mathers

[gen2]

gary baldy's mention of 'mithering' in a post below reminded me of a friend from Manchester about 30 years ago. He often used the term mather to mean a rat. I understand that was rhyming slang from the engineering firm Mather and Platt. I now believe that the company no longer exists in Manchester, so my question is this: Has the term mather died with the company, or do Manchunians still call rats mathers?