The Beak

A nickname given to Judges in the distant past.

"During the bubonic plague, judges visiting prisons used to wear primitive gasmasks, stuffed with herbs or spices thought to ward off the plague - since it looked like a beak... they were referred to as "going before the beak" as they were never seen without it."

"A beak's a magistrate, where have you been all your life?" - The Artful Dodger on The Beak Oliver! movie 1968

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