1.The scullions and lower menials of a court, or of a nobleman's household, who, in a removal from one residence to another, had charge of the kitchen utensils, and being smutted by them, were jocularly called the "black guard"; also, the servants and hangers-on of an army. (Obs.) "A lousy slave, that... rode with the black guard in the duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans."
2.The criminals and vagrants or vagabonds of a town or community, collectively. (Obs.)
3.A person of stained or low character, esp. one who uses scurrilous language, or treats others with foul abuse; a scoundrel; a rough. "A man whose manners and sentiments are decidedly below those of his class deserves to be called a blackguard."
4.A vagrant; a bootblack; a gamin. (Obs.)
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