| 18th Century Thieves Cant |
|---|
| Rogues |
| Rogues : Animal Specialists |
|---|
| BUFE NABBER | A dog stealer. CANT. | 1811 |
| BUFF-KNAPPER | a Dog-stealer, that trades in all Sorts of Dogs, selling them at a round Rate, and himself or Partner stealing them the first Opportunity. | 1737 |
| BUFFER | a Rogue that kills good sound Horses, only for their skins, by running a long wire into them, and sometimes knocking them on the Head. | 1737 |
| BUFFER | One that steals and kills horses and dogs for their skins; also an inn-keeper: in Ireland it signifies a boxer. | 1811 |
| DUNAKER | a Stealer or Cows, or Calves, etc. | 1737 |
| DUNAKER | A stealer of cows and calves. | 1811 |
| GOADS | those that wheedle in Chapmen for Horse-coursers. | 1737 |
| GOADS | Those who wheedle in chapmen for horse-dealers. | 1811 |
| JINGLERS | Horse-Coursers frequenting Country Fairs. | 1737 |
| LOWING RIG | Stealing oxen or cows. | 1811 |
| NAPPER | of Naps, a sheep-stealer. | 1737 |
| NAPPER OF NAPS | A sheep stealer. CANT. | 1811 |
| PAD BORROWERS | Horse stealers. | 1811 |
| PRIG NAPPER | a Horse-stealer; also a Thief Taker. | 1737 |
| PRIGGERS OF PRANCERS | Horse-stealers, who carry a Bridle in their Pockets, and a small pad Saddle in their Breeches. | 1737 |
| PRIGGERS OF THE CACKLERS | Poultry-stealers. | 1737 |
| ROOST LAY | Stealing poultry. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Beggars |
|---|
| ABRAM COVE | A cant word among thieves, signifying a naked or poor man; also a lusty, strong rogue. | 1811 |
| ABRAM MEN | Pretended mad men. | 1811 |
| ABRAM-COVE | a lusty Rogue, with hardly any Cloaths on his Back: a Tatterdemallion | 1737 |
| ABRAM-MEN | otherwise called Toms of Bedlam, shabby Beggars, patched and trickd up with Ribbons, Red-Tape, Fox-tails, Rags of various Colours; pretending to be besides themselves, to palliate their Thefts of Poultry, Linnen, etc. A sort of itinerant Hedge-Robbers, and Strippers of Children, etc. | 1737 |
| AUTEM GOGLERS | Pretended French prophets. CANT. | 1811 |
| AUTEM-GOGGLERS | pretended French Prophets. | 1737 |
| BLIND-HARPERS | Canters, who counterfeit Blindness, strowl about with Harps, Fiddles, Bagpipes, etc. led by a Dog or Boy. | 1737 |
| CADGE | To beg. Cadge the swells; beg of the gentlemen. | 1811 |
| CADGE | to beg. The cadge is the game or profession of begging. | 1819 |
| CADGE-GLOAK | a beggar. | 1819 |
| CANTING CREW | Beggars, Gypsies. | 1737 |
| CLAPPERDOGEON | a Beggar born and bred. | 1737 |
| CLAPPERDOGEON | A beggar born. CANT. | 1811 |
| COG A CLOUT | or, Cog a Sneezer; Beg an Handkerchief, or Snuff box. | 1737 |
| COG A DINNER | to wheedle one out of a Dinner. | 1737 |
| CRUISERS | Beggars; Also Highway Spies, who traverse the Road, to give Intelligence of a Booty, etc | 1737 |
| CRUISERS | Beggars, or highway spies, who traverse the road, to give intelligence of a booty; also rogues ready to snap up any booty that may offer, like privateers or pirates on a cruise. | 1811 |
| DOMERARS or DROMMERARS | Rogues, pretending to have had their Tongues cut out, or to be born Dumb and Deaf, who artificially turn their Tip of their Tongues into their Throat, and with a Stick making it bleed. | 1737 |
| DROMMERARS | See Domerars. | 1737 |
| DROMMERARS | See DOMMERER. | 1811 |
| FERMERDY BEGGARS | All those who have not the sham sores or clymes. | 1811 |
| FERMERLY-BEGGARS | all those that have not the sham Sores or Cleymes. | 1737 |
| FLYING CAMPS | Beggars plying in Bodies at Funerals. | 1737 |
| FLYING CAMPS | Beggars plying in a body at funerals. | 1811 |
| GAGGERS | High and Low. Cheats, who by sham pretences, and wonderful stories of their sufferings, impose on the credulity of well meaning people. See RUM GAGGER. | 1811 |
| KINCHIN-COVES | little Children whose Parents are dead, having been Beggars; as also young Lads running from their Masters, who are first taught Canting, then Thieving. | 1737 |
| KINCHIN-MORTS | Girls of a Year or two old, whom the Morts (their Mothers) carry at their Backs in Slates (Sheets) and if they have no Children of thir own, they borrow or steal them from others | 1737 |
| MAD TOM | alias of Bedlam; otherwise called Abram-men. | 1737 |
| MAD TOM, or TOM OF BEDLAM, otherwise an Abram M | A rogue that counterfeits madness. CANT. | 1811 |
| MASONS MAUND | A sham sore above the elbow, to counterfeit a broken arm by a fall from a scaffold. | 1811 |
| MASONS MAWND | a Sham Sore above the Elbow; to counterfeit a broken Arm, by a Fall from a Scaffold. | 1737 |
| MAUNDERS | Beggars | 1737 |
| MAUNDING | begging. | 1737 |
| NINNY | a canting, whining Beggar; also a Fool. | 1737 |
| PALLIARDS | those whose Fathers were Clapperdogeons, or born Beggars, and who themselves follow the same Trade. The Female sort of these Wretches frequently borrow Children if they have none of their own, and planting them about in Straw, draw the greater Pity from the Spectators, screwing their Faces to the moving Postures, and crying at Pleasure, and making the Children also cry by pinching them, or otherwise; mean time her Com rogue, the Male Palliard, lies bagging in the Fields, with Cleymes or artificial Sores, wh | 1737 |
| PALLIARDS | Those whose fathers were clapperdogens, or beggars born, and who themselves follow the same trade: the female sort beg with a number of children, borrowing them, if they have not a sufficient number of their own, and making them cry by pinching in order to excite charity; the males make artificial sores on different parts of their bodies, to move compassion. | 1811 |
| RATTLING MUMPERS | Beggars who ply coaches. CANT. | 1811 |
| RATTLING-MUMPERS | such as run after, or ply Coaches etc. | 1737 |
| RAWHEAD AND BLOODY BONES | A bull beggar, or scarechild, with which foolish nurses terrify crying brats. | 1811 |
| RUM GAGGERS | Cheats who tell wonderful stories of their sufferings at sea, or when taken by the Algerines, CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM MAWND | One that counterfeits a fool. CANT | 1811 |
| RUM-MAWND | one that counterfeits himself a Fool. | 1737 |
| SALAMON | the Beggars Sacrament or Oath. | 1737 |
| SALMON or SALAMON | The beggarssacrament or oath. | 1811 |
| SOLDIERS MAWND | A pretended soldier, begging with a counterfeit wound, which he pretends to have received at some famous siege or battle. | 1811 |
| STURDY BEGGARS | The fifth and last of the most ancient order of canters, beggars that rather demand than ask CANT. | 1811 |
| TATTERDEMALION | A ragged fellow, whose clothes hang all in tatters. | 1811 |
| TATTERDEMALLION | a tattered Beggar, sometimes half naked, with Design to move Charity, having better Cloaths at Home. in Tatters; in Rags. Tattered and Torn; rent and torn. | 1737 |
| TOM OF BEDLAM | the same as Abram-Man. Which See. | 1737 |
| TOM OF BEDLAM | The same as Abram man. | 1811 |
| WHIP JACKS | The tenth order of the canting crew, rogues who having learned a few sea terms, beg with counterfeit passes, pretending to be sailors shipwrecked on the neighbouring coast, and on their way to the port from whence they sailed. | 1811 |
| WHIP-JACKS | counterfeit Mariners begging with false Passes, pretending Ship-wrecks, great Losses at Sea, narrow Escapes, etc. telling dismal Stories, having learnt Tar-Terms on purpose: but are meer Cheats, and will not stick to rob a Booth at a Fair, or an House in soem By-road. They often carry their Morts or Wenches, which the pretend to be their Wives, whom they miraculously saved in the Shipwreck, altho all their Children were drowned, the Ship splitting on a Rock near the Lands-End, with such like Forgeries. | 1737 |
| WOLF IN THE BREAST | An extraordinary mode of imposition, sometimes practised in the country by strolling women, who have the knack of counterfeiting extreme pain, pretending to have a small animal called a wolf in their breasts, which is continually gnawing them. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Beginners, Bunglers and Low Lifes |
|---|
| BLACK GUARD | A shabby, mean fellow; a term said to be derived from a number of dirty, tattered roguish boys, who attended at the Horse Guards, and Parade in St. Jamess Park, to black the boots and shoes of the soldiers, or to do any other dirty offices. These, from their constant attendance about the time of guard mounting, were nick-named the black-guards. | 1811 |
| BLACK-GUARD | dirty, nasty, tatterred roguish Boys, that formerly were wont to attend at the Horse-Guards to wipe Shoes, and clean Boots. | 1737 |
| BULLY-HUFF | a poor sorry Rogue, that haunts Bawdy-houses, and pretends to get Money out of Gentlemen and others, rattling and swearing the Whore is his Wife. | 1737 |
| DROMEDARY | a heavy, bundling Thief or Rogue. A purple Dromedary; a Bungler or a dull Fellow at Thieving. | 1737 |
| DROMEDARY | A heavy, bungling thief or rogue. A purple dromedary; a bungler in the art and mystery of thieving. CANT. | 1811 |
