BARTON (Sir Andrew), a Scotch sea-officer, who had obtained in 1511 letters of marque for himself and his two sons, to make reprisals upon the subjects of Portugal.  The council-board of England, at which the earl of Surrey presided, was daily pestered by complaints from British merchants and sailors against Barton, and at last it was decided to put him down.  Two ships were, therefore, placed under the commands of sir Thomas and sir Edward Howard, an engagement took place, and sir Andrew Barton was slain, bravely fighting.  A ballad in two parts, called “Sir Andrew Barton,” is inserted in Percy’s Reliques, II. ii. 12.

BARTRAM, the lime-burner, an obtuse, middle-aged clown in Ethan Brand by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  When he finds the suicide’s skeleton in the kiln, the heart whole within the ribs, he congratulates himself that “his kiln is half a bushel richer for him” (1846).

BARUCH. Dites, donc, avez-vous lu Baruch? Said when a person puts an unexpected question, or makes a startling proposal.  It arose thus:  Lafontaine went one day with Racine to tenebrae, and was given a Bible.  He turned at random to the “Prayer of the Jews,” in Baruch, and was so struck with it that he said aloud to Racine, “Dites, donc, who was this Baruch?  Why, do you know, man, he was a fine genius;” and for some days afterwards the first question he asked his friends was, Diles, done, Mons., avez-vous lu Baruch?

BARZIL’LAI (3 syl.), the duke of Ormond, a friend and firm adherent of Charles II.  As Barzillai assisted David when he was expelled by Absalom from his kingdom, so Ormond assisted Charles II. when he was in exile.

  Barzillai, crowned with honors and with years,... 
  In exile with his god-like prince he mourned,
  For him he suffered, and with him returned.

Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, i.

BASA-ANDRE, the wild woman, a sorceress, married to Basa-Jaun, a sort of vampire.  Basa-Andre sometimes is a sort of land mermaid (a beautiful lady who sits in a cave combing her locks with a golden comb).  She hates church bells. (See BASA-JAUN.)

BASA-JAUN, a wood-sprite, married to Basa-Andre, a sorceress.  Both hated the sound of church bells.  Three brothers and their sister agreed to serve him, but the wood-sprite used to suck blood from the finger of the girl, and the brothers resolved to kill him.  This they accomplished.  The Basa-Andre induced the girl to put a tooth into each of the footbaths of her brothers, and lo! they became oxen.  The girl crossing a bridge saw Basa-Andre, and said if she did not restore her brothers she would put her into a red-hot oven, so Basa-Andre told the girl to give each brother three blows on the back with a hazel wand, and on so doing they were restored to their proper forms.—­Rev. W. Webster, Basque Legends, 49 (1877).

BAS BLEU, nickname applied to literary women in the days succeeding the French Revolution, made familiar in America by J. K. Paulding’s Azure Hose.