R. RAI: RABBIT. A Welch rabbit; bread and cheefe toafted, i. e. a Welsh rare bit. Rabbits were also a sort of wooden canns to drink out of, now out of use. RABBIT SUCKERS. Young spendthrifts, taking up goods on trust at great prices. RACK RENT. Rent ftrained to the utmost value. To lie at rack and manger; to be in great diforder. RACKABACK. A gormagon. See GORMAGON. RAFFS. An appellation given by the gownfmen of the univerfity of Oxford to the inhabitants of that place. RAG. A farthing. To RAG. To abuse, and tear to rags the characters of the perfons abused. She gave him a good ragging, or ragged him off heartily. RAG CARRIER. An enfign. A RAG FAIR. An infpection of the linen and neceffaries of a company of foldiers, commonly made by their officers on Mondays or Saturdays. RAG WATER. Gin, or any other common dram: thefe liquors feldom failing to reduce thofe that drink them to rags. RAGAMUFFIN. A ragged fellow, one all in tatters, a tatterdemallion. RAILS. See HEAD RAILS. A difh of rails; a lecture, jobation, or fcolding from a married woman to her husband. RAINBOW. Knight of the rainbow; a footman: from being commonly clothed in garments of different colours A meeting of gentlemen ftyled of the most ancient order of the rainbow, was advertised to be held at the Foppington's Head, Moorfields. RAP RAINY DAY. To lay up fomething for a rainy day; to provide against a time of neceffity or diftrefs. RAKE, RAKEHELL, or RAKESHAME. A lewd, debauched fellow. RALPH SPOONER. A fool. RAM CAT. A he cat. RAMMISH. Rank. Rammish woman; a sturdy virago. RAMMER. The arm. The bufnapper's kenchin feized my rammer; i. e. the watchman laid hold of my arm. Cant. RAMSHACKLED. Out of repair. A ramshackled house; perhaps a corruption of ranfacked, i. e. plundered. RANDLE. A fet of nonfenfical verfes, repeated in Ireland by school boys, and young people, who have been guilty of breaking wind backwards before any of their companions; if they neglect this apology, they are liable to certain kicks, pinches, and fillips, which are accompanied with diverse admonitory couplets. RANDY. Obftreperous, unruly, rampant. RANGING. Intriguing with a variety of women. RANK. Stinking, rammifh, ill-flavoured; also strong, great. A rank knave; a rank coward: perhaps the latter may allude to an ill favour caused by fear. RANK RIDER. A highwayman. RANTALLION. One whofe fcrotum is fo relaxed as to be longer than his penis, i. e. whofe fhot pouch is longer than the barrel of his piece. RANTIPOLE. A rude romping boy or girl; alfo a gadabout diffipated woman. To ride rantipole; the fame as riding St. George. See ST. GEORGE. RANTUM SCANTUM. Playing at rantum fcantum ; making the beaft with two backs. TO RAP. To take a falfe oath; alfo to curfe. He rapped out a volley; i. e. he fwore a whole volley of oaths. To rap, means alfo to exchange or barter: a rap is likewise an Irish halfpenny. Rap on the knuckles; a reprimand. RAPPAREES. Irish robbers, or outlaws, who in the time of Oliver Cromwell were armed with fhort weapons, called in Irish rapiers, used for ripping perfons up. RAPPER. A fwinging great lye. REC RAREE SHEW MEN. Poor Savoyards, who subsist by fhewing the magic lanthorn and marmots about London. RASCAL. A rogue or villain: a term borrowed from the chase; a rascal originally meaning a lean fhabby deer, at the time of changing his horns, penis, &c. whence, in the vulgar acceptation, rafcal is conceived to fignify a man without genitals: the regular vulgar answer to this reproach, if uttered by a woman, is the offer of an ocular demonftration of the virility of the party fo defamed. Some derive it from rafcaglione, an Italian word fignifying a man without tefticles, or an eunuch. RAT. A drunken man or woman taken up by the watch, and confined in the watch-house. Cant.