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| Frontpiece to The jargon of Master francois Villon clerk of Paris, A.D. Being Seven Ballads from the Thieves' Argot of the XVth Century |
The Jargon of Master francois Villon Clerk of Paris, A.D. Being Seven Ballads from the Thieves' Argot of the XVth Century by Jordan Herbert Stabler
“Paris during the middle of the XVth Century: France harassed by both English and Burgundians; passing through one of the most sombre and painful periods in all her history: hunger, squalor, famine, and misery present among the lower classes; Ignorance, wretchedness, superstition, and unbelief rife; the city and countryside overrun by those whose gain is honest men's loss —by thieves and swindlers, unfrocked priests of evil lives and frocked ones of but little better; by gamblers, false coiners, and cheats; by wandering players of miracles, farces, and mysteries; by robbers, beggars, and mendicants, up to every form of trick and ruse,— ''savants en joncherie et jonglerie"; the age of cheating and cheats, of tricks and tricksters; and the whole kingdom alive with men of the worst description, whose only fear was that of the Grand Provost and the ever-present gibbet. Such was the France of Master Francois Villon, Clerk of Paris in the year of Our Lord, 1452, and such his companions.
Little may be known of Villon's association with the Coquillards or "Brothers of the Cockle-shell," a band of robbers and thieves of all sorts and conditions, whose operations during that epoch were quite extensive over the centre of France. But it is known that the Poet was of their number at one time, and that he was a close associate of Rene de Montigny and of one Collin des Cayeux or L’Ecollier, and assisted in several of their exploits.
The seven Ballads in the Jargon or the Thieves' Argot of that period, which are herewith set forth, appear to be advice and warning - Sermons, they have been called — to his companions, the Brothers of "La Coquille," and they are supposed to have been written about the year 1461. The theme of the "Hangman's noose" and of the "Yawning prison" seems to have been ever foremost in Villon's mind, and from these ideas he was never able to disassociate himself. Nor is this so strange, since the Archers of the Guard and the rack and gallows played a most if not the most important part of the daily life of the XVth Century Parisian, and Villon himself was acquainted with them only too well.
We are told that there were nineteen gibbets, in and around Paris, in the time of Louis XI and that the populace went "en fete" to all the public executions, chanting songs in ballad form and enjoying themselves to the uttermost. For our Poet these gibbets and gaunt Montfaulcon appear to have had a special fascination and likewise horror, he having escaped the hangman's clutches on two different occasions.
Born in 1431 of humble parentage and brought up in Paris by his god-father, the good Canon of St. Benoit; a tempestuous career at the University, debauch and repentance, ambition and despair; Master of Arts in 1432, at the same time Master of Knavery and also of lyric verse in the ballad form; the wonderful two-sided character of the man, a man who could turn from the coarsest jest in verse to write the beautiful ''Prayer for his mother to Notre Dame"; the murder of the priest in 1455 followed by his flight from Paris; his probable sojourn in the Provinces with the Coquillards; then the robbery of the College of Navarre; his imprisonment and sentence at Meung-sur-Loire and his pardon by Louis XIth upon that monarch's accession to the Throne; again implicated in a murder in Paris; torture, sentence to death, and his appeal, followed by a second pardon and by banishment, - such a person was well fitted to write a warning word to his companions.
Every trade, profession, and society has had, more or less, in all periods, many expressions or even a complete language of its own. In the Middle Ages we find the Mendicants organized into guilds, in the same manner as were the different trades, each with its language. So we are told it was with certain bands of robbers, thieves, and cut-purses, as the Coquillards, whose language was the Jargon.
According to M. Auguste Vitu, the word "jargon" is of very ancient French origin, and signifies "an unintelligible language.” Vitu gives Its derivation as from the word "jars," meaning a "gander," and from the verb "jargonner," "to cackle"; the "jargon" being quite as impossible to understand as IS the "cackling" of geese.
The Court records of that time, of the trials of certain members of the Band of “La Coquille,” and notably that of one “Dimanche-le-Loup," the leader of the Band, in 1455 at Dijon, have somewhat helped in giving an insight into the activities of Villon's companions and also have helped in serving as a key to a great many of the words of the Jargon. It is said, however, by several of the authorities upon the Jargon of Villon that it is probable that the language employed in these seven Ballads was not generally used among the "gueux" of that period, but was known only to the friends of the Coquillards, to whom these Ballads were addressed.
The first six of the Ballads in Jargon have been published in more than thirty of the editions of Villon's complete works, but M. Auguste Longnon, in his edition of 1892, has accepted, and has added to the above-mentioned six, the IVth acrostical Ballad, which appears among the five unedited Ballads in Jargon m the Stockholm MS. of Villon. I have followed the text of M. Longnon m this translation.
In this translation into English verse of the Jargon of Villon, or in this attempt at a translation (for attempt it must be called, since up to the present time no one has been able to find a definite meaning for a great many of the words and expressions in Jargon and many of them may only be come at by surmise), I have tried rather to arrive at the true spirit of Villon, than to quibble over the vague and oftentimes forever lost meaning of a word, and have endeavoured to preserve that crisply rounded turn of refrain and quick pulse-beat of the original, as well as the ever-prevailing touch of grim humour, keeping as close as possible to the text, but in a number of places giving a very free translation of the supposed meaning, and in several cases sacrificing the very hazy context for the better rendering into English verse.
For the actual work of the translation, I have used as a base the most excellent text of M. Longnon's edition of 1892, as I have said before, and have also employed to a large extent M. Auguste Vitu's work, "Le Jargon du XVe Siecle," 1884; M. Lazare Lameau's "L'Argot Ancien" (1455 - 1830), 1907; “Le Jargon et Jobelin de Francois Villon," of M. Lucien Schone; and also Pierre d'Alheims “Le Jargon Jobelin de Maitre Francois Villon," 1892.
I have also consulted "La Vie de Francois Villon," by M. Gaston Pans; M. M. Schwob's " Le Petit et le Grand Testament, et les cinq Ballades en Jargon," published 1903; M. Marthold's "Le Jargon de Francois Villon," 1909; and "Dictionnaire de I'Ancienne Langue Francaise, du IXe au XVe Siecle," by Godefroy, as well as several of the editions of Villon's complete works, a number of dictionaries of XVth Century French, which I have found in the Bibliotheque Nationale and Bibliotheque Mazarin and at the Bibliotheque Royale in Bruxelles; and the Stockholm MS. of Villon in the Royal Library at Stockholm.
