Heading
gous; but at Christ's Hospital Fin = 'I won't have,' the reverse of Bags I.
ante. 1815. E. C. Harrington, in N. and Q., 5 S., vii., 98. Respecting the word fen . . . I can testify to the use of the term by schoolboys prior to the battle of Waterloo . . . meaning that we protested against an exceptional action.
1852. Dickens, Bleak House. 'I'm fly,' says Jo. 'But fen larks, you know.'
1877. Notes and Queries, 5 S., vii., 178. A comical application, was, I remember well, 'Fen live lumber'! which, if pronounced in time, would disable your opponent from moving a bystander out of the way of his shot.
Fence, subs. (common).—1. A purchaser
or receiver of stolen goods.—See
verbal sense, and Thieves.
English Synonyms. Fencing master, or cully; billy-fencer; angling cove; stallsman; Ikey; family-man; father.
French Synonyms. Une crosse (thieves'); un carreur (thieves'); un attriqueur or une attriqueuse (thieves'); un franc de maison (also = landlord of a thieves' lodging-house or 'flash ken'); un fourgue, fourgat, or fourgasse (thieves'); une nourrice (a female fence; = nurse); un meunier (= a miller; porter au moulin = to fence the swag); un ogre (thieves').
German Synonyms. Pascher or Verpascher (from paschlnisenen = to peddle illegally); Sarser, or Sasser (= a go-between); Tschorrgoi (gypsy).
Portuguese Synonym. Entrujdo.
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4th ed.), p. 3. The Fence and he [a thief], are like the Devil and the Doctor, they live by one another.
1748. T. Dyche, Dictionary (5th ed.). Fence (s.) . . . and in the Canting Language, signifies one who receives and disposes of stolen goods for the robbers.
1834. W. H. Ainsworth, Rookwood, p. 171 (ed. 1864). The fence and he are like the devil and the doctor, they live by one another; and, like traitors, 'tis best to keep each other's counsel.
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 60 What are you up to? Ill-treating the boys, you . . . insatiable old Fence.
1851. Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. II., p. 106. In one of my inquiries among the young thieves and pickpockets in the low lodging-houses, I heard frequent accounts of their selling the metal goods they stole to fences, and in one particular instance to the mistress of a lodging house, who had conveniences for the melting of pewter pots (called 'cats and kittens' by the young thieves according to the size of the vessels).
1883. Daily Telegraph, 13 June, p. 7, col. 2. The criminal who, without the aid of the professional fence, would experience much difficulty in disposing of his booty.
1885. Indoor Paupers, p. 73. The articles bore the workhouse stamp, were much worn, and would not have brought the thief more than a couple of pence, even supposing that he could find a fence, who would venture to purchase.
2. A place where stolen goods are purchased or received. [From sense 1.] Also a Dolly-, leaving-, or swag-shop—(q.v.); Fencing-crib. Fr., un moulin.
1847. Illus. Lon. News, 2 May. The keeper of the fence loves to set up in business there [Clerkenwell]—low public-houses abound, where thieves drink and smoke—Jew receivers work the corners.
1848. Punch, vol. xiv., p. 149. If Citizen Blanc hold to his opinions of 1839, we may expect no law of international copyright from the Republic. Let M. Galignani rejoice; and let his Bibliotheque in the Rue Vivienne still remain the greatest literary fence in Europe.
Verb (old).—1. To purchase or receive stolen goods.
1610. Rowlands, Martin Mark-all p. 38 (H. Club's Repr., 1874). To fence property, to sell any thing that is stolen.
