Much more sweet thy labouring steps to guide
To virtue's heights, with wisdom well supply'd,
And all the magazines of learning fortify'd:
From thence to look below on human-kind,
Bewilder'd in the inaze of life, and blind.

Dryden. Lucretius, D. ii.

The ways of heaven are dark and intricate;
Puzzled in mazes, and perplex'd with errours,
Our understanding traces them in vain,
Lost and bewilder'd in the fruitless search.

Addison. Cato, Act i. sc. 1.

First fear his hand, its skill to try,
Amid the chords bewilder'd laid,
And back recoil'd, he knew not why,
E'en at the sound himself had made.

Collins. Ode. The Passions. They were bewildered by their passions, and by their want of knowledge, or want of consideration of the subject.

Burke. Observations on a late State of the Nation. BE-WYMPLED. Dut. Wimpelen, to veil, to cover with a veil, to infold, to involve. (Kilian.)

And sought about with his honde
That other bedde tyll that he fonde,
Where laie bewympled a visage:

That was he glad in his courage.-Gower. Con. A. b. v. BE-WINTER. To cause, to produce, the effects of winter.

Yet how do tears but from such vapours rise
Tears that bewinter all my year?

The fate of Egypt I sustain,

And never feel the dew of rain

From clouds which in the head appear.-Cowley. Sleep.

When I record within my musing mind,
The noble names of wights bewicht in loue;
Such solace for myselfe therein I find
As nothing maye my fired fansie moue.

Gascoigne. The Louer encouraged.

There were ye triüphe the great feast and glory of Tindalles deuelishe prowde dispituous hearte, to delite and reioice in the effusion of such peoples blood as hys poysoned books had miserably bywitched, and from trewe christen folke, turned into false wicked wretches.

Sir T. More. Workes, p. 354. But to forsake the causes wherefore we liue her for the desier and loue to prolog our life as it wer for thre daies in this deceatful world, and to be separated from God the author of lyfe, is such a bewitching and furiouse madness, that I know not with what wordes we ought to expresse and shew it.-Calvin. Four Godlye Sermons, Ser. 2.

O folyshe Galathyans: who hathe bewitched you that ye shoulde not beleue the truth, to whome Jesus Christ was discribed before the eyes, and among you crucifyed.

Beauty rests not in one fix'd place,
But seems to reign in every face;
"Tis nothing sure but fancy then,
In various forins, bewitching men.

Parnell. On the Number Three.

The truth is, he who shall duly consider these matters, will find that there is a certain bewitchery, or fascination in words, which makes them operate with a force beyond what we can naturally give an account of. South, vol. ii. Ser. 9. p. 337. Let me observe, that oblique vision, when natural, was anciently the mark of bewitchery and magical fascination, and to this day 'tis a malignant ill look.-Spectator, No. 250. Death was his dread; nor was it in the pow'r Of love's bewitchment, or in money'd show'r, Of Venus, Jupiter, or all the fry

Of Homer's heav'n to hire the man to die.
Byrom. Critical Remarks on Horace.

And there we beheld one of the cruellest fights between two knights, that ever hath adorned the most martial story. So as I must confess, a while we stood bewondered, another while delighted with the rare beauty thereof; till seeing such streams of blood, as threatened a drowning life, we galloped toward them to part them.-Sidney. Arcadia, b. ii.

The other seeing his astonishment

How he bewondered was and how he fared,
And suddenly by name the prince gan call
By which awaked thus he spoke withall.
Fairefox. Godfrey of Bulloigne, b. x. s. 17.

This Miles, Forest and John Dighton aboute mydnight, the sely children lyinge in their beddes, came into ye chaubre and sodenli lapped them up amongest the cloathes and so bewrapped them and entangled them keping downe by force the fetherbed and pillowes harde vnto their mouthes that within a while thei smōred & styfled them. Hall. King Rich. III. an. 1. There is no man of so lowe estate, that he careth not to couerre hys persone wyth some sorte of clothynge. And the nombre of them is infynyte, that for to geue it more grace & deckynge, be not contented or take it to be suffycyent to bewrappe it in golde, urple & delicate silkes, except they travayle strange countres of the worlde, for to get stoanes, most rare and precyous, and employ them to the curiosite of theyr nyce trymmynge.-Nicolls. Thucydides, p. 5.

His sword that many a Pagan stout had shent,
Bewrapt with flowers, hung idlie by his side,
So nicely decked, that it seem'd the knight
Wore it for fashion sake, but not to fight.

Fairefax. Godfrey of Bulloigne, b. xvi. s. 36.

O wretched wight bewrapt in webs of woe,
That still in dread wast tost from place to place,
And neuer foundest meane to end thy race.

Mirrour for Magistrates, p. 32.

O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Bible. Modern Version. Ib.

I will not here with an allegory applyed to oure tyme touche oure spirituall Magos and subtyle sorcerers (enchaunters) and bewitchers.-Joye. Expos. of Daniel, c. 5.

And honour, glory, praise, renowme and fame,
That men's proud hearts bewitch with tickling pleasure,
An eccho is, a shade, a dream, a flower
With each wind blasted, spoil'd with euery shower.
Fairefax. Godfrey of Bulloigne, b. xiv. s. 63.

Come, come away, fraile, silly, fleshly wight,
Ne let vaine words bewitch thy manly hart,
Ne diuelish thoughts dismay thy constant spright,
In heauenly mercies hast thou not a part?

Spenser. Faery Queene, b. i. c. 9.

I will counterfet the bewitchment of some popular man, and giue it bountifull to the desirers: Therefore beseech you, I may be consull.-Shakes. Coriolanus, Act ii. sc. 3.

There is on the other side both ill more bewitchfull to entice away, and natural yeares more swaying, and good more availeable to withdraw to that which you wish me. Milton. Letter to a Friend. All that time that his brains are turgid and full of this humour, he is wonderful eloquent, and bewitchingly taken. Hallywell. Account of Familism, p. 106.

Do not suffer yourselves to be cheated and bewitched by sensual satisfactions, and to be destroyed by ease and prosperity.-Tillotson, vol. i. Ser. 54.

conforiare. It is probably from the A. S. Wrigan, to cover, (sc. with dirt, with filth.) And thus to signify

To dirty, to befoul; to bespatter with dirt.

Let them that do so, vnderstand, that they beray & file their hands more, when they lay them on any other man than their owne husbandes than though they blacked them in soote.-Vives. Instruction of Christian Women, b. i. c. 3.

But the event will shew that with many sluggish and ignoble vices he [Ethelred] quickly shamed his out-side; born and prolong'd a fatal mischief of the people, and the ruin of his country; whereof he gave early signs from his first infancy, bewraying the font and water while the bishop was baptizing him. Wherat Dunstan much troubled, for he stood by and saw it, to them next him broke into these words, "by God and God's mother, this boy will prove a sluggard."-Milton. History of England, b. vi.

