A Caveat or Warning for Common Curizitters, vulgarly called Vagabonds
Book •
Thomas Harman's 'A Caveat or Warning for Common Curizitters, vulgarly called Vagabonds' is a seminal 1567 work that purports to catalog the practices and cant of itinerant beggars and criminals.
Written from the perspective of a landowner alarmed by 'masterless men,' it provides taxonomies of rogue types and a glossary of criminal slang.
The book aimed to expose deceptive practices and support vagrancy legislation, blending moralizing commentary with lurid anecdotes.
Its accounts influenced later cant and slang lexicography and were frequently copied into subsequent dictionaries of underworld speech.
Modern scholars treat it both as an important source and a biased, sometimes unreliable, portrayal of marginalized communities.
Written from the perspective of a landowner alarmed by 'masterless men,' it provides taxonomies of rogue types and a glossary of criminal slang.
The book aimed to expose deceptive practices and support vagrancy legislation, blending moralizing commentary with lurid anecdotes.
Its accounts influenced later cant and slang lexicography and were frequently copied into subsequent dictionaries of underworld speech.
Modern scholars treat it both as an important source and a biased, sometimes unreliable, portrayal of marginalized communities.
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Jess Zafarris
Vulgar language and criminal slang
