Sturdy beggar

In historical English law, a sturdy beggar was a person who was fit and able to work, but begged or wandered for a living instead.

[1][2][3] The Statute of Cambridge 1388 was an early law which differentiated between sturdy beggars and the infirm (handicapped or elderly) poor.

The Counterfeit Crank would use soap to foam at the mouth, and pretend to have violent fits so that people may give money out of empathy.

In 16th-century England, no distinction was made between vagrants and the jobless; both were simply categorised as "sturdy beggars", who were to be punished and moved on.

[7] In 1547, a bill was passed that subjected vagrants to some of the more extreme provisions of the criminal law: two years' servitude and branding with a "V" as the penalty for the first offence and death for the second.