A figure burned annually every fifth of November, in memory of the gunpowder plot, which is said to have been carried on by the papists.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Pontius Pilate * Pope’s NoseNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes