B A C 
as having the goods in his hand, z Inf. iSS. It was one 
of the four ciroumftances wherein a forefter might arreft 
the body of a trei'pafler in the foreft ; viz. dog-draw, that 
is, drawing after a deer that he has hurt; Jlable-Jland, that 
is, at his handing, with a knife, gun, bow, or greyhound, 
ready to fhoot or courfe ; back-berend , that is, carrying a- 
way upon his back the deer which he had killed ; bloody- 
hand, that is, when he hath lliot or courfed, and is im¬ 
brued with blood. 4 Inf. 294. 
To BACK-BITE, v. a- [from back and bite.] To cen- 
fure or reproach the abfent.—Moll untruly and malici- 
oufly do thefe evil tongues back-bite and (lander the facred 
afhes of that perlonage. Spcnjir. 
BACK-Bl'TER, f . A privy calumniator ; a cenfurer 
of the abfent.—No body is botfiid to look upon his back¬ 
biter, or his underminer, his betrayer, or his oppreifor, as 
his friend. South. 
BACK-BONE, / [from back and bone.] The bone of 
the back._The back-bone (liould be divided into many ver- 
tebres for commodious bending, and not to be one entire 
rigid bone. Ray. 
B ACK-C AR'RY, Having on the back. 
BACK-DOOR,/, [from back and door. ] The door be¬ 
hind the houfe ; privy paflage.—‘The proc'eflton durft not 
return by the way it came ; but, after the devotion of the 
monks, palled out at a back-door of the convent. Addijon. 
BAC'KED, adj. Having a back : 
Lofty-neck’d, 
Sharp-headed, barrel-bellied, broadly back'd. Dryden. 
BACK'ER, or Bak'ker, (Jaques), an hiflorical paint¬ 
er of Antwerp, was born in 1530, and learned the princi¬ 
ples of painting from his father, who was an artift of fome 
eminence. After the death of his father, he lived in the 
houfe of Jacopo Palermo, a dealer in pictures, who fup- 
plied his immediate wants, and avaricioully kept him in- 
cedantly employed, and fent his paintings to Paris to be 
difpofed of, where they happened to be exceedingly ad¬ 
mired. The judicious were very eager to purchafe them; 
and, though the tranfattor fold them at a great price, yet 
the poor artift was not proportionably rewarded, but con¬ 
tinued in the fame obfcure and deprefled condition. His 
merit was univerfally allowed, but his name, and the nar¬ 
row nefs of his circumftances, were as univerfally unknown. 
He had a clean light manner of pencilling, and a tint of 
colour that was extremely pleafing. He died in 1560. 
Backer, or Barker, (Jacob), a portrait and hiftory 
painter, was born at Harlingen in 1609, but fpent the 
greateft part of his life at Amfterdam. He is mentioned 
as an extraordinary painter, particularly of portraits, which 
he executed with Strength, fpirit, and a graceful refem- 
blance. He was remarkable for an uncommon readinefs 
of hand and freedom of pencil; and his incredible expe¬ 
dition in his manner of painting, appeared even in one 
portrait of a lady from Haerlem, which was begun and 
tinifhed in one day, though he adorned the figure with 
rich drapery and feveral ornamental jewels. He alfo 
painted hiflorical fubjedts with good fuccefs ; and in that 
ftyle there is a fine picture of Cimon and Iphigenia, which 
is accounted by the connoifteurs an excellent performance. 
In defigning academy figures hisexpreflion was fo juft, and 
his outline fo correct, that he obtained the prize from all 
his competitors; and his works are (till bought at very 
high prices in the Low Countries. In the collection of 
the elector palatine there is an excellent head of Brouwer, 
painted by this mailer ; and in the Carmelites church at 
Antwerp is preferved a capital picture of the Laft Judg¬ 
ment. He died in 1651. 
BACKEREE'L, called Bacquerel'li, (William,) 
an hiflorical painter, born at Antwerp, and a difciple of 
Rubens, at the fame time that Vandyck was educated in 
the fame fchool. When each of them quitted that maf- 
ter, Backereel was very little inferior to Vandyck,’ if not 
nearly his equal. And this may be manifeftly feen in the 
works of the former, which are in the church of the Au- 
Voe. II. No. 91. 
