i.e. to Tyburn, then the place of execution: _Rom-vile_ = London.
_The Song Of The Begger_
_The Description of Love_ is an exceedingly scarce little
"garland" which first appeared in 1620; but of that edition no copies
are known to exist. Of the sixth edition, from which this example is
taken, one copy is in the British Museum and another in the library
collected by Henry Huth Esq. A somewhat similar ballad occurs in the
Roxburgh Collection I, 42 (the chorus being almost identical), under
the title of "The Cunning Northern Beggar". The complete title is _A
Description of Love. With certain Epigrams, Elegies, and Sonnets. And
also Mast. Iohnson's Answere to Mast. Withers. With the Crie of
Ludgate, and the Song of the Begger. The sixth Edition. London,
Printed by M. F. for FRANCIS COULES at the Upper end of the Old-Baily
neere Newgate, 1629._
Stanza II, line I. _If a Bung be got by the Hie-law, i.e._ by
Highway robbery.
_The Maunder's Initation_
John Fletcher(1579--1625), dramatist, a younger son of Dr. Richard
Fletcher afterwards bishop of London, by his first wife Elizabeth, was
born in December 1579 at Rye in Sussex, where his father was then
officiating as minister. A 'John Fletcher of London' was admitted 15
Oct. 1591 a pensioner of Bene't (Corpus) College, Cambridge, of which
college Dr. Fletcher had been president. Dycc assumes that this John
Fletcher, who became one of the bible-clerks in 1593, was the
dramatist. Bishop Fletcher died, in needy circumstances, 15 June 1596,
and by his will, dated 26 Oct. 1593, left his books to be divided
between his sons Nathaniel and John.
_The Beggar's Bush_ was performed at Court at Christmas 1622, and
was popular long after the Restoration.
Fletcher was buried on 29 Aug. 1625 at St. Saviour's, Southwark. 'In
the great plague, 1625,' says Aubrey (_Letters written by Eminent
Persons,_ vol. ii. pt. i. p. 352), 'a knight of Norfolk or Suffolk
invited him into the countrey. He stayed but to make himselfe a suite
of cloathes, and while it was makeing fell sick of the plague and
died.'
_The High Pad's Boast_
See Note to "The Maunder's, Initiation", _ante_.
_The Merry Beggars_
Little is known of the birth or extraction of Richard Brome, and
whether he died in 1652 or 1653 is uncertain. For a time he acted as
servant to Ben Jonson. _The Jovial Crew_ was produced in 1641 at
The Cock-pit, a theatre which stood on the site of Pitt Place running
out of Drury Lane into Gt. Wild St.
Stanza I, line 5. _Go-well and Com-well_ = outgoing and incoming.
_A Mort's Drinking Song_
_See_ Note to "The Merry Beggars," _ante_.
"A Beggar I'll Be"
This ballad is from the Bagford Collection which, formed by John
Bagford (1651-1716), passed successively through the hands of James
West (president of the Royal Society), Major Pearson, the Duke of
Roxburghe and Mr. B. H. Bright, until in 1845 it and the more
extensive Roxburghe Collection became the property of the nation.
Stanza II, line 1. _Maunder_ = beggar. Line 2. _filer_ =
pickpocket; _filcher_ = thief. Line 3. _canter_ = a tramping
beggar or rogue. Line 4. _lifter_ = a shop-thief.
Stanza IV, line 8. _Compter_ (or _Counter_), _King's
Bench, nor the Fleet_, all prisons for debtors.
Stanza V, line 6, _jumble_ = to copulate.
Stanza VIII, line 5. _With Shinkin-ap-Morgan, with Blue-cap, or
Teague_ = With a Welshman, Scotchman, or Irishman--generic: as now
are Taffy, Sandy, and Pat.
_A Budg And Snudg Song_
Chappell in _Popular English Music of the Olden Time_ says that
this song appears in _The Canting Academy_ (2nd ed. 1674) but the
writer has been unable to find a copy of the book in question. The
song was very popular, and many versions (all varying) are extant. The
two given have been carefully collated. The portions in brackets [ ],-
-for example stanza II, line 6, stanza III, lines 1--7, stanza IV,
lines 5--8 etc.--only appear in the _New Canting Dict_. (1725).
It was sung to the tune now known as _There was a jolly miller once
lived on the river Dee_.
Title. _Budge_ = "one that slips into a house in the dark, and
taketh cloaks, coats, or what comes next to hand, marching off with
them" (B. E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, 1690). _Snudge_ = "one
that lurks under a bed, to watch an opportunity to rob the house"--(B.
E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, 1690).
Stanza I, line 7. _Whitt_= Newgate (see Note p. 204).
Stanza V, line 3. _Jack Ketch_, the public hangman 1663-1686.
_The Maunder's Praise Of His Strowling Mort_
_The Triumph of Wit_ by J. Shirley is a curious piece of
bookmaking--scissors and paste in the main--which ran through many
editions. Divided into three parts, the first two are chiefly
concerned with "the whole art and mystery of love in all its nicest
intrigues", "choice letters with their answers" and such like matters.
Part III contains "the mystery and art of Canting, with the original
and present management thereof, and the ends to which it serves, and
is employed: Illustrated with poems, songs and various intrigues in
the Canting language with the explanation, etc." The songs were
afterwards included in _The New Canting Dict._ (1725), and later
on in _Bacchus and Venus_ (1731).
Title. _Strowling Mort_ = a beggar's trull:--"pretending to be
widows, sometimes travel the countries ... are light-fingered, subtle,
hypocritical, cruel, and often dangerous to meet, especially when the
ruffler is with them" (B. E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, 1690).
Stanza I, line 1. _Doxy_--"These Doxes be broken and spoyled of
their maydenhead by the upright men, and then they have their name of
Doxes, and not afore. And afterwards she is commen and indifferent for
any that wyll use her".--Harman, _Caveat_, p. 73. Line 3.
_prats_ = buttocks or thighs. Line 4. _wap_ = to copulate
(also stanza IV, line i).
Stanza II, line 4. _clip and kiss_ = to copulate.
_The Rum-Mort's Praise Of Her Faithless Maunder_
Obviously a companion song to the previous example: See Note
_ante_. _Rum-Mort_ = a beggar or gypsy queen.
Stanza I, line 1. _Kinching-cove_ = (literally) a child or young
lad: here as an endearment. Line 4. _Clapperdogeon_ = "The
Paillard or Clapperdogeons, are those that have been brought up to beg
from their infancy, and frequently counterfeit lameness, making their
legs, arms, and hands appear to be sore"--_Triumph of Wit_, p.
185.
Stanza II, line 1. _Dimber-damber_ = a chief man in the Canting
Crew, or the head of a gang. Line 2. _Palliard_ (See note Stanza
I). Line 3. _jockum_ =_penis_. Line 4. _glimmer_ =
fire; here, a pox or clap.
