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FEET-BEARER

Volume 9 · 73 words · 1842 Edition

the name of an officer in the courts of the ancient Anglo-Saxon and Welsh princes. He was a young gentleman, whose duty it was to sit on the floor, with his back towards the fire, and hold the king's feet in his bosom all the time he sat at table, in order to keep them warm and comfortable; a piece of state and luxury unknown, and, we may add, unnecessary, in modern times.