The Meaning of a Vagabond

Harmon also includes a variety of terms for female beggars and thieves. A young, unmarried woman who lived on the road was called a dele. She might be there because her parents had died and she had nowhere else to go. Some vagabonds pretended to have epilepsy, or, as it was known at the time, the falling sickness. They would pretend to have a seizure and foam at the mouth in order to garner sympathy and receive donations of money. The canting or slang term for that type of vagabond was a counterfeit crank.