[Abbreviation of DISPATCH COCK.] A hen just killed from the roost, or yard, and immediately skinned, split, and broiled: an Irish dish upon any sudden occasion.
Definition taken from The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, originally by Francis Grose.
Sparrow-mouthed * To Speak WithNathan Bailey's 1736 Dictionary of canting and thieving slang
John S. Farmer's collection of canting songs and slang rhymes