Brown Bess

English

Short land service musket, a Brown Bess

Etymology

From an archaic meaning of brown, meaning plain or ordinary, and Bess, a nickname for Elizabeth associated with the lower class and prostitutes.

Noun

Brown Bess (plural Brown Besses)

(informal) The British Army's Land Pattern Musket or any of its derivatives, standard-issue weapons for British soldiers in the American Revolution.
Synonym: Black Bess

References

John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary
History of the Term 'Brown Bess'

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