Abbess
The mistress of a brothel
Abram cove
A word used among thieves which signifies a naked or poor man. It can also mean a lusty strong rogue
Abram men
A beggar who pretends to be mad
Acorn
"To ride a horse foaled by an acorn" is to be hanged on the gallows
Adam Tiler
A pickpockets associate, who receives the stolen goods, and runs off with them
Affidavit men
A witness for hire. Someone who will swear to anything in court if paid to do so
Air and exercise
"He has had air and exercise" (ie he has been whipped at the carts tail)
Ambidexter
A lawyer who garners fees from both plaintiff and defender
Amuse (to amuse)
To fling dust into the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also to invent some plausible tale to delude a shopkeeper in order to put them off their guard
Amuser
A rogue who flings dust into the eyes of the person intended to be robbed; also a rogue who invents some plausible tale to delude a shopkeeper in order to put them off their guard
Anabaptist
A pickpocket caught in the act, and punished by being thrown into a pond
Anglers
Petty thieves who use a hooked stick to steal goods out of shop windows, grates etc. Also someone who 'draws in' victims in order to rob them
Angling for coppers
Begging out of a prison window with a cap or box let down on the end of a long string
Arch Rogue
The chief of a gang of thieves or gypsies
Ark ruffians
Rogues who in conjunction with watermen, robbed and sometimes murdered on the water by picking a quarrel with passengers in a boat, boarding it, plundering, stripping, and throwing them overboard
Artichoke
Hang (see hearty choke)
Aunt
A prostitute or someone who procures prostitutes
Autem Divers
Pickpockets who operate in churches and temples
Autem Mort
A female beggar who hires children in order to inspire charity
Avoir Du Pois Lay
Stealing brass weights off the counters of shops
Babes in the wood
Criminals in the stocks or pillory
Badge
A term for one who has had his hand burned as punishment for theft
Bandog
A bailiff or sheriff
Barrow man
A sentences prisoner being transported
Bat
A very common prostitute
Bawd
A justice of the peace or magistrate
Bawdy basket
A Criminal who sells items from door to door, but makes most of their living by stealing
Beggar maker
A man who owns a tavern
Beilby's Ball
To "dance with Beilby's ball" is to be hung
Bene feaker
Counterfeiter
Bene feaker of gybes
Counterfeiter of false passes
Bilboes
The stocks or prison
Bingo
Brandy or other spirit
Bingo boy
A drinker of brandy
Bingo mort
A female drinker of brandy
Birds of a feather
Rogues of the same gang
Bite the Blow
To "bite the blow" is to steal the goods
Black art
The art of picking a lock
Blasted fellow
An abandoned rogue or prostitute
Bleaters
Those cheated by a Jack in the Box (a card sharper, or cheater)
Bleating rig
Sheep stealing
Blue pigeons
Thieves who steal lead off houses and other buildings
Bob
Shoplifter's assistant, One who receives stolen goods
Boung
A purse, or money pouch
Box-man
Thief specialized in cracking safes
Brimstone
An abandoned woman or thief
Broken finger
A serious injury
Bubber
A thief who steals cheap goods
Burning the ken
To flee a tavern without paying your bill
Bus napper kenchin
A watchman
Buttocks and file
A prostitute who steals from their clients
Cackle
To inform on a thief
Calle
A cloak or gown worn as a disguise
Canters
Thieves or beggers
Canting Crew
Thieves or beggers
Captain Sharp
A person in a fixed game of chance whose job is to bully those who refuse to pay their debts
Caravan
A large sum of money, or one who is cheated of a large sum of money
Cattle
Prostitutes or gypsies
Charactered
To have your hand burnt as a punishment for theft
Clank napper
A silver tankard stealer
Clicker
The person who divides the booty between a group of thieves
Climb up a ladder to bed
To be hanged
Cly the jerk
To be whipped
Cockles, to cry
To be hanged
Colt
One who lends a horse to a highway man, or an apprentice thief
Content
A person murdered for resisting a robbery
Cracksman
A house breaker
Cramp word
The sentence of death
Cry Beef
To "cry beef" is to give an alarm
Cullability
Easily cheated
Curbing law
The act off grabbing items out of a window, using a hook (see angling)
Darbies
Chains (handcuffs)
Darkee
A dark or hooded lantern
Deadly nevergreen
The gallows
Die Hard
