E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Burden of a Song.
The words repeated in each verse, the chorus or refrain. It is the French bourdon, the big drone of a bagpipe, or double-diapason of an organ, used in fortë parts and choruses.
1
Burden of Isaiah. The “measure” of a prophecy announcing a calamity, or a denunciation of hardships on those against whom the burden is uttered. (Isa. xiii. 1, etc.)
2
The burden of proof. The obligation to prove something.
3
“The burden of proof is on the party holding the affirmative” [because no one can prove a negative, except by reductio ad absurdum]—Greenleaf: On Evidence (vol. i. part 2, chap. iii. p. 105).
