subs. phr. (old).—See SLUM 2, adding quots. infra. Also see BACK-SLANG.
1821. W. T. MONCRIEFF, Tom and Jerry, ii. 5. Let’s have a dive among the cadgers in the BACK SLUMS, in the Holy Land. Jerry. BACK SLUMS—Holy Land!—I’m at fault again. Log. Why, among the beggars in Dyot Street, St. Giles’s.
1865. Athenæum, 28 Jan., 124. 1. Imprisoned in the BACK SLUMS of Westminster.
1876. M. E. BRADDON, Joshua Haggard’s Daughter, xx. Not in fetid alleys and festering London BACK-SLUMS only is man’s fight with difficulty a bitter and crushing battle.
