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Sixteen-string Jack

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John Rann, a highwayman, noted for his foppery. He wore sixteen tags, eight at each knee. (Hanged in 1774.)

“Dr. Johnson said that Gray’s poetry towered above the ordinary run of verse as Sixteen-string Jack above the ordinary foot-pad.”—Boswell: Life of Johnson.

 

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Six. Six thrice or three dice
Six-and-Eightpence
Six Articles (33 Henry VIII.)
Six-hooped Pot
Six Members
Six Months War
Six Nations (The)
Six Points
Six-Principle Baptists (The)
Sixes and Sevens (All)
Sixteen-string Jack
Sizar
Sizings
Skains-mate or Skeins-mate
Skald
Skedaddle
Skeggs
Skeleton
Skeleton Jackets
Skevington’s Daughter
Skibbereen and Connemara (in Ireland)