Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—B

Blue Hen

Captain Caldwell used to say that no cock could be truly game whose mother was not a blue hen. As Caldwell commanded the 1st Delaware regiment in the war, the State of Delaware was nicknamed Blue Hen.

Your mother was a blue hen, no doubt.
A reproof give to a braggart. (See above.)

Blue-jackets
Sailors; so called because the colour of their jackets is blue.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Blue John
Blue Guards
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