| ERIFFS | Rogues just initiated, and beginning to practice. | 1737 |
| HEDGE-BIRD | a scoundrel or sorry Fellow. | 1737 |
| HEDGE-PRIEST | a sorry hackney Underling, an Vagabond. See Patrico. | 1737 |
| KIDDEYS | Young thieves. | 1811 |
| QUEERE-DIVER | a bungling Pick-pocket. | 1737 |
| SCOUNDREL | a Hedge bird or sorry Scab. | 1737 |
| Rogues : Cheats and Sharpers |
|---|
| BEAU-TRAPS | an Order of Villains, Genteel-dressed Sharpers, who lie in wait to insnare and draw in young Heirs, raw Country Squires and ignorant Fops. | 1737 |
| BITE | a Rogue, Sharper or Cheat; also a Womans Privities, as The Cull wapt the Morts Bite; i.e. The Fellow enjoyed the Woman briskly. Bite the Biter, rob the Rogue, sharp the Sharper, or Cheat the Cheater. Bite the Cully, put the Cheat on a silly Fellow. Bite the Roger, steal the Portmanteau. Bite the Wiper, steal the Handkerchief. He will not Bite or swallow the Bait; He wont be drawn in. To Bite on the Bit; To be pinched or reduced to hard Meat; a scanty or sorry sort of Living. | 1737 |
| BITE | A cheat; also a womans privities. The cull wapt the morts bite; the fellow enjoyed the wench heartily. Cant. | 1811 |
| BULLY-TRAP | a Trapan, a Sharper or Cheat. | 1737 |
| CAPTAIN SHARP | A cheating bully, or one in a set of gamblers, whose office is to bully any pigeon, who, suspecting roguery, refuses to pay what he has lost. CANT. | 1811 |
| CAPTAIN-SHARP | a great Cheat; also a huffing, yet sneaking, cowardly Bully. | 1737 |
| CUNNING SHAVER | A sharp fellow, one that trims close, i.e. cheats ingeniously. | 1811 |
| CUNNING-SHAVER | a sharp Fellow, one that sharps or shaves (as they call it) close. | 1737 |
| DROP COVES | Persons who practice the fraud of dropping a ring or other article, and picking it up before the person intended to be defrauded, they pretend that the thing is very valuable to induce their gull to lend them money, or to purchase the article. See FAWNY RIG, and MONEY DROPPERS. | 1811 |
| DROP-COVE | a sharp who practises the game of ring-dropping. | 1819 |
| DUDDERS, or WHISPERING DUDDERS | Cheats who travel the country, pretending to sell smuggled goods: they accost their intended dupes in a whisper. The goods they have for sale are old shop-keepers, or damaged; purchased by them of large manufactories. See DUFFER. | 1811 |
| DUFFERS | Cheats who ply in different parts of the town, particularly about Water-lane, opposite St. Clements church, in the Strand, and pretend to deal in smuggled goods, stopping all country people, or such as they think they can impose on; which they frequently do, by selling them Spital-fields goods at double their current price. | 1811 |
| ELBOW SHAKER | A gamester, one who rattles Saint Hughs bones, i.e. the dice. | 1811 |
| ELBOW-SHAKER | a Gamester or Sharper. | 1737 |
| FOYST | a Cheat, a Rogue. | 1737 |
| FOYST | A pickpocket, cheat, or rogue. See WOTTONS GANG. | 1811 |
| GOLD DROPPERS | Sharpers who drop a piece of gold, which they pick up in the presence of some unexperienced person, for whom the trap is laid, this they pretend to have found, and, as he saw them pick it up, they invite him to a public house to partake of it: when there, two or three of their comrades drop in, as if by accident, and propose cards, or some other game, when they seldom fail of stripping their prey. | 1811 |
| GOLD-DROPPERS | Sweetners, Cheats, Sharpers. | 1737 |
| GULL | a Cheat. | 1737 |
| GULL-GROPERS | a By-stander that lends Money to the Gamesters. | 1737 |
| IMPOST TAKERS | Usurers who attend the gaming-tables, and lend money at great premiums. | 1811 |
| IMPOST-TAKER | one that stands by, and lends Money to the Gamester at a very high Interest or Premium. | 1737 |
| JACK IN A BOX | a Sharper, or Cheat. | 1737 |
| JACK IN A BOX | A sharper,or cheat. A child in the mothers womb. | 1811 |
| MACE COVE | A swindler, a sharper, a cheat. On the mace; to live by swindling. | 1811 |
| MACE-GLOAK | a man who lives upon the mace. | 1819 |
| MONEY DROPPERS | Cheats who drop money, which they pretend to find just before some country lad; and by way of giving him a share of their good luck, entice him into a public house, where they and their confederates cheat or rob him of what money he has about him. | 1811 |
| NAPPER | a Cheat, or Thief. | 1737 |
| NAPPER | The head; also a cheat or thief. | 1811 |
| NEEDLE POINT | A sharper. | 1811 |
| NEEDLE-POINT | a Sharper. | 1737 |
| NICKUM | a Sharper, also a rooking Ale house or Inn-keeper,Vintner, or any Retailer. | 1737 |
| NIP | a Cheat. | 1737 |
| NIP | A cheat. Bung nipper; a cutpurse. | 1811 |
| NOB-PITCHERS | a general term for those sharpers who attend at fairs, races, &c., to take in the flats at prick in the garter, cups and balls, and other similar artifices. | 1819 |
| QUEER PLUNGERS | Cheats who throw themselves into the water, in order that they may be taken up by their accomplices, who carry them to one of the houses appointed by the Humane Society for the recovery of drowned persons, where they are rewarded by the society with a guinea each; and the supposed drowned persons, pretending he was driven to that extremity by great necessity, also frequently sent away with a contribution in his pocket. | 1811 |
| ROOK | a Cheat a Knave. To Rook, To cheat or play the Knave. | 1737 |
| ROOK | A cheat: probably from the thievish disposition of the birds of that name. Also the cant name for a crow used in house-breaking. To rook; to cheat, particularly at play. | 1811 |
| SETTERS | or Setting-dogs; they that draw in Bubbles, for old Gamesters to rook; also a Serjeants Yeoman, or Bailiffs Follower, or Second. Also an Excise Officer. | 1737 |
| SHARK | A sharper: perhaps from his preying upon any one he can lay hold of. Also a custom-house officer, or tide-waiter. Sharks; the first order of pickpockets. BOW- STREET TERM, A.D. 1785. | 1811 |
| SHARP | Subtle, acute, quick-witted; also a sharper or cheat, in opposition to a flat, dupe, or gull. Sharps the word and quicks the motion with him; said of any one very attentive to his own interest, and apt to take all advantages. Sharp set; hungry. | 1811 |
| SHARP | a gambler, or person, professed in all the arts of play; a cheat, or swindler; any cross-cove, in general, is called a sharp, in opposition to a flat, or square-cove ; but this is only in a comparative sense in the course of conversation. | 1819 |
| SHARPER | a Cheat, one that lives by his Wits. | 1737 |
| SHARPER | A cheat, one that lives by his wits. Sharpers tools; a fool and false dice. | 1811 |
| SHIFTING | Shuffling. Tricking. Shifting cove; i.e. a person who lives by tricking. | 1811 |
| SHURK | a Shark or Sharper. | 1737 |
| SNIP | a Cheat; T snip, to cheat. | 1737 |
| SWEETNERS | Guinea-droppers, Cheats, Sharpers. To Sweeten; To decoy, draw in, and bute. To be sweet upon; To coax, wheedle,entice or allure. | 1737 |
| SWEETNESS | Guinea droppers, cheats, sharpers. To sweeten to decoy, or draw in. To be sweet upon; to coax, wheedle, court, or allure. He seemed sweet upon that wench; he seemed to court that girl. | 1811 |
| SWINDLER | One who obtains goods on credit by false pretences, and sells them for ready money at any price, in order to make up a purse. This name is derived from the German word SCHWINDLIN, to totter, to be ready to fall; these arts being generally practised by persons on the totter, or just ready to break. The term SWINDLER has since been used to signify cheats of every kind. | 1811 |
| TRAPAN | he that draws in or wheedles a Cull, and Bites him. Trapannd; sharpd, ensnard. | 1737 |
| WHEADLE | a Sharper. To cut a Wheadle; to decoy, by Fawning and Insinuation. | 1737 |
| WHEEDLE | A sharper. To cut a wheedle; to decoy by fawning or insinuation. Cant. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Counterfeiters and Coiners |
|---|
| BENE FEAKERS OF GYBES | Counterfeiters of passes. Cant. | 1811 |
| BENE FEARERS | Counterfeiters of bills. Cant. | 1811 |
| BENEFEAKERS | Counterfeiters of Bills, Bonds, Notes, Receipts, etc. | 1737 |
| BENEFEAKERS OF GYBES | Counterfeiters of Passes. | 1737 |
| BIT-FAKER | a coiner. See Fake. | 1819 |
| COUNTERFEIT CRANK | A general cheat, assuming all sorts of characters; one conterfeiting the falling sickness. | 1811 |
| COUNTERFEIT-CRANK | a genteel Cheat, a Sham or Impostor, appearing in divers Shapes: one who sometimes counterfeits Mens hands, or forges Writings; at others personates other Men: is sometimes a Clipper or Coiner; at others a Dealer in Counterfeit Jewels. Sometimes a strowling Mountebank: To Day he is a Clergyman in Distress; to Morrow a reduced Gentleman. | 1737 |