Stanza V, line 1. _crank_ (or _counterfeit-crank_)--"These
that do counterfet the cranke be yong knaves and yonge harlots that
deeply dissemble the falling sickness".--(Harman, _Caveat_, 1814,
p. 33). Line 1. _dommerar_= a beggar feigning deaf and dumb. Line
2. _rum-maunder_ = to feign madness. Line 3. _Abram-cove_ =
a beggar pretending madness to cover theft. Line 4. _Gybes well
jerk'd_ = pass or license cleverly forged.
_The Black Procession_
See Note as to J. Shirley on page 209.
_Frisky Moll's Song_
John Harper (d. 1742), actor, originally performed at Bartholomew and
Southwark fairs. On 27 Oct. 1721 his name appears as Sir Epicure
Mammon in the _Alchemist_ at Drury Lane. Here he remained for
eleven years, taking the parts of booby squires, fox-hunters, etc.,
proving himself what Victor calls 'a jolly facetious low comedian'.
His good voice was serviceable in ballad opera and farce. On account
of his 'natural timidity', according to Davies, he was selected by
Highmore, the patentee, in order to test the status of an actor, to be
the victim of legal proceedings taken under the Vagrant Act, 12 Queen
Anne, and on 12 Nov. 1733 he was committed to Bridewell as a vagabond.
On 20 Nov. he came before the chief justice of the Kings Bench. It was
pleaded on his behalf that he paid his debts, was well esteemed by
persons of condition, was a freeholder in Surrey, and a householder in
Westminster. He was discharged amid acclamations on his own
recognisance.
_The Canter's Serenade_
_The New Canting Dictionary_ (1725) is, in the main, a reprint of
_The Dictionary of the Canting_* _Crew_ (_c_. 1696)
compiled by B. E. The chief difference is that the former contains a
collection of Canting Songs, most of which are included in the present
collection.
Stanza I, line 3. _palliards--see_ Note, p. 210, ten lines from
bottom.
_"Retoure My Dear Dell"_
_See_ Note to "The Canter's Serenade." This song appears to be a
variation of a much older one, generally ascribed to Chas II, entitled
_I pass all my hours in a shady old grove_.
_The Vain Dreamer_
_See_ Note to "The Canter's Serenade."
_"When My Dimber Dell I Courted"_
_See_ Note to "The Canter's Serenade." The first two stanzas
appear in a somewhat different form as "a new song" to the time of
_Beauty's Ruin_ in _The Triumph of Wit_ (1707), of which the
first stanza is as follows:--
When Dorinda first I courted,
She had charms and beauty too;
Conquering pleasures when she sported,
The transport it was ever new:
But wastful time do's now deceive her,
Which her glories did uphold;
All her arts can ne'er relieve her,
Poor Dorinda is grown old.
Stanza I, line 4. _Wap_ = the act of kind. _Dimber dell_ =
pretty wench--"A dell is a yonge wenche, able for generation, and not
yet knowen or broken by the upright man ... when they have beene lyen
with all by the upright man then they be Doxes, and no Dells."--
(HARMAN).
Stanza III, line 3. _Upright-men_--"the second rank of the
Canting tribes, having sole right to the first night's lodging with
the Dells."--(B. E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, 1696).
_The Oath Of The Canting Crew_
Bamfylde Moore Carew, the King of the Gypsies, born in 1693, was the
son of the Rector of Bickley, near Tiverton. It is related that to
avoid punishment for a boyish freak he, with some companions, ran away
and joined the gypsies. After a year and a half Carew returned for a
time, but soon rejoined his old friends. His career was a long series
of swindling and imposture, very ingeniously carried out, occasionally
deceiving people who should have known him well. His restless nature
then drove him to embark for Newfoundland, where he stopped but a
short time, and on his return he pretended to be the mate of a vessel,
and eloped with the daughter of a respectable apothecary of Newcastle
on Tyne, whom he afterwards married. He continued his course of
vagabond roguery for some time, and when Clause Patch, a king, or
chief of the gypsies, died, Carew was elected his successor. He was
convicted of being an idle vagrant, and sentenced to be transported to
Maryland. On his arrival he attempted to escape, was captured, and
made to wear a heavy iron collar, escaped again, and fell into the
hands of some friendly Indians, who relieved him of his collar. He
took an early opportunity of leaving his new friends, and got into
Pennsylvania. Here he pretended to be a Quaker, and as such made his
way to Philadelphia, thence to New York, and afterwards to New London,
where he embarked for England. He escaped impressment on board a man-
of-war by pricking his hands and face, and rubbing in bay salt and
gunpowder, so as to simulate smallpox. After his landing he continued
his impostures, found out his wife and daughter, and seems to have
wandered into Scotland about 1745, and is said to have accompanied the
Pretender to Carlisle and Derby. The record of his life from this time
is but a series of frauds and deceptions, and but little is absolutely
known of his career, except that a relative, Sir Thomas Carew of
Hackern, offered to provide for him if he would give up his wandering
life. This he refused to do, but it is believed that he eventually did
so after he had gained some prizes in the lottery. The date of his
death is uncertain. It is generally given, but on no authority, as
being in 1770 but 'I. P.', writing from Tiverton, in _Notes and
Queries_, 2nd series, vol. IV, p. 522, says that he died in 1758.
The story of his life in detail is found in the well-known, and
certainly much-printed, _Life and Adventures of Bamfylde Moore
Carew_, the earliest edition of which (1745) describes him on the
title-page as "the Noted Devonshire Stroller and Dogstealer". This
book professes to have been "noted by himself during his passage to
America", but though no doubt the facts were supplied by Carew
himself, the actual authorship is uncertain, though the balance of
probability lies with Robert Goadby, a printer and compiler of
Sherborne Dorsetshire, who printed an edition in 1749. A correspondent
of _Notes and Queries_, however, states that Mrs. Goadby wrote it
from Carew's dictation. [_N. and Q._ 2 S iii. 4; iv. 330, 440,
522],
Line 1. _Crank Cuffin_ = _Queer Cove_ = a rogue. Line 9.
_Stop-hole Abbey_, "the nick-name of the chief rendezvous of the
Canting Crew ".--(B. E., _Dict. Cant. Crew_, 1696). Line 17.
_Abram_ = formerly a mendicant lunatic of Bethlehem Hospital who
on certain days was allowed to go out begging: hence a beggar feigning
madness. _Ruffler crack_ = an expert rogue. Line 18.
_Hooker_ = "peryllous and most wicked Knaves... for, as they
walke a day times, from house to house, to demaund Charite... well
noting what they see... that will they be sure to have... for they
customably carry with them a staffe of V. of VI. foote long, in which
within one ynch of the tope thereof, ys a lytle hole bored through, in
which hole they putte an yron hoke, and with the same they wyll pluck
unto them quickly anything that they may reche therewith."--(Harman,
_Caveat_, 1869, p. 35, 36). Line 19. _Frater_ = "such as beg
with a sham-patent or brief for Spitals, Prisons, Fires, etc."--(B.
