Circus Slang—Its Peculiarities and Derivation—Certain Phrases used by
others of the Amusing Classes—Technicalities of the Circus—The
Riders and Clowns of Dickens—Sleary’s Circus—Circus Men and Women in
Fiction and in Real Life—Domestic Habits of Circus People—Dress and
Manners—The Professional Quarter of the Metropolis.
Circus men are much addicted to the use of slang, and much of their
slang is peculiar to themselves. To those who are uninitiated in the
mysteries of life among what may be termed the amusing classes, the
greater part of their vocabulary would seem an unknown tongue; but a
distinction must be made between slang words and phrases and the
technical terms used in the profession, and also between the forms of
expression peculiar to circus men and those which they use in common
with members of the theatrical and musical professions. These
distinctions being duly observed, the words and phrases which are
peculiar to the ring will be found to be less numerous than might be
expected from the abundance of slang with which the conversation of
circus _artistes_ seems to be garnished; though it is probable that no
man, not even a circus man, could give a complete vocabulary of circus
slang, which, like that of other slang-speaking classes, is constantly
receiving additions, while words and phrases which have been long in use
often become obsolete, and fall into disuse.
There is an impression among circus men that much of the slang peculiar
to themselves is derived from the languages of Italy and Spain, and the
affirmative, _si_, has been cited to me as an instance; but I have never
heard this word used by them, and its use has probably been observed
only in the case of men or women who have recently been in Italy. The
few words in common use among the class which can be traced to an
Italian or Spanish origin may be counted on the fingers of one hand.
_Bono_ (good) is used both as an adjective, and as an exclamation of
approval or admiration. _Dona_ (lady) is so constantly used that I have
seldom heard a circus man mention a woman by any other term. The other
words referred to are used in monetary transactions, which are the
constant subject of slang among all classes of the community. _Saulty_
(penny) may be derived from the Italian _soldi_, and _duey_ (twopence)
and _tray saulty_ (threepence) are also of foreign origin, like the
deuce and tray of card-players. _Dollar_ is in constant use as the
equivalent of five shillings, and money generally is spoken of as
_denarlies_, which may be a corruption of the Latin _denarii_.
_Rot_ is a term of contempt, used in strong and emphatic
contradistinction to _bono_; and of late years it has been adopted by
other sections of the amusing classes, and by young men of the ‘fast’
sort, who seem to think the use of slang a commendable distinction. _Toe
rags_ is another expression of contempt, less frequently used, and
chiefly by the lower grades of circus men, and the acrobats who stroll
about the country, performing at fairs and races, in the open air. These
wanderers, and those who are still seen occasionally in the back streets
of the metropolis, are said to ‘go a-pitching;’ the spot they select for
their performance is their ‘pitch,’ and any interruption of their feats,
such as an accident, or the interference of a policeman, is said to
‘queer the pitch,’—in other words, to spoil it. Going round the
assemblage with a hat, to collect the largesses of the on-lookers, is
‘doing a nob,’ and to do this at the windows of a street, sometimes done
by one performer standing on the shoulders of another, is ‘nobbing the
glazes.’ The sum collected is the ‘nob.’
The verb ‘to fake,’ means, in the thieves’ vocabulary, to steal; but
circus men use it in a different sense, ‘faked up’ meaning ‘fixed,’
while ‘fakements’ is applied particularly to circus apparatus and
properties, and generally to moveables of any kind. ‘Letty’ is used both
as a noun and a verb, signifying ‘lodging’ and ‘to lodge.’ To abscond
from a place, to evade payment of debts, or from apprenticeship, is
sometimes called ‘doing a bunk,’ but this phrase is used by other
classes also, circus men more frequently using the phrase, ‘doing a
Johnny Scaparey,’ the last word being accented on the second syllable.
