Saint Nicholas' clerk

English Alternative forms en St. Nicholas' clerk Etymology After Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of thieves. Noun Saint Nicholas' clerk en obsolete A highwayman. en 1589 w:Thomas Nashe Martins Months Minde http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo;idno=A07036.0001.001 And like the Saint Nicolas Clarkes on Salsburie plaine (I vse the si∣militude, for that Martin loues Sarum so well) stept out before vs in the high waie, and bidde vs stand. en a. 1597 w:William Shakespeare w:Henry IV Part 1 act 2, scene 1 Sirrah, if they meet not with Saint Nicholas' / clerks, I'll give thee this neck. en 1608 1905 Thomas Dekker The Bel-Man of London published in The Guls Hornbook and The Belman of London in Two Parts https://archive.org/details/gulshornbookbelm00dekk J. M. Dent & Sons 142 The théefe that commits the Robbery, and is the chiefe clerke to Saint Nicholas, is called the High Lawyer. en c. 1622 w:William Rowley w:A Match at Midnight act 1, scene 1 And now hur prattle of Davie, I think yonder come prancing down the hills from Kingston, a couple of hur t'other cozens, Saint Nicholas' clerks. en 1635 w:Henry Glapthorne The Hollander http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo;idno=A01773.0001.001 act 3, scene 1 Next it is decreed, that the receivers of our rents and customes, to wit divers Rookes, and Saint Nicholas Clearkes shall certainely use no more slights to get more then they can clearely come off with, under penalty of being carried up Hol∣borne in a cart, and at Tiburne executed, which may tend to the dissolution of our whole fraternity. en 1662 1874 John Wilson The Cheats act 1, scene 1 published in The Dramatic Works of John Wilson https://archive.org/details/dramaticworksof00wils Edinburgh William Paterson 18 I was t'other night upon the randan, and who should I meet with but our old gang, some of St. Nicholas' clerks? Synonyms en highwayman, en scampsman; See also Thesaurus:highwayman Related terms en Knight of Saint Nicholas, en Saint Nicholas' clergyman References 5 35–36 1936 2001 Henry V 21 A New Varioum Edition of Shakespeare Samuel Burdett, ed. Hemingway Classic Books Company 9780742653023 94–95 footnote en Crime People