narrow and obscure alleys and passages north of the Strand, near Covent Garden, and contiguous to Drury Lane; see, however, the second quotation where the Mint would seem to be indicated.
1616. Jonson, Devil's an Ass, II., i. Meercraft. Engine, when did you see my cousin Everhill? keeps he still your quarter in the Bermudas? Eng. Yes, sir, he was writing this morning very hard.
1839. Harrison Ainsworth, Jack Sheppard, p. 12. In short, every contrivance that ingenuity could devise was resorted to by this horde of reprobates to secure themselves from danger or molestation. Whitefriars had lost its privileges; Salisbury Court and the Savoy no longer offered places of refuge to the debtor; and it was, therefore, doubly requisite that the Island of the Bermuda (as the Mint was termed by its occupants) should uphold its rights, as long as it was able to do so.
As regards the derivation of the name, Nares suggests it in the actual practice, which obtained of debtors fleeing to the Bermuda Islands, when first discovered, to elude their creditors. This fact is alluded to in the following. Cf., second quotation already given.
1616. Jonson, Devil's an Ass, III., 3. There's an old debt of forty, I ga' my word. For one is run away to the Bermudas.
Berthas, subs. (Stock Exchange).—The
nickname in the 'House' and
among brokers for the ordinary
stock of the London, Brighton
and South Coast Railway Company.
1889. The Rialto, Mar. 23. The week opened very badly on the Stock Exchange, and two or three days of utter stagnation followed, but yesterday afternoon a revival took place, which was quite dramatic in its suddenness and vigour. Between two o'clock and the closing of the doors at four o'clock, advances were made ranging from 2-1/1 in Berthas to an average of 1 in Americans. Tintos climbed to 12-1/4, and even Kaffirs raised their sickly heads. All the little bulls went home happier than they have been for three weeks.
Berwicks, subs. (Stock Exchange).—The
ordinary stock of the
North Eastern Railway.
Bespeak-Night, subs, (theatrical).—A
benefit.—See Ben.
Bess.—See Betty.
Bess-o'-Bedlam, subs. (old).—A
lunatic vagrant.
1821. Scott, Kenilworth, ch. xxvi. 'Why, what Bess of Bedlam is this, would ask to see my lord on such a day as the present?'
Best. To best one, verb (common).—1.
To obtain an advantage;
to secure a superior
position in a contest or bargain.
The meaning of to best, therefore,
is really 'to worst.' In
this sense, not necessarily to
cheat.—See sense 2.
1863. Trafford, World in Ch., II., 77. As I am a staunch Churchman I cannot stand quiet and see the Dissenters best the Establishment, [m.]
1876. C. Hindley, Life and Adventures of a Cheap Jack, p. 69. Bob was a good salesman, but of bad temper, who if he could not get rid of any unruly fellow by his chaffing him, would invariably turn to Perdue and say, 'Look at this man; I shan't bother with him, why don't you get him away? He's interrupting me and the business. I can't jolly him down, so you must settle and do away with him, or I must "dry up," for the fellow's bested me.'
c. 1879. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 92. His intimates were wont to say there was no trusting Cuddie Elliston, while, as for Sam Pearson, it was a current saying that 'No one had ever bested him.' Still, Yorkshire has a certain respect for this faculty; and though Pearson was regarded as a man who carried it rather far, and would have skinned his own brother upon occasion, yet public opinion did not get
