kibosh (lash) ca. 1830

[Stephen Goranson]

Broadside from the Ferguson Collection, 1390a, in the National Library of Australia, 9 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches, "N.P., N.D. [London, c. 1830 {John Ferguson's square brackets}] The date is suggested by... the...verse evidently referring to the Reform Bill agitation."

The word "lash" is as clear as day in the scan, but is mistranscribed as "cash" in H. Anderson, Farewell to Old England (1964) 92 and Farewell to Judges & Juries (2000) 55.

*******
PENAL SERVITUDE !

I have just arrived from Australia,
  Where I have been for change of air;
And, chaps, I have just come to tell you,
  That there is a lot of jolly living over there.
       CHORUS.
Where they feed you, and they clothe you,
  Better than a working man or soldier--
Penal servitude is the sort of life for me;
Then we do a bit of work just a portion of the day,
  And then we go to church upon a Sunday, O.
Man O, my yar, yar, yar, yar!
  Give me penal servitude before the Union.

Four years ago at the Old Bailey,
  The Jury found me guilty, I believe;
For ten years across the sea they sent me,
  But I soon gets the ticket of leave.

As on my little game you've put a stopper,
  For a time they've collar'd all in vain,
If I cannot earn an honest copper,
  I'm in for penal servitude again.

Here's to be a deal of reformation,
  About reform you've often heard a fuss.
And while you keep your paupers instarvation.
  You're sure to be surrounded with coves like us.

The Bobbies are sometimes very useful,
  he can be either absent, deaf, or blind;
And if you're collared by the handful,
  A comfortable home you're sure to find.

There is one little dodge I am thinking,
  That would put your profession all to smash,
It would put on the kibosh like winking,
  That is if they was to introduce the lash.

But still I can't help laughing,
  When I see your paupers look so pale;
There's thousands in the workhouse starving,
  While we live like lords in the jail.

It was cracking of a crib that they nailed me,
  The swag was worth a thousand to me;
>From business I thought of retiring, when they collared me,
  And sent me across the sea.

If when home you are returning,
  If a Bobby sees you he is on your track,
He prevents you getting an honest living,
  So to your old trade you must go back.

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson


________________________________________
From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jonathan Lighter [wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Friday, September 17, 2010 8:19 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] kibosh (lash) ca. 1830

Quite important, Stephen. Please post the whole thing.

JL

On Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 4:15 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Subject:      kibosh (lash) ca. 1830
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I just received a scan of a broadside-- "Penal Servitude!"-- thought
> (by Ferguson, Bibliography of Australia 1390aaaa)
>  to be printed in London ca. 1830.
>
> The song, from one found guilty at the Old Baily and just returned
> from Australia, includes the text:
>
> There is one little dodge I am thinking,
>  That would put your profession all to smash,
> It would put on the kibosh like winking,
>  That is if they was to introduce the lash.
>
> (This broadside has been incorrectly transcribed in two books.)
>
> If there is interest, I will type the full text and provide other
> information on this early attestation that kibosh, as suggested
> before, like kurbach, meant lash.
>
> Stephen Goranson
> http://www.duke.edu/~goranson
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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