swaddler
Preserved but no longer current.
A Wesleyan Methodist; a name originally given to members of that body by the Irish mob; said to have originated with an ignorant Romanist, to whom the words of the English Bible were a novelty, and who, hearing one of John Wesley’s preachers mention the swaddling clothes of the Holy Infant, in a sermon on Christmas-day at Dublin, shouted out in derision, "A SWADDLER! a SWADDLER!" as if the whole story were the preacher’s invention.—Southey’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 109.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “swaddler” mean?
A Wesleyan Methodist; a name originally given to members of that body by the Irish mob; said to have originated with an ignorant Romanist, to whom the words of the English Bible were a novelty, and who, hearing one of John Wesley’s preachers mention the swaddling clothes of the Holy Infant, in a sermon on Christmas-day at Dublin, shouted out in derision, "A SWADDLER! a SWADDLER!" as if the whole story were the preacher’s invention.—Southey’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii. p. 109.
Is “swaddler” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.