I have not based my rendering of the Jargon of Villon into English upon any of the translations of these Ballads into Modern French, as most of my work upon them was done prior to my knowledge that such translations had appeared in print, but I have since consulted one or two of them and have made profitable use of these estimable studies in arriving at the meaning of a line or a word when I had almost lost all hope of penetrating some of the mystery of the language of the Coquillards.” — Jordan Herbert Stabler
Stabler, Jordan Herbert, 1885-1938. “The jargon of Master Francois Villon:
clerk of Paris, A.D. MCCCCLII & being seven ballads from the
Thieves' Argot of the XVth Century. Published 1918
***
“Nearly everything in life gave Villon a ballade; if not, a rondel; if not, a verse. A tavern, a church, the picture of a saint, a friend, an enemy, himself, his old mother, or Casin Cholet the duck-thief - all found expression in his genius. He was the voice of Old Paris, and, of all the voices of her bells and her people, the only living voice to reach us. Yet he is enough, for he speaks for them all—for the rioters in the taverns, for the chattering girls, for the courtesan grown old; for his mother, so clearly that we can see her in the church where she worshipped; for the creaking gibbet and the howling wolf. There is scarcely a friend that he has forgotten or an enemy he has missed; and he is frank as day about himself.
He says horrible things, he says sordid things, and he says beautiful things, but he says one thing always—the truth, and his lamentations are real no less when he is lamenting his own fate than the fate of the women who have vanished from the world.
Considering the times in which he lived, he is wonderfully clean-spoken and devoid of brutality. Remember, that in the Paris of 1456 they boiled malefactors alive in the cauldron of the swine-market, the graveyards at night were the haunts of debauchery, priests and nuns helped in the recruiting of the army of Crime, and the students of the University were often reduced to begging their bread from door to door. He, in his personal life, had been hardly dealt with. He killed Chermoye; and who was Chermoye? a priest armed with a dagger. He was a robber, but he was a robber in an age of robbers. God made him a robber, it is true; but at least let us thank God that He did not make him a tradesman. He was a robber, but he was compassionate towards children and women grown old — see amongst other things, the ballade written for his mother and many of the verses of the Testaments; and it is this feeling for things weak and humble and ruined that lends his verse a grace greater even than the grace lent to it by his genius. To arrive at a true estimate of the man we must look, not at his actions, of which we know little, but at the expressions of his mind which lie before us in his poems.”
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"This background readily explains the spirit of the Rhetoriqueurs, the school which in the fifteenth century dominated French and Burgundian literature - such traits as the ostentatious rhetoric and the scorn of these writers for the vulgar world below the level of nobility; their delight in archaic forms; their clinging to the allegories and symbols of medieval poetry; and their deep pessimism and melancholy caused by the knowledgethat knighthood and chivalrous love, outside the beautiful conventions of the courts, were everywhere contradicted by the realities of life.
There were, it is true, a few great writers of the fifteenth century who, for various reasons, were able to break loose from the pervasive influence of the school of the Rhetoriqueurs; in their works realistic observation and psychology gained more ample scope and produced masterpieces of literature. But since the social structure of the period so strongly favored adherence to the outlook and the conventions of the age of chivalry, we find no literary schools determinedly opposing the dominant trend; even masters in the presentation of realistic detail did not develop into conscious rebels against the traditional ways, or become pioneers of the tendencies of the Renaissance.
A great French poet of the period, Francois Villon, known for his blunt self-revelation, could free himself from many conformities with his time only because he led the erratic life of a vagabond; in his attitude to life and society he was a late successor of the wandering scholars of the early Middle Ages rather than a precursor of theRenaissance. […]
French humanism developed comparatively late. It is true that as early as the last quarter of the fourteenth century intellectual fashions from Italy had found a few followers in France. But the promising efforts of Nicholas de Clemanges, Jean de Montreuil, Gontier and Pierre Col, and their friends were soon forgotten during the desolation brought about by the final stages of the Hundred Years War. Thus until the second half of the fifteenth century the new conceptions of scholarship fashionable in Italy failed to attract the French mind again. The traditional scholastic approach to knowledge was good enough to satisfy the intellectual appetite of the country, while the French genius preferred to express itself in the spoken tongue, in the poems of Villon and the euphuistic compositions of the rhetoriqueurs. Even when a humanist outlook developed in France, it only affected at first a very small though admittedly a far from insignificant group. Throughout the period 1470-1520 school teaching clung tenaciously to the old traditions, old text-books like the Graecismus and the Doctrinale losing none of their former popularity. An old-fashioned outlook prevailed also at the universities, although some room for the new ideas was provided. Paris, for instance, was then still very much an international centre of learning and the leading theological school in Europe, with a great majority among its regent masters showing hardly any interest in intellectual novelties. […]
The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume I: The Renaissance: 1493 - 1520
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An American writer in a recent number of the Chap-Book has thus linked our poet: "The Poes and Vil lons, the urban highest types of genius, to which belong the Verlaines and the Baudelaires, invariably voice a supremely artificial conception of life and its aspirations. Their flowers are flowers of evil; their trees bear Sodom apples; their birds sing dolorous songs, and the very air they breathe has a burden of severe poison." This critic is right when he says that these men cannot be judged by rural standards. It is by these alone that one can understand his failure to see the sad beauty and eternal truth that wells from the poetry of men whose souls are on the rack. A man who is able to see in Villon something other than artistic evil need not necessarily consider himself an artist, but it seems to me that he views everything from a higher plane if he can include himself with those who see, as Stevenson says, beautiful and human traits in him.
François Villon by G. L. SwiggettSource: The Sewanee Review,
Vol. 7, No. 4 (Oct., 1899), pp. 421-434, Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press
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This is the century that sees the full realization of the Renaissance and the end of the medieval way of thinking about the world. The Humanist rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture is supported by the wealth accumulated in prosperous cities such as Bruges, Florence, and Venice. New wealth and increasing trade created a demand for an art based on the world we see. The second half of the century saw the invention of the printing press, and Columbus’s voyage. And though he was heading for the East, Columbus landed in the Americas, and suddenly there were vast new continents for Europe to exploit economically and to Christianize. The century begins with the magnificent sculptures of Claus Sluter and ends with the elegant figures of Leonardo da Vinci.
