Brown Bess

English thumb|right|550px|Short land service musket, a Brown Bess Etymology From an archaic meaning of brown, meaning plain or ordinary, and Bess, a nickname for Elizabeth associated with the lower class and prostitutes. Noun en informal The British Army's Land Pattern Musket or any of its derivatives, standard-issue weapons for British soldiers in the American Revolution. en Black Bess References en 1873 John Camden Hotten The Slang Dictionary History of the Term 'Brown Bess' en eponyms en Firearms