A magistrate. (Anglo-Saxon beag, a gold collar worn by civic magistrates.)
⁂ W. H. Black says, “The term is derived from a Mr. Beke, who was formerly a resident magistrate at the Tower Hamlets.
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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.
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