a mattress or pillow filled with straw; the "tick" is the cloth covering and can be filled with feathers, cotton or any material to make a mattress, pillow or bed covering.
And we had a table and didn't have very much furniture in the house. I can remember two old beds, the old great, big high post beds and old walnut, I believe they were. We had straw mattresses. Did you ever sleep on a straw tick?
