Note 196 — SCENE II.
Reading edition
a flap-dragon] Was a raisin, plum, &c., and sometimes even a candle’s end, made to float in a shallow dish, or glass, of brandy, or other liquor, from which, when set on fire, it was to be snatched by the mouth and swallowed. Gallants in former days vied with each other in drinking off flap-dragons to the healths of their mistresses.