/ · 1894 Brewer’s · S · Straw
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Servants wishing to be hired used to go into the market-place of Carlisle (Carel) with a straw in their mouth. (See Mop.)
“At Carel I stuid wiʹa strae i my mouth,
The wey ves com rounʹ me in custers;
What weage dus teax, canny lad?ʹ says yen.”
Anderson: Cumberland Ballads.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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