Devil’s Daughter’s Portion (The)

The saying is—

“Deal, Dover, and Harwich,

The devil gave with his daughter in marriage,”

because of the scandalous impositions practised in these seaports on sailors and occasional visitors. (Grose: Classical Dictionary, etc.)

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.