| FAKEMAN-CHARLEY; FAKEMENT | As to fake signifies to do any act, or make any thing, so the fakement means the act or thing alluded to, and on which your discourse turns ; consequently, any stranger unacquainted with your subject will not comprehend what is meant by the fakement; for instance, having recently been concerned with another in some robbery, and immediately separated, the latter taking the booty with him, on your next meeting you will inquire, what he has done with the fakement? meaning the article stolen, whether it was a pocket-book, piece of linen, or what not. Speaking of any stolen property which has a private mark, one will say, there is a fakeman-charley on it; a forgery which is well executed, is said to be a prime fakement; in a word, any thing is liable to be termed a fakement, or a fakeman-charley, provided the person you address knows to what you allude. | 1819 |
| FAKEMENT | A counterfeit signature. A forgery. Tell the macers to mind their fakements; desire the swindlers to be careful not to forge another persons signature. | 1811 |
| FAMBLERS | Villains that go up and down selling counterfeit rings, etc. | 1737 |
| FRATERS | such as beg with sham Patents or Briefs for Spitals, Prisons, Fires, Innundations, etc. | 1737 |
| FRATERS | Vagabonds who beg with sham patents, or briefs, for hospitals, fires, inundations, &c. | 1811 |
| GLIMMERER | such as with sham Licences, pretend to Losses by Fire etc. | 1737 |
| GLIMMERERS | Persons begging with sham licences, pretending losses by fire. | 1811 |
| JACKMEN | See Jarkmen | 1737 |
| JACKMEN | See JARKMEN. | 1811 |
| JARKE-MEN | Those who make Counterfeit Licences and Passes, and are well paid by the other Beggars for their Pains. | 1737 |
| JARKMEN | Those, who fabricate counterfeit passes, licences, and certificates for beggars. | 1811 |
| NIGGLER | a Clipper. | 1737 |
| QUEER BIT-MAKERS | Coiners. CANT. | 1811 |
| QUEER COLE FENCER | A putter off, or utterer, of bad money. | 1811 |
| QUEER COLE MAKER | A maker of bad money. | 1811 |
| QUEERE COLE-FENCER | a Receiver and Putter off of false Money. | 1737 |
| QUEERE COLE-MAKER | a false Coiner. | 1737 |
| SMASHER | A person who lives by passing base coin. The cove was fined in the steel for smashing; the fellow was ordered to be imprisoned in the house of correction for uttering base coin. | 1811 |
| SMASHER | a man or woman who follows the game of smashing. | 1819 |
| VOUCHERS | that put off false Money for sham Coiners. Also one that warrants Gagers or under Officers Accompts, either at the Excise Office; or elsewhere. | 1737 |
| Rogues : Cutpurses and Pickpockets |
|---|
| ADAM TILER | the Comerade of a Pick pocket, who receives stollen Goods or Money, and scours off with them, Tip the coal to Adam Tiler; i.e. give the Money, Watch, etc. to a running Companion, that the Pick Pocket may have nothing found upon him, when he is apprehended. | 1737 |
| ADAM TILER | A pickpockets associate, who receives the stolen goods, and runs off with them. CANT. | 1811 |
| AUTEM DIVERS | Pickpockets who practice in churches; also churchwardens and overseers of the poor. CANT. | 1811 |
| AUTEM-DIVERS | Church-Pick-pockets; also Church-wardens, Overseers of the Poor. | 1737 |
| BOUNG NIPPER | A cut purse. CANT.--Formerly purses were worn at the girdle, from whence they were cut. | 1811 |
| BULK | an Assistant to a File or Pick-Pocket, who jostles a Person up against the Wall, while the other picks his Pocket. | 1737 |
| BULK AND FILE | Two pickpockets; the bulk jostles the party to be robbed, and the file does the business. | 1811 |
| BUNG-NIPPERS | Cut purses, who with a short sharp Knife, and a horn Thumb, used to cut Purses. Since the wearing of Purses is out of Fashion, they are called Files or Pick-Pockets. | 1737 |
| BUZ-COVE or BUZ-GLOAK | a pickpocket; a person who is clever at this practice, is said to be a good buz. | 1819 |
| BUZMAN | A pickpocket. CANT. | 1811 |
| CLY-FAKER | a pickpocket. | 1819 |
| DIVER | a Pick-pocket. See File. | 1737 |
| DIVER | A pickpocket; also one who lives in a cellar. | 1811 |
| DUMMEE | A pocket book. A dummee hunter. A pick-pocket, who lurks about to steal pocket books out of gentlemens pockets. Frisk the dummee of the screens; take all the bank notes out of the pocket book, ding the dummee, and bolt, they sing out beef. Throw away the pocket book, and run off, as they call out stop thief. | 1811 |
| DUMMY-HUNTERS | thieves who confine themselves to the practice of stealing gentlemen's pocketbooks, and think, or profess to think, it paltry to touch a clout, or other insignificant article ; this class of depredators traverse the principal streets of London, during the busy hours, and sometimes meet with valuable prizes. | 1819 |
| FILE | or Bungnipper; Pick-pockets, who generally go in Company with a Rogue, called a Bulk or Bulker, whose Business tis to jostle the Person against the Wall, while the File picks his Pocket; and generally gives it to an Adam-tiler, who scowers off with it | 1737 |
| FILE, FILE CLOY, or BUNGNIPPER | A pick pocket. To file; to rob or cheat. The file, or bungnipper, goes generally in company with two assistants, the adam tiler, and another called the bulk or bulker, Whose business it is to jostle the person they intend to rob, and push him against the wall, while the file picks his pocket, and givesthe booty to the adam tiler, who scours off with it. CANT. | 1811 |
| FORK | a Pick-pocket. Lets Fork him; Let us pick that Mans Pocket. It is done by thrusting the Fingers, strait, stiff, open and very quick into the Pocket, and so closing them, hook what can be held between them | 1737 |
| FORK | A pickpocket. Let us fork him; let us pick his pocket.--The newest and most dexterous way, which is, to thrust the fingers strait, stiff, open, and very quick, into the pocket, and so closing them, hook what can be held between them. N.B. This was taken from a book written many years ago: doubtless the art of picking pockets, like all others, must have been much improved since that time. | 1811 |
| KNUCK; KNUCKLER or KNUCKL1NG-COVE | a pickpocket, or person professed in the knuckling art. | 1819 |
| KNUCKLES | Pickpockets who attend the avenues to public places to steal pocket-books, watches, &c. a superior kind of pickpockets. To knuckle to, to submit. | 1811 |
| NYPPER | A cut-purse: so called by one Wotton, who in the year 1585 kept an academy for the education and perfection of pickpockets and cut-purses: his school was near Billingsgate, London. As in the dress of ancient times many people wore their purses at their girdles, cutting them was a branch of the light-fingered art, which is now lost, though the name remains. Maitland, from Stow, gives the following account of this Wotton: This man was a gentleman born, and sometime a merchant of good credit, but fall | 1811 |
| READER MERCHANTS | Pickpockets, chiefly young Jews, who ply about the Bank to steal the pocket-books of persons who have just received their dividends there. | 1811 |
| READER-HUNTERS | See Dummy-hunters. | 1819 |
| RUM DIVER | A dextrous pickpocket. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM FILE | See RUM DIVER. | 1811 |
| RUM-DIVER | a compleat or clever Pick-pocket, The same with Files or Bung-nippers. Which see. | 1737 |
| RUM-FILE | the same as Rum-diver. | 1737 |
| SHOULDER SHAM | A partner to a file. See FILE. | 1811 |
| SNATCH CLY | A thief who snatches womens pockets. | 1811 |
| TOP | to top a clout or other article (among pickpockets) is to draw the corner or end of it to the top of a person's pocket, in readiness for shaking or drawing, that is, taking out, when a favourable moment occurs, which latter operation is frequently done by a second person. | 1819 |
| UNTHIMBLE | to unthimble a man, is to rob, or otherwise deprive him of his watch. | 1819 |
| UNTHIMBLED | having been divested of one's watch. | 1819 |
| Rogues : Gypsies and Pirates |
|---|
| FAYTORS | or FATORS; A kind of Gypsies, pretending to tell People their Fate or Destiny, or what they were born to. | 1737 |
| FLIBUSTERS | West Indian Pirates, or Buckaneers, Free-booters. | 1737 |
| GYPSIES | They endeavour to persuade the Ignorant, that they derive their Origin from the Egyptians, a People heretofore very famous for Astronomy, Natural Magick, the art of Divination, etc. and therefore are great Pretenders to Fortune-telling. To colour their Impostures, they artificially discolour their Faces, and rove up and down the Country in a Tatterdemalion Habit, deluding the ignorant Vulgar, and often stealing from them what is not too hot for their Fingers, or too heavy to carry off. | 1737 |
