Bell (tramps), a song.
Bellerin (American), talking loudly, crying aloud.
'Twas up among de mountains
All in de woods an' canes;
A nigger came a bellerin
An' rushin' throo de wanes.
I hed a plaguey good ol' musket that I'd brung with me from my hum in Jarsey, an' I'd polished an' iled it till it was slick as a whistle, an' I kinder thought I'd open Jeff's eyes a leetle ef I got any kind of a chance to p'int it at one o' them air deer Jeff'd ben a bellerin so much 'bout.—New York Sun.
Bellows (pugilistic), the lungs; "bellows to mend" was formerly said of a pugilist when winded, and generally of a person out of breath.
Bellows, bellowses (American), the heaves in a horse.
And when old Tom Jefferson sent for me to go to Washington, I was still here with fifteen children and as good a hoss as any man ever sid, only she was blind and had the bellusses.—Uncle Steve's Stump Speech.
(Nautical), an old hand at the bellows, a man up to his work, to his duty. A "fresh hand at the bellows" is said when a gale increases.
Bellowsed (thieves) was said of one who had "lumped the lighter" or had been "lagged," i.e., transported. As lagged is a gypsy word, meaning bound or tied together (Hindu lāgárná), it is probable that bellowsed is the common provincial word belost, which has precisely the same signification.
Bellowser (pugilistic), a blow that knocks the wind out of the "bellows" or lungs. (Old cant), a sentence of transportation for life; that is, to the convict's last breath when his lungs or "bellows" cease to play.
Bellows to mend (pugilistic and athletes), short in the wind, pumped out.
To one gentleman he would pleasantly observe, as he tapped him on the chest, "Bellows for you to mend, my buck!"—C. Bede: Verdant Green.
Bell swagger (old), a noisy, bullying fellow.
Bell-topped or knobbed (vulgar), a man with a large top to his generative organ.
Bell-topper, that kind of hat known in England as a "chimney-pot," a "silk hat," a "high hat," a " top hat," a "bell-topper," a bell-shaped top hat. The term is, we believe, not unknown to hatters in England, but in Australia it is universally used, often even by refined people. White ones are very much commoner than black in Australia and America, on account of the higher temperature.
When the writer was about to land at Port Melbourne he was warned "a man is of no account in Melbourne without a white bell-topper." Soon after this he went to the Geelong
