subs. (old).—1. A vagrant; whence (2) a runaway.
[?]. The Battle of Sheriff-Muir [CHILD, Ballads, vii. 161]. For Huntly and Sinclair, they both play’d the TINKLER.
d. 1796. BURNS [The Merry Muses (c. 1800), 122], ‘Come Cow Me Minnie.’
| An’ was nae Wattie a blinker? | |
| He maw’d frae the queen to the TINKLER. |
1847. C. BRONTË, Jane Eyre, xviii. ‘Is there a fire in the library?’ ‘Yes, ma’am—but she looks such a TINKLER.’
2. (common).—A bell.
1838. DICKENS, Oliver Twist, xv. ‘Jerk the TINKLER.’ These words in plain English conveyed an injunction to ring the bell.
