Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol 1
by
The Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D.
Part 13 out of 15
DRUGGET, a rich London haberdasher, who has married one of his
daughters to Sir Charles Racket. Drugget is "very fond of his garden,"
but his taste goes no further than a suburban tea-garden with leaden
images, cockney fountains, trees cut into the shapes of animals, and
other similar abominations. He is very headstrong, very passionate,
and very fond of flattery.
_Mrs. Druggett_, wife of the above. She knows her husband's foibles,
and, like a wise woman, never rubs the hair the wrong way.--A. Murphy,
_Three Weeks after Marriage_.
DRUID (_The_), the _nom de plume_ of Henry
Dixon, sportsman and sporting-writer; One of his books, called
_Steeple-chasing_, appeared in the _Gentleman's Magazine_. His last
work was called _The Saddle and Sirloin._
[Illustration] Collins calls James Thomson (author of _The Seasons_) a
druid, meaning a pastoral British poet or "Nature's High Priest."
In yonder grave a Druid lies.
Collins (1746).
_Druid (Dr.)_, a man of North Wales, 65 years of age, the travelling
tutor of Lord Abberville, who was only 23. The doctor is a pedant and
antiquary, choleric in temper, and immensely bigoted, wholly without
any knowledge of the human heart, or indeed any practical knowledge at
all.
"Money and trade, I scorn 'em both; ...I have traced the Oxus and
the Po, traversed the Riphaean Mountains, and pierced into the inmost
deserts of Kilmuc Tartary ...I have followed the ravages of Kuli
Chan with rapturous delight. There is a land of wonders; finely
depopulated; gloriously laid waste; fields without a hoof to tread
'em; fruits without a hand to gather 'em: with such a catologue
of pats, peetles, serpents, scorpions, caterpillars, toads, and
putterflies! Oh, 'tis a recreating contemplation indeed to a
philosophic mind!"--Cumberland, _The Fashionable Lover_ (1780).
DRUID MONEY, a promise to pay on the Greek Kalends. Patricius says:
"Druidae pecuniam mutuo accipiebant in posteriore vita reddituri."
Like money by the Druids borrowed,
In th' other world to be restored.
Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 1 (1678).
[Illustration] Purchase tells us of certain priests of Pekin, "who
barter with the people upon bills of exchange, to be paid in heaven a
hundredfold."--_Pilgrims_, iii. 2.
DRUM _(Jack), Jack Drum's entertainment_ is giving a guest the cold
shoulder.
Shakespeare calls it "John Drum's entertainment" (_All Well,
etc_., act iii. sc. 6), and Holinshead speaks of "Tom Drum his
entertaynement, which is to hale a man in by the heade, and thrust him
out by both the shoulders."
DRUMMLE (_Bentley_) AND STARTOP, two young men who read with Mr.
Pocket. Drummle is a surly, ill-conditioned fellow, who marries
Estella.--C. Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).
DRUNKEN PARLIAMENT, a Scotch parliament assembled at Edinburgh,
January I, 1661.
It was a mad, warring time, full of extravagance;
and no wonder it was so, when the men
of affairs were almost perpetually drunk.--Burnet,
_His Own Time_ (1723-34).
DRUON "the Stern," one of the four knights who attacked Britomart and
Sir Scudamore (3 _syl_.).
The warlike dame _(Britomart)_ was on her part assaid
By Clarabel and Blandamour at one;
While Paridel and Druon fiercely laid
On Scudamore, both his professed fone [_foes_].
Spenser, _Faery Queen_, iv. 9 (1596).
DRUSES (_Return of the_). The Druses, a semi-Mohammedan sect of Syria,
being attacked by Osman, take refuge in one of the Spor'ades, and
place themselves under the protection of the Knights of Rhodes. These
knights slay their sheiks and oppress the fugitives. In the sheik
massacre, Dja'bal is saved by Maae'ni, and entertains the idea of
revenging his people and leading them back to Syria. To this end he
gives out that he is Hakeem, the incarnate god, returned to earth,
and soon becomes the leader of the exiled Druses. A plot is formed to
murder the prefect of the isle, and to betray the Island to Venice,
if Venice will supply a convoy for their return. An'eal (2 _syl_.), a
young woman stabs the prefect, and dies in bitter disappointment when
she discovers that Djabal is a mere impostor. Djabal stabs himself
when his imposition is made public, but Loys, (2 _syl_.) a Brenton
count, leads the exiles back to Lebanon. Robert Browning.--_The Return
of the Druses_.
[Illustration] Historically, the Druses, to the number of 160,000
or 200,000, settled in Syria, between Djebail and Saide, but their
original seat was Egypt. They quitted Egypt from persecution, led by
Dara'zi or Durzi, from whom the name Druse (1 _syl_.) is derived. The
founder of the sect was the hakem B'amr-ellah (eleventh century),
believed to be incarnate deity, and the last prophet who communicated
between God and man. From this founder the head of the sect was called
the _hakem_, his residence being Deir-el-Kamar. During the thirteenth
or fourteenth century the Druses were banished from Syria, and lived
in exile in some of the Sporades but were led back to Syria early in
the fifteenth century by Count Loys de Duex, a new convert. Since 1588
they have been tributaries of the sultan.
What say you does this wizard style himself--
Hakeem Biamrallah, the Third Fatimite?
What is this jargon? He the insane prophet,
Dead near three hundred years!
Robert Browning, _The Return of the Druses_.
DRYAS or DRYAD, a wood-nymph, whose life was bound up with that of her
tree (Greek, [Greek: dryas, dryados].)
"The quickening power of the soul," like Martha, "is busy about
many things," or like "a Dryas living in a tree."--Sir John Davies,
_Immortality of the soul_, xii.
DRY-AS-DUST (_The Rev. Doctor_), an hypothetical person whom Sir
W. Scott makes use of to introduce some of his novels by means of
prefatory letters. The word is a synonym for a dull, prosy, plodding
historian, with great show of learning, but very little attractive
grace.
DRYDEN OF GERMANY _(The)_, Martin Opitz, sometimes called "The Father
of German Poetry" (1597-1639).
DRYEESDALE _(Jasper)_, the old steward at Lochleven Castle.--Sir W.
Scott, _The Abott_ (time, Elizabeth).
DRY'OPE (3 _syl_.), daughter of King Dryops, beloved by Apollo.
Apollo, having changed himself into a tortoise, was taken by Dryope
into her lap, and became the father of Amphis'sos. Ovid says that
Dryope was changed into a lotus _(Met_., x. 331).
DUAR'TE (3 _syl_), the vainglorious son of Guiomar.--Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Custom of the Country_ (1647).
DUBOSC, the great thief, who robs the night-mail from Lyons, and
murders the courier. He bears such a strong likeness to Joseph
Lesurques (act i. 1) that their identity is mistaken.--Ed. Stirling,
_The Courier of Lyons_ (1852).
DUBOURG-_(Mons.)_, a merchant at Bordeaux, and agent there of
Osbaldistone of London.
_Clement Dubourg_, son of the Bordeaux merchant, one of the clerks of
Osbaldistone, merchant.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
DUBRIC _(St.)_ or St. Dubricius, archbishop of the City of Legions
_(Caerleon-upon-Usk_; Newport is the only part left.) He set the
crown on the head of Arthur, when only 15 years of age. Geoffrey says
(_British history_, ix. 12); This prelate, who was primate of Britain,
was so eminent for his piety, that he could cure any sick person by
his prayers. St. Dubric abdicated and lived a hermit, leaving David
his successor. Tennyson introduced him in his _Coming of Arthur,
Enid_, etc.
Dubric, whose report old Carleon yet doth
carry.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xxiv. (1622).
To whom arrived, by Dubric the high saint.
Chief of the Church in Britain, and before
The stateliest of her altar-shrines, the king
That morn was married.
Tennyson, _The Coming of Arthur_.
DUCHOMAR was in love with Morna, daughter of Comac, king of Ireland.
Out of jealousy, he slew Cathba, his more successful rival, went to
announce his death to Morna, and then asked her to marry him. She
replied she had no love for him, and asked for his sword. "He gave the
sword to her tears," and she stabbed him to the heart. Duchomar begged
the maiden to pluck the sword from his breast that he might die; and
when she approached him for the purpose, "he seized the sword from
her, and slew her."
"Duchomar, most gloomy of men; dark are thy brows and terrible; red
are thy rolling eyes ... I love thee not," said Morna; "hard is thy
heart of rock, and dark is thy terrible brow."--Ossian, _Fingal_, i.
DUCHRAN (_The laird of_), a friend of Baron Bradwardine.--Sir W.
Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
DU CROISY and his friend La Grange are desirous to marry two young
ladies whose heads are turned by novels. The silly girls fancy
the manners of these gentlemen "too unaffected and easy to be
aristocratic"; so the gentlemen send to them their valets, as "the
viscount de Jodelet," and "the marquis of Mascarille." The girls are
delighted whith their titled visitors; but when the game had gone far
enough, the masters enter and unmask the trick. By this means the
girls are taught a useful lesson, without being subjected to any fatal
consequence.--Moliere, _Les Precieuses Ridicules_ (1659).
DUDLEY, a young artist; a disguise assumed by Harry Bertram.--Sir W.
Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
_Dudley_ (_Captain_), a poor English officer, of strict honor, good
family, and many accomplishments. He has served his country for thirty
years, but can scarcely provide bread for his family.
_Charles Dudley_, son of Captain Dudley. High-minded, virtuous,
generous, poor, and proud. He falls in love with his cousin Charlotte
Rusport, but forbears proposing to her, because he is poor and she is
rich. His grandfather's will is in time brought to light, by which he
becomes the heir of a noble fortune, and he then marries his cousin.
_Louisa Dudley_, daughter of Captain Dudley. Young, fair, tall, fresh,
and lovely. She is courted by Belcour the rich West Indian, to whom
ultimately she is married.--Cumberland, _The West Indian_ (1771).
