Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(UK Und.) a Londoner.

1885

M. Davitt Leaves from a Prison Diary I 25: Manchester ‘hooks’ (pick-pockets) [...] boast of being the rivals of the ‘Cocks,’ or Londoners in the art of obtaining other people’s property without paying for it. [Ibid.] 135: There was a burst [...] at the watchmaker’s at the corner of Corporation Street [Manchester] done by little P— D—, who boned 2,000l of swag. Tell us [...] where you Cocks have beaten that?