or darkey, subs. (old).—1. A dark lantern; a bull’s eye.
1811. GROSE and CLARKE, Lexicon Balatronicum. Stow the DARKEE, and bolt, the cove of the crib is fly; hide the dark lanthorn, and run away, the master of the house knows that we are here.
2. (old).—The night; the twilight. Also (nautical) DARKS.
1789. G. PARKER, Life’s Painter, p. 124. Bless your eyes and limbs, lay out a mag with poor Chirruping Joe. I don’t come here every DARKEY.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. III., p. 216. We could average our ‘duey bionk peroon a DARKEY,’ or two shillings each, in the night.
1878. CHARLES HINDLEY, The Life and Times of James Catnach. ‘The Song of The Young Prig.’
| The cleanest angler on the pad, | |
| In daylight or the DARKEY. |
3. (common).—A negro. [From his complexion.] For synonyms, see SNOWBALL.
1840. R. H. DANA, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, ch. xvii. Tom Cringle says that no one can fathom a negro’s affection for a pig; and I believe he is right, for it almost broke our poor DARKY’S heart when he heard that Bess was to be taken ashore.
1870. Negro Hymn.
| Walk in, DARKIES, troo de gate; | |
| Hark, de kullered angels holler! | |
| Go ’way, white fokes, ye’re too late, | |
| We’s de winnin’ kuller! Wait | |
| Till de trumwet blow to foller! |
1871. DE VERE, Americanisms, p. 594.
| I wish de legislatur would set dis DARKIE free, | |
| Oh! what a happy place den de DARKIE land would be; | |
| We’d have a DARKIE parliament | |
| An’ DARKIE codes of law, | |
| An’ DARKIE judges on de bench, | |
| DARKIE barristers and aw. |
