Sweeney Todd Pearls" and have persisted to the present day. In two books, Peter Haining argued that Sweeney Todd was a historical figure who committed his crimes around 1800. Nevertheless, other researchers who have tried to verify his citations find nothing in these sources to back Haining's claims. A late (1890s) reference to the urban legend of the murderous barber can be found in the poem by the Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson—"The Man from Ironbark". In his 2012 novel" Dodger", Terry Pratchett portrays Sweeney Todd as a tragic figure, having lost his mind after being exposed to the horrors of the
Oldest profession (phrase) called “the oldest profession in the world", a profession which is carried on in Piccadilly, Regent street, and other parts of London with great energy every night … In the same year the "Pall Mall Gazette" reported a speech in which "Mrs. Ormiston Chant … implored us to stand shoulder to shoulder and destroy what Kipling has called 'the oldest profession in the world'". The phrase was frequently used as a euphemism when delicacy forbade direct reference to prostitution. Kipling was not the first to employ the phrase "the most ancient profession" in an opprobrious sense. The Irish poet Henry