† Plymouth cloak Obs. slang.
A cudgel or staff, carried by one who walked in cuerpo, and thus facetiously assumed to take the place of a cloak. (For the reason of the name, see quot. a 1661.)
| 1608 Dekker 2nd Pt. Honest Wh. iii. ii, Shall I walke in a Plimouth Cloake, (that's to say) like a rogue, in my hose and doublet, and a crabtree cudgell in my hand? 1625 Massinger New Way i. i, And I must tell you if you but aduance, Your plimworth cloke, you shall be soone instructed. a 1661 Fuller Worthies, Devon (1662) 248 A Plimouth Cloak. That is a Cane or a Staffe, whereof this the occasion. Many a man of good extraction, comming home from far Voiages, may chance to land here [at Plymouth], and being out of sorts, is unable for the present time and place to recruit himself with Cloaths. Here (if not friendly provided) they make the next Wood their Drapers shop, where a Staffe cut out, serves them for a covering. [1670 Ray Prov. 225 adds: For we use when we walk in cuerpo to carry a staff in our hands, but none when in a cloak.] [a 1668: see cloak n. 5.] 1677 A. Behn Rover iii. i, Walking like the Sign of the naked Boy, with Plimouth Cloaks in our hands. a 1688 Denham Ballad on Sir J. Mennis vii, He being proudly mounted, Clad in cloak of Plymouth. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! vii, Thou wilt please to lay down that Plymouth cloak of thine. |