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 Lurden, subs. (old).—A rogue. Hence lurdenry = roguery.

1513. Gawin Douglas, Eneados, viii. Prol. l. q. Leis, lurdanry, and lash.

1540. Lindsay, Satyre Thrie Estaitis [E. E. T. S.], l. 2474. Thou links evin lyke ane lurden.

1562-3. Jack Juggler [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ii. 135]. Avoid, thou lousy lurden and precious stinking slave.

c. 1587. Greene, Follie and Loue [Grosart (1881-6), iv. 206]. Instead of some braue gentleman, I strike some filthie lurden.

1606. Wily Beguiled [Dodsley, Old Plays (1874), ix. 288]. If I had been such a great, long, large, lob-cocked, loselled lurdan, as Master Churms is I should never have got Peg as long as I had lived.

LURK, subs, (vagrants').—See quots.

1829. A Laconic Narrative of the Life and Death of James Wilson. That awful monster, William Burke. Like Reynard sneaking on the lurk, Coyducked his prey into his den And then the woeful work began. (**original quote checked P2]

1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 403. Many kinds of thieving as well as begging are termed lurking—the dead lurk, for instance, is the expressive slang phrase for the art of entering dwelling-houses during divine service. The term lurk, however, is mostly applied to the several modes of plundering by representations of sham distress.

1889. Answers, 27 July, 137, 1. Begging of all kinds is divided into lurks, or branches.

Verb, (vagrants').—To beg with false letters.

1851-61. Mayhew, Lond. Lab., i. 462. We'll lurk on your trade.

Lurker, subs. (vagrants').—1. A begging imposter; a silver beggar (q.v.). See Demaunder for glymmar. Also Lurksman.

1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. & Lon. Poor, i. 233. In every large town sham official documents, with crests, seals, and signatures, can be got for half-a-crown. Armed with these, the patterer becomes lurker,—that is, an imposter.

2. (thieves').—A jack-of-all-trades (q.v.).

Lurries, subs. (old).—See quot. 1690. For synonyms see Actual and Gilt. Also Lurry.

1674. The Canting Academy (ed. 20). 'The Budge it is a Delicate Trade.' But if the cully nab us and The lurries from us takes, O then he rubs us to the whit.

1676. The Twenty Craftsmen. The fifth was a glazier, who, when he creeps in, To pinch all the lurry he thinks it no sin.

1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew, s.v. Lurries, Money, Watches, Rings, or other Moveables.

1725. New Cant. Dict., s.v.

1754. Scoundrel's Dicty. If he sees but the lurry his hooks he will bait.

1785. Grose, Vulg. Tongue, s.v.

Lurry, subs. (old colloquial).—1. Gabble.

1649. Milton, Eikonoklastes, xvi. To turn prayer into a kind of lurrey.

2. See Lurries.

Lush, subs. (common).—1. Drink. [Lushington = a once well-known London brewer]. For synonyms see Drinks.

1819. Vaux, Memoirs, p. 188, s.v. Lush, beer or liquor of any kind.

1830. Sir E. B. Lytton, Paul Clifford, ch. xvi. 'Bring the lush and the pipes, old bloke!' cried Ned, throwing himself on a bench; 'we are never at a loss for company!'

1841. Comic Almanack, 270. They are identified equally with the lush and the literature of the land; for he is prepared to contend that whatever has been great in literature is deducible from lush.

1841. Lever, Charles O'Malley, xx. The Bursar of Trinity shall be a proverb for a good fellow that loveth his lush.

1843. W. T. Moncrieff, The Scamps of London, ii. 3. Dispose of your lush, and play out your game.