Johnson explains this word 'to
entertain with compliments and amorous tattle,' and quotes the
following illustration from Swift, 'You are 'coquetting' a maid
of honour, my lord looking on to see how the gamesters play, and
I railing at you both.'
l. 26. -----
"Nancy Dawson". Nancy Dawson was a famous 'toast' and
horn-pipe dancer, who died at Haverstock Hill, May 27, 1767, and
was buried behind the Foundling, in the burial-ground of St.
George the Martyr. She first appeared at Sadler's Wells, and
speedily passed to the stage of Covent Garden, where she danced
in the 'Beggar's Opera'. There is a portrait of her in the
Garrick Club, and there are several contemporary prints. She was
the heroine of a popular song, here referred to, beginning:--
Of all the girls in our town,
The black, the fair, the red, the brown,
Who dance and prance it up and down,
There's none like Nancy Dawson:
Her easy mien, her shape so neat,
She foots, she trips, she looks so sweet,
Her ev'ry motion is complete;
I die for Nancy Dawson.
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