| GYPSIES | A set of vagrants, who, to the great disgrace of our police, are suffered to wander about the country. They pretend that they derive their origin from the ancient Egyptians, who were famous for their knowledge in astronomy and other sciences; and, under the pretence of fortune-telling, find means to rob or defraud the ignorant and superstitious. To colour their impostures, they artificially discolour their faces, and speak a kind of gibberish peculiar to themselves. They rove up and down the country in large companies, to the great terror of the farmers, from whose geese, turkeys, and fowls, they take very considerable contributions. When a fresh recruit is admitted into the fraternity, he is to take the following oath, administered by the principal maunder, after going through the annexed forms: First, a new name is given him by which he is ever after to be called; then standing up in the middle of the assembly, and directing his face to the dimber damber, or principal man of the gang, he repeats the following oath, which is dictated to him by some experienced member of the fraternity: I, Crank Cuffin, do swear to be a true brother, and that I will in all things obey the commands of the great tawney prince, and keep his counsel and not divulge the secrets of my brethren I will never leave nor forsake the company, but observe and keep all the times of appointment, either by day or by night, in every place whatever. I will not teach any one to cant, nor will I disclose any of our mysteries to them.I will take my princes part against all that shall oppose him, or any of us, according to the utmost of my ability; nor will I suffer him, or any one belongiug to us, to be abused by any strange abrams, rufflers, hookers, pailliards, swaddlers, Irish toyles, swigmen, whip jacks, jarkmen, bawdy baskets, dommerars, clapper dogeons, patricoes, or curtals; but will defend him, or them, as much as I can, against all other outliers whatever I will not conceal aught I win out of libkins or from the ruffmans, but will preserve it for the use of the company. Lastly, I will cleave to my doxy wap stiffly, and will bring her duds, marjery praters, goblers, grunting cheats, or tibs of the buttery, or any thing else I can come at, as winnings for her weppings. The canters have, it seems, a tradition, that from the three first articles of this oath, the first founders of a certain boastful, worshipful fraternity (who pretend to derive their origin from the earliest times) borrowed both the hint and form of their establishment; and that their pretended derivation from the first Adam is a forgery, it being only from the first Adam Tiler: see ADAM TILER At the admission of a new brother, a general stock is raised for booze, or drink, to make themselves merry on the occasion. As for peckage or eatables, they can procure without money; for while some are sent to break the ruffmans, or woods and bushes, for firing, others are detached to filch geese, chickens, hens, ducks (or mallards), and pigs. Their morts are their butchers, who presently make bloody work with what living things are brought them; and having made holes in the ground under some remote hedge in an obscure place, they make a fire and boil or broil their food; and when it is enough, fall to work tooth and nail: and having eaten more like beasts than men, they drink more like swine than human creatures, entertaining one another all the time with songs in the canting dialect. As they live, so they lie, together promiscuously, and know not how to claim a property either in their goods or children: and this general interest ties them more firmly together than if all their rags were twisted into ropes, to bind them indissolubly from a separation; which detestable union is farther consolidated by the above oath. They stroll up and down all summer-time in droves, and Dexterously pick pockets, while they are telling of fortunes; and the money, rings, silver thirribles, &c. which they get, are instantly conveyed from one hand to another, till the remotest person of the gang (who is not suspected because they come not near the person robbed) gets possession of it; so that, in the strictest search, it is impossible to recover it; while the wretches with imprecations, oaths, and protestations, disclaim the thievery. That by which they are said to get the most money, is, when young gentlewomen of good families and reputation have happened to be with child before marriage, a round sum is often bestowed among the gypsies, for some one mort to take the child; and as that is never heard of more by the true mother and family, so the disgrace is kept concealed from the world; and, if the child lives, it never knows its parents. | 1811 |
| MOON MEN | Gypsies. | 1811 |
| MOON-MEN | Gypsies. | 1737 |
| ROMANY | a gypsy; to patter romany, is to talk the gypsy flash. | 1819 |
| ROVERS | Pyrates, Wanderers, Vagabonds. | 1737 |
| ROVERS | Pirates, vagabonds. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Highwaymen and Footpads |
|---|
| BANDITTI | Highwaymen, Horse or Foot, now used for Rogues of any kind, but strictly Italian Rapparees. | 1737 |
| BULLY RUFFIANS | Highwaymen who attack passengers with paths and imprecations. | 1811 |
| BULLY-RUFFINS | Highway-men, or Foot Pads, who attack with Oaths and Curses, plunder without Mercy, and frequently murder without Necessity. | 1737 |
| COLLECTOR | A highwayman. | 1811 |
| COLT | an Inn-keeper that lends a Horse to a Highway-man, or to Gentleman Beggars; also a Lad newly initiated into Roguery. | 1737 |
| COLT | One who lets horses to highwaymen; also a boy newly initiated into roguery; a grand or petty juryman on his first assize. CANT. | 1811 |
| FOOT PADS, or LOW PADS | Rogues who rob on foot. | 1811 |
| FOOT-PADS | or LOW Pads; a Crew of Villains, who rob on Foot, some of them using long Poles or Staves, with an Iron Hook at the End, with which they either pull Gentlemen from their Horses, or knock them down: At other Times, they skulk under Hedges or behind Banks in the Road, and suddenly starting out from their Covert, one seizes the Bridle, while the other dismounts the Passenger: and so rob, and often murder him. | 1737 |
| HIGH PAD | A highwayman. CANT. | 1811 |
| HIGH-PADS | Hightway-men or Bully-Ruffians; an Order of Villains, and the boldest of all others. Before they commence, they furnish themselves, with good Horses, Swords, Pistols, etc. and sometimes singly, but mostly in Company, commit their execrable Robberies. They have a Vizor-Mask, and two or three Perukes of different Colours and Make, the better to conceal themselves. When they meet a Prize upon the Road, they have a Watch-Word, among them, which is no sooner pronounced, but every one falls on. It is usually the | 1737 |
| HIGH-TOBY-GLOAK | a highwayman. | 1819 |
| KNIGHT OF THE ROAD | the chief Highwayman, best mounted and armed, the stoutest Fellow among them. | 1737 |
| KNIGHT OF THE ROAD | A highwayman. | 1811 |
| LAND PIRATES | Highwaymen. | 1811 |
| LAND PYRATES | Highwaymen or any other Robbers. | 1737 |
| LOW PAD | a Foot-Pad. | 1737 |
| LOW PAD | A footpad. | 1811 |
| PAD | the Highway; also a Robber thereon. | 1737 |
| PAD | The highway, or a robber thereon; also a bed. Footpads; foot robbers. To go out upon the pad; to go out in order to commit a robbery. | 1811 |
| PICAROON | A pirate; also a sharper. | 1811 |
| RANK RIDER | a Highwayman; also a Jockey. | 1737 |
| RANK RIDER | A highwayman. | 1811 |
| RAPPAREES | Irish robbers, or outlaws, who in the time of Oliver Cromwell were armed with short weapons, called in Irish RAPIERS, used for ripping persons up. | 1811 |
| RECRUITING SERVICE | Robbing on the highway. | 1811 |
| ROYAL SCAMPS | Highwaymen who never rob any but rich persons, and that without ill treating them. See SCAMP. | 1811 |
| RUM PADDERS | Highwaymen well mounted and armed. CANT. | 1811 |
| RUM-PADDERS | the better Sort of Highwaymen, well mounted and armed. See High Pad. | 1737 |
| SCAMP | A highwayman. Royal scamp: a highwayman who robs civilly. Royal foot scamp; a footpad who behaves in like manner. | 1811 |
| SCAMP or SCAMPSMAN | a highwayman. | 1819 |
| SNAFFLER | A highwayman. Snaffler of prances; a horse stealer. | 1811 |
| SPICE GLOAK | a footpad robber. | 1819 |
| TOBY-GILL or TOBY-MAN | properly signifies a highwayman. | 1819 |
| Rogues : Housebreakers |
|---|
| BUDGE | also RUNNER one that slips into an House in the Dark, and taking what comes next to Hand, marches off with it. If he meets with any body, he asks, if such a Gentleman or Woman be within; and is told, they know no such Person, he begs Pardon, and says, he was mistaken in the House, immediately marches off, and will not stay for a Reply. To Budge, also signifies to stir or move. | 1737 |
| BUDGE, or SNEAKING BUDGE | One that slips into houses in the dark, to steal cloaks or other clothes. Also lambs fur formerly used for doctors robes, whence they were called budge doctors. Standing budge; a thiefs scout or spy. | 1811 |
| CRACKSMAN | A house-breaker. The kiddy is a clever cracksman; the young fellow is a very expert house-breaker. | 1811 |
| CRACKSMAN | a house-breaker. | 1819 |
| DARKMANS BUDGE | One that slides into a house in the dark of the evening, and hides himself, in order to let some of the gang in at night to rob it. | 1811 |
| DARKMANS-BUDGE | one that slides into a House in the Dusk, to let in more Rogues to rob | 1737 |
| DRAW LATCHES | Robbers of houses whose doors are only fastened with latches. CANT. | 1811 |
| DRAW-LATCHES | Robbers of Houses that were fastened only by Latches. | 1737 |