The circus is always called the ‘show;’ I have never heard it termed the
‘booth,’ which is the word which Dickens puts into the mouth of Cissy
Jupe, the little daughter of the clown of Sleary’s circus, in _Hard
Times_. Gymnasts call their performance a ‘slang,’ but I am not aware
that the term is used by other circus _artistes_. The joke or anecdote
of a clown is called ‘a wheeze,’ and he is said when engaged in that
part of his business, to be ‘cracking a wheeze.’
Balloons, banners, and garters are merely special applications to circus
uses of ordinary English terms. A balloon is a large hoop, covered with
tissue paper, held up for an equestrian _artiste_ to jump through; a
banner is a bordered cloth held horizontally, to be jumped over,—what
Albert Smith calls a length of stair carpet; and garters are narrow
bands held in the same manner, and for the same purpose. When an
equestrian fails to clear these, he is said to ‘miss his tip,’ which is
the gravest article of Childers’s impeachment of Jupe, in Dickens’s
interesting story of the fortunes and misfortunes of the Gradgrinds and
the Bounderbys. Dickens put two or three other words into the mouth of
the same member of Sleary’s company which I have never heard, and which
do not appear to be now in use. Jupe is said to have become ‘loose in
his ponging,’ though still a good ‘cackler;’ and Bounderby is reminded
sarcastically that he is on the ‘tight jeff.’ Childers explains that
‘ponging’ means tumbling, ‘cackling’ talking, and ‘jeff’ a rope.
‘Cully’ is the circus man’s equivalent for the mechanic’s ‘mate’ and the
soldier’s ‘comrade.’ ‘Prossing’ is a delicate mode of indicating a
desire for anything, as when old Ben, the drummer, in _Life in a
Circus_, says, in response to the acrobat’s exhortation to his fair
companion, to make the best of things,—‘That’s the philosophy to pitch
with! Not but what a drop of beer helps it, you know; and I declare my
throat’s that dry that it’s as much as I can do to blow the pipes.’
‘Pro’ is simply an abbreviation of ‘professional,’ and is used by all
the amusing classes to designate actors, singers, dancers, clowns,
acrobats, &c., to whom the term seems to be restricted among them.
Amongst all the amusing classes, the salary received is the ‘screw,’ the
‘ghost walks’ when it is paid, and an _artiste_ is ‘goosed,’ or ‘gets
the goose,’ when the spectators or auditors testify by sibillant sounds
disapproval or dissatisfaction. As in every other avocation, there are a
great many technical terms used, which are not to be confounded with
slang. Such is ‘the Plymouth,’ a term applied to one of the movements by
which gymnasts return to a sitting position on the horizontal bar, after
hanging from it by the hands in an inverted position. ‘Slobber swing’ is
applied to a single circle upon the bar, after which a beginner, from
not having given himself sufficient impetus, hangs by the hands. The
‘Hindoo punishment’ is what is more often called the ‘muscle grind,’ a
rather painful exercise upon the bar, in which the arms are turned
backward to embrace the bar, and then brought forward upon the chest, in
which position the performer revolves.
Having mentioned that Dickens has put some slang words into the mouths
of his circus characters, which I have not found in use among circus men
of the present day, I cannot refrain from quoting a passage in _Hard
Times_, and giving a circus man’s brief, but emphatic, commentary upon
it. Speaking of Sleary’s company, the great novelist says:—‘All the
fathers could dance upon rolling casks, stand upon bottles, catch knives
and balls, twirl hand basins, ride upon anything, jump over everything,
and stick at nothing. All the mothers could (and did) dance upon the
slack wire and the tight rope, and perform rapid acts on bare-backed
steeds.’ The circus man’s criticism of this statement, and of all the
circus business introduced into the story, was summed up in the one
word—‘Rot!’ Sleary’s people must certainly have been exceptionally
clever, so much versatility being very rarely found. There are few
clowns and acrobats who can ride, even in the ordinary, and not in the
circus acceptation of the word; and of a score of _equestriennes_ who
can ride a pad-horse, and fly through hoops and balloons, and over
banners and garters, there will not be found more than one or two who
can perform rapid acts on the bare back of a horse.
