cted figure; his dissipated pimply face; his greasy
forelock brushed flat and low over his forehead; his too small
jacket; his tight-cut trousers; his high-heeled boots; his
arms--with out-turned elbows--swinging across his stomach as he
hurries along to join his `push,' as he calls the pack in which
he hunts the solitary citizen---a pack more to be dreaded on a
dark night than any pack of wolves--and his name in Sydney is
legion, and in many cases he is a full-fledged voter."

1896. W. H. Whelan, in `The Argus,' Jan. 7, p. 6, col. 3:

"Being clerk of the City Court, I know that the word originated
in the very Irish and amusing way in which the then well-known
Sergeant Dalton pronounced the word larking in respect to the
conduct of `Tommy the Nut,' a rowdy of the period, and others
of both sexes in Stephen (now Exhibition) street.

"Your representative at the Court, the witty and clever `Billy'
O'Hea, who, alas! died too early, took advantage of the
appropriate sound of the word to apply it to rowdyism in
general, and, next time Dalton repeated the phrase, changed the
word from verb to noun, where it still remains, anything to the
contrary notwithstanding. I speak of what I do know, for O'Hea
drew my attention to the matter at the time, and, if I mistake
not, a reference to your files would show that it was first in
the `Argus' the word appeared in print."

("We can fully confirm Mr. Whelan's account of the origin of
the word `larrikin.'"--Ed. `Argus.')

[But see quotation from `Argus,' 1871.]

<hw>Larrikin</hw>, <i>adj</i>.

1878. `The Australian,' vol. i. p. 522:

"Marks the young criminals as heroes in the eyes not only of
the ostensible larrikin element . . ."

<hw>Larrikinalian</hw>, <i>adj</i>. (Not common.)

1893. `Evening Standard,' July 5, p. 4, col. 4 (Leading
Article):

"In the larrikinalian din which prevailed from start to finish
. . ."

<hw>Larrikiness</hw>, <i>n</i>. a female larrikin.

1871. `Collingwood Advertiser and Observer,' June 22, p. 3,
col. 5:

"Evidence was tendered as to the manner of life led by these
larikinesses . . . The juvenile larrikin element being
strongly represented in court, all the boys were ordered out."

1871. Sir George Stephen, Q.C., `Larrikinism,' a Lecture
reported in `Prahran Telegraph,' Sept. 23, p. 3, col. 1:

"I know many a larrikiness to whose voice I could listen by
the hour with all my heart, without the least fear of her
stealing it, e