1689. Selden, Table Talk, p. 96 (Arber's ed.). We can make no notion of it, 'tis so full of intricacy, so full of contradiction: 'tis in good earnest, as we state it, half-a-dozen bulls one upon another.
1705. Ward, Hudibras Redivivus, vol. II., pt. I., p. 6. With Stale Quibbles, Puns, and Bulls.
1841. Lever, Charles O'Malley, ch. i. 'I have got into such an infernal habit of making bulls, that I can't write sense when I want it.'
1859. H. Kingsley, Geoffrey Hamlyn, ch. xxxix. He was telling the most outrageous of Irish stories, and making, on purpose, the most outrageous of Irish bulls.
In this connection it may be noted that in French cavalry regiments portez! and remettez! are mock commands given upon the perpetration of a bull. La calinotade signifies in the popular speech a ludicrous or foolish saying, whilst one given to uttering them is termed un calino.
2. (thieves'.)—A crown or five shilling piece. Formerly bull's eye (q.v.). [The origin is doubtful. It may be a mere allusion to the circular shape, or it may be of classical derivation, and be a reference to the herds and flocks which at one time constituted a man's wealth. Cf., Latin pecunia, from pecus, cattle or oxen.]
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dictionary. Bull, a crown, or five shillings.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 232. List of patterers' words. Bull, a crown.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House, ch. xlvi. Four half-bulls, wot you may call half-crowns.
1857. Notes and Queries, 2 S., 4 July. And therefore much as a bull (or a hog) stand arbitrarily for a five-shilling-piece, half-a-bull for half a-crown, a bob for a shilling, a tanner for sixpence, etc., with equal propriety might a plum stand for £100,000.
1889. Answers, July 27, p. 136, col. 2. Once found, the 'lurker' is pretty sure to draw a bull (five shillings), or even a 'counter' (pound).
3. (Stock Exchange.)—Originally a speculative purchase for a rise; i.e., a man would agree to buy stock at a future day at a stated price with no intention of taking it up, but trusting to the market advancing in value to make the transaction profitable. Bull is the reverse of bear (q.v.). The term is now more frequently applied to the person engaged in the above-mentioned tactics, i.e., to one who tries to enhance the value of stocks by speculative purchases or otherwise. Also used as a verb and adjective.
b. 1671, d. 1757. Cibber, The Refusal, or The Ladies' Philosophy. Granger (to Witling, who has been boasting of his gain): And all this out of 'Change Alley'? Witling: Every shilling, Sir, all out of stocks, Pulls, Bulls, Rams, Bears, and Bubbles.
1768. Foote, Devil upon Two Sticks, Act i. A mere bull and bear booby; the patron of lame ducks, brokers, and fraudulent foot bankrupts.
1774. Coleman, Man of Business, IV., i., in wks. (1777) II., 179. My young master is the bull, and Sir Charles is the bear. He agreed for stock, expecting it to be up at three hundred by this time; but, lack-a-day, sir, it has been falling ever since.
1817. Scott, Rob Roy, ch. iv. The hum and bustle which his approach was wont to produce among the bulls, bears, and brokers of Stock Alley.
1860. Peacock, Gryll Grange, ch. xviii. In Stock Exchange slang, Bulls are speculators for a rise, Bears for a fall.
1881. Mark Lane Express, Aug. 8, p. 1085. The speculative movement which has, so far, exerted a bull influence on the maize market.
On the French Bourse a bull is called un haussier; in Berlin he is known as liebhaler; and in Vienna the term used is contremine.
