subs. (old: now recognised).—1. See quots. 1696 and 1851; afterwards (2) applied to beer warmed nearly to boiling point, and flavoured with gin, sugar, and ginger. Hence PURL-MAN = a boating vendor of PURL to Thames watermen.—GROSE (1785).
1680. PEPYS, Diary, 19 Feb. Forth to Mr. Harper’s to drink a draft of PURLE.
1690. D’URFEY, Collin’s Walk through London and Westminster, IV.
| Or like a Porter could Regale, | |
| With Pots of PURLE, or Mugs of Ale. |
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. PURL, Wormwood infus’d in Ale. Ibid., PURL-ROYAL, Canary with a dash of Wormwood.
1711. Spectator, No. 88. My lord bishop swore he would throw her out at window … and my lord duke would have a double mug of PURL.
1790. Old Song, ‘Flashman of St. Giles’s’ [Busy Bee]. I call’d for some PURL, and we had it hot.
1836. DICKENS, Sketches by Boz, 33. Watermen … retire … to solace themselves with the creature comforts of pipes and PURL.
1841. LEMAN REDE, Sixteen-String Jack, i. 2. Bob. Yes, Long Jerry’s half way down a pot of PURL; Kit’s finishing a bowl of punch—
1851. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, ii. 108. It appears to have been the practice at some time or other in this country to infuse wormwood into beer or ale previous to drinking it, either to make it sufficiently bitter, or for some medicinal purpose. This mixture was called PURL. Ibid. The drink originally sold on the river was PURL, or this mixture, whence the title PURL-MAN.
3. (schools’).—A dive, head foremost: cf. sense 2.
Adj. (hunting).—Thrown; SPILT (q.v.); FOALED (q.v.): e.g., ‘He’ll get PURLED at the rails.’ Hence (as subs.), or PURLER = a fall; a spill.
1856. C. READE, It Is Never Too Late to Mend, xxxviii. They went a tremendous pace—with occasional stoppages when a PURL occurred. Ibid. They commonly paddle in companies of three; so then whenever one is PURLED the other two come on each side of him.
1868. OUIDA, Under Two Flags, iii. Right in front of that Stand was an artificial bullfinch that promised to treat most of the field to a PURLER, a deep ditch dug and filled with water, with two towering blackthorn fences on either side of it.
1885. The Field, 26 Dec. To trifle with this innovation means a certain PURLER.