So far, also, from ‘all the mothers’ doing all the performances
mentioned by Dickens, there are more often none who do them. I call to
mind at this moment a circus in which seven of the male members of the
company were married, not one of whose wives ever appeared in the ring,
or ever had done so.
The picture of the domestic life of the men and women performing in
Sleary’s circus differs as much from reality as their versatile talents
and accomplishments differ from the powers exhibited by the riders,
clowns, and tumblers of real life. The company seems to be a rather
strong one, and most of the men have wives and children; yet the whole
of them, including the proprietor, are represented as lodging in one
house, an obscure inn in an obscure part of the outskirts of the town.
Such deviations from probability do not lessen the interest of the
story, which I have read again and again with pleasure; but they render
it of little or no value as a picture of circus life and character.
Circus men, if married, and accompanied by their wives, will generally
be found occupying private apartments. Riders and others who are
unmarried sometimes prefer to lodge in public-houses, and often have no
choice in the matter, owing to the early hours at which the inhabitants
of provincial towns retire to rest, and the unwillingness of many
persons to receive ‘professionals’ as lodgers, which applies equally to
actors and vocalists. But the Pegasus’s Arms must have had an unusual
number of apartments for a house of its class to have accommodated all
Sleary’s people, with their families; and the company must have been
gregarious in a very remarkable degree.
The dress, the manners, and the talk of circus men are peculiar, but in
none of these particulars are they at all ‘horsey,’ as all Sleary’s
company are described, unless they are equestrians, and even these are
less so than grooms and jockeys. They may be recognized by their dress
alone as readily as foreigners who have just arrived in England, and who
do not belong to those social classes that affect the latest Parisian
fashions, and in which national distinctions have disappeared. Watch the
men who enter a circus by the side-doors about eleven o’clock in the
forenoon, or walk on two or three successive mornings, between ten and
twelve, from Westminster Bridge to Waterloo Road, and you may recognize
the acrobats and rope-dancers of the circuses and music-halls by their
dress; you may meet one wearing a sealskin coat, unbuttoned, and
displaying beneath a crimson velvet vest, crossed by a heavy gold chain.
He is a ‘tip-topper,’ of course; one of those who used to get their
fifty or sixty pounds a week at the Alhambra, or who has had nuggets
thrown to him at San Francisco and Melbourne. Perhaps the next you will
meet will be a man of lower grade, wearing a brown coat, with velvet
collar, over a sealskin vest, with a brassy-looking chain festooned
across it. Another wears a drab over-coat, with broad collar and cuffs
of Astrakhan lamb-skin; an Alpine hat, with a tail-feather of a peacock
stuck in the band, is worn jauntily on his head; a pin, headed with a
gilt horse-shoe or horse’s head or hoof, adorns his fancy neck-tie; and
an Alaska diamond glistens on the fourth finger of an ungloved hand.
Further on you meet a man whose form is enveloped in a capacious blue
cloak, and whose head is surmounted by the tallest felt hat, with the
broadest brim, you have ever seen. But you are not done with these
strange people yet. You have nearly reached the end of York Road when
there issues from the office of Roberts or Maynard, the equestrian and
musical agents, a man wearing a low-crowned hat and a grey coat, braided
with black; or, it may be, a black velvet coat, buttoned across his
chest, whatever the weather may be, and ornamented with a gold chain
festooned from the breast-pocket to one of the button-holes.
This is the professional quarter of the metropolis. At least
three-fourths of what I have termed the amusing classes,
whether connected with circuses, theatres, public gardens, or
music-halls,—actors, singers, dancers, equestrians, clowns, gymnasts,
acrobats, jugglers, posturers,—may be found, in the day-time at least,
within the area bounded by a line drawn from Waterloo Bridge to the
Victoria Theatre, and thence along Gibson Street and Oakley Street, down
Kennington Road as far as the Cross, and thence to Vauxhall Bridge.