| GLAZIER | one that creeps in at Casements, or unrips Glass-Windows to filch and steal. | 1737 |
| GLAZIER | One who breaks windows and shew-glasses, to steal goods exposed for sale. Glaziers; eyes. CANT.-- Is your father a glazier; a question asked of a lad or young man, who stands between the speaker and the candle, or fire. If it is answered in the negative, the rejoinder is-- I wish he was, that he might make a window through your body, to enable us to see the fire or light. | 1811 |
| GOLD-FINDERS | Emptiers of Jakes or Houses of Office. | 1737 |
| JUMPERS | Persons who rob houses by getting in at the windows. Also a set of Methodists established in South Wales. | 1811 |
| KATE | a Pick-lock. Tis a Rum kate; She is a clever Pick-lock. | 1737 |
| KATE | A picklock. Tis a rum kate; it is a clever picklock. CANT. | 1811 |
| KEN MILLER, or KEN CRACKER | A housebreaker. CANT. | 1811 |
| KEN-MILLER | a House-breaker, who usually, by getting into an empty House, finds Means to enter into the Gutters of Houses inhabited, and so in at the Windows, etc. | 1737 |
| MILL-KEN | a House-Breaker. | 1737 |
| RUM DUBBER | An expert picklock. | 1811 |
| RUM-DABBER | an experiencd or expert Picker of Locks. The same with GILT, which see. | 1737 |
| SCREWSMAN | a thief who goes out a screwing. | 1819 |
| SNEAK | He goes upon the Sneak at Darkmans, He privately gets into Houses or Shops at Night and Steals undiscovered. | 1737 |
| SNEAK | A pilferer. Morning sneak; one who pilfers early in the morning, before it is light. Evening sneak; an evening pilferer. Upright sneak: one who steals pewter pots from the alehouse boys employed to collect them. To go upon the sneak; to steal into houses whose doors are carelessly left open. CANT. | 1811 |
| SNUDGE | one that lurks under a Bed, to watch an Opportunity to rob the House. | 1737 |
| SNUDGE | A thief who hides himself under a bed, in Order to rob the house. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Leaders |
|---|
| ARCH DELL, or ARCH DOXY | signifies the same in rank among the female canters or gypsies. | 1811 |
| ARCH ROGUE, DIMBER DAMBER UPRIGHT MAN | The chief of a gang of thieves or gypsies. | 1811 |
| ARCH-ROGUE | the Dimber-Damber Uprightman or Chief of a Gang; as Arch-Dell, or Arch-Doxy signifies the same Degree in Rank among the Female Canters and Gypsies. | 1737 |
| CAPTAIM-TOM | a Leader of the Mob; also the Mob itself. | 1737 |
| CAPTAIN TOM | The leader of a mob; also the mob itself. | 1811 |
| HEAD CULLY OF THE PASS | or Passage Bank; the Top Tilter of that Gang, throughout the whole Army, who demands and receives Contribution from all the Pass-Banks in the Camp. | 1737 |
| HEAD CULLY OF THE PASS, or PASSAGE BANK | The top tilter of that gang throughout the whole army, who demands and receives contribution from all the pass banks in the camp. | 1811 |
| KING OF THE GYPSIES | the Captain, Chief, or Ringleader of the Gang, the Master of Misrule, otherwise called Uprightman. Vide Gypsies. | 1737 |
| KING OF THE GYPSIES | The captain, chief, or ringleader of the gang of misrule: in the cant language called also the upright man. | 1811 |
| OLLI COMPOLLI | The name of one of the principal rogues of the canting crew. CANT. | 1811 |
| PRINCE PRIG | a King of the Gypsies; also Top-Thief, or Receiver General. | 1737 |
| PRINCE PRIG | A king of the gypsies; also the head thief or receiver general. | 1811 |
| UPRIGHT MAN | An upright man signifies the chief or principal of a crew. The vilest, stoutest rogue in the pack is generally chosen to this post, and has the sole right to the first nights lodging with the dells, whoafterwards are used in common among the whole fraternity. He carries a short truncheon in his hand, which he calls his filchman, and has a larger share than ordinary in whatsoever is gotten in the society. He often travels in company with thirty or forty males and females, abram men, and others, over | 1811 |
| UPRIGHT-MEN | As, an Upright-man, signifies the chief or Principal of a Crew. The vilest stoutest Rogue in the Pack, is generally chosen to this Post, and he has the sole Right to the fist Nights Lodging with the Dells, who afterwards are used in common among the whole Fraternity. He carries a short Truncheon in his Hand, which he calls his Filchman, and has a larger Share than ordinary of whatsoever is gotten in the Society. He often travels in Company with 30 or 40 Males and Females, Abram-Men, and others, over whom h | 1737 |
| Rogues : Murderers |
|---|
| BRAVO | a mercenary Murderer, that will kill any body. | 1737 |
| MILLER | a Killer or Murderer. | 1737 |
| MILLER | A murderer. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Other Specialists |
|---|
| AMUSERS | who were wont to have their Pockets filled with Dust, which they would throw into the Eyes of People they had a mind to rob, and so run away, while their Comerade, who followed them, under the Notion of pitying the half blinded Person, laid his Hand on whatever came next. | 1737 |
| AMUSERS | Rogues who carried snuff or dust in their pockets, which they threw into the eyes of any person they intended to rob; and running away, their accomplices (pretending to assist and pity the half-blinded person) took that opportunity of plundering him. | 1811 |
| ANGLERS | alias HOOKERS; petty Thieves, who have a Stick with a Hook at the End, wherewith they pluck Things out of Windows, Grates, etc. Make ready your Angling Stick; a Word of Command used by these petty Villains, to get ready the Stick with which they perform their Pranks, and as a Signal of a Prey in Sight. In the Day-time they beg from House to House, to spy best where to plant their Designs, which at Night they put in Execution. | 1737 |
| ANGLERS | Pilferers, or petty thieves, who, with a stick having a hook at the end, steal goods out of shop-windows, grates, &c.; also those who draw in or entice unwary persons to prick at the belt, or such like devices. | 1811 |
| ARK RUFFIANS | Rogues who, in conjunction with watermen, robbed, and sometimes murdered, on the water, by picking a quarrel with the passengers in a boat, boarding it, plundering, stripping, and throwing them overboard, &c. A species of badger. CANT. | 1811 |
| ARK-RUFFIANS | Rogues, who in Conjunction with Watermen, etc. rob and sometimes murder on the Water; by picking a Quarrel with the Passenger and then plundering, stripping and throwing him or her over board, etc. A Species of Badgers. | 1737 |
| BADGERS | a Crew of desperate Villains, who rob and kill near rivers, and then throw the dead bodies therein. | 1737 |
| BADGERS | A crew of desperate villains who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered. Cant. | 1811 |
| BAWDY BASKET | The twenty-third rank of canters, who carry pins, tape, ballads, and obscene books to sell, but live mostly by stealing. Cant. | 1811 |
| BAWDY-BASKETS | a sort of diminutive Pedlars, who sell Obscene Books, Pins, Tape, etc. but live more by pilfering and stealing. | 1737 |
| BLOSS | a Shop-lifter; also a Bullys pretended Wife, or Mistress, whom he guards, while she supports him; also a Whore. | 1737 |
| BLOSS or BLOWEN | The pretended wife of a bully, or shoplifter. Cant. | 1811 |
| BOB | a Shop-lifts Comerade, Assistant or Receiver. Bob also signifies Safety. | 1737 |
| BOB | A shoplifters assistant, or one that receives and carries off stolen goods. All is bob; all is safe. Cant. | 1811 |
| BROOMSTICKS | See Queer Bail. | 1819 |
| BULLY COCK | One who foments quarrels in order to rob the persons quarrelling. | 1811 |
| BULLY-COCK | a Hector or bravo sets on People to quarrel, pretending to be a Second to them; and then making Advantage of both. | 1737 |
| CARRIERS | a Set or Rogues, who are employd to look out, and whatch upon the Roads, at Inns, etc. in order to carry Information to their respective Gangs, of a Booty in Prospect. | 1737 |
| CARRIERS | A set of rogues who are employed to look out and watch upon the roads, at inns, &c. in order to carry information to their respective gangs, of a booty in prospect. | 1811 |
| CLANK NAPPER | a Silver-tankard Stealer. See Rumbubber. | 1737 |
| CLANK NAPPER | A silver tankard stealer. See RUM BUBBER. | 1811 |
| CLOAK TWITCHERS | Rogues who lurk about the entrances into dark alleys, and bye-lanes, to snatch cloaks from the shoulders of passengers. | 1811 |
| CLOAK-TWITCHERS | Villains who lurk in by and dark Places, to snatch them off the Wearers Shoulders | 1737 |
| CROSS-COVE or CROSS-MOLLISHER | a man or woman who lives upon the cross. | 1819 |
| CURTAILS | whose Practice is to cut off Pieces of Silk, Cloth, Linnen or Stuff, that hang out at the Shop-Windows of Mercers, Drapers, etc. as also sometimes the Tails of Womens Gowns, their Hoods, Scarves, Pinners, - if richly Lacd. | 1737 |
| CURTAILS | Thieves who cut off pieces of stuff hanging out of shop windows, the tails of womens gowns, &c.; also, thieves wearing short jackets. | 1811 |
| DRAGSMAN | a thief who follows the game of dragging. | 1819 |