***
The fifteenth century opens with civil unrest as the Armagnacs and Burgundians, two powerful political factions, war for control of France during the frequent periods of insanity suffered by King Charles VI (r. 1380–1422). The dukes of Burgundy ally themselves with England, France's enemy in the Hundred Years' War, but their aid is unsolicited in the crushing defeat of French forces dealt by the English in 1415 at the Battle of Agincourt. By the 1420s, England possesses most of France north of the Loire River, and the English king Henry V is named heir to the throne. King Charles VII of France (r. 1422–61) routs the English forces by 1453.
At the turn of the sixteenth century, France is engaged in the Habsburg-Valois Wars for the takeover of several Italian city-states. The wars continue until 1559, and are a crucial factor in introducing the French to Italian Renaissance ideas, which are brought back to France and epitomized in the celebrated court of François I (r. 1515–47). Around 1528, François establishes Paris as his principal residence, strengthening its role as the cultural and economic hub of France, and making it the country's political center as well. By mid-century, followers of John Calvin (1509–1564) instigate the Reformation in France. French Protestants, called Huguenots, are brutally suppressed; the latter decades of the century are occupied by civil war between Protestant and Catholic groups, until the 1598 Edict of Nantes grants Protestants freedom of worship under Henry IV (r. 1589–1610).
All seven volumes of Slang and its analogues past and present. A dictionary, historical and comparative of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years. With synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc (1890) can be downloaded from Archive.org here. It is a fascinating and endlessly rewarding text to peruse. Evidently only 750 copies were printed for subscribers - a common practice then and now. Note at the top of page two there is this reference:
“1876. C. HINDLEY, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 229. ' Here's spoons for six, and tea and sugar for one. Sold again and this time to my old sweetheart of all. She's a prime girl, she is; she is A NUMBER ONE, COPPER-BOTTOMED, and can sail as well in her stays as out of her stays; she is full rigged, and carries a lot of canvas. But 1 must not tell tales out of school.” Excerpt From: Henley, William Ernest, 1849-1903. “Slang and its analogues past and present. A dictionary, historical and comparative of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years. With synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc.”
The first line of Henley's translation is "Suppose you screeve, or go cheap-jack?" As Henley was an editor, I imagine he read over this first section more than a few occasions. Cheap-jack, a peddler of wares, a purveyor of dubious goods, is still in use and can be found in most dictionaries.
I am working on a glossary for Henley's translation, all from the dictionary.
Glossary from Slang and its analogues past and present. A dictionary, historical and comparative of the heterodox speech of all classes of society for more than three hundred years. With synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, etc.
CHARLEY-WAG (school-slang).
I. To absent oneself from school without leave; to play truant. Variants are To MOUCH ; TO WAG ; Fr., tailler or caler lecole ; Spanish, hacer novillos, and andar a la tuna.
1876. C. HINDLEY, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 57. Nothing could be done with him at school . . .
Joe being, in spite of all entreaties, the greatest rapscallion and ringleader of all mischief, and at all times readier TO PLAY THE CHARLEY WAG than to be the first in any prominent position in his class or form.
2. (common). — To disappear [figurative].
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon s Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. It's up the spout and CHARLEY-WAG With wipes and tickers and what not. Until the squeezer nips your scrag, Booze and the blowens cop the lot.
COP - “Verb (common).—I. To seize ; steal; catch ; take an unfair advantage in a bet or bargain. [Cop has been associated with the root of the Latin cap-io, to seize, to snatch; also with the Gypsy kap or cop = to take ; Scotch kep ; and "Gallic ceapan. Probably, however, its true radix is to be found in the Hebrew cop = a hand or palm. Low-class Jews employ the term, and understand it to refer to the act of snatching. ]
1864. Manchester Courier^ 13 June. ' Copper "... a slang name for a policeman derived from COP, which is a well known and generally used vulgarism for ' catch. 1
1879. J. W. HORSLEY, in Macm. Mag., XL., p. 500. I was taken by two pals (companions) to an orchard to COP (steal) some fruit.
1883. Punch, Sept. 29, p. 146, col. 2. 1 Bill's not such a fool as you think ; He'll COP my truncheon, pat, Jam the whistle into my month, And stretch the Peeler flat.'
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villotfs Straight Tip to all Cross Coves. Booze and the blowens COP the lot.
CRACK - “TO CRACK A CRIB, SWAG, OjT KEN, verbal phr. (thieves'.—To commit a burglary ; to break into a house. [From CRACK, to force open, + CRIB, a house.]
ENGLISH SYNONYMS. To stamp a ken or crib; to work a panny ; to jump a Chouse (also applied to simple robbery without burglary); to do a crack ; to practice the black art ; to screw ; to bust a crib ; to flimp; to buz ; to tool; to wire ; to do a ken-crack-lay.
“1871. Standard, 26 Dec. If their pals outside, the gentry who hocus Jack ashore in the east, pick the pockets of Lord Dundreary in the west, and CRACK CRIBS in the lonely outskirts could only realise how miserable the Christmas-day was for them, we might look out for a needful retrenchment in the estimates of penal expenditure.
1871. Morning Advertiser, TI May. 'Leader.' He took to burglary, employing professional burglars to assist him, whenever it became necessary to CRACK A CRIB.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Dead-lurk a crib, or do a CRACK.
CROAK, subs, (thieves').—A dying speech, especially the confession of a murderer. Also the same as printed for sale in the streets by a ' FLYING STATIONER.
[From the verbal sense (q.v.).]
1887. A. BARRERE, Argot and Slang, p. 272. The criminal . . . would perhaps, utter for the edification of the crowd his ' tops, or CROAKS,' that is, his last dying speech.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Go crying CROAKS, or flash the drag. [ Note this phrase is not in the "standard version" of Straight Tip - SKC ]
DIBS or DIBBS, subs, (common).— Generic for money. [Said to be a corruption of diobs^ i.e.) diobolus, a classic coin = 2^d. Another derivation is from the huckle-bones of sheep, popularly DIBBS, used for gambling; Scots 'chuckies.'j For synonyms, see ACTUAL and GILT. To BRUSH WITH THE DIBS = to abscond with the cash ;
TO TIP OVER THE DIBS = to pay “down or ' shell out'; To FLASH THE DIBS = to show money, etc.
