About: Bate Me An Ace, Quoth Bolton

The first day I met my college English Professor, he greeted me by saying: “Bate me an Ace, Quoth Bolton.”

I replied with “Excuse me?”

Mr. Bailey informed me about John Bolton and how he became an integral part of English Literature and English Proverbs.

Because I’m an avid reader, and have been for most of my life, I was surprised that I had never heard of John Bolton.

Although I had a busy day after working 9 hours at my architectural drafting job, going to college for another two hours, and doing another two hours of homework… I started researching what I could find about this quote by John Bolton.

Brewer’s Dictionary gave me a glimpse into my ancestor’s quote.

Bate Me An Ace, Quoth Bolton: Literature: Definition: 1: Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton. Give me some advantage. What you say must be qualified, as it is too strong. Ray says that a collection of proverbs were once presented to the Virgin Queen, with the assurance that it contained all the proverbs in the language; but the Queen rebuked the boaster with the proverb, “Bate me an ace, quoth Bolton,” a proverb omitted in the compilation. John Bolton was one of the courtiers who used to play cards and dice with Henry VIII., and flattered the king by asking him to allow him an ace or some advantage in the game.

Note: There’s more to the story, but I’ll be back to update that later. – gfb3