E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Daughter of the Horseleech.
One very exigeant; one for ever sponging on another. (Prov. xxx. 15.)
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“Such and many such like were the morning attendants of the Duke of Buckingham—all genuine descendants of the daughter of the horse-leech, whose cry is ‘Give, give.’”—Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxviii.
