Sinks of London Laid Open

Sinks of London Laid Open, by
Unknown

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Title: Sinks of London Laid Open A Pocket Companion for the
Uninitiated, to Which is Added a Modern Flash Dictionary Containing
all the Cant Words, Slang Terms, and Flash Phrases Now in Vogue,
with a List of the Sixty Orders of Prime Coves
Author: Unknown
Illustrator: George Cruikshank
Release Date: November 2, 2007 [EBook #23291]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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LONDON LAID OPEN ***

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[Transcriber's Note: Archaic spellings have been retained; obvious
typographical errors have been corrected.
A table of contents has been added for the reader's convenience.]

SINKS OF LONDON LAID OPEN:
A
Pocket Companion for the Uninitiated,
TO WHICH IS ADDED A
MODERN FLASH DICTIONARY
CONTAINING ALL THE
CANT WORDS, SLANG TERMS, AND FLASH PHRASES
NOW IN VOGUE,
WITH
A LIST OF THE SIXTY ORDERS OF
PRIME COVES,
The whole Forming a True Picture of London Life, Cadging Made Easy,
the He-She Man, Doings of the Modern Greeks, Snoozing Kens
Depicted, the Common Lodging-house Gallants, Lessons to Lovers of
Dice, the Gaming Table, etc.
EMBELLISHED WITH HUMOROUS ILLUSTRATIONS BY

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
London: PUBLISHED BY J. DUNCOMBE.
1848.
[Illustration: [handwritten caption] Pub'd March 22d 1822 by G.
Humphrey 27 St. James's St. London. G. Cruikshank fec't.]

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
COMMON LODGING HOUSES, CADGERS, &c., &c.
CHAPTER II.
ST. GILES'S--THE CADGER'S HEAD-QUARTERS.
CHAPTER III.
THE CADGING HOUSE.
CHAPTER IV.
A BEGGAR'S REPAST.
CHAPTER V.
AN EVENING MEAL--A FEAST FOR AN ALDERMAN.
CHAPTER VI.
A QUIET SCENE.
CHAPTER VII.

A LITTLE LITERARY CONVERSATION.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE GAMING TABLE.
CHAPTER IX.
AN UNDER-DEPUTY.
CHAPTER X.
THE RETURN;--AND A LITTLE UNKNOWN.
CHAPTER XI.
THE LIFE OF LOW LIFE; OR THE GLORIOUS FINISH OF THE
WEEK.
CHAPTER XII.
ONE NOISE SUBSTITUTED FOR ANOTHER.--THE CLAMOURS
OF STRIFE EXCHANGED FOR THE SONGS OF PEACE.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE CLOSE OF THE NIGHT. FLASH DICTIONARY. THE SIXTY
ORDERS OF PRIME COVES.

THE
Dens of London
EXPOSED.
CHAPTER I.

COMMON LODGING HOUSES, CADGERS, &c., &c.
These two subjects are, perhaps now the only ones remaining, in what
is termed the "walks of life," of which a correct description has not yet
been given. All the old topics, such as the beauties of the country, and
the ancient stories of love and heroism, which have afforded so much
employment to the pencil, the muse, and the worker-up of novels, have
long been considered as the beaten track; and the relaters of fiction, at
least those who lay claim to any thing like originality, have been fain to
leave the romantic path, with its old castles and wondrous deeds, and so
forth, and seek for heroes behind a counter, amidst the common-place
details of business, and for scenes amongst the intricate windings of
lanes and alleys. In short, novelty is the grand charm for this
novel-writing age.
Independent of the hosts of "Military and Naval Sketches of Mr.
Such-a-one," "the Author of So-and-So's Reminiscences," &c., with the
usual abundance of matter, that daily crowd from the press, we may
notice amongst the really useful works that have lately appeared, the
"Old Bailey Experience," "Essays on the Condition of the People," "the
Dishonest Practices of Household Servants," and "the Machinery of
Crime in England, or the Connection between the Thieves and Flash
Houses;" but, valuable as these articles are, and they are certainly of
some importance to society, has there any one, we might ask, ever
entered into the Common Lodging House,--the Vagabond's Home,--a
place that abounds in character and crime? The only information which
we have had in these dens of poverty and vice, has been merely through
the Police Reports, when some unfortunate defaulter had been taken out
of one of those skulking-holes. On such occasions we are told, amongst
the usual remarks, that the accommodation in those houses were
exceedingly cheap, and that the lodgers herded together
indiscriminately, &c.; but how such houses were really conducted, and
of the manners and characters of most of the people who frequented
them, the public may be said to be almost in perfect ignorance. In like
manner with that fraternity called "Cadgers," our knowledge has been
equally limited. No correct account has ever yet been given of this idle,
but cunning class of the community. All that