1837. BARHAM, /. L. {Dead Drummer). One of their drummers, and one Sergeant Matcham, Had BRUSH'D WITH THE DIBS, and they never could catch 'em.
1842. Comic Almanack, p. 313. Governor,—Science can't be purchased without DIBBS. When we want subjects we must shell out.
1862. Penny Newspaper. The other informed him that if he did not TIP OVER THE DIBS he would blow his brains out.
1880. Punch's Almanack, p. 7. Time to think about my outing. No DIBS yet, though, so it's no use shouting.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon s Straight Tip. The merry little DIBBS you'll bag.
FLAG - 2. (common). — An apron ; hence a badge of office or trade ; cf. t FLAG-FLASHER. Equivalents are BELLY-CHEAT and FIG-LEAF.
1851-61. H. MAYHEW, Land. Lab. and Land. Poor, vol. I., p. 232 (List of patterer's words), s.v.
1872, Dundee Advertiser, 20 April? 1 Report of Meeting of Domestic Servants. It was contended that they were compelled to wear what was generally known as a FLAG.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Dillon's Straight Tip. Suppose you try a different tack, And on the square you flash your flag.
FLASH - Verb (common).—I. To show; to expose.
[Among combinations may be mentioned, TO FLASH ONES IVORIES = to show one's teeth, to grin (Grose); TO FLASH THE HASH = to vomit (Grose) \ TO FLASH THE DICKEY =to show the shirt front; TO FLASH THE DiBS=to show or spend one's money; TO FLASH A FAWNEY=IO wear a ring; TO FLASH ONE'S GAB=IO talk, to swagger, to brag; TO FLASH THE BUBS= to expose the paps; TO FLASH THE MUZZLE (g.v.) ; TO FLASH ONE'S TICKER = to air one's watch; TO FLASH THE DRAG = to wear women's clothes for immoral purposes; TO FLASH THE WHITE GRlX = see GRIN J TO FLASH IT (g.v.\ or TO FLASH ONE'S MEAT (cf., MEAT-FLASHER) ; TO FLASH A BIT (g.v.) ; TO FLASH THE FLAG— to sport an a^ron ; TO FLASH THE WEDGE =to 'fence' the swag, etc.]
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Good-Night. Likewise you molls that FLASH YOUR BUBS, For swells to spot and stand you sam.”
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Straight Tip. Go crying croaks, or FLASH THE DRAG.
GOBLINS - subs. (old).—A sovereign. For synonyms, see CANARY.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Your merry GOBLINS soon stravag : Boose and the blowens cop the lot.
GRAFT - subs, (common).—Work; employment; LAY (q.v). : e.g. What GRAFT are you on now ? GREAT - GRAFT = profitable labour; GOOD BIZ (q.v.). Also GRAFTING and ELBOW-GREASE.
FRENCH SYNONYMS.— Le bas-timage (thieves'); le goupinage (thieves'); la laine (tailors'); le maquillage (thieves'); le massage (popular) ; la masse; le mhhe (printers').
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. The merry little dibbs you bag At my GRAFT, no matter what. [ A variant from the "standard translation" - SKC ]
KNAP, verb. (old).—i. To steal, receive, accept, endure, etc. Thus, TO KNAP A CLOUT = to steal a handkerchief; TO KNAP THE SWAG = to grab the booty; TO KNAP SEVEN OR FOURTEEN PENN' ORTH = to get seven or fourteen years'; TO KNAP THE GLIM = to catch a clap. In making a bargain TO KNAP the sum oftered is to accept it. MR. KNAP'S BEEN THERE, is said of a pregnant woman. To KNAP THE RUST = to fall into a rage. Originally (as in quots 1537 and 1566) KNAP = to strike : whence KNAP (theatrical) = a manual retort rehearsed and arranged; TO TAKE (or GIVE) THE KNAP = to receive (or administer) a sham blow; and KNAPPER = the head or RECEIVER GENERAL
1537. Thersites [DoosLEY, Old Plays (1874), i. 428]. She KNAPPETH me in the nose.
1566. KNOX, Reformation in Scotland I. i. 47 (Wodrow Society, 1846). And then begane no little fray, but yitt a meary game ; for rockattes were rent; typpets were torn, crownes were KNAPPED.
LAG, subs. (old).— i. Sentence of transportation or penal servitude; transportation.
1821. HAGGART, Life, p. 18. Under sentence of LAG for spunk.
2. (thieves').—i. A returned transport; (2) a convict; and (3) a ticket-of-leave man. For synonyms see WRONG 'UN.
1811. Lex. Bal., s.v. LAG, a man transported.
1828. BEE,Lt'vi'ng-Picture of London, p. 39. A few are returned LAGS.
1834. AINSWORTH, Rookwood, iii. 5. And thus was I bowled out at last, And into the jug for a LAG was cast.”
MACE, subs. (old).— See quots.
1785. GROSE, Vulgar Tongue, s.v. MACE, the MACE is a rogue assuming the character of a gentleman, or opulent tradesman, who under that appearance defrauds workmen, by borrowing a watch or other piece of goods, till one he bespeaks is done.
1821. EGAN, Life in London, 287. MACE . . . which is a slang term for imposition or robbery.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, ii. Fiddle, or fence, or MACE, or mack.
Verb, (common).—To defraud. See quot. 1868. Also ON THE MACE, and TO STRIKE THE MACE.
MACK, -verb, (common).— See MACKEREL.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, ii. Fiddle, or fence, or mace, or MACK.
MACKEREL, subs. (old).—i. A pander ; and (2), a bawd. [SKEAT : O. Fr. maquereau = pandar, from Teut. source preserved in Du., makelaar = broker, pandar, from Du. makelen = to procure].
1483. CAXTON, Cato Magnus. Nighe his house dwellyd a MAQUEREL or bawde.
[...] 1630. TAYLOR, Wks. [NARES]. As some get their living by their tounges, as interpreters, lawyers, oratours, and flatterers ; some by tayles, as MAQUEREL-LAES, concubines, curtezanes, or in plaine English, whores.
MOSKENEER, verb, (common).—To pawn for more than the pledge is worth: MOSKERS (g.v.} = men who make MOSKENEERING a profession. Also as subs. = the agent.
