Bampfylde Moore Carew (born 1693, died 1759), was an English rogue, vagabond and imposter, who claimed to be King of the Beggars. Events January 11 - Eruption of Mt. ... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Rogue can mean a number of things: A rogue is usually a dishonest or mischievous person, but not always. ... Vagabond refer to: Vagabond, an itinerant person, Vagabond, a manga by Takehiko Inoue, Vagabond, a movie by Agnès Varda, Vagabond, a Marvel Comics universe character. ... An Impostor (or Imposter) is a person who pretends to be somebody else. ... ...

He was the son of Reverend Theodore Carew, rector of Bickleigh. The Carews were a well-established in Devonshire family. Although they had a reputation for adventurousness Bampfylde Moore Carew took this to extremes, if his picaresque memoirs are to believed. Little is know about his life beyond these, in which he is described on the title-page as "the Noted Devonshire Stroller and Dogstealer". Bickleigh is a small village on the southern edge of Dartmoor in Devon, England. ... This page is about the English county, for alternative meanings see Devon (disambiguation). ... The picaresque novel (Spanish: picaresco, from pícaro, for rogue or rascal) is a popular style of novel that originated in Spain and flourished in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries and has continued to influence modern literature. ... A memoir, as a literary genre, forms a sub-class of autobiography. ...

The Life and Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew

Literary History

The Life and Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew was first published in 1745. Although it states that the contents were "noted by himself during his passage to America", and it is likely facts were supplied by Carew, the author was probably Robert Goadby, a printer in Sherborne, Dorsetshire, who published an early edition in 1749. It has been suggested that Carew dictated his Life to Mrs. Goadby. // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... See also: Sherborne, Gloucestershire Sherborne is an affluent market town in north west Dorset, England, situated on the River Yeo and A30 road, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale six miles east of Yeovil. ... This page is about the county of Dorset in England. ...

The Life and Adventures continued to be a best seller throughout the next hundred years, in numerous editions as books and chapbooks. He became a nationally known character, appealing to a provincial audience. One edition of his life was printed in Hull in 1785. A chapbook is an item of popular literature, as would have formed part of the stock of a chapman, peddler, or other itinerant trader. ... A hull is: the outer covering of a fruit or vegetable, may also be called a husk the body or frame of a ship; see hull (ship) Several places in the world are called Hull: Kingston upon Hull - a city in England usually referred to as simply Hull. ... 1785 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

How much of the Life is true is impossible now to know. Carew certainly travelled, and is likely to have indulged in some minor crimes, but many of the stories seem too fantastic or literary to be true. It appealed to the market which has always existed for mild rogue literature, and many editions included a thieves’ cant dictionary. The particular appeal of The Life must have been that an educated man from a good family spent his life ingeniously and audaciously outwitting the establishment, including people who should have recognised him, but without ever doing anything really bad. Canting is the mysterious Language of Rogues, Gypsies, Beggars, Thieves, etc. ...

It does seem that Carew settled down in Bickleigh towards the end of his life. This may have been because of an offer of support from his relative Sir Thomas Carew of Bickerton, winning a lottery, or just age and weariness. Some editions of The Life and Adventures suggest he reflected with sadness on how “idly” he had spent his life, but this sounds like the common method of making a racy story acceptable by adding a moral ending. Carew died at Tiverton in 1759, leaving a daughter. Map sources for Tiverton at grid reference SS955125 Tiverton is a town in the County of Devon, in England. ... 1759 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Contents

Carew claims to have taken to the road after he ran away from Blundell’s school in Tiverton. With friends, he had chased a deer through fields causing damage which caused the farmers to complain to the headmaster. He ran away and at an alehouse fell in with a band of “gypsies”. These were almost certainly not Romany but vagabonds living off their wits. Carew travelled widely, at first around Devon and then around England, supporting himself by playing confidence tricks on the wealthy. The Rroma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies. ... Romany (or Romani) relates to: The Roma: a people sometimes pejoratively called Gypsies. Their language Romany was the pseudonym of a broadcaster and writer of Roma descent, George Bramwell Evens. ... Vagabond refer to: Vagabond, an itinerant person, Vagabond, a manga by Takehiko Inoue, Vagabond, a movie by Agnès Varda, Vagabond, a Marvel Comics universe character. ...