Show no fear or remorse at the gallows
Dimber Damber
A chief thief; gang leader
Dive
To pick a pocket, a thieves' hideout
Dommerer
A beggar who pretends to be mute
Drag
To follow a cart or wagon in order to rob it
Draw-latches
Robbers of houses
Drawing the King's picture
Counterfeiting coins
Dromedary
A bungling thief
Dropping a glove
Losing a hand (legal punishment)
Dub Lay
To rob a house by picking its lock
Dummee
A pocket book or purse
Equipt
Well dressed, rich
Fagger
A small boy who passed through a window in order to unlock the door to the house
Fam lay
Palming an item in order to steal it
Family man
A receiver of stolen goods
Fence
To sell stolen goods, One who buys stolen goods
Fencing ken
A place where stolen goods are hidden
Figging law
The art of picking pockets
Figure dancer
Counterfeiter; one who alters the numbers on notes of credit, or other paper money
Filcher
Steal, to grab or rob (see angler)
Flash ken
A thieves' hideout
Flash lingo
Thieves' cant
Floating hell
A prison ship
Frummagemmed
Strangled or hanged
Fuzz
To pretend to shuffle a deck of cards
Gallows bird
A thief or pickpocket, or someone that associates with them
Gaoler's coach
A cart used to take felons to execution
Gentleman's master
A highwayman
Getting stripes
To be flogged
Gilt
A thief who picks locks
Glazier
A thief who breaks windows in order to steal
Glim
A lantern used in a theft, typically housebreaking
Goin' home
Jail break, escape
Gregorian tree
The gallows
Gudgeon
A gullible person
Gull
A gullible person, to cheat someone
Hamlet
A senior constable
Hang gallows look
A villainous appearance
Hang in chains
A vile, desperate person
Hearty choke
To be hanged
Hempen fever
A person who has been hanged is said to have died of "hempen fever"
Hempen widow
One whose husband was hanged
Hizzooner's guest
Prisoner
Hoist
To rob by entering through a window that had been left opened.
Hole in need of plugging
Informant
Hoodwink
Blindfold or fool someone
Hookers
Petty thieves who use a hooked stick to steal goods out of shop windows, grates etc. Also someone who 'draws in' victims in order to rob them
In a Man's Beef
To wound a man with a sword (or other piercing object)
Ironmongers shop
To "keep an ironmongers shop" is to be hung in chains
Jack in a box
A card sharper
Jordain
A stick or staff used by muggers
Juggler's box
The device used to burn the hands of criminals
Jukrum
The permission of the head of a thieves guild to operate within his territory
Ken Miller or Ken Cracker
Housebreaker
King's plate
Chains, shackles
Knight of the blade
A bully
Knight of the post
A man willing to give fake evidence for money
Knight of the road
A highwayman
Laced mutton
A prostitute
Lag
A man transported for a crime
Leaf
To "go with the fall of the leaf" is to be hanged
Little snakesman
A small boy who passed through a window in order to unlock the door to the house
Lone Wolf
Thief, independent
Long tongued
Unable to keep a secret
Lully priggers
Thieves who steal wet clothes off clothes lines
Lurch
To be "left in the lurch" is to be betrayed by ones companions
Mad Tom
A begger who feigns madness
Made man
A member of the thieves guild, high-standing
Mark
The target of a confidence game
Milch cow
One who is easily tricked out of his money
Mobility
The commoners, intended as a pun on 'nobility'
Moon curser
A thief who uses the darkness as cover for his crime
Moss
Lead stolen off the top of buildings
Nab the stoop
To be put in the stocks
Napper of naps
A sheep stealer
Natty lads
Young thieves or pickpockets
Neck weed
Hemp to be made into rope
Needle point
A card sharper
Newman's lift
The gallows
Nig
The metal clipped off a coin by a criminal
Night magistrate
A constable
Noisy dog racket
The crime of stealing brass door knockers from doors
Noozed
Hanged (or married)
Nose
A criminal who gives evidence against his colleagues in order to gain a lighter sentence
Nubbing cheat
The gallows
Nubbing ken
The courthouse
Office
To "give office" is to tell constables of a thieves activities
Old hand
An experienced thief
Onion
A seal or signet ring
Overseer
A man in the pillory or stocks
Pad borrowers
Horse thieves
Palaver
A tale told in order to avoid blame for a crime
Papa Porker
Guard, head of the
Parings
The metal clipped off a coin by a criminal
Patter flash
To use thieves' cant
Peeper
A spying glass (telescope?)