1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon'* Straight Tip. Fiddle, or fence, or mace, or mack ; Or MOSKENEER, or flash the drag.
1893. EMERSON, Signor Lippo, 100. He MOSKENEERS from twenty to thirty supers a week. Ibid. p. 99. As we were talking in came Johnson, a fair MOSKENEER.
[...] 1883. Daily Telegraph, 9 July, p. 3, col. i. The MOSKER .... is, in slang vernacular, one who makes a living by taking advantage of the business incapacity of persons engaged in the pawn-broking trade, and by subtle wiles and subterfuge imposes on their credulity and weak good nature. [From long article on The MOSKER].
MULTY, adj. (common).—An expletive. Cf. MONDAY, etc. MONDAY, subs, (common).—An intensitive. Cf. AWFUL, BLEEDING, BLOODY, etc.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. How do you melt the MULTY swag ? Booze and the blowens cop the lot.
MUMMER, subs, (theatrical).—i. A player.
1599. Solyman and Perseda [DODSLEY, Old Plays (1874), v. 309]. I was one of the MUMMERS myself, simple as I stand here.
1605. MARSTON, Insatiate Countesse, iii. Dost make a MUMMER of me, oxe-head ? Make answer gentleman.
1610. SHAKSPEARE, Coriolanus, ii. i. If you chance to be pinched with the cholick, you make faces like MUMMERS.
MUMP, verb. (old).—I. To beg.
1624. MASSINGER, Parliament of Love, ii. i. And, when she finds she is of all forsaken, Let my lady Pride repent in vain, and MUMP, And envy others' markets.
1633. Match at Midnight, ii. i. Remember that you do not MUMP, as if you were chewing bacon.
1673. DAVENANT, Playhouse to Let, v. Of MUMPING minx would we were fairly out.
1678. COTTON, Virgil Travestie, in Works (1725), Bk. iv. p. 72. Then she begins to MUMP and smatter.
[...] 1887. W. E. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Bonnet, or tout, or MUMP and gag.
NAG, subs, (colloquial). — i. A horse; a MOUNT (q.v.): see PRAD. Also NAGGON, NAGGIE or NAGGY, and (Scots') = a horse of blood.
c.i 189. Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), i., 7727. He neyt as a NAGGE at his nosethrilles !
£.1596. Dick o' the Cow. [CHILD, Ballads, vi., 80]: Yet here is a wliite-footed NAGIE, I think he'll carry both thee and me.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, i Hen. IV., iii., i, 135. Like the forced gait of a shuffling NAG.
[...] 1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, i. Or fake the broads, or fig a NAG.
NIP - Verb, (colloquial). — I. pinch. See quot. 1696.
[16?]. Little John and the Four Beggars, 49 [CHILD, Ballads, v. 327]. John NIPPED the dumb, and made him to rore.
£.1696. B. E., Diet. Cant. Crew, s.v. NIP. To Press between the Fingers and Thumb without the Nails, or with any broad Instrument like a pair of Tongs as to squeeze between Edged Instruments or Pincers.
1859. TENNYSON, Merlin and Vivien, 200. _ May this hard earth cleave to the Nadir hell, Down, down, and close again and NIP me flat.
1886. GREELY, Arctic Service, 73. The launch . . was NIPPED between two floes of last year's growth.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip to all Cross Coves [FARMER, Musa Pedes-tris (1896), 177]. It's up the spout and CHARLEY-WAG With wipes and tickers and what not. Until the squeezer NIPS your scrag, Booze and the blowens cop the lot.
NIX (or NICKS), adv. (common).— Nothing. Also NIX MY DOLL, and (American), NIXY and NIXY-CULLY. SYNONYMS. Ack (Christ's Hospital) ; love ; nib, niberque, niberte, nif, nisce, nix (French) ; niba, niberto (Italian); nexo (Spanish).
1789. GEO. PARKER, Life's Painter, p. 143. NICKS. How they have brought a German word into cant I know not, but NICKS means nothing in the cant language.
[...] 1824. Boxiana, iv., 444. Men who can be backed for large stakes do seldom fight for NIX (comically called ' love ')
1852. Old Song; 'The Cadger's Ball' [FARMER, Musa Pedestris (1896), 147]. Old Mother Swankey, she consented to lend her lodging-house for NIX.
1858. A. MAYHEW, Paved-with Gold, in., i, p. 254. Do you see all this land? said he ... well, the grandfather of this here Lord Southwark got it for NIX.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, 3. For NIX, for NIX the dibbs you bag.
1892. Ally Sloper, 19 Mar., 90, 3. When death of Uncle John bereft us, We said we mourned because he'd left us ; Our mourning was a lot profounder To find he'd left us NIX —the bounder !
NOSE, subs. (old).—I. An informer. Fr., une riflette; une tante ; une soulasse, and une sondeur.
1789. PARKER, Life's Painter, 167, s.v. NOSE. Snitch.
[...] 1828. BEE, Living Picture of London, 286. They are frequently made use of as NOSES by the officers.
1836. BARHAM, Ingoldsby Legends (ed. 1862), 356. Now Bill, . . . Who as his last speech sufficiently shows Was a ' regular trump'—did not like to turn NOSE?
1838. REYNOLDS, Pickwick Abroad, 223. I was never a NOSE for the regulars came Whenever a pannie was done.
2. (police).—A paid spy; A SHADOW (q.v.) ; a NARK (q.v.). Also NOSER.
1819. VAUX, Memoirs, s.v. A person who, seeing one or more suspicious characters in the street, makes a point of watching them, in order to frustrate any attempt they may make, or cause their apprehension.
“1823. GROSE, Vulg. Tongue [EGAN], S.Y. NOSE.
1851-61. MAYHEW, Land. Lab. and Land. Poor, i. 391. I live in Westminster, at a padding-ken. I'd rather not tell you where, not I've anything to fear,_ but people might think I was a NOSE, if anybody came after me.
1862. Comhill Mag., ii. 336. There are a few men and women among thieves called NOSERS. They are so called because they are in the secret pay of the police, giving information when the information will not lead to the crimination of themselves.
PAD - Verb. (Old Cant). — I. To travel on foot; to tramp: also TO PAD (PLOD, BANG, or BEAT) THE HOOF (f.v.~). Fr. fendre F ergot {= to split the spur).
