The Complete Modern London Spy
1781
Then go to a bagnio. There and in neighbouring taverns girls are sent for to wait on gentlemen; and, out of their receipts, pay so much in the pound to the waiters for pimping for them. [p. 83]
"These waiter-pimps, I perceive, you think despicable; what then would you say to men who make it their sole employ to pimp for noblemen. Lord H—n, Lord M—, and the late Lord L—r, as well as many other peers, baronets and gentlemen of fortune, now living, have employed such men, and have got them lucrative places when tired out in the service."
I could not but express my astonishment at, and dislike of, their practice; besides, observing what a pity it was, that these noblemens’ names should be familiar in the mouths of almost every whore and pander in London.
"Can there be any thing more infamous than such practices?" said I – "yes (replied Mr. Ambler) for example, – do you observe that man who is now sauntering towards Covent garden? – he is one of those wretches, once almost unknown in England. He subsists by gratifying the unnatural vices of his own sex; in short, he is the companion of an infamous fellow, whose name is Dr–b—r [i.e. Samuel Drybutter], and who, though well known to be guilty of this horrible crime, has hitherto evaded all attempts to bring him to condign punishment."
After a few reflections on the heinousness of this vice, and the methods proper to punish it, we changed the discourse to more agreeable subjects . . . [p. 84]
NOTE: The reference is to Samuel Drybutter, notorious member of the Macaroni Club.
SOURCE: Extract from The Complete Modern London Spy, For the present Year, 1781; or, A Real, New, and Universal Disclosure, of The Secret, Nocturnal, and Diurnal Transactions, In and about the Cities of London and Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark. London, [1781].
CITATION: If you cite this Web page, please use the following citation:
Rictor Norton (ed.), "The Complete Modern London Spy, 1781",
Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook, 19 December 2004
<http://rictornorton.co.uk/eighteen/macaron2.htm>.