Pennyweighter
Thief who replaces valuable goods with worthless ones
Petty fogger
A lawyer willing to undertake any case
Piece man
Trader of knowledge on where stolen property can be sold
Pig
An officer of the law
Pigeon
A person easy to cheat
Pigeon plucker
Con-artist/swindler
Plate
Money, silver, gold etc...
Posse mobilitatis
A mob chasing a criminal
Poulterer
A man who opens mail and steals the money enclosed within
Prad lay
The act of cutting the saddlebags of horses in order to steal their contents
Prig napper
One who catches a thief, A bounty hunter
Priggers of cacklers
Robbers of henhouses
Priggers of prancers
Horse thieves
Prince Prig
Head of a group of thieves or gypsies
Provendor
The victim of a thief
Public Ledger
A prostitute
Purse collector
Pickpocket
Puzzle-cause
A lawyer who does not understand the case
Queer
"To queer" means to confuse someone
Queer bail
Someone who pretends to have money in order to act on behalf of an arrested person. When the person is released they disappear
Queer birds
A person who when released from prison returns to a life of crime
Queer bit makers
Counterfeiters of coins
Queer bung
An empty purse
Queer cuffin
A justice of the peace
Queer mort
A diseased prostitute
Quota
A thieves share of the booty
Rat
An informer, To turn informer
Rattling mumpers
Beggers who beg from coaches
Reader
A pocketbook or purse
Reader merchants
Pickpockets
Recruiting service
Highway robbery
Resurrection men
Those employed by scientists to steal bodies from churchyards
Ringing the charges
Exchanging silver coins for those made of less valuable metal
Robert's men
Successful thieves
Rot gut
Cheap spiritous liquor
Rounder
Burglar, professional
Rovers
Pirates, wandering thieves
Rufflers
Beggers who pretend to be wounded soldiers or sailors
Ruffles
Chains or shackles
Rum beck
A justice of the peace
Rum bob
A skilled apprentice thief
Rum cod
A purse filled with gold
Rum diver
A skilled pickpocket
Rum dubber
A skilled lockpicker
Rum file
A skilled pickpocket
Rum padders
Skilled and successful highwaymen
Salmon
An oath taken by a beggar
Scapegallows
One who deserves and has escaped the gallows
Scragg'em fair
A public execution
Screw
A lock pick or skeleton key
Sham Abram (to sham abram)
To pretend to be sick
Sheriff's ball
An execution
Sheriff's journeyman
Hangman
Sheriff's picture frame
Gallows
Shoplifter
One who steals from a shop
Slang
Chains or shackles; thieves' cant
Slipgibbet
One who deserves and has escaped the gallows (also Scapegollows)
Snap the glaze
Break a window
Spring-ankle warehouse
Prison
Squeak
Escape; "to squeak" means to confess
Stalling ken
Place where stolen goods can be sold
Star the glaze
Break a jeweler's window
Stop hole abbey
The central hideout or guild hall for a thieves guild
Stuling ken
Place where stolen goods can be sold
Swaddler
A thief who beats and murders his victims
Sweating
Removing metal from a coin, by using chemicals
Tayle drawers
A thief who steals swords from a mans belt
Tea with the pigs
To have "tea with the pigs" means to be tortured
Thatch-gallows
A man of poor character
Thief takers
Someone who associates with thieves in order to arrest them and obtain rewards
Three-legged mare
The gallows
Three-legged stool
The gallows
Tinker
Healer, underworld
Tom of Bedlam
A begger who feigns madness (also Mad Tom)
Topping cheat
The gallows
Tuck in bed
Knock unconscious
Turncoat
One who has betrayed his friends
Twig
Realize that something is up
Two to one shop
Pawnbrokers
Underdubber
A prison guard
Upright Man
Chief thief of a guild
Vincent's law
The art of cheating at cards
Visiting the neighbors
Burglary
Whack
A share of booty obtained by fraud
Whip jacks
Thieves who pretend to be sailors in order to gain free passage on boats and ships
Wiper drawer
A pickpocket who steals handkerchiefs
Wry neck day
Day of execution
Yelp
Cry out for the police
Zad
A very crooked person