1598-9. SHAKSPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor, L 3. Trudge, PLOD, away,
1610. ROWLANDS, Martin Mark-All, 'The Maunder's Wooing.' O Ben mort wilt thou PAD with me.
1644-55. HOWELL, Letters, \. i. 17 [1726]. The Secretary was put to BEAT THE HOOP himself, and foot it home.
1659. BRADFORD, Letters [Parker Soc. (1858), ii. 46]. Though the weather be foul . . . yet go not ye alone . . . your brothers and sisters PAD the same path.
1684. BUNYAN, Pilgrim's Progress, n. A lion . . . came a great PADDING pace after.
[...] 1883. Daily News, 22 June, 3, 2. As the child of Seven Dials walks the streets, PADDING THE weary HOOF .... he sees plenty of street sights.
2. (old).—To rob on foot, or on the highway : also TO GO ON THEPAD.— B. E. (c. 1696); GROSE (1785).
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, 2. PAD with a slang, or chuck a fag.
“1639. FORD, Lady's Trial, v. L One can . . . pick a pocket, PAD for a cloak, or hat, and, in the dark, Pistol a straggler for a quarter-ducat.
1685. COTTON MATHER, Discourse on Witchcraft (1689), 7. As if you or I should say: We never met with any robbers on the road, therefore there never was any PADDING there.
I745. SWIFT, to Mr. Congreve [Century]. These PAD on wit's high-road, and suits maintain, with those they rob.
POT - 2. (sporting).—A large sum ; the collective amount of money staked; the pool. Hence (racing) = a horse backed for a large amount, a favourite ; TO POT, or TO PUT ON THE POT = to wager large sums (BEE, 1823); and TO UPSET THE POT = to beat the favourite.
1840. Sporting- Review, iv. _ii9- It needed only to lay against all, to insure a prize proportioned to the POT put on.
1859. LEVER, Davenport Dunn [TAUCHNITZ], L 191. Ihe horse you have backed with a heavy POT.
[...] “1887. HENLEY, Dillon's Straight Tip, \. Suppose . . . you land your POT . . . Booze and the blowens cop the lot.
RAG - 4. (American). — Bank paper, bills of exchange, and so forth ; SOFT (q.v.). Whence RAG-SHOP = a bank (see ante) ; RAG-SHOP BOSS (or COVE) = a banker; RAG-SHOP COVE = a cashier ; RAG-MONEY (or CURRENCY) = SOFT-(q.v.) ; TO FLASH ONE'S RAGS = to display one's notes ; WITHOUT A RAG = penniless. Old Cant. = a farthing : whence in //. = money (B. E. and GROSE).
1593. SHAKSPEARE, Com. Errors, v. 4. 93. Not a RAG of money.
1613. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER, Captain, iv. z. fac. 'Twere good she had a little foolish money To rub the time away with. Host. Not a RAG, Not a denier.
1826. Old Song, ' Bobby and His Mary ' [FARMER, Afusa Pedestris (1896), 95]. The blunt ran shy, and Bobby brushed To get more RAG not fearing.
1840. American Song . . . banks are all clean broke, Their RAG good for naught.
[...] 1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, i. Suppose . . . you pitch a snide, or smash a RAG.
1889. LELAND in S. J. & C. s.v. RAGS . . . bank-bills. Before . . . uniform currency, bills of innumerable banks of the " wild cat," "blue pup," and " ees' dog" description often circulated at a discount of 50 or 60 per cent., in a very dirty and Uttered condition. These were . . . RAGS, a word still used ... for paper-money.
SCRAG (or CRAG), sttbs. (old).— The neck; COLQUARRON (q.v. ): as verb. — (i) to hang ; and (2) to throttle. Hence SCRAGGING = an execution : SCRAG-BOY = the hangman ; SCRAGGING-POST (SCRAG-SQUEEZER or SCRAG) = the gallows; SCRAGG-'EM FAIR = a public execution (GROSE, PARKER, VAUX).
1555. LYNDSAV, Tkrie Estaitis [E. E. T. S., 4031]. Allace! Maister, ye hurt my CRAG.
1579. SPENSER, Shep. Calendar, Feb., 89. Thy Ewes that woont to haue blowen bags, Like wailefull widdowes hangen their CRAGS.
1653. MIDDLETON, Changeling, \. 2. The devil put the rope about her CRAG.
1780. TOMLINSON, Slang Pastoral, 10. What Kiddy's so rum as to get himself SCRAGG'D.
£.1787. Kilmainham Minit [Ireland Sixty Years Ago, 88]. But if dat de slang you run sly, The SCRAG-BOY may yet be outwitted, And I scout again on de lay.
1820. London Mag., i. 26. The SCRAGGING-POST must have been his fate.
1827. LYTTON, Pelham, Ixxxiii. If he pikes we shall all be SCRAGGED.
1829. The Lag^s Lament [Vidocq's Mem., iii. 169). Snitch on the gang, that'll be the best vay To save your SCRAG.
1834. AINSWORTH, Roohwood, v. i. I wish I was as certain of my reward as whinger at once And SCRAG Jane, while I spiflicate Johnny.
1838. DICKENS, Oliver Twist, xviii. Indicating, by a lively pantomimic representation, that SCRAGGING and' hanging were one and the same thing.
1843. MONCRIEFF, Scamps oj London, ii. 3. He was three times lagged, and werry near SCRAGGED.
1883. D. Telegraph, 7 August, 6, 2. His waistcoat was of the tight up round the SCRAG pattern.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Until the squeezer nips your SCRAG, Booze and the blowens cop the lot
SCREEVE, SCREEVE (or SCREAVE) (old). I. Anything written : a begging letter, a testimonial, chalk pavement work, &c. Also (2) a bank note (Scots) : cf. SCREEN ; SCREEVETON = the Bank of England. As verb. — to write, or draw; SCREEVER (or SCREEVE-FAKER) = (i) a cheeky beggar (GROSE, VAUX), and spec. (2) a pavement- ' artist. '
1821. HAGGART, Life, 25. The SCREAVES were in his benjy cloy.
1851-61. MAYHEW, Lond. Lab., \. 339. Professional beggars are . . . those who ' do it on the blob' (by word of mouth), and those who do it by SCREEVING, that is, by petitions and letters. Ibid. i. .341. Such a ' fakement' [a begging petition, &c.], put into the hands of an experienced lurker, will bring the 'amanuensis,' or SCREEVER, two guineas at least, and the proceeds of such an expedition have in many cases averaged ,£60 per week. Ibid., \. 542. His chief practice was SCREEVING or writing on the pavement. Ibid. (1862), iv. 442.
