Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also gallows, gallows-face) a thief or pickpocket or one who associates with them.

c.1595		Shakespeare Love’s Labour’s Lost V ii: A shrewd unhappy gallows too.
1725		A. Ramsay Gentle Shepherd IV i: Gallows-face, gae greet, / And own your Faut to her that ye wad cheat.
c.1786		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue ms. additions n.p.: Gallows Bird. A Thief, or Pickpocket; or one that associates with them.
1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (2nd, 3rd edn).
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1786].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue [as cit. 1786].
1838		Dickens Oliver Twist (1966) 118: Now, young gallows.
1851		G. Thompson Jack Harold 38: A young gallows bird, eh? – a marked criminal, eh?
1898		W. Besant Orange Girl I 225: The Thieves’ Kitchen: the Black Jack: the favourite House of Call for the gallows-bird.

2. (also gallows(-blade), gallus(-bird)) a general insult, i.e. one who is destined for the gallows.

1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Gallows bird one that deserves hanging.
1821		‘A Real Paddy’ Real Life in Ireland 156: For Gallows Birds are mortal men / That flutter in life’s day.
1830		Lytton Paul Clifford III 231: There now, you gallows-bird! you has taken the swipes without chalking; you wants to cheat the poor widow; but I sees you, I does!
1835		‘Blowing’s Lament’ in Fanny Hill’s Bang-up Reciter 31: My flash man, Bob, has run away, / Because I’ve lost my trade, sirs, / I hope that he will soon be lagg’d, / For he’s a gallows blade, sirs.
c.1840		‘“Taking Off” of Prince Albert’s Inexpressibles’ in C. Hindley Curiosities of Street Lit. (1871) 36: Take a fit, young gallus.
1844		Leeds Times 22 June 6/2: 1st soldier — You muthering villain, — there! (strikes him). 1st policeman — And you gallows-bird — there!
1848		D.O. Madden Revelations of Ireland 116: You rascally gallows bird!
1852		G.C. Mundy Our Antipodes II 126: A halter for the gallows-bird.
1862		Bristol Mercury 20 Dec. 6/2: You rascally gallows-bird; you cowardly, sneaking, plate-lickin’ blackguard [...] you — robber.
1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 149: Move off, young gallows.
1873		W.H. Thomes Bushrangers 340: Out of this, you gallus-bird, afore I locks yer up.
1885		R.F. Burton Book of Thousand Nights I 15: Hath this gallows-bird aught remaining wherewith to buy slave-girls?
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) II 391: I catched her with a young Gallows, and the mischief were done, it were.
1895		Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 31: Gallows Bird, an irreclaimable thief.
1901		Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Jan. 32/2: The first of ’em as scratches his nose ’ll be dead meat. March, you gallows-birds, march!
c.1905		J. Furphy Rigby’s Romance Ch. 38 🌐 But I was askin’ you if your mates is follerin’ them gallus-birds up?
1906		D. Stewart Vultures of the City in Illus. Police News 15 Dec. 12/2: ‘Oh, you are on that game still, are you? Won’t give no coin unless I make the boy a thief or a gallow bird’.
1912		E. Pugh City Of The World 243: Some weedy leader of a gang of hooligans or some young gallows-bird.
1937		W.M. Raine Cool Customer 200: How did you get these gallows birds, Bucky?
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn).

3. the corpse of one who has been hanged.

1861

(con. 15C) C. Reade Cloister and Hearth (1864) I 204: I ne’er minced (dissected) ape nor gallows-bird.

4. one who has been condemned to be hanged.

1879		Nots. Guardian 21 Mar. 6/5: C1, 547 [i.e. a prisoner], even in the prison garb of Portland, the hideous plumage of a gallows-bird, was not a repulsive-looking person.
1893		Dover Exp. 24 Feb. 6/5: A promising Gallows-Bird.
1926		Wood & Goddard Dict. Amer. Sl. 19: gallows-bird. An abandoned criminal.
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 84: gallow bird A prisoner sentenced to capital punishment.