| DUBBER | a Picker of Locks. | 1737 |
| DUBBER | A picker of locks. CANT. | 1811 |
| EVES DROPPER | One that lurks about to rob hen-roosts; also a listener at doors and windows, to hear private conversation. | 1811 |
| EVES-DROPPER | one that lurks about to rob or steal. | 1737 |
| FAGGER | A little boy put in at a window to rob the house. | 1811 |
| FILCHERS | the same with ANGLERS. | 1737 |
| GILT | or Rum dubber; a Picklock, so called from Gilt, or Key; may of them are so expert, that from a Church-Door, to the smallest Cabinet or Trunk they will find means to open it. They generally pretending Business of Secrecy, covet to go up Stairs with their Company, in a Publick-House or Tavern, and then prying about, open any Door, Trunk or Cabinet that they think will afford them Booty, and so march off. | 1737 |
| GILT, or RUM DUBBER | A thief who picks locks, so called from the gilt or picklock key: many of them are so expert, that, from the lock of a church door to that of the smallest cabinet, they will find means to open it; these go into reputable public houses, where, pretending business, they contrive to get into private rooms, up stairs, where they open any bureaus or trunks they happen to find there. | 1811 |
| HEAVERS | Thieves who make it their business to steal tradesmens shop-books. CANT. | 1811 |
| HEDGE CREEPER | A robber of hedges. | 1811 |
| HEDGE-CREEPER | a Robber of Hedges. | 1737 |
| HOOKERS | See Anglers. | 1737 |
| HOOKERS | See ANGLERS. | 1811 |
| IRISH TOYLES | Thieves who carry about pins, laces, and other pedlars wares, and under the pretence of offering their goods to sale, rob houses, or pilfer any thing they can lay hold of. | 1811 |
| IRISH-TOYLES | Rogues etc. carrying Pins, Points, Laces, and such like Wares about, and, under pretence of selling them, commit Thefts and Robberies | 1737 |
| KID LAY | Rogues who make it their business to defraud young apprentices, or errand-boys, of goods committed to their charge, by prevailing on them to execute some trifling message, pretending to take care of their parcels till they come back; these are, in cant terms, said to be on the kid lay. | 1811 |
| KID-RIG | meeting a child in the streets who is going on some errand, and by a false, but well fabricated story, obtaining any parcel or goods it may be carrying ; this game is practised by two persons, who have each their respective parts to play, and even porters and other grown persons are sometimes defrauded of their load by this artifice. To kid a person out of any thing, is to obtain it from him by means of a false pretence, as that you were sent by a third person, &c.; such impositions are all generally termed the kid-rig. | 1819 |
| KIDLAYS | an Order of Rogues, who meeting a Youth with a Bundle or Parcel of Goods, wheedle him by fair Words, and whipping Six-pence into his Hand, to step on a short and sham Errand, in the mean Time run away with the Goods. | 1737 |
| KIDNAPPER | one that decoys or spirits (as it is commonly called) Children away, and sells them for the Plantations. | 1737 |
| KIDNAPPER | Originally one who stole or decoyed children or apprentices from their parents or masters, to send them to the colonies; called also spiriting: but now used for all recruiting crimps for the kings troops, or those of the East India company, and agents for indenting servants for the plantations, &c. | 1811 |
| KONOBLIN RIG | Stealing large pieces of coal from coalsheds. | 1811 |
| LIFT | See SHOPLIFTER, &c. | 1811 |
| LULLY TRIGGERS | Thieves who steal wet linen. Cant. | 1811 |
| MILL-DOLL | an obsolete name for Bridewell house of correction, in Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London. | 1819 |
| PETER LAY | Rogues who follow petty Thefts; such as cutting Portmanteaus, etc. from behind Coaches, breaking Shop Glasses, etc. | 1737 |
| PETER LAY | The department of stealing portmanteaus, trunks, &c. | 1811 |
| PETER-HUNTING | traversing the streets or roads for the purpose of cutting away trunks, &c., from travelling carriages; persons who follow this game, are from thence called peter-hunters, whereas the drag more properly applies to robbing carts or waggons. | 1819 |
| PINCH-GLOAK | a man who works upon the pinch. | 1819 |
| PINCHERS | Rogues who, in changing money, by dexterity of hand frequently secrete two or three shillings out of the change of a guinea. This species of roguery is called the pinch, or pinching lay. | 1811 |
| POULTERER | A person that guts letters; i.e. opens them and secretes the money. The kiddey was topped for the poultry rig; the young fellow was hanged for secreting a letter and taking out the contents. | 1811 |
| PUTTER UP | the projector or planner of a put-up affair, as a servant in a gentleman's family, who proposes to a gang of housebreakers the robbery of his master's house, and informs them where the plate, &c., is deposited, (instances of which are frequent in London) is termed the putter up, and usually shares equally in the booty with the parties executing, although the former may lie dormant, and take no part in the actual commission of the fact. | 1819 |
| QUEER BAIL | Insolvent sharpers, who make a profession of bailing persons arrested: they are generally styled Jew bail, from that branch of business being chiefly carried on by the sons of Judah. The lowest sort of these, who borrow or hire clothes to appear in, are called Mounters, from their mounting particular dresses suitable to the occasion. CANT. | 1811 |
| RED SAIL-YARD DOCKERS | Buyers of stores stolen out of the royal yards and docks. | 1811 |
| RINGING CASTORS | signifies frequenting churches and other public assemblies, for the purpose of changing hats, by taking away a good, and leaving a shabby one in its place ; a petty game now seldom practised. | 1819 |
| RUFFLERS | notorious Rogues, who, under Pretence of being maimed Soldiers or Seamen, implore the Charity of well disposed Persons, and fail not to watch Opportunities either to steal, break open Houses, or even commit Murder. | 1737 |
| RUFFLERS | The first rank of canters; also notorious rogues pretending to be maimed soldiers or sailors. | 1811 |
| RUM BUBBER | A dexterous fellow at stealing silver tankards from inns and taverns. | 1811 |
| RUM-BUBBER | a dexterous Fellow at stealing Silver Tankards from Publick Houses. | 1737 |
| RUSHERS | Thieves who knock at the doors of great houses in London, in summer time, when the families are gone out of town, and on the door being opened by a woman, rush in and rob the house; also housebreakers who enter lone houses by force. | 1811 |
| SHOP-LIFT | one that Steals under pretence of cheapning. | 1737 |
| SHOPLIFTER | One that steals whilst pretending to purchase goods in a shop. | 1811 |
| SILK SNATCHERS | a Set of Varlets, who snatch Hoods, Scarves, Handkerchiefs, or any Thing they can come at. | 1737 |
| SILK SNATCHERS | Thieves who snatch hoods or bonnets from persons walking in the streets. | 1811 |
| SKY FARMERS | Cheats who pretend they were farmers in the isle of Sky, or some other remote place, and were ruined by a flood, hurricane, or some such public calamity: or else called sky farmers from their farms being IN NUBIBUS, in the clouds. | 1811 |
| SMUG LAY | Persons who pretend to be smugglers of lace and valuable articles; these men borrow money of publicans by depositing these goods in their hands; they shortly decamp, and the publican discovers too late that he has been duped; and on opening the pretended treasure, he finds trifling articles of no value. | 1811 |
| SNEAKING Budge | one that robs alone, and deals chiefly in petty Larcenies. | 1737 |
| SNEAKING BUDGE | One that robs alone. | 1811 |
| SNEAKSMAN | a man or boy who goes upon the sneak. | 1819 |
| STROLLERS | Itinerants of different kinds. Strolling morts; beggars or pedlars pretending to be widows. | 1811 |
| STROWLING-MORTS | who, pretending to be Widows, often travel the Countries, making Laces upon Yews, Beggars-tape, etc. Are light-fingerd, subtle, hypocritical, cruel, and often dangerous to meet, especially when a Ruffler is with them. | 1737 |
| SUTLER | he that pockets up Gloves, Knives, Handkerchiefs, Snuff and Tobacco-boxes, and other lesser Moveables. | 1737 |
| SUTRER | A camp publican: also one that pilfers gloves, tobacco boxes, and such small moveables. | 1811 |
| SWIG-MEN | carrying small Haberdashery-Wares about, pretending to sell them, to colour their Roguery. Fellows crying Old Shoes, Boots, or brooms; and thos pretending to buy Old Suits, Hats or Cloaks, are also called Swig-Men, and oftentimes, if an Opportunity offers, make all Fish that comes to Net. | 1737 |
| SWIGMEN | Thieves who travel the country under colour of buying old shoes, old clothes, &c. or selling brooms, mops, &c. CANT. | 1811 |
| TAYLE DRAWERS | Sword-Stealers. The same as Wiper-Drawers. He drew the Culls Tayle Rumly; He whipt away the Gentlemans Sword cleverly. | 1737 |