DUDLEY DIAMOND (_The_). In 1868 a black shepherd named Swartzboy
brought to his master, Nie Kirk, this diamond, and received for it
L400, with which he drank himself to death. Nie Kirk sold it for
L12,000; and the earl of Dudley gave Messrs. Hunt and Roskell L30,000
for it. It weighed in the rough 88 1/2 carats, but cut into a heart
shape it weighs 44 1/2 carats. It is triangular in shape, and of great
brilliancy.
[Illustration] This magnificent diamond, that called the "Stewart"
_(q. v_.), and the "Twin," have all been discovered in Africa since
1868.
DUDU, one of the three beauties of the harem, into which Juan, by the
sultan's order, had been admitted in female attire. Next day, the
sultana, out of jealousy, ordered that both Dudu and Juan should be
stitched in a sack and cast into the sea; but by the connivance of
Baba the chief eunuch, they affected their escape.--Byron, _Don
Juan_, vi. 42, etc.
A kind of sleeping Venus seemed Dudu ...
But she was pensive more than melancholy ...
The strangest thing was, beauteous, she was
holy.
Unconscious, albeit turned of quick seventeen.
Canto vi. 42-44 (1824).
DUENNA _(The)_, a comic opera by R. B. Sheridan (1773). Margaret, the
duenna, is placed in charge of Louisa, the daughter of Don Jerome.
Louisa is in love with Don Antonio, a poor nobleman of Seville; but
her father resolves to give her in marriage to Isaac Mendoza, a
rich Portuguese Jew. As Louisa will not consent to her father's
arrangement, he locks her up in her chamber, and turns the duenna out
of doors, but in his impetuous rage he in reality turns his daughter
out, and locks up the duenna. Isaac arrives, is introduced to the
lady, elopes with her, and is duly married. Louisa flees to the
convent of St. Catharine, and writes to her father for his consent to
her marriage to the man of her choice; and Don Jerome supposing she
means the Jew, gives it freely, and she marries Antonio. When they
meet at breakfast at the old man's house, he finds that Isaac has
married the duenna, Louisa has married Antonio, and his son has
married Clara; but the old man is reconciled and says, "I am an
obstinate old fellow, when I'm in the wrong, but you shall all find me
steady in the right."
DUESSA _(false faith_), is the personification of the papacy. She
meets the Red Cross Knight in the society of Sansfoy _(infidelity)_,
and when the knight slays Sansfoy, she turns to flight. Being
overtaken, she says her name is Fidessa _(true faith)_, deceives
the knight, and conducts him to the palace of Lucif'era, where he
encounters Sansjoy (canto 2). Duessa dresses the wounds of the Red
Cross Knight, but places Sansjoy under the care of Escula'pius in the
infernal regions (canto 4). The Red Cross Knight leaves the palace
of Lucifera, and Duessa induces him to drink of the "Enervating
Fountain;" Orgoglio then attacks him, and would have slain him if
Duessa had not promised to be his bride. Having cast the Red Cross
Knight into a dungeon, Orgoglio dresses his bride in most gorgeous
array, puts on her head "a triple crown" _(the tiara of the pope_),
and sets her on a monster beast with "seven heads" _(the seven hills
of Rome_). Una _(truth)_ sends Arthur (England) to rescue the captive
knight, and Arthur slays Orgoglio, wounds the beast, releases the
knight, and strips Duessa of her finery _(the Reformation_);
whereupon she flies into the wilderness to conceal her shame (canto
7).--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, i. (1590).
_Duessa_, in bk. v., allegorizes Mary queen of Scots. She is arraigned
by Zeal before Queen Mercilla _(Elizabeth)_, and charged with high
treason. Zeal says he shall pass by for the present "her counsels
false conspired" with Blandamour _(earl of Northumberland)_, and
Paridel _(earl of Westmoreland_), leaders of the insurrection of 1569,
as that wicked plot came to naught, and the false Duessa was now
"an untitled queen." When Zeal had finished, an old sage named the
Kingdom's Care _(Lord Burghley)_ spoke, and opinions were divided.
Authority, Law of Nations, and Religion thought Duessa guilty, but
Pity, Danger, Nobility of Birth, and Grief pleaded in her behalf. Zeal
then charges the prisoner with murder, sedition, adultery, and lewd
impiety; whereupon the sentence of the court is given against her.
Queen Mercilla, being called on to pass sentence, is so overwhelmed
with grief that she rises and leaves the court.--Spenser, _Faery
Queen_, v. 9 (1596).
DUFF _(Jamie)_, the idiot boy attending Mrs. Bertram's funeral.--Sir
W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
DUKE _(My lord_), a duke's servant, who assumes the airs and title of
his master, and is addressed as "Your grace," or "My lord duke." He
was first a country cowboy, then a wig-maker's apprentice, and then
a duke's servant. He could neither write nor read, but was a great
coxcomb, and set up for a tip-top fine gentleman.--Rev. J. Townley,
_High Life Below Stairs_ (1763).
_Duke (The Iron_), the duke of Wellington, also called "The Great
Duke" (1769-1852).
DUKE AND DUCHESS, in pt. II. of _Don Quixote_, who play so many
sportive tricks on "the Knight of the Woeful Countenance," were Don
Carlos de Borja, count of Ficallo, and Donna Maria of Aragon, duchess
of Villaher'mora, his wife, in whose right the count held extensive
estates on the banks of the Ebro, among others a country seat called
Buena'via, the place referred to by Cervantes (1615).
DUKE OF MIL'AN, a tragedy by Massinger (1622). A play evidently
in imitation of Shakespeare's _Othello_. "Sforza" is Othollo;
"Francesco," Iago: "Marcelia," Desdemona: and "Eugenia," Emilia.
Sforza "the More" [_sic_] doted on Marcelia his young bride, who amply
returned his love. Francesco, Sforza's favorite, being left lord
protector of Milan during a temporary absence of the duke, tried
to corrupt Marcelia; but failing in this, accused her to Sforza of
wantonness. The duke, believing his favorite, slew his beautiful young
bride. The cause of Francesco's villainy was that the duke had seduced
his sister Eugenia.
[Illustration] Shakespeare's play was produced 1611, about eleven
years before Massinger's tragedy. In act v. 1 we have "Men's injuries
we write in brass," which brings to mind Shakespeare's line, "Men's
evil manners live in brass, their virtues we write in water."
(Cumberland reproduced this drama, with some alterations, in 1780).
DUKE COMBE, William Combe, author of _Dr. Syntax_, and translator of
_The Devil upon Two Sticks_, from _Le Diable Boiteux_ of Lesage. He
was called _duke_ from the splendor of his dress, the profusion of his
table, and the magnificence of his deportment. The last fifteen years
of his life were spent in the King's Bench (1743-1823).
DULCAMA'RA _(Dr.)_, an itinerant physician, noted for his pomposity;
very boastful, and a thorough charlatan.--Donizetti, _L'Elisire
d'Amore_ (1832).
DULCARNON. (See DHU'L KARNEIN.)
DULCIFLUOUS DOCTOR, Antony Andreas, a Spanish minorite of the Duns
Scotus school (_-1320).
DULCIN'EA DEL TOBO'SO, the lady of Don Quixote's devotion. She was a
fresh-colored country wench, of an adjacent village, with whom the don
was once in love. Her real name was Aldonza Lorenzo. Her father was
Lorenzo Corchuelo, and her mother Aldonza Nogales. Sancho Panza
describes her in pt. I. ii. 11.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. i. I
(1605).
"Her flowing hair," says the knight, "is of
gold, her forehead the Elysian fields, her eyebrows
two celestial arches, her eyes a pair of
glorious suns, her cheeks two beds of roses, her
lips two coral portals that guard her teeth of
Oriental pearl, her neck is alabaster, her hands
are polished ivory, and her bosom whiter than
the new-fallen snow."
Ask you for whom my tears do flow so?
'Tis for Dulcinea del Toboso.
_Don Quixote_, I iii. 11 (1605).
DULL, a constable.--Shakespeare, _Love's Labour's Lost_ (1594).
DU'MACHUS. The impenitent thief is so called in Longfellow's _Golden
Legend_, and the penitent thief is called Titus.
In the apocryphal _Gospel of Nicodemis_, the impenitent thief is
called Gestas, and the penitent one Dysmas.
In the story of _Joseph of Arimathea_, the impenitent thief is called
Gesmas, and the penitent one Dismas.
Alta petit Dismas, infelix infima Gesmas.
_A Monkish Charm to Scare away Thieves_.
Dismas in paradise would dwell,
But Gesmas chose his lot in hell.
DUMAIN, a French lord in attendance on Ferdinand, king of Navarre. He
agreed to spend three years with the king in study, during which time
no woman was to approach the court. Of course, the compact was broken
as soon as made and Dumain fell in love with Katharine. When however,
he proposed marriage, Katharine deferred her answer for twelve months
and a day, hoping by that time "his face would be more bearded," for,
she said, "I'll mark no words that smoothfaced wooers say."
The young Dumain, a well-accomplished youth,
Of all that virtue love for virtue loved;
Most power to do most harm, least knowing ill;
For he hath wit to make an ill shape good,
And shape to win grace, tho' he had no wit.
Shakespeare, _Love's Labour's Lost_, act ii. sc. I (1594).
DU'MARIN, the husband of Cym'oent, and father of Marinel.--Spenser,
_Fairy Queen_, in. 4.
DUMAS _(Alexandre_ D.), in 1845, published sixty volumes.
The most skillful copyist, writing 12 hours a day, can with difficulty
do 3,900 letters in an hour, which gives him 46,800 per diem, or 60
pages of a romance. Thus he could copy 5 volumes octavo per month and
60 in a year, supposing that he did not lose one second of time,
but worked without ceasing 12 hours every day thoughout the entire
year.--De Mirecourt, _Dumas Pere_ (1867).
