This site is in danger of going away; please consider the Donate link above...
A boat or wherry. Let us take an ark and winns, let us take a sculler. Cant.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
See also the definition in Nathan Bailey's 1736 dictionary of canting and thieving slang.
Armour * Ark RuffiansNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes
Buy a modern reprint of this book from Amazon CA; US;
Francis Grose was independently wealthy, having inherited money from his father, a jeweller. Finding himself overspending, he published a number of books; his Provincial Glossary seems to have been the starting-point for the Vulgar Tongue reproduced here.