Apl. He shew thee first all the coelestial signs,
And to begin, look on that horned head.
Aln. Whose is't? Jupiters?
Apl. No, tis the Ram!
Next that the spacious Bull fills up the place.
Aln. The Bull? Tis well the fellows of the Guard
Intend not to come thither; if they did
The Gods might chance to lose their beef.
The name 'beefeater' has, I suppose, some responsibility for the jest. Nash refers to their size: 'The big-bodied Halbordiers that guard her Majesty,' Nash (Grosart), i. 102; and to their capacities as trenchermen: 'Lies as big as one of the Guardes chynes of beefe,' Nash (McKerrow), i. 269.
'Ascapart is a giant thirty feet high who figures in the legend of Sir Bevis of Southampton.' Chambers.