E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Birchin Lane.
I must send you to Birchin Lane, i.e. whip you. The play is on birch (a rod).
1
A suit in Birchin Lane. Birchin Lane was once famous for all sorts of apparel; references to second-hand clothes in Birchin Lane are common enough in Elizabethan books.
2
“Passing through Birchin Lane amidst a camproyal of hose and doublets, I took … occasion to slip into a captain’s suit—a valiant buff doublet stuffed with points and a pair of velvet slops scored thick with lace.”—Middleton: Black Book (1604).
