certificate, whose owner will put upon him the highest weight required by the rules of any particular race. Weights, in post-stakes, those for which the ages merely are entered in the articles; and upon coming to the post, you run either of those named, or any other of the same age. Welch rabbit-cheese and bread, both toasted. Those socalled rabbits (quere rare-bits?) seldom bolt, upon any occasion, in greater numbers than braces and treys; but a certain book-knight, entertaining a large party of bookpeople at the London,' pompously ordered up a couple of dozen of Welch rabbits,' which naturally raised the grin ; hereupon the knight rung again boisterously, and in great stew commanded five dozen of rabbits'-and they appeared accordingly, but without legs. N. B. The real coney is a great favorite with all the book-men.

6

Wet, a little somewhat drunky; but a wet soul,' is he
who gets drunk a little and often.' See Heavy.
Whack-share in any concern or thing; also an Irish excla-
mation, meaning something like a smack-of the hand.
"Jem and Harry vhacked the blunt a-tween them two.' 'I
shall have my vhack of the booty; I'll open else.' Paddy-
whack -any Irishman.

"With a whack! for my sweet Kitty Grogan,
The delight of her dear Darby Logan,
And whilst I've a tongue with the brogue on,
Oh! I'll bother the world with her praise."

See Pip.

Whelp a boy with dog's-tricks. Those ladies who would call him dog must wait until he is full grown; when aged he will be an old dog; and if he mag too much he is a yapping old dog-and all the ladies his sisters b--s. When Pallas would stay the regicide arm of Achilles, she

"swift descending down,

Lent him a knock upon the crown;
Then roar'd as loud as she could yelp,
Lugging his ears, 'tis I you whelp.”

Whid-talk. Hold your whid,' is to stow magging. The whiddle'-trial, or police-examination. To wheedle-to soothe, cajole, or coax.

Whigs-a political party; oligarchs, that do not worship the episcopacy; civil liberty on their lips, the crown in their teeth, philanthropy on their tongues, with tough lungs and piping trachea, 'the sacred duty of insurrection' is ever at heart. Colour-blue and buff; but, when Pitt threw

off the chrysalid, and butterflied it among the tories, he 'carried on the war' under the same colours. Whiggamores-an expanded scholia of whigs;' the political party upon whose principles the present family were secured in the succession to the throne. The Scotch derivation runs thus, 'Not from sour milk, as is somewhere alleged, but from the cry of the West-country horse-dealers to their trains of horses. To whig, is to make haste. Hence whig away,' and whig a more' was the usual cry of those country jockies, who bequeathed their name to a numerous political party;' so says Sir W. Scott. Whip-hand the right, or that which you give to persons met on the road. To have the whip-hand of one,' to have the best, or take advantage in a bargain of horses, &c. The left is the bridle-hand. Brother whip,' a stagecoach driver; also the four-in-hand club, who were all prime whips.' To' whip out the ring,' ten or twelve pugilists, with whips, clear a large space round the roped ring; and the spectators then form the personal ring, or outer ring; the whippers' pay 5s. each.

·

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Whipper-in (the) of the House of Commons'-the ministerial Jackal, formerly called the manager' of the Mandarin members. He who, in the chase, flogs up lagging hounds. Whipper-snipper Jack-a thin, active underling, togged high. Whipping-most men of any school attainments know its import; the learning that is driven in at the bottom must be fundamentally good, upon which the upper works may draw at will, or rest at leisure. Whip me the man without understanding'-fools live ye upon lack-wit. • To eat whip syllabub,' or whip out the cove's ticker,' is not half such hard work as coal-whipping,' at which the whippers, six or eight in number, buff-it; then, by running up steps and throwing themselves off, they whip out a large measure of coals (by means of a snatch-block) from brigs to barges. Whipping the cat'-mechanics idling their time. Derived from the practice of bricklayers' men, who, when repairing the pantiles, sneak into adjacent gutters, &c. pretending to be in pursuit of, and whipping the Tom cats and their moll-rows!' Whir, whirra-the noise made by large birds at rising, as pheasants, wild-fowl, &c. which astounds the young fowler,

K

6

"The sportsman finds a zest
Which all others can outvie,
With his lightning to arrest

Pheasants whirring through the sky."

Whistling-shops-those rooms in a prison where spirits are sold, contrary to the regulations.

Whites in the language of smashers, 'small whites' are shillings, large whites' half-crowns, which are also 'halfbull whites.' He who is said to carry a white feather, has the mark of a coward set upon him; in cocking, white is eschewed as indicating a runaway cock. A white swelling -a good dollop of silver. Women with child, are also

said to have the white swelling. White serjeant-the wife of a mechanic, or other man, who would drill him into certain observances. Whiz-buz, or noise, interruption of tongues. Hould your whiz there in the shilling gallery, you sixpenny half-price

marms.'

