Beadsman

Bedesman, or beadsman (Med. Eng. bede, prayer, fromO. Eng. biddan, to pray; literally "a man of prayer") was generallya pensioner or almsman whose duty it was to pray for his benefactor.

In Scotland there were public almsmen supported bythe king and expected in return to pray for his welfare and thatof the state. These men wore long blue gowns with a pewterbadge on the right arm, and were nicknamed "Blue Gowns".Their number corresponded to the king's years, an extra one beingadded each royal birthday. They were privileged to ask almsthroughout Scotland. On the king's birthday each bedesmanreceived a new blue gown, a loaf, a bottle of ale, and a leathernpurse containing a penny for every year of the king's life. Onthe pewter badge which they wore were their name and thewords "pass and repass," which authorized them to ask alms.In 1833 the appointment of bedesmen was stopped, and in 1863the last payment was paid to a bedesman.

In consequence ofits use in this general sense of pensioner, "bedesman" was longused in English as equivalent to "servant." The word had aspecial sense as the name for those almsmen attached to cathedralsand other churches, whose duty it was to pray for the souls ofdeceased benefactors. A relic of pre-Reformation times, theseold men still figure in the accounts of English cathedrals.

References

*1911