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Darby|ˈdɑːbɪ| A southern (not the local) pronunciation of Derby, the name of an English town and shire, which was formerly also sometimes so spelt. Hence an English personal surname, and an appellation of various things named after the place or some person of that surname.
1575Laneham Let. (1871) 4 Chester..Darby, and Staffoord. 1654Trapp Comm. Ps. iii. Introd., Summerset, Nottingham, Darby. 1. Father Derby's or Darby's bands: app. Some rigid form of bond by which a debtor was bound and put within the power of a money-lender. (It has been suggested that the term was derived from the name of some noted usurer of the 16th c.)
1576Gascoigne Steele Gl. (Arb.) 71 To make their coyne, a net to catch yong frye. To binde such babes in father Derbies bands, To stay their steps by statute Staples staffe. 1592Greene Upst. Courtier in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) II. 229 Then hath my broker an usurer at hand..and he brings the money, but they tie the poore soule in such Darbies bands. 1602Carew Cornwall 15 b, Hee deliuers him so much ware as shall amount to fortie shillings..for which thee poore wretch is bound in Darbyes bonds, to deliuer him two hundred waight of Tynne. 2. pl. Handcuffs: sometimes also, fetters. slang.
1673R. Head Canting Acad. 13 Darbies, irons, or Shackles or fetters for Fellons. 1815Scott Guy M. xxxiii, ‘But the darbies’, said Hatteraick, looking upon his fetters. 1889D. C. Murray Dang. Catspaw 301 Better get the darbies on him while he's quiet. †3. Ready money. Obs. slang.
1682Hickeringill Wks. (1716) II. 20 Except they..down with their Dust, and ready Darby. 1688Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia i. i, The ready, the Darby. 1692Miracles performed by Money Ep. Ded., Till with Darby's and Smelts thou thy Purse hast well stored. c1712Estcourt Prunella i. 4 (Farmer) Come, nimbly lay down Darby; Come, pray sir, don't be tardy. 1785in Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue. 4. Short for Derby ale; ale from that town being famous in the 17th c.
[1614J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque in Hazl. Dodsley XI. 234, I have sent my daughter this morning as far as Pimlico, to fetch a draught of Derby ale.] a1704T. Brown Wks. (1760) II. 162 (D.) Can't their Darby go down but with a tune? 1719D'Urfey Pills IV. 103 He..Did for a..Draught of Darby call. 5. Plastering. A plasterer's tool, consisting of a narrow strip of wood two or three feet long, with two handles at the back, used in ‘floating’ or levelling a surface of plaster; also applied to a plasterer's trowel with one handle, similarly used: see quot. 1881. (Formerly also Derby.)
1819Rees Cycl. s.v. Stucco, The first coat..is to be laid on with a trowell, and floated to an even surface with a darby (i.e. a handle-float). 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 390 The Derby is a two-handed float. 1842Gwilt Archit. (1876) 675 The Derby ..is of such a length as to require two men to use it. 1881Every Man his own Mechanic §1379 For laying on fine stuff, and smoothing the finishing surface of a wall, a trowel of peculiar form and make, with the handle springing from and parallel to the blade..is required..This trowel is technically called a ‘darby’. 6. Darby and Joan. A jocose appellation for an attached husband and wife who are ‘all in all to each other’, especially in advanced years and in humble life. Hence dial., a pair of china figures, male and female, for the chimney-piece. Hence Darby-and-Joan v., -Joanish a.; Darby and Joan club, a club for elderly men and women. The Gentl. Mag. (1735) V. 153 has under the title ‘The joys of love never forgot: a song’, a mediocre copy of verses, beginning ‘Dear Chloe, while thus beyond measure, You treat me with doubt and disdain’, and continuing in the third stanza ‘Old Darby, with Joan by his side, You've often regarded with wonder: He's dropsical, she is sore-eyed, Yet they're never happy asunder’. This has usually been considered the source of the names, and various conjectures have been made, both as to the author, and as to the identity of ‘Darby and Joan’, but with no valid results. It is possible that the names go back to some earlier piece, and as Darby is not a common English surname, it may have originated in a real person. There is also a well-known 19th c. song of the name.
1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. i, You may be a Darby, but I'll be no Joan, I promise you. 1857A. Mathews Tea-Table Talk I. 50 They furnished..a high-life illustration of Derby and Joan. 1869Trollope He Knew xc. (1878) 500 When we travel together we must go Darby and Joan fashion, as man and wife. 1881M. E. Braddon Asph. III. 251 Daphne..sat by Edgar's side in a thoroughly Darby-and-Joanish manner. 1887Punch 18 June 294 Both their Graces were present, Darby-and-Joaning it all over the shop. 1942Times 18 Dec. 2/4 The Darby and Joan Club, which is believed to be the only one of its kind, was opened by Lord Soulbury at 16, Leigham Court Road, Streatham, yesterday. 1967Nursing Times 18 Aug. 1083/3 For the gregarious elderly there are Darby and Joan clubs. 1970D. Clark Deadly Pattern v. 106 She often sang for the Darby and Joan club. |