His first trick involved a “Madam Musgrove”, who asked for his help in discovering some treasure she believed was hidden on her land. Carew, consulting “the secrets of his arts”, informed her that it was under a laurel tree, but that she should not seek it until a particular day and hour and for which he was paid 20 guineas. Of course by the appointed hour Carew and her money were long gone. This was a well-known and documented trick from a period when cunning folk were often consulted about lost items. In English folklore, the cunning woman or cunning man is a professional or semi-professional folk magic user up until the twentieth century. ...

Carew claimed to be a master of disguise, in which he followed the tradition of counterfeit rogues dating back to Thomas Harman. He masqueraded as a shipwrecked sailor (a popular way to claim alms), a clergyman, and defrauding “Squire Portman” twice in one day, first as a rat-catcher and then a woman whose daughter had been killed in a fire, (another staple of fraudulent beggars). He then travelled to Newfoundland, where he stayed a short time. On his return he pretended to be the mate of a vessel, and eloped with the daughter of a respectable apothecary of Newcastle on Tyne, whom he afterwards married. After further years as a vagabond he claimed to have been elected King of the Beggars, on the death of Clause Patch. The ceremony described reproduces one from Thomas Harman’s Caveat for Common Cursitors, via the popular play The Beggars Bush by Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher and Philip Massinger in which Clause Patch is a character. He was then convicted of being an idle vagrant, and sentenced to be transported to Maryland. He attempted to escape, was captured, escaped again, and fell in with friendly Indians. He then went to Pennsylvania, swam the Delaware, adopted the guise of a Quaker, and as such made his to Philadelphia, and New York. Having embarked for England he escaped being pressed to serve in the Navy by pricking his hands and face, and rubbing in bay salt and gunpowder, so as to simulate smallpox. Such tricks were commonplaces of rogue literature. On returning to England, he claims to have found his wife and daughter, and then travelled to Scotland by 1745 in time to accompany the Young Pretender Bonnie Prince Charlie to Carlisle and Derby. A counterfeit is an imitation that is made with the intent to deceptively represent its content or origins. ... Rogue can mean a number of things: A rogue is usually a dishonest or mischievous person, but not always. ... Alms Bag taken from some Tapestry in Orleans, Fifteenth Century. ... Map of Newfoundland Newfoundland (French: Terre-Neuve; Irish: Talamh an Éisc; Latin: Terra Nova) is a large island off the northeast coast of North America, and the most populous part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Vagabond refer to: Vagabond, an itinerant person, Vagabond, a manga by Takehiko Inoue, Vagabond, a movie by Agnès Varda, Vagabond, a Marvel Comics universe character. ... Beaumont can refer to: Beaumont, municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. ... This is an article about the projectile; see Arrow (disambiguation) for other meanings. ... Philip Massinger (1583 - 1640) was an English dramatist. ... State nickname: Old Line State; Free State Official languages None Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Governor Robert L. Ehrlich (R) Senators Paul Sarbanes (D) Barbara Mikulski (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 42nd 32,160 km² 21 Population  - Total (2000)  - Density Ranked 19th 5,296,486 165/km² (5th) Admission into... Official language(s) None Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 33rd 119,283 km² 255 km 455 km 2. ... Official language(s) None Capital Dover Largest city Wilmington Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 49th 6,452 km² 48 km 161 km 21. ... Philadelphia is a village located in Jefferson County, New York. ... Official language(s) English Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... // Events May 11 - War of Austrian Succession: Battle of Fontenoy - At Fontenoy, French forces defeat an Anglo-Dutch-Hanoverian army including the Black Watch June 4 – Frederick the Great destroys Austrian army at Hohenfriedberg August 19 - Beginning of the 45 Jacobite Rising at Glenfinnan September 12 - Francis I is elected... Bonnie Prince Charlie Charles Edward Louis John Casimir Silvester Severino Maria Stuart (December 31, 1720 – January 31, 1788), was the exiled claimant to the thrones of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, who was... For the U.S. politician, see Charles E. Stuart Bonnie Prince Charlie Charles Edward Louis Philip Casimir Stuart (December 31, 1720 – January 31, 1788), was the exiled claimant to the thrones of Ireland, commonly known as Bonnie Prince Charlie. Charles was the son of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old...

Sources

The life and adventures of Bamfylde Moore Carew, the noted Devonshire stroller and dogstealer (1745)

An apology for the life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew (son of the Rev. Mr. Carew, of Bickley) (1749?)

Nooney, M.A., The cant dictionary of Bampfylde-Moore Carew: a study of the contents and changes in various editions (1969)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/education/betsie/parser.pl/0005/www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/devon/article_1.shtml

Some of the cant words are listed and explained at http://www.fullbooks.com/Musa-Pedestris--Three-Centuries-of-Canting4.html