DUMB OX _(The)._ St. Thomas Aqui'nas was so called by his
fellow-students at Cologne, from his taciturnity and dreaminess.
Sometimes called "The Great Dumb Ox of Sicily." He was larged-bodied,
fat, with a brown complexion, and a large head partly bald.
Of a truth, it almost makes me laugh
To see men leaving the golden grain,
To gather in piles the pitiful chaff
That old Peter Lombard thrashed with his
brain,
To have it caught up and tossed again
On the horns of the Dumb Ox of Cologne.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_.
(Thomas Aquinas was subsequently called "The Angelic Doctor," and the
"Angel of the Schools," 1224-1274.)
DUMBIEDIKES (_The old laird of_), an exacting landlord, taciturn and
obstinate.
The laird of Dumbiedikes had hitherto been moderate in his exactions
... but when a stout, active young fellow appeared ... he began to
think so broad a pair of shoulders might bear an additional burden.
He regulated, indeed, his management of his dependants as carters
do their horses, never failing to clap an additional brace of
hundred-weights on a new and willing horse.--Chap. 8 (1818).
_The young laird of Dumbiedikes_ (3 _syl_.), a bashful young laird, in
love with Jeanie Deans, but Jeanie marries the Presbyterian minister,
Reuben Butler.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George
II.).
DUM'MERAR (_The Rev. Dr._), a friend of Sir Geoffrey Peveril.--Sir W.
Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
DUMMY or SUPERNUMERARY. "Celimene," in the _Precieuses Ridicules_,
does not utter a single word, although she enters with other
characters on the stage.
DUMTOUS'TIE (_Mr. Daniel_), a young barrister, and nephew of Lord
Bladderskate.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
DUN (_Squire_), the hangman who came between Richard Brandon and Jack
Ketch.
And presently a halter got,
Made of the best strong hempen teer,
And ere a cat could lick his ear,
Had tied him up with as much art
As Dun himself could do for's heart.
Cotton, _Virgil Travestied_, iv. (1677).
DUN COW (_The_), slain by Sir Guy of Warwick on Dunsmore Heath, was
the cow kept by a giant in Mitchel Fold [_middle-fold_], Shropshire.
Its milk was inexhaustible. One day an old woman, who had filled her
pail, wanted to fill her sieve also with its milk, but this so enraged
the cow that it broke away, and wandered to Dunsmore, where it was
killed.
[Illustration] A huge tusk, probably an elephant's, is still shown at
Warwick Castle as one of the horns of this wonderful cow.
DUNBAR AND MARCH _(George, earl of_), who deserted to Henry IV. of
England, because the betrothal of his daughter Elizabeth to the king's
eldest son was broken off by court intrigue.
_Elizabeth Dunbar_, daughter of the earl of Dunbar and March,
betrothed to Prince Robert, duke of Rothsay, eldest son of Robert III.
of Scotland. The earl of Douglas contrived to set aside this betrothal
in favor of his own daughter Elizabeth, who married the prince, and
became duchess of Rothsay.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time,
Henry IV.).
DUNCAN "the Meek," king of Scotland, was son of Crynin, and grandson
of Malcolm II., whom he succeeded on the throne, Macbeth was the son
of the younger sister of Duncan's mother, and hence Duncan and Macbeth
were first cousins. Sueno, king of Norway, having invaded Scotland,
the command of the army was entrusted to Macbeth and Banquo, and so
great was their success that only ten men of the invading army were
left alive. After the battle, King Duncan paid a visit to Macbeth
in his castle of Inverness, and was there murdered by his host. The
successor to the throne was Duncan's son Malcolm, but Macbeth usurped
the crown.--Shakespeare, _Macbeth_ (1606).
_Duncan (Captain)_, of Knockdunder, agent at Roseneath to the Duke of
Buckingham.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
_Duncan (Duroch)_, a follower of Donald Beau Lean.--Sir W. Scott,
_Waverley_ (time, George II.).
DUNCE, wittily or willfully derived from Duns, surnamed "Scotus."
In the Gaelic, _donas [means]_ "bad luck" or in contempt, "a poor
ignorant creature." The Lowland Scotch has _donsie_, "unfortunate,
stupid."--_Notes and Queries_, 225, September 21, 1878.
DUN'CIAD ("_the dunce epic_"), a satire by Alexander Pope--written to
revenge himself upon his literary enemies. The plot is this: Eusden
the poet-laureate being dead, the goddess of Dulness elects Colley
Cibber as his successor. The installation is celebrated by games, the
most important being the "reading of two voluminous works, one in
verse and the other in prose, without nodding." King Cibber is then
taken to the temple of Dulness, and lulled to sleep on the lap of the
goddess. In his dream he sees the triumphs of the empire. Finally the
goddess having established the kingdom on a firm basis, Night and
Chaos are restored, and the poem ends (1728-42).
DUNDAS, _(Starvation)_, Henry Dundas, first Lord Melville. So called
because he introduced into the language the word _starvation_, in a
speech on American affairs (1775).
DUNDER _(Sir David_), of Dunder Hall, near Dover. An hospitable,
conceited, whimsical old gentleman, who forever interrupts a speaker
with "Yes, yes, I know it," or "Be quiet, I know it." He rarely
finishes a sentence, but runs on in this style: "Dover is an odd sort
of a--eh?" "It is a dingy kind of a--humph!" "The ladies will be happy
to--eh?" He is the father of two daughters, Harriet and Kitty, whom he
accidentally detects in the act of eloping with two guests. To prevent
a scandal, he sanctions the marriages, and discovers that the two
lovers, both in family and fortune, are suitable sons-in-law.
_Lady Dunder_, fat, fair, and forty if not more. A country lady, more
fond of making jams and pastry than doing the fine lady. She prefers
cooking to croquet, and making the kettle sing to singing herself.
(See HARRIET and KITTY.)--G. Colman, _Ways and Means_ (1788).
William Dowton [1764-1851] played "Sir Anthony Absolute," "Sir Peter
Teazle," "Sir David Dunder," and "Sir John Falstaff," and looked the
very characters he represented.--W. Donaldson, _Recollections_.
[Illustration] "Sir Anthony Absolute," in _The Rivals_ (Sheridan);
"Sir Peter Teazle," in _The School for Scandal_ (Sheridan).
DUNDREAR'Y _(Lord)_, a good natured, indolent, blundering,
empty-headed swell; the chief character in Tom Taylor's dramatic piece
entitled _Our American Cousin_. He is greatly characterized by his
admiration of "Brother Sam," for his incapacity to follow out the
sequence of any train of thought, and for supposing all are insane who
differ from him.
(Mr. Sothern of the Haymarket created this character by his power of
conception and the genius of his acting.)
DUNIOS _(The count de_), in Sir W. Scott's novel of _Quentin Durward_
(time, Edward IV.).
DUNOIS THE BRAVE, hero of the famous French song, set to music by
Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III., and called _Partant pour
Syrie_. His prayer to the Virgin, when he left for Syria, was:
Que j'aime la plus belle,
Et sois le plus vaillant!
He behaved with great valor, and the count whom he followed gave him
his daughter to wife. The guests, on the bridal day, all cried aloud:
Amour a la plus belle!
Honneur an plus vaillant!
Words by M. de Laborde (1809).
DUN'OVER, a poor gentleman introduced by Sir W. Scott in the
introduction of _The Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
DUNROMMATH, lord of Uthal, one of the Orkneys. He carried off
Oith'ona, daughter of Nuath (who was engaged to be married to Gaul,
son of Morni), and was slain by Gaul in fight.
Gaul advanced in his arms. Dunrommath shrunk behind his people. But
the spear of Gaul pierced the gloomy chief; his sword lopped off his
head as it bended in death.--Ossian, _Oithoha_.
DUNS SCOTUS, called "The Subtle Doctor," said to have been born at
Dunse, in Berwickshire, or Dunstance, in Northumberland (1265-1308).
John Scotus, called _Erigena_ ("Erin-born"), is quite another person
(_-886). Erigena is sometimes called "Scotus the Wise," and lived four
centuries before "The Subtle Doctor."
DUN-SHUNNER _(Augustus)_, a _nom de plnme_ of Professor William
Edmonstoune Aytoun, in _Blackwood's Magazine_ (1813-1865).
DUNS'TAN _(St.)_, patron saint of goldsmiths and jewellers. He was a
smith, and worked up all sorts of metals in his cell near Glastonbury
Church. It was in this cell that, according to legend, Satan had a
gossip with the saint, and Dunstan caught his sable majesty by the
nose with a pair of red-hot forceps.
DUNTHAL'MO, lord of Teutha _(the Tweed)._ He went "in his pride
against Rathmor," chief of Clutha (_the Clyde_), but being overcome,
"his rage arose," and he went "by night with his warriors" and slew
Rathmor in his banquet hall. Touched with pity for his two young sons
(Calthon and Colmar), he took them to his own house and brought them
up. "They bent the bow in his presence, and went forth to his wars."
But observing that their countenances fell, Dunthalmo began to be
suspicious of the young men, and shut them up in two separate caves on
the banks of the Tweed, where neither "the sun penetrated by day nor
the moon by night." Colmal (the daughter of Dunthalmo), disguised as a
young warrior, loosed Calthon from his bonds, and fled with him to the
court of Fingal, to crave aid for the liberation of Colmar. Fingal
sent his son Ossian with 300 men to effect this object, but Dunthalmo,
hearing of their approach, gathered together his strength and slew
Colmar. He also seized Calthon, mourning for his brother, and bound
him to an oak. At daybreak Ossian moved to the fight, slew Dunthalmo,
and having released Calthon, "gave him to the white-bosomed
Colmal."--Ossian, _Calthon and Colmal_.
DUPELEY (_Sir Charles_), a man who prided himself on his discernment
of character, and defied any woman to entangle him in matrimony;
but he mistook Lady Bab Lardoon, a votary of fashion, for an
unsophisticated country maiden, and proposed marriage to her.