Towards the edges of this area they are more sparsely scattered than
nearer the bridges. They are well sprinkled along York Road, and in some
of the streets between the Albert Embankment and Kennington Lane they
constitute a considerable proportion of the population. You may enter
Barnard’s tavern, opposite Astley’s, or the Pheasant, in the rear of the
theatre, and find circus and music-hall _artistes_ making two to one of
the men before the bar.
They are, as a class, a light-hearted set, not remarkable for
providence, but bearing the vicissitudes of fortune to which they are so
liable with tolerable equanimity, showing a laudable desire to alleviate
each other’s ills to the utmost extent of their power, and regarding
leniently each other’s failings, without exhibiting a greater tendency
to vice than any other class. There is not much education among them, as
I have before indicated, and they are not much addicted to literature of
any kind. This seems to arise, not from any deficiency of natural
aptitude for learning, but from their wandering lives and the early age
at which they begin to practise the feats by which they are to be
enabled to live. The training of a circus rider, a gymnast, or an
acrobat begins as soon as he or she can walk. From that time they
practise every day, and they are often introduced in the ring, or on the
platform of a music-hall, at an age at which other children have not
left the nursery. They wander over the United Kingdom—Europe—the world.
The lads whom you see tumbling in one of the quiet streets between the
Strand and the Victoria Embankment one day, may be seen doing the same
performance a week or two afterwards on the sands at Ramsgate, the downs
at Epsom, or the heath at Newmarket. The equestrian or the gymnast who
amazes you at the Amphitheatre may be seen the following season at the
Hippodrome or the Circo Price. They may be met passing from one
continent to another, from one hemisphere to another, sometimes
gorgeously attired, sometimes out at elbows, but always light-hearted
and gay, excepting perhaps the clowns, who always seem, out of the ring,
the gravest and most taciturn of the race. I do not know how a moral
phenomenon of such strangeness is to be accounted for; perhaps all their
hilarity evaporates in the saw-dust, or on the boards; but I am afraid
that their humour is very often forced, their jests borrowed from the
latest collection of _facetiæ_, their merry interludes with the
ring-master rehearsed before-hand.
They are, as a rule, long-lived, and seem never to become superannuated.
Stickney died at forty, I believe; but Astley was seventy-two when he
departed this life, Pablo Fanque seventy-five, Madame Saqui eighty, and
Saunders ninety-two. Constant practice enables even gymnasts and
acrobats to continue their performances when they are far down the
decline of life; and I have seen middle-aged, and even grey-headed men,
who had been ‘pitching’ or ‘tenting’ all their lives, and could still
throw a forward somersault, or form the base of an acrobatic pyramid.
Both men and women generally marry young, but the latter go on riding or
rope-dancing until they are superseded by younger ones; and their
husbands ride, vault, tumble, or juggle, until their—
———‘little life
Is rounded with a sleep.’
The human mind craves amusement in every phase of society, and in none
more than in that which is exemplified in the large towns of Europe and
the United States, where, and especially among the commercial and
industrial classes, the brain is in activity, the nerves in a state of
tension, from morn till eve. Released from business or labour for the
day, the nervous system requires relaxation; and if its demands are not
attended to, the strain of the day cannot long be sustained. The
entertaining classes are, therefore, a necessary element of present
society; and, in now taking leave of them, I cannot too strongly urge
upon all who may read these pages the appeal which the inimitable
Dickens has put into the mouth of Sleary: ‘People mutht be amuthed. They
can’t be alwayth a-learning, nor they can’t be alwayth a-working; they
an’t made for it. You _mutht_ have uth. Do the withe thing and the kind
thing too, and make the betht of uth; not the wutht.’ Let us indeed make
the best of our entertainers; for we owe them much.
