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Riding Skimmington (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Riding Skimmington

A ludicrous cavalcade, in ridicule of a man beaten by his wife. It consists of a man riding behind a woman, with his face to the horse’s tail, holding a distaff in his hand, at which he seems to work, the woman all the while beating him with a ladle; a smock displayed on a staff is carried before them as an emblematical standard, denoting female superiority: they are accompanied by what is called the ROUGH MUSIC, that is, frying-pans, bulls horns, marrow-bones and cleavers, &c. A procession of this kind is admirably described by Butler in his Hudibras. He rode private, i.e. was a private trooper.

Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.

Riding St * Riff Raff

Nearby

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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About

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.

Rhino
Rib
Ribaldry
Ribbin
To Ribroast
Rich Face
Richaud Snary
Rider
Ridge
Riding St
Riding Skimmington
Riff Raff
Rig
Rigging
Right
Rigmarole
Ring
To Ring a Peal
Ring the Changes
Rip
Rippons