[Vwoolf] London street cries

[Stuart N. Clarke]

My father, who wasn’t very forthcoming, did, however, tell me this.  When he was a lad before WW1, street urchins would clamber onto the backs of carts for fun and a free ride.  Other, less fortunate, dog-in-the-manger, urchins would shout “Whip be’ind, guv!”  The carter would then flick his whip over his shoulder to dislodge the former urchins.

A tiny glimpse of a vanished world – a teeny bit of social ephemera – lost forever – for I have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

Then, a few weeks ago, I came across a couple of contemporary cartoons online, which I didn’t fully understand.  So I thought I’d try the OED.  Blow me!

whip behind!, a cry to the driver of a horse vehicle calling his attention to the presence of some one riding on the back of the vehicle without his knowledge.

1835   J. D. Carrick Laird of Logan (1841) 307   Some wandeidy weans cried ‘whip behind! whip behind!’

Unquestionably, Virginia Woolf would have heard/seen/understood the expression.

Stuart
(Day 345)
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