid by commission,
and sometimes partly in food, beer, and tobacco. The following is a
fair estimate of the scale of charges:
_s._ _d._
Friendly letter 0 6
Long ditto 0 9
Petition 1 0
Ditto, with ream monekurs (genuine signatures) 1 6
Ditto, with gammy monekurs (forged names) 2 6
Very “heavy” (dangerous) 3 0
Manuscript for a broken down author 10 0
Part of a play for ditto 7 6
“To this I may add the prices of other articles in the begging line.
Loan of one child, without grub 0 9
Two ditto 1 0
Ditto, with grub and Godfrey’s Cordial 0 9
If out after twelve at night, for each child, extra 0 2
For a school of children, say half-a-dozen 2 6
Loan of any garment, per day 0 2
Going as a pal to vindicate any statement 1 0
“Such is an outline, open to circumstantial variation, of the pay
received for the sort of accommodation required.
“There is a very important species of ‘lurking’ or ‘screeving,’ which
has not yet been alluded to.
“It is well-known that in the colliery districts an explosion of
fire-damp frequently takes place, when many lives are lost, and the men
who escape are often so wounded as to render amputation of a leg or
arm the only probable means of saving them from the grave. Of course
the accident, with every particular as to date and locality, goes the
round of the newspapers. Such an event is a sort of God-send to the
begging-letter writer. If he is anything of a draughtsman, so much the
better. He then procures a sheet of vellum, and heads it with a picture
of an explosion, and exhibiting men, boys, and horses up in the air,
and a few nearer the ground, minus a head, a leg, or an arm; with a
background of women tearing their hair, and a few little girls crying.
Such a ‘fakement,’ professionally filled up and put into the hands of
an experienced lurker, will bring the ‘amanuensis,’ or ‘screever,’
two guineas at least, and the proceeds of such an expedition have in
many cases averaged 60_l._ per week. The lurker presenting this would
have to take with him three or four countrymen, dressed in the garb of
colliers, one at least knowing something of underground work. These
he would engage at ‘a bob a nob’ (one shilling each), and if he made
a good day, give them a ‘toothful o’ rum’ beside. As such men are
always left outside the jigger (door) of the houses, they are of course
ignorant of the state of the subscription-list.
“A famous lurker, to whom we have previously referred, Nicholas A----,
kept ‘a man of business’ to himself, and gave him from 5_s._ to 10_s._
6_d._ per day. Nicholas, who was tolerably educated, could write very
well, but as his ‘secretary’ could imitate twelve different hands, he
was of course no trifling acquisition.
“It would not be easy to trace the history of all, or even many of the
men, who pursue the begging-letter trade as professional writers. Many
of the vagrant tribe write their own letters, but the vast majority
are obliged to have assistance. Of course, they are sometimes detected
by the fact that their conversation does not tally with the rhetorical
statement of the petition. The few really deserving persons, well-born
and highly educated, who subsist by begging, are very retired and
cautious in their appeals. They write concisely, and their statements
are generally true to a certain extent, or perhaps rigidly so in
relation to an earlier part of their history. These seldom live in the
very common lodging-houses.
“The most renowned of the tribe who write for others, and whose general
trade lies in forged certificates of bankruptcy, seizure of goods for
rent, and medical testimonies to infirmity, is an Irishman, brought
up in London, and who may be seen almost every night at the bar of a
certain public-house in Drury-lane. He lives, or did live, at one of
the model lodging-houses. Very few persons know his occupation. They
suppose that he is ‘connected with the press.’ Several years ago this
person, says one who knew this trade well, was ‘regularly hard up,’
and made a tender of his services to a distinguished M.P., who took a
lively interest in the emancipation of the Jews. He offered to visit
the provinces, hold meetings, and get up petitions. The hon. member
tested his abilities, and gave him clothes and a ten-pound note to
commence operations. ‘I saw him’ (says my informant) ‘the same night,
and he mooted the subject to me over a glass of whiskey-punch. ‘Not
that _I_ care (said he) if all the b--y Jews were in h--ll, but I must
do something.’
“‘But how,’ asked my informant, ‘will you get up the meetings?--and
then the signatures, you know!’