Tentes they had none to couer them: nor medicaments to heale the wounded; and diuiding their meate partly stained with bloud or berayed with dirt, they bewailed that vnfortunate darknes; and that onely daie left for so many thousands to liue.—Grenewey. Tacitus, Annales, p. 27.

Being, as it were, in a small puddle of mire, she [the moon] is but a little sullied or berayed therewith, and so quickly getteth forth of it.-Holland. Plutarch, p. 956. BE-WRAY. BEWRA'YER. BEWRA'YING, n.

A. S. Wreyan; Dut. Wroeghen, accusare, prodere, deferre, to accuse, to discover, to bewray, (Sommer.) Wreg-an may be wriy-an, to act covertly.

To accuse; i. e. to inform or be an informer; a

betrayer. Ritson supplies an example of the use of the simple word wray.

O messager, fulfilled of dronkenesse

Strong is thy breth, thy limmes faltren ay, And thou bewriest all secrenesse ;

Thy mind is lorne, thou janglest as a jay.

Chaucer. The Man of Lawes Tale, v 5181.
Now cometh bewreying of conseil, thorgh which a man is
defamed; certis unnethe may he restore damage.
Id. The Persones Tale.

And thus whan loue is euill wonne
Full oft it cometh to repentaile.
My fader that is no meruaile

Whan that the counseil is bewrayed.-Gower. Con. A. b. v.

Nay mastres, as mote I thee,

Ye schall newyr be wrayed for me,

I had leu her dede to be
As here of to be knowe,
Good gosyp.

Ancient Songs. Ritson, p. 78.

Then I of force no longer may

Ir couert keepe my piersing flame, Which euer doth itselte bewray

But yeelde myself to fancies frame.

Turberville. The Louer confesseth himselfe, &e

For when in sighs I spent the day,

And could not cloke my grief with game,
The boyling smoke did still bewray
The present heate of secret flanie.

Surrey. The Restless State of a Louer. I do not say yt thou shouldest bewray thyself publickly, neither that thou shouldest accuse thyselfe to others, but I would haue thee obey the prophet, saying: reuele thy waye vnto the Lord.-Barnes. An Epitome of his Workes, p. 307. For the darkenes of this worlde doeth cōtinually striue against the lyght, wiche the worlde hateth as the bewrayer of his works, and that darkenes doth eyther quench or darken the beams of many, but against this liuely and eternal lyghte it could nothing preuaile.-Udal. John, c. 1.

But know, Grimaldi, tho' (may be) thou art
My equal in thy blood, yet this bewrays
A lowness in thy mind.

Ford. 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Act i. sc. 2.

If you could mayntayne euery place, or manie of the places, I dare say you would, but surely I commende youre rhetorike. Those places that you would seeme to giue some countenaunce vnto, bewray your lacke of abilitie to defend eyther them, or the reste.-Whitgift. Defence, p. 61.

(as the son of Sirach calls him) a betrayer of secrets, the Besides, that when a friend is turned into an enemy, and world is just enough to accuse the perfidiousness of the friend, rather than the indiscretion of the person who confided in him.-Spectator, No. 225.

BE-WREKE. To pursue, to persecute, to punish, to avenge, to revenge.

The strokes thou strook'st, hurt me not at all,
For why, thy strength was nothing in respect,
But thou hadst bath'd thy sword in poyson all,
Which did my wound, so deadly else infect.
Yet was I or I parted thence bewreckt,

I gate my sword from thee, for all thy fame:
And made thee flie, for fear to eate the same.
Mirrour for Magistrates, p 120.

I wole me off hym so bewreke,
That al the world theroff schal speke.

Richard Coer de Lion. Weber, vol. ii.

He was ryght sore displeased, and had many a harde ymaginacyon agaynst the hostages of France, that were styll with him at Lodon. Howebeit he thought it shulde be a great crueltie, if he shulde bewreke his displeasur on them.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycie, vol. i. c. 247.

BE-WROUGHT. A. S. Wyrcan, to work: past part. Worht, and by transposition Wroht.

Where their maides, and their makes,
At dancings, and wakes,

Had their napkins, and posies,
And the wipers for their noses,
And their smocks all be wrought
With his thred which they bought.

BE-YETTE.

B. Jonson. The Masque of Owles. Skinner says, "No bit, no whit." The meaning is probably this, the beget, the get, the gain, the possession, the advantage.

So that " beyond

Aloë is an hearbe which hath the resemblance of a sea

that place passed." Tooke, i. 408.)

Beyond expectation; be expectation p ssed surpassed, exceeded

The kyng of Northumburlonde kyng was ich vnderstonde
Of al tho loude bigonde Homber anon in to Scotlonde.
R. Gloucester, p. 6.
Ion Mauncelle the clerke, & an erle Richere,
And other knyghtes inowe of bigond the se,
To the kyng drowe, auanced wild thei be.

Yborne he was in fer contree, In Flandres, al beyonde the see.

R. Brunne, p. 214.

Chaucer. The Rime of Sire Thopas, v. 13,648.

[He] beyonde Athlans the highe hille
These monsters sought.-Gower. Con. 4. b. i.

There is a place beyond that flaming hill

From whence the stars their thin appearance shed,
A place beyond all place, where never ill,

Nor impure thought was ever harboured.

G. Fletcher. Christ's Victory and Triumph.

If we can find in our hearts to take our leave of sin, if we can disengage our selves from the witcheries of present allurement; if we can but get over the threshold of vertuous conversation, we shall find the rest beyond expectation smooth and expedite.-Barrow, vol. iii. Ser. 17.

BE'ZZLE, n. BE'ZZLE, V. BE'ZZLER.

And be it so let those deplore their doom, Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn : But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, Can smile at fate, and wonder how they mourn. Beattie. The Minstrel, b. i. Skinner suggests, among other things, that it may be Beastle, to act the beast. Mr. Todd thinks it is the old Norman French, Besler, Beselé, Beseléez, embezzled, (Kelham, Norman Dict.); and that this Bezler is the parent of our modern word Embezzle. (See EMBEZZLE, and the quotations from Dryden and Sharpe.) But neither the Nor. Fr. nor the English are yet accounted for. To bezzle, seems generally to be applied to -guzzling :

To waste or squander in guzzling, or drinking; in riot or prodigality; (perhaps, money embezzled or purloined from others, or from better purposes.)

Thus walkes hee up and downe in his Majistie, taking a yard of ground at every step, and stampes on the earth so terrible, as if he ment to knock up a spirite, when (fouledrunken bezzle) if an Englishman set his little finger to him, he falls like a hogs-trough that is set on one end.

Pierce Pennilesse. His Supplication to the Devil, 1592. Math. Yes, s'foot, I wonder how the inside of a tavern looks now. Oh! when shall I bizzle bizzle? Bri. Nay, see thou art thirsty still for poison; come, I will not have thee swagger.

