swab n [phonetics unavailable]. OED ~ sb1 1 b for sense 1.
1 A mop, usu with burlap tied to the end, used for 'washing out' salt fish, moistening staves when making a barrel, etc.
[c1900] 1978 RLS 8, p. 24 ~ long handled mop used with Ramshorn to wash the fish. T 141/67-652 Now you rigs out and makes your swabs and makes your fish boxes an' splittin' tables. C 70-12 ~ This was an object used to wash out fish with. The swab was about two feet long and had a piece of brin on one end. P 127-75 ~ A brush used in coopering to wet the staves when the barrel is being steamed. It is normally made from a birch handle with a piece of brin (gunny sacking) on one end.
2 A stick, similar to the mop used on fishing boats, with various objects attached to one end, carried as a mock-sceptre by mummers during Christmas revels; cp BLADDER.
[1885] 1962 Evening Telegram 21 Dec, p. 22 Many a time have I seen a 'Fool,' whom the mob tried to 'run,' pull off his cap, take the handle of his 'swab' and clean out some two or three hundred persons. 1895 PROWSE 402 The 'swabs' [carried by the fools or mummers] were made of a bladder, covered with canvas or a switch, made sometimes of a cow's tail fastened to a stick. 1957 Atlantic Advocate xlviii, 23 A 'swab' was a bladder—taken from a codfish more often than not—which was blown up like a balloon. It contained a number of pebbles and was fastened to a short stick. The mummers used their 'swabs' to belabour the spectators as they passed by.
