Musa Pedestris - Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536 - 1896]

by John Stephen Farmer

"A beggar I'll be" (Anon—1660)
"A Gage of Ben Rom-Bouse" (Middleton and Dekker—1611)
"A Hundred Stretches Hence" (G. W. Matsell—1859)
'Arry at a Political Picnic (T. Milliken—1884)
Beggar's Curse, The (Thomas Dekker—1608)
"Bing Out, Bien Morts" (Thomas Dekker—1612)
Black Procession, The (Anon—1712)
Blooming Æsthetic (Anon—1882)
Bobby and His Mary (Anon—1826)
Bould Yeoman, The (Pierce Egan—1842)
Bridle-cull and his little Pop-gun (Pierce Egan—1842)
Budg and Snudg Song, A (Anon—1676)
Banter's Christening, The (G. Parker—1789)
By-blow of the Jug, The (Pierce Egan—1842)
Cadger's Ball, The (Anon—1852)
Canter's Serenade, The (Anon—1725)
Chickaleary Cove, The (Vance—1864)
"Come all you Buffers Gay" (Anon—1760)
Coster's Serenade, The (A. Chevalier—1894)
Culture in the Slums (W. E. Henley—1887)
Dashy Splashy . . . little Stringer, The (Leman Rede—1841)
"Dear-Bill—This Stone Jug" (Anon—1857)
Double Cross, The (W. H. Ainsworth—1834)
Faker's New Toast, The (Bon Gualtier—1841)
Flashey Joe (R. Morley—1826)
Flashman of St. Giles, The (Anon—1790)
Frisky Moll's Song (J. Harper—1724)
Game of High Toby, The (W. H. Ainsworth—1834)
Happy Pair, The (G. Parker—1789)
High Pad's Boast, The (J. Fletcher—1625)
High Pad's Frolic, The (Leman Rede—1841)
Housebreaker's Song, The (G. W. M. Reynolds—1838)
Jack Flashman (Pierce Egan—1842)
Lag's Lament, The (H. T. R.—1829)
Leary Man, The (Ducange Anglicus—185?)
Leary Mot, A (Anon—1811)
Masqueraders, The (G. Parker—1789)
Maunder's Initiation, The (J. Fletcher—1625)
Maunder's Praise of his Strowling Mort, The (Anon—1707)
Maunder's Wooing, The (S. Rowlands—1610)
Merry Beggars, The (R. Brome—1641)
Milling Match, The (T. Moore—1819)
Miss Dolly Trull (Pierce Egan—1842)
Mort's Drinking Song, A (R. Brome—1641)
My Mother (Bon Gualtier—1841)
My mugging maid (J. Bruton—1826)
"Nix my Doll, Pals, Fake Away" (W. Harrison Ainsworth—1834)
Nutty Blowen, The (Bon Gualtier—1841)
Oath of the Canting Crew, The (R. Goadby—1749)
On the Prigging Lay (H. T. R.—1829)
Our Little Nipper (A. Chevalier—1893)
Pickpocket's Chaunt, The (W. Maginn—1829)
Plank-bed Ballad, A (G. R. Sims—1888)
Poor Luddy (T. Dibdin—1826)
Potato Man, The (Anon—1775)
"Retoure my dear Dell" (Anon—1725)
Rhyme of the Rusher (Doss Chiderdoss—1892)
Rhymes of the Canting Crew (R. Copland—1536)
Rondeau of the Knock, The (G. R. Sims—1890)
"Rum Coves that Relieve Us" (H. Baumann—1887)
Rum-Mort's Praise of her Faithless Maunder, The (Anon—1707)
Sandman's Wedding, The (G. Parker—1789)
Slang Pastoral, A (R. Tomlinson—1780)
Song of the Beggar, The (Anon—1620)
Song of the Young Prig, The (Anon—1810-9)
Sonnets for the Fancy: I. Education.
II. Progress. III. Triumph (Pierce Egan—1824)
"The Faking Boy to the Crap is Gone" (Bon Gualtier—1841)
The Night before Larry was stretched (W. Maher—1816)
Thieves' Chaunt, The (W. H. Smith—1836)
Tottie (G. R. Sims—1887)
"Towre Out, Ben Morts" (S. Rowlands—1610)
True Bottom'd Boxer, The (J. Jones—1825)
Vain Dreamer, The (Anon—1725)
Villon's Good Night (W. E. Henley—1887)
Villon's Straight Tip (W. E. Henley—1887)
"When my Dimber Dell I Courted" (Anon—1725)
"Wot Cher" (A. Chevalier—1892)
"Ye Scamps, ye Pads, ye Divers" (Messink—1781)
"Ya-Hip, my Hearties!" (Gregson—1819)

INDEX TO AUTHORS

Ainsworth, W. Harrison
Anonymous
Baumann, Heinrich
Bon Gualtier
Brome, Richard
Bruton, James
Chevalier, Albert
Copland, Robert
Dekker, Thomas
Dibdin, Thomas
Doss Chiderdoss
Ducange Anglicus
Egan, Pierce
Fletcher, John
Goadby, Robert
Gregson
Harper, J.
Henley, W. Ernest
H. T. R.
Jones, J.
Maginn, William
Maher, Will
Matsell, G. W.
Messink
Middleton, Thomas
Milliken, T.
Moore, Thomas
Morley, R.
Parker, George
Rede, Leman
Reynolds, G. W. M.
Rowlands, Samuel
Sims, G. R.
Smith, W. H.
Tomlinson, R.
Vance

FOREWORDS

When Harrison Ainsworth, in his preface to Rookwood, claimed tobe "the first to write a purely flash song" he was very wide of themark. As a matter of fact, "Nix my doll, pals, fake away!" had beenanticipated, in its treatment of canting phraseology, by nearly three centuries, and subsequently, by authors whose names stand high, in other respects, in English literature.

The mistake, however, was not altogether unpardonable; few, indeed, would have even guessed that the appearance of utter neglect which surrounded the use of Cant and Slang in English song, ballad, or verse—its rich and racy character notwithstanding—was anything but of the surface. The chanson d'argot of France and the romance di germania of Spain, not to mention other forms of the MUSA PEDESTRIS had long held popular sway, but there was to all appearance nothing to correspond with them on this side the silver streak.

It must be confessed, however, that the field of English slang verse and canting song, though not altogether barren, has yet small claim to the idiomatic and plastic treatment that obtains in many an Argot- song and Germania-romance; in truth, with a few notable exceptions, there is little in the present collection that can claim literary rank.

Those exceptions, however, are alone held to be ample justification for such an anthology as that here presented. Moreover these "Rhymes and Songs", gathered from up and down the years, exhibit, en masse, points of interest to the student and scholar that, in isolation, were either wanting altogether, or were buried and lost sight of midst a mass of more (or less) valuable matter.

As regards the Vulgar Tongue itself—though exhaustive disquisition obviously lies outside the scope of necessarily brief forewords—it may be pointed out that its origin in England is confessedly obscure. Prior to the second half of the 16th century, there was little trace of that flood of unorthodox speech which, in this year of grace eighteen hundred and ninety-six, requires six quarto double-columned volumes duly to chronicle—verily a vast and motley crowd!

As to the distinction to be drawn between Cant and Slang it is somewhat difficult to speak. Cant we know; its limits and place in the world of philology are well defined. In Slang, however, we have a veritable Proteus, ever shifting, and for the most part defying exact definition and orderly derivation. Few, save scholars and such-like folk, even distinguish between the two, though the line of demarcation is sharply enough defined.