1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue Part 19

COUNTRY HARRY. A waggoner. CANT.

COUNTRY PUT. An ignorant country fellow.

COUNTY WORK. Said of any work that advances slowly.

COURT CARD. A gay fluttering c.o.xcomb.

COURT HOLY WATER, COURT PROMISES. Fair speeches and promises, without performance.

COURT OF a.s.sISTANTS. A court often applied to by young women who marry old men.

COW. To sleep like a cow, with a **** at one's a-se; said of a married man; married men being supposed to sleep with their backs towards their wives, according to the following proclamation:

All you that in your beds do lie, Turn to your wives, and occupy: And when that you have done your best, Turn a-se to a-se, and take your rest.

COW JUICE. Milk.

COW'S BABY. A calf.

COW'S COURANT. Gallop and sh---e.

COW-HANDED. Awkward.

COW-HEARTED. Fearful.

COW ITCH. The product of a sort of bean, which excites an insufferable itching, used chiefly for playing tricks.

COW'S SPOUSE. A bull.

COW'S THUMB. Done to a cow's thumb; done exactly.

c.o.xCOMB. Anciently, a fool. Fools, in great families, wore a cap with bells, on the top of which was a piece of red cloth, in the shape of a c.o.c.k's comb. At present, c.o.xcomb signifies a fop, or vain self-conceited fellow.

CRAB. To catch a crab; to fall backwards by missing one's stroke in rowing.

CRAB LANTHORN. A peevish fellow.

CRAB LOUSE. A species of louse peculiar to the human body; the male is denominated a c.o.c.k, the female a hen.

CRAB Sh.e.l.lS. Shoes. IRISH.

CRABS. A losing throw to the main at hazard.

CRABBED. Sour, ill-tempered, difficult.

CRACK. A wh.o.r.e.

TO CRACK. To boast or brag; also to break. I cracked his napper; I broke his head.

THE CRACK, or ALL THE CRACK. The fashionable theme, the go. The Crack Lay, of late is used, in the cant language, to signify the art and mystery of house-breaking.

CRACKER. Crust, sea biscuit, or ammunition loaf; also the backside. Farting crackers; breeches.

CRACKISH. Whorish.

CRACKING TOOLS. Implements of house-breaking, such as a crow, a center bit, false keys, &c.

CRACKMANS. Hedges. The cull thought to have loped by breaking through the crackmans, but we fetched him back by a nope on the costard, which stopped his jaw; the man thought to have escaped by breaking through the hedge, but we brought him back by a great blow on the head, which laid him speechless.

CRACKSMAN. A house-breaker. The kiddy is a clever cracksman; the young fellow is a very expert house-breaker.

CRAG. The neck.

CRAMP RINGS. Bolts, shackles, or fetters. CANT.

CRAMP WORDS. Sentence of death pa.s.sed on a criminal by a judge. He has just undergone the cramp word; sentence has just been pa.s.sed on him. CANT.

CRANK. Gin and water; also, brisk, pert.

CRANK. The falling sickness. CANT.

TO CRASH. To kill. Crash that cull; kill that fellow. CANT.

CRASHING CHEATS. Teeth.

CRAW THUMPERS. Roman catholics, so called from their beating their b.r.e.a.s.t.s in the confession of their sins. See BRISKET BEATER, and BREAST FLEET.

CREAM-POT LOVE. Such as young fellows pretend to dairymaids, to get cream and other good things from them.

TO CREEME. To slip or slide any thing into the hands of another. CANT.

CREEPERS. Gentlemen's companions, lice.

CREW. A knot or gang; also a boat or ship's company. The canting crew are thus divided into twenty-three orders, which see under the different words:

MEN.

1 Rufflers 2 Upright Men 3 Hookers or Anglers 4 Rogues 5 Wild Rogues 6 Priggers of Prancers 7 Palliardes 8 Fraters 9 Jarkmen, or Patricoes 10 Fresh Water Mariners, or Whip Jackets 11 Drummerers 12 Drunken Tinkers 13 Swadders, or Pedlars 14 Abrams.

WOMEN.

1 Demanders for Glimmer or Fire 2 Bawdy Baskets 3 Morts 4 Autem Morts 5 Walking Morts 6 Doxies 7 Delles 8 Kinching Morts 9 Kinching Coes

CRIB. A house. To crack a crib: to break open a house.

TO CRIB. To purloin, or appropriate to one's own use, part of any thing intrusted to one's care.

TO FIGHT A CRIB. To make a sham fight. BEAR GARDEN TERM.