rattling, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

rattling adj.

1. fashionable, first-rate.

1771

180018501900

1940

1771		R. King New London Spy 44: He abandoned his study for the company [...] of frothy fops and rattling coxcombs [and] devoted the principle part of his time to whoreing, drinking and gaming .
1833		‘The Trotting Horse’ in Convivialist in Spedding & Watt (eds) Bawdy Songbooks (2011) IV 18: What fun it is to rattle when the sun begins to set, / For to pass the rattling swells, and leave them on the fret.
1851		R.S. Surtees Young Tom Hall (1926) 72: We must have the drag overhauled [...] and I vote we have the ballet-girl [...] painted out and a rattling Fox with a ‘tallyho’ painted in.
1890		Music Hall & Theatre Rev. 3 May 6/2: Good old Troc. Always to the front for a rattling company, and plenty of fun if you have an attack of the hump.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 65: Rattling, exceeding; jolly, pleasant.
1903		Truth (London) 18 June 1678/3: Slang terms: [...] quality, rattling, real-jam, ripping [etc] .
1940		M. Marples Public School Slang 5: Words expressing general approval [...] rattling: originally an adjective descriptive of speed, but applied more widely from c. 1690.

2. pertaining to a rattler n. (1a)

rattling-cove (n.) [cove n. (1)]

(UK Und.) a coachman.

1674

1700175018001850

1895

1674		Head Canting Academy (2nd edn).
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Rattling-cove A Coachman.
1719		A. Smith Lives of Most Notorious Highway-men, etc. (1926) 202: Bilk the Ratling-cove, i.e., to sharp the Coach-man of his hire.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
c.1750–1882		B.M. Carew Life and Adventures.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
a.1790		H.T. Potter New Dict. Cant (1795).
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.
1895		C. Crowe Aus. Sl. Dict. 65: Rattle, a coach; rattling cove, a coachman.

rattling-lay (n.) [lay n.³ (1)]

(UK Und.) stealing goods from a moving coach.

1718

17201730174017501760

1768

1718		C. Hitchin Regulator 19: The Ratling-Lay, alias to snatch things out of Coaches as they go along the Streets.
1768		(con. 1710–25) Tyburn Chronicle II in Groom (1999) xxvii: The Rattling Lay Stealing Goods out of Coaches as they pass along the Streets.

rattling mumper (n.) [mumper n. (2)]

(UK Und.) a beggar who specializes in approaching those who ride in coaches.

1674

170017501800

1848

1674		Head Canting Academy (2nd edn).
1688		J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 214: Coach-beggars Ratling Mumpers.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Rattling mumpers c. such Beggers as Ply Coaches.
1707		J. Shirley Triumph of Wit (5 edn) 195: The Ratling-mumper broke the Ratling peeper [The Coach-beggar has broken the Coach-glass].
1725		New Canting Dict. n.p.: rattling mumpers the Fifty-Four Order of Villains, such as run after, or ply Coaches, &c.
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. 1725].
1754		Scoundrel’s Dict. 16: Coach-Beggars – Ratling-mumpers.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
a.1790		H.T. Potter New Dict. Cant (1795).
1809		G. Andrewes Dict. Sl. and Cant.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1835		G. Kent Modern Flash Dict.
1848		Flash Dict. in Sinks of London Laid Open.