E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Dover.
When Dover and Calais meet—i.e. never.
1
A jack of Dover. A “jack” is a small drinking vessel made of waxed leather, and a “jack of Dover” is a bottle of wine made up of fragments of opened bottles. It is customary to pour the refuse into a bottle, cork it up, and sell it as a fresh bottle. This is called dovering, a corruption of do-over, because the cork is done over with wax or resin.
