Bedazzled

I wasn’t quite sure of the difference between ‘dazzled’ and ‘bedazzled’ so I had a google. I think this shows it:

Christophe Dugarry gave a dazzling performance which bedazzled the crowd. See photograph and poem below.

Bedazzled does come from the word dazzle, which in turn is a form of daze. Daze came into modern English from the Middle English word dasen, which came to us from the Vikings in Norway. The Old Norse term dasask meant ‘to make weary.’

So when was it first used in English? Many of the sources say that it was first used by Shakespeare thus,
(The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV, Scene V line 50):

KATHARINA: Pardon, old father, my mistaking eyes,
That have been so bedazzled with the sun
That everything I look on seemeth green:
Now I perceive thou art a reverend father;
Pardon, I pray thee, for my mad mistaking.

Shakespeare however doesn’t seem to be the first person to use the word bedazzled, but it is a very early use of the word. The Taming of the Shrew is one of his earliest plays, written sometime around 1590. 

Here is the first that I can find:

Portcolized & bard with bolts, of gold resplendant bright, of glistering gēmes, through Pallas power, bedazeling eche....
—John Bossewell, Workes of Armorie, 1572

And who might John Bossewell be?

BOSSEWELL, JOHN (fl. 1572), heraldic writer, was, according to his own statement, a northern man, and probably a member of the family of Bosvile, established for many generations in the neighbourhood of Doncaster. He describes himself as ‘gentleman,’ and appears to have acted as a notary public, but by taste he was an antiquary and especially devoted to heraldic pursuits. In the latter he was a close follower of Gerard Legh, and the first part of his ‘Workes of Armorie,’ entitled ‘Concordes,’ is in fact a mere abridgement of Legh's ‘Accedens.’ Like his master, he delighted in symbolism and allegory, in conceits and legendary fables. The first edition of his ‘Workes of Armorie’ was published by Tottell in 1572.

A "Workes of Armorie" refers to a book focused on heraldry, the study of coats of arms and related symbols. Bossewell's was a comprehensive guide to heraldic principles, illustrations, and the legal aspects of arms bearing. It was considered a key reference for heraldry in England during its time. The book's original editions, including the 1572 and 1597 versions, are now highly sought after by collectors and researchers of heraldry.

I didn’t expect to end up with a quick look at heraldry when I started this and it’s started me thinking about what I would have on my coat of arms.

I’d have to have a hammer and the word ‘Forward’ from Birmingham’s coat of arms. I’d have a soldering iron, a pencil, a rubber, a keyboard, a football, something to represent Preston (not a lamb)...I’m working on it.

Blackburn 18th January 2003

BCFC
Christophe Dugarry

I’d seen him on tv
now he was here
a French World Cup winner
playing for us
and he’s getting battered
we were screaming at the Ref
as a high ball comes down
he’s surrounded by Rovers’ thugs

then he isn’t

moving to their goal
smooth elegant fearless
bedazzling the crowd
I’ve no idea how he did it
he took over the game

that one move
taking its place
with Verdi in ‘83
Diva and Heaven’s Gate
my worn out LP
of Under Milk Wood

with the difference
of being part of it
a very cold chorus
not knowing the end
Vive la difference
Vive le Dugarry.

                         Terry Quinn

(First published in the French Literary Review in March 2017)

Thanks for reading, Terry Q.