SLANG - 5. (old).—A beggar's pass ; a hawker's license: any official instrument. ON THE SLANG = begging or peddling. Hence (6) a pursuit; a LAY (q.v.)\ a LURK (q.v.).
1789. PARKER, Variegated Characters. How do you work now? Oh, upon THE old SLANG and sometimes a little bully-prigging.
7. (showmen's).—(a) A travelling show ; a cheap-jack's van ; and (b) a performance; a TURN (q.v.) : e.g., the first, second, or third SLANG = the first, second, or third HOUSE (q.v.), when more than one performance is given during the evening. Also THE SLANGS = (i) a collection of shows, and (2) the showman's profession; SLANGING and SLANG-CULL (see quot. 1789); SLANG-AND-PITCHER SHOP = (l) a cheap-jack's van, and (2) a wholesale dealer in cheap-jack wares ; SLANG-TREE = (i) a stage, and (2) a trapeze : hence TO CLIMB UP THE SLANG TREE
= (i) to perform, and (2) to make an exhibition of oneself.
1789. PARKER, Var. Characters. To exhibit anything in a fair or market, such as a tall man, or a cow with two heads, that's called SLANGING, and the exhibitor is called a SLANG-CULL.
1851-61. MAYHEW, Land. Lab., i. 353. The SLANG-COVES (the showmen) have . . . been refused.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, 2. Pad with a SLANG, or chuck a fag.
1888. HOOD, Comic Annual, 52. There were all kinds of fakes on the SLANGS . . . amongst others some Chinese acrobatic work.
SMASH - Verb, (thieves').—To utter base coin. Hence SMASHER = (i) base coin or paper ; and (2) one who passes base money into circulation (GROSE and VAUX). Also 2. (common) = to give change (BEE): as subs. = loose change.
1823. BEE, Diet. Turf, s.v. SMASHED . . . SMASHERS— passers of bad money were so called during the pest of the old smooth coin. The term was soon extended to bad notes of the Bank of England ; and their occupation was called SMASHING from the resemblance each bore the other in morals.
1834. AINSWORTH, Rookwood, ' Jerry Juniper's Chaunt." Readily the queer screens I then could SMASH.
1840. LYTTON, Paul Clifford, xxxi. Stretched for SMASHING queer screens.
1883. GREENWOOD, Tag, Rag, and Co. The individual mentioned on the paper was a SMASHER.
1886. Ev. Standard, n Jan. Paper of a kind commonly used by SMASHERS to wrap up their coins, to prevent their rubbing against each other.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip, You pitch a snide, or SMASH a rag.
SNIDE (or Sttio),su6s. (Scots').—i. Sixpence: see RHINO.
2. (common).—Anything mean or spurious : as a contemptible wretch, counterfeit coin, &c. As adj. (also SNIDDY or SNIDEY) = bad, wretched, contemptible, or (army) dirty. SNIDE-PITCHING (see quot. 1868).
1868. Temple Bar, xxxiv. 538. SNYDE-PITCHING is passing bad money, and it is a capital racket.
1876. A. MURSELL, Shady Pastorals. Sometimes the police will help the thieves by getting SNIDE witnesses . . . who will swear anything according to instructions.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Or PITCH A SNIDE, or knap a yack.
1887. FRANCIS, Saddle and Mocassin. These 'ere men don't want none of your SNIDE outfits, but just good bronchos and a waggon, and strong harness.
SPOT - 3. (racing) = to pick out, to choose, to chance upon : e.g. y TO SPOT THE WINNER.
1851-61. MAYHEW, Lend. Lab., i. 484. At length he became SPOTTED. The police got to know him, and he was apprehended, tried, and convicted.
1857. M. Chron., 22 June. Having met with tolerable success in SPOTTING the winners.
1861. HOLMES, Elsie Venner, xxi. The Widow Leech . . . rang three times . . . but all in vain ; the inside Widow having SPOTTED the outside one through the blinds.
[...] “many a time when she didn't think I was lookin'.
1902. Free Lance, 19 July, 377, i. To hear you laugh is as good as SPOTTING
A WINNER.
1903. Punch's Almanack, 12, i. B. P. gives a thrilling example of experiment on this line. Got up a tree and watched how many passers-by SPOTTED him.
4. (common).—To gamble.
PHRASES AND COMBINATIONS. —A SOFT SPOT = an easy, comfortable, or desirable berth, thing, or circumstance: see HUNT ; TO KNOCK SPOTS OUT OF (see KNOCK) ; ON (or OFF) THE SPOT = alert, dead certain ; IN SPOTS = by snatches; TO HAVE A VACANT SPOT = to be crazy.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Palm and be always ON THE SPOT. [ This is variant from the "standard translation" - SKC ]
SPOUT - subs, (common). — i. A pawnbroker's shoot or lift from shop to store-room ; whence (2) = a pawnbroker's. As verb. = to pawn; UP THE SPOUT (or SPOUTED) = pawned : in America ' gone where the WOODBINE (q.v.) twineth' (GROSE and BEE). Also UP THE SPOUT = imprisoned, in hospital (BEE).
[...] ENGLISH SYNONYMS. — To blue ; to bullock's-horn (rhyming = pawn); to flue (or put up the flue); to lay up in lavender ; to lug; to lumber ; TO MOSKENEER (q.v.); to put away; to send to uncle's ; to soak ; to spout; to sweat; to vamp ; to warehouse.
FRENCH SYNONYMS. — Accra-cher chez sa tante (= UNCLE, q.v. ); enclouer ; guinaliser.
1837 BARHAM, Ingoldsby Leg., n. 16. His pockets, no doubt, Being turned inside out, That his mouchoir and gloves may be put UP THE SPOUT.
[...] 1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. It's UP THE SPOUT and Charley-wag.
