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!