"I should like to see the woman," he says,
"that could entangle me ... Shew me a woman
...and at the first glance I will discover the
whole extent of her artifice."--Burgoyne, _The
Maid of the Oaks_, i. I.
DUPRE [_Du.Pray_'], a servant of Mr. Darlemont, who assists his master
in abandoning Julio, count of Harancour (his ward) in the streets of
Paris, for the sake of becoming possessor of his ward's property.
Dupre repents and confesses the crime.--Th. Holcroft, _The Deaf and
Dumb_ (1785).
DURAN'DAL, the sword of Orlando, the workmanship of fairies. So
admirable was its temper that it would "cleave the Pyrenees at a
blow."--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516)
DURANDAR'TE (_4 syl_.), a knight who fell at Roncesvalles (_4 syl_.).
Durandarte loved Belerma whom he served for seven years, and was then
slain; but in dying he requested his cousin Montesi'nos to take his
heart to Belerma.
Sweet in manners, fair in favor,
Mild in temper, fierce in fight.
Lewis.
DUR'DEN _(Dame)_, a notable country gentlewoman, who kept five
men-servants "to use the spade and flail," and five women-servants "to
carry the milken-pail." The five men loved the five maids. Their names
were:
Moll and Bet, and Doll and Kate, and Dorothy Draggletail;
John and Dick, and Joe and Jack, and Humphrey with his flail.
_A Well-known Glee_.
(In _Bleak House_, by C. Dickens, Esther Summerson is playfully called
"Dame Durden.")
DURETETE _(Captain)_, a rather heavy gentleman who takes lessons in
gallantry from his friend, young Mirabel. Very bashful with ladies,
and for ever sparring with Bisarre, who teazes him unmercifully
_[Dure-tait, Be-zar']._--G. Farquhar, _The Inconstant_ (1702).
DURINDA'NA, Orlando's sword, given him by his cousin Malagi'gi. This
sword and the horn Olifant were buried at the feet of the hero.
[Illustration] Charlemagne's sword "Joyeuse" was also buried with him,
and "Tizo'na" was buried with the Cid.
DUROTI'GES (4. _syl_.). Below the Hedui (those of Somersetshire) came
the Durotiges, sometimes called Mor'ini. Their capital was Du'rinum
(_Dorchester_), and their territory extended to Vindel'ia (_Portland
Isle_).--Richard of Cireneestre, _Ancient State of Britain_, vi. 15.
The Durotiges on the Dorsetian sand.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xvi. (1613).
DURWARD (_Quentin_), hero and title of a novel by Sir W. Scott.
Quentin Durward is the nephew of Ludovic Lesly (surnamed _LeBalafre_).
He enrolls himself in the Scottish guard, a company of archers in
the pay of Louis XI., at Plessis les Tours, and saves the king in a
boar-hunt. When Leigeis is assaulted by insurgents, Quentin Durward
and the Countess Isabelle de Croye escape on horseback. The countess
publicly refuses to marry the duc d'Orleans, and ultimately marries
the young Scotchman.
DUSRONNAL, one of the two steeds of Cuthullin, general of the Irish
tribes. The other was "Sulin-Sifadda" (_q. v._).
Before the left side of the car is seen the
snorting horse. The thin-maned, high-headed,
strong-hoofed, fleet, bounding son of the hill.
His name Dusronnal, among the stormy sons of
the sword ... the [_two_] steeds like wreaths of
mist fly over the vales. The wildness of deer is
in their course, the strength of eagles descending
on the prey.--Ossian, _Fingal_ i.
DUTCH SCHOOL of painting, noted for its exactness of detail and
truthfullness to life:--For _Portraits_: Rembrandt, Bol, Flinck, Hals,
and Vanderhelst.
For _Conversation pieces_: Gerhard Douw, Terburg, Metzu, Mieris, and
Netscher.
For _low life_: Ostade Brower and Jan Steen.
For _landscapes_: Ruysdael, Hobbema, Cuyp, Vanderneer (_moonlight
scenes_), Berchem and A. Both.
For _battle scenes_: Wouvermans and Huchtenburg.
For _marine pieces_: Vandevelde and Bakhuizen.
For _still life and flowers_: Kalf, A. van Utrecht, Van Huysum, and De
Heem.
DUTCH HOUSEWIFERY. In his papers upon _Old New York_ (1846), John
Fanning Watson pays a just tribute to Knickerbocker housekeepers.
"The cleanliness of Dutch housewifery was
always extreme. Everything had to submit to
scrubbing and scouring; dirt in no form could
be endured by them, and dear as water was in
the city, where it was generally sold, still it was
in perpetual requisition. It was their honest
pride to see a well-furnished dresser, showing
copper and pewter in shining splendor as if for
ornament rather than for use. In all this they
differed widely from the Germans, a people with
whom they have been erroneously and often
confounded. Roost fowls and ducks are not
more different. As water draws one it repels
the other."
DUTTON (_Mrs. Dolly_), dairy-maid to the Duke of Argyll.--Sir W.
Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time George II.).
DWARF. The following are celebrated dwarfs of real life:--
ANDROMEDA, 2 feet 4 inches. One of Julia's free maids.
ARISTRATOS, the poet. "So small," says Athenaeos, "that no one could
see him."
BEBE (2 _syl_), 2 feet 9 inches. The dwarf of Stanislas, king of
Poland (died 1764). BORUWLASKI (_Count Joseph_), 2 feet 4 inches. Died
aged 98 (1739-1837). He had a brother and a sister both dwarfs.
BUCHINGER (_Matthew_), who had no arms or legs, but _fins_ from the
shoulders. He could draw, write, thread needles, and play the hautboy.
Fac-similes of his writing are preserved among the Harleian MSS. (born
1674-_).
CHUNG, recently exhibited with Chang the giant.
COLO'BRI (_Prince_), of Sleswig, 25 inches; weight, 25 lbs. (1851).
CONOPAS, 2 feet 4 inches. One of the dwarfs of Julia, niece of
Augustus.
COPPERNIN, the dwarf of the princess of Wales, mother of George III.
The last court-dwarf in England.
CRACHAMI (_Caroline_), a Sicilian, born at Palermo, 20 inches. Her
skeleton is preserved in Hunter's Museum (1814-1824).
DECKER or DUCKER (_John_), 2 feet 6 inches. An Englishman (1610).
FARREL (_Owen_), 3 feet 9 inches. Born at Cavan. He was of enormous
strength (died 1742).
FERRY (_Nicholas_), usually called Bebe, contemporary with Boruwlaski.
He was a native of France. Height at death, 2 feet 9 inches (died
1737).
GIBSON (_Richard_) and his wife Anne Shepherd. Neither of them 4 feet.
Gibson was a noted portrait painter, and a page of the back-stairs
in the court of Charles I. The king honored the wedding with his
presence; and they had nine children (1615-1690).
Design or chance makes others wive,
But Nature did this match contrive.
Waller (1642).
HUDSON (_Sir Jeffrey_), 18 inches. He was born at Oakham, in
Rutlandshire (1619--1678).
LUCIUS, 2 feet; weight 17 lbs. The dwarf of the Emperor Augustus.
PHILE'TAS, a poet, so small that "he wore leaden shoes to prevent
being blown away by the wind" (died B.C. 280).
PHILIPS (_Calvin_) weighed less than 2 lbs. His thighs were not
thicker than a man's thumb. He was born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts,
in 1791.
RITCHIE (_David_), 3 feet 6 inches. Native of Tweeddale.
SOUVRAY (_Therese_).
STOBEUIN (_C.H._) of Nuremberg was less than 3 feet at the age of 20.
His father, mother, brothers, and sisters were all under the medium
height.
THUMB (_General Tom_). His real name was Charles S. Stratton; 25
inches; weight, 25 lbs. at the age of 25. Born at Bridgeport,
Connecticut, in 1832.
THUMB (_Tom_), 2 feet 4 inches. A Dutch dwarf.
XIT, the royal dwarf of Edward VI.
[Illustration] Nicephorus Calistus tells us of an Egyptian dwarf "not
bigger than a partridge."
_Dwarf_ of Lady Clerimond was named Pac'olet. She had a winged horse,
which carried off Valentine, Orson, and Clerimond from the dungeon
of of Ferragus to the palace of King Pepin; and subsequently carried
Valentine to the palace of Alexander, his father, emperor of
Constantinople. _Valentine and Orson_ (fifteenth century).
_Dwarf_ (_The Black_), a fairy of malignant propensities, and
considered the author of all the mischief of the neighborhood. In
Sir W. Scott's novel so called, this imp is introduced under various
_aliases_, as Sir Edward Mauley, Elshander the recluse, cannie Elshie,
and the Wise Wight of Micklestane Moor.
DWARF ALBERICH, the guardian of the Niebelungen hoard. He is twice
vanquished by Siegfried, who gets possession of his cloak of
invisibility, and makes himself master of the hoard.--_The Niebelungen
Lied_ (1210).
DWARF PETER, an allegorical romance by Ludwick Tieck. The dwarf is a
castle spectre, who advises and aids the family, but all his advice
turns out evil, and all his aid is productive of trouble. The dwarf is
meant for "the law in our members, which wars against the law of our
minds, and brings us into captivity to the law of sin."
DWINING (_Henbane_), a pottingar or apothecary.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair
Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
DYING SAYINGS (real or traditional):
ADDISON. See how a Christian dies! _or_ See in what peace a Christian
can die!
ANAXAGORAS. Give the boys a holiday.
[||]AERIA. My Paetus, it is not painful.
[c] AUGUSTUS. Vos plaudite. (After asking how he had acted his part in
life.)--Cicero.
BEAUFORT (_Cardinal Henry_). I pray you all, pray for me.
BERRY (_Mde. de_). Is not this dying with courage and true greatness?
BRONTE (the brother of the authoresses). While there is life there is
will. (He died standing.)
