Jerry Juniper was what the classical Captain Grose would designate a
"gentleman with three outs," and, although he was not entirely without
wit, nor, his associates avouched, without money, nor, certainly, in his
own opinion, had that been asked, without manners; yet was he assuredly
without shoes, without stockings, without shirt. This latter deficiency
was made up by a voluminous cravat, tied with proportionately large
bows. A jaunty pair of yellow breeches, somewhat faded; a waistcoat of
silver brocade, richly embroidered, somewhat tarnished and lack-lustre;
a murrey-colored velvet coat, somewhat chafed, completed the costume of
this beggar Brummell, this mendicant macaroni!
Jerry Juniper was a character well known at the time, as a constant
frequenter of all races, fairs, regattas, ship-launches, bull-baits, and
prize-fights, all of which he attended, and to which he transported
himself with an expedition little less remarkable than that of Turpin.
You met him at Epsom, at Ascot, at Newmarket, at Doncaster, at the
Roodee of Chester, at the Curragh of Kildare. The most remote as well as
the most adjacent meeting attracted him. The cock-pit was his constant
haunt, and in more senses than one was he a _leg_. No opera-dancer could
be more agile, more nimble; scarcely, indeed, more graceful, than was
Jerry, with his shoeless and stockingless feet; and the manner in which
he executed a pirouette, or a pas, before a line of carriages, seldom
failed to procure him "golden opinions from all sorts of dames." With
the ladies, it must be owned, Jerry was rather upon too easy terms; but
then, perhaps, the ladies were upon too easy terms with Jerry; and if a
bright-eyed fair one condescended to jest with him, what marvel if he
should sometimes slightly transgress the laws of decorum. These
aberrations, however, were trifling; altogether he was so well known,
and knew everybody else so well, that he seldom committed himself; and,
singular to say, could on occasions even be serious. In addition to his
other faculties, no one cut a sly joke, or trolled a merry ditty, better
than Jerry. His peculiarities, in short, were on the pleasant side, and
he was a general favorite in consequence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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