Bedeguar, or Bedegar (bed´e-gär), a spongy excrescence or gall, sometimes termed sweet-brier sponge, found on various species of roses, and produced by several insects as receptacles for their eggs, especially by the Cynips rosæ, It was once thought to be a diuretic and vermifuge.
Bedell´, William, a celebrated Irish bishop, born in Essex in 1570. In 1604 he went to Venice as chaplain to Sir Henry Wotton, and remained eight years. After holding the living of Horingsheath from 1615-27, he became Provost of Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1629 Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh, though he resigned the latter of the united sees in 1630. He set himself to reform abuses and promote the spread of Protestantism, procured the translation of the Old Testament into Irish, and by his tact and wisdom conciliated the adherents of both creeds. He underwent a brief imprisonment on the breaking out of the rebellion in 1641, and died in the year following. His biography was written by Bishop Burnet.
Be´der Ware. See Bidery.
Bed´ford, a municipal and, until 1918, a parliamentary borough, England, county town of Bedfordshire, on the Ouse. The chief buildings are the law courts, a range of public schools, a large infirmary, county jail, &c., and the churches. The town is rich in charities and educational institutions, the most prominent being the Bedford Charity, embracing grammar and other schools, and richly endowed. There is an extensive manufactory of agricultural implements; lace is also made, and there is a good trade. John Bunyan was born at Elstow, a village near the town, and it was at Bedford that he lived, preached, and was imprisoned. Bedford gives its name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. 40,247.—Bedfordshire or Beds, the county, is bounded by Northampton, Bucks, Herts, Cambridge, and Huntingdon; area, 302,942 acres, of which 260,000 are under tillage or in permanent pasture. Chalk hills, forming a portion of the Chilterns, cross it on the south; north of this is a belt of sand; the soil of the vale of Bedford, consisting mostly of clay and loam, is very fertile; and the meadows on the Ouse, Ivel, and other streams furnish rich pasturage. Two-thirds of the soil is under tillage. Besides the usual cereal and other crops, culinary vegetables are extensively cultivated for the London market. Principal manufactures: agricultural implements, and straw-plait for hats, which is made up principally at Dunstable and Luton. The county returns three members to Parliament
(divisions: Bedford, Luton, Midlands). Pop. (1921), 206,478.
Bedford, John, Duke of, one of the younger sons of Henry IV, King of England; famous as a statesman and a warrior. He defeated the French fleet in 1416, commanded an expedition to Scotland in 1417, and was lieutenant of England during the absence of Henry V in France. On the king's death he became Regent of France, and for several years his policy was as successful as it was able and vigorous, the victory of Verneuil in 1424 attesting his generalship. The greatest stain on his memory is his execution of the Maid of Orleans (Joan of Arc) in 1431. He died in 1435 at Rouen, and was buried in the cathedral of that city.
Bedford Level, a large tract of marshy land in England, of about 400,000 acres total area, comprising 63,000 in Norfolk, 30,000 in Suffolk, 50,000 in Huntingdon, the Peterborough fen in Northampton, the Holland district in Lincolnshire, and most of the Isle of Ely in Cambridge. It derives its name from Francis, Earl of Bedford, who in 1634 made an agreement with Charles I for the drainage of the Level, in consideration of receiving 95,000 acres of the reclaimed land. A great part of the Level is under cultivation, and produces grain, flax, and cole-seed; the remainder yields a winter harvest of wild-fowl for the London market. See Fenland.
Bedfordshire Regiment, The, raised in 1688 on the approach of the Prince of Orange, suffered severely at Blenheim, and distinguished itself in a marked manner at the siege of Lille. In 1797 it went to Scotland and there recruited 1000 'parish boys' under sixteen years old, who later made excellent soldiers. The regiment shared in the Chitral and South African (1900-2) campaigns; on going to the front in 1914, sustained heavy losses at Givenchy, and distinguished itself at Ypres and the Aisne.
Bedivere, the last knight of the Round Table (q.v.). See Morte d'Arthur.
Bed´lam, a corruption of Bethlehem (Hospital), the name of a religious house in London, converted, after the general suppression by Henry VIII, into a hospital for lunatics. The original Bedlam stood in Bishopsgate Street; its modern successor in St. George's Fields was opened in 1815, having been built on the site of the notorious tavern called 'The Dog and the Duck'. The lunatics were at one time treated as little better than wild beasts, and hence Bedlam came to be typical of any scene of wild confusion. The average number of patients is about 300.