Chapter Bertha to Beth Gelert of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bestiaries or Bestials. Books very popular in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, containing the pictures of animals and their symbolisms.

“The unicorn has but one horn in the middle of its forehead. It is the only animal that ventures to attack the elephant; and so sharp is the nail of its foot, that with one blew it can rip the belly of that beast. Hunters can catch the unicorn only by placing a young virgin in its haunts. No sooner does he see the damsel, than he runs towards her, and lies down at her feet, and so suffers himself to be captured by the hunters. The unicorn represents Jesus Christ, who took on Him our nature in the virgin's womb, was betrayed to the Jews, and delivered into the hands of Pontius Pilate. Its one horn signifies the Gospel of Truth. ...”- Le Bestiaire Divin de Guillaume, Clerc de Normandic (13th century).

Bete Morte la bête, mort le venin. Dead men tell no tales; dead dogs don't bite. When one is dead his power of mischief is over. Literally, if the beast is dead, its poison is dead also.
   Quand Jean-Bête est mort, il à laissè bien des héritiers. Casimir Delavigne says to the same effect, Les sots depuis Adam sont en majorité. Jean-Bête means a fool or dolt.

Bête Noire The thorn in the side, the bitter in the cup, the spoke in the wheel, the black sheep, the object of aversion. A black sheep has always been considered an eyesore in a flock, and its wool is really less valuable. In times of superstition it was looked on as bearing the devil's mark.

“The Dutch sale of tin is the bête noire of the Cornish miners.”-The Times.

Beth Gelert or “the Grave of the Greyhound.” A ballad by the Hon. William Robert Spencer. The tale is that one day Llewellyn returned from hunting, when his favourite hound, covered with gore, ran to meet him. The chieftain ran to see if anything had happened to his infant son, found the cradle overturned, and all around was sprinkled with gore and blood. Thinking the hound had eaten the child, he stabbed it to the heart. Afterwards he found the babe quite safe, and a huge wolf under the bed, quite dead. Gêlert had killed the wolf and saved the child.