Page:Farmer - Slang and its analogues past and present - Volume 1.pdf/393

 1832. Blackwood's Mag., Oct., p. 426. To protract existence in the shape of bum-brushers, and so forth, after the fashion of the exalted emigrés of 1792?

1838. Comic Almanac, Dec. [School-master's Letter signed] Barnabas Bom-brush.

Bum Charter, subs. (thieves').—Explained by quot.

1819. J. H. Vaux, Memoirs. Bum-charter is the name given to bread steeped in hot water by the first unfortunate inhabitants of the English Bastile, where this miserable fare was their daily breakfast, each man receiving with his scanty portion of bread a quart of boiled water from the Cook's Coppers.

Bumclink, subs. (provincial).—In the Midland counties the inferior beer brewed for hay-makers and harvest labourers. [Derivation obvious.] For synonyms, see Swipes.

Bum Curtain, subs. (Cambridge Univ.).—1. An academical gown when worn scant and short; especially applied to the short black gown worn till 1835 by members of Caius College. Cf., BUM-PERISHER.

1835. (Quoted in Whibley's Three Centuries of Cambridge Wit [1889].) 'Tis the College of Caius—'tis the land where the 'bum Curtain' lately was sported by each jolly chum, But now black and blue are the gowns that they wear Like the eve of a drunkard returned from a fair.

Bumf, subs. (schooboys').—Paper. [An abbreviation of bum-fodder (q.v.), an obvious allusion to toilet paper.]

Bumfhunt, subs. (Wellington College).—A paper-chase. [Derived from the popular schoolboy name for paper, i.e., bumf (q.v.).]

Bum Fiddle, subs. (old).—The posteriors. For synonyms, see Blind cheeks and Bum.

Bum Fidget, subs. (old).—A restless individual. [Obviously from bum, the posterior, + fidget, i.e., one who cannot sit still.]

Bum Fodder, subs. (old).—1. Low class worthless literature; a term once in literary use.—See sense 2.

1653. Urquhart, Rabelais, I., xiii. Torche-culs, arsewisps, bum fodders.

1753. Scots' Magazine, April, p. 208, col. 1 (title). Bum fodder for the ladies. [M.]

2. (low.)—Toilet paper, otherwise known as curl paper (q.v.). Cf. Bumf.

1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bum fodder, soft paper for the necessary house, or torche-cul.

Bummaree, subs. (common).—A Billingsgate middle-man. These men, who are not recognised as regular salesmen by the trade, are speculative buyers of large quantities of fish, which they re-sell in smaller lots. [The origin of the name is unknown, though some have speculated that it may be from the French bon marée; others, however, think that it is akin to bomerie, a French word for what in England is known as ' bottomry,' i.e., the act of borrowing money and pledging the bottom of the ship, i.e., the ship itself, for the re-payment of the money. It is argued that the leading idea in thus borrowing money on a ship's keel is the hazarding all on a single venture: hence possibly its application to other transactions, especially those connected with