1882. Punch, vol. LXXXII., p. 83. Dr. Switcher (who had discovered bull's eyes about, and traced them to the original donor). 'Don't you know, Muggins, there's an old proverb that "Fools give feasts and Wise men eat them"'? Muggins. 'Yes, Sir, and there's another one, sir.' The Doctor. 'What's that, sir? Now, Sir?'—(noticing a reticence)—'What is it, Sir?'—(sternly)—'or else—!' Muggins (seeing no escape). 'Please, Sir, "W wise men make proverbs and F Fools repea.'" [Catches it!]
2. (old.)—A five-shilling piece, otherwise known as a bull (q.v.).
1690. B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew. [Mentioned as a cant term for a crown.]
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 11. Bull's-eye, a Crown.
1785. Grose, Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. Bull's-eye, a crown piece.
Bull's-Eye Villas, subs. (military).—A nickname given to the small open tents used by the Volunteers at their annual gathering. [An allusion to bull's-eye in its meaning of the centre of a target.]
Bull's Feather. To give [or get] the bull's feather, verbal phr. (old).—To be made, or be a cuckold. Cf., Acteon. The French say also planter des plumes de bœuf.
16(?). Song of the 17th Century, quoted by Nares—'The Bull's Feather.'
It chanced not long ago as I was walking, An echo did bring me where two were a talking, 'Twas a man said to his wife, dye had I rather, Than to be cornuted and wear a bull's feather. Then presently she reply'd sweet, art thou jealous? Thou canst not play Vulcan before I play Venus; Thy fancies are foolish, such follies to gather, There's many an honest man hath worn the bull's feather— Though it be invisible, let no man it scorn, Though it be a new feather made of an old horn, He that disdains it in heart or mind either, May he be the more subject to wear the bull's feather.
1748. Richardson, Cl. Harlowe, v., 295. A good whimsical instrument, take it altogether! But what, thinkest thou, are the arms to this matrimonial harbinger?. . . Three crooked horns, smartley top-knotted with ribands; which being the ladies' wear, seem to intimate that they may very probably adorn, as well as bestow, the bull's-feather.
Bull the Cask or Barrel, verbal phr. (nautical).—To pour water into a rum cask when empty, with a view to keeping the wood moist and preventing leakage. The water, receiving after some time a strong impregnation, is very intoxicating. The authorities, not looking with much favour upon a wholesale brewing of grog in this way, sometimes use salt water as a deterrent, though even this 'salt water bull' as it is called, when again poured out, has often proved too attractive for seamen to resist. Again it is common to talk in the same way of 'bulling a teapot,' 'coffee-pot,' etc.; that is; after the first 'brew' has been exhausted, by adding fresh water, and boiling over again, to make a second brew from the old materials. This probably was derived from bulling the cask, but whether the bulling originally applied to the preserving the water-tight qualities of the cask, or to the making of the second brew is not quite certain. Taking, however, the present acceptation of the term, together with its probable derivation (see below), the latter would appear to be the case. [Thought to have its origin in French boullir, whence bouilloire, a tea-kettle; bouillon, a decoction