BYRON. I must sleep now.
[Sec.] CAESAR (_Julius_). Et tu, Brute! (To Brutus, when he stabbed him.)
[*] CHARLEMAGNE. Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!
CHARLES I. (of England). Remember! (To William Juxon, archbishop of
Canterbury).
CHARLES II. (of England). Don't let poor Nellie starve! (Nell Gwynne).
CHARLES V. Ah! Jesus!
CHARLES IX. (of France). Nurse, nurse, what murder! what blood! Oh! I
have done wrong. God pardon me! CHARLOTTE (_The Princess_). You make
me drink. Pray, leave me quiet. I find it affects my head.
CHESTERFIELD. Give Day Rolles a chair.
COLUMBUS. Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit!
CROME (_John_), O Hobbima, Hobbima, how I do love thee!
CROMWELL. My desire is to make what haste I may to be gone.
[**]DEMONAX (the philosopher). You may go home, the show is
over.--Lucian.
ELDEN (_Lord_). It matters not where I am going, whether the weather
be cold or hot.
FONTENELLE. I suffer nothing, but feel a sort of difficulty in living
longer.
FRANKLIN. A dying man can do nothing easy.
GAINSBOROUGH. We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the
company.
GEORGE IV. Whatty, what is this? It is death, my boy. They have
deceived me. (Said to his page, Sir Wathen Waller).
GIBBON. Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!
[] GOETHE. More light!
GREGORY VII. I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die
in exile.
[*] GREY (_Lady Jane_). Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!
GROTIUS. Be serious.
HADYN. God preserve the emperor!
HALLER. The artery ceases to beat.
HAZLITT. I have led a happy life.
HOBBES. Now am I about to take my last voyage--a great leap in the
dark.
[||] HUNTER (_Dr. William_). If I had strength to hold a pen, I would
write down how easy and pleasant a thing it is to die.
IRVING. If I die, I die unto the Lord. Amen.
JAMES V. (of Scotland). It came with a lass, and will go with a lass
(_i.e._ the Scotch crown).
JEFFERSON (of America). I resign my spirit to God, my daughter to my
country.
JOHNSON (_Dr._). God bless you, my dear! (To Miss Morris).
KNOX. Now it is come.
LOUIS I. Huz! huz! Bouquet says: "He turned his face to the wall; and
twice cried, 'Huz! huz!' (_out, out_), and then died."
LOUIS IX. I will enter now into the house of the Lord.
[||] Louis XIV. Why weep ye! Did you think I should live for ever?
(Then after a pause) I thought dying had been harder.
[**] Louis XVII. A king should die standing.
MAHOMET. O, Allah, be it so! Henceforth among the glorious host of
paradise.
MARGARET (of Scotland, wife of Louis XI. of France). Fi de la vie!
qu'on ne m'en parle plus.
MARIE ANTOINETTE. Farewell, my children, for ever. I go to your
father.
[Sec.] MASANIELLO. Ungratetul traitors! (Said to the assassins.)
MATHEWS (_Charles_). I am ready.
MIRABEAU. Let me die to the sounds of delicious music.
MOODY (the actor):
Reason thus with life,
If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing
That none but fools would keep.
Shakespeare.
MOORE (_Sir John_). I hope my country will do me justice.
NAPOLEON I. Mon Dieu! La nation Francaise! Tete d'armee!
NAPOLEON III. Were you at Sedan? (To Dr. Conneau.)
NELSON. I thank God I have done my duty.
NERO. Qualis artifex pereo!
PALMER (the actor). There is another and a better country. (This he
said on the stage, it being a line in the part he was acting. From
_The Stranger_.)
PITT (_William_). O, my country, how I love thee!
PIZARRO. Jesu!
POPE. Friendship itself is but a part of virtue.
[**] RABELAIS. Let down the curtain, the farce is over.
SAND (_George_). Laisez la verdure. (Meaning, "Leave the tomb green,
do not cover it over with bricks or stone." George Sand was Mde.
Dudevant.)
SCHILLER. Many things are growing plain and clear to my understanding.
SCOTT (_Sir Walter_). God bless you all! (To his family.) SIDNEY
(_Algernon_). I know that my Redeemer liveth. I die for the good old
cause.
SOCRATES. Crito, we owe a cock to AEsculapius.
STAEL (_Mde. de_). I have loved God, my father, and liberty.
[] TALMA. The worst is, I cannot see.
[*] TASSO. Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!
THURLOW (_Lord_). I'll be shot if I don't believe I'm dying.
[**] VESPASIAN. A king should die standing.
WEBSTER. I still live!
WILLIAM III. (of England). Can this last long? (To his physician).
WILLIAM OF NASSAU. O God, have mercy upon me, and upon this poor
nation! (This was said as he was shot by Balthasar Gerard, 1584).
WOLFE (_General_). What! do they run already? Then I die happy.
WYATT (_Thomas_) That which I then said I unsay. That which I now say
is true. (This to the priest who reminded him that he had accused the
Princess Elizabeth of treason to the council, and that he now alleged
her to be innocent.)
[Illustration] Those names preceded by similar pilcrows indicate that
the "dying words" ascribed to them are identical or nearly so. Thus
the [*] before Charlemagne, Columbus, Lady Jane Grey, and Tasso, show
that their words were alike. So with the before Augustus, Demonax, and
Rabelais; the [**] before Louis XVIII. and Vespasian; the [Sec.] before
Caesar and Masaniello; the [||] before Arria, Hunter, and Louis XIV.;
and the [] before Goethe and Talma.
DYS'COLUS, Moroseness personified in _The Purple Island_, by Phineas
Fletcher (1633). "He nothing liked or praised." Fully described in
canto viii. (Greek, _duskolos_, "fretful.")
DYSMAS, DISMAS, OR DEMAS, the penitent thief crucified with our Lord.
The impenitent thief is called Gesmas or Gestas.
Alta petit Dismas, infelix innma Gesmas.
_Part of a Charm_.
To paradise thief Dismas went,
But Gesmas died impenitent.
EADBURGH, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of England, and Eadgifu,
his wife. When three years old, her father placed on the child some
rings and bracelets, and showed her a chalice and a book of the
Gospels, asking which she would have. The child chose the chalice and
book, and Edward was pleased that "the child would be a daughter of
God." She became a nun, and lived and died in Winchester.
EAGLE (_The_), ensign of the Roman legion. Before the Cimbrian war,
the wolf, the horse, and the boar were also borne as ensigns, but
Marius abolished these, and retained the eagle only, hence called
emphatically "The Roman Bird."
_Eagle (The Theban)_, Pindar, a native of Thebes (B.C. 518-442).
EAGLE OF BRITTANY, Bertrand Duguesclin, constable of France
(1320-1380).
EAGLE OF DIVINES, Thomas Aqui'nas (1224-1274).
EAGLE OF MEAUX [_Mo_], Jacques Benigne Bossuet, bishop of Meaux
(1627-1704).
EAGLE OF THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE, Pierre d'Ailly, a great astrologer,
who maintained that the stars foretold the great flood (1350-1425).
EARNSCLIFFE (_Patrick_), the young laird of Earnscliffe.--Sir W.
Scott, _Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
EASTWARD HO! a comedy by Chapman, Marston, and Ben Jonson. For this
drama the three authors were imprisoned "for disrespect to their
sovereign lord, King James I." (1605). (See WESTWARD Ho!).
EASTY (_Mary_), a woman of Salem (Mass), convicted of witchcraft,
sends before her death a petition to the court, asserting her
innocence. Of her accusers she says: "I know, and the Lord, He knows
(as will shortly appear), that they belie me, and so I question not
but they do others. The Lord alone, who is the searcher of all hearts
knows, as I shall answer it at the tribunal seat, that I know not the
least thing of witchcraft. Therefore I cannot, I durst not, belie
my own soul."--Robert Caleb, _More Wonders of the Invisible World_
(1700).
EASY (_Midshipman_), hero of Marryatt's sea-story of same name.
_Easy (Sir Charles)_, a man who hates trouble; "so lazy, even in his
pleasures, that he would rather lose the woman of his pursuit, than
go through any trouble in securing or keeping her." He says he is
resolved in future to "follow no pleasure that rises above the degree
of amusement." "When once a woman comes to reproach me with vows, and
usage, and such stuff, I would as soon hear her talk of bills, bonds,
and ejectments; her passion becomes as troublesome as a law-suit, and
I would as soon converse with my solicitor." (act iii.).
_Lady Easy_, wife of Sir Charles, who dearly loves him, and knows
all his "naughty ways," but never shows the slightest indication of
ill-temper or jealousy. At last she wholly reclaims him.--Colley
Cibber, _The Careless Husband_ (1704).
EATON THEOPHILUS (_Governor_). In his eulogy upon Governor Eaton, Dr.
Cotton Mather lays stress upon the distinction drawn by that eminent
Christian man between stoicism and resignation.
"There is a difference between a sullen silence or a stupid
senselessness under the hand of GOD, and a childlike submission
thereunto."
"In his daily life", we are told, "he was affable, courteous, and
generally pleasant, but grave perpetually, and so courteous and
circumspect in his discourses, and so modest in his expressions, that
it became a proverb for incontestable truth,"--"Governor Eaton said
it."--Cotton Mather, _Magnolia Christi Americana_ (1702).
EBERSON (_Ear_), the young son of William de la Marck, "The Wild Boar
of Ardennes."--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
EBLIS, monarch of the spirits of evil. Once an angel of light, but,
refusing to worship Adam, he lost his high estate. Before his fall he
was called Aza'zel. The _Koran_ says: "When We [_God_] said unto the
angels, 'Worship Adam,' they all worshipped except Eblis, who refused
... and became of the number of unbelievers" (ch. ii.).
EBON SPEAR (_Knight of the_), Britomart, daughter of King Ryence of
Wales.--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, iii. (1590).