E.). Line 20. _Irish toyle_ = a beggar-thief, working under
pretence of peddling pins, lace, and such-like wares. Line 21.
_Dimber-damber_ = the chief of a gang: also an expert thief.
_Angler_ = hooker (see _ante_). Line 23. _swigman_ = a
beggar peddling haberdashery to cover theft and roguery.
_Clapperdogeon_ = a beggar born and bred, _see_ note p. 210,
tenth line from bottom. Line 24. _Curtal_--"a curtall is much
like to the upright man (that is, one in authority, who may "call to
account", "command a share", chastise those under him, and "force any
of their women to serve his turn"), but hys authority is not fully so
great. He useth commonly to go with a short cloke, like to grey
Friers, and his woman with him in like livery, which he calleth his
Altham if she be hys wyfe, and if she be his harlot, she is called hys
Doxy."--(HARMAN). Line 25. _Whip-jack_ = a rogue begging with a
counterfeit license. _Palliard_ = a beggar born and bred.
_Patrico_ = a hedge-priest. Line 26. _Jarkman_ = "he that
can write and reade, and sometime speake latin. He useth to make
counterfaite licenses which they call gybes, and sets to seales, in
their language called Jarkes. "--(HARMAN). Line 27. _Dommerar_ =
a rogue pretending deaf and dumb. _Romany_ = a gipsy. Line 28.
_The family_ = the fraternity of vagabonds.
_"Come All You Buffers Gay"_
In the Roxburghe Collection (ii. 504) is a ballad upon which the
present song is clearly based. It is called _The West Country Nymph,
or the little maid of Bristol_ to the time of _Young Jemmy_
(_i.e._ the Duke of Monmouth, Charles II's natural son). The
first stanza runs--
Come all you maidens fair,
And listen to my ditty,
In Bristol city fair
There liv'd a damsel pretty.
_The Potato Man_
Stanza II, line 2. _Cly_ = properly pocket, but here is obviously
meant the contents.
Stanza IV, line 1. _Blue bird's-eye_ = a blue and silk
handkerchief with white spots.
_A Slang Pastoral_
Of R. Tomlinson nothing is known. The Dr. Byrom whose poem is here
parodied is perhaps best remembered as the author of a once famous
system of shorthand. He was born in 1691, went to the Merchant
Taylor's School, and at the age of 16 was admitted a pensioner of
Trinity College Cambridge. It was here that he wrote _My time, O ye
muses_. He died in 1763, and his poems, no inconsiderable
collection, were published in 1773.
_"Ye Scamps, Ye Pads, Ye Divers"_
Stanza I, line 1. _The lay_ = a pursuit, a scheme: here =
thievery and roguery in general.
Stanza IV, line 4. _Like Blackamore Othello &c._--the reference
is to _Othello_, v. 2. "Yet she must die, else she'll betray more
men. Put out the light, and then--put out the light."
_The Sandman's Wedding_
Though George Parker's name is not formally attached to this "Cantata"
there would appear little doubt, from internal evidence, that it, with
the two songs immediately following, forms part of a characteristic
series from the pen of this roving soldier-actor. Parker was born in
1732 at Green Street, near Canterbury and was 'early admitted', he
says, 'to walk the quarterdeck as a midshipman on board the Falmouth
and the Guernsey'. A series of youthful indiscretions in London
obliged him to leave the navy, and in or about 1754 to enlist as a
common soldier in the 2Oth regiment of foot, the second battalion of
which became in 1758 the 67th regiment, under the command of Wolfe. In
his regiment he continued a private, corporal, and sergeant for seven
years, was present at the siege of Belleisle, and saw service in
Portugal, Gibraltar, and Minorca. At the end of the war he returned
home as a supernumerary excise-man. About 1761 his friends placed him
in the King's Head inn at Canterbury where he soon failed. Parker went
upon the stage in Ireland, and in company with Brownlow Ford, a
clergyman of convivial habits, strolled over the greater part of the
island. On his return to London he played several times at the
Haymarket, and was later introduced by Goldsmith to Colman. But on
account of his corpulence Colman declined his services. Parker then
joined the provincial strolling companies, and was engaged for one
season with Digges, then manager of the Edinburgh Theatre. At
Edinburgh he married an actress named Heydon, from whom, however, he
was soon obliged to part on account of her dissolute life. Returning
again to London, he set up as wandering lecturer on elocution, and in
this character travelled with varying success through England. In
November 1776 he set out on a visit to France, and lived at Paris for
upwards of six months on funds supplied by his father. His resources
being exhausted, he left Paris in the middle of July 1777 on foot. On
reaching England he made another lecturing tour, which proved
unsuccessful. His wit, humour, and knowledge of the world rendered him
at one time an indispensable appendage to convivial gatherings of a
kind; but in his later days he was so entirely neglected as to be
obliged to sell gingerbread-nuts at fairs and race-meetings for a
subsistance. He died in Coventry poorhouse in April 1800.
_The Happy Pair and The Bunter's Christening and The
Masqueraders_
See note (_ante_) to "The Sandman's Wedding". _Life's Painter
etc._ ran through several editions.
_The Flash Man of St. Giles_
Stanza II, line 7. _Drunk as David's sow_ = beastly drunk. Grose
(_Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_) says: One David
Lloyd, a Welshman, who kept an ale-house at Hereford, had a sow with
six legs, which was an object of great curiosity. One day David's
wife, having indulged too freely, lay down in the sty to sleep, and a
company coming to see the sow, David led them to the sty, saying, as
usual, "There is a sow for you! Did you ever see the like?" One of the
visitors replied, "Well, it is the drunkenest sow I ever beheld."
Whence the woman was ever after called "Davy's sow."
_A Leary Mot_
Stanza III, line 1. _Cock and Hen Club_ = a free-and-easy for
both sexes.
Stanza IV, line 4. _Tom Cribb_--_see_ note p. 223.
_"The Night Before Larry was Stretched"_
Neither the authorship nor the date of these inimitable verses are
definitely known. According to the best authorities, Will Maher, a
shoemaker of Waterford, wrote the song. Dr. Robert Burrowes, Dean of
St. Finbar's Cork, to whom it has been so often attributed, certainly
did not. Often quoted in song book and elsewhere. Francis Sylvester
Mahony, better known as "Father Prout" contributed to _Froser's
Magazine_ the following translation into the French.
La mort de Socrate.
_Par l'Abbé de Prout, Curé du Mont-aux-Cressons, près de Cork._
A la veille d'être pendu,
Notr' Laurent reçut dans son gite,
Honneur qui lui était bien dû,
De nombreux amis la visite;
Car chacun scavait que Laurent
A son tour rendrait la pareille,
Chapeau montre, et veste engageant,
Pour que l'ami put boire bouteille,
Ni faire, à gosier sec, le saut.
"Helas, notre garden!" lui dis-je,
"Combien je regrette ton sort!
Te voilà fleur, que sur sa tige
Moisonne la cruelle mort!"--
"Au diable," dit-il, "le roi George!
