6. (schoolboys’).—A suet pudding served before meat. Cf., senses 4 and
5.
7. (Australian).—Unleavened bread made of flour and water and baked in
thin cakes, in a frying pan or on a flat stone in wood ashes.
1885. G. A. Sala, in Daily Telegraph, 3 Sept., p. 5, col. 5. They
got enough flour from Sydney to make their dampers.
1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 77. They must at least receive a
‘pannikin’ of flour and be allowed to bake it up into a piece of
damper at the cooking fire.
Damp One’s Mug, verbal phr. (common).—To drink. For synonyms, see Lush.
Damp-Pot, subs. (tailors’).—The sea; specifically the Atlantic. For
synonyms, see Briny and Puddle.
Damp the Sawdust, verbal phr. (licensed victuallers’).—To ‘crack a
bottle’ with friends ‘for luck’ on starting a new ‘house.’
Damson-Pie, subs. (Black Country).—A Birmingham and ‘black country’
term for ‘Billingsgatry.’
1888. W. Black, Strange Adv. of House Boat, ch. viii. Even if you
were to hear some of the Birmingham lads giving each other a dose
of damson-pie ... you wouldn’t understand a single sentence.
Dance, subs. (thieves’).—A staircase or flight of steps. A contraction
of the older form—dancers. [Ducange Anglicus, 1857.]
Verb (old).—1. To be hanged. Also to dance upon nothing and to dance
the Paddington frisk. Fr., danser une danse où il n’y a pas d’plancher
and faire la bénédiction du pied en l’air. For synonyms, see Ladder.
1839. H. Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, ch. xxxi. ‘My limbs feel so
light, now that my irons are removed,’ he observed with a smile,
‘that I am half inclined to dance.’ ‘You’ll dance upon nothing,
presently,’ rejoined Jonathan, brutally.
1840. Hood, Miss Kilmansegg. Just as the felon condemned to die,
With a very natural loathing, Leaving the sheriff to dream of
ropes, From his gloomy cell in a vision elopes To a caper on sunny
greens and slopes Instead of the dance upon nothing.
1864. Daily News, 2 Dec. Another synonym for being hanged is
dancing on nothing in a hempen cravat.
2. (printers’).—Type dances if letters drop out when the forme is
lifted.
To dance Barnaby.—See Barnaby.
Dance of Death, subs. phr. (old).—Hanging. Cf., Dance, verb, sense 1.
Dancers, subs. (thieves’).—1. Stairs; a flight of steps. Fr., les
grimpants.
1671. R. Head, English Rogue, pt. I., ch. v., p. 52 (1874). Track
up the dancers, go up the stayres.
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. Tongue, s.v.
1847. Lytton, Lucretia, pt. II., ch. vii. ‘Bob, track the dancers.
Up like a lark—and down like a dump.’ Bob grinned ... and scampered
up the stairs.
1858. Lytton, What will he do with it? bk. III., ch. xvi. Come, my
Hebe, track the dancers, that is, go up the stairs.
2. sing. (thieves’).—Also dancing master. A thief whose speciality is
prowling about the roofs of houses and effecting an entrance through
attic and upper storey windows; a garreteer (q.v.). [In allusion to
dexterity of walk.] For synonyms, see Area-sneak.
Dancing-Master, subs. (old).—1. A species of Mohock or dandy, temp.
Queen Anne. [Who made his victims caper by running his sword through
the legs; for detailed description, see Spectator (1712), No. 324.] For
list of synonyms, see Dandy.