-To fmell a rat; to fufpect fome intended trick, or unfair defign. RATS. Of these there are the following kinds: a black rat and a grey rat, a py-rat and a cu-rat. RATTLE. A dice box. To rattle; to talk without confideration, also to move off or go away. To rattle one off; to rate or fcold him. RATTLE-PATE. woman. RATTLE-TRAPS. A volatile, unsteady, or whimsical man or A contemptuous name for any curious RATTLING MUMPERS. Beggars who ply coaches. Cant. READER MERCHANTS. Pickpockets, chiefly young Jews, REBUS. A riddle or pun on a man's name, expressed in T. RES TO RECRUIT. To get a fresh fupply of money. RED FUSTIAN. Port wine. RED LANE. The throat. lowed. Gone down the red lane; fwal- RED LATTICE. A public houfe. RED LETTER DAY. A faint's day or holiday, marked in the calendars with red letters. Red letter men; Roman Catholics from their obfervation of the faints days marked in red letters, RED RAG, The tongue, Shut your potatoe trap, and give your red rag a holiday; i. e. fhut your mouth, and let your tongue reft. Too much of the red rag; too much tongue. RED SAIL-YARD DOCKERS, Buyers of stores ftolen out of the royal yards and docks. RED SHANK. A duck. Cant. RELIGIOUS HORSE. One much given to prayer, or apt to be down upon his knees. RELIGIOUS PAINTER. One who'does not break the commandment which prohibits the making of the likeness of any thing in heaven or earth, or in the waters under the earth. REMEDY CRITCH. A chamber pot, or member mug. REMEMBER PARSON MELHAM. Drink about; a Norfolk phrafe. RENDEZVOUS. A place of meeting. The rendezvous of the beggars were, about the year 1638, according to the bell-man, St. Quinton's, the Three Crowns in the Vintry, St. Tybs, and at Knapsbury: these were four barns within a mile of London. In Middlefex were four other har bours, called Draw the Pudding out of the Fire, the Cross Keys in Craneford parish, St. Julian's in fleworth parish, and the Houfe of Pettie in Northall parish. In Kent, the King's Barn near Dartford, and Ketbrooke neat Blackheath. REP. A woman of reputation. REPOSITORY. A lock-up or fpunging houfe, a gaol. Alfo livery ftables, where horfes and carriages are fold by auction. RESCOUNTERS. The time of fettlement between the bulls and bears of Exchange-alley, when the lofers must pay their their differences, or become lame ducks, and waddle out of the Alley. RESURRECTION MEN. Perfons employed by the students in anatomy to fteal dead bodies out of church-yards. REVERENCE. An ancient cuftom, which obliges any perfon eafing himself near the highway or foot path, on the word reverence being given him by a paffenger, to take off his hat with his teeth, and without moving from his station to throw it over his head, by which it frequently falls into the excrement: this was confidered as a punishment for the breach of delicacy. A person refufing to obey this law, might be pushed backwards. Hence, perhaps, the term fir-reverence. REVERSED. A man fet by bullies on his head, that his money may fall out of his breeches, which they afterwards by accident pick up. See HOISTING. REVIEW OF THE BLACK CUIRASSIERS. A vifitation of the clergy. See CROW FAIR. RHINO. Money. Cant. Cant. RHINOCERICAL. Rich: the cull is rhinocerical. RIB. A wife: an allufion to our common mother Eve, made out of Adam's rib. A crooked rib; a crofs-grained wife. RIBALDRY. Vulgar abufive language, fuch as was spoken by ribalds. Ribalds were originally mercenary foldiers, who travelled about, ferving any mafter for pay, but afterwards degenerated into a mere banditti. RIBBIN. Money. The ribbin runs thick; i. e. there is plenty of money. Cant. To RIBROAST. To beat: I'll ribroaft him to his heart's content. RICH FACE, or Nose. A red pimpled face. RICHARD SNARY. A dictionary. A country lad, having been reproved for calling perfons by their chriftian names, being fent by his mafter to borrow a dictionary, thought to fhew his breeding by afking for a Richard Snary. RIDER. A perfon who receives part of the falary of a place or appointment from the oftenfible occupier, by virtue of an agreement with the donor, or great man appointing. The rider is faid to be quartered upon the poffeffor, who often A a |