bear-leader

plural bear-leaders

1. alternativeAlternative form of bearleader.

   So!—you have really undertaken the delightful office of bear-leader—becauſe the brother of your Geraldine cannot take care of himſelf— […]

   1792, Charlotte Smith, “Letter II. To Mr. Desmond.”, in Desmond. […], volume I, London: […] G[eorge,] G[eorge,] J[ohn] and J[ames] Robinson, […], →OCLC, page 13

   2 more examples

   My bear-leaders vvere conſiderably ſurpriſed vvith my firmneſs, but ſeemed to think it beneath them to conteſt vvith me the principles I delivered. […] They left me abruptly; having firſt ordered an old man, the father of the landlady, to ſtay in the room vvith me vvhile they vvere abſent.

   1794, William Godwin, chapter VI, in Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams. […], volume III, London: […] B. Crosby, […], →OCLC, page 114

   […] Nick, if you please, was pronounced delicate, and led a series of tutors a fine dance until his mother decided he was old enough for the Grand Tour and sent him off with a bear-leader like some young regency lordling.

   1941, Ngaio Marsh, “Project”, in Death and the Dancing Footman, [London]: Fontana Books, William Collins Sons & Co, published September 1976, →ISBN, part 1, page 17