E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Joan Cromwell.
Joan Cromwell’s kitchen-stuff tub. A tub of kitchen perquisites. The filchings of servants sold for “market pennies.” The Royalists used to call the Protector’s wife, whose name was Elizabeth, Joan Cromwell, and declared that she exchanged the kitchen-stuff of the palace for tallow candles.
