ng the titles Mr., Mrs., Miss, &c. cf. Halliwell, _Dictionary Archaic
and Proverhial Words_; 'M. ... to keep the term "Master" out of sight, to
be wanting in proper respect.' cf. _Eastward Hoe_ (1605), Jonson,
Chapman, and Marston, iv, I: 'You might carry an M under your Girdle';
and not infrequently. Sir- (or Save-) Reverence is an old and very
common colloquialism. It was the most usual form of apology when
mentioning anything likely to offend, or naming a word for which excuse
was thought proper or necessary. Wherefore it came to stand in place of
various words of obscene sound or meaning. There are innumerable
instances from Mandeville (1356); down to recent times, and even
Devonshire dialect to-day.

p. 248 _the George in White-Fryers_. The George tavern was situated in
Dogwell Court, and some little time after the abolition of the vicious
privileges of Alsatia by the Act 8 and 9 William III, c. 27 (1697), it
was converted into the printing office of William Bowyer, the elder.
These premises were destroyed by fire, 30 January, 1713. Scene II, Act i
of Shadwell's _The Squire of Alsatia_ (1688), is laid 'at the George in
Whitefriars'.

p. 249 _he cullies_. To cully = to cheat; trick. Although the verb,
which came into use circa 1670, and persisted for a full century, is
rare, the substantive 'a cully' (= a fool) is very common. For the verb,
cf. Pomfret, _Poems_ (1699), _Divine Attributes_: 'Tricks to cully
fools.'

p. 249 _he pads_. The substantive 'pad' = a path or highway. Bailey
(1730-6) has 'to Pad ... to rob on the road on foot.' cf. Ford's _The
Lady's Trial_ (1639), v, I: 'One can ... pick a pocket, Pad for a cloak
or hat'; and also Cotton Mather's _Discourse on Witchcraft_ (1689),
chap, vii: 'As if you or I should say: We never met with any robbers on
the road, therefore there never was any Padding there.'

p. 250 _sport a Dye_. To play at dice. 'To sport', generic for 'to
parade' or 'display' was, and is a very common phrase. It is especially
found in public school and university slang. This is a very early
example.

p. 250 _Teaster_. i.e. a tester--sixpence, cf. Farquhar's _Love and a
Bottle_, (1698), i, I, where Brush says: 'Who throws away a Tester and a
mistress loses sixpence.'

p. 251 _to top upon him_. To cheat him; to trick him; especially to
cheat with dice. cf. _Dictionary of the Canting Crew_ (by B.E. _gent_.,
1696): 'Top. What do you Top upon me? _c_. do you stick a little Wax to
the Dice