Dekkar. The Honest Whore, Act i. sc. 1.

Mist. Mer. Thou art a wast thrift, and art run away from thy master, that lov'd thee well, and art come to me, and I have laid up a little for my younger son Michael, and thou thinkst to bezle that; but thou shalt never be able to do it. Beaum. & Fletch. Knight of the Burn. Pestle, Act i. sc. 1.

O mee! what odds there seemeth 'twixt their chere
And the swolne bezell at an ale house fyre,
That tonnes in gallons to his bursten paunch
Whose slimy droughts his draught can never stanch.
Bp. Hall. Satires, b. v. Sat. 2.

Our great clerks think that these men, because they have a trade, (as Christ himself, and St. Paul had) cannot therefore attain to some good measure of knowledge, and to a reason of their actions, as well as they that spend their youth in loitering, bezzling, and harlotting, their studies in unprofitable questions, and barbarous sophistry, their middle age in ambition and idleness, their old age in avarice, aotage, and diseases.-Milton. Animad. upon Remonst. Def. 'Tis now become

The shewing horne bezeler's discourse.

Jack Drum's Entertainment, (1616,) Sig. A 3.

BIAS, v. Fr. Biais or Bihay, BiaiBIAS, n. ser or Bi-hayser. To crook, Br'As, adj. stand aslope, to fetch a comB'As, ad. pass, go away, make about, BIAS-DRAWING. (Cotgrave.) Menage says from the It. Bieco, and the It. Bieco from Bisoculus. The editor of Menage, "that the old Gallic Bihay resembles the English Biway." Hayser probably Hauser, to hoist, or raise (sc.) out of an horizontal position; turn out of a straight or right angle. It is used met. for

To turn away, from a right, fair, impartial judgment.

VOL L

and fat, chamfered or chanelled biais all along.

Holland. Plinie, b. xxvii. c. 4. Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle hold that this is occasioned by the obliquity of the zodiack circle thorow which the sun passes biase.-Id. Plutarch, p. 674. We cannot allege her oblique and byass declination. ld. Ib. p. 953. In this extant moment, faith and troth, Strain'd purely from all hollow bias-drawing Bids thee with most diuine integrite, From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome. Shakespeare. Troil. & Cress. Act iv. sc. 5.

Rhynsault, with no other real quality than courage, had dissimulation enough to pass upon his generous and unsuspicious master for a person of blunt honesty and fidelity, without any vice that could biass him from the execution of justice. Spectator, No. 491.

When we determine amiss concerning the obligations incumbent upon us in respect of other men; 'tis by reason of that strong weight of self-love, which like a biass, inclines, and secretly sways our minds towards that side on which our own interest lies.—Atterbury, vol. i. Ser. 9.

I am of opinion, there has not, for these many years, appeared any thing more finished of the kind; if, indeed, my great affection for him, and the praises he bestowed upon me, do not bias my judgment. Melmoth. Pliny, b. iv. Let. 27

If you suppose a dye to have any bias, however small, to a particular side, this bias, though, perhaps, it may not appear in a few throws, will certainly prevail in a great number, and will cast the balance entirely to that side. Hume. The Rise of Arts, Ess. 14. From Lat. Bibere, to drink. A Bib, Skinner says, "is a cloth stretched over the breast of an infant, that it may imbibe, the overflowing liquid."

BIB, n. BIB, v. BIBBER. BIBBING,N.

BIBULOUS.

A man who drinks much, frequently, is called a Bibber, a tipler, a sot,

Bibulous, drinking, soaking, absorbing.

This miller hath so wisly bibbed ale,
That as an hors he snorteth in his slepe.

Chaucer. The Reves Tale, v. 4160.

And other abhoreth his brother because he is a great bibber, whereas he himselfe hath in his harte a number of murders and sorceries.-Udal. Matt. c. 7.

The Son of Man is come eating and drinking, and ye say, behold, a gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend to publicans and sinners.—Bible. Luke, vii. 34.

Demosthenes made his complaint unto him, that where he had taken more pains than all the orators besides, and had almost even worn himself to the bones with study, yet he could by no means devise to please the people: whereas other orators that did nothing but bib all the day long, and mariners that understood nothing, were quietly heard, and continually occupied the pulpit with orations.

North. Plutarch, p. 701.

Six legions he left in garrison among the Gauls, under the charge of one Varius, a companion of his that would drink lustily with him, and therefore in mockery was surnamed Cotylon, to wit, a bibber.—Id. Ib. p. 760.

We'll have a bib, for spoiling of thy doublet;
And a fring'd muckender hang at thy girdle,
I'll be thy nurse, and get a coral for thee,
And a fine ring of bells.

Beaum. & Fletch. The Captain, Act iii. sc. 5. This person [J. Wagstaffe] died in a manner distracted, occasioned by a deep conceit of his own parts, and by a continual bibbing of strong and high tasted liquors. Wood. Athena Oxon.

But only fools, and they of vast estate,
The extremity of modes will imitate,
The dangling knee fringe and the bib-cravat.

Dryden. Prol. on Opening the New House.
Strow'd bibulous above I see the sands,
The pebbly gravel next, the layers then
Of mingled moulds, of more retentive earths.

Thomson. Autumn.

Ev'n misses, at whose age their mothers wore The backstring and the 5ib, assume the dress Of womanhood, fit pupils in the school Of card-devoted time, and night by night Plac'd at some vacant corner of the board, Learn every trick, and soon play all the game. Cowper. Task, b. iv. BIBBLE-BA'BBLE. Merely Babble-babble. See an instance from Sir Thomas More in BABBLE. The errours committed in this kind have been the cause why there is found so little wit and understanding, and

177

Maluolio, Maluolio, thy wittes the heauens restore. en. deauour thy selfe to sleepe, and leaue thy vaine bibble babble.-Shakespeare. Twelfth Night, Act iv. sc. 2.

BIBLE. BIBLICAL.

BIBLIOTHEKE.

BIBLIOTHECAL. BIBLIOTHECARY. BIBLIO'LATRY.

Βύβλος sive Βιβλος, is an Egyptian plant, of which a material for writing upon was made. Bible is applied by pre-eminence to the holy scriptures. Chaucer furnishes usages of the word as applied to any book. Bibliothecary. Fr. Bibliothèque; It. Biblioteca; Sp. Bibliotheca; Lat. Bibliotheca, from Gr. BIBλLOV, a Book, and Onn, a Depository: the store room or depository for books; now commonly called the library.

It sais in a storie, the Bible may not lie,
That God gaf the maistrie to the childre of Mathatie.
R. Brunne, p. 290

Of his diete mesurable was he,
For it was of no superfluitee,
But of gret nourishing, and digestible.
His studie was but litel on the Bible.

Chaucer. The Prologue, v.437

To tell all, wold passen any Bible,
That o wher is.