| TINNY-HUNTERS | persons whose practice it is to attend fires, for the purpose of plundering the unfortunate sufferers, Under pretence of assisting them to remove their property. | 1819 |
| WALKING POULTERER | One who steals fowls, and hawks them from door to door. | 1811 |
| WATER SNEAKSMAN | A man who steals from ships or craft on the river. | 1811 |
| WATER-PAD | one that robs Ships, Hoys, Lighters, Barges or Boats in the River of Thames. A sort of BADGERS. Which see. | 1737 |
| WATERPAD | One that robs ships in the river Thames. | 1811 |
| WIPER DRAWER | A pickpocket, one who steals handkerchiefs. He drew a broad, narrow, cam, or specked wiper; he picked a pocket of a broad, narrow, cambrick, or coloured handkerchief. | 1811 |
| WIPER-DRAWER | a Handkerchief-stealer. He drew a broad, narrow, cam, or speckd Wiper; He pickd Pockets of a broad, or narrow, Ghenting, Cambrick, or colourd Handkerchief. | 1737 |
| Rogues : Other Terms |
|---|
| ANTIQUATED | an old Rogue, or one who has forgot, or left off his Trade of thieving, is said to be | 1737 |
| BIRDS OF A FEATHER | Rogues of the same Gang. | 1737 |
| BIRDS OF A FEATHER | Rogues of the same gang. | 1811 |
| CLICKER | [among the Canters.] He whom they intrust to divide their Spoils, and proportion to every one his Share. | 1737 |
| FERRET | a Pawn-broker, or Tradesman that sells Goods upn Trust at excessive Rates, and then hunts them, and often throws them into Goal, where they perish for his Debt. | 1737 |
| FERRET | A tradesman who sells goods to youug unthrift heirs, at excessive rates, and then continually duns them for the debt. To ferret; to search out or expel any one from his hiding-place, as a ferret drives out rabbits; also to cheat. Ferret-eyed; red-eyed: ferrets have red eyes. | 1811 |
| KIDDY | a thief of the lower order, who, when he is breeched, by a course of successful depredation, dresses in the extreme of vulgar gentility, and affects a knowingness in his air and conversation, which renders him in reality an object of ridicule ; such a one is pronounced by his associates of the same class, a flash-kiddy, or a rolling-kiddy. My kiddy is a familiar term used by these gentry in addressing each other. | 1819 |
| LIGHT FINGERD | Thievish. | 1737 |
| LIGHT-FINGERED | Thievish, apt to pilfer. | 1811 |
| MOON-CURSER | a Link-boy, or one that, under Colour of lighting Men, (especially they who get in Drink, or have the Fields, or any uninhabited or By place, to go over) robs or leads them to a Gang of Rogues, that will do it for him. | 1737 |
| NIGHT-WALKER | a Bellman; also a light Woman; a Thief, a Rogue. | 1737 |
| QUEERE BLUFFER | a sneaking sharping, Cut-throat Ale-house Man or Inn-keeper. | 1737 |
| SON OF MERCURY | a Wit. Also a Thief. | 1737 |
| Rogues : Perjurers |
|---|
| AFFIDAVIT MEN | Knights of the post, or false witnesses, said to attend Westminster Hall, and other courts of justice, ready to swear any thing for hire. | 1811 |
| AFFIDAVIT-MEN | Knights of the Post: mercenary and abandoned Wretches, who used to frequent the Temple and other Inns of Court, in order to be in Readiness to swear any thing that was proposed to them. | 1737 |
| CRUMP | one that helps Sollicitors to Affidavit-Men. | 1737 |
| CRUMP | One who helps solicitors to affidavit men, or false witnesses.--I wish you had, Mrs. Crump; a Gloucestershire saying, in answer to a wish for any thing; implying, you must not expect any assistance from the speaker. It is said to have originated from the following incident: One Mrs. Crump, the wife of a substantial farmer, dining with the old Lady Coventry, who was extremely deaf, said to one of the footmen, waiting at table, I wish I had a draught of small beer, her modesty not permitting her to d | 1811 |
| DARK LANTHORN | the Servant or Agent that receives the Bribe (at Court). | 1737 |
| KNIGHT OF THE POST | a mercenary common Swearer, a Prostitute to every Cause, an Irish Evidence. | 1737 |
| KNIGHT OF THE POST | A false evidence, one that is ready to swear any thing for hire. | 1811 |
| MEN OF STRAW | Hired bail, so called from having straw stuck in their shoes to distinguish them. | 1811 |
| MOUNTER | a man who lives by mounting, or perjury, who is always ready for a guinea or two to swear whatever is proposed to him. | 1819 |
| Rogues : Receivers |
|---|
| FAMILY MAN | A thief or receiver of stolen goods. | 1811 |
| FENCE | is also a Receiver and Securer of Stollen Goods. | 1737 |
| FENCE | a receiver of stolen goods ; to fence any property, is to sell it to a receiver or other person. | 1819 |
| FENCING-CULLY | the same. | 1737 |
| LOCK ALL FAST | one that buys and conceals stollen Goods. | 1737 |
| Rogues : Related Terms |
|---|
| BLOW THE GAFF | a person having any secret in his possession, or a knowledge of any thing injurious to another, when at last induced from revenge, or other motive, to tell it openly to the world and expose him publicly, is then said to have blown the gaff upon him. | 1819 |
| CONK | a thief who impeaches his accomplices ; a spy ; informer, or tell-tale. See Nose, and Wear It. | 1819 |
| DUMMY | a pocket-book ; a silly half-witted person. | 1819 |
| LAG | A man transported. The cove was lagged for a drag. The man was transported for stealing something out of a waggon. | 1811 |
| NOSE | A man who informs or turns kings evidence. | 1811 |
| NOSE | a thief who becomes an evidence against his accomplices; also, a person who seeing one or more suspicious characters in the streets, makes a point of watching them in order to frustrate any attempt they may make, or to cause their apprehension; also, a spy or informer of any description. | 1819 |
| QUEER BIRDS | Rogues relieved from prison, and returned to their old trade. | 1811 |
| QUEER-BAIL | Persons of no repute, hired to bail a prisoner in any bailable case ; these men are to be had in London for a trifling sum, and are called Broomsticks. | 1819 |
| SPLIT | to split upon a person, or turn split, is synonymous with nosing, snitching, or turning nose. To split signifies generally to tell of any thing you hear, or see transacted. | 1819 |
| Rogues : Rogues in General |
|---|
| CLOVES | Thieves, robbers, &c. | 1811 |
| CLOWES | Rogues. | 1737 |
| CLOWES | Rogues. | 1811 |
| CLOYERS | Thieves, Robbers, Rogues. | 1737 |
| DAMBER | a Rascal. See Dimber | 1737 |
| DAMBER | A rascal. See DIMBER. | 1811 |
| DIMBER DAMBER | A top man, or prince, among the canting crew: also the chief rogue of the gang, or the completest cheat. CANT. | 1811 |
| DIMBER-DAMBER | a Top Man or Prince amongst the Canting Crew; also the chief Rogue of the Gang, or the compleatest Cheat. | 1737 |
| DING-BOY | a Rogue, a Hector, a Bully, a Sharper. | 1737 |
| FAMILY | thieves, sharpers and all others who get their living upon the cross, are comprehended under the title of "The family." | 1819 |
| FAMILY-MAN or WOMAN | any person known or recognised as belonging to the family ; all such are termed family people. | 1819 |
| FIDLAM BEN | General thieves; called also St. Peters sons, having every finger a fish-hook. CANT. | 1811 |
| FILCHING-COVE | a Man-Thief. | 1737 |
| FILCHING-MORT | a Woman-Thief | 1737 |
| FILE | a person who has had a long course of experience in the arts of fraud, so as to have become an adept, is termed an old file upon the town ; so it is usual to say of a man who is extremely cunning, and not to be over-reached, that he is a deep file. File, in the old version of cant, signified a pickpocket, but the term is now obsolete. | 1819 |
| FLASH-MOLLISHER | a family-woman. | 1819 |
| FREE BOOTERS | Lawless robbers and plunderers: originally soldiers who served without pay, for the privilege of plundering the enemy. | 1811 |
| FREE-BOOTERS | lawless Robbers, and Plunderers; also Soldiers serving for that Privilege without Pay, Inroaders. | 1737 |
| JUDGE | a family-man, whose talents and experience have rendered him a complete adept in his profession, and who acts witha systematic prudence on all occasions, is allowed to be, and called by his friends, a fine judge. | 1819 |
| KIN | a Thief: Hes one of the Kin, let him pike; said of a Brother Rogue whom one of the Gang knows to be a Villain, tho not one of their own Crew. | 1737 |
| LAND LOPERS, or LAND LUBBERS | Vagabonds lurking about the country who subsist by pilfering. | 1811 |
| LAND-LOPERS | or Land-lubbers; Vagabonds that beg and steal about the Country. | 1737 |
| LOON | a Lout. A false Loon, a true Scotch Man; or Knave of any Nation. | 1737 |
| NEWGATE BIRD | A thief or sharper, frequently caged in Newgate. | 1811 |
| NIBBLER | a pilferer or petty thief. | 1819 |
| PRIG | a Thief, a Cheat: also a nice, beauish, silly Fellow, is called a meer Prig. | 1737 |
| PRIG | A thief, a cheat: also a conceited coxcomical fellow. | 1811 |
| PRIG | A thief. | 1819 |
| PRIG NAPPER | A thief taker. | 1811 |
| PRIGGERS | Thieves. | 1737 |
| PRIGGERS | Thieves in general. Priggers of prancers; horse stealers. Priggers of cacklers: robbers of hen- roosts. | 1811 |
