jarkman

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

jark +‎ -man

Noun[edit]

jarkman (plural jarkmen)

  1. (obsolete) A forger of counterfeit seals, licenses or other documents.
    • 1849, “The Beggars of London”, in The New Monthly Magazine, volume 85:
      Allusion has been made to forged certificates. These were manufactured by a class of mendicants who had something in them of clerkly skill. They were called Jarkmen, Jark being the cant term for a seal.
  2. (obsolete) A writer of begging letters.
    • Beggars' Bush (17th-century play), act 2 scene 1
      And these, what name or title e'er they bear, / Jarkman, or Patrico, Cranke, or Clapper-dudgeon, / Frater, or Abram-man; I speak to all / That stand in fair election for the title / Of king of beggars.

Related terms[edit]

References[edit]

  • 1949, John Dover Wilson (compiler), Life in Shakespeare's England. A Book of Elizabethan Prose, Cambridge at the University Press. 1st ed. 1911, 2nd ed. 1913, 8th reprint. In Glossary and Notes. Quoted in plural (jarkmen)
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