Id. The Chanones Yemannes Tale, v. 16,322. But what is this I see, Satan himselfe with a bible under his arme, with a text in his mouth, it is written, he shall give his angels charge over thee?

Bp. Hall. Cont. Christ Tempted.

What I said in my epistle to my reverend and worthy friend master Doctor James, the incomparably industrious and learned Bibliothecary of Oxford, I professe still, that I hold those Canons of the Apostles uncanonicall.

Id. Honour of the Maried Clergie, b. i. s. 28. This invention of erecting libraries, especially here at Rome, came from Asinius Pollio, who by dedicating his bibliotheque, containing all the books that ever were written, was the first that made the wits and workes of learned men, a publicke matter and a benefit to a commonweale.

Holland. Plinie, b. xxxv. c. 1.

In every town where he came, [he] explained to them the contents of the Bible; declaring, that therein was set forth the true and only God, and his mighty works; that therein was contain'd the true doctrine of salvation through Christ; with many particulars of miracles and chief points of rellgion.-Oldys. Life of Ralegh.

I trust that the natural patrons of biblical learning, I mean, societies founded for the advancement of religious knowledge, and the higher ecclesiastics, will soon enable every scholar to command this inestimable treasure [the Syriac Milan MSS.].-Newcombe. Minor Prophets, Pref. These, and a world of controversies more Serve to enlarge the bibliothecal store; While champions make antiquity their boast, And all pretend to imitate it most.

Byrom. On Church Communion, pt. vi If to adore an image be idolatry, To deify a book is bibliolatry.

Id. Upon the Bp. of Gloucester's Doctrine of Grace BICIPITAL. Į Lat. Biceps (Bis-ceps), from BICIPITOUS. Bis, Binus, two, and Caput;

Gr. Kepaλn, the head. Two headed.

If by the art of Taliacotius, a permutation of flesh, or transmutation be made from one man's body into another, as if a piece of flesh be exchanged from the bicipital muscle of either parties arm, and about them both, an alphabet circumscribed; upon a time appointed as some conceptions affirm, they may communicate at what distance soever. Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. ii. c. 3.

It is not denied there have been bicipitous serpents with the head at each extream, for an example hereof we finde in Aristotle.-Id. Ib. b. iii. c. 15.

of Anglo Saxon origin. He suggests the verb pickeer, to fight with pikes. In the A. S. Pycan; Dut. Pichen or Bichen, pickeren; Ger. Bichen, is to peck at: and bicker (p into b) may be

To be always pecking at, attacking, skirmishing; squabbling, or quarrelling with; also to move unsteadily, to quiver.

Bituene the castel of Gloucetre and Brinefeld al so Ther was ofte biker grit, and muche harm ido. R. Gloucester, p. 538. Tho the barons adde the toun, and the castel the king, Ther was ofte bituene hom gret bikering.-Id. p. 540. Whan thou of thise ert sikere to the thorgh aliance, Than is tyme to bikere with the kyng of France. R. Brunne, p. 256. And crye we on al the comune. that thei come to unite Ther to abyde and bykere ageyns Beliales children. Piers Ploukman, p. 396. Thus the Frenshemen lyinge before the towne, many frayes and bykerynges were made at wene the Flemynges and theym, to theyr both paynes.-Fabyan, an. 1307.

And at the field fought before Bebriacum, ere the battailes Joyned, two eagles had a conflict, and bickered together in all their sights.-Holland. Suetonius, p. 243.

In this so terrible a bickering, the Prince of Wales being then but sixeteenth yeeres old, shewed his wonderful towardnesse, laying on very hotely with speare and shielde. Stowe. Edw. III. an. 1346.

Such bickerings to recount, met often in these our writers,

what more worth is it then to chronicle the wars of kites or crows, flocking or fighting in the air?

Milton. History of England, b. iv.

So stood they both in readinesse thereby,
To ioyne the combate with cruell intent;
When Arthegall, arriuing happily,
Did stay awhile their greedy bickerment,
Till he had questioned the cause of their dissent.
Spenser. Faerie Queene, b. v. c. 4.

Meantime unnumber'd glittering streamlets play'd,
And hurled every where their waters sheen;
That, as they bicker'd through the sunny shade,
Though restless still themselves, a lulling murmur made.
Thomson. Castle of Indolence, c. 1.

And indeed several histories of these times make no secret of it, where they shew the bickerings between prince Henry and the aforesaid favourite Car, in regard to the countess of Essex, not to mention other motives.

Oldys. Life of Ralegh. From which, meanwhile, disputes of ev'ry size, That is to say, misunderstandings rise; The springs of ill, from bick'ring, up to battle, From wars and tumults, down to tittle tattle. Byrom. The Three Black Crows,

Lat. Bis, Binus, two, and

BICORNED. Cornu, a horn.

BICO'RNOUS.
Having two horns.

Your body being revers'd did represent
(Being forked) our bicorned government.

Brome. To a Potting Priest. We should be too critical to question the letter Y, or bicornous element of Pythagoras, that is, the making of the horns equal.-Brown. Vulgar Errours, b. v. c. 19.

BID. BIDDER.

BIDDEN. BIDDING, n.

Goth. Biudan; A. S. Biddan; Ger. Bieten; Dut. Bidden; Sw. Bedja. See BEAD, and the quotation from Burnett. To bid, is

To invite, to solicit, to request, to pray, to require, to demand, to command.

To require, or demand, (sc.) for a certain price; to offer, or propose to give.

To the eldest he seide first, "Dogter ich bidde the "Sey me al clene thin herte, how muche thou louest me." R. Gloucester, p. 29. The fader was tho glad y now, and bad hire vnderstonde, To whom heo wolde y maried be with the thride del ys londe.-Id. p. 30.

"Ther fore ich bidde, that ich mowe my stat holde thorg the, "And that thou of hym Bretagne mowe wynne thorg me. Id. p. 54.

And gut vor a! ys ssrewede, as yt ywryte ys.
Thoru byddynge of Seyn Dunston, ys soule com to blys.
Id. p. 280.

So ageyn Edward thei held it half a gere,
Thei sauh the sege so hard, thei sent a messengere,
Thei ilde forto gelde at his owen biddyng,
If he tham saue wilde ageyn Henry our kyng.
R. Brunne, p. 225.
Ac ich praye the quath Hunger er thow wende
Df beggers and of bydders. what best be to done
For ich wot wel be thow went, worche thei wolle ful ylle.
Piers Plouhman, p. 139.

And he sente hise servauntis for to clepe men that weren he sende othere servauntis, and seide seye ye to the men bede to the weddingis and thei wolden no come. Estsoone that ben beden to the feeste, Lo, I have maad redy my mete, my bolis and my volatilis ben slayne, and alle thingis ben redy, come ye to the weddingis.-Wiclif. Matt. c. 22.