THE END.
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INDEX.
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PAGE
Abbott, the clown 247
Adams, the equestrian 62, 86
” ” clown 263
Adrian, Miss, the equestrian 203
Agouste, the juggler 110
Airec, the gymnast 162
Alexander, Brothers, the acrobats 192
Amburgh, Van, the lion-tamer 89, 97, 117
” ” ” circus proprietor 238
American circuses 223
Ames, the circus proprietor 252
Anderson’s circus 247
Angela, the female Samson 231
Arab vaulters, first in England 85
Arthur and Bertrand, the clowns 167
Astley, Philip, the equestrian 17, 28, 46, 48, 51, 53
” Mrs, the equestrian 19
” John, the equestrian 29, 33, 46, 53, 56
Atalie, the man with the iron jaw 231
Athos, Brothers, the gymnasts 280
Atkins’s lion and tigress at Astley’s 79
Avolo, the gymnast 193
Azella, the female gymnast 179
Bailey’s circus and menagerie 245
Balize, the lion-performer 246
Banks, the horse-charmer 4
Bannister, Miss, the equestrian 56
” the circus proprietor 66
Baptiste, the rope-dancer 27
Barnum, the great showman 221, 225, 226
Barr, the falconer 143
Barry, the clown 96, 109, 118, 142
Barry, the lyrical jester 212
Barrymore, the manager 55
Batty, William, the circus proprietor, 97, 100, 138
Bell, the acrobat 34
” the equestrian 211
” and Myers’ circus 92
Bellinck, the rope-dancer 57
Berrington. _See_ Parelli.
Bibb, the clown 192, 203, 210
Blight, Helen, the lion-queen 132
Bliss, the equestrian 241
Blondin’s circus 55
Blondin, the rope-walker 157
Boleno, the clown 61
Bologna Family, posturers and rope-dancers 39, 44
Bond, the equilibrist 165
Bonnaire, the gymnast 153
Bradbury the elder, the equestrian 55
” Alfred, the equestrian 174
Bridges, the rope-dancer 61
” Amelia, the equestrian 142
” Anthony, the equestrian 142, 203
” John, the equestrian 111, 125, 140, 203
Broadfoot, the equestrian manager 119
Brown. _See_ Tournaire.
Bull-fights in circuses 79, 107
Bunn, the manager 58
Burgess, the vaulter and globe-performer 181, 254, 262, 275
Burnell, the circus proprietor 245
Burt, the clown 22
Campbell’s circus and menagerie 246
Carl, the wire-walker 166
Caroline, Madame, the equestrian 158
Carr, the globe-performer 45
Carré, the circus proprietor 181
Carter, the lion-performer 90, 110
Castelli, the gymnast 162
Catawba Indians, feats of the 45
Chapman, Miss, the lion-queen 132
Chiarini, Beatrice, the equestrian 175
Christoff, the rope-dancer 258
Clark, the posturer 10
Clarke, the circus proprietor 55, 69, 139
” Miss, the rope-dancer 56, 97
Clementina. _See_ Sobieska.
Cline, the rope-dancer and ascensionist 59, 83
Coleman, the equestrian 262, 275
Collet, the acrobat 34
Columbia, the circus proprietor 111
Conquest, the manager 187
Conrad, Brothers, the gymnasts 245, 252
Constantine, the acrobat and posturer 65
Cooke, Alfred, the equestrian 111
” Emily, ” ” 143
” George, the rope-dancer 59
” Henry Welby, the equestrian 143
” Hubert, ” ” 192
” James, the circus proprietor 135
” ” ” equestrian 139
” John Henry, the equestrian 143, 192, 212
” Thomas, the circus proprietor 96, 98, 111, 139
” William ” ” ” 139, 143, 161, 215
Cook, Wooda, the equestrian 212
Copeland, the circus proprietor 96, 98, 139
Corelli, the child gymnast 186
Costello, the gymnast 166
Costmethopila, the equestrian 19
Cottrell, Miss, the equestrian 192
Coup, the circus manager 226
Crockett, the lion-performer 128
Cross’s menagerie 60, 73
Crossman, the acrobat 31, 34, 40, 43
Croueste, the clown 145
Crowther, the actor 120, 122
Dale, the equestrian 119, 139
Darby. _See_ Fanque.