EBRAUC, son of Mempric (son of Guendolen and Madden) mythical king
of England. He built Kaer-brauc [_York_], about the time that David
reigned in Judea.--Geoffrey, _British History_, ii. 7 (1142).
By Ebrauk's powerful hand
York lifts her towers aloft.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY (_The Father of_), Eusebius of Caesarea
(264-340).
[Illustration] His _Historia Fcclesiastica_, in ten books, begins
with the birth of Christ and concludes with the defeat of Licinius by
Constantine, A.D. 324.
ECHEPH'RON, an old soldier, who rebuked the advisers of King
Picrochole (3 _syl_.), by relating to them the fable of _The Man and
his Ha'p'orth of Milk_. The fable is as follows:--
A shoemaker brought a ha'poth of milk: with this he was going to make
butter; the butter was to buy a cow; the cow was to have a calf; the
calf was to be changed for a colt; and the man was to become a nabob;
only he cracked his jug, spilt his milk, and went supperless to
bed.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, i. 33 (1533.)
This fable is told in the _Arabian Nights_ ("The Barber's Fifth
Brother, Alnas-char.") Lafontaine has put it into verse, _Perrette et
le Pot au Lait_. Dodsley has the same, _The Milk-maid and her Pail of
Milk_.
ECHO, in classic poetry, is a female, and in English also; but in
Ossian echo is called "the son of the rock."--_Songs of Selma._
ECK'HART _(The Trusty_), a good servant, who perishes to save his
master's children from the mountain fiends.--Louis Tieck.
(Carlyle has translated this tale into English.)
ECLECTA, the "Elect" personified in _The Purple Island_, by Phineas
Fletcher. She is the daughter of Intellect and Voleta _(free-will)_,
and ultimately becomes the bride of Jesus Christ, "the bridegroom"
(canto xii., 1633).
But let the Kentish lad [_Phineas Fletcher_] ... that sung and crowned
Eclecta's hymen with ten thousand flowers Of choicest praise ... be
the sweet pipe.
Giles Fletcher, _Christ's Triumph, etc_, (1610).
ECOLE DES FEMMES, a comedy of Moliere, the plot of which is borrowed
from the novelletti of _Ser Giovanni_ (1378.)
ECTOR (_Sir_), lord of many parts of England and Wales, and
foster-father of Prince Arthur. His son Sir Key or Kay, was seneschal
or steward of Arthur when he became king.--Sir T. Malory, _History of
Prince Arthur_, i. 3 (1470.)
[Illustration] Sir Ector and Sir Ector de Maris were two distinct
persons.
ECTOR DE MARIS (_Sir_), brother "of Sir Launcelot" of Benwick, _i.e._
Brittany.
Then Sir Ector threw his shield, his sword, and his helm from him, and
... he fell down in a swoon; and when he awaked, it were hard for any
tongue to tell the doleful complaints [_lamentations_] that he made
for his brother. "Ah, Sir Launcelot" said he "head of all Christian
knights." ... etc.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, iii.
176 (1470.)
EDEN (_A Journey to the land of_), Col. William Evelyn Byrd of
Westover Virginia gives this name to a tract of Southern Virginia
surveyed under his direction and visited by him in one of his numerous
expeditions for the good of the young colony.
(Colonel Byrd laid out upon his own ground the cities of Richmond and
Petersburgh, Va.)--William Evelyn Byrd, _Westover MSS._ (1728-39).
_Eden_, in America. A dismal swamp, the climate of which generally
proved fatal to the poor dupes who were induced to settle there
through the swindling transactions of General Scadder and General
Choke. So dismal and dangerous was the place, that even Mark Tapley
was satisfied to have found at last a place where he could "come out
jolly with credit."--C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).
EDENHALL (_The Luck of_) an old painted goblet, left by the fairies
on St. Cuthbert's Well in the garden of Edenhall. The superstition is
that if ever this goblet is lost or broken, there will be no more
luck in the family. The goblet is in possession of Sir Christopher
Musgrave, bart. Edenhall, Cumberland.
[Illustration] Longfellow has a poem on _The Luck of Edenhall_,
translated from Uhland.
EDGAR (959-775), "king of all the English," was not crowned till he
had reigned thirteen years (A.D. 973). Then the ceremony was performed
at Bath. After this he sailed to Chester, and eight of his vassal
kings came with their fleets to pay him homage, and swear fealty to
him by land and sea. The eight are Kenneth (_king of Scots_), Malcolm
(_of Cumberland_), Maccus (_of the Isles_), and five Welsh princes,
whose names were Dufnal, Siferth, Huwal, Jacob, and Juchil. The eight
kings rowed Edgar in a boat (while he acted as steersman) from Chester
to St. John's, where they offered prayer and then returned.
At Chester, while he, [_Edgar_] lived at more than kingly charge.
Eight tributary kings they rowed him in his barge.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xii. (1613).
_Edgar_, son of Gloucester, and his lawful heir. He was disinherited
by Edmund, natural son of the earl.--Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
[Illustration] This was one of the characters of Robert Wilks
(1670-1732), and also of Charles Kemble (1774-1854).
_Edgar_, master of Ravenswood, son of Allan of Ravenswood (a decayed
Scotch nobleman). Lucy Ashton, being attacked by a wild bull, is saved
by Edgar, who shoots it; and the two falling in love with each other,
plight their mutual troth, and exchange love-tokens at the "Mermaid's
Fountain." While Edgar is absent in France on State affairs, Sir
William Ashton, being deprived of his office as lord keeper, is
induced to promise his daughter Lucy in marriage to Frank Hayston,
laird of Bucklaw, and they are married; but next morning, Bucklaw is
found wounded and the bride hidden in the chimney-corner insane. Lucy
dies in convulsions, but Bucklaw recovers and goes abroad. Edgar is
lost in the quick-sands at Kelpies Flow, in accordance with an ancient
prophecy. Sir W. Scott, _Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
[Illustration] In the opera, Edgar is made to stab himself.
_Edgar_, an attendant on Prince Robert of Scotland.--Sir W. Scott,
_Fair Maid of Perth_ (time Henry IV.).
EDGARDO, master of Ravenswood, in love with Lucia di Lammermoor [_Lucy
Ashton_]. While absent in France on State affairs, the lady is led to
believe him faithless, and consents to marry the laird of Bucklaw; but
she stabs him on the bridal night, goes mad, and dies. Edgardo also
stabs himself. Donizetti, _Lucia di Lammermoor_ (1835).
[Illustration] In the novel called _The Bride of Lammermoor_, by
Sir W. Scott, Edgar is lost in the quicksands at Kelpies Flow, in
accordance with an ancient prophecy.
EDGEWOOD (_L'Abbe_), who attended Louis XVI. to the scaffold, was
called "Mons. de Firmount," a corruption of Fairymount, in Longford
(Ireland), where the Edgeworths had extensive domains.
EDGING (_Mistress_), a prying, mischief making waiting-woman, in _The
Careless Husband_, by Colly Cibber (1704.) EDITH (_Leete_). Name of
the two girls beloved and won by Julian West in his first and second
lives.--Edward Bellamy, _Looking Backward_ (1888).
_Edith_, daughter of Baldwin, the tutor of Rollo and Otto, dukes of
Normandy.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Bloody Brother_ (1639).
_Edith_, the "maid of Lorn" (_Argyllshire_), was on the point of being
married to Lord Ronald, when Robert, Edward, and Isabel Bruce sought
shelter at the castle. Edith's brother recognized Robert Bruce, and
being in the English interest a quarrel ensued. The abbot refused
to marry the bridal pair amidst such discord. Edith fled and in the
character of a page had many adventures, but at the restoration of
peace, after the battle of Bannockburn, was duly married to Lord
Ronald.--Sir W. Scott, _Lord of the Isles_ (1815).
_Edith (the lady)_, mother of Athelstane "the Unready" (thane of
Conningsburgh).--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
_Edith_ [GRANGER], daughter of the Hon. Mrs. Skewton, married at the
age of 18 to Colonel Granger of "Ours," who died within two years,
when Edith and her mother lived as adventuresses. Edith became Mr.
Dombey's second wife, but the marriage was altogether an unhappy one,
and she eloped with Mr. Carker to Dijon, where she left him, having
taken this foolish step merely to annoy her husband for the slights to
which he had subjected her. On leaving Carker she went to live with
her cousin Feenix, in the south of England.--C. Dickens, _Dombey and
Son_ (1846).
EDITH PLANTAGENET (_The lady_), called "The Fair Maid of Anjou," a
kinswoman of Richard I., and attendant of Queen Berenga'ria. She
married David, earl of Huntingdon (prince royal of Scotland), and is
introduced by Sir W. Scott in _The Talisman_ (1825).
EDMUND, natural son of the earl of Gloucester. Both Goneril and Regan
(daughters of King Lear) were in love with him. Regan, on the death of
her husband, designed to marry Edmund, but Goneril, out of jealousy,
poisoned her sister Regan.--Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
_Edmund Andros_. In a letter to English friends (1698) Nathaniel
Byfield writes particulars of the revolt in the New England Colonies
against the royal governor, Sir Edmund Andros.
"We have, also, advice that on Friday last
Sir Edmund Andros did attempt to make an
escape in woman's apparel, and passed two
guards and was stopped at the third, being discovered
by his shoes, not having changed
them." Nathaniel Byfield.--_An Account of the
Late Revolution in New England_ (1689).
_Edmund Dante_ (See MONTE CRISTO).
EDO'NIAN BANE (_The_), priestesses and other ministers of Bacchus,
so called from Edo'nus, a mountain of Thrace, where the rites of the
wine-god were celebrated.
Accept the rites your bounty well may claim,
Nor heed the scoffing of th' Edonian band.
Akinside, _Hymn to the Naiads_ (1767).
