Boyno Polari

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By

Thomas Dutton

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Nix My Dolly, Pals Fake Away: A Criminal Ballad

Following on from the previous post about Signor Lippo, this article will look at another example of historical literature relating to Polari. Nix My Dolly, Pals Fake Away is a ballad written in Cant – a secret system of slang which was used by criminals to avoid rousing suspicion by authorities when conspiring or talking about illegal activities. Cant is one of the main sources of Polari, and one may even describe it as an early form of Polari without the influence of Romance languages. Surprisingly, there seems to be no translation of the ballad online. Perhaps this is for a number of reasons. Not only does decoding the ballad require significant patience, but translating it ultimately strips it of its rhyme and comical feel. This is not to mention the ballad also reinforces negative stereotypes of Romani people, and hence is not the most appealing piece of literature to translate. Nonetheless, this article translates the ballad into Standard English, before exploring some of the vocabulary used.

CANT

‘In a box of the stone jug I was born,
Of a hempen widow the kid forlorn,
Fake away.
And my noble father, as I’ve heard say,
Was a famous merchant of capers gay,
Nix my dolly, pals, fake away,
Nix, my dolly, pals, fake away.

STANDARD ENGLISH

‘I was born in a cell of a prison,
To an executee’s widow -the kid forlorn,
Keep stealing.
And my noble father, as I’ve heard,
Was a famous master of dance,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing.

My knucks in quod did my schoolmen play,
And put me up to the time o’day,
Fake away.
No dummy hunter had forks so fly,
No knuckler’ss deftly could fake a’ely,
Nix my dolly, pals, fake away.
Nix, my dolly, pals, fake away.

The pickpockets in prison did my schoolmen play,
And initiated me into pickpocketing,
Keep stealing.
No wallet-stealer had hands so agile,
No pickpocket could pickpocket so skillfully,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing.
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing.

But my nuttiest lady one fine day,
To the beaks did her gentleman betray,
Fake away.
And so I was bowled out at last,
And into the jug for a lag was cast,
Nix my dolly, pals, fake away,
Nix, my dolly, pals, fake away.

But my most-beloved lady one fine day,
Betrayed her gentleman to the judges,
Keep stealing.
And so, I was defeated at last,
And I was sentenced to prison,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing.

But I slipped my darbies one fine day,
And gave to the dubsman a holyday.
Fake away.
And here I am, pals, merry and free,
A regular rolicking romany,
Nix my dolly, pals, fake away,
Nix, my dolly, pals, fake away.’1

But I slipped my shackles one fine day,
And gave the prison warden a fright.
Keep stealing.
And here I am, pals, merry and free,
A regular rolicking Romany,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing,
Go ahead, pals, keep stealing.’

Key Vocabulary

Throughout this ballad, the vocabulary is deliberately obscure in such a way that only those who were knowledgeable of the underworld and its slang could understand it. These words include (in order of appearance):

box: cell2

stone jug: Newgate prison3

hempen widow: a widow whose husband was executed by hanging4

fake away: keep stealing5

caper merchant: a dancing master6

nix my dolly: don’t worry about it7

knuck/knuckler: a pickpocket8

quod: prison9

the time o’day: thievery10

dummy-hunter: someone who steals wallets11

forks: hands12

fly: skilful, agile13

knuckler’ss: knuckler so – spelling variation14

deftly: skillfully15

fake a cly (written as ‘fake a’ely’): pick a pocket16

nuttiest: most beloved17

beaks: judges18

bowled out: defeated19

jug: prison20

lag: prisoner, convict21

darbies: shackles22

dubsman: prison warden23

References

  1. Jack Sheppard, Nix My Dolly, Pals Fake Away (1860) ↩︎
  2. Richard Bentley, Rockwood: A Romance V. 2 (1834) 344 ↩︎
  3. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘stone jug’ (n1, def 2); Ibid. ↩︎
  4. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘hempen widow’; Bentley (n 2) 344. ↩︎
  5. See Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘fake away (there’s no down)!’. ↩︎
  6. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘caper merchant’; Bentley (n 2) 344. ↩︎
  7. See Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘nix my doll’. ↩︎
  8. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘knuck’ (n, def 1); Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘knuckler’ (def 1). ↩︎
  9. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘quod’ (n, def 1). ↩︎
  10. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘time of day’ (def 2). ↩︎
  11. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘dummy hunter’. ↩︎
  12. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘fork’ (n1, def 4). ↩︎
  13. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘fly’ (adj, def 4). ↩︎
  14. See Bentley (n 2) 345. ↩︎
  15. Oxford English Dictionary (online at 11 December 2024) ‘deftly’ (def 1). ↩︎
  16. See Bentley (n 2) 345. ↩︎
  17. See Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘nutty’ (adj2, def 1). ↩︎
  18. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘beak’ (n1, def 1). ↩︎
  19. See Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘bowl out’ (def 5). ↩︎
  20. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘fly’ (n1, def 2a). ↩︎
  21. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘lag’ (n2, def 4). ↩︎
  22. See Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘darby’ (n2, def 1). ↩︎
  23. Green’s Dictionary of Slang (online at 11 December 2024) ‘dubsman’. ↩︎

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