Mount Street. On a natural mound the Parliamentary forces here erected a fort or bastion when the Royalists were expected to make an attack upon London from the west.
Mrs Grundy. A term expressive of the prudishness of the English character. It arose out of the line: “What will Mrs Grundy say?” in Thomas Morton’s drama, “Speed the Plough,” produced in 1798.
Mudlarks. The nickname of the Royal Engineers, whose function it is to throw up entrenchments.
Muff. This term was at first applied to an effeminate dandy who at one time, like the ladies, carried a muff to keep his hands warm in winter. This incapacitated him from defending himself with his sword against an unexpected attack at the hands of a street bully, and hence, as now, a muff was easily taken advantage of, or likely to become a prey to the sharp-witted.
Muff Dogs. Small dogs carried by ladies in their muffs during the seventeenth century. A “muff dog” figures in an engraving by Hollar.
Mug. Slang for a man’s face. This arose out of the rude portraiture of Lord Shaftesbury or some other political celebrity which from the time of the Restoration to the middle of the eighteenth century adorned the yellow chinaware beer mugs at an alehouse, or Mug-House as it was called. These Mug-Houses were the first political clubs; out of them sprang the popular “Free and Easies” of modern times, and more recently the Music Halls.
Muggletonians. A religious sect headed by Ludovic Muggleton, a tailor, who proclaimed himself a prophet, in 1651.
Mugwump. An Indian word for “wise chief.” The Mugwumps of North America are the Democrats, whose political aims are above cliques or parties; therefore they refuse to be influenced by a “Caucus.”
Mulatto. From the Spanish mulato, a mixed breed, through mulo, a mule, the offspring of a white and a Negro.
Mumm. A strong German beer named after Christian Mumme, who first brewed it.