Ça me fait la valeur d'un bouton;
Devant le boucher qui m'égorge,
Je serai comme un doux mouton,
Et saurai montrer du courage!"
Des amis déjà la cohorte
Remplissait son étroit réduit:
Six chandelles, ho! qu'on apporte,
Donnons du lustre à cette nuit!
Alors je cherchai à connaitre
S'il s'était dument repenti?
"Bah! c'est les fourberies des prêtres
Les gredins, ils en ont menti,
Et leurs contes d'enfer sont faux!"
L'on demande les cartes. Au jeu
Laurent voit un larron qui triche;
D'honneur tout rempli, ìl prend feu,
Et du bon coup de poign l'affiche.
"Ha, coquìn! de mon dernier jour
Tu croyais profiler, peut-être;
Tu oses me jouer ce tour!
Prends ça pour ta peine, vil traître!
Et apprends à te bien conduire!"
Quand nous eûmes cessé nos ébats,
Laurent, en ce triste repaire
Pour le disposer au trépas,
Voit entrer Monsieur le Vicaire.
Apres un sinistre regard,
Le front de sa main il se frotte,
Disant tout haut, "Venez plus tard!"
Et tout has, "Vilaine calotte!"
Puis son verre il vida deux fois.
Lors il parla de l'echaufaud,
Et de sa dernière cravate;
Grands dieux! que ça paraissait beau
De la voïr mourir en Socrate!
Le trajet en chantant il fit--
La chanson point ne fut un pseaume;
Mais palit un peu quand il vit
La statute de Roy Guillaume--
Les pendards n'aiment pas ce roi!
Quand fut au bout de son voyage,
Le gibet fut prêt en un clin:
Mourant îl tourna de visage
Vers la bonne ville de Dublin.
Il dansa la carmagnole,
Et mount comme fit Malbrouck;
Puis nous enterrâmes le drôle
Au cimetière de Donnybrook
Que son âme y soit en repos!
Stanza V, line 3. _Kilmainham_, a gaol near Dublin.
Stanza VI, line 7. _King William_, the statute of William III
erected on College Green in commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne.
It was long the object of much contumely on the part of the
Nationalists. It was blown to pieces in 1836, but was subsequently
restored.
_The Song of the Young Prig_
Said to have been written by Little Arthur Chambers, the Prince of
Prigs, who was one of the most expert thieves of his time. He began to
steal when he was in petticoats, and died a short time before Jack
Sheppard came into notice. Internal evidence, however, renders this
attributed authorship very improbable.
Stanza I, line 1. _Dyots Isle, i.e.,_ Dyot St., St. Giles,
afterwards called George St. Bloomsbury, was a well-known rookery
where thieves and their associates congregated.
Stanza II, line 3. _And I my reading learnt betime From studying
pocket-books._ "Pocket-book" = reader.
Stanza IV, line 1. _To work capital_ = to commit a crime
punishable with death. Previous to 1829 many offences, now thought
comparatively trivial, were deemed to merit the extreme penalty of the
law.
_The Milling Match_
_Tom Cribb's Memorial to Congress_: With a Preface, Notes, and
Appendix. By One of the Fancy. London, Longmans & Co., 1819. There
were several editions. Usually, with good reason, ascribed to Thomas
Moore. It may be remarked that, though the Irish Anacreon's claim to
fame rests avowedly on his more serious contributions to literature,
he was, nevertheless, never so popular as when dealing with what, in
the early part of the present century, was known as THE FANCY.
Pugilism then took the place, in the popular mind, that football and
cricket now occupy. Tom Cribb was born at Hanham in the parish of
Bitton, Gloucestershire, in 1781, and coming to London at the age of
thirteen followed the trade of a bell-hanger, then became a porter at
the public wharves, and was afterwards a sailor. From the fact of his
having worked as a coal porter he became known as the 'Black Diamond,'
and under this appellation he fought his first public battle against
George Maddox at Wood Green on 7 Jan. 1805, when after seventy-six
rounds he was proclaimed the victor, and received much praise for his
coolness and temper under very unfair treatment. In 1807 he was
introduced to Captain Barclay, who, quickly perceiving his natural
good qualities, took him in hand, and trained him under his own eye.
He won the championship from Bob Gregson in 1808 but in 1809 he was
beaten by Jem Belcher. He subsequently regained the belt. After an
unsuccessful venture as a coal merchant at Hungerford Wharf, London,
he underwent the usual metamorphosis from a pugilist to a publican,
and took the Golden Lion in Southwark; but finding this position too
far eastward for his aristocratic patrons he removed to the King's
Arms at the corner of Duke Street and King Street, St. James's, and
subsequently, in 1828, to the Union Arms, 26 Panton Street, Haymarket.
On 24 Jan. 1821 it was decided that Cribb, having held the
championship for nearly ten years without receiving a challenge, ought
not to be expected to fight any more, and was to be permitted to hold
the title of champion for the remainder of his life. On the day of the
coronation of George IV, Cribb, dressed as a page, was among the
prizefighters engaged to guard the entrance to Westminster Hall. His
declining years were disturbed by domestic troubles and severe
pecuniary losses, and in 1839 he was obliged to give up the Union Arms
to his creditors. He died in the house of his son, a baker in the High
Street, Woolwich, on 11 May 1848, aged 67, and was buried in Woolwich
churchyard, where, in 1851, a monument representing a lion grieving
over the ashes of a hero was erected to his memory. As a professor of
his art he was matchless, and in his observance of fair play he was
never excelled; he bore a character of unimpeachable integrity and
unquestionable humanity.
_Ya Hip, My Hearties!_
Stanza III, line 8. _Houyhnhnms_. A race of horses endowed with
human reason, and bearing rule over the race of man--a reference to
Dean Swift's _Gulliver's Travels_ (1726).
_Sonnets For The Fancy_
Pierce Egan, the author of the adventures of Tom and Jerry was born
about 1772 and died in 1849. He had won his spurs as a sporting
reporter by 1812, and for eleven years was recognised as one of the
smartest of the epigrammatists, song-writers, and wits of the time.
_Boxiana_, a monthly serial, was commenced in 1818. It consisted
of 'Sketches of Modern Pugilism', giving memoirs and portraits of all
the most celebrated pugilists, contemporary and antecedent, with full
reports of their respective prize-fights, victories, and defeats, told
with so much spirited humour, yet with such close attention to
accuracy, that the work holds a unique position. It was continued in
several volumes, with copperplates, to 1824. At this date, having seen
that Londoners read with avidity his accounts of country sports and
pastimes, he conceived the idea of a similar description of the
amusements pursued by sporting men in town. Accordingly he announced
the publication of _Life in London_ in shilling numbers, monthly,
and secured the aid of George Cruikshank, and his brother, Isaac
Robert Cruikshank, to draw and engrave the illustrations in aquatint,
to be coloured by hand. George IV had caused Egan to be presented at
court, and at once accepted the dedication of the forthcoming work.
