or mish, subs. (old).—A shirt. [From the Italian.—See CAMESA.] For synonyms, see FLESH BAG.

1

  1567.  HARMAN, A Caveat or Warening for Common Cursetors (1814), p. 65, s.v.

2

  1610.  ROWLANDS, Martin Mark-all, p. 37 [Hunterian Club’s Reprint, 1874], s.v.

3

  1622.  FLETCHER, Beggar’s Bush.

        I crown thy nab with a gag of benbouse,
And stall thee by the salmon into clowes
To maund on the pad and strike all the cheats
To mill from the Ruffmans, and COMMISSION, and slates.

4

  1630.  TAYLOR (‘The Water Poet’), wks. quoted in Nares.

        As from our beds we doe oft cast our eyes,
Cleane linnen yeelds a shirt before we rise,
Which is a garment shifting in condition,
And in the canting tongue is a COMMISSION;
In weale or woe, in joy or dangerous drifts,
A shirt will put a man unto his shifts.

5

  1671.  R. HEAD, The English Rogue, pt. L, ch. v., p. 48 (1874), s.v.

6