slang or flang in 1749?

[Joel S. Berson]

Not an OCR error -- EAN has page images.  Nor "slung down her
Trumpet"; it's her Arms that were "slang".

However, my error.  I did not notice the possible rhyme with the next
line's "carelessly hung".  And now the letter I thought was an "a"
looks like a "u".

So -- the "Arms" probably refer not to what's missing in the Venus de
Milo, but to weapons, which Bellona has temporarily "slung" down at
the end of the War of the Austrian Succession.

Joel

At 4/16/2014 09:49 AM, Randy Alexander wrote:

>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:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      slang or flang in 1749?
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > 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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> >
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