Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-06-18
COSTERMONGERS.
Days and Nights Spent With
Them in London.
-
wAkEMAN's wANoERlNes
Albert ch''aIlsr, the Great Music Hall cO.,sr
l"p'rs0Naiof, Who Earns as Much a.
President Clsy,laaa-cu.
rious Dialect
WAkEMAN's wANoERlNes
Copyright 1893, by Edgar L. wakcman.
For The Sunday Gazette:

|
IN which actually lived the daily life
OF n costermonger in London, many In.
terestins observations and experiences
aside from those connected with thn
immediate concerns of buying and haNk.
ing vegetables, Ash, flesh and fowl wer,
naturally resultant from my association
win "Slumpsy Jem,' the coster and
us wife, Becky, and what may be re-.
sarded as the aristocratic cosler society.
10 which cur signal financial success
speedily gave MS admittauce.
1t may not have been an original dis.
eo'ery on my part, but ! was soon con
Nmced of the correctness Of curious
series of surmises growing out Of much
previous observation and study Of tho
habits manners and speech of London
luiA M general; u conclusion which seems
WORTHY VI extended discussion hc ofhprs
more able TO make exact and authorize.
i've comparison. This was. In hrlef.
mat me generic things We call ''rockppy.
SINS ~ speech and manners. really
nave Their origin chiefly among London
costcrmOngcrs
II is exceedingly difficult to mike this
clear 10 those who have not lived ,n
Lonnoii ana also IN large cities Of other
countries long enough to have cnurht
lhul exec, dtngly wifsdmc feature Of an
great Oil aud compact communities
which, for better name. may be- called
iocal color Observation will nearly
al"uys uselose II to largely consist Of
ihe reheAive influence upon higher Glasses
from unique or .Outlandish lower classics,
that gem y uiuhlcric aud humorous or
tragic realism Of the lowly almost In
N'anily transformed into the wit. lutpor.
repaHee and slang OF those ahoyr
mem; until in degree. habit Of speech.
form of tile cOmunOner collouuinl pN-
prcssions aud even distinctive mnnpor-
lsns, become fixed and characteristic
win and upon that grade Of folk closest
~ mind feeling and vocation to the
,huructerlui lowly people whom they
tated
Thus | have heard in noted Paris
salons the common jibes of the cannille
nhu the houlevardieres. from lips quite
unconscious of their origin: In American
clubs and drawing repHs. countless cant
anu patter expressions already long prcyi-
onsly discarded in New Ycrk's Bowery
Sums where they first took form; In
the hnest Edlnburg homes. the wise,
curt and droll sayings Of Newhnyen fish
wives and the lenizcns Of Cowgate aud
Gr1ssmarket, AMI from London concert
halls, up through London clubs. past Eng
lish castles and noblemen's city homes
TO the ii0or of parliament itself. the latest
epithct and newest catoh-phrase Of Lon
don costermongcrs. coined by my coster
friends in moments Of "four-ale" inspi-
ration ut free smOklhg-room concerts, at
penny gaffs, or IN valiant blnckglard-
Ing battles with Coyent Garden porters
and the glib-tongued "mobbers" or fish.
carriers Of ar,ient and odorous Billings
gate
As 10 "cOckney" London folk, high and
low, clear and distinct lines may bo
drawn. The coSter Is the typical, indeed
the genuine, cockney. His vernaculnr.
which Is so ouuandish that one has to
have long acquaintance with II to under
stand II at ALL is not slang, because II
is his original aud unaffected mode Of
expression. His swArger, his unctuous
oatEs, his terrible objurgations his ini-
pulsiye geuer, ity, his reckless gambling.
his fondpcss for pets. his rowing ways
within the great city his grotesQue ap-
parcl, his aversion 10 a fixed hahitation,
his suspicion Of anything savoring Of re-
ligion, his unconqnerable Agposticism,
his self-relinnce. his fntalism, bis fond.
ness for his kind and kin, and yet seem
ing brutality In all domestic relations,
lis hardness and his tenderness, and his
almost stern and Spartan loyalty TO his
friends, his race and his traditions, are
all inexplicable aud tantnlizing to one
studying his character little or long. but
they are absolutely and inyiolably his
own. There Is not an iotn of pretense,
hypocrisy or aifcctation about him. he
cause Of this, millions Of London loNly
next him In the social scale have In
from 400 to 500 years time been uncon-
scious imitators of much Of his speech,
some of his manners, q good deal of Ills
swngger and buster, and not little Of
his hardness and brutality. All these
latter folk are often generally regarded
as "cockneys." But their cockneyism Is
assumed. copied. unreal. Consequently
II Is as offensive to the intelligent Eng
lishman, who often errs IN mistaking II
for ihe genuine article exclusively pos
sessed hy the costermougcrs, MS u is 10
tbc wondering American, who knows
nothing whatever about its origin.
There Is another class Of folk In London
lint inexpressibly more omnipresent and
offensive, who masquerade as "cocfneys
and who, more than all oth"rs, bling the
truc coster cockney into permanent as
repntc. They are sort of chrome
cocknrys, when the genuine Iurneresque
reds and solemn Miilei grays OF lnv uu III
eockney coster are brought into anAlyt,
cal comparison. They comprise a mixed
anil murriined multitude Of men about
,',,.n answering somewhat 10 the dndr
| CboIIv Wohblcrs Of America -yohlig
n,lie,nen and other choice Aristocrats'
vho ",o in for u lcng aud sirohg pun,
| y meow II these are added lev
| ash journalists, ] Gm sorry 10 say tel-
49, WHO arc on the outskirts OF even
| KY io,rest OF London Bohemias' ngl
n'o,v actors. for London actors are AZ
mast In yariably London gentlemen !
s baneers-op' Of clubs. all pusiists'
snrjnters horseinen. jockeys anu pIOles'
| 'nai snorting men generally; thohaanus
| - mus, hall performers and me ytLti
,h,nsands OF Tommy Rots' gulpeI ~
~ ,he frea smoking reem concerts Q, w
..hIic t,uscs. who are found every husl,
Isv mo-ning at their weekly IoNs' y
W. i,H,yn,iinn" symposium at the corner =,
VI aid Waterloo roads ana tens =.
,bnnsands more Of London ciefks 49, ~
..s'V.,,1ices-vaeLJu and Nnnsi s..s's.
lggi,nan Tappertits- filled wiih tne iFs W.,
,aock btt0ics that they h,A' -,
-. he. 10 them, true bllisn 49,
~ NE cock.sure cockneys anu pes'' ~
6ans OF the hour, ..Anevs nevei
An Of these chrome ctoss,rs =. a,,td.
- their mouths without ehoI. " ~,
Toir moral and mental snpeaitla hrssl
.nsterulougers. Iney -visos men
ioese from their bohu9l s-n.laad. Of
mi travel In FRESNO n..ics Thei
NJ continent and In Ailssl sis, ,.3or N
M srs Strike me LUCKY in
oftns "a .,rher unprintable cosieI ~.
me. ~ Their CALCULATIONS ~
p .I..s.,Ts truth" and The NE ,.,tis.
''eaw,a md einphasizinG aa9nc'. ~.
qiiHliyils - . '.bloonin, ~