| QUEER COVE | A rogue. CANT. | 1811 |
| QUEERE-COVE | a Rogue. | 1737 |
| QUIRE, or CHOIR BIRD | A complete rogue, one that has sung in different choirs or cages, i.e. gaols. CANT. | 1811 |
| RASCAL | A rogue or villain: a term borrowed from the chase; a rascal originally meaning a lean shabby deer, at the time of changing his horns, penis, &c. whence, in the vulgar acceptation, rascal is conceived to signify a man without genitals: the regular vulgar answer to this reproach, if uttered by a woman, is the offer of an ocular demonstration of the virility of the party so defamed. Some derive it from RASCAGLIONE, an Italian word signifying a man. without testicles, or an eunuch. | 1811 |
| ROBERDS-MEN | mighty Thieves, like Robin Hood. | 1737 |
| ROBERTS MEN | The third old rank of the canting crew, mighty thieves, like Robin Hood. | 1811 |
| ROGUE | a name which includes all the other Denominations. | 1737 |
| ROGUES | The fourth order of canters. A rogue in grain; a great rogue, also a corn chandler. A rogue in spirit; a distiller or brandy merchant. | 1811 |
| ROYSTER | A rude boisterous fellow; also a hound that opens on a false scent. | 1811 |
| ROYSTERS | rude roaring Rogues. | 1737 |
| RUM COVE | A dexterous or clever rogue. | 1811 |
| RUM-COVE | a great Rogue. | 1737 |
| SCOUNDREL | A man void of every principle of honour. | 1811 |
| STROWLERS | Vagabonds, Itinerants, Men of no settled Abode, of a precarious Life, Wanderers of Fortune, such as Gypsies, Beggars, Pedlars, Hawkers, Mountebanks, Fidlers, Country-Players, Rope-dancers, Jugglers, Tumblers, Shewers of Tricks, and Raree-show-men. | 1737 |
| SWADDLERS | Rogues, who, not content to rob and plunder, beat and barbarously abuse, andoften murder the Passengers. Hence, To seaddle; To beat lustily with a Cane, etc. | 1737 |
| SWADDLERS | The tenth order of the canting tribe, who not only rob, but beat, and often murder passenges. CANT. Swaddlers is also the Irish name for methodist. | 1811 |
| TARTAR | a notorious Rogue or Sharper, who sticks not to rob his Brother Rogue. Hence To catch a Tartar, is said, among the Canting Varlets, when a Rogue attacks one that he thinks a Passenger, but proves to be of this Clan of Villains, who in his Turn having overcome the Assailant, robs, plunders and binds him. | 1737 |
| THATCH-GALLOWS | A rogue, or man of bad character. | 1811 |
| TORIES | Irish Thieves or Rapparees. | 1737 |
| TRADESMEN | Thieves. Clever tradesmen; good thieves. | 1811 |
| TYBURN BLOSSOM | A young thief or pickpocket, who in time will ripen into fruit borne by the deadly never-green. | 1811 |
| VAGRANT | a wandering Rogue, a strolling Vagabond. | 1737 |
| VARLETS | now Rogues, Rascals, etc. tho formerly Yeomens Servants. | 1737 |
| VARLETS | Now rogues and rascals, formerly yeomans servants. | 1811 |
| WILD ROGUES | such as are trained up from Children to Nim golden or silver Buttons off of Coats, to creep in at Cellar and Shop-windows, and to slip in at Doors behind People; also that have been whipt, burnt in the Fist, and often in Prison for Roguery. | 1737 |
| WILD ROGUES | Rogues trained up to stealing from their cradles. | 1811 |
| Rogues : Tools of the Trade |
|---|
| BESS | Bring Bess and Glym; i.e. Forget not the Instrument to break open the Dour, and the Dark Lanthorn. | 1737 |
| BESS, or BETTY | A small instrument used by house-breakers to force open doors. Bring bess and glym; bring the instrument to force the door, and the dark lantern. Small flasks, like those for Florence wine, are also called betties. | 1811 |
| BETTY | BESS; a small Engine to force open the Doors of Houses; Mill the Gig with your Betty; i.e. Break open the Door with your Instrument. | 1737 |
| BETTY | a picklock; to unbetty, or betty a lock, is to open or relock it, by means of the betty, so as to avoid subsequent detection. | 1819 |
| BUFFERS-NAB | a Dogs Head, used in a counterfiet Seal to a false Pass. | 1737 |
| CHARM | A picklock. CANT. | 1811 |
| CLEYMS | Sores without Pain, raised on Beggars Bodies, by their own Artifice and Cunning, (to move Charity) by bruising Crows-foot, Spearwort, and Salt together, and clapping them onthe Place, which frets the Skin; then with a Linnen Rag, which sticks close to it, they tear off the Skin, and strew on it a little Powderd rsnick, which makes it look angrily or ill-favouredly, as if it were a real Sore. | 1737 |
| CRACKING TOOLS | Implements of house-breaking, such as a crow, a center bit, false keys, &c. | 1811 |
| DARKEE | A dark lanthorn used by housebreakers. Stow the darkee, and bolt, the cove of the crib is fly; hide the dark lanthorn, and run away, the master of the house knows that we are here. | 1811 |
| DARKY | a dark lanthorn. | 1819 |
| DUB | a pick-lock Key. | 1737 |
| DUB | A picklock, or master-key. CANT. | 1811 |
| DUB | a key. | 1819 |
| FILCH | a Staff, with a Hole thro and a Spike at the Bottom, to pluck Cloaths from a Hedge or any thing out of a Casement. | 1737 |
| FILCH, or FILEL | A beggars staff, with an iron hook at the end, to pluck clothes from an hedge, or any thing out of a casement. Filcher; the same as angler. Filching cove; a man thief. Filching mort; a woman thief. | 1811 |
| FOOTMANS MAWND | an artificial Sore made with unslakd Lime, Soap, an the Rust of old Iron, on the Back of a Beggars Hand, as if hurt by the Bite or Kick of a Horse. | 1737 |
| FOOTMANS MAWND | An artificial sore made with unslaked lime, soap, and the rust of old iron, on the back of a beggars hand, as if hurt by the bite or kick of a horse. | 1811 |
| FOSS or PHOS | a phosphorus bottle used by cracksmen to obtain a light. | 1819 |
| GAG | An instrument used chiefly by housebreakers and thieves, for propping open the mouth of a person robbed, thereby to prevent his calling out for assistance. | 1811 |
| GAG | An instrument used chiefly by housebreakers and thieves, for propping open the mouth of a person robbed, thereby to prevent his calling out for assistance. | 1811 |
| GINNY | an Instrument to lift up a Grate, the better to steal what is in the Window. | 1737 |
| GINNY | An instrument to lift up a great, in order to steal what is in the window. CANT. | 1811 |
| GLIM | or GLYM a Dark-Lanthorn used in robbing Houses; also to burn in the Hand as if the Cull was Glimmed, hell gang to the Nub; i.e. if the Fellow has been burnt in the Hand, hell be hanged now | 1737 |
| GLIM | A candle, or dark lantern, used in housebreaking; also fire. To glim; to burn in the hand. CANT. | 1811 |
| GLIM | a candle, or other light. | 1819 |
| GUY | A dark lanthorn: an allusion to Guy Faux, the principal actor in the gunpowder plot. Stow the guy: conceal the lanthorn. | 1811 |
| JARK | A seal. | 1811 |
| JARKE | a Seal. | 1737 |
| JEMMY | A crow. This instrument is much used by housebreakers.Sometimes called Jemmy Rook. | 1811 |
| JEMMY or JAMES | an iron-crow. | 1819 |
| JENNY | see GINNY. | 1737 |
| JENNY | An instrument for lifting up the grate or top of a show-glass, in order to rob it. CANT. | 1811 |
| NIPPS | the Shears with which Money was wont to be clipt. | 1737 |
| NIPPS | The sheers used in clipping money. | 1811 |
| PETER-HUNTING-JEMMY | a small iron crow, particularly adapted for breaking the patent chain, with which the luggage is of late years secured to gentlemen's carriages; and which, being of steel, case-hardened, is fallaciously supposed to be pcoof against the attempts of thieves. | 1819 |
| PHOS BOTTLE | A. bottle of phosphorus: used by housebreakers to light their lanthorns. Ding the phos; throw away the bottle of phosphorus. | 1811 |
| PRANCERS NAB | a Horses Head, used in a sham Seal to such a Pass. | 1737 |
| ROOK | a small iron crow. | 1819 |
| ROUND ABOUT | An instrument used in housebreaking. This instrument has not been long in use. It will cut a round piece about five inches in diameter out of a shutter or door. | 1811 |
| SCREW | A skeleton key used by housebreakers to open a lock. To stand on the screw signifies that a door is not bolted, but merely locked. | 1811 |
| SCREW | a skeleton or false key. To screw a place is to enter it by false keys ; this game is called the screw. Any robbery effected by such means is termed a screw. | 1819 |
| SKEW | a Beggars wooden Dish. | 1737 |
| SKEW | A cup, or beggars wooden dish. | 1811 |
| SOULDIERS MAWND | a counterfeit Sore or Wound in the left Arm. | 1737 |
| TOOLS | implements for house-breaking, picklocks, pistols, &c., are indiscriminately called the tools. A thief, convicted on the police act, of having illegal instruments or weapons about him, is said to be fined for the tools. | 1819 |
| Rogues : Youngsters |
|---|
| LITTLE SNAKESMAN | A little boy who gets into a house through the sink-hole, and then opens the door for his accomplices: he is so called, from writhing and twisting like a snake, in order to work himself through the narrow passage. | 1811 |
| SNAKESMAN | See LITTLE SNAKESMAN. | 1811 |
