subs. phr. (old).—A jolly companion.
1602. SHAKESPEARE, Troilus and Cressida, i. 2. Then she’s a MERRY GREEK indeed.
1647. BEAUMONT and FLETCHER, The Woman’s Prize, ii. 2. Go home, and tell the MERRY GREEKS that sent you, Ilium shall burn, etc.
c. 1650. BRATHWAITE, Barnaby’s Journal (1820), i. p. 54. Drunken Dick the Gull-Gallant.—This be a true Trojan and a mad MERRY grig though no GREEK.
d. 1669. PRYNNE, Healthes Sicknesse, fol. B 2, b. Open, liberall, or free housekeepers, MERRY GREEKS, and such like stiles and titles.
