How this word got stretched to Cole Porter tune is a very long story.
Beguines and Beghards, members of certain Roman Catholic religious communities for women (Beguines) and men (Beghards) prominent in northwestern Europe from the 12th to the 14th century. They differed from monks and nuns in that most did not take permanent vows, promising only to do good works and not to marry as long as they lived in the community.



"Beguines and Beghards," Microsoft(R) Encarta(R) 98 Encyclopedia. (c) 1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.