ragamuffin

Etymology

From the Middle English Ragamuffyn. Of uncertain origin, according to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable: A muffin is a poor thing of a creature, a ‘regular muff’; so that a ragamuffin is a sorry creature in rags.

noun

1. A dirty, shabbily-clothed child; an urchin.
   'Yes, he is mine—I took him, a homeless little ragamuffin, but I saw what was in him, and I said his name would be heard some day—behold him, observe him—was I right?' 1882, Mark Twain, chapter 12, in The Prince and the Pauper
   He had found out the house of Frau von Einem without much trouble, and had performed with his ragamuffins in the servants' quarters. 1916, John Buchan, chapter 15, in Greenmantle
2. A breed of domestic cat which is an offshoot from the Ragdoll.