Chapter Barker to Barratry of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Barons' War (The). An historical poem by Michael Drayton (1603).

"The pictures of Mortimer and the queen, and of Edward's entrance into the castle, are splendid and spirited." - Campbell.

Barrack Hack (The). A lady who hangs on the sleeve of a military officer, attends all barrack fêtes of every description, and is always ready to get up a dance, dinner, or picnic, to please the officers on whom she dances attendance.

Barracks means huts made of the branches of trees (Gaelic, barr, the top of anything; barrach, the top-branches of trees; barrachad, a hut made of branches). Our word is plural, indicative of the whole collection; but the French baraque is singular. (See B. K. S.)

Barratry or Barretry.

Qui fait barat, barat lui vient (French). With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Barratry is false faith to one's employers. It is a sea term, and means the commission of a fraud on the owners or insurers of a ship by the captain or the crew. The fraud may consist of many phases, such as deserting the ship, sinking her, falsifying her cargo, etc. The French have other proverbs to the same effect: as, La tricherie revient presque toujours à son maître. "He made a pit and ... is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head." (Psalm vii. 14, 15, 16.)