Contains a great many cant and vulgar words;—indeed, Bailey does not
appear to have been very particular what words he inserted, so long
as they were actually in use. A _Collection of Ancient and Modern
Cant Words_ appears as an appendix to vol. ii. of this edition (3rd).
BANG-UP DICTIONARY, or the Lounger and Sportsman’s Vade Mecum,
containing a copious and correct Glossary of the Language of the Whips,
illustrated by a great variety of original and curious Anecdotes, 8vo.
1812
A vulgar performance, consisting of pilferings from Grose, and
made-up words with meanings of a degraded character.
BARTLETT’S Dictionary of Americanisms; a Glossary of Words and Phrases
colloquially used in the United States, 8vo. _New York_, 1859
It is a curious fact connected with slang that a great number of
vulgar words common in England are equally common in the United
States; and when we remember that America began to people two
centuries ago, and that these colloquialisms must have crossed the
sea with the first emigrants, we can form some idea of the antiquity
of popular or street language. Many words, owing to the caprices of
fashion or society, have wholly disappeared in the parent country,
whilst in the colonies they are yet heard. The words SKINK, to serve
drink in company, and the old term MICHING or MEECHING, skulking or
playing truant, for instance, are still in use in the United States,
although nearly, if not quite, obsolete here.
BEAUMONT and FLETCHER’S Comedy of _The Beggar’s Bush_, 4to, 1661, or
any edition.
Contains numerous cant words.
BEE’S (Jon.) Dictionary of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, the Pit, the
Bon Ton, and the Varieties of Life, forming the completest and most
authentic Lexicon Balatronicum hitherto offered to the notice of the
Sporting World, by Jon. Bee [_i.e._ John Badcock], Esq., Editor of the
Fancy, Fancy Gazette, Living Picture of London, and the like of that,
12mo. 1823
This author published books on Stable Economy under the name of
Hinds. He was the sporting rival of Pierce Egan. Professor Wilson, in
an amusing article in _Blackwood’s Magazine_, reviewed this work.
BEE’S (Jon.) Living Picture of London for 1828, and Stranger’s Guide
through the Streets of the Metropolis; shewing the Frauds, the Arts,
Snares, and Wiles of all descriptions of Rogues that everywhere abound,
12mo. 1828
Professes to be a guide to society, high and low, in London, and to
give an insight into the language of the streets.
BEE’S (Jon.) Sportsman’s Slang, a New Dictionary of Terms used in the
affairs of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, and the Cockpit; with those
of Bon Ton and the Varieties of Life, forming a _Lexicon Balatronicum
et Macaronicum, &c._, 12mo, _plate_. _For the Author_, 1825
The same as the preceding, only with an altered title. Both wretched
performances, filled with forced and low wit.
BLACKGUARDIANA; or, Dictionary of Rogues, Bawds, &c., 8vo, WITH
PORTRAITS [by _James Caulfield_]. 1795
This work, with a long and very vulgar title, is nothing but a
reprint of _Grose_, with a few anecdotes of pirates, odd persons,
&c., and some curious portraits inserted. It was concocted by
Caulfield as a speculation, and published at _one guinea_ per copy;
and, owing to the remarkable title, and the notification at the
bottom, that “only a few copies were printed,” soon became scarce.
For philological purposes it is not worth so much as any edition of
Grose.
BOXIANA, or Sketches of Modern Pugilism, by Pierce Egan (an account of
the prize ring), 3 vols, 8vo. 1820
Gives more particularly the cant terms of pugilism, but contains
numerous (what were then styled) “flash” words.
BRANDON. Poverty, Mendicity, and Crime; or, the Facts, Examinations,
&c., upon which the Report was founded, presented to the House of Lords
by W. A. Miles, Esq., to which is added a _Dictionary of the Flash or
Cant Language, known to every Thief and Beggar_, edited by H. Brandon,
Esq., 8vo. 1839
A very wretched performance.
BROME’S (Rich.) Joviall Crew; or the Merry Beggars. Presented in a
Comedie at the Cockpit, in Drury Lane, in the Year (4to.) 1652
Contains many cant words similar to those given by Decker,—from whose
works they were doubtless obtained.