Black Bess
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The famous mare ridden by the highwayman Dick Turpin, which, tradition says, carried him from London to York.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Black Bess” mean?
The famous mare ridden by the highwayman Dick Turpin, which, tradition says, carried him from London to York.
Is “Black Bess” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.