Note 18 — Of the Streets of London. (continued 3)

The Saxon Sceorfa, which is the original of the English Scurf, means a scab, and scab is the term given to the “cheap men” in the shoemaking trade. Scab is the root of our word Shabby; hence Scurf and Scab, deprived of their offensive associations, both mean shabby fellows.