cold wittles

[Jim Parish]

Bill Mullins wrote:

>  Brooklyn Daily Eagle 20 Oct 1859, p. 3
> "A SNEAK THIEF. -- Some daring sneak thief stole an overcoat from the
> hall of No. 51 Willoughby street last night.  Keep your basement door
> locked and look out for the "cold wittles" gentry."
>
> Neither "cold wittles" nor "wittles" seems to be in the OED.  Any idea
> what the meaning of the phrase is?
>
> Perhaps "cold vittles", meaning that the overcoat thief can't afford hot
> food? (the only other use of the phrase I can find is in Jack London's
> "People of the Abyss", in which this meaning would seem to be
> appropriate.)

In _The Pickwick Papers_, IIRC, Sam Weller refers to "wittles", and his
dialect generally seems to substitute "w" for "v", at least in initial
position.

Jim Parish