The broken hollow path bending upwards round the base, is always occupied by a grotesque group of cripples and beldames, in rags and tatters, laughing and whining and praying.
"Account of a Tour in Normandy, Vol. II. (of 2)"
Dawson Turner
Young men greet us as long-lost chums, the women call to the children, and there seems to be a reception committee to rout out the old beldames, little children, and the bed-ridden: it is hand-shaking gone mad.
"The New North"
Agnes Deans Cameron
The dumb neutrality of the beldames, at this, is soon dispelled by our friendly interest, and they gradually come out and group around us in the mud of the path, with interest no less friendly and even greater.
"A Midsummer Drive Through The Pyrenees"
Edwin Asa Dix