،

Who-bawla milk-woman, calling to her cows; and, by refraction, she herself.

Whoop and halloo-the calling and hallooing on of the canine, particularly harriers, has been employed to describe the whole chase-chiefly of the hare.

"Now each god and goddess

Assumed human bodies,

With whoop and halloo, boys, after the hare."

The phrase is frequently spelled hoop and hollow by careless persons, (song-smiths and such-like,) who have no regard for orthography or the dignity of the sporting character. King Arthur, speaking of his queen's vagaries, gave out the chaunt thus:

"When we husbands do give away
Unto our wives the precious sway,
We for our breeches the next day
May go whoop and halloo."

Whore's-bird-a bastard, a despicable fellow. So Juno, speaking of Hector, to her husband:

Perhaps, you'll take the whore's-bird's side,
And thrash my Grecians back and hide."

Wiggins-Mr.; any mannerist of small brains and showy feather. The three Mr. Wigginses,' portrayed by Dighton, were 'habited alike from top to toe,' and kept the step of the bird-cage walk, in their Sunday ambulations : Here's to you Mister Wiggins, And to you Mr. Figgins,

So push the bowl about.

Asperne's Song.

Win-abbreviation of Winchester-a half-penny: two farthings are not a win. Sometimes spelled whinn. Winkers-sparkling eyes-female; also, the appendages of leather, placed near the eyes of horses given to shying. 'To tip the wink'-a signal; when 'tis found a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.'

Wipe a pocket-handkerchief, of the cotton kind, though a silk one would be thus termed, as well as fogle. When this kind of article is in the last stages of consumption, they scoff at it, as a snotter.' 'Gas now entered the ring with a blue bird's eye wipe tied round his squeeze.' Vide Fancy Gaz. No. 1. Women of Pleasure-have been spoken of as 'ladies of expansive sensibility;' and the man of pleasure, as an old goat-a very satyr.

Wood-money. Hand over the wood,' said Wallis, in the Shades, and silence my customers for a song.'

Wooden-gods-the men of a draught-board. so named after the pagan worship. Thus Alcides rebukes the priest Chalchas:

A pretty fellow, thou! to teach

Our men to murmur at thy speech;
Tell lies as thick as thou can pack 'em,
And bring your wooden gods to back 'em.

Wooden-habeas

-a coffin for an imprisoned debtor. Wooden-ruff-the pillory. Taking the air for an hour.' Word-pecker-a critic upon words, a punster, or one that plays with words. The author of this Vol. is one, for certain. Worthy-commonly applied to magistrates of police, when they act with a vigour beyond the law. The scrap-news reporters use it once a week at least, lest they attract censure and lose their bread; 'tis usually set down with a grin-worthy of the police,' is police worthiness (vautrien.) When Home Sumner committed poor Joyce for not telling his name, he too was a worthy magister-rate. Like-wise Sir William C. I shall send you to Bridewell

for a month, said the worthy alderman, where you will have bread and water sufficient to keep soul and body together, and light enough to let you know there's a god in heaven.' Sublime and true; therefore not worthy. Wrangle (ring;) is that state of a battle, wherein the spectators, losers, try to make a drawn battle by jawbation, as in the case of Warren and Curtis. See Bets. Wranglers' hall-Westminster-hall, filled by Discord, who When born, though smaller than a fly, In half an hour she'll grow so high Her head will almost touch the sky. Too oft she drags both great and small In heat of blood to Wranglers' Hall, Where half their blunt is from them lugg'd, Before they find themselves humbugg'd.

X.

X or X, the sign of cheatery, or Cross, which see. Xantippe-a scold, who applies her prattle chiefly to her husband. Socrates, the moral philosopher, was bound by the marriage-act of Greece to the first Xantippe-who was a tip-slang hen.'

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X, Y, Z-pron. rapidly as exquisite, would give the sound of that word. Supposed to be derived ex 'quiz-it,' by reason of these fine fellows wearing an eye-glass, with which they quiz the ladies'-it.

Y.

To

Yarn a long story. Naval, from to spin yarn' in the dock-yard for rooving-in with king's-store ropes. yarn a sum of money,' is Cockney for to earn it. Yam-(v); to eat heartily, how he yams.' See Toco. Yupp-to bark; in the language of the pit, when dogs fight silently they are mute; if they make a noise, they are said to open; when a dog barks a little, he yapps, and is considered a cuṛ. So a man with a snarling manner, or replete with short testy replies-yappeth; if his talk be smooth, monotonous, and nonsensical, 'tis twaddle; if boisterous and accusatory, with or without oaths and asseverations-this is a blow-up.

Yarmouth-capon-a red herring, or soldier.