Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) dice whose weight has been altered by having bristles forced into them.

1552		G. Walker Detection of Vyle and Detestable Use of Dice Play 4: A bale of brystelles.
1555		Manifest Detection n.p.: As for Gords and bristle dice be now to grose a pracise to be put in vse, light grauiers there be, demies, cōtraryes & of all sortes, forged cleane against the apparaunt vantage.
1608		Dekker Belman of London E3: The Names of false Dyce [...] A Bale of Bristles.
1612		S. Rid [Rowlands] The art of iugling or legerdemaine n.p.: What should I speak any more of false dice, of fullons, high-men, lowe-men, gourds, and brisled dice, grauiers, demies, and contraries, all which haue his sundry vses.
1663		J. Wilson Cheats IV i: The wax’d, the grav’d, the slipt, the goad, the fullam, the flat, the bristle, the bar.
1674		C. Cotton Compleat Gamester 12: Bristle-dice [...] are fitted for their purpose, by sticking a Hogs-bristle so in the corners, or otherwise in the Dice, that they shall run high or low as they please.
1687		C. Cotton How to play at billiards, trucks, bowls, and chess 9: [as 1674].
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: The names of false dice: A bale of bard cinque deuces A bale of flat cinque deuces A bale of flat sice aces A bale of bard cater traes A bale of flat cater traes A bale of fulhams A bale of light graniers A bale of langrets contrary to the ventage A bale of gordes, with as many highmen as lowmen, for passage A bale of demies A bale of long dice for even and odd A bale of bristles A bale of direct contraries.
1801		‘Modern Dict.’ in Sporting Mag. May XVIII 99/1: [as cit. 1785].
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1822		(con. early 17C) W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II 283: Men talk of high and low dice, Fulhams, and bristles, topping, knapping, slurring, stabbing, and a hundred ways of rooking besides.
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.