This was the more generous on the king's part because he must have
known himself to have been often satirised and caricatured mercilessly
in the _Green Bag_ literature by G. Cruikshank, the intended
illustrator. On 15 July 1821 appeared the first number of _Life in
London_; or, 'The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and
his elegant friend, Corinthian Jem, accompanied by Bob Logic, the
Oxonian, in their Rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis.' The
success was instantaneous and unprecedented. It took both town and
country by storm. So great was the demand for copies, increasing with
the publication of each successive number, month by month, that the
colourists could not keep pace with the printers. The alternate scenes
of high life and low life, the contrasted characters, and revelations
of misery side by side with prodigal waste and folly, attracted
attention, while the vivacity of dialogue and description never
flagged.
Stanza III, line 10. _New Drop_. The extreme penalty of the law,
long carried out at Tyburn (near the Marble Arch corner of Hyde Park),
was ultimately transferred to Newgate. The lament for "Tyburn's merry
roam" was, without doubt, heart-felt and characteristic. Executions
were then one of the best of all good excuses for a picnic and
jollification. Yet the change of scene to Newgate does not appear to
have detracted much from these functions as shows. "Newgate to-day,"
says a recent writer in _The Daily Mail_, is little wanted, and
all but vacant, as a general rule. In former days enormous crowds were
herded together indiscriminately--young and old, innocent and guilty,
men, women, and children, the heinous offender, and the neophyte in
crime. The worst part of the prison was the "Press Yard," the place
then allotted to convicts cast for death. There were as many as sixty
or seventy sometimes within these narrow limits, and most were kept
six months and more thus hovering between a wretched existence and a
shameful death. Men in momentary expectation of being hanged rubbed
shoulders with others still hoping for reprieve. If the first were
seriously inclined, they were quite debarred from private religious
meditation, but consorted, perforce, with reckless ruffians, who
played leap-frog, and swore and drank continually. Infants of tender
years were among the condemned; lunatics, too, raged furiously through
the Press Yard, and were a constant annoyance and danger to all. The
"condemned sermon" in the prison chapel drew a crowd of fashionable
folk, to stare at those who were to die, packed together in a long pew
hung with black, and on a table in front was placed an open coffin.
Outside, in the Old Bailey, on the days of execution, the awful scenes
nearly baffle description. Thousands collected to gloat over the dying
struggles of the criminals, and fought and roared and trampled each
other to death in their horrible eagerness, so that hundreds were
wounded or killed. Ten or a dozen were sometimes hanged in a row, men
and women side by side.
_The True Bottomed Boxer_
_The Universal Songster_, or Museum of Mirth; forming the most
complete collection of ancient and modern songs in the English
language, with a classified Index... Embellished with a Frontispiece
and wood cuts, designed by George Cruikshank etc. 3vols. London, 1825-
26. 8vo.
Stanza I, line 1. _Moulsey-Hurst rig_ = a prize-fight: Moulsey-
Hurst, near Hampton Court, was long a favorite _venue_ for
pugilistic encounters. Line 3. _Fibbing a nob is most excellent
gig_ = getting in a quick succession of blows on the head is good
fun. Line 4. _Kneading the dough_ = a good pummelling. Line 6.
_Belly-go-firsters_ = an initial blow, generally given in the
stomach. Line 8. _Measuring mugs for a chancery job_ = getting
the head under the arm or 'in chancery'.
Stanza II, line 1. _Flooring_ = downing (a man). _Flushing_
= delivering a blow right on the mark, and straight from the shoulder.
Line 5. _Crossing_ = unfair fighting; shirking.
Stanza III, line 5. _Victualling-office_ = the stomach. Line 6.
_Smeller and ogles_ = nose and eyes. Line 7. _Bread-basket_
= stomach. Line 8. _In twig_ = in form; ready.
_Bobby And His Mary_
[See _ante_ for note on _Universal Songster_].
Stanza I, line 1. _Dyot Street_, see note page 222.
Stanza II, line 16. _St. Pulchre's bell_, the great bell of St.
Sepulchre's Holborn, close to Newgate, always begins to toll a little
before the hour of execution, under the bequest of Richard Dove, who
directed that an exhortation should be made to "... prisoners that are
within, Who for wickedness and sin are appointed to die, Give ear unto
this passing bell."
_Poor Luddy_
Thomas John Dibdin (1771-1841), the author of this song, was an actor
and dramatist--an illegitimate son of Charles Dibdin the elder. He
claimed to have written nearly 2000 songs.
_The Pickpocket's Chaunt_
Eugene François Vidocq was a native of Arras, where his father was a
baker. From early associations he fell into courses of excess which
led to his flying from the paternal roof. After various, rapid, and
unexampled events in the romance of real life, in which he was
everything by turns and nothing long, he was liberated from prison,
and became the principal and most active agent of police. He was made
chief of the Police de Sureté under Messrs. Delavau and Franchet, and
continued in that capacity from the year 1810 till 1827, during which
period he extirpated the most formidable gangs of ruffians to whom the
excesses of the revolution and subsequent events had given full scope
for daring robberies and iniquitous excesses. He settled down as a
paper manufacturer at St. Mandé near Paris.
Of Maginn (1793-1842) it may be said he was, without question, one of
the most versatile writers of his time. He is, perhaps, best
remembered in connection with the _Noctes Ambrosianæ_, which
first appeared in _Blackwood_, and with the idea of which Maginn
is generally credited. He was also largely concerned with the
inception of _Fraser's_. Maginn's English rendering of Vidocq's
famous song first appeared in _Blackwood_ for July 1829. For the
benefit of the curious the original is appended. It will be seen that
Maginn was very faithful to his copy.
En roulant de vergne en vergne [1]
Pour apprendre à goupiner, [2]
J'ai rencontré la mercandière, [3]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Qui du pivois solisait, [4]
Lonfa malura dondé.
J'ai rencontré la mercandière
Qui du pivois solisait;
Je lui jaspine en bigorne; [5]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Qu'as tu donc à morfiller? [6]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Je lui jaspine en bigorne;
Qu'as tu donc à morfiller?
J'ai du chenu pivois sans lance. [7]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et du larton savonné [8]
Lonfa malura dondé.
J'ai du chenu pivois sans lance
Et du larton savonné,
Une lourde, une tournante, [9]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et un pieu pour roupiller [10]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Une lourde, une tournante
Et un pieu pour roupiller.
J'enquille dans sa cambriole, [11]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Espérant de l'entifler, [12]
Lonfa malura dondé.
J'enquille dans sa cambriole
Espérant de l'entifler;
Je rembroque au coin du rifle, [13]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Un messière qui pionçait, [14]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Je rembroque au coin du rifle
Un messière qui pionçait;
J'ai sondé dans ses vallades, [15]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Son carle j'ai pessigué, [16]
Lonfa malura dondé.