BAC 60 1 
guftin monks at Antwerp; where thofe two great artifts 
painted in competition, and both were praifed for their 
merit in their different ways; but the fuperiority was ne- 
ver determined in favour either of the one or the other. 
He had likewife a good tafte for poetry. Sandrant takes 
notice, that in his time there were feven or eight painters, 
who were very eminent, of the name of Backereel, in Italy 
and the Low Countries. 
BACK-FRIEND, / [from back and friend.] A friend 
backwards ; that is, an enemy in fecret.—Far is our church 
from incroaching upon the civil power ; as fome, who are 
backfriends to both, would malicioufly infinuate. South. 
B ACK-GAM'MON, f. [from back-gammon, Welfli, a 
little battle.] A play or game at tables, with box and 
dice.— In what efteem are you with the vicar of the pa- 
rifh ? can you play with him at back-gammon? Swift. 
Manner of playing the game. —The table is divided into 
two parts, upon which there ate 24 black and white 
(paces, called points. Each adverfary has 15 men, black 
and white, to diftinguifh them; and they are difpofed of 
in the following manner. Suppofing the game to be play¬ 
ed into the right-hand table, two are placed upon the ace 
point in the adverfary’s table, five upon the fix point in 
the oppofite table, three upon the cinque point in the hi- 
thermoft table, and five on the fix point in the right-hand 
table. The grand objeCt in this game is for each player 
to bring the men round into his right-hand table, by 
throwing’with a pair of dice thofe throws that contribute 
towards it, and at the fame time prevent the adverfary 
doing tire like. The firft bed throw upon the dice is 
efteemed aces, becaule it (lops the fix point in the outer 
table, and fecures the cinque in the thrower’s table; 
■whereby the adverfary’s tw r o men upon the thrower’s ace 
point cannot get out with either quatre, cinque, or fix. 
This throw is an advantage often given to the antagonift. 
by the fuperior player. 
When he carries his men home in order to lofe no point* 
he is to carry the mod diftant man to his adverfary’s bar 
point, that being the firft ftage he is to place it on; the 
next ftage is fix points farther, viz. in the place where 
the adverfary’s five men are firft placed out of his tables. 
He mud go o'n in this method till all his men are brought 
home, except two, when, by lofing a point, he may often 
fave the gammon, by throwing two fours or two fives. 
When a hit is only played for, he (hould endeavour to 
gain either his own or adverfary’s cinque point: and if that 
fails by his being hit by the adverfary, and he finds him 
forwarder than himfelf, in that cafe he mud throw more 
men into the adverfary’s tables; which is done in this man¬ 
ner: he muft put a man upon his cinque or bar point 
and, if the adverfary fails to hit it, he may then gain a for¬ 
ward game inftead of a back game : but, if the adverfary 
hits him, he (hould play for a back game ; and then the 
greater number of men which are taken up makes iiis. 
game the better, becaufe by thefe means he will prefefve 
his game at home : and then he (liould endeavour to gain 
both his adverfary’s ace and trois points, or his. ace and. 
deuce points, and take care to keep three men upon the 
adverfary’s ace point, that in cafe he hits him from thenca 
that point may remain dill fecure to himfelf. A back 
game (liould not be played for at the beginning of a fet, 
becaufe it would be a great difadvantage, the player run¬ 
ning the rifk of a gammon to win a fingle hit, A variety 
of inftruftions with regard to this curious game are given 
by Mr. Hoyle, who calculates the odds of the game with 
great accuracy. The following particulars, however, may* 
be of ufe to the generality of players. 
DireElions for the player to bear his men. —If a player has 
taken up two of the adverfary’s men, and happens to have 
two, three, or more, points made in his own tables, he 
(hould fpread his men, that he may either take a new 
point in his tables, or be ready to hit the man which the 
adverfary may happen to enter. If he finds, upon the 
adverfary’s entering, that the game is upon a par, or that 
the advantage is on his own fide, he (liould take the ad- 
7 O verfary’s 
