1593. Shakspeare, Venus and Adonis. Her champion mounted for the
hot encounter.... He will not manage her although he mount her.
1620. Middleton, Chaste Maid, v. 4. A woman may be honest according
to the English print, when she’s a whore in the Latin; so much for
marriage and logic: I’ll love her for her wit. I’ll pick out my
runts there; and for my mountains, I’ll mount—[So in original, but
the play on words is clear].
1629. Jonson, The New Inn [Cunningham, ii. 344], i. 1. Instead of
backing the brave steed o’ mornings, My copy has, to mount the
chambermaid.
1662. Rump Songs, i. p. 358. He caught a Foal and mounted her (O
base!) below the crupper.
1668. Etherege, She Would if She Could, iii. 2. How she’d curvet
and frisk, If a man were once mounted upon her.
1715. pennecuik, Poems (1815), p. 363. To see old Cuff upon young
Helen mounted.
1847. Halliwell, Arch. & Prov. Words, s.v. Mount. Futuo.
To mount the ass, verb. phr. (old).—To go bankrupt. [In France it was
customary to mount a bankrupt on an ass, face to tail, and ride him
through the streets].
Mountain-dew, subs. (common).—Scotch whiskey. [From the secret
hill-side stills]. For synonyms see Drinks and Old man’s milk.
1821. Edinburgh Evening Courant, 22 Jan. Bread, cheese, and
mountain-dew were liberally provided.
1841. Lever, Charles O’Malley, xxviii. Nor quit the land where
whiskey grew, To wear King George’s button, Take vinegar for
mountain dew, And toads for mountain mutton.
Mountain-pecker, subs. (common).—A sheep’s head. See Jemmy.
Mounter, subs. (old).—See quot. 1859.
1781. G. Parker, View of Society, 11. 23, s.v.
1819. Vaux, Memoirs, s.v.
1859. Matsell, Vocabulum, s.v. Mount.... Mounter. Men who give
false bail; or who, for a consideration, will swear to anything
required. Fellows who hire clothes to wear for a particular
occasion; those who wear second-hand clothes.
Mount-faulcon, subs. (venery).—See quot. 1850. For synonyms see
Monosyllable.
1593. Florio, Worlde of Wordes, s.v.
1850. Halliwell, Archaic and Provincial Words, s.v. Mountfalcon.
The female pudendum. Apparently from the Italian. It occurs in
Florio and is still in use.
Mount of Venus, subs. phr. (venery).—The mons veneris; the motte
(q.v.).
1750. Struan, Poems, ‘Horace,’ iii. 13. By this lov’d spot*, I’d
live and die with thee. [* Note. Clapping her hand on the mount of
Venus].
Mount-Pleasant, subs. phr. (venery).—The mons veneris. Cf.
Shooters-hill. For synonyms see Motte.
Mounts-of-lilies, subs. (old).—The paps. For synonyms see Dairy.
1694. Crowne, Married Beau, iii. 1. Who would not, to ascend these
mounts of lilies, Leave for a while religion at the bottom.
Mourner, subs. (American).—One taking a drink; a spreester (q.v.).
1847. Porter, Quarter Race etc., p. 126. The cards were dropt
instanter ... and the mourners were soon distributed in knots upon
the promenade deck.
1848. Durivage, Stray Subjects, p. 110. By common consent the
mourners settled themselves down into comparative quiet.
Mourning. Full mourning, subs. phr. (pugilists’).—Two black eyes:
half-mourning = one black eye or a mouse. Fr. œufs sur le plat; yeux au
beurre noir; yeux pochés.
Adj. (old).—Bruised. Also in mourning.
1708. Mrs. Centlivre, The Busy-Body, i. 1. Mar. I would give ten
guineas, I say, to be ranked in his acquaintance. But, pr’ythee,
introduce me. Chas. Well on condition you’ll give us a true account
how you came by that mourning nose, I will.
1820. Reynolds, The Fancy, ‘King Tims’. Her eyes were all sweetly
in mourning.
1821. Egan, Anecdotes of the Turf, 67. Never again would he put the
ogles of the ring in mourning.
1828. Bee, Living Picture of London, 283. To send him before his
betters with his peepers in mourning.
1837. S. Warren, Diary of a Late Physician, xii. His left eye was
sent into deep mourning, which threatened to last for some weeks.
Mourning-shirt, subs. (old).—An unlaundered shirt: cf. Biled-rag.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah Sights, 98. We say mourning shirts, it being
customary for men in sadnesse to spare the pains of their
laundresses.
Mouse, subs. (pugilistic).—1. See quots. 1860 and 1895. Cf. Blackwall.
1857. Cuthbert Bede, Verdant Green, pt. ii. ch. iv. ‘That’ll raise
a tidy mouse on your ogle, my lad!’
1860. W. E. Holmes, The Professor at the Breakfast Table, xi. 354.
Mouse is a technical term for a bluish, oblong rounded elevation
occasioned by running one’s forehead or eyebrow against another’s
knuckles.
1887. Atkin, House Scraps. His dexter ogle has a mouse; His conk’s
devoid of bark.
1888. Sporting Life, 10 Dec. Bringing his right into play with
extreme force, caused a mouse to appear on his opponent’s left
peeper.
1895. Westminster Gazette,... A black eye in true cockney slang is
known as a mouse, and this accounts for the fact that a cockney
near his platform on Sunday shouted out, ‘Jack, where is your
rat-trap?’ Mr. Burns was rather astounded. ‘Why a rat-trap?’ he
said, thinking vaguely of ‘black-legs’ and Liberal Unionists. ‘For
that big mouse on yer eye,’ cried the delighted cockney.
2. (venery).—The penis. For synonyms see Creamstick, and Prick. Cf.
Mouser.