J'ai sondé dans ses vallades,
Son carie j'ai pessigué,
Son carle et sa tocquante, [17]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et ses attaches de cé, [18]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Son carle et sa tocquante,
Et ses attaches de cé,
Son coulant et sa montante, [19]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et son combre galuché
Lonfa malura dondé.
Son coulant et sa montante
Et son combre galuché, [20]
Son frusque, aussi sa lisette, [21]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et ses tirants brodanchés, [22]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Son frasque, aussi sa lisette
Et ses tirants brodanchés.
Crompe, crompe, mercandière, [23]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Car nous serions béquillés, [24]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Crompe, crompe, mercandière,
Car nous serions béquillés.
Sur la placarde de vergne, [25]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
II nous faudrait gambiller, [26]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Sur la placarde de vergne
Il nous faudrait gambiller,
Allumés de toutes ces largues, [27]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Et du trèpe rassemblé, [28]
Lonfa malura dondé.
Allumés de toutes ces largues
Et du trèpe rassemblé;
Et de ces charlots bons drilles, [29]
Lonfa malura dondaine,
Tous aboulant goupiner. [30]
Lonfa malura dondé.
[1: Vergne, _town._]
[2: Goupiner, _to steal._]
[3: Mercandière, _tradeswomen._]
[4: Du pivois solisait, _sold wine._]
[5: Jaspine en bigorne, _say in cant._]
[6: Morfiller, _to eat and drink._]
[7: Chenu, _good._ Lance, _water._]
[8: Larton savonné, _white bread._]
[9: Lourde, _door._ Tournante, _key._]
[10: Pieu, _bed._ Roupiller, _to sleep._]
[11: J'enquille, _I enter._ Cambriole, _room._]
[12: Entifler, _to marry._]
[13: Rembroque, _see_. Rifle, _fire_.]
[14: Mesisère _man_. Pionçait, _as sleeping_.]
[15: Vallades, _pockets_.]
[16: Carle, _money_. Pessigué, _taken_.]
[17: Tocquante, _watch_.]
[18: Attaches de ce, _silver buckles_.]
[19: Coulant, _chain_. Montante, _breeches_.]
[20: Combre galuché, _laced hat_.]
[21: Frusque, _coat_. Lisette, _waistcoat_.]
[22: Tirants brodanchés, _embroidered stockings_.]
[23: Footnote: Crompe, _run away_.]
[24: Béquilles, _hanged_.]
[25: Placarde de vergne, _public place_.]
[26: Gambiller, _to dance_.]
[27: Allumés, _stared at_. Largues, _women_.]
[28: Trèpe, _crowd_.]
[29: Charlots bons drilles, _jolly thieves_.]
[30: Aboulant, _coming_.]
Stanza XIII, line 5. Cotton, the ordinary at Newgate.
_On the Prigging Lay_
H. T. R., the English translator of Vidocq's _Memoirs_ (4 vol.,
1828-9), says of this and the following renderings from the French
that they "with all their faults and all their errors, are to be added
to the list of the translator's sins, who would apologise to the Muse
did he but know which of the nine presides over Slang poetry." The
original of "On the Prigging Lay" is as follows:--
Un jour à la Croix-Rouge
Nous étions dix à douze
(_She interrupted herself with_ "Comme
à l'instant même.")
Nous étions dix à douze
Tous grinches de renom, [1]
Nous attendions la sorgue [2]
Voulant poisser des bogues [3]
Pour faire du billon. [4] (_bis_)
Partage ou non partage
Tout est à notre usage;
N'épargnons le poitou [5]
Poissons avec adresse [6]
Messières et gonzesses [7]
Sans faire de regout. [8] (_bis_)
Dessus le pont au change
Certain argent-de-change
Se criblait au charron, [9]
J'engantai sa toquante [10]
Ses attaches brillantes [11]
Avec ses billemonts. [12] (_bis_)
Quand douze plombes crossent, [13]
Ses pègres s'en retournant [14]
Au tapis de Montron [15]
Montron ouvre ta lourde, [16]
Si tu veux que j'aboule, [17]
Et piausse en ton bocsin. [18] (_bis_)
Montron drogue à sa larque, [19]
Bonnis-moi donc girofle [20]
Qui sont ces pègres-là? [21]
Des grinchisseurs de bogues, [22]
Esquinteurs de boutoques, [23]
Les connobres tu pas? [24] (_bis_)
Et vite ma culbute; [25]
Quand je vois mon affure [26]
Je suis toujours paré [27]
Du plus grand coeur du monde
Je vais à la profonde [28]
Pour vous donner du frais, (_bis_)
Mais déjà la patrarque, [29]
Au clair de la moucharde, [30]
Nous reluge de loin. [31]
L'aventure est étrange,
C'était l'argent-de-change,
Que suivait les roussins. [32] (_bis_)
A des fois l'on rigole [33]
Ou bien l'on pavillonne [34]
Qu'on devrait lansquiner [35]
Raille, griviers, et cognes [36]
Nous ont pour la cigogne [37]
Tretons marrons paumés. [38] (_bis_)
[1: Thieves]
[2: Night]
[3: Watches]
[4: Money]
[5: Let us be cautious]
[6: Let us rob]
[7: citizen and wife]
[8: Awaken suspicion]
[9: Cried "Thief."]
[10: I took his watch.]
[11: His diamond buckles]
[12: His bank notes]
[13: Twelve oclock strikes.]
[14: The thieves]
[15: At the cabinet]
[16: Your door]
[17: Give money]
[18: Sleep at your house]
[19: Asks his wife]
[20: Says my love]
[21: These thieves]
[22: Watch stealers]
[23: Burglers]
[24: Do you not know them?]
[25: Breeches]
[26: Profit]
[27: Ready]
[28: Cellar]
[29: Patrol]
[30: The moon]
[31: Look at us.]
[32: Spies]
[33: Laughs]
[34: Jokes]
[35: To weep]
[36: Exempt, soldiers and gendarmes.]
[37: Palace of justice]
[38: Taken in the act]
_The Lag's Lament_
_See_ Note _ante_, "On the Prigging Lay", The
original runs as follows:--
Air: _L'Heureux Pilote_.
