tantamarre

Updated: May 18, 2025

Imagine me on the first night of residence, snugly coiled up between my two feather beds in true German fashion, dreaming of la belle France, and of the grapes at Argenteuil, when rap, rap, rap! comes a tantamarre at the chamber door, and I start up wide awake all at once, and hear a shuffling noise outside, and a rough voice which calls to be admitted. ‘Diable! qu’est que tu veux, donc?’ I inquire.

William Duthie - A Tramp's Wallet: stored by an English goldsmith during his wanderings in Germany and France