saltimbanque

He never missed, he never stumbled; for he was tumbler and wire-walker and saltimbanque in one.

"Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character Douglas English

If he be not frugal he steers directly for that last tragic scene of _le vieux saltimbanque_; if he be not frugal he will find it hard to continue to be honest.

Emerson and Other Essays John Jay Chapman 1897

Fabrice is attacked by, and after a rough-and-tumble struggle kills, his saltimbanque rival in the affections of a low-class actress, and then has a series of escapes from the Austrian police on the banks of the Po, has a little more of the exciting about it.

A History of the French Novel, Vol. 2 To the Close of the 19th Century George Saintsbury 1889

De Banville has been called, by people who do not like, and who apparently have not read him, _un saltimbanque litteraire_ (a literary rope-dancer).

Essays in Little Andrew Lang 1878

Besides, the whole notion of a mock ghost was vulgarised by Wilmot's foolery, who ought to have been born a saltimbanque, and spent his life in a fair.

London Pride Or When the World Was Younger 1875

'Pardon my blundering,' he said; 'I have never engaged a saltimbanque before.'

Vittoria — Complete George Meredith 1868

'Pardon my blundering,' he said; 'I have never engaged a saltimbanque before.'

Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868

'Pardon my blundering,' he said; 'I have never engaged a saltimbanque before.'

Vittoria — Volume 5 George Meredith 1868

It was fortunate for the old Arab that the effort thus made by the amateur _saltimbanque_ had shaken the dirk from his grasp, else, in another instant, the camel would have ceased to "carry double."

The Boy Slaves Mayne Reid 1850