And [he] sent forth his servauntes, to call them that were byd to the weddynge, and they woulde not come. Agayne he sent forth other servauntes, sayinge, tell them whiche are bydden: beholde, I haue prepared my dynner, myne oxen and my fatlinges are killed, and al thynges are redy, come vuto the mariage.-Bible, 1551. Ib.

This carpenter said his devotion,
And still he sit, and biddeth his praiere,
Awaiting on the rain, if he it here.

Chaucer. The Milleres Tale, v. 3641.

Now nothyng lacketh but cumming of the geastes, that the preparacion be not made in vaine. But they againe neglected the bidder. And whan the bidders called vpon them, euery man made his excuse.-Udal. Matt. c. 22.

The world is wondrous feareful nowe, for danger bids men doubt.

And aske how chaunceth this? or what meanes all this
meede?
Gascoigne. A Glose, &c.

A princess being born, and abbess, with those maids,
All noble like herself, in bidding of their beads
Their holiness bequeath'd upon her to descend
Which there should after live.

Drayton. Poly-Olbion, s. 13.
Adhelwolfe king of the Danes came vpon him with a
great power, and bade him battell, wherein Cochricus and
Adelwolfe, kings of the Pagans were slaine.
Stowe. The West Saxons, an. 900.
For myselfe, I was not injur'd so,
By any Troian, that my powers, should bid them any
blowes;
In nothing beare they blame of me.

Chapman. Homer. Iliad, b. i. Ye Fresshe kyng and his cousayle wrote agayne to ye kynge of Castil, byddyng hym to take no thought nor doubte, for within ye month of January he wolde gyue Englade so moche ado.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycle, vol. ii. c. 50.

Having performed that with great dexterity, he [South] lays by the text for the present, and according to the ancient and laudable custom he addressed himself to the Bid-prayer. Wood. Athena Oxon.

Sir Roger, who is very well acquainted with my humour, lets me rise and go to bed when I please, dine at his own table or in my chamber as I think fit, sit still and say nothing without bidding me be merry.-Spectator, No. 106.

In the thirty sixth year of his age he repaired to LongLane, and looked upon several dresses which hung there

deserted by their first masters and exposed to the purchase

of the best bidder.-Id. No. 264.

Have I not said, not what I ought,
But what by earthly master taught?
Did I e'er weigh, through duty strong.
In thy great biddings, right and wrong?

Churchill. The Ghost, b. iv.

BIDE.
Dut. Beyden; A. S. Bidan, Abi-
BIDING, n. dan. To stay or remain. See ABIDE.
To tarry, to dwell, to continue, to wait, to
expect; to stay under or support, to endure.

The next Letenes tide Sir Lowys went his way,
No langere wild he bide, for thing that men mot say.
R. Brunne, p. 227.

That of long time here haue I bene,
Within this yle biding as quene,
Liuing at ease, that neuer wight

More perfit joy haue ne might.-Chaucer. Dream. Shame shall make him bide by his promise though he were such a man, that I could not compell him, if he would deny it.-Tyndall. Workes, p. 442.

We haue bene but yuell cousayled to take this way; yet it had bene better to haue gone by Saynt Omers than to bide in this danger.-Berners. Froissart. Cronycie, vol. i. c. 413.

They are in maruellous awe of the Spaniards, and very simple people, and liue maruellous sauagely: for they brought us to their bidings about two miles from the harborough, where wee saw their women and lodging, which is nothing but the skin of some beast layd vpon the ground.

Hackluyt. Voyages, vol. iii. p. 809. Westm. Farwell faint-hearted and degenerate King, In whose cold blood no sparke of honor bides.

Shakespeare. 3 Part K. Hen. VI. Act i. sc. 1, No cruel guard of diligent cares, that keep Crown'd woes awake, as things too wise for sleep: But reverend discipline, and religious fear, And soft obedience, find sweet biding here.

Crashaw. A Religious House.

And now too soon for us the circling hours
This dreaded time have compassed, wherein we
Must bide the stroak of that long threatn'd wound;
At least if so we can.-Milton. Paradise Regained, b. i

For thon art not a God that takes

In wickedness delight;

Evil with thee no biding makes

Fools or mad men stand not within thy sight.

Id. Psalm 5

The wary Dutch this gathering storm foresaw, And durst not bide it on the English coast: Behind their treach'rous shallows they withdraw, And lay their snares to catch the British hoast.

BIDENTAL.

Dryden. Annus Mirabilis, s. 179. Bis, binus, two; and aens,

BIDE'NTATE. a tooth.
Having two teeth, two prongs.

I desire you will tell her Grace, that ill management of forks is not to be helped when they are only bidental which happens in all poor houses. Swift to Gay, March 19, 1729. [Oniscus.] With seven scales, the last bidentale. Pennant. British Zoology. BIDET. Fr. Bidet, of unknown etymology. A little nag or curtall, (Cotgrave.)

I will returne to my selfe, mount my bidet, in a dance; and corvet upon my curtall.--B. Jenson, Masque. Chloridia BIENNIAL. Bis, and annus, a year. Living, lasting or enduring, two years.

You can by no culture or art extend a fennel stalk to the stature and bigness of an oak: then, why should some be very long-lived, others only annual or biennial?

Ray. On the Creation, pt.1.

It [the Eastern Mullein] flourished in the physick garden very well two years, and flower'd extremely, but did not perfect seeds, and being a biennial plant, is since entirely decay'd.-Miller. Gardener's Dictionary.

BIER. A. S. Baran, to bear; that BIER-BALKS. which bears. Usually applied toThat which bears a corps to burial; by R. Gloucester.

That which bears a sick person; a litter.

Uter, the gode kynge, (of wham we speke by vore)
Was feble after that he was in horse bere y bore..

R. Gloucester, p. 165.

And he cam nygh and touchide the beere, and thei that baren, stoden, and he seyde yonge man Y seye to thee rise up.-Wiclif. Luke, c. 7.

Woma, saith he, make no more weping. And when he had so said, he came unto the biere whereon the dead må was carried, and put his hand to it. And immediatly they whiche carryed the corpse stayed.-Udal. Ib.

It is a shame to behold the insatiablenesse of some covet. ous persons in their doings: that where their ancestours left of their land a bread and sufficient beerebalk, to carry the corps to the Christian sepulture, how men pinch at such becrebalks, which by long use and custome ought to be inviolably kept for that purpose.

Homily for Rogation Weeke, pt. iv. Truly so long as he [Strabo] lived, they feared his great. ness obtained by arms, for indeed he was a noble captain: but being stricken with a thunderbolt, and dead, they took him from the bier whereon his body lay as they carried him to burial, and did thereto great villany.

North. Plutarch, p. 526. But when Heliodorus, I wot not whether by sicknesse or by some devised violence, was dead (loth I am to say so much, would God the thing itselfe could not speak it) when his corps was carryed forth to be buried by the biere bearers, many honourable personages went before it, as mourners in blacke.-Holland. Ammianus, p. 360.