Davis, the equestrian manager 46, 53, 56, 58, 61
Dawson, the acrobat 22
Dean, the equestrian 246
Debach, the globe-performer 140
Delavanti family, the acrobats 160
” George, the equestrian 175
Delpini, the manager and singer 27
Derious, the gymnast 245
Dewhurst, the clown 97, 100, 104
Dubois, the clown 46
Ducrow, father of the equestrian 43
” Andrew, the equestrian 53, 58, 61, 79, 83, 95
” ” (the younger) equestrian 193
” Charles, the equestrian 193, 263
” John, the clown 86
” William, the equestrian 241
Dugée, the rope-dancer 15
Eaton and Stone’s circus 126
Ella, the equestrian 126
Elliot, Brothers, the acrobats 143, 188
Ellis, Brothers, the gymnasts 162
Elliston, the manager 48, 58, 80
Ellistria. _See_ Ellis.
Elsler, Mdlle, the ascensionist 143, 240
Espagnole, La Belle, the rope-dancer 36, 44, 46
Fanque, Pablo, the circus proprietor 97, 99, 117, 135, 160, 192
Farci. _See_ Ferzi.
Farini, the gymnast 186
Fawkes, the posturer and juggler 12
Ferzi, the rope-dancer 16
Fish, the equestrian 210
Fitzball, the hippo-dramatist 51, 140
Forcer, the manager 8
Forepaugh’s circus and menagerie 241
Fossett’s circus 161
Francisco, Brothers, the gymnasts 144, 162
Franconi, the circus proprietor 111, 117, 121
Franconi’s circus 46, 55, 136, 142, 190
Franks, the clown 188, 197, 263, 275
Fredericks, the equestrian 193
French’s circus 245
Frowde, the clown 197, 203
Gallot, the equestrian 52
Gardner and Forepaugh’s circus and 241
menagerie
Garlick, the lion-performer 103
Garmon, the acrobat 21, 27
Geraldine, Mdlle, the gymnast 240
Germani, the equestrian juggler 110
Ginnett’s circus 146, 150
Glee-men, Anglo-Saxon 2
Grady’s circus 248
Graham, the conjurer 147
Grainger, the acrobat 27
Griffin, the equestrian acrobat 20, 22
Griffiths and wife, equestrians 19
Grimaldi, the manager 26
” ” clown 36
Guillaume, the circus proprietor 182
” Maddalena, the equestrian 183
Hall, the rope-dancer 8
Handy, partner of Philip Astley 45
Hanlon, Brothers, the gymnasts 175, 186
Harwood, the equestrian actor 120
Hassan, the vaulter 146
Haven’s, De, circus 247
Haynes. _See_ Senyah.