SQUARE - 2. (colloquial).—To be entirely in agreement, to arrange, to accommodate. Whence ON (or UPON) THE SQUARE (or SQUARELY, adv. ) = absolutely dependable ; ALL SQUARE (or SQUARES) = all right; SQUARE TO (BY THE SQUARE, or IN SQUARE) = suitable, exact, in amity or agreement ; TO KEEP SQUARE = to lead a straight life. Also in combination : amongst others, SQUARE BACKDOWN = a palpable retreat; SQUARE PIECE = a decent girl; SQUARE ANSWER = an unmistakable reply; SQUARE CLOBBER = respectable clothes; SQUARE CRIB = 'a house of good repute* (GROSE); SQUARE TATS = honest dice; SQUARE DRINKER = a steady toper; SQUARE EATER — a hearty feeder; SQUARE THING = the truth : see quot. 1785 : also SQUARE HEAD (thieves') = an honest man ; SQUARE MEAL = a substantial repast; SQUARE PLAY = fair play ; SQUARE-RIGGED = well-dressed, &c., &c.
1589. PUTTENHAM, Arte of Eng. Poesie [ARBER], 113. A constant minded man, euen egal and direct on all sides, and not easily ouerthrowne by euery little aduersitie ... a SQUARE MAN.
[...] 1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Suppose you try a different tack, And ON THE SQUARE you flash your flag.
[...] ON THE SQUARE
3. (colloquial).—To bribe; to pay. Thus TO SQUARE MATTERS = to pay off: also TO SQUARE THE YARDS (nautical); TO SQUARE UP = to settle a bill.
1835. DANA, Before the Mast, xxvi. Many a delay and vexation . . . did he get to pay up the old scores, or ' SQUARE THE YARDS with the bloody quill-driver.'
SQUEEZER - (or SQUEEZE), subs. (old).—i. The neck (GROSE and VAUX). Also (2) = the hangman's noose.
MAKER, The Night Before Larry was Stretched. For Larry was always the lad, When a friend was condemned to the SQUEEZER, He'd fence all the togs that he had, Just to help the poor boy to a sneezer.
c.i 866. VANCE, Chickaleary Cove. The stock around my SQUEEZE of a guiver colour see.
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. Until the SQUEEZER nips your scrag, Booze and the blowens cop the lot.
STAG - “5. (common).—A shilling: see RHINO. [ “RHINO, subs, (old).—Money : generic; specifically ready money. —B. E. (^.1696); DYCHE(i748); GROSE (1785). Whence RHINO-FAT (or RHINOCERAL) = rich.]
1887. HENLEY, Villon's Straight Tip. You cannot bank a single STAG.
STRAVAG - “Stravag (or Stravaig), verb. (Scots and Irish).—To tramp; to loaf; to abscond. Hence STRAVAlGER = a vagabond.
1887. Henley, Villon's Straight Tip. Your merry goblins soon stravag.
1888. Black, Far Lochaber, vii. Prancing down to the shore and back from the shore—and stravayging about the place.
TATS - Tat, subs. (Old Cant).—i. In pi. = dice. Whence tat BOX = a dice box; tat-monger (or TATOGEY) = a sharper or cheat using loaded dice ; tat's-man = a dicing gambler ; TAT-SHOP = a gambling den (B. E. and Grose): see Ivories.
1887. Henley, Villon's Straight Tip. Rattle the tats, or mark the spot.
TICKERS - subs, (common).—i. A watch (Grose) : also tick. Fr. tocante.
1789. Parker, Varieg. Charac. You know you'll buy a dozen or two of wipes, dobbin cants, or a farm, or a tick with any rascal.
1829. Maginn, Vidocq's Slang Song [Farmer, Musa Pedestris (1896), 107]. When his ticker I set a-going, With his onions, chain, and key.
1830. Egan, Finish Life, 217, I have lost my ticker ; and all my toggery has been boned.
1838. Dickens, Oliver Twist, xviii. 'And always put this in your pipe, Nolly,' said the Dodger. ' If you don't take fogies and tickers . . . some other cove will.'
1877. Five Years' Penal Servitude, iv. 270. He listened to the tempter, 'filched the ticker,' and was nailed almost immediately.
1887. Henley, Villon s Straight Tip. It's up the spout and Charley-wag, With wipes and tickers and what not.
***
[ The Ballad is one of the most popular forms of verse - with or without music. The earliest known ballad is Judas, Child Ballad 23, from the 13th century (eg. the Child Ballads by Anais Mitchell).
HIT wes upon a Scere-thorsday that ure loverd aros;
Ful milde were the wordes he spec to Judas.
‘Judas, thou most to Jurselem, oure mete for to bugge;
Thritti platen of selver thou bere up othi rugge.
‘Thou comest fer ithe brode stret, fer ithe brode strete;
Summe of thine tunesmen ther thou meiht imete.’
Immette wid is soster, the swikele wimon.
‘Judas, thou were wrthe me stende the wid ston,
For the false prophete that tou bilevest upon.’
‘Be stille, leve soster, thin herte the tobreke!
Wiste min loverd Crist, ful wel he wolde be wreke.’
‘Judas, go thou on the roc, heie upon the ston;
Lei thin heved imy barm, slep thou the anon.’
Sone so Judas of slepe was awake,
Thritti platen of selver from hym weren itake.
He drou hymselve bi the cop, that al it lavede a blode;
The Jewes out of Jurselem awenden he were wode.
Foret hym com the riche Jeu that heihte Pilatus:
‘Wolte sulle thi loverd, that hette Jesus?’
‘I nul sulle my loverd [for] nones cunnes eihte,
Bote hit be for the thritti platen that he me bitaihte.’
‘Wolte sulle thi lord Crist for enes cunnes golde?’
‘Nay, bote hit be for the platen that he habben wolde.’
In him com ur lord Crist gon, as is postles seten at mete:
‘Wou sitte ye, postles, ant wi nule ye ete?
[‘Wou sitte ye, postles, ant wi nule ye ete?]
Ic am ibouht ant isold today for oure mete.’
Up stod him Judas: ‘Lord, am I that . . .?
‘I nas never othe stude ther me the evel spec.’
Up him stod Peter, and spec wid al is mihte,
‘Thau Pilatus him come wid ten hundred cnihtes,
Yet ic wolde, loverd, for thi love fihte.’
‘Still thou be, Peter, wel I the icnowe;
Thou wolt fursake me thrien ar the coc him crowe.’
