king of the beggars
Preserved but no longer current.
Bampfylde Moore Carew (1693-1770), a famous English vaga- bond who was elected King of the Gipsies. He fell into the hands of the Law, was trans- ported to Maryland but escaped and got back to England. He was one of the Young Pretender's troopers in the '45 and followed him to Derby.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “king of the beggars” mean?
Bampfylde Moore Carew (1693-1770), a famous English vaga- bond who was elected King of the Gipsies. He fell into the hands of the Law, was trans- ported to Maryland but escaped and got back to England. He was one of the Young Pretender's troopers in the '45 and followed him to Derby.
Is “king of the beggars” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.