subs. phr. (old).—‘Demanded and spent upon Marriage’ (B. E.); 2 (GROSE) = ‘money paid by a married man caught in an intrigue’; 3 (old) = ‘a whore’s fee’ (GROSE). Hence SOCKETER = a blackmailer.
1772. BRIDGES, A Burlesque Translation of Homer, 127.
| We’ll take her, be she wife or whore; | |
| But we must likewise come upon ye, | |
| By way of costs, for SOCKET MONEY. |
