subs. phr. (old).—A Fleet clergyman; one who celebrated marriage ceremonies therein; hence, one who celebrated irregular marriages; a hedge priest; one who undertook similar offices for gypsies and tramps, i.e., a BUCKLE THE BEGGARS: see COUPLE-BEGGAR, and BUCKLE, verb, sense 1.
c. 1700. LORD FOUNTAINHILL, Diary, in J. LARWOOD, The Book of Clerical Anecdotes, 294. He after turned a BUCKLE-BEGGAR, i.e., one who married, without licence or inquiry.
1822. SCOTT, The Fortunes of Nigel, xvii. (II., 86). A hedge parson, or BUCKLE-BEGGAR, as that order of priesthood has been irreverently termed. Ibid., xxvii. (III., 22). Dr. R., who BUCKLES BEGGARS for a tester [sixpence] and a dram of Geneva.
