/ · John S. Farmer’s Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
The Song of the Young Prig
The Song of the Young Prig
c. 1819
Author unknown; attributed to Little Arthur Chambers; see notes.
My mother she dwelt in Dyot’s Isle,
1 Notes
One of the canting crew, sirs;
2 beggars
And if you’d know my father’s style,
He was the Lord-knows-who, sirs!
I first held horses in the street,
But being found defaulter,
Turned rumbler’s flunkey for my meat,
3 hackney-coach
So was brought up to the halter.
Frisk the cly, and fork the rag,
4 pick a pocket; lay hold of notes or money
Draw the fogies plummy,
5 steal handkerchiefs dextrously
Speak to the rattles, bag the swag,
6 steal a watch, pocket the plunder
And finely hunt the dummy.
7 steal pocket-books
II
My name they say is young Birdlime,
My fingers are fish-hooks, sirs;
And I my reading learnt betime,
8 Notes
From studying pocket-books, sirs;
I have a sweet eye for a plant,
9 an intended robbery
And graceful as I amble,
Finedraw a coat-tail sure I can’t
So kiddy is my famble.
10 skilful is my hand
Chorus. Frisk the cly, etc.
III
A night bird oft I’m in the cage,
11 lock-up
But my rum-chants ne’er fail, sirs;
The dubsman’s senses to engage,
12 gaoler
While I tip him leg-bail, sirs;
13 run away
There’s not, for picking, to be had,
A lad so light and larky,
14 frolicsome
The cleanest angler on the pad
15 expert pickpocket
In daylight or the darkey.
16 night
Chorus. Frisk the cly, etc.
IV
And though I don’t work capital,
17 Notes
And do not weigh my weight, sirs;
Who knows but that in time I shall,
For there’s no queering fate, sirs.
18 getting the better of
If I’m not lagged to Virgin-nee,
19 transported [Notes]
I may a Tyburn show be,
20 be hanged
Perhaps a tip-top cracksman be,
21 housebreaker
Or go on the high toby.
22 become a highwayman
Chorus. Frisk the cly, etc.
Notes
Said to have been written by Little Arthur Chambers, the Prince of
Prigs, who was one of the most expert thieves of his time. He began to
steal when he was in petticoats, and died a short time before Jack
Sheppard came into notice. Internal evidence, however, renders this
attributed authorship very improbable.
Stanza I, line 1. Dyots Isle, i.e., Dyot St., St. Giles,
afterwards called George St. Bloomsbury, was a well-known rookery
where thieves and their associates congregated.
Stanza II, line 3. And I my reading learnt betime From studying
pocket-books. “Pocket-book” = reader.
Stanza IV, line 1. To work capital = to commit a crime
punishable with death. Previous to 1829 many offences, now thought
comparatively trivial, were deemed to merit the extreme penalty of the
law.
Taken from
Musa Pedestris,
Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes
[1536―1896], collected and annotated by John S. Farmer.
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