Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) an unmarried female beggar, often accompanied by a child, who claims to be widowed and begs for her and her offspring’s keep.

1674		Head Canting Academy (2nd edn) 19: [title] The Rogues delights in praise of his Stroling Mort. [Ibid.] 62: Strowling-Morts are such as pretend to be Widows, travelling about from Country to Country [...] they are subtle Queans, hard-hearted, light-finger’d, hypocritical and dissembling.
1674		T. Duffet Epilogue Spoken by Heccate and Three Witches 41: As stroling Punk did once in Somers progress.
c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Strowling-morts, c. pretending to be Widows, sometimes Travel the Countries, making laces upon Ewes, Beggers-tape, &c. Are Light-finger’d, Subtil, Hypocritical, Cruel, and often dangerous to meet.
1707		J. Shirley Triumph of Wit 184: The Stroling Morts are such as pretend to be Parsons Widows, or to be born Gentlewomen, and by marrying against the Consent of their Parents, by Losses and Sicknesses are utterly ruin’d and undone, telling a lamentable Story, to stir up the Minds of the Hearers to compassionate their Sufferings.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1785		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: Strowling morts; beggars or pedlars pretending to be widows.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue (3rd edn) n.p.: Strolling morts; beggars or pedlars pretending to be widows.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1796].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 47: The ruffian and his strolling mort.