EDRIC, a domestic at Hereward's barracks.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert
of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
EDWARD, brother of Hereward the Varangian guard. He was slain in
battle.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus). _Edward
(Sir)._ He commits a murder, and keeps a narrative of the transaction
in an iron chest. Wilford, a young man who acts as his secretary, was
one day caught prying into this chest, and Sir Edward's first impulse
was to kill him; but on second thought he swore the young man to
secrecy, and told him the story of the murder. Wilford, unable to live
under the suspicious eye of Sir Edward, ran away; but was hunted down
by Edward, and accused of robbery. The whole transaction now became
public, and Wilford was acquitted.--G. Colman, _The Iron Chest_
(1796).
[Illustration] This drama is based on Goodwin's novel of _Caleb
Williams_. "Williams" is called _Wilford_ in the drama, and "Falkland"
is called _Sir Edward_.
Sowerby, whose mind was always in a ferment,
was wont to commit the most ridiculous
mistakes. Thus when "Sir Edward" says to
"Wilford," "You may have noticed in my
library a chest," he transposes the words thus:
"You may have noticed in my chest a library,"
and the house was convulsed with laughter.--
Russell, _Representative Actors_ (appendix).
EDWARD II., a tragedy by C. Marlowe (1592), imitated by Shakespeare in
his _Richard II_. (1597). Probably most readers would prefer Marlowe's
noble tragedy to Shakespeare's.
EDWARD IV. of England, introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel
entitled _Anne_ of _Geierstein_ (1829).
EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE, a tragedy by W. Shirley (1640). The subject
of this drama is the victory of Poitiers.
Yes, Philip lost the battle [_Cressy_] with the odds
Of three to one. In this [_Poitiers_]...
The have our numbers more than twelve times
told,
If we can trust report.
Act iii. 2.
ED'WIDGE, wife of William Tell.--Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (1829).
EDWIN "the minstrel," a youth living in romantic seclusion, with a
great thirst for knowledge. He lived in Gothic days in the north
countrie, and fed his flocks on Scotia's mountains.
And yet poor Edwin was no vulgar boy,
Deep thought oft seemed to fix his infant eye,
Danties he heeded not, nor gaude, nor toy,
Save one short pipe of rudest ministrelsy;
Silent when glad, affectionate, yet shy ...
And now he laughed aloud, yet none knew why.
The neighbors stared and sighed, yet blessed the
lad;
Some deemed him wonderous wise, and some believed
him mad.
Beattie, _The Minstrel_, 1. (1773).
EDWIN AND ANGELI'NA. Angelina was the daughter of a wealthy lord,
"beside the Tyne." Her hand was sought in marriage by many suitors,
amongst whom was Edwin, "who had neither wealth nor power, but he had
both wisdom and worth." Angelina loved him, but "trifled with him,"
and Edwin, in despair, left her and retired from the world. One day,
Angelina, in boy's clothes, asked hospitality at a hermit's cell; she
was kindly entertained, told her tale, and the hermit proved to
be Edwin. From that hour they never parted more.--Goldsmith, _The
Hermit._
A correspondent accuses me of having taken this ballad from _The Friar
of Orders Gray_ ... but if there is any resemblance between the two,
Mr. Percy's ballad is taken from mine. I read my ballad to Mr. Percy,
and he told me afterwards that he had taken my plan to form the
fragments of Shakespeare into a ballad of his own.--Signed, O.
Goldsmith, 1767.
EDWIN AND EMMA. Emma was a rustic beauty of Stanemore, who loved Edwin
"the pride of swains;" but Edwin's sister, out of envy, induced his
father, "a sordid man," to forbid any intercourse between Edwin and
the cottage. Edwin pined away, and being on the point of death,
requested he might be allowed to see Emma. She came and said to him,
"My Edwin, live for me;" but on her way home she heard the death bell
toll. She just contrived to reach her cottage door, cried to her
mother, "He's gone!" and fell down dead at her feet.--Mallet, _Edwin
and Emma_ (a ballad).
ED'YRN, son of Nudd. He ousted the earl of Yn'iol from his earldom,
and tried to to win E'nid, the earl's daughter, but failing in this,
became the evil genius of the gentle earl. Ultimately, being sent
to the court of King Arthur, he became quite a changed man--from
a malicious "sparrow-hawk" he was converted into a courteous
gentleman.--Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ ("Enid").
EFESO (_St_.), a saint honored in Pisa. He was a Roman officer
[_Ephesus_] in the service of Diocletian, whose reign was marked by
a great persecution of the Christians. This Efeso or Ephesus was
appointed to see the decree of the emperor against the obnoxious sect
carried out in the island of Sardinia; but being warned in a dream not
to persecute the servants of the Lord, both he and his friend Potito
embraced Christianity, and received a standard from Michael the
archangel himself. On one occasion, being taken captive, St. Efeso was
cast into a furnace of fire, but received no injury; whereas those who
cast him in were consumed by the flames. Ultimately, both Efeso and
Potito suffered martyrdom, and were buried in the island of Sardinia.
When, however, that island was conquered by Pisa in the eleventh
century, the relics of the two martyrs were carried off and interred
in the duomo of Pisa, and the banner of St. Efeso was thenceforth
adopted as the national ensign of Pisa.
EGALITE (_Philippe_), the duc d'Orleans, father of Louis Philippe,
king of France. He himself assumed this "title" when he joined the
revolutionary party, whose motto was "Liberty, Fraternity, and
Egalite" (born 1747, guillotined 1793).
EGE'US (3 _syl_.), father of Her'mia. He summoned her before The'seus
(2 _syl_.), duke of Athens, because she refused to marry Demetrius, to
whom he had promised her in marriage; and he requested that she might
either be compelled to marry him or else be dealt with "according to
law," _i.e._ "either to die the death," or else to "endure the livery
of a nun, and live a barren sister all her life." Hermia refused to
submit to an "unwished yoke," and fled from Athens with Lysander.
Demetrius, seeing that Hermia disliked him but that Hel'ena doted on
him, consented to abandon the one and wed the other. When Egeus was
informed thereof, he withdrew his summons, and gave his consent to the
union of his daughter with Lysander.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night's
Dream_ (1592).
[Illustration] S. Knowles, in _The Wife_, makes the plot turn on a
similar "law of marriage" (1833).
E'GIL, brother of Weland; a great archer. One day, King Nidung
commanded him to shoot at an apple placed on the head of his own son.
Egil selected two arrows, and being asked why he wanted two, replied,
"One to shoot thee with, O tyrant, if I fail."
(This is one of the many stories similar to that of _William Tell,
q.v._) EGILO'NA, the wife of Roderick, last of the Gothic kings of
Spain. She was very beautiful, but cold-hearted, vain, and fond of
pomp. After the fall of Roderick, Egilona married Abdal-Aziz, the
Moorish governor of Spain; and when Abdal-Aziz was killed by the
Moorish rebels, Egilona fell also.
The popular rage
Fell on them both; and they to whom her name
Had been a mark for mockery and reproach,
Shuddered with human horror at her fate.
Southey, _Roderick, etc_., xxii. (1814).
EG'IA, a female Moor, a servant to Amaranta (wife of Bar'tolus, the
covetous lawyer).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Spanish Curate_ (1622).
EG'LAMOUR (_Sir_) or SIR EGLAMORE of Artoys, a knight of Arthurian
romance. Sir Eglamour and Sir Pleindamour have no French original,
although the names themselves are French.
_Eg'lamour_, the person who aids Silvia, daughter of the duke of
Milan, in her escape.--Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_
(1594).
EGLANTINE (3 _syl_.). daughter of King Pepin, and bride of her cousin
Valentine (brother of Orson). She soon died.--_Valentine and Orson_
(fifteenth century).
_Eglantine (Madame)_, the prioress; good-natured, wholly ignorant
of the world, vain of her delicacy of manner at table, and fond of
lap-dogs. Her dainty oath was "By Saint Eloy!" She "entuned the
service swetely in her nose," and spoke French "after the scole of
Stratford-atte-Bowe."--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).
EGMONT. Dutch patriot executed by order of Philip II. of
Spain.--Goethe's _Egmont_ (1788).
EGYPT, in Dryden's satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, means France.
Egypt and Tyrus [_Holland_] intercept your
trade.
Part i. (1681).
EGYPTIAN PRINCESS. Nitetis, the real daughter of Hophra, king of
Egypt, and the assumed daughter of Amases, his successor. She was
sent to Persia, as the bride of Cambyses, the king, but before
their marriage, was falsely accused of infidelity, and committed
suicide.--George Ebers, _An Egyptian Princess_.
EGYPTIAN THIEF (_The_), Thyamis, a native of Memphis. Knowing he must
die, he tried to kill Chariclea, the woman he loved.
Why should I not, had I the heart to do it,
Like to th' Egyptian thief at point of death,
Kill what I love?
Shakespeare, _Twelth Night_, act v. sc. 1 (1614).
EIGHTH WONDER (_The_). When Gil Blas reached Pennaflor, a parasite
entered his room in the inn, hugged him with great energy, and called
him the "eighth wonder." When Gil Blas replied that he did not know
his name had spread so far, the parasite exclaimed, "How! we keep a
register of all the celebrated names within twenty leagues, and have
no doubt Spain will one day be as proud of you as Greece was of the
seven sages." After this, Gil Blas could do no less than ask the man
to sup with him. Omelet after omelet was despatched, trout was called
for, bottle followed bottle, and when the parasite was gorged to
satiety, he rose and said, "Signor Gil Blas, don't believe yourself to
be the eighth wonder of the world because a hungry man would feast
by flattering your vanity." So saying, he stalked away with a
laugh.--Lesage, _Gil Blas_, i. 2 (1715).
(This incident is copied from Aleman's romance of _Guzman d'
Alfarache, q.v._)
EIKON BASIL'IKE (4 _syl_.), the portraiture of a king _(i.e._ Charles
I.), once attributed to King Charles himself; but now admitted to be
the production of Dr. John Gauden, who (after the restoration) was
first created Bishop of Exeter, and then of Worcester (1605-1662).