Travaillant d'ordinaire,
La sorgue dans Pantin, [1]
Dans mainte et mainte affaire
Faisant très-bon choppin, [2]
Ma gente cambriole, [3]
Rendoublée de camelotte, [4]
De la dalle au flaquet; [5]
Je vivais sans disgrâce,
Sans regout ni morace, [6]
Sans taff et sans regret. [7]
J'ai fait par comblance [8]
Giroude larguecapé, [9]
Soiffant picton sans lance, [10]
Pivois non maquillé, [11]
Tirants, passe à la rousse, [12]
Attachés de gratouse, [13]
Combriot galuché. [14]
Cheminant en bon drille,
Un jour à la Courtille
Je m'en étais enganté. [15]
En faisant nos gambades,
Un grand messière franc, [16]
Voulant faire parade,
Serre un bogue d'orient. [17]
Après la gambriade, [18]
Le filant sur l'estrade, [19]
D'esbrouf je l'estourbis, [20]
J'enflaque sa limace, [21]
Son bogue, ses frusques, ses passes, [22]
Je m'en fus au fourallis. [23]
Par contretemps, ma largue,
Voulant se piquer d'honneur,
Craignant que je la nargue
Moi que n' suis pas taffeur, [24]
Pour gonfler ses valades
Encasque dans un rade [25]
Sert des sigues a foison [26]
On la crible à la grive, [27]
Je m' la donne et m' esquive, [28]
Elle est pommée maron. [29]
Le quart d'oeil lui jabotte [30]
Mange sur tes nonneurs, [31]
Lui tire une carotte
Lui montant la couleur. [32]
L'on vient, on me ligotte, [33]
Adieu, ma cambriole,
Mon beau pieu, mes dardants [34]
Je monte à la cigogne, [35]
On me gerbe à la grotte, [36]
Au tap et pour douze ans. [37]
Ma largue n' sera plus gironde,
Je serais vioc aussi; [38]
Faudra pour plaire au monde,
Clinquant, frusque, maquis. [39]
Tout passe dans la tigne, [40]
Et quoiqu'on en juspine. [41]
C'est un f-- flanchet, [42]
Douze longes de tirade, [43]
Pour un rigolade, [44]
Pour un moment d'attrait.
[1: Evening in Paris.]
[2: A good booty.]
[3: Chamber.]
[4: Full of goods.]
[5: Money in the pocket.]
[6: Without fear or uneasiness.]
[7: Without care.]
[8: An increase.]
[9: A handsome mistress.]
[10: Drinking wine without water.]
[11: Unadulterated wine.]
[12: Stockings.]
[13: Lace.]
[14: Laced hat.]
[15: Clad]
[16: Citizen]
[17: A gold watch]
[18: Dance]
[19: Following him in the boulevard.]
[20: I stun him.]
[21: I take off his shirt.]
[22: I steal his watch, clothes and shoes.]
[23: The receiving house.]
[24: Coward]
[25: Enters a shop.]
[26: Steals money.]
[27: They call for the guard.]
[28: I fly]
[29: Taken in the fact.]
[30: The commissary questions him.]
[31: Denounces his accomplices.]
[32: Tell a falsehood.]
[33: They tie me.]
[34: My fine bed, my loves.]
[35: The dock.]
[36: They condemn me to the galleys.]
[37: To exposure.]
[38: Old.]
[39: Rouge.]
[40: In this world.]
[41: Whatever people say.]
[42: Lot.]
[43: Twelve years of fetters.]
[44: Fool.]
Stanza II, line 2. _So gay, so nutty and so knowing_--See _Don
Juan_, Canto XI, stanza ...
Stanza VI, line i. Sir Richard Birnie the chief magistrate at Bow St.
_"Nix My Doll, Pals, Fake Away"_
Ainsworth in his preface to _Rookwood_ makes the following
remarks on this and the three following songs:--"As I have casually
alluded to the flash song of Jerry Juniper, I may be allowed to make a
few observations upon this branch of versification. It is somewhat
curious with a dialect so racy, idiomatic, and plastic as our own
cant, that its metrical capabilities should have been so little
essayed. The French have numerous _chansons d'argot_, ranging
from the time of Charles Bourdigné and Villon down to that of Vidocq
and Victor Hugo, the last of whom has enlivened the horrors of his
'_Dernier Jour d'un Condamne_" by a festive song of this class.
The Spaniards possess a large collection of _Romances de
Germania_, by various authors, amongst whom Quevedo holds a
distinguished place. We on the contrary, have scarcely any slang songs
of merit. This barreness is not attributable to the poverty of the
soil, but to the want of due cultivation. Materials are at hand in
abundance, but there have been few operators. Dekker, Beaumont and
Fletcher, and Ben Jonson, have all dealt largely in this jargon, but
not lyrically; and one of the earliest and best specimens of a
canting-song occurs in Brome's '_Jovial Crew;_' and in the
'_Adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew_' there is a solitary ode
addressed by the mendicant fraternity to their newly-elected monarch;
but it has little humour, and can scarcely be called a genuine
canting-song. This ode brings us down to our own time; to the
effusions of the illustrious Pierce Egan; to Tom Moore's Flights of
'_Fancy;_' to John Jackson's famous chant, '_On the High Toby
Spice flash the Muzzle,_' cited by Lord Byron in a note to '_Don
Juan;_' and to the glorious Irish ballad, worth them all put
together, entitled '_The Night before Larry was stretched_.' This
is attributed to the late Dean Burrowes, of Cork. [_See_ Note, p.
220 _Ed_.]. It is worthy of note, that almost all modern
aspirants to the graces of the _Musa Pedestris_ are Irishmen. Of
all rhymesters of the '_Road_,' however, Dean Burrowes is, as
yet, most fully entitled to the laurel. Larry is quite 'the potato!'
"I venture to affirm that I have done something more than has been
accomplished by my predecessors, or contemporaries, with the
significant language under consideration. I have written _a purely
flash song_; of which the great and peculiar merit consists in its
being utterly incomprehensible to the uninformed understanding, while
its meaning must be perfectly clear and perspicuous to the practised
_patterer_ of _Romany_, or _Pedler's French_. I have,
moreover, been the first to introduce and naturalize amongst us a
measure which, though common enough in the Argotic minstrelsy of
France, has been hitherto utterly unknown to our _pedestrian_
poetry." How mistaken Ainsworth was in his claim, thus ambiguously
preferred, the present volume shows. Some years after the song alluded
to, better known under the title of '_Nix my dolly, pals,--fake
away!'_ sprang into extra-ordinary popularity, being set to music
by Rodwell, and chanted by glorious Paul Bedford and clever little
Mrs. Keeley.
_The Game Of High Toby_
and
_The Double Cross_
_See_ note to "Nix my Doll, Pals, etc.," _ante_.
_The House Breaker's Song_
G. W. M. Reynolds followed closely on the heels of Dickens when the
latter scored his great success in _The Pickwick Papers_. He was
a most voluminous scribbler, but none of his productions are of high
literary merit.
_The Faking Boy To The Crap Is Gone_
_The Nutty Blowen_
_The Faker's New Toast_
and
_My Mother_
"Bon Gualtier" was the joint _nom-de-plume_ of W. E. Aytoun and
Sir Theodore Martin. Between 1840 and 1844 they worked together in the
production of _The Bon Gualtier Ballads_, which acquired such
great popularity that thirteen large editions of them were called for
between 1855 and 1877. They were also associated at this time in
writing many prose magazine articles of a humorous character, as well
as a series of translations of Goethe's ballads and minor poems,
which, after appearing in _Blackwood's Magazine_, were some years
afterwards (1858) collected and published in a volume. The four pieces
above mentioned appeared as stated in _Tails Edinburgh Magazine_
under the title of "Flowers of Hemp, or the Newgate Garland," and are
parodies of well-known songs.
