Alderman

One of the seniors or elders. Now applied to a class of magistrates in corporate towns. In London an alderman is the chief magistrate in a ward appointed by election. There are also aldermen of the County Council.

A turkey is called an alderman, both from its presence in aldermanic feasts, and also because of its red and purple colours about the head and neck, which make it a sort of poultry alderman.

An alderman in chains, by a similar effort of wit, is a turkey hung with sausages.

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.