Bowery b'hoy

This is a term used to denote a subset of the working class in Lower Manhattan (1840s-60s?) . The term is modeled after the Irish pronunciation of "boy." B'hoys dressed in an elaborate style (e.g. stovepipe hat, trousers tucked into boots, gaudy neckcloth) and employed swagger and slang, of which Whitman was enamored, and it had some influence in the composition of "Song of Myself." They attended the same theatre, and their influence on his writing demonstrates his hybrid artistic technique of mixing the high and low.