Balsover Street. From Balsover, Derbyshire, the seat of the Fitzroys, Dukes of Grafton, the ground landlords.
Baltic Sea. A sea of belts or straits. Bält is Norse for strait.
Baltimore. After Lord Baltimore, the founder of the neighbouring state of Maryland.
Baltimore Bird. Though found almost everywhere in the United States, it is said to have received its name from the correspondence of its colours with those distinguished in the arms of Lord Baltimore, the Governor of Maryland.
Bancroft Road. After Francis Bancroft, the founder of the Drapers’ Almshouses, in this road.
Bandana. The Hindu term for silk goods generally, but now applied to cotton pocket-handkerchiefs with white or yellow spots on a blue ground.
Bandy Words with You. From the old game of Bandy, in which the ball was struck or bandied to opposite sides.
Bangor. From Ban-choir, “The White Choir” of the Abbey, founded by St Cungall in the sixth century.
Banjo. Properly Bandore, from the Greek Pandoura, a stringed instrument named after Pan. The word was introduced into North America from Europe.
Banker Poet. Samuel Rogers, author of “The Pleasures of Memory,” who was a banker all his life.