3. (pugilistic).—A prize-fighter; one who depends more on activity than
upon strength or ‘stay.’
4. (common).—A sixpence. [From the old custom of each couple at a dance
paying the fiddler a sixpence. Cf., Fiddler’s money.]
1885. Household Words, 20 June, p. 155. Why a sixpence should be a
‘magpie’ it would be hard to say. A more easily explained name ...
is a fiddler. This probably from the old custom of each couple at a
dance paying the fiddler sixpence, and, moreover ‘fiddler’s money’
is generally small money.