-A bier is next prepared,

On which the lifeless body should be rear'd,
Cover'd with cloth of gold, on which was laid
The corps of Arcite, in like robes array'd.

Dryden. Palamon & Arcite, b. iii.

Honorio dead, the fun'ral bell
Call'd ev'ry friend to bid farewell.
I joined the melancholy bier.
And dropp'd the unavailing tear.

Cotton. Vision. The last Death.

BI-FID. Bis and findo. To cleave in two. Cleft in two: common in works on Natural History.

[Lobster.] With jointed body; legs eleven on each side; tail bifid, &c.-Pennant. British Zoology.

The characters [of the hemlock] are: the leaves cut into minute segments, the petals of the flowers bifid, &c. Miller, in v. Cicuta.

BI-FOLD. Twofold. Thus, the quarto Shakepeare. The first folio reads by foule.

fork.

BIFURCATED. Bis, two, and furca, a Separated, divided, cleft asunder, like a fork; bifurked.

The disciples of Antychriste with their byfurked ordinaries must violently plucke from the trewe Christen Church (whose reygne is not of this world) the eternal worde of the Lorde. Bale. Image, pt. ii.

The first a Catechresticall and far derived similitude, it (the mandrake] holds with man; that is, in a bifurcation or division of the root into two parts, which some are content to call thighs.-Browne. Vulgar Errours, b. ii. c. 6.

The mouth [of the lesser lamprey] is formed like that of the preceding; on the upper part is a large bifurcated tooth.

BIG, v. BIG, adj. BIGGER, or BIGLY.

Pennant. British Zoology.

Perhaps from the A. S. Bycgan, Byggan; Sw. Bygga; Eng. to big, to build. Edificare, struere, adstruere, to build, to pile or heap up; and thus to increase the bulk or size, to enlarge, to form into a large mass, to magnify.

BIGNESS.

Dr. Jamieson says, "that a biggin is a house properly of a larger size, as opposed to a cottage." He also produces, from Ritson, some instances of the use of bygly, signifying habitable, commodious; and others where it may signify big, i. e. large. Ritson gives no explanation, but evidently considers them the same word differently applied. Large, enlarged, great, ample; magnified, of great size, magnitude or extent; extended, dis tended; expanded; filled out in bulk, sweln,

tumid.

Sche seyde, God, of myghtys moost,
Fadur and sone, and holy goost,

As y dud nevyr thys dede,
Yf y gyltles be of thys,
Brynge me to thy bygly blys,

For thy grete godhede.-Id. Ib.
The holy armyte brent he thare,
And lefte that bygly hows full bare,
That semely was to see.-Id. Ib.

Then came oon hyght Awdromoche,
The furste byger of Anteoche,

And enhabyted cuntreys clene.-Id. Ib.

And surely sauing that in that chapyter he brawleth bygly, and scoldeth stronge'ye and raileth ryallye, and lyeth puissauntlye els is all hys matter besyde marueylouse feable and weake. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 701.

In the somer folowynge, about Mary Magdaleyne tyde fell hayle of suche bygnesse that it slewe both men and beestys. Fabyan, vol. i. c. 238.

The elephantes of that countrey bee stronger then those that be made tame in Aphrike & their bignes do aunswer vnto their stregth.-Brende. Quintus Curtius, p. 233.

[William Rufus] was of person a square man, red coloured, &c. . . . . not of any great stature, though somewhat big bellied.-Stowe. William Rufus, an. 1087.

And those which erewhile were so warie and wise, waxt forward enough after the euent, and grew to speake bigly. Savile. Tacitus, p. 194.

Hence oftentimes authoritie
Lookes biglier than a bull,
With suiters poore too sternely quicke,
In helping them too dull.

Warner. Albion's England, b. ix.

He look'd a lion with a gloomy stare,
And o'er his eyebrows hung his matted hair;
Bigbon'd and large of limbs, with sinews strong,
Broad shoulder'd, and his arms were round and long.
Dryden. Palamon & Arcite, b. iii.

Mar. O Lucia, Lucia, might my big-swoln heart
Vent all its griefs, and give a loose to sorrow,
Marcia could answer thee in sighs, keep pace
With all thy woes, and count out tear for tear.

Addison. Cato, Act iv. sc. 1.
Now driven before him, through the arching rock,
Came tumbling, heaps on heaps, th' unnumber'd flock;
Big-udder'd ewes, and goats of female kind.
Pope. Odyssey, b. ix.
Gr. Aiyapos, dis or bis, twice,
and yau-ev, to unite in marriage.

BIGAM. BI'GAMOUS. BIGAMIST. A bigame is one twice married, BIGAMY. whether the first spouse be living A divorced woman who married again was also called a bigame.

or not.

-It is the kind of man, Sith Lameth was, that is so long gone, To be in loue as false as euer he can, He was the first father that began To louen two and was in bigamie.

Greater is the wonder of your strickt chastitle, than it would be a nouell to see you a bigama.

Warner. Albion's England, Addition to, b. IL Their false god Vulcan is not very hard to unmask, he was a mortal man, and one of the sons of the other Lamech, the prime biçamist and corrupter of marriage. Donne, Hist. of the Septuagint, p. 202. Bigamy, according to the canonists, consisted in marrying two virgins successively, one after the other, or once marrying a widow.-Blackstone. Commentaries, b. iv. c. 13. note b. BIGGIN. A kind of cap, Mr. Steevens says, at present worn only by children, but so called from the cap worn by the Beguins, an order of Nuns. "From the biggen to the nightcap;" Mr. Gifford interprets, "from infancy to age."

A biggin he had got about his brane,
For in his headpeece he felt a sore paine.

Spenser. Shepherd's Calendar. Mag.
Sleepe with it now,

Yet not so sound, and half so deepely sweete,
As hee whose brow (with homely biggen bound)
Snores out the watch of night.

Shakespeare. 2 Part Hen. IV. Act iv. sc. 4.

Here is nothing but a little fresh straw,
A petticoat for a coverlet, and that torn too,
An old woman's biggin for a night cap.

Massinger. The Picture, Act iv. sc. 2. You that have suck'd the milk of the court, and from thence have been brought up to the very strong meats and wine of it; been a courtier from the biggen to the night cap: (as we may say) and you, to offend in such a high point of ceremony, as this! and let your nuptials want all marks of solemnity!-B. Jonson. The Silent Woman, Act iii. sc. 6.

BIGOT, adj. BIGOT, R. BIGOTED. BIGOTICK. BIGU TICAL. BIGO'TICALLY. BIGOTRY.

