Chapter Breviary to Bridport of B by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Bridgewater Treatises Instituted by the Rev. Francis Henry Egerton, Earl of Bridgewater, in 1825. He left the interest of 8,000 to be given to the author of the best treatise on “The power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in creation.” Eight are published by the following gentlemen:- (1) The Rev. Dr. Chalmers, (2) Dr. John Kidd, (3) the Rev. Dr. Whewell, (4) Sir Charles Bell, (5) Dr. Peter M Roget, (6) the Rev. Dr. Buckland, (7) the Rev. W. Kirby, and (8) Dr. William Prout.

Bridle To bite on the bridle is to suffer great hardships. The bridle was an instrument for punishing a scold; to bite on the bridle is to suffer this punishment.

Bridle Road or Way. A way for a riding-horse, but not for a horse and cart.

Bridle up (To ). In French, se rengorger, to draw in the chin and toss the head back in scorn or pride. The metaphor is to a horse pulled up suddenly and sharply.

Bridlegoose (Judge ), or Bridoie, who decided the causes brought to him by the throw of dice. (Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel, iii. 39.)

Bridport Stabbed with a Bridport dagger, i.e. hanged. Bridport, in Dorsetshire, was once famous for its hempen goods, and monopolised the manufacture of ropes, cables, and tackling for the British navy. The hangman's rope being made at Bridport gave birth to the proverb. (Fuller: Worthies.)