Ladybird?

[askmeanother]

Folks in Norfolk refer to a ladybird as a "bishy barnaby". Anyone heard of this or able to give the origin?

[Quizmonster]

One BBC website suggests it is a variant of 'Bishop Barnaby' - which seems obvious enough - and adds that it may be a reference to the similarity between the bright markings on the creature and the colourful robes worn by clergymen.

[shaneystar2]

It's actually Bishy Barnabee and there is a road in Bowthorpe near Norwich called Bishy Barnabee Way . It is supposed to refer to the Bishop Edmund Bonner or bloody Bonner as he was named for his persecution of heretics during the reign of Mary ! . Probably a derivative of the name Bishop Bonners Bees (whatever they were ) . There is a cottage museum about him in Dereham .

The best book on Norfolk dialect is by Peter Trudgill, in the Norfolk Origins series published by Poppyland Publishing.
http://www.poppyland.co.uk/