Bunter, subs. (harlotry).—1. A prostitute; one who adds theft to her other vocation; also a term of contempt for any low woman. See, however, quot. from Dyche, 1748, and Mayhew, 1851. For analogous terms, see Barrack-hack.
1705-7. E. Ward, Hudibmras Rediv., II., ii. (1715), 25. Punks, Strolers, Market Dames, and Bunters. [M.]
1748. Smollett, Rod. Random, ch. xlvii. And asked with some heat, if he thought I had spent the evening in a cellar with chairmen and Bunters.
1748. T. Dyche. Dictionary (5 ed.). Bunter (s.), one who goes about the streets to gather rags, bones, etc.
1759. Walpole, Parish Register. Here Fielding met his Bunter Muse, And, as they quaff'd the fiery juice, Droll Nature stamp'd each lucky hit, With unimaginable wit.
1763. British Magazine, vol. IV., p. 542. I heard a bunter at the Horse-Guards. . . swear she would not venture into the Park.
1765. Goldsmith, Essays, x. The Bunters who swagger in the streets of London.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. II., p. 158. They were known by the name of bunters, which signifies properly gatherers of rags.
2. Explained by quotation. [Bunter here may be a confused variant of bunker, one who runs away or 'slopes.']
1851. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, IV., 223. There is a class of women technically known as bunters, who take lodgings, and after staying some time run away without paying their rent.
Burdon's HOTEL, subs. (thieves').—Whitecross Street Prison, of which the Governor was a Mr. Burdon. Almost every prison has a nickname of this kind, either from the name of the Governor, or from some local circumstance. The Queen's Bench has an immense number of names—Spike, Park, etc.; and every Chief-Justice stands godfather to it. For full list of such names, see Cage.
1861. Dutton Cook, Paul Foster's Daughter, ch. ii. 'David, be respectable, whatever you are, be respectable, and Burdon's hotel is not for you to sojourn at.'
Burick or Burerk, subs. (old).—Latterly applied to any woman or 'lady,' especially one showily dressed, but formerly a thief's term for a prostitute.
1819. J. H. Vaux, Memoirs. Burick is a prostitute, or common woman.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and London Poor, I., p. 262. If they can meet with the burerk (mistress) or the young ladies, etc.
1889. Answers, July 20, p. 121, col. 2. Let him ask the loafer what his 'Monekear' (name) is; whether he can drink a 'shant of patter' (pint of beer); whether he finds the 'bone' or 'gammy'—that is good or bad as regards begging; and which sex gives him most—the 'burerks' (ladies), or the 'Toffs' (gentlemen).
Amongst French equivalents for a well-dressed woman may be mentioned une panuche (this name is also applied to a prostitute living in a brothel); une dubuge; une faraude (the masculine form, un faraud, signifies a vulgar fellow proud of smart clothes—a snob, a swell).
Burke, verb (military).—To dye the moustache and whiskers. [Burke properly is to smother or hush up, and the allusion in the military term is to the practice which once prevailed in smart regiments of dyeing or smothering the natural colour of the hair for the sake of uniformity. The regulations at one time as regards the style of wearing the hair were very stringent and precise.]
