And being an ill-looked fellow, he has a pension from the church wardens for being bullbeggar to all the forward children in the parish. --Mountfort (1691). [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
bullbeggar — bull·beg·gar … English syllables
bullbeggar — In North Country and West Country dialects, a term for any frightening supernatural figure. In Reginald *Scot s The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584), it comes at the head of a mixed list of scary creatures: Our mothers maids have so fraied us… … A Dictionary of English folklore
bullbeggar — ˈbu̇lˌbegə(r) noun Etymology: perhaps blend of obsolete English bullbear (alteration of bugbear) + beggar, by folk etymology from boggard, boggart dialect Britain : goblin, bugbear … Useful english dictionary
