E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Growlers
and Crawlers. The four-wheel cabs; called “growlers” from the surly and discontented manners of their drivers, and “crawlers” from their slow pace
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“Taken as a whole, the average drivers of hansom cabs … are smart, intelligent men, sober, honest, and hardworking… . They have little … in common with the obtrusive, surly, besotted drivers of the ‘growlers’ and ‘crawlers.’”—Nineteenth Century, March, 1893, p. 473
