subs. phr. (rhyming slang).—1. Yes.
2. (military).—The old regulation musket (1708). Hence TO HUG (or MARRY) BROWN BESS = to serve as a private soldier.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. BROWN BESS. A soldier’s firelock.
1820. COMBE, Dr. Syntax, Tour II., ii.
| Religion Jack did never profess, | |
| Till he had shoulder’d Old BROWN BESS. |
1844. THACKERAY, Barry Lyndon, iv. You can tell her that you are safe, and MARRIED TO BROWN BESS.
1854. WHYTE-MELVILLE, General Bounce, xi. The British soldier, with his clothing and accoutrements,…—not to mention ‘BROWN BESS,’ his mainstay and dependence—nothing punishes him so much as wet.
1877. Chambers’s Journal, 720. Such may have been the case in the days of BROWN BESS, but a spinning conical ball from the Martini-Henry will pierce the largest crocodile.
3. (old).—A prostitute: see TART.
1631. DONE, Polydoron. Things proffered and easie to come by diminish themselves in reputation and price, for how full of pangs and dotage is a wayling lover, for it may be some BROWN BESSIE.
