"Guinea" etymology

[Wilson Gray]

In addition to "street-organ man" "hurdy-gurdy man": "organ-grinder."

" ... a long Italian chin" = distant relative of Jay Leno?

Well, I'm happy that that description hasn't become as cliched as the
"sharp Slavic cheekbones" employed as though fact by thousands of
authors.

-Wilson

On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 9:26 PM, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net> wrote:
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> Poster:       "Douglas G. Wilson" <douglas at NB.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "Guinea" etymology
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>
> I did a little more reading, and I think I've identified the inspiration
> for Lingard's "Italian Guinea Pig Boy" song.
>
> I don't find any evidence of guinea pigs being a usual 19th century food
> among Italians or other Europeans.
>
> The relevant stereotype seems to be that of a street beggar boy of
> Italian origin. Along with the stereotypical street-organ man with
> monkey, there was the stereotypical boy with guinea-pig (or mouse, or
> other animal). As I understand it, the (poor hungry cute) animal could
> serve as a pretext for soliciting a handout, or as a conversation
> starter leading up to a request for small change. I think the guinea-pig
> boy stereotype was more prevalent in Britain, particularly London,
> although I suppose the same thing happened in New York and elsewhere.
>
> I believe Lingard's image of an Italian with a "stock" of guinea-pigs
> for sale was unrealistic: the typical guinea-pig boy probably owned only
> one or a few or even none (there were those who rented animals etc. to
> beggars by the day).
>
> Lingard's popular song was a likely vector (not necessarily the only
> one) for "Italian guinea-pig boy" = "poor immigrant Italian boy"
> (Lingard apparently moved from UK to US in 1868).
>
>  From Google Books (all works from England, I think):
>
> [1856] <<[title] THE ITALIAN BOY. / Many poor boys come all the way from
> Italy to England to try to get a living. Their parents there are very
> poor indeed, and so they let them come, for they have heard that England
> is a very rich country./ When they get here there are men in London who
> send them ont to beg and bring what money they can get back to them; and
> all the poor lads often get is only a place to sleep in, and something
> to eat. They mostly send them ont with some cnrious animal in their
> hands or in a cage -- a tortoise, or a Guinea pig, or a little monkey,
> or a few white mice.>>
>
> [1865] <<The importunities of my Israelitish friend are no sooner
> resisted than a Savoyard boy with a guinea-pig under each arm, and a
> white mouse emerging from the recesses of his trouser pocket, coolly
> sits down beside me, uttering a plaintive whine about a 'pover' Italian'
> s'gnor and a 'mezzo-baioccho,' but with a broad grin on his features,
> indicative of the utmost pleasantry and good-humour.>> ["Mezzobaiocco"
> was apparently a small coin, like a halfpenny.]
>
> [1867] <<There is an inborn taste for natural history on the part of all
> young people; and even the poor Italian boy who travels about with a
> hurdy-gurdy and a guinea-pig, can always secure an admiring audience by
> means of his little animal.>>
>
> [1868] <<Every one has seen in the streets of London those ragged,
> dark-complexioned boys, who exhibit white mice and guinea-pigs (see
> picture ... [picture of boy with guinea pigs]>>
>
> [1868] [novel] <<"You've set my missis against me, which is worse nor
> being sent to prison, and turned my house upside down, and you've
> treated me like a dog, and ordered me about like a jackal, and bullied
> me worse nor an Italian boy does his Guinea pig; ....">>
>
> [1874] <<[poem, "The Organ-Boy"] Great brown eyes, / Thick plumes of
> hair. / Old corduroys / The worse for wear. / A buttoned jacket, / And
> peeping out / An ape's grave poll. / Or a guinea-pig's snout. / A
> sun-kissed face, / And a dimpled mouth, / With the white flashing teeth
> / And soft smile of the South.>>
>
> [1879] <<[title] THE ITALIAN BOY AND HIS GUINEA PIGS. / In the crowded
> streets of London and its suburbs may be often seen men and boys who are
> natives of Italy. .... / Some of these Italian boys who are brought to
> England go about the streets playing musical instruments. Others you may
> see with little plaster casts for sale. Many go round with cages of
> white mice, which they exhibit; and some, like the boy in our picture
> [picture of boy with guinea-pigs], carry with them little animals called
> guinea pigs, and these little creatures, like the Italian boys, are
> natives of a warmer climate than our own, but they have become common
> now in all parts of the world.>>
>
> [1882] <<The boy was about twelve, with very black eyes and a long
> Italian chin. When addressed, his countenance relaxed into a beseeching
> smile, showing a set of the whitest teeth, thrusting forward his
> half-open palm, and jerking his long forelock with the other hand, he
> whimpered out: _"Carità, signori, si vi piaci. Signori, pauvre
> geen-peeg."_ He had carried a guinea-pig on the top of his organ when in
> England, but all their property had been confiscated for arrears of
> rent, and they were sent home as paupers by the Italian consul.>>
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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