Fraters (Grose 1811 Dictionary)

Fraters

Vagabonds who beg with sham patents, or briefs, for hospitals, fires, inundations, &c.

Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.

See also the definition in Nathan Bailey's 1736 dictionary of canting and thieving slang.

John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes

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