1383. CHAUCER, The Canterbury Tales, 3810, ‘The Miller’s Tale.’
| The hote culter brenned so his TOUTE. | |
| Ibid. | |
| Thus swived was the carpentere’s wif … | |
| And Absolon hath kist hire nether eye; | |
| And Nicholas is scalded in the TOUTE. |
[?]. MS. Ashmole., 61, f. 60. Rubyng of ther TOUTE.
1882. PAYNE, Thousand Nights, etc., ‘Porter of the Three Ladies of Baghdad.’ Thy caze, thy TOUT, thy catso, thy coney.
Verb. (old cant).—‘To look out sharp, to be on one’s guard’ (B. E.): also TO KEEP TOUT: see NARK. Hence (HALLIWELL) = to follow; and (modern) = to canvass for custom as do hotel, coach, or steamer servants, to solicit employment as does a guide, or (racing: see TIP) to spy out special information concerning horses in training. A STRONG TOUT = strict observation, close watching (VAUX). As subs. = (1) a hotel, coach, or steamer runner, (2) a spy for thief or smuggler, (3) a racing agent or ‘horse-watcher’ (GROSE). Also TOUTING-KEN = a tavern-bar (B. E. and GROSE).
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. TOUT. Who TOUTS? c. who looks out sharp? TOUT the Culls, c. Eye those Folks which way they take.
1718. C. HITCHEN, The Regulator, 11. He is a pushing TOUTE, alias Thieves watchman, that lies scouting in and about the City to get and bring Intelligence to the Thieves, and where there is a Push, alias an accidental Crowd of People.
d. 1761. RICHARDSON, Correspondence, III. 316. A parcel of fellows, mean traders whom they call TOUTERS, and their business TOUTING—riding out miles to meet carriages and company coming hither, to beg their custom while here.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. TOUT. A look-out house, or eminence. Ibid., TOUTER … Men, who, on the sly, obtain the speed and capabilities of race-horses during their training, and give information to certain persons … who bet their money with more certainty. Ibid., TOUTING. Publicans forestalling guests, or meeting them on the road, and begging their custom; to be met with at Brighton, Margate, etc.
1827. BULWER-LYTTON, Pelham, lxxxii. Bess, my covess, strike me blind if my sees don’t TOUT your bingo muns in spite of the darkmans.
1837. B. DISRAELI, Venetia, 69. Come, old mort … TOUT the cobble-colter; are we to have darkmans upon us?
1843. DICKENS, Martin Chuzzlewit, xxxvii. Thimbleriggers, duffers, TOUTERS, or any of those bloodless sharpers, who are, perhaps, a little better known to the police.
1857. C. KINGSLEY, Two Years Ago, x. ‘It suits my purpose to become the principal medical man in this neighbourhood—’ ‘And I am to TOUT for introductions for you?’
1863. The Law Magazine and Law Review, 22. Barristers’ clerks TOUTING among prisoners and prosecutors.
1869. Fraser’s Magazine, ‘British Merchant Seamen.’ The TOUTER, whose business it is to attract the sailor to his master’s lodgings by the judicious loan of money, the offer of grog or soft tack (bread); the runner, who volunteers to carry his box of clothes and bedding free of charge to the same destination.
1869. HOTTEN, The Slang Dictionary, s.v. TOUT. An agent in the training districts, on the look-out for information as to the condition and capabilities of those horses entering for a coming race. TOUTS often get into trouble through entering private training-grounds. They, however, are very highly paid, some making 40l. or 50l. a week during the season.
1885. The Field, 3 Oct. There had been a good deal of before-breakfast TOUTING on the Bury side of the town. Ibid. Everybody was industrious, the professional TOUTS being outnumbered by the amateurs. Ibid. (1886), 4 Sept. The gallops … are less liable to be TOUTED than any other training-ground.
1886. The Athenæum, 3067, 7 Aug., 187. 2. A species of racing TOUT enters the cottage of a female trainer.
