Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a lazy person, one who is relaxing.

c.1790		‘Lord Altham’s Bull’ in Walsh Ireland Ninety Years Ago (1885) 87: So dere being no blunt in de cly, Madame Steevens was de word, where I lay for seven weeks in lavendar on de broad of me back, like Paddy Ward’s pig, be de hokey.
1847		J.E. Walsh Ireland Sixty Years Ago (1885) 87: Who Paddy Ward was, we believe, has eluded the inquiries of historians and antiquaries. He was, however, very eminent for his sayings and doings.