One might mention in this context the strong interest in the early 19th-century in canting language, evidenced in the often reprinted 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: A Dictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence (Cromie). In France, Béranger's songs sometimes used something akin to the Dublin patois.
In the "Newgate" novel vogue, middle-class writers such as Harrison Ainsworth put a sort of synthetic underworld language into songs in novels such as Rookwood, with footnotes. From the Project Gutenberg edition, a sample
from "The Double Cross."
Quite cautiously the mill began,
For neither knew the other's plan;
Each cull[99] completely in the dark, Of vot might be his neighbor's mark;
Resolved his fibbing[100] not to mind, Nor yet to pay him back in kind;
So on each other kept they tout,[101] And sparred a bit, and dodged about,
Ri, tol, lol, &c.
[99] Fellow.
[100] A particular kind of pugilistic punishment.
[101] Kept each an eye upon the other.
Could a poet play with this meaning of "fibbing"? Once one knows it, can it be forgotten?
David Latane