"the (unnatural) trade", 1728

Sat Aug 14 18:02:13 UTC 2010

It seems to me that JL profoundly misunderstands the idea of the 19th century social construction of homosexuality as a psychological category. The lyrics seem to describe the "unnatural act" of anal intercourse and attributes it to men in women's clothing who, in their depraved search for novelty of sensation, seek out each other. The point of view of the satirist is that this sort of behavior is merely one disgusting manifestation of "lechery" and not some kind of disease or inborn product of immutable, special psychology. Of course, one could argue that the notion of the social construction of homosexuality is rather trivial, since it is a product of a general change in the view of human psychology between the 18th and 19th centuries, in which the 18th century view was that people were more or less the same but could be convinced to do all sorts of depraved things: there were not homosexuals and heterosexuals, there were only people who could express themselves sexually i!
 n a variety of ways, some natural, some not.

On Aug 13, 2010, at 3:36 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

> The lyrics alone render doubtful the professorially popular Cultural
> Theorist claim that "homosexuality" is a construct of the late 19th C.  But
> perhaps I'm simplifying.
>
> I believe I said something similar a few years back regarding the apparent
> etymology of "bad" from an OE word meaning "homosexual."
>
> JL
>
>
>
> On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 2:02 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
>> Subject:      Re: "the (unnatural) trade", 1728
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I have now verified the 1728 quotation.
>>
>> _A Genuine Narrative of all the Street Robberies Committed since
>> October last, by James Dalton, And His Accomplices ..._.
>> London, J. Roberts, 1728.
>> page 42.
>>
>> [41] But before we quit this Subject, as an Amusement to the Reader,
>> it may be some Entertainment to hear one of their Songs, which is
>> sung at the Club by that charming Warbler, Miss Irons, besides which,
>> there are several others, but they are [42] too ludicrous and filthy
>> to admit of a Publication.  [Too bad.]
>>     (1.)
>> Let the Fops of the Town upbraid
>> Us, for an unnatural Trade,
>> We value not Man nor Maid;
>>   But among our own selves we'll be free,
>>      But among, &c.
>> We'll kiss and we'll Sw---e,
>> Behind we will drive,
>> And we will contrive
>>   New Ways for Lechery,
>>      New Ways, &c.
>>
>> [In case it wouldn't be clear, the word "Behind" was set in italics.
>> "Sw---e" must be "swive", "to copulate with", trans. in Chaucer,
>> c1386, and intr. c1440.]
>>
>> Interdates 1680 -- 1937.
>>
>> Joel
>>
>> At 8/8/2010 11:37 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>>> Rictor Norton's __Mother Clap's Molly House_ (1992) alleges two
>>> quotations for "trade" = prostitution:
>>>
>>> 1)   c1693/1694, in a letter from Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of
>>> Sunderland, to Edward ("Beau") Wilson.  Sunderland accuses Wilson of
>>> behaving like a harlot in "the Trade".  The source presumably is
>>> _Love Letters Between a certain late Nobleman And the famous Mr.
>>> Wilson_, 1723 ("In a collection of Tracts, British Library shelfmark
>>> Cup. 363gg. 31 (1)."  In Norton: 38 and n.9.
>>>
>>> 2)   1728.  "Let the Fops of the Town upbraid / Us for an unnatural
>>> Trade".  James Dalton, _A Genuine Narative_ (London: 1728),
>>> 42-43.  [Available in ECCO.]  In Norton: 118.
>>>
>>> I have not confirmed either "trade" quotation.
>>>
>>> The OED has trade (n), sense 6.c, "prostitution", first in 1680, then
>>> 1937.  If confirmed, these would fill in the gap a little.
>>> -----
>>>
>>> The Dalton may have additional pay-backs.  (It is presently the
>>> source for 4 quotations in the OED, including "molly".)
>>>
>>> Author:  "Dalton, James, street-robber."
>>> Title [somewhat fuller]: A genuine narrative of all the street
>>> robberies committed since October last, : by James Dalton, and his
>>> accomplices ... III. Some merry Stories of Dalton's biting the Women
>>> of the Town, his detecting and exposing the Mollies, and a Song which
>>> is sung at the Molly-Clubs: With other very pleasant and remarkable
>>> Adventures. To which is added a *key to the canting language*,
>>> occasionally made Use of in this Narrative.  [Emphasis added.]
>>>
>>> I note the "biting the Women of the Town".  This might mean "score a
>>> trick" or "arrange for sex, possibly for money" (as alleged by Norton
>>> elsewhere) -- or possibly "bite, n.", sense 1.i, "Slang phr. to put
>>> the bite on: to borrow money from (someone); to ask (someone) for a
>>> loan; also, to threaten, to blackmail, to extort money from. orig.
>>> and chiefly U.S." -- but the  first quotation for this is "1933 D.
>>> RUNYON Furthermore (1938)."
>>>
>>> Joel
>>>
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>>
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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