The French at this day apply the word bigot, to one superstitiously religious, not certainly from the oath be-got, as Menage thinks; but rather from the A. S. Bigan, colere; and hence also begine, a religious woman, (Wachter in v. Bein- Gott.) Cotgrave says, bijot, an old Norman word, (signifying as much as de par Dieu, or our-for God's sake) made good French, and signifying

An hypocrite, or one that seemeth muca more holy than he is also a scrupulous, or superstitious fellow.

Speight says, Bigin, bigot, superstitious hypocrite." Upon which Thynne remarks, "whiche sence I knowe yt maye somewhat beare, because yt sauorethe of the dispositione of those Begins or Beguines, for that ys the true wrytinge.'

Wher findest thou a swinker of labour
Haue me to his confessour?
But Empresses, and Duchesses,
These Quenes, and eke Countesses,
These Abbesses, and eke bigins.

Chaucer. Rom. of the Rose. There came to him an English gentleman, who having run himself out of breath in the inns of court, had forsaken his country, and therewith his religion; and was turned both bigot and physitian, residing now in Bruxels. Bp. Hall. Some Specialties in his Life.

The same fortune once happened to Moliere, on the occasion of his Tartuffe: which notwithstanding afterwards has seen the light, in a country more bigot than ours, and is accounted among the best pieces of that poet. Dryden. Limberham, Epist. Ded.

This Proclus, though he were a superstitious Pagan, much addicted to the multiplying of gods, (subordinate to one supreme) or a bigolick polytheist, who had a humnour of deifying almost every thing, and therefore would have this nature forsooth to be called a goddess too; yet does he declare it not to be properly such, but abusively only. Cudworth. Intel. Syst. p. 686.

It hath been indeed of late confidently asserted by some, that never any of the ancient philosophers dream'd of any such thing as incorporeal substance; and therefore they would bear men in hand, that it was nothing but an upstart and new fangled invention of some bigotical religionists. Id. Ib. p. 18.

Which is a plain proofe yt cocernig ye phibició of wiues then one & the forbiddig of bigamy by ye weddig of not of Sait Poule.-Sir T. More. Workes, p. 229. one wife after another, was the special ordinace of God &

Saint Chrysostome saithe, that S. Paule suffereth not them, that haue twise married, to atteine sutche a roume, By these woordes, saithe M. Hardinge, Chrysostome condemneth the impure bigamie of our holy gospellers.

Jewel. A Defence of the Apologie, p. 173.

It may be doubted, with good reason, whether there ever was in nature a more abject, slavish, and bigotted generation than the tribe of Beaux Esprits, at present so prevailing in this island.-Spectator. No. 234.

To take up half on trust, and half to try,
Name it not faith, but bungling bigottry.

Dryden. The Hind and the Panther, ft. i

They are terribly afraid of being called bigots and enthuBlasts but think there is no danger of falling into the opposite extreme of lukewarmness and want of piety. Porteus, vol. i. Ser. 1.

Nor think the Muse, whose sober voice ye hear,
Contracts with bigot frown her sullen brow;
Casts round religion's orb the mists of fear,
Or shades with horfours, what with smiles should glow.
Mason. Elegy on the Death of a Lady.

A rich chain of great pearls and small vases, red and gold, are other ornaments to our bigotted sovereign.

Pennant. Journey from Chester.

I shall only in one word mention the horrid effects of bigotry and avarice, in the conquest of Spanish America; a conquest on a low estimation effected by the murder of ten millions of the species.—Burke. Vindication of Nat. Society. Dut. Be-landen, to land; Fr. Belandre, a boat or vessel, fit only to keep close to land.

BI'LANDER.

Why chuse we then like bilanders to creep Along the coast, and land in view to keep, When safely we may launch into the deep.

BILBO.
BI'LBOES.
BILBOESMITH.

Bilboa.

Dryden. The Hind & Panther, pt. i.

A kind of sword or rapier, and also of stocks for the feet; so called because made at

time, for the use of it is ridiculed by others, as well as Jonson. It is thus explained in Cole's English Dictionary, Bilk, nothing; also to deceive.'" Lye, from the Goth. Bilaikan, which properly signifies insultando illudere.

To cheat, to defraud, to elude.

Tub. Hee will ha' the last word, though he take bilke for't. Hugh. Bilke? what's that?

Tub. Why nothing, a word signifying nothing; and borrow'd here to express nothing. B. Jonson. Tale of a Tub, Act i. sc. 1. [He] was then ordered to get into the coach, or behind it, for that he wanted no instructors; but be sure you dog you, says he, don't you bilk me.-Spectator, No. 198.

Patrons in days of yore, like patrons now,
Expected that the bard should make his bow
At coming in, and ev'ry now and then
Hint to the world that they were more than men ;
But, like the patrons of the present day,
They never bilk'd the poet of his pay.

BI-LITERAL. letters, (literæ.)

Churchill. Independence. Consisting of, formed by, two

I was also conueyed to their lodgings, which gathered tribute for the King of Denmarke, where I saw a pair of bilbowes; and I asked whether they were for the Lappians, (if neede were) and they said no, but onely for their owne company if they should chance to be vnruly.

Id. Ib. vol. i. p. 295.

And there was a beggar Lazarus by name: that lay at hise gate ful of bilis, and coueytide to be fulfillid of the crummys that fellen doun fro the riche mannes boord: and no man gaf to him, but houndis camen and likkiden his bylis.-Wiclif. Luke, c. 16.

When there is a byle in the skynne of any mans flesh, and It is healed and after in the place of the byle there appeare a whyte rysing, either a shynynge white somewhat redysh, let him be sene of the preast.-Bible, 1551. Lev. c. 13.

Fr. Bile; Lat. Bilis; from the

BILIOUS.} Gr. Xon, (Vossius). See the quo

tation from Arbuthnot. tation from Prior.

Used met. see the quo

But when once settled in the stomach, it excited vomitings, in which was thrown up all that matter which physicians call discharges of bile, attended with excessive torture.-Smith. Thucydides, b. ii.

The bile is of two sorts, the cystick, or that contained in the gall-bladder, which is a sort of repository for the gall; and the hepatick, or what flows immediately from the liver. Arbuthnot. On Aliments, c. 1.

The liver minds his own affair;
Kindly supplies our public uses,
And parts and strains the vital juices;

Still lays some useful hile aside,

To tinge the chyle's insipid tide;

Else we should want both gibe and satire; And all be burst with pure good-nature.-Prior. Alma, c.1. Some of them [voracious animals] have the biliary duct inserted into the pylorus.-Arbuthnot. On Aliments, c. I. Why bilious juice a golden light puts on, And floods of chyle in silver currents run. Garth. Dispensary, c. 1. BILK. Mr. Gifford says, "Bilk seems to have become a cant word about this (Ben Jonson's)

The bill, beak, or nib of a bird, the nose or snout of a beast or fish, the snout or beak of a ship, (Somner.)

To bill (met.), to fondle, to play the part of fond lovers.

