slang or flang in 1749?

[Randy Alexander]

OCR error or typo (or odd variant) for "slung" down her trumpet, it looks
like to me.
On Apr 16, 2014 9:43 AM, "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      slang or flang in 1749?
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> Can someone tell me what the "slang" or "flang" in the following is?
>
> On the Report of a British Fleet being to be sent to the Baltick.
> When War subsided in the South,
> Bellona seem'd to close her Mouth,
> Her Cheeks were smooth, her Arms were slang,
> and down her Trumpet careless hung;
> She look'd so tranquil on the Nations,
> They all appear'd like near Relations.
>
> ["slang" appears to begin with the ligature "sl" (no crossing bar on
> the long s), but it might instead be a typesetter's error for "fl".]
>
> Boston News-Letter, 1749 June 8, page 1, col. 2.  Headline: "From the
> London Magazine for the Month of March 1749".  EAN.
>
> Joel
>
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