In the _Eikon Basilike_ a strain of majestic melancholy is kept up,
but the personated sovereign is rather too theatrical for real
nature, the language is too rhetorical and amplified, the periods too
artificially elaborated.--Hallam, _Literature of Europe_, iii. 662.
(Milton wrote his _Eikonoclasets_ in answer to Dr. Gauden's _Eikon
Baslike_.)
EINER'IAR, the hall of Odin, and asylum of warriors slain in battle.
It had 540 gates, each sufficiently wide to admit eight men abreast to
pass through.--_Scandinavian Mythology._
EINION (_Father_), Chaplain to Gwenwyn Prince of Powys-land.--Sir W.
Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
EIROS. Imaginary personage, who in the other world holds converse with
"Charmion" upon the tragedy that has wrecked the world. The cause of
the ruin was "the extraction of the nitrogen from the atmosphere."
"The whole incumbent mass of ether in which
we existed burst at once into a species of intense
flame for whose surpassing brilliancy and all
fervid heat even the angels in the high Heaven
of pure knowledge have no name. Thus ended
all."--Edgar Allen Poe, _Conversation of Eiros and
Charmion_ (1849).
ELVIR, a Danish maid, who assumes boy's clothing, and waits on Harold
"the Dauntless," as his page! Subsequently her sex is discovered, and
Harold marries her.--Sir. W. Scott, _Harold the Dauntless_ (1817).
ELAIN, sister of King Arthur by the same mother. She married Sir
Nentres of Carlot, and was by King Arthur the mother of Mordred. (See
ELEIN)--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. (1470).
[Illustration] In some of the romances there is great confusion
between Elain (the sister) and Morgause (the half-sister) of Arthur.
Both are called the mother of Mordred, and both are also called the
wife of Lot. This, however, is a mistake. Elain was the wife of Sir
Nentres, and Morgause of Lot; and if Gawain, Agrawain, Gareth and
Gaheris were [half] brothers of Mordred, as we are told over and over
again, then Morgause and not Elain was his mother. Tennyson makes
Bellicent the wife of Lot, but this is not in accordance with any of
the legends collected by Sir T. Malory.
ELAINE (_Dame_), daughter of King Pelles (2 _syl_.) "the foragn
country," and the unwedded mother of Sir Galahad by Sir Launcelot du
Lac.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, iii. 1 (1470).
_Elaine_, daughter of King Brandeg'oris, by whom Sir Bors de Ganis had
a child.
[Illustration] It is by no means clear from the history whether Elaine
was the daughter of King Brandegoris, or the daughter of Sir Bors and
granddaughter of King Brandegoris.
_Elaine_' (2 _syl_.), the strong contrast of Guinevere. Guinevere's
love for Launcelot was gross and sensual, Elaine's was platonic and
pure as that of a child; but both were masterful in their strength.
Elaine is called "the lily maid of Astolat" (_Guildford_), and knowing
that Launcelot was pledged to celibacy, she pined and died. According
to her dying request, her dead body was placed on a bed in a barge,
and was thus conveyed by a dumb servitor to the palace of King Arthur.
A letter was handed to the king, telling the tale of Elaine's love,
and the king ordered the body to be buried, and her story to be
blazoned on her tomb.--Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ ("Elaine").
EL'AMITES (3 _syl_.), Persians. So called from Elam, son of Shem.
EL'BERICH, the most famous dwarf of German romance.--_The Heldenbuch_.
EL'BOW, a well-meaning but loutish constable.--Shakespeare, _Measure
for Measure_ (1603).
EL'EANOR, queen-consort of Henry II., alluded to by the Presbyterian
minister in _Woodstock_, x. (1826).
"Believe me, young man, thy servant was
more likely to see visions than to dream idle
dreams in that apartment; for I have always
heard that, next to Rosamond's Bower, in which
... she played the wanton, and was afterwards
poisoned by Queen Eleanor, Victor Lee's
chamber was the place ... peculiarly the
haunt of evil spirits."--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_
(time, Commonwealth).
ELEANOR CROSSES, twelve or fourteen crosses erected by Edward I. in
the various towns where the body of his queen rested, when it was
conveyed from Herdelie, near Lincoln, to Westminster. The three that
still remain are Geddington, Northampton, and Waltham. ELEAZAR the
Moor, insolent, bloodthirsty, lustful, and vindictive, like "Aaron,"
in [Shakespeare's?] _Titus An-dron'icus._ The lascivious queen of
Spain is in love with this monster.--C. Marlowe, _Lust's dominion_ or
_The Lascivious Queen_ (1588).
_Elea'zar_, a famous mathematician, who cast out devils by tying to
the nose of the possessed a mystical ring, which the demon no sooner
smelled than he abandoned the victim. He performed before the Emperor
Vespasian; and to prove that something came out of the possessed, he
commanded the demon in making off to upset a pitcher of water, which
it did.
I imagine if Eleazar's ring had been put under
their noses, we should have seen devils issue with
their breath, so loud were these disputants.--
Lesage, _Gil Blas_, v. 12 (1724).
ELECTOR (_The Great_), Frederick William of Brandenburg (1620-1688).
ELEIN, wife of King Ban of Benwick (_Brittany_), and mother of Sir
Launcelot and Sir Lionell. (See ELAIN.)--Sir T. Malory, _History of
Prince Arthur_, i. 60 (1470)
ELEVEN THOUSAND VIRGINS (_The_), the virgins who followed St. Ur'sula
in her flight towards Rome. They were all massacred at Cologne by a
party of Huns, and even to the present hour "their bones" are shown
lining the whole interior of the Church of Ste. Ursula.
A calendar in the Freisingen codex notices them as "SS. M. XL
VIRGINUM," this is, eleven virgin martyrs; but "M" (martyrs) being
taken for 1000, we get 11,000. It is furthermore remarkable that the
number of names known of these virgins is eleven; (1) Ursula, (2)
Sencia, (3) Gregoria, (4) Pinnosa, (5) Martha, (6) Saula, (7)
Brittola, (8) Saturnina, (9) Rabacia or Sabatia, (10) Saturia or
Saturnia, and (11) Palladia.
ELFENREIGEN [_el.f'n-ri.gn_] (4 _syl_.) or Alpleich, that weird music
with which Bunting, the pied piper of Hamelin, led forth the rats
into the river Weser, and the children into a cave in the mountain
Koppenberg. The song of the sirens is so called.
EL'FETA, wife of Cambuscan', king of Tartary.
EL'FLIDA or AETHELFLAEDA, daughter of King Alfred, and wife of
Aethelred, chief of that part of Mercia not claimed by the Danes. She
was a woman of enormous energy and masculine mind. At the death of her
husband, she ruled over Mercia, and proceeded to fortify city after
city, as Bridgenorth, Tamworth, Warwick, Hertford, Witham, and so on.
Then attacking the Danes, she drove them from place to place, and kept
them from molesting her.
When Elflida up-grew ...
The puissant Danish powers victoriously pursued,
And resolutely here thro' their thick squadrons hewed
Her way into the north.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xii. (1613).
ELFRIDE (_Swancourt_). Blue-eyed girl, betrothed first to Stephen
Smith; afterwards she loves passionately Henry Knight. He leaves
her in pique, and she weds Lord Luxellian, dying soon after the
marriage.--Thomas Hardy, _A Pair of Blue Eyes_ (1873).
ELF'THRYTH or AELF'THRYTH, daughter of Ordgar, noted for her great
beauty. King Edgar sent Aethelwald, his friend, to ascertain if she
were really as beautiful as report made her out to be. When AEthelwald
saw her he fell in love with her, and then, returning to the king,
said she was not handsome enough for the king, but was rich enough to
make a very eligible wife for himself. The king assented to the match,
and became godfather to the first child, who was called Edgar. One
day the king told his friend he intended to pay him a visit, and
Aethelwald revealed to his wife the story of his deceit, imploring
her at the same time to conceal her beauty. But Elfthryth, extremely
indignant, did all she could to set forth her beauty. The king fell in
love with her, slew Aethelwald, and married the widow.
A similar story is told by Herodotus; Prexaspes being the lady's name,
and Kambyses the king's.
EL'GITHA, a female attendant at Rotherwood on the Lady Rowe'na.--Sir
W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
E'LIA, pseudonym of Charles Lamb, author of the _Essays of Elia_
(1823).--_London Magazine_.
ELI'AB, in the satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, by Dry den and
Tate, is Henry Bennet, earl of Arlington. As Eliab befriended David (1
_Chron_. xii. 9), so the earl befriended Charles II.
Hard the task to do Eliab right;
Long with the royal wanderer he roved,
And firm in all the turns of fortune proved.
_Absalom and Achitophel_, ii. (1682).
E'LIAN GOD (_The_), Bacchus. An error for 'Eleuan, _i.e._ "the god
Eleleus" (3 _syl_). Bacchus was called _El'eleus_ from the Bacchic
cry, _eleleu_!
As when with crowned cups unto the Elian god
Those priests high orgies held.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, vi. (1612).
EL'IDURE (3 _syl_.), surnamed "the Pious," brother of Gorbonian, and
one of the five sons of Morvi'dus (_q.v._). He resigned the crown to
his brother Arthgallo, who had been deposed. Ten years afterwards,
Arthgallo died, and Elidure was again advanced to the throne, but was
deposed and imprisoned by his two younger brothers. At the death of
these two brothers, Elidure was taken from prison, and mounted the
British throne for the third time.--Geoffrey, _British History_, iii.
17,18 (1470).
Then Elidure again, crowned with applausive praise,
As he a brother raised, by brothers was deposed
And put into the Tower ... but, the usurpers dead,
Thrice was the British crown set on his reverend head.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
[Illustration] Wordsworth has a poem on this subject.
ELIJAH FED BY RAVENS. While Elijah was at the brook Cherith, in
concealment, ravens brought him food every morning and evening.--1
_Kings_ xvii