It's clearer in context: Oh where is young Frankie and how he could ride And Johnnie the light-hearted boy? They tell me that lately he's taken a bride A benedict's life to enjoy. I believe this term comes from Shakespeare's 'Much Ado about Nothing,' in which Beatrice and Benedick are first at each other's throats, then are finagled into falling in love. There's a will-known line something like, "Here comes Benedick, the married man."
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