_Blackguard_ (Vol. ii., p. 134.).--In the second vol. of B. Jonson's
works by Gifford, page 169., there is the following note on this word:--
"In all great houses, but particularly in the royal residences,
there were a number of mean, dirty dependants, whose office it
was to attend the wool-yard, sculleries, &c.; of these the most
forlorn wretches seem to have been selected to carry coals to
the kitchens, halls, &c. To this smutty regiment, who attended
the {171} progresses, and rode in the carts with the pots and
kettles, the people in derision gave the name of _black_-guards"