Green’s Dictionary of Slang

foreman n.1

[OED marks this as ‘? slang ? goose’; the definition is assumed f. one use in Beaumont & Fletcher’s Philaster (1608–10): see cit.; ult. because ? Michaelmas (29 Sept.) is a trad. goose-eating day; ? a foreman precedes an alderman in a procession as Michaelmas precedes Christmas when one eats an alderman n. (1), i.e. turkey]

? a goose.

Show quotations
[UK]Beaumont & Fletcher Philaster V iii: Ile soile you euer[y] long vacation a brace of foremen, that at Michaelmas shall come vp fat and kicking.