complete the enumeration) the Harper-street pit-Jem Rolfe's pit, in Tottenham-court-road-Harlequin Billy's and Jack Goodlad's, both in West-street, city-or Jack Nailham's, in the Mint. Tim Smith's pit nigh the latter place is nearly extinguished, 1822: the Paddington pit, not now frequented. Sometimes the company assembled are called the pit:' e. g. "I'll bet the pit all round as my dog stays the valleation of a quartern of an hour;" in imitation of the language of the playhouse-" the pit with one voice damn'd the whole performance." Not only dogfights, but bears and badgers are baited at those places, and these latter are also drawn; together with other animal sports occasionally, as baiting the monkey, killing rats, &c. Cockpit is nearly the same. See Cock. 'Pitch, and toss-up'--a game played with money, thus: a jack being placed at a distance, often at fifteen yards, the parties pitch their coin at it, and he whose money is nearest takes up all the pieces, shakes and throws them up, when as many as come heads uppermost fall to his share; the next person near the jack does the same, and so on until the blunt is all divided. To pitch the bar,' is throwing a heavy iron to great distances; so 'pitching the ring,' or horse-shoes, is heavy play, very becoming in blacksmiths. 'Pitch him to the devil,' though never perhaps executed to the full extent, is sufficiently indicative of the speaker's wish, and might cost a man his life before he could get half-way to the presence just named. 'Pitch it into him,' strike him bodily without notice. See Bellygo-firster. Pitching his gammon,' telling fibs with strong assumption of veraciousness. Placed turf; the horses that come in, so that the judge can assign to them the order in which they appear. Not placed,' is of course the contrary. See Distance. Plate-turf; a piece of plate, or the amount in money501. being called 'silver,' 80%. or 1001. gold,' to be run for on conditions specified; and they are either king's plate,' 'maiden-plate,' or the plate given by certain persons; as 'ladies plate,' 'members' plate.' Plated-butter that which has a good article outside; in the middle, lard and scrapings. Play-gambling of any sort, but chiefly understood of hazard, rouge-et-noir, and la roulette. Pleasure-What is it? One believes it to lie in bustle, noise, --- and strife, a bull-bait, a boxing-match, or worse than either, a stormy debate in the hon. H. C.; another seeks solitude and the muses, converses with antiquity, and reclines on the tranquil couch of bienseance. A third seeks the hind, or follows the fox; his neighbour takes pleasure in watching the minnow-bite, and tugging at the pike; whilst his wife murders private character, cuts up rural happiness, and consigns disbelievers to the flames. Those are inveterate habits, and last some of them to the grave; other pleasures there are which cure themselves, and run off (like syphilis) leaving the patient dilapidated: the gamester becomes poor in pocket as in soul, the debauchee weak in the loins, the drunkard nauseates wine or goes mad. Plebs-a tonish designation of the lower orders; coming from 'plebeians' among the Romans. "I mount on my box, my elbows I square; Plumb-in the city, proper-a hundred thousand legitimates. water. Poney-a little horse, (stud) and also wagers of twenty-five guineas, (turf) the one being derived from the other. Poene is a Latin word for pain, or painfulness, and all the little wild horses being mal-formed, so as to give one an idea that they walk in pain, (or Poëne) thence comes poney. Dr. Johnson knew no more of a poney or of a horse, than a horse knew of him. "Post the poney-put down money. Pontic-accounts which are not intended to be paid, are 'upon tick,' abbreviated-short in the sound, long in the term, lasting some to extreme old age, and beyond, even post mortem. Poor-creatures-potatoes. Cockney mark of despication for the very best of all edible roots: high-treason against the prince of esculents. Popp'd-put into pawn: I'll pop my tog for a bull to drink upon.' 'Popp'd out of the way,' of the bailiffs. Popp'd off,' ran away. Some persons are easily offended at trifles; they are then said to be 'popp'd,' or to take tiff. To pop, to fire a shot. A Popper-a gun-pistols are the poppers. Porter-beer, so called by reason of this class of workmen carrying off large quantities of their favourite beverage. Made of brown or high-dried malt and coarse hops; the yeast on the surface is beat in with new birch-brooms, and the beer subsequently 'fined down.' See Beer, Chemistry Intire, (in Addenda.) Possibles-money. "Tis wholly impossible to live without; every thing is possible with him who has it. Post-(turf.) Wrong side of the post,' meaning-of the winning-post, having betted upon the losing side. • Post the poney,' or 'post down the cole,' put down the money. Post-obits-bonds given by spendthrift heirs, and expectants positively, at ruinous rates; to be paid post-mortem of some old dad or nunky, with chances of survivorship. Pot-gone to pot,' dead. Put in the pot,' is said of a man who is let into a certain loss-of a wager, of his liberty, or life. I shall put on the pot at the July meeting,' signifies that the speaker will bet very high, (at races) or up to thousands. 'Pot 8-o's,' the name of a race-horse, meaning 80,000l. or guineas, Lord Abingdon once declared 'I will put on the pot to-day,' and he did so with a vengeance-his groom, Jack Oakly, put him in the pot. Potatoe-trap-the mouth. "Shut your potatoe-trap.' 