n'er-do-wells

Updated: June 7, 2025

They were boys of good country parentage, with a common school education, who, unfortunately, could find nothing to do but the occasional odd job. Of course it would not take long to transform them into common n'er-do-wells, but now they were merely thoughtless boys. The whole affair had an al fresco flavor which stoppered convention.

Henry Wallace Phillips - Red Saunders : His Adventures West & East