Insult pertaining to someone with poor craftsmanship.
Originally a maker of bells and
bell-ends.
During the English Reformation, when Henry VIII
broke away from the Catholic Church, he decreed the construction of new churches and church towers, and to that end new bells and
bell-ends. Because of this, there was an increased need for bell and bell-end makers. These grand and revered artisans of their day would be known as bell-enders.
Unfortunately, many pretenders strode from shire to shire claiming to be true and good makers of bells and bell-ends, which often resulted in shoddy
work, and gave any true craftsmen a bad
name. The
name bell-ender, or bell-end, came to be synonymous with poor craftsmanship or a hoodlum - as it is to this day.
John the Villager: Egads, Henry! Hast thou seen my new hosiery?
Henry the
Friend: By Jove,
man! Those are fearful and I have now become blind!
John the Villager: Alack, I should not have used that jaunty haberdasher.
Henry the (Blind)
Friend: Alas, no! For he is soothly a bellend!