1828. Slang Dictionaries. 151 
to occassion the rupture of a blood-vessel, of which he died, in the 
year 1791. He was then in his sixtieth year, having been born in 
1731, at Richmond, where his father was a jeweller. Every one knows 
the verses which Burns addressed to him, and which the author of 
« Waverley” has taken as the motto of his “ Tales of my Landlord,”— 
«« Hear, land o’cakes, and brither Scots,” &c. In that poem there is a 
capital description of Grose’s person :— 
If in your bounds ye chance to light 
Upon a fine, fat, fodgel wight, 
O’ stature short, but genius bright, 
That’s he—mark weel. 
And wow! he has an unco slight 
O’ cauk and keel. 
It’s tauld he was a sodger bred, 
And ane wad rather fa’n than fled, 
But now he’s quit the spurtle-blade 
And dog-skin wallet, 
And ta’en the antiquarian trade, 
I think they call it. 
But wad ye see him in his glee, 
(For meikle glee and fun hath he) 
Then set him down, and twa or three 
Gude fellows wi’ him, 
And port O! port! shin thou a wee, 
And then ye’ll see him. 
Now, by the pow’rs of verse and prose, 
Thou art a dainty chiel, O Grose ; 
Whae’er o’thee shall ill suppose, 
They sair misca’ thee. 
Til tak’ the rascal by the nose— 
Wad say—shame fa’ thee. 
His classical dictionary of the vulgar tongue is a curious production. 
It was suggested to him, he tells us, by the satirical and burlesque 
dictionary of M. Le Roux—a singular book, in its way, of which we 
may take notice hereafter. To make it complete, he consulted all the 
printed authorities, including those which we have above enumerated, 
and several others; but he did not rely solely upon books. He 
informs us that “the second part, or burlesque terms, have been drawn 
from the most classical authorities ; such as soldiers on the long march ; 
seamen at the capstern ; ladies disposing of their fish, and the colloquies 
of a Gravesend boat. Many heroic sentences, expressing and incul- 
cating a contempt of death, have been caught from the mouths of the 
“py uding populace, attending those triumphal processions up Holborn 
, with which many an unfortunate hero till lately finished his course; 
and various choice flowers have been collected at executions, as well 
those authorized by the sentence of the law, and performed under the 
direction of the sheriff, as those inflicted under the authority and inspec- 
of that impartial and summary tribunal—the mob, upon. pick- 
kets, informers, and other unpopular criminals.” 
ven in a jocular dictionary the prevailing bent of the mind must 
, out, and the antiquary cannot avoid telling us that, “in the 
course of this work many ludicrous games and customs are explained, 
‘a 
