Chapter Baubee to Bead of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bayeux Tapestry Supposed to be the work of Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror. It represents the mission of Harold to the duke, and all the incidents of his history from that event till his death at Hastings in 1066. It is called Bayeux from the place where it is preserved. A drawing, on a reduced scale, of this curious antique is preserved in the Guildhall Library.

Bayle (2 syl.). Dances of the common people were so called in Spain, in opposition to the stately court dances, called danza. The Bayle were of Moorish invention, the most celebrated being La Sarabanda, La Chacona, Las Gambelas, and El Hermano Bartolo.

Bayonet So called from La Bayonette, a lower ridge of the Montage d'Arrhune. A Basque regiment, early in the seventeenth century, running short of powder, stuck their knives into their muskets; and charged the Spaniards with success. Some derive this word from Bayonne.

Bayonets A synonym of “rank and file,” that is, privates and corporals of infantry. As, “the number of bayonets was 25,000.”

“It is on the bayonets that a Quartermaster-General relies for his working and fatigue parties.” - Howitt: Hist. of Eng. (year 1854, p. 200).

Bead (Anglo-Saxon, bed, a prayer). When little balls with a hole through them were used for keeping account of the number of prayers repeated, the term was applied to the prayers also. (See Beadsman. )
   To count one's beads. To say one's prayers. In the Catholic Church beads are threaded on a string, some large and some small, to assist in keeping count how often a person repeats a certain form of words.
   To pray without one's beads. To be out of one's reckoning. (See above.
   Baily's Beads. When the disc of the moon has (in an eclipse) reduced that of the sun to a thin crescent, the crescent assumes the appearance of a string of beads. This was first observed by Francis Baily, whence the name of the phenomenon.
   St. Cuthbert's Beads. Single joints of the articulated stems of encrinites. They are perforated in the centre, and bear a fanciful resemblance to a cross; hence, they were once used for rosaries (beads). St. Cuthbert was a Scotch monk of the sixth century, and may be called the St. Patrick of the north of England and south of Scotland.
   St. Martin's beads. Flash jewellery. St. Martins-le-Grand was at one time a noted place for sham jewellery.