An earlier authority than the preceding may be found in a note in Democritus in London, with the Mad Pranks and Comical Conceits of Motley and Robin Goodfellow, in which the following version of the origin of the saying is given. It is dated 1682:—
There is a proverb which has been of old,
And many men have likewise been so told,
To the discredit of the Taylor’s Trade:
Nine Taylors go to make up a man, they said;
But for their credit I’ll unriddle it t’ ye:
A draper once fell into povertie,
Nine Taylors joined their purses together then,
To set him up, and make him a man again.