1837. R. H. Barham, Ingoldsby Legends. (Ed. 1862). p. 239. That
sort of address which the British call humbug and Frenchmen
‘Finesse.’ (It’s ‘Blarney’ in Irish—I don’t know the Scotch.)
1842. Douglas Jerrold, Bubbles of the Day, i. Never say humbug;
it’s coarse. Sir P. And not respectable. Smoke. Pardon me, my lord;
it was coarse. But the fact is, humbug has received such high
patronage, that now it’s quite classic.