Green’s Dictionary of Slang

chal n.

a man.

1857		G. Borrow Romany Rye I 82: On the following day there was much feasting amongst the Romany chals.
1865		Dublin University Mag. II: Romany chals with their nomad tents upon wheels, going to or from Riverdale's numerous fairs.
1875		G.J. Whyte-Melville Katerfelto 126: The Romany chal marries with the Romany chi.
1888		R. Barnett Police Sergeant C 21 233: Jacob Stanley was, as Tom Brusel had discovered, one of a tribe of Roma. It might be, then, that the ‘Romany chal,’ grown into a man, had not forgotten altogether his origin.
1897		Pall Mall Gaz. 20 Nov. 3/2: These were not Egyptians; the Romany Chal owns saving qualities; these were English tramps.
1911		Gem 16 Sept. 2: It ain’t a safe thing, guv’nor, to call a Romany chal a liar, neither.
1914		E. Pugh Cockney At Home 162: Very fly, my chal, but not fly enough.
1927		(con. 1835–40) P. Herring Bold Bendigo 30: I fancied Jasper one of the best among the young chals.
1935		X. Petulengro Romany Life 4: In little groups of their own, the chis and chals sit together.