SCARAMOUCH  , properly a buffoon, used later colloquially for a ne'er-do-well . The name was that of a stock

character in 17th-century Italian farce, Scaramuccia (i.e. literally " skirmish "), who, attired usually in a black Spanish dress, burlesquing a " don," was beaten by Harlequin for his boasting and cowardice . The part was played in London in 1673 by a well-known Italian actor, Tiberic Fiurelli, and became popular . There are many instances of the use of the word in the New English Dictionary .