subs. phr. (common).—Black blood: in contemptuous reference to colour; A TOUCH OF THE TAR-BRUSH = a dash of the negro.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. BLUE-SKIN … A person begotten on a black woman by a white man; any one having … a LICK OF THE TAR-BRUSH.
1899. HYNE, Further Adventures of Captain Kettle, viii. Snuff-and-butter ladies … ignore their own lick of the TAR-BRUSH.
