queen = "male homosexual", 1729

[Jonathan Lighter]

These cites look unambiguous to me, Joel. Well done.

Note too "pullet" (usu. a young girl).
JL

On Wed, Aug 4, 2010 at 5:15 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Subject:      queen = "male homosexual", 1729
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> I include considerable context to permit the usage to be well-evaluated.
>
> [42] The greatest Criminal has some People that may drop some pitying
> Expressions for his unhappy and untimely Fate and condole his dismal
> Circumstances; while those persons who fall by the Laws for _Sodomy_,
> can expect neither Pity or Compassion.  It would be a pretty Scene to
> behold them in their Clubs and Cabals, how they assume the Air and
> affect the Name of the _Madam_ or _Miss_, _Betty_ or _Molly_, with a
> chuck under the Chin, and _O you bold Pullet I'll break your Eggs_,
> and then frisk and walk away to make room for another, who thus
> accosts the affected Lady, [43] with _Where have you been, you saucy
> Queen?  If I catch you strouling and Caterwauling, I'll beat the Milk
> out of your Breasts I will so_, with a great many other Expressions
> of Buffoonry and ridiculous Affection.  If they can procure a young
> smug-fac'd Fellow they never grudge any Expence, and it is remarkable
> these effeminate Villains are much fonder of a new _Convert_ than a
> Bully would be of a new _Mistress_.
>
> Hell upon Earth: or The Town in an Uproar.  Occasion'd by the late
> horrible Scenes of Forgery ... .
> London: Printed for J. Roberts ... and A Dodd ..., 1729.
> Pages 42-43.
>
> [This is available in ECCO, and in a facsimile reprint of 1985 (Garland).]
>
> Antedates "queen", n., sense 13., [1893] and 1919.
>
> I gratefully and freely acknowledge that I found the core of this
> (Where have you been, you saucy Queen?"") in Rictor Norton's _Mother
> Clap's Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England 1700 -- 1830_
> (London: GMP Publishers, 1992), page 104.
>
> On page 103 Norton also alleges the quotation "The Motley Race of
> Hervey queenies / And Courtly Vices, Beastly Venyes", from _Bounce to
> Fop. An heroic epistle from a dog at Twickenham to a dog at court_
> (Norton apparently gives a short title), attributed variously to Pope
> and Swift (1736).  However, I have not found this text in any of
> several publications viewable via Google Books; others may be more
> successful.  I can check a printed copy at Harvard (it's also listed
> as at Yale/ Beinecke, Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and 2
> libraries in Ireland).  While Norton does not give a page reference,
> it's only 7, [1] pages.
>
> Joel
>
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