TheRoyal Bounty Fund was a specialBritish government fund originally set up in 1782 byEdmund Burke. The operation of the fund was always shrouded in secrecy. Gifts, grants and pensions were paid out from the fund under the patronage of the prime minister and no accounts were ever published. From as early as 1802 Treasury officials expressed concerns about the operation of the fund but it was not until 2002 that it was eventually wound down byTony Blair.[1] One known recipient of funds, granted byA. J. Balfour when he wasFirst Lord of the Treasury, was for the completion ofThe English Dialect Dictionary.[2]