_The High Pad's Frolic_
and
_The Dashy, Splashy.... Little Stringer_
Leman Rede (1802-47) an author of numerous successful dramatic pieces,
and a contributor to the weekly and monthly journals of the day,
chiefly to the _New Monthly_ and _Bentley's_. He was born in
Hamburgh, his father a barrister.
Some of the best parts ever played by Liston, John Reeve, Charles
Mathews, Keeley, and G. Wild were written by him.
_The Bould Yeoman_
_The Bridle-Cull and his little Pop-Gun_
_Jack Flashman_
_Miss Dolly Trull_
and
_The By-Blow Of The Jug_
_See_ Note to "Sonnets for The Fancy" p. 225. Captain Macheath
was one of Egan's latest, and by no means one of his best,
productions. It is now very scarce.
_The Cadger's Ball_
John Labern, a once popular, but now forgotten music-hall artiste, and
song-writer, issued several collections of the songs of the day. It is
from one of these that "The Cadger's Ball" is taken.
_"Dear Bill, This Stone-Jug"_
The state of affairs described in this poem is now happily a thing of
the past. Newgate, as a prison, has almost ceased to be. Only when the
Courts are sitting do its functions commence, and then there is
constant coming and going between the old city gaol and the real
London prison of to-day, Holloway Castle.
_The Leary Man_
_The Vulgar Tongue_, by Ducarge Anglicus, is, as a glossary, of
no account whatever; the only thing not pilfered from Brandon's
_Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime_ being this song. Where that came
from deponent knoweth not.
_A Hundred Stretches Hence_
_The Rogue's Lexicon_, mainly reprinted from Grose's
_Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_, is of permanent interest and
value to the philologist and student for the many curious survivals
of, and strange shades of meaning occurring in, slang words and
colloquilisms after transplantation to the States. G. W. Matsell was
for a time the chief of the New York police.
_The Chickaleary Cove_
Vance, a music-hall singer and composer in the sixties, made his first
great hit in _Jolly Dogs; or Slap-bang! here we are again_. This
was followed by _The Chickaleary Cove_: a classic in its way.
_'Arry at a Political Picnic_
The 'Arry Ballads' are too fresh in public memory to need extensive
quotation. The example given is a fair sample of the series; which,
taken as a whole, very cleverly "hit off" the idiosyncrasies and
foibles of the London larrikin.
Stanza VIII, line 4. _Walker_ = Be off!
_"Rum Coves that Relieve us"_
Heinrich Baumann, the author of _Londonism en_, an English-German
glossary of cant and slang, to which "Rum Coves that Relieve us" forms
the preface.
_Villon's Good Night_
_Villon's Straight Tip_
and
_Culture in the Slums_
William Ernest Henley, poet, critic, dramatist, and editor was born at
Gloucester in 1849, and educated at the same city. In his early years
(says _Men of the Time_) he suffered much from ill-health, and
the first section of his _Book of Verses_ (1888: 4th ed. 1893),
_In Hospital: Rhymes and Rhythms_, was a record of experiences in
the Old Infirmary, Edinburgh, in 1873-5. In 1875 he began writing for
the London magazines, and in 1877 was one of the founders as well as
the editor of _London_. In this journal much of his early verse
appeared. He was afterwards appointed editor of _The Magazine of
Art_, and in 1889 of _The Scots_, afterwards _The National
Observer_. To these journals, as well as to _The Athenaeum_
and _Saturday Review_ he has contributed many critical articles,
a selection of which was published in 1890 under the title of _Views
and Reviews_. In collaboration with Robert Louis Stevenson he has
published a volume of plays, one of which, _Beau Austin_, was
produced at the Haymarket Theatre in 1892. His second volume of
verses--_The Song of the Sword_--marks a new departure in style.
He has edited a fine collection of verses, _Lyra Heroica_, and,
with Mr. Charles Whibley, an anthology of English prose. In 1893 Mr.
Henley received the honour of an L.L.D. degree of St. Andrew's
university. At the present time he is also editing _The New
Review_, a series of _Tudor Translations_, a new _Byron_,
a new _Burns_, and collaborating with Mr. J. S. Farmer in
_Slang and its Analogues_; an historical dictionary of slang.
"_Villon's Straight Tip_: Stanza I, line I. _Screeve_ =
provide (or work with) begging-letters. Line 2. _Fake the broads_
= pack the cards. _Fig a nag_ = play the coper with an old horse
and a fig of ginger. Line 3. _Knap a yack_ = steal a watch. Line
4. _Pitch a snide_ = pass a false coin. _Smash a rag_ =
change a false note. Line 5. _Duff_ = sell sham smugglings.
_Nose and lag_ = collect evidence for the police. Line 6. _Get
the straight_ = get the office, and back a winner. Line 7.
_Multy_ (expletive) = "bloody". Line 8. _Booze and the blowens
cop the lot: cf_. "'Tis all to taverns and to lasses." (A. Lang).
Stanza II, line 1. _Fiddle_ = swindle. _Fence_ = deal in
stolen goods. _Mace_ = welsh. _Mack_ = pimp. Line 2.
_Moskeneer_ = to pawn for more than the pledge is worth. _Flash
the drag_ = wear women's clothes for an improper purpose. Line 3.
_Dead-lurk a crib_ = house-break in church time. _Do a
crack_--burgle with violence. Line 4. _Pad with a slang_ =
tramp with a show. Line 5. _Mump and gag_ = beg and talk. Line 6.
_Tats_ = dice. _Spot_, (at billiards). Line 7. _Stag_ =
shilling.
Stanza III, line 2. _Flash your flag_ = sport your apron. Line 4.
_Mug_ = make faces. Line 5. _Nix_ = nothing. Line 6.
_Graft_ = trade. Line 7. _Goblins_ = sovereigns.
_Stravag_ = go astray.
The Moral. Liner. /i>Up the spout and Charley Wag_ = expressions of
dispersal. Line 2. _Wipes_ = handkerchiefs. _Tickers_ =
watches. Line 3. _Squeezer_ = halter. _Scrag_ = neck.
_"Tottie"_
_A Plank-Bed Ballad_
and
_The Rondeau of the Knock_
G. R. Sims ("Dagonet") needs little introduction to present-day
readers. Born in London in 1847, he was educated at Harwell College,
and afterwards at Bonn. He joined the staff of _Fun_ on the death
of Tom Hood the younger in 1874, and _The Weekly Despatch_ the
same year. Since 1877 he has been a contributor to _The Referee_
under the pseudonym of "Dagonet". A voluminous miscellaneous writer,
dramatist, poet, and novelist, M. Sims shows yet no diminution of his
versatility and power.
_Wot Cher!_
_Our Little Nipper_
and
_The Coster's Serenade_
Albert Chevalier, a "coster poet", music-hall artist, and musician of
French extraction was born in Hammersmith. He is a careful, competent
actor of minor parts, and sings his own little ditties extremely well.