1656. R. Fletcher, Martiall. Why dost thou reach thy merkin now
half dust?
1661. Merry Drollery, ‘A Puritan’ [Ebsworth (1876), p. 196]. Her
zeal was in a sound. He edified her merkin Upside down.
1719. A. Smith, Highwaymen, ii. 6. A strange whim ... which was to
get the hairy circle of her merkin. This he dried well, and combed
out.