Heading
horses by means of fradulent representations.
1821. W T. Moncrieff, Tom and
Jerry, Act. i., Sc. 6. Grooms, Jockies, and Chaunters, to Tattersall's bring.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, xlii., 365.
'He was a horse-chaunter: he's a leg now.'
1845. W. M. Thackeray, Miscellanies,
II. ('Leg. of the Rhine'), p. 88. He is a cogger of dice, a chanter of horseflesh.
1857. Dickens, Dorrit, bk. I., ch.
xii., 88. The Plaintiff was a Chaunter—meaning, not a singer of anthems, but a seller of horses.
1884. Daily News, August 23, p. 5,
col. 1. It is for the chanter and his attendant bonnet, who officiates as groom, to place the stock.
1890. W. E. Henley. Views and
Reviews, p. 137. An apple woman to mystify, a horse-chanter to swindle, a pugilist to study, etc., etc.
2. (vagrants').—A street patterer. More commonly spelt chaunter (q.v.).
3. (Scots).—The penis.
Chantey or Shanty, subs. (nautical).—A
song sung by sailors at
their work.—See Chantey-man.
[Obviously a diminutive of
chant, a song.]
1869. Chambers' Journal, 11 Dec.,
pp. 794-6. [Article on 'Sailors' Shanties and Sea-Songs.']
1883. W. Clark Russell, Sailors'
Language, preface, xi. But the lack of variety is no obstruction to the sailor's poetical inspiration when he wants the 'old man' to know his private opinions without expressing them to his face, and so the same chantey, as the windlass or halliard chorus is called, furnishes the music to as many various indignant remonstrances as Jack can find injuries to sing about.
1884. W. C. Russell, Jack's Courtship,
ch. iii. 'Then give us one of the old chanteys,' exclaimed my uncle. 'Haul the Bowline,' or 'Whiskey, Johnny.'
Chantey-Man, subs. (nautical).—A
singer of Chanteys (q.v.).
1887. Saturday Review, 27 August.
A shanty, or, as pedants call it, 'chanty,' is a song sung by sailors at their work. The music is 'to a certain extent traditional,' the words—which are commonly unfit for ears polite—are traditional likewise. The words and music are divided into two parts—the 'shanty' proper, which is delivered by a single voice, with or without a fiddle obligato, and the refrain and chorus, which are sung with much straining and tugging, and with peculiar breaks and strange and melancholy stresses, by a number of men engaged in the actual performance of some piece of bodily labour. The manner is this. We will suppose for instance, that what is wanted is an anchor song. The fugleman takes his stand, fiddle in hand, and strikes up the melody of 'Away Down Rio.' Then, everything being ready, he pipes out a single line of the song, and the working party, with a strong pull at the capstan-bars, answers with a long-drawn Away Down Rio. He sings a second verse, and this is followed by the full strength of the chorus. . . . And so on, through stave after stave, till the anchor's weighed, and, the work being done, the need for song is gone by.
1890. W. E. Henley. Views and
Reviews, p. 153. He goes down to the docks and loiters among the galiots and brigantines; he hears the melancholy song of the chantey-man.
Chantie, subs. (Scots).—A
chamber-pot. For synonyms,
see It.
Chanting (more commonly Horse-Chanting),
verbal subs. (common).—1.
Tricking into the
purchase of unsound or vicious
horses.
1825. English Spy, vol. I., pp. 199,
200. The servant was a confederate, and the whole affair nothing more than a true orthodox farce of horse-chaunting got up for the express purpose of raising a temporary supply.
1870-2. Gallery of Comicalities. If
I have got an 'orse to sell, You'll never find that Dick is wanting; There's few that try it on so well, Or beat me at a bit of chaunting.
