subs. phr. (thieves’).—A silver watch and chain: or (old) WHITE-STUFF (or WEDGE); cf. RED. WHITE CLOCK (or WHITE-’UN) = a silver watch; WHITE JENNY = a foreign-made silver watch (HOTTEN). WHITE-MONEY = silver; THE WHITE AND THE RED = silver and gold. SMOOTH-WHITE = a shilling: see RHINO.
1369. CHAUCER, Troilus and Criseyde, iii. 1384. They shulle forgon THE WHYTE AND ek THE REDE.
1628. MIDDLETON, The Widow, iv. 2. A WHITE thimble that I found.
1901. W. S. WALKER, In the Blood, 138. That night he started a new career, and ‘went through’ three drunken men lying out in the Silent Places to the relieving tune of four pounds sterling, obtained in the form of silver money and a … WHITE LOT.
