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

Beside the Cushion Beside the question; not to the point; not pertinent to the matter in hand. French, hors de propos; Latin, nihil ad rhombum. It was Judge Jeffreys who used the phrase, “Besides [sic ] the cushion.”

Besom To hang out the besom. To have a fling when your wife is gone on a visit. To be a quasi bachelor once more. Taking this in connection with the following phrase, it evidently means, holding the marriage service in abeyance.

“This is French argot. Rotir le balai (to burn the besom) means to live the life of a libertine, whence balochard, Paris slang for a libertine. Probably our phrase, “burn the bellows,” is pretty much the same as rotir le balai.

   Jumping the besom. Omitting the marriage service after the publication of banns, and living together as man and wife. In Southern Scotch, a street-walker is called a besom, and in French balai (a besom) means the life of a libertine, as Rôtir le balai; Il ont bien rôti le balai ensemble, where balai means a debauch or something worse. No further explanation can be needed or could be given.

Bess Good Queen Bess. Queen Elizabeth (1533, 1558-1603).

Bess o' Bedlam A female lunatic vagrant. Bedlam is a common name for a madhouse, and Bess is a national name for a woman, especially of the lower order. The male lunatic is a Tom o' Bedlam.

Bess of Hardwicke Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, to whose charge, in 1572, Mary Queen of Scots was committed. The countess treated the captive queen with great harshness, being jealous of the earl her husband. Bess of Hardwicke married four times: Alexander Barley (when she was only fourteen years of age); William Cavendish; Sir William St. Loe, Captain of Queen Elizabeth's Guard; and lastly, George, Earl of Shrewsbury. She built Hardwicke Hall, and founded the wealth and dignity of the Cavendish family.

Bessemer Iron Pig-iron refined, and converted into steel or malleable iron by passing currents of air through the molten metal, according to a process discovered by Sir H. Bessemer, and patented in 1856.

Bessie Bell and Mary Gray A ballad. The tale is that these two young ladies, natives of Perth, to avoid the plague of 1666, retired to a rural retreat called the Burnbraes, about a mile from Lynedock, the residence of Mary Gray. A young man, in love with both, carried them provisions. Both ladies died of the plague, and were buried at Dornock Hough.

Bessus A cowardly, bragging captain, a sort of Bobadil (q.v. ). (Beaumont and Fletcher: A King and no King.)

Best At best or At the very best. Looking at the matter in the most favourable light. Making every allowance.

“Life at best is but a mingled yarn.”

   At one's best. At the highest or best point attainable by the person referred to.
   For the best. With the best of motives; with the view of obtaining the best results.
   I must make the best of my way home. It is getting late and I must use my utmost diligence to get home as soon as possible.
   To have the best of it, or, To have the best of the bargain. To have the advantage or best of a transaction.
   To make the best of the matter. To submit to ill-luck with the best grace in your power.

Best Man (at a wedding). The bridegroom's chosen friend who waits on him, as the bride's maids wait on the bride.

Best Things (The Eight ), according to Scandinavian mythology:-
   (1) The ash Yggdrasil is the best of trees;
   (2) Skidbladnir, of ships;
   (3) Odin, of the Æsir';
   (4) Sleipnir, of steeds;
   (5) Bifrost, of bridges;
   (6) Bragi, of bards;
   (7) Habrok, of hawks
   (8) Garm, of hounds.