Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 1.pdf/19

 Abaddon, subs. (old).--A thief who, to general nefarious practices, adds perfidy to his companions. Rarely, and perhaps only locally used. It is obviously derived from Abaddon, the destroyer or angel of the bottomless pit (Revelation ix., 11).

Abandannad, Abandannaad, subs. (thieves').--1. A nearly obsolete term to designate primarily a pickpocket, whose chief quarry is pocket handkerchiefs or bandannas; and, hence

2. A petty thief, i.e., one whose depredations are regarded by the fraternity as not worth the risk incurred. Brewer writes down the word as a contraction of 'a bandanna lad.' With this derivation is connected the story of an incident said to have been a prime factor in the movement resulting in the passing of Sir Samuel Romilly's Act for the abolition of capital punishment for highway robberies under 40s. value. Briefly told, it is that a footpad robbed a woman of a bandanna shawl, valued at 9d., an offence for which a notorious highwayman was hanged. Subsequently, however, he was proved to have been innocent, whereupon the fact of her mistaken accusation having done an innocent man to death so preyed upon the woman's mind that she became raving mad. The incidents touched the public conscience, an agitation ensued, and the law was amended as stated.

Abandoned Habits, subs. phr. (popular).--The riding costumes of the ladies of the demi-monde in Hyde Park--(Slangiana). The punning and sufficiently obvious innuendo involved in the appellation hardly calls for further comment.--See Anonyma.

Abbess or Lady Abbess, subs. (old).--The keeper of a house of ill-fame; also a procuress. It has been suggested that the origin of this term for the mistress of a brothel, as also that of Abbot (q.v.), the name given to the male associate of the mistress, may be traced to the alleged illicit amours of Abelard and Hélöise[**Héloïse]. In this connection it is significant that, according to Francisque Michel's Etudes Comparées sur l'Argot, a common woman was, in the old French cant, said to come from l'abbaye des s'offre à tous. The keeper of such an establishment was called l'abbesse, and her associate le sacristain. The analogy was carried still further, by the inmates being termed 'nuns' and 'sisters of charity.' This depravation in the meaning of words, usually applied only to the holders of sacred offices, may possibly, without undue license, be regarded as resulting from the mockery born of the degradation, in the popular mind, of the priestly office; or, it may naturally flow from the loose way in which the title of 'abbot' was often applied to the holders of non-monastic offices. Thus, the first step toward degeneration may have occurred in applying the term to the principal of a body of clergy, as an episcopal rector; or, as amongst the Genoese, to a chief magistrate. The second stage was reached when, in the middle ages, 'abbot' was applied ironi-*