[From The Triumph of Wit, by J. SHIRLEY:—"The twenty craftsmen, described by the notorious thief-taker Jonathan Wild">[.
Good people, give ear, whilst a story I tell,
Of twenty black tradesmen who were brought up in hell,
On purpose poor people to rob of their due;
There's none shall be nooz'd if you find but one true. [1]
The first was a coiner, that stampt in a mould;
The second a voucher to put off his gold, [2]
Toure you well; hark you well, see [3]
Where they are rubb'd, [4]
Up to the nubbing cheat where they are nubb'd. [5]
II
The third was a padder, that fell to decay, [6]
Who used for to plunder upon the highway;
The fourth was a mill-ken to crack up a door, [7]
He'd venture to rob both the rich and the poor,
The fifth was a glazier who when he creeps in, [8]
To pinch all the lurry he thinks it no sin. [9]
Toure you well, etc.
III
The sixth is a file-cly that not one cully spares,[10]
The seventh a budge to track softly upstairs; [11]
The eighth is a bulk, that can bulk any hick, [12]
If the master be nabbed, then the bulk he is sick,
The ninth is an angler, to lift up a grate [13]
If he sees but the lurry his hooks he will bait.
Toure you well, etc.
IV
The tenth is a shop-lift that carries a Bob,
When he ranges the city, the shops for to rob.
The eleventh a bubber, much used of late;
Who goes to the ale house, and steals all their plate,
The twelfth is a beau-trap, if a cull he does meet
He nips all his cole, and turns him into the street.
Toure you well, etc.
V
The thirteenth a famble, false rings for to sell, [17]
When a mob, he has bit his cole he will tell;
The fourteenth a gamester, if he sees the cull sweet [18]
He presently drops down a cog in the street; [19]
The fifteenth a prancer, whose courage is small, [20]
If they catch him horse-coursing, he's nooz'd once for all. [21]
Toure you well, etc.