“‘Meetings!’ was the reply, ‘don’t mention it; I can get _millions of
signatures_!’
“The pretended Jewish Advocate never left London. He got (from Ireland)
a box of old documents relative to bygone petitions for repeal, &c.,
and on these he put a frontispiece suited to his purpose--got them
sent to Bath and Bristol, and thence transmitted to his employer--who
praised his perseverance, and sent more money to the post-office of
one of the above-named towns; this was countermanded to London, and
jovially spent at Tom Spring’s’ in Holborn.
“Hitherto the movements of the begging-letter
writer--self-considered--have been chiefly dwelt upon. There is
another class of the fraternity, however, of whom some notice must
here be taken; viz., those, who to meet cases of great pretension,
and consequent misgivings on the part of the noblemen or gentry to
whom fakements are presented, become referees to professional beggars.
These referees are kept by local ‘schools’ of beggars in well-furnished
apartments at respectable houses, and well dressed; their allowance
varies from 1_l._ to 3_l._ per week.
“But the most expert and least suspected dodge is referring to some
dignified person in the country; a person however who exists nowhere
but in imagination. Suppose (says my informant) I am a beggar, I apply
to you for relief. Perhaps I state that I am in prospect of lucrative
employment, if I could get enough money to clothe myself. You plead the
number of impositions; I consent to that fact, but offer you references
as to the truth of my statement. I refer you to the Hon. and Rev.
Mr. Erskine, at Cheltenham (any name or place will do). You promise
to write, and tell me to call in a few days; meanwhile, I assume the
name of the gentleman to whom I have referred you, and write forthwith
to the post-master of the town in question, requesting that any
letter coming there directed to the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Erskine, may be
forwarded to my present address. I thus discover what you have written,
frame a flattering reply, and address it to you. I send it (under
cover) to a pal of mine at Cheltenham, or elsewhere, who posts it; I
call half an hour after you receive it, and, being satisfied, you give
me a donation, and perhaps introduce me to some of your friends. Thus I
raise a handsome sum, and the fraud is probably never found out.
“One of the London lurkers, who has good means of forming a calculation
on the subject, assures me that the average earnings of ‘lurkers’ in
London alone (including those who write for them), cannot be less than
6,000_l._ per annum.
“Two of the class were lately apprehended, at the instance of the Duke
of Wellington; on their persons was found fifteen sovereigns, one
five-pound note, a silver watch with gold guard, and two gold watches
with a ribbon attached to each; their subscription-book showed that
they had collected 620_l._ during the current year.
“A man named M’Kensie--who was transported at the last Bristol
Assizes--had just received a cheque for 100_l._ from a nobleman lately
deceased.
“Most of the ‘professionals’ of this class include a copy of the ‘Court
Guide’ among their stock in trade. In this all the persons known to be
charitable, have the mark [cross in circle] set against their names.
I have been furnished with a list of such persons, accompanied with
comments, from the note-book of ‘an old stager’ ‘thirty years on
the monkery,’ and, as he adds, ‘never quodded but twice.’
“The late Queen Dowager.
Hon. Wm. Ashley.
The Bishop of Norwich.
Serjeant Talfourd.
Charles Dickins.
Samuel Rogers, the Poet.
Samuel Warren (Author of ‘Extracts from the Diary of a Physician’).
Hon. G. C. Norton, the ‘beak’ (magistrate), but good for all that.
Rev. E. Holland, Hyde-park-gardens.
The late Sir Robert Peel.
Countess of Essex (only good to sickness, or distressed authorship).
Marquess of Bredalbane (good on anything religious).
The Editor of the ‘Sun.’
Madame Celeste.
Marquess of Blandford.
Duke of Portland.
Duke of Devonshire.
Lord George Bentinck (deceased; God A’mighty wouldn’t let him live; he
was too good for this world.)
Lord Skelmersdale.
Lord John Manners.
Lord Lyttleton.
Mrs. Elder, Exeter.
Lady Emily Ponsonby (a devilish pretty wench).
Miss Burdett Coutts.
F. Stewart, Esq., Bath.
Mrs. Groves, Salisbury.
Mrs. Mitchell, Dorchester.