Hemming, the equestrian 139
Hemmings, Cooper, and Whitby’s circus 248
Heng, the acrobat 65
Hengler, the rope-dancer 48, 110, 125, 195
” Charles, the circus proprietor 198
” Edward Henry, the rope-dancer 198
” John Milton, the rope-dancer 188, 195
” Miss, the equestrian 187, 192, 207, 210
Hengler’s circus 123, 160, 187, 192, 201
Henry, the circus manager 266, 276
Hernandez, the equestrian 121, 125
Hilton, the circus proprietor 131
” Miss, the lion-queen 131
Hinné, the circus proprietor 111
” Pauline, the equestrian 111
Hogini family, clowns and acrobats 192, 203, 263
Holloway’s circus 64
Hough, the acrobat 15
Howes and Cushing’s circus 128, 130, 191, 204
Hughes, the equestrian 23, 35
” ” circus proprietor 97, 216
Huntley, the acrobat 21, 27
” Miss, the equestrian 25
Ingham, the acrobat 40
Italian Brothers, gymnasts 142, 144
Jalma, Sadi, the contortionist 270
Janno, the acrobat 15
Jenkins, the acrobat 31, 34
Jenkinson, the acrobat 34
Johnson, the equestrian 17
Johnson’s circus 246
Jones, the equestrian 22
Josephine, Mdlle, the equestrian 246
Julien, the gymnast 153, 162
Keith, the clown 145, 181, 190
Kelly, the vaulter 225, 242
Kemp, the pole performer 109
Keys, Miss, the equestrian 264, 275
King, the bottle equilibrist 165
Lake’s circus 247
Lawrence, the vaulter 38
Lee, James, the showman 131
” Lavater, the vaulter 98, 102, 104
” Thomas, the equestrian 101, 120
Lefort, the pole-sprite 117
Lent, the equestrian manager 252
Leonard, the equestrian 101
Leotard, the gymnast 153, 156, 162
Lloyd, the equestrian 188, 211
Longuemare, the ascensionist 57
Lonsdale, the acrobat 34
Lorenzo, the lion-performer 291
Ludovic, the equestrian 101
Lulu, the female gymnast 153, 175, 185
Macarte, Mme, the equestrian 228
Macarthy, the lion-performer 293
Macomo, the lion-performer 129, 132
Magilton, the gymnast 161
Majilton, the hat-spinner 167, 229
Manchester Jack, the lion-performer 89
Manders, the menagerist 132
Mariana, Signora, the rope-dancer 27
Markutchy, the equestrian 18
Masotta, the equestrian 109
” Mdlle, the equestrian 142
Maynard, the equestrian agent 257
Mears, the gymnast 193, 269
Menken, Miss, the equestrian actress 175
Miller, the equestrian 22
Milton, the circus proprietor 62
Monfroid, Mdlles, the equestrians 90
Montague, the equestrian manager 146, 191
Morris, the acrobat 65
Mulligan, the vaulter 97
Nathans, the circus proprietor 245
Nemo, Brothers, the jugglers 170
Nevit, the acrobat 22
Newsome, the circus proprietor 98, 107, 109, 126, 138, 159,
270, 275
” ” lion-performer 132
” Miss Adele, the equestrian 187, 190, 263, 275
” ” Emma, ” ” 264
” ” Marie, ” ” 264, 275
Niblo, the gymnast 153
Nomora’s feats of activity 16
North, the vaulter 94
” the showman 246
Noyes’s circus 248
O’Donnel, the antipodean equilibrist 61
O’Donnell, Miss, the equestrian 102
Older’s circus and menagerie 247
Olmar, the gymnast 186
Oscar, the equestrian 192
Parelli, the gymnast 166
Pastor, the equestrian 245
Pauliere, Mdlle, the equestrian 231
Payne family, the pantomimists 275
Pentland, the clown 252
Pereira, Mdlle, the female gymnast 180
Phillipi, the conjurer. _See_ Graham.
