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Learning in Literature

cadge v. peddle wares; carry loads, parcels; beg, sponge

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“cadge v. peddle wares; carry loads, parcels; beg, sponge ”

28th July 2008

Cadge

Cadge is first recorded in Scottish sources in the early eighteenth century, although Scots use of the noun cadger "an itinerant fish seller; a carrier of goods" dates back to the fifteenth century. The Accounts of the Treasurer of Scotland refers to "the caiggearis and fischearis of Mussilburgh" in 1523 and to "ane cadyear that caryit glas to Hammiltoun" in 1553. The term cadger has undergone something of a fall from grace — over time it became associated less with legitimate travelling merchants and more often with beggars, or people who make their living by questionable means.

Cadge, meaning sell, is still sometimes found in modern use, though our dictionaries have few non-literary examples and we would be interested to know more about its current uses. The meaning carry is still found in modern literature, such as Anna Blair’s, The Goose Girl of Eriska (1989): "It’s sore short o’ breath you are, lawyer. Could I be cadging that bag for you, sir?" The word was recorded in Glasgow in 1910 meaning "to do any mean or contemptible work" and soon afterwards the phrase on the cadge, meaning "to beg" began to appear in written sources, and if you can lay on the cadge, you can beg or bargain skilfully.

Scots cadge shares much of its history with English cadge, and the senses above can also be found in English sources. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Oxford English Dictionary regarded these uses of cadge to be restricted to dialects and slang. In the early twenty-first century, however, cadge may be becoming more mainstream in England. A headline in the Eastbourne Herald earlier this month read "Youngsters cadge cigarettes" and the website cadge-it.org encourages people to get together to recycle gadgets by swapping them rather than throwing them away.