E. Cobham Brewer 18101897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Martha or Patty, says Gay, was the daughter of a Lincolnshire farmer, with whom the village blacksmith fell in love. To save her from wet feet when she went to milk the cows, the village Mulciber invented a clog, mounted on iron, which he called patty, after his mistress. This pretty fable is of no literary value, as the word is the French patin (a high-heeled shoe or skate), from the Greek patein (to walk).