What’s the word for the habit of writing “play’d” or “revolv’d”?
Solution 1:
You may be looking for elision, defined as:
omission of one or more sounds (such as a vowel, a consonant, or a whole syllable) in a word or phrase, producing a result that is easier for the speaker to pronounce | source: Wikipedia
It's possible to make a case for other forms of reduction - such as a contraction - but in your question you state that historical context is key. Given that -ed suffixes were once pronounced as a separate syllable, I would almost certainly think that elision is appropriate to describe the usage of 'd to indicate the "omission of one or more sounds".
Solution 2:
The 'past tense apostrophe' in contrast to the 'possessive apostrophe'. … there might be as many as half a dozen cases where Adair's used a past tense apostrophe (e.g. "vanish'd") (Toon)
I can’t wait until she’s all deck’d out in her poodle skirt to go to the 50's party.
(from a comment on realgrammar)
As when that statue first with classic grace The clement Caesar's palace deck’d, …
(Fables in song)
As to its being out of fashion today, see the FUN TRIVIA comment of mine above.
And of course,
Punk’d, punk’d
among the exceptions that brought ’d back into fashion.
subpoena'd (subpoenaed), ski'd (skied), echo'd (echoed). -Curtis