Bats in the belfry

A glorious expression that describes madness or eccentricity has been around since the late 19th century and the earliest citations indicate it is of American origin. Bats and batty, which also mean crazy are obviously derived from the same source. The English novelist Eden Phillpots (1862-1960) used the expression in his short story Peacock House published in Peacock House and Other Mysteries in 1926, “his father’s sister had bats in the belfry and was put away”.