upon the pad

For Offences of this Nature, she was thrice burnt in the Hand, after which she marry'd one Humphry Jackson, a Butcher, who was taught by her to leave off his Trade, and go upon the Pad in the Day time, while she went upon the Buttock and Twang by Night;

1748, Capt. James MacKlecan, A General and True History of the Lives and Actions of the most Famous Highwaymen, Street-Robbers, Pirates, &c., page 414

But the one restraint was as irksome as the other, and Harry Simms abandoned the needle, as he had scorned the grammar, to go upon the pad.

1895, The New Review - Volume 13, page 681

Should our case be ne'er so bad, We will never be so mad As to go upon the pad Whilst our life endureth.

1968, George de Forest Lord, Poems on Affairs of State: 1685-1688, edited by G. M. Crump