Any period of history has its own vocabulary, both standard and slang. The Regency was no different, and in order to capture the spirit of the time I have used words and phrases that may not be familiar to the modern reader. Each book has its own glossary, but here are some of the more common phrases that appear in several of the books.
Abbess – the madam of a brothel
Barouche – a large, open, four-wheeled carriage, heavy and luxurious, with a collapsible hood over the rear half, and drawn by two horses
Bawd – pimp, procurer, someone who seeks clients for a prostitute (could be used for either gender, but male bawds were sometimes called “cock bawds” to make it clear)
Bethlem – Bethlem hospital (sometimes called Bedlam) was founded in London in 1247 and soon started to specialise in treating illnesses of the mind; it continues this work today, as Bethlem Royal Hospital in Bromley in Kent
Bird-witted – gullible and easily fooled
Bluecoat boys – pupils from charity schools, whose uniform often consisted of a blue coat (blue being the traditional colour of charity)
Bow Street runners – London’s first professional police force, originally consisting of six men and operating out of Bow Street magistrates’ office. Their role was gradually taken over by magistrates’ constables – like Sam – and by 1828 they were spending most of their time using their city-honed skills to investigate offences outside London. The runners were formally disbanded in 1839.
Budget – wallet
Buffle-headed – stupid and dull, confused
Bye-blow – an illegitimate child
Cast up one’s account – to vomit
Chaise – an enclosed, four-wheeled, small carriage seating up to three people (snugly) on one forward-facing seat – it is driven by a postillion mounted on one of the two horses
Chit – a baby or young infant
Clipper – someone who clips metal off coins, creating coins that contained less precious metal and keeping the clippings
Clout – baby’s nappy or diaper
Coiner – a maker of fake coins, usually by making a sand mould from a genuine coin and then manufacturing counterfeit coins with sub-standard metal, colouring them to look right
Covent Garden nun – a prostitute working in or near Covent Garden
Cork-brained – simple, foolish, unthinking
Cracksman – a house-breaker, a burglar
Cropsick – sick to the stomach from drunkenness
Curricle – a light, open, two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses side-by-side – a sports car of its day
Dead men – empty bottles and glasses, as found on the table of a drinking establishment
Dropsy – the old medical word for an oedema (a swelling caused by fluid retention)
Dry boots – a sly, humorous fellow
Fart catcher – a valet or footman, who always walks behind his master or mistress
Gammon – flattery, deceit, pretence (to gammon a person is to give him false assurances to achieve a particular end)
Garnish – in Newgate and other prisons, the payment of garnish to the warder will mean that the prisoner is not shackled in chains but is allowed free movement of his limbs, and further payments will secure other comforts such as better food, or the services of a cleaning woman or prostitute
Grease someone in the fist – to bribe someone
Greenhead – an inexperienced young man
Gull – a simple, credulous person who is easily deceived
Guzzle guts – someone who is fond of their drink
Hackney coach – a vehicle for hire, with four wheels, two horses and six seats, driven by a jarvey
Hum box – pulpit
In a maze – in a pickle, in a mess, in a lot of trouble
In the suds – in trouble, in a disagreeable situation
Jarvey – a driver of a hackney coach
Ladybird – a woman of easy virtue, a prostitute
Light-heeled – swift at running
Macaroni – a foppish man, fond of excessive fashion, luxurious fabrics, tall wigs and the like
Nibbler – a pilferer, a petty thief
Nip – a half-pint
Nose – a criminal who informs or turns King’s evidence in hope of a lighter sentence
Old Harry – the Devil
Pigeon – a weak, silly man, easily imposed upon or cheated
Poltroon – a coward, a rascal, a scoundrel, and a favourite nineteenth century insult
Quality – the upper class of society
Rookery – city slum area frequented by criminals and prostitutes
Rum cull – a rich, silly fellow, easily cheated and exploited
Threepenny ordinary – a set meal of meat, broth and beer, costing threepence
Toper – a drunkard
Topping man – a wealthy man
Shanks’ pony – one’s own legs, used as a means of transport
Square toes – an old man, as they are fond of wearing comfortable shoes with room around the toes
Toper – a drunkard
Trencherman – a hearty eater, from the word trencher, which is a flat piece of wood on which a meal was served in mediaeval times
Trim – to cheat or deceive someone, especially of money
Waterman – originally watermen plied boats for hire on the Thames, but as hackney coaches took over as the main means of public transport in London, a compromise was reached to employ former watermen on coach stands around the city to provide water and care to the horses pulling the coaches – this is the role they fulfil in the 1820s
Wild rogue – a rogue trained from the cradle, i.e. what we would call a career criminal
