subs. phr. (old).—A travelling tutor: an echo of days when ‘young hopefuls’ were sent on the Grand Tour. See BEAR subs. 2.

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  1749.  WALPOLE, Letter to Sir Horace Mann, 4 June (1883), II., 392. I shall not wonder if she takes me for his BEAR-LEADER, his travelling governor!

2

  1756.  FOOTE, The Englishman Returned from Paris, i. Serv. My young master’s travelling tutor, sir, just arrived. Crab. … Shew him in. This BEAR-LEADER, I reckon now, is either the clumsy curate of the knight’s own parish church, or some needy Highlander.

3

  1812.  COMBE, Dr. Syntax, I., xxiii.

        And, as I almost wanted bread,    I undertook a BEAR TO LEAD,
        To see the brute perform his dance,
        Through Holland, Italy, and France.

4

  1848.  THACKERAY, The Book of Snobs, vii. They pounced upon the stray nobility, and seized young lords travelling with their BEAR-LEADERS.

5

  1888.  OUIDA, The Massarenes, 26. “I am not a BEAR-LEADER,” said Lady Kenilworth, with hauteur.

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