subs. (old).—1. An entertainment; now a tea before dinner; a KETTLE-DRUM (q.v.).
1750. FIELDING, Tom Jones, bk. XVII., ch. vi. A DRUM, then, is an assembly of well-dressed persons of both sexes, most of whom play at cards and the rest do nothing at all, while the mistress of the house performs the part of the landlady at an inn.
1854. WHYTE-MELVILLE, General Bounce, ch. i. We recollect it well, not so many years ago, lit up for one of those great solemnities which novelists call ‘a rout,’ but which people in real life equally martially as well as metaphorically designate ‘A DRUM.’
2. (thieves’).—A road, street, or highway. [From the Gr. δρομός through the Gypsy drom.]
ENGLISH SYNONYMS. Drag; toby; high or main toby; pad; donbite; finger and thumb (rhyming slang).
FRENCH SYNONYMS. La trime (thieves’); le Général Macadam (popular, also = the public).
SPANISH SYNONYM. Calca.
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. i., p. 231. We slink into the crib (house) in the back DRUM (street).
3. (pugilistic).—The ear. For synonyms, see HEARING-CHEAT.
4. (old).—A building; HAZARD-DRUM = a gambling hell; FLASH-DRUM = a brothel; CROSS-DRUM = a thieves’ tavern. For synonyms, see KEN. In U.S.A., a drinking place.
1867. GREENWOOD, Unsentimental Journeys, xxvi., 204. ‘Come along; I shall be a pot to your pot.’ ‘Where shall we go?’ ‘Oh, to the old DRUM, I suppose.’
1890. Illustrated Bits, 29 March, p. 11, col. 1. The two chums were footing it to the ‘ancient DRUM,’ as they called the Norwich theatre.
5. (Australian).—A bundle carried on tramp; generally worn as a roll over the right shoulder and under the left arm. Also BLUEY and SWAG (q.v.). Cf., SWAGSMAN.
1887. G. A. SALA, in Illustrated London News, 12 March, 282/2. Here are a few more items of Australian slang kindly forwarded to me by a correspondent:—‘To hump one’s swag,’ or ‘DRUM,’ i.e., to pack up a bundle to be carried on the shoulders.
1890. Family Herald, 8 Feb., p. 227. I was just debating whether I had better ‘hump my DRUM.’
6. (tailors’).—A small workshop. Cf., sense 4.