'She's got the use of her potatoe-trap,'- -a scold. A wide mouth has been described as 'a beautiful potatoe-trap.' 'Pots and pans-to make,' of his property; a man must knock it about and spend all freely-then beg. Poverty-basket-a wicker cradle: allusion untrue. A Malthusian doctrine. Pound it-to lay pounds in a wager, or to increase such from shillings to pounds; to post the blunt, to im-pound it. Prads are riding-horses of any description, ponies included, but a doubt exists as to considering the jackass as a prad; because the word is evidently derived from prado, Espagnol for a gravelled walk, (the inside of a fortification,) whence comes the verb to walk; and as no Neddy can walk, or do any thing else in style, he is no prad Premium-a gift, profit, or advance upon the cost price of a thing, as a house of trade-a loan to the government, &c. "Tis understood, though not expressed, usually in the latter case: How is omnium? A. Doing at 1,' i. e. 17. 10s. premium per cent. 'Price-a man's'-the amount for which he may be brought to act dishonourably. Not at any price,'-an absolute negation put upon an inadmissible proposition. 'I won't take in your story at any price.' 'He shall not make one of our party-no, not at any price.' So radical Hunt, I will not dine in a malt-house in November, at any price.' Prickers, yeomen-whippers-in of the royal hunt; so called because they carried rods with a prick or nail at the end, in order to prick up lazy or lagging hounds, before whips came into fashion. Formerly a pricker's-plate (507.) was run for annually, at Ascot; 'tis now converted into a sweepstakes, called the Winkfield,' from the lodge so named, and royal kennel there. Pricking a hare'-running her down by her track on the snow. About four or five miles chase will bring the pricker upon puss. Prig-its present meaning is a thief; in a more confined sense pickpockets are prigs; so also those who would rob shop-windows, coaches, and the like, may be considered as priggishly inclined. Thus we have the burden of a song, And a prigging we will go.' Formerly, however, a fornicator was called a prig,' being a mere corruption of another word, differing from it only in the last letter. Prime-chief, well togg'd, any thing performed capitally. 'He's all prime,' or a prime one for that.' 'That's a prime hit.' Prodigious!-bon-ton; but not prodigious elsewhere. See Monstrous. Produce the young of any given horse or mare is its produce, whether colts or fillies; but, in a wider sense of the word, would imply any of that get, however old. Thus, Haphazard's produce won forty-one prizes in the season 1821. ' Produce stakes,' are those engagements which are entered into as soon as the mares may be in foal, to run the produce when yearlings, or two or three year-olds, as the agreement may be-but very injudiciously made. Post produce, is the same, but agreed upon soon after covering, and three mares are mentioned, but one product only is brought to the post. Property-goods, a man's wife, his horse, &c. are claimed. as 'my property.' To make a property of a man,' is to extract money from him. Public-house lawyers-those who frequent such to pick up business, or to set friends by the ears. Puff [ring]in the last round Jemmy had received a hit on the left ogle which now puffed it up.' A puff of the breath is the eloquent reply of many, (particularly Welchmen) to a laboured attempt at imposing upon them lingually. To puff off,' is to praise inordinately an article intended for sale, or the character of any one: the greater the cheatery the more puffing it requires; a good fire stands in no need of the bellows. 'Sir Henry Halford insisted upon the patient's continuing the arsenical preparation until his face became puffed,'-at a consultation of M. D.'s. Pugilism-the art and practice of manual defence. Derived from pugiles the fists, and pugnandum fighting. Straight hitting from the shoulder; to parry and counter-hit; to throw the adversary when in, to get out from his clutches, or drop from his grasp out of a chancery-suit--are characteristics of the Bristol, or native school of pugilism. Pulled-had up for crime before the magistrate. Pully-hawley-abbreviated from 'pull-away, haul-away,'apparently the action and cheering at finishing a first-rate cable. In ring affairs, two novices getting hold of each other, pully-hawley for the throw. Pullet-in common life, a female barn-door fowl, which has not yet produced eggs. Young women are so denominated, occasionally; and sometimes we have 'virgin-pullet, who though often trod has never laid.' Pulling the long bow--lying; derived from the surprising feats told of the Irish archers (see Addenda) formerly. Those sharp-shooters made nothing of killing at five miles off, or so, a mile or two being (literally) no object upon such occasions. Punch-brandy and rum, equal quantities, added to as much hot-water, sweetened with loaf-sugar; the juice of lemons and limes should be previously mixed in, and some of the sugar rubbed on the outside of the lemons. Derived from punish, as it does the heads of all sapsculls. "Can punish every sneaking knave, And with good punch reward the brave." Puns-the lowest species of wit; in which, however, many of the greatest wits have indulged. Jonathan Swift was the most incorrigible punster since James I.; but before the mighty Sam Johnson, pun dared not show his nose. Throughout Cockaigne they are punsters to a man, or indeed, to a woman. Of one of these, it was lately said, 'As |