Phillips, the acrobat 20
Plege, the rope-dancer 98, 109, 117
Polaski, the equestrian 97
Porter, the acrobat 24, 40
Powell, John, the equestrian 97, 117, 125
” William, ” 192, 195
Price, the equestrian 16
” ” vaulter 86, 94
” Brothers, the gymnasts 163, 255
Price’s circus 184
Price and Powell’s circus 195
Rayner, the acrobat 15, 21, 27, 35
” the Misses, the tight-rope dancers 15
Redmond, the rope-performer 169, 171
Richer, the acrobat and rope-dancer 21, 27, 44, 46
Ridgway, Brothers, the gymnasts 154
Ridley, Brothers, the acrobats 162, 263, 272
Rivolti, the ring-master 211
Rizareli, Brothers, the gymnasts 175, 187, 246
Roberts, the artist and scene-painter 66
” the equestrian agent 256
Robinson, the equestrian 174
” ” ” manager 239
Robinson’s, John, circus and menagerie 248
” Alexander, circus 247
Romaine, Madame, the rope-dancer 35
Rossi’s, Signora, feats of activity 16
Ryan, the circus proprietor 96, 118
Sadi Jalma, the contortionist 270
Sadler, founder of the Wells 8
Samee, Ramo, the juggler 57, 170
Sampson, the equestrian 16
Samwell’s circus 64, 96
Sandy, Little, the clown 192, 210, 213
Sanger’s circus 123, 128, 179, 188, 191,
193, 218
Sanger, John and George, the circus 214
proprietors
” Miss, the equestrian 189
Saqui, Madame, the rope-dancer 53, 56
Sault, the gymnast 271
Saunders, the circus proprietor 49
Saxoni, the rope-dancer 43
Senyah and wife, the gymnasts 180, 240
Sextillian, the acrobat and equilibrist 168
Simpson, the equestrian vaulter 12
Smith, the equestrian 40
Sobieska, the equestrian 24
Soullier, the circus proprietor 140
” Mdlle, the equestrian 142
Stanfield, the artist and scene-painter 85
Stickney, the equestrian 61, 63, 94, 107, 247
” Robert, the equestrian 252
” Samuel, the circus director 246
Stokes, the vaulter 11
” equestrian manager 160
Stone and Murray’s circus 240
Stowe’s circus 248
Strand, the lion-performer 132
Talliott’s circus 161
Taylor, the equestrian 18, 30
Thayer’s circus 247
Thompson, the equestrian manager 118
Tournaire, the circus proprietor 111
” Marie, the equestrian 246
Townsend, the equestrian M. P. 151
Tully, the acrobat 27
Twigg, the equestrian manager 218
Tyers, proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens 13
Vangable, Miss, the equestrian 18, 31
Vernon, the ring-master 262, 274
Verrecke, the gymnast 153
Vilderini, the posturer 136
Vincent, Miss, the actress 122
Vintners, the ascensionists 85
Violante, the rope-walker 13
Virginie, Mdlle, the equestrian 241
Vivian, the ring-master 274
Vokes family, the pantomimists 260
Walker, the vaulter and rope-dancer 101, 104
Wallett, the clown and posturer 64, 96, 98, 118, 135, 145,
158
Ward’s circus 247
Warner, the circus proprietor 242
” Annie, the equestrian 246
Watson, Lucille, the equestrian 231, 253
Watson’s circus 247
Wells and Miller’s circus 96
Welsh. _See_ Price, Brothers.
West, the equestrian manager 61
Wheal, the clown 142
Wheeler and Cushing’s circus 246
White, the lion-performer 110
Whittayne, the clown 182
Whitton, the acrobat 65
Widdicomb, the ring-master 87
Williams, the acrobat 15
” ” jester 210
” ” vaulter 63
Willio, the contortionist 154
Wilson’s circus 246
Wombwell, the menagerist 74
Wooler’s letter to Elliston 81
Woolford, Miss, the rope-dancer 59, 87
Young, Miss, the rope-walker 157
Zamezou, the acrobat 257, 263
Zebras at Astley’s 79
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JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS.
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Transcriber’s Note
On p. 40, the transcription of an advertisement refers to ‘fricapee’
dancing, which is likely a misprint for ‘fricassee’, which appears later
in the same advertisement and is, it seems, an old French folk dance.
The apparent error has been allowed to stand.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.
71.20 shall the fool reply, “Then I do,[’/”] Replaced.
307.28 The sum collected is the ‘nob.[’] Added.
End of Project Gutenberg's Circus Life and Circus Celebrities, by Thomas Frost