The Faking Boy to the Crap is Gone

The Faking Boy to the Crap is Gone

Original Text
Musa Pedestris: Three Centuries of Canting Songs and Slang Rhymes [1536-1896], ed. John S. Farmer (privately printed, 1896).
1The faking boy to the crap is gone,
2At the nubbing-cheat you’ll find him;
3The hempen cord they have girded on,
4And his elbows pinned behind him.
5“Smash my glim,” cries the reg’lar card,
6“Though the girl you love betrays you,
7Don’t split, but die both game and hard,
8And grateful pals shall praise you.”
9The bolt it fell, -- a jerk, a strain!
10The sheriff’s fled asunder;
11The faking-boy ne’er spoke again,
12For they pulled his legs from under.
13And there he dangles on the tree,
14That sort of love and bravery!
15Oh, that such men should victims be
16Of law, and law’s vile knavery.

Notes

1] Aytoun co-authored this poem with Sir Theodore Martin (1816–1909).faking: thieving (cant, or thieves' jargon). crap: gallows. Back to Line
2] nubbing-cheat: gallows (literally, "hanging thing"). Back to Line
5] Smash my glim: damn my eyes! reg'lar card: decent chap. Back to Line
7] game: fearless. split: fall to pieces. Back to Line
12] Friends of a hanged man would pull down on his legs to ensure that he did not die a lingering death. Back to Line
Publication Start Year
1841
Publication Notes
By Bon Gaultier in Tait's Edinburgh Magazine
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2007
Rhyme
ababcdcd
Form
octaves