Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. Irish) to bully, to pressurize, to scold; thus ballyragging n.

1752		‘Roxana Termagent’ Drury Lane Jrnl 27 Feb. 150: That no personal abuse, or such altercations that are commonly call’d scolding or ballaragging, be allow’d .
1789		Both Sides of the Gutter part II 10: By de hokey, I falls a ballyragging F—d, spits in de Volunteers countenance, and corks de newspapers gobs.
a.1790		T. Warton Poetical Works (1802) II 210: You vainly thought to ballarag us with your fine squadron off Cape Lagos .
1818		H.J. Todd (ed.) Johnson Dict. Eng. Lang. n.p.: Bu’llirag [...] trhis is the northern pronunciation and writing of ballarag [...] to insult in a bullying manner.
1827		London Mag. Jan. 64: [...] or, as her niece called it, to ‘ballyrag,’ in the kitchen, at her handmaidens, or in the hall, at her poor lodgers up stairs.
1832		S. Lover Legends and Stories 192: That’s the way she wint an ballyraggin’ him.
1860		C.J. Lever One of Them I 57: He only ballyragged me.
1860		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. (2nd edn) 92: Ballyrag to scold vehemently, to swindle one out of his money by intimidation and sheer abuse, as alleged in a late cab case (Evans v. Robinson).
1867		Thackeray Phineas Finn 311: I did not come here to ballyrag like an old woman.
1879		C.J. Kickham Knocknagow 576: Maurice Kearney’s voice was heard shouting to his workman in his old style; which so delighted Barney that he [...] made up his mind to earn a ‘ballyragging’ as soon as possible for himself.
1888–94		‘Walter’ My Secret Life (1966) VIII 1717: On leaving, the woman was ballyragging her, and telling her she would not let her into her house again.
1899		C. Lever Knight of Gwynne 275: That’s the mistress ringing, I ’m sure ; but sorra bit one can hear wid your noise and ballyragging!
1910		P.W. Joyce Eng. As We Speak It In Ireland.
1915		Wodehouse Psmith Journalist (1993) 334: To start bally-ragging a seeming nonentity.
1923		Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves 96: Did you put that pie-faced infant up to bally-ragging Mr. Bassington-Bassington?
1936		(con. 1830s–60s) ‘Miles Franklin’ All That Swagger 232: There’s no call to bally-rag me to such an extent.
1950		S. Murphy Stone Mad (1966) 93: We’ll make a strong protest and we’ll ballyrag them all over town.
1969		T. Murphy Crucial Week in the Life of a Grocer’s Assistant (1978) Scene xi: Joe-een Ryan [...] had his name bally-ragged to the country when he had to marry his filthy street-walker on a Saturday night.
1977		A. Herzog Orca 198: Let’s ballyrag him some more.
1987		C. Nolan Under the Eye of the Clock 100: Ballyragging their students about timekeeping and study, the headmaster and class tutor would be in full flow.
1992		R. Park Fence Around the Cuckoo 90: She didn’t mean anything by this ballyragging.