Could this mean gay??

[maccalenny]

Hi - I have a document where I think I have deciphered the handwriting but still do not understand it!

It is an 1825 Attestation for Regiments. It is a pencil note  at the bottom of the page. It appears to read:

‘The little finger right hand is a little bent - would make you believe that he has an impediment of speech but it is all shuffle.’

I believe ‘shuffle’ might mean untrue, but I’ve no clue how fingers connect to speech....so I wondered if it might be a strange pre-Victorian way to say someone’s gestures or voice suggest they might be gay? It’s a leap, but I’m at a loss!

Any ideas? Thank you!

[Ruskie]

I don't know that they would be that subtle in those days would they? 

I can see that the bent finger (if that is what the writing says) could be mentioned if it is a hindrance when firing guns or performing other duties, but the rest of it??

I will be interested to see what others think.

Added: unless the impediment of speech is pretense to avoid military service. Shuffle may mean "nonsense" .... so he is putting it on?

[tazzie]

It could be it was meant as two separate things it is a list ie....

 Problem with finger could hinder handling a gun...
 He wants you to believe he has a speech problem .......he's trying to create a problem to maybe get out of signing up.

   Tazzie

[Ruskie]

Yes, I think there are two separate things too Tazzie. 

[Sandblown]

I could be completely wrong, but My thoughts are, that It is two separate observations. The bent little finger, a physical disability, might interfere with the grip or trigger pull of a musket. The speech impediment might be due to a stutter or nerves, which was thought to be over played.

[Ruskie]

I found this meaning for "Shuffle" which seems to fit in this context:

ARCHAIC
- behave in a shifty or evasive manner.
"Mr Milles did not frankly own it, but seem'd to shuffle about it"

- get out of (a difficult situation) in an underhand way.
"he shuffles out of the consequences by vague charges of undue influence"

[arthurk]

I could be wrong, but aren't these simply notes on some kind of medical examination? One finger is a bit bent; and as a separate issue, he claims to have a speech impediment, though the note dismisses this as 'shuffle' (OED: An evasive trick, evasion, subterfuge).

Nevertheless, I'd be interested to know if there was some kind of coded language used to describe homosexuality. A couple of 20th century phrases come to mind, and I've sometimes wondered if their use invariably implies this.

(Written while others were replying, hence partial repetition of ideas)

[Sandblown]

In 1825 Homosexuals could still be hung for commiting sodomy. The last hanging, for such an offence was in 1835. Refer to the execution of James Pratt and John Smith.

[Ruskie]

I was thinking along those lines too Sandblown.

Would he have been allowed to enlist if they suspected he was homosexual?