Green’s Dictionary of Slang

a network of alleyways and small courts in an area bounded by St Martin’s Lane, Half Moon Street and Chandos Street, all in Covent Garden, London; the haunt of pimps, thugs and similar unsavoury characters.

1614		Jonson Bartholomew Fair II vi: Look into any angle o’ the town — the Straits, or the Bermudas — where the quarrelling lesson is read.
1822		R. Nares Gloss. (1888) II 843: straights. A cant name for some of the narrow alleys in London, formerly frequented by profligates.