Jeremy Diddler
Jeremy Diddler is a fictional character in James Kenney's 1803 farce Raising the Wind, and is said to have been based on an amusing importunist named Bibb, dubbed "half-crown Bibb".[1]
A needy, artful swindler, "Jeremy Diddler" became a stock farce character, and the word "diddle" may be derived from him, or vice-versa, and was a very common expression in the 19th- and early 20th-century. [2][3][4]
The character of Jeremy Diddler is discussed in some detail in Herman Melville's The Confidence Man: His Masquerade.
He appears in Thomas Haynes Bayly's novel (Chapter XV).
References[]
- ^ "The Original Jeremy Diddler". The Gundagai Times and Tumut, Adelong and Murrumbidgee District Advertiser. Vol. XIV, no. 1081. New South Wales, Australia. 17 August 1872. p. 4. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Jeremy Diddler". The Star (Ballarat). Vol. IX, no. 197. Victoria, Australia. 18 August 1864. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A Jeremy Diddler". The Weekly Times. No. 532. Victoria, Australia. 15 November 1879. p. 7. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "A Jeremy Diddler". The Launceston Examiner. Vol. XLIX, no. 149. Tasmania, Australia. 24 June 1889. p. 3. Retrieved 4 September 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Wood, James, ed. (1907). "Jeremy Diddler". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London and New York: Frederick Warne.
- Fictional con artists
- Male characters in theatre
- Comedy theatre characters
- Male characters in literature
- Comedy literature characters
- Theatre characters introduced in 1803
- Characters in plays
- Literary character stubs