And of a rauen, which was tolde,

Of nyne hondred wynter olde,

She toke the head, with all the bille.-Gower. Con. 4. b. v.
No sooner had the bird the maiden eyde,
But, leaping on the rocke, downe from a bough
He takes a cherry up, (which he but now
Had hither brought, and in that place had laid
Till to the cleft his song had drawne the maid)
And flying with the small stem in his bill,
(A choicer fruit, than hangs on Bacchus' hill)
In fair Marina's bosom tooke his rest,
A heavenly seat fit for so sweet a guest:
Where Citherea's doves might billing sit,
And gods and men with envy look on it.

Browne. British Pastorals, s. 3. On whose [the cup's] swelling sides, four handles fixed

were

And upon every handle sate, a pair of doves of gold;
Some billing and some pecking meat.

Chapman. Homer. Iliad, b. xi.
Forthwith from out the ark a raven flies
And after him, a surer messenger,

A dove sent forth once and agen to spie
Green tree or ground whereon his foot may light:
The second time returning, in his bill
An olive leafe he brings, pacific signe.

Milton. Paradise Lost, b. xi. On the other side, Tom Faddle and his pretty spouse, wherever they come, are billing at such a rate, as they think must do our hearts good who behold 'em. Spectator, No. 300.

His eyes with milder beauties beam,
Than billing doves beside the stream.

Moore. Solomon, pt. iii.
O let them ne'er, with artificial note,
To please a tyrant, strain their little bill,
But sing what heaven inspires, and wander where they
will-Beattie. The Minstrel, b. i.

BILL.

BILLETS.

BILLMAN.

}

A. S. Bill; Dut. Byl; Ger. Beil; which Skinner thinks is Securis rostrata, a beaked axe, so called from its great resemblance to the bill of a bird. Junius thinks billets are pieces of wood cut with a bill. hew.

A hooked tool or weapon, to cut, mow, Agayne loke how vncomely a thyng it were if a philosophier would with his cloke & long beard scip about the stage, & play a parte in an interlude: or els holde a bill & a net in his hande in the place where the swordplayers are wont to fyght at vtteraunce, and syng theyr accustomed song. Udal. Mark, Pref.

For where before tymes there were sent ouer, for the ayde and tuicyon of the tounes, and citees, brought vnder the obeysaunce of the English nacion thousands of men, apte and mete for the warre, and defence: now were sent into Fraunce, hundreds, yea scores, some rascall, and some not able to drawe a bow or carry a bill.

Hall. Hen. VI. an. 14.

When that the stak of wood was reared vp
Under the ayre within the inward court
With clouen oke and billets made of fyrre,
With garlandes she doth all beset the place.
Surrey. Virgile. Ensis, b. fv.

He in the mornynge caused the Mayre of the citie to apparell in armure the beste and most coragious persones of the citie: whiche brought to him iii. m. archers and iii. m. bilmen besyde them that were deputed to defend the citie. Hall. Hen. IV. an. 1.

The souldiers Englishmen were all asleep except the watch, the which was slender; and yet the shout arises, bowes and bils, bows and bils; which is a signification of extreme defence, to avoide the present danger in all towns of war.-Knox. History of Reformation, p. 91.

Cocceius Proculus a bilman of the garde had a suite with his neighbour about a small parcell of ground, which lay doubtfull betweene them, Otho with his owne money bought his neighbours whole ground, and freely bestowed it vpon him.-Savile. Tacitus. Historie, p. 18.

Enuy, when it is once conceived in a malicious heart, is like fire in billets of juniper, which (they say) continues more yeares than one.-Bp. Hall. Cont. Anna & Peninna.

Firing the wood cut in length like our billets, at the ends, and joyning them together so close, that though no flame o fire did appeare, yet the heat continued without intermission. Sir F. Drake. Revived, p. 50. Come, pierce your old bogsheads, ne'er stint us in sherry, Fer this is the seson to drink and be merry; That, reviv'd by good liquor and billets together, We may brave the loud storms, and defy the cold weather. Fenton. Imit. of Horace, b. i. Ode 9. The ranks of bill-men in order to battle are always environ'd with pike men; for the bill-men serve specially for execution if the enemy be overthrown. Oldys. Life of Ralegh.

Though winter reigns, our labours never fail:
Then all day long we hear the sounding flail;
And oft the beetle's strenuous stroke descends,
That knotty block-wood into billets rends.

BILL, v. BILL, n. BILLET, v. BI'llet, n.

Scott. Amabean, Ecl. 2. Spelman, Schedula, libellus, syngraphus; A. S. Bille unde Græco Barb. BAAos; Gal. and Bel. Billet. The verb occurs in our old translators; Conquirere milites, in modern usage, to enlist, to enroll, to put or write upon the muster. roll; is rendered to bill by Sir Henry Savile. To billet a soldier or other person is by note, bill, or particular in writing, to appoint his quarters or lodgings.

A bill seems to be applied to a statement in writing of certain particular things, as a bill of indictment, a bill of costs, a bill of exchange; the first setting forth the particular offences charged; the second, the particular sums claimed; and the last, the particular sum to be paid, the time when, the place where, &c.

This salfe cherl came forth a ful gret pas,
And saide; lord, if that it be your will,
As doth me right upon this pitous bill,
In which I plaine upon Virginius,
And if that he wol sayn it is not thus,
I wol it prove, and finden good witnesse,
That soth is that my bille wol expresse.

Chaucer. The Doctoures Tale, v. 12,098 He desyred to haue a byll drawen of the sayde resygnacion, that he myght be perfyght in the rehersall thereof. Fabyan, an. 1389. But This bil putteth he fourth in ye pore beggers name. we verely thinke if them self haue as much wit as thair proctour lacketh, they had leuer see their bylmaker burn. d, then their supplicacion spedde. Sir T. More. Workes, p. 302. Again, whereas divers of their neighbours, and of the Ilotes themselves, (whom they had billed in their sands of soulders) stole away and ran to their enemies.

North. Plutarch, p. 522.

Pelopidas seeing every man afraid of this eclipse above, he would not compell the people to depart with this fear, nor with so ill hope to hazard the loss of seven thousand Thebans, being all billed to go this journey.-Id. Ib. p. 252.

Which being of itselfe a burdensome thing, was made much more insupportable, by the auarice and lewd disposition of the officers, who billed chiefly such as were old or impotent persons, and then for money released them. Savile. Tacitus. Historie, p. 144.

The father of Alenas denied, and said that he had cast in no lot for him; and it seemd unto every man that there was some error in writing of those billes or names for the lottery. Holland, Plutarch, p. 137.

Item, you haue caused the sixt of October last past, at Hampton Court for the defence of your owne cause, diuers seditious bils to bee written in counterfeited hands, and secretly to be throwne abroad in diuers partes of this realme.

Stowe. Edw. VI. an. 1540.