Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—B

Bartholomew Fair

Held in West Smithfield (1133–1855) on St. Bartholomew's Day.

A Bartholomew doll.
A tawdry, overdressed woman; like a flashy, bespangled doll offered for sale at Bartholomew Fair.

Bartholomew pig.
A very fat person. At Bartholomew Fair one of the chief attractions used to be a pig, roasted whole, and sold piping hot. Falstaff calls himself,

“A little tidy Bartholomew boar-pig.”—2 Henry IV. ii. 4.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Barthram's Dirge
Bartholomew
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