Epopedia B040 Pages 221

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	Bed of Procrustes	$The phrase ‘In the twinkling of a bed-post or bed-staff’ means ‘As quickly as possible’. In old bed-frames it is said that posts were placed in brackets at the two sides of the bedstead for keeping the bedclothes from rolling off; there was also in some cases a staff used to beat the bed and clean it. In the reign of Edward I, Sir John Chichester had a mock skirmish with his servant (Sir John with his rapier and the servant with the bed-staff), in which the servant was accidentally killed. Wright, in his Domestic Manners, shows us a chambermaid of the 17th century using a bed-staff to beat up the bedding. ^'Twinkling’ is from A.S. Twinclian, a frequentative verb connected with twiccan, to twitch, and connotes rapid or tremulous movement. I'll do it instantly, in the twinkling of a bed-staff, SHADWELL: Virtuoso, (1676). The phrase is probably due to the older and more readily understandable one, in the twinkling of an eye, m the smallest thinkable fraction of time: We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. bed +‎ staff Noun: The bedstaff is the pole tucked into the sideboards at an angle, in front of the pillows. bedstaff (plural bedstaffs or bedstaves) (obsolete) A wooden pin stuck on the sides of a bedstead, to prevent the bedclothes from slipping on either side. Synonyms: bedpost. Derived terms: in the twinkling of a bedstaff.$ Twinkling of a Bed Post	Wrong side of the bed...	The Great Bed of Ware	Bedchamber Crisis
Beddgelert 'Gelert's Grave'	Beddgelert Meteorite	Richard Henry Beddome	Beddome's Coral Snake	Beddome's Wooly Horsehoe Bat	Beddome's Skink
Beddome's Cat Snake	Beddome's Blind Worm Snake	Beddome's Earth Snake	Beddome's Nilgiri Keelback	Beddome's Caecilian	Beddome's Toad
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