Burn the Ken (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Burn the Ken

Strollers living in an alehouse without paying their quarters, are said to burn the ken. 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.

John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes

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