Cant - A Gentleman's Guide: The Language of Rogues in Georgian London

by Stephen Hart

Visiting the Underworld of Georgian London but not sure how to blend in? Can't tell a clapperdogeon from a running smobbler? Wouldn't know the upright man if he noped your costard with his filchman? You need this book. This fascinating guide will teach you all you need to know about the vocabulary of the Rogues of Georgian London and how to function in society at the lowest level. Along the way you will acquire some much-needed information and advice on how to make false dice; how to pick pockets; how best to rob a man on a horse; and where to find a good cup of coffee at 3:00am in the morning.

Genres: Language, History, Research, Writing, Georgian, Nonfiction

194 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2013

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

Moderately useful Georgian slang guide, grouped into themes rather more usefully than many works on the subject, and with some handy background info. Slightly annoying time-travel schtick doesn't add much.

[Martine Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a historical fiction writer who virtually speaks the slang language of the eighteenth century in my sleep, I find this a wonderful addition to the rather dry collection of books on this subject. When I began writing An Appetite for Violets it was with a hard copy of 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar TongueLexicum and lots of other slang and proverb dictionaries at my elbow, all of them laboriously crammed full of post-its coloured according to each character in my book.

Needless to say, it was pretty hard-going looking up every word or nuance I wanted to use. Then I discovered Stephen Hart’s web site http://www.pascalbonenfant.com/ and for a number of happy years I have been able to use the Search facility to find a slang equivalent to many modern words. True, I still had lots of hard-copy lists and glossaries of British northern dialect and lots of my own notebooks of interesting words clustered by topic such as death, madness, sex, baking, etc, but the ability to search online by modern equivalent was simply brilliant.

So when Stephen, who surprisingly lives in Australia, offered me a copy of his e-book I did wonder if it could really add to my knowledge of the subject. All I can say, is that the book is again, quite brilliant. Taking the reader on a tour of the low-life hang-outs of 18th century London, it is a short but deep exploration of cant, the criminal lingo or slang of the era. We get more than a glossary; rather it’s a guide to that sinister city of London, at once so familiar yet so alien. As my new novel, The Penny Heart, has as a character a Botany Bay transported criminal who is indeed inducted or ‘stalled’ into ‘The Life’ of Rogues, the e-book made fascinating reading about locations and lifestyles of the Georgian criminal. And to compliment Stephen, his understanding of the sources, from Captain Grose to the convict James Hardy Vaux, is terrific. What he has done is to offer readers and writers, an insight into the richness of criminal language in all its bravado, crudity and sentiment. The criminal underworld was a vital subculture occupying a fascinating situation beside the Enlightenment discourse of politeness, characterised as gross, saucy and cruel, but in striving to understand why criminals and convicts needed and used such a separate discourse, Stephen has to my mind, taken a few important steps forward in helping us understand this incredibly lively and amoral world.

[Cathy Geha · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are considering time travel to Georgian England and plan to spend time with rogues and rapscallions then this is a book worth packing to take along with you. Not only does it have lists of words used during that time period and what they correlate with today but it also provides some interesting tidbits on where to eat, gamble, attend fights of various types, punishment, jails, religion and consorting with those that are paid for their hospitality. This is a fun book and resource to keep on hand while reading Georgian period novels.

[Irene Lázaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

antes de empezar a leerlo no podía imaginar lo mucho que me iba a gustar. es una mezcla entre diccionario y guia turística del Londres georgiano barriobajero. me he reído un montón y he aprendido muchas cosas de esas que sueltas en una conversación discretamente y sorprendes a todos. este libro entra en los entresijos de la vida cotidiana de la época y te habla de temas muy desconocidos como la violencia, la taberna o el sexo. vamos que es la cara opuesta a la que nos enseña jane austen. y todos sabemos que no me encanta jane austen.
no quiero impresionarte pero yo sé pedir una copa en el londres de hace 200 años.

[Jez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and Informative

An amusing, brief glimpse into the rougher side of Georgian England and the slang associated with it. Written for the casual reader of history as a tongue-in-cheek guide for time travelling tourists. Could definitely serve as a reference/source of inspiration for fiction writers interested in this period. While not exactly a deep dive into the subject, the digressions offer more context, keeping this from simply being a list of canting terms.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much useful information

A good book to review and increase your knowledge of Georgian times. I’m writing in the era so it’s been an interesting helpful read.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's funny - my main experience with the cant explored in this book is through Lyndsay Faye's marvelous Timothy Wilde trilogy, set in New York. It is there I've heard (because I listened to the audiobooks) this cant in all its glory, not in books set in England.

There are some great stories in here about the slang people have come up with for various things – but now and then I would have loved another paragraph, or even another sentence, about the origins of terms (or even just "we don't know why"). Example: the nine of diamonds in cards is known as "Curse of Scotland", and the four of clubs as "Wibling’s Witch". These are terrific … but there have to be stories behind them. (For anyone else who's curious: Wibling's Witch; The Curse of Scotland. They are good stories.)

That being said, there is a lot of great stuff in here. I love "Vincent" as short for "innocent victim", and the fact that a shark was also known as a "Sea Lawyer". However, the author states "While the speed at which language changed did not compare to the modern era of mass communication and the Internet, nevertheless it is disingenuous to assume, as I have done, that thieves’ cant at the beginning of the period is the same as it is at the end", and so I think this is far more useful as entertainment than as a reference work for one's own period novel.

I received this book from a LibraryThing Member Giveaway in exchange for a review - thank you!

[Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the "Digressions" in this book. As a genealogist and anglophile I enjoy knowing where both the gentlemen and the ruffians might be found, primarily in Georgian London, and what their slang could have been. Little historic tidbits litter the Digressions, like Sir Hans Sloane introducing Milk Chocolate in the 18th century. Some expressions have changed drastically over the centuries. A "window peeper" use to mean a "collector of window tax". A distant "tallow chandler" ancestor might have been called a "maggot boiler". Some of the crimes seem bazaar but make sense upon reflection, such as the "black spice racket" which is robbing chimney sweeps of their soot bag. This is the kind of book you pick up to read a few pages and have a chuckle or learn something unexpected. And then pick up again.

[Cinnamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

This book is incredibly entertaining AND informative. I keep rereading it both to enjoy the humor of the author as well as to learn these terms for fun.