2. (popular).—A pot-boy (i.e., a cup-bearer). The masculine of hebe (q.v.).
1659. Florio-Torriano, Vocabolario. Mescitore, a skinker or filler of wine; also a mingler, a ganimede.
1841. Punch I., p. 101, c. 1. Lo! Ganymede appears with a foaming tankard of ale.
Gaol-bird, subs. (old: now recognised).—A person who has been often in gaol; an incorrigible rogue. Fr., un chevronné. For synonyms, see Wrong ’Un.
1680. Hist. of Edward II., p. 146. It is the piety and the true valour of an army, which gives them heart and victory; which how it can be expected out of ruffians and gaol-birds, I leave to your consideration.
1701. Defoe, True Born Englishman, part II. In print my panegyrics fill the street, And hired gaol-birds, their huzzas repeat.
1762. Smollett, L. Greaves, vol. II., ch. ix. He is become a blackguard gaol-bird.
1857. C. Reade, Never Too Late, ch. xi. The gaol-birds who piped this tune were without a single exception the desperate cases of this moral hospital; they were old offenders.
1882. Pall Mall Gaz., 5 Oct. Liberating the gaol-birds in Alexandria.
Gaoler’s Coach, subs. phr. (old).—A hurdle to the place of execution.