[PW] ?Rowdy: ?American dialect

[Winters, Murl]

This one is for me, so no rush.

Mary Tillotson Mather, 1812-1894, lived in Niobe, NY (southwestern state
line) and made "her periodical pilgimage to Corry, PA" to see one of her
son's, Charles L. Mather.  A granddaughter, M. Rio Mather wrote the
following in a remembrance of her:

When traveling to Corry, "She always wore her best dress over her
'ev'ryd'y skirt, rowdy and apron" as that was the easiest way to carry
them, and she was a very plump-looking little woman when she arrived."

The question is: what was a rowdy?  I would like to include an
explanation as I pass it on to others of her descendents.

I suspect it may be a localism or perhaps a word spelled phonetically
but there is no additional hint in the writing.

I have checked the following and several mention variations of a "rowdy
person" but none mention any type of garment.

Wilcox. The Dictionary of Costume

Oxford English Dictionary.  2nd ed.

Berry & Vanden Bark. American Thesaurus of Slang has it as slang for
money (item 559.1)

Dalzell and Victor. New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional
English

Partridge. Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English

Craigie & Hulbert. Dictionary of American English on Historical
Principles

Ammer. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms

Nicholson. American English Usage

Mathews. Dictionary of Americanisms  

 

Murl Mather Winters

Associate Library Director

Evangel University

Springfield, MO 65802