a Presbyterian. Butler, in Hudibras [I., p. 26], says:—
''twas Presbyterian true blue, For he was of the stubborn crew Of errant saints, whom all men grant To be the true Church Militant.'
Blue is still the Presbyterian colour, and is used as an adjective by them in describing books and people.
2. (West Indian.)—A half-breed—the child of a black woman by a white man.
Blue Squadron, subs. (colonial).—One
of mixed blood; properly
one with a Hindoo strain.
Eurasians belong to the blue
squadron. Cf., Touch of the
tar brush.
Blue Stocking, subs.—A literary
lady: applied usually with the
imputation of pedantry. The
generally received explanation
is that the term is derived from
the name given to certain meetings
held by ladies in the days
of Dr. Johnson for conversation
with distinguished literary men.
One of the most eminent of
these literati was a Mr. Benjamin
Stillingfleet, who always
wore blue stockings, and
whose conversation at these
meetings was so much prized,
that his absence at any time
was felt to be a great
loss, so that the remark
became common, 'We can
do nothing without the blue
stockings,' hence these meetings
were sportively called
blue-stocking clubs, and the
ladies who attended them blue-stockings.
It is stated that
the name specially arose in
this way. A foreigner of rank
refused to accompany a friend
to one of these parties on the
plea of being in his travelling
costume, to which there was
the reply, 'Oh! we never mind
dress on these occasions; you
may come in bas bleus or blue
stockings,' with allusion to
Stillingfleet's stockings, when
the foreigner, fancying that
bas bleus were part of the necessary
costume, called the meeting
ever after the Bas-bleu
Society. In modern slang the
term blue-stocking is abbreviated
into blue. Derivatives
are blue-stockingism, blue-stockinger, etc.
b. 1738, d. 1819. Wolcot ('P. Pindar'), Benevolent Epistle, in wks. (Dublin, 1795), vol. II., p. 125.
I see the band of blue-stockings arise, Historic, critic, and poetic dames!
1780. Mad. D'Arblay, Diary, i., 326. Who would not be a blue-stockinger at this rate?
1784. Walpole, Letters, iv., 381. [Walpole, writing to Hannah More, playfully makes it a verb = to put on blue stockings.] When will you blue-stocking yourself, and come amongst us?
1877. Macmillan's Mag., May, p. 50. On the airs and graces of the gushing blue stockings who were in vogue in that day . . . she had no mercy.
1877. Miss Martineau, Autob., vol. I., p. 100. Young ladies (at least in provincial towns) were expected to sit down in the parlour to sew,—during which reading aloud was permitted,—or to practice their music; but so as to fit to receive callers, without any signs of blue-stockingism which could be reported abroad.
Blue Stone, subs. (common).—Gin
or whiskey of so bad a
quality that it can only be compared
to vitriol, of which bluestone
is also a nickname in the
north of England and Scotland.
For all synonyms, see Drinks.
1880. Blackwood's Mag., June, p. 786. The bar was still thronged, and the effects of the mixture of spirits of wine, bluestone, and tobacco-juice, were to be seen on a miserable wretch who lay stretched in the courtyard.
