(A). The second in a duel, as “Name your friend,”
“Captain B. acted as his friend.”
“Mr. Baillie was to have acted as Disraeli's friend, if there had
been a duel between that statesman and Daniel O'Connell.” —Newspaper paragraph (December, 1885).
Better kinde frend than fremd kinde
(motto of the Waterton family) means “better kind friend (i.e.
neighbour) than a kinsman who dwells in foreign parts.” Probably it is
Prov. xxvii. 10, “Better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother
far off.” In which case fremd would be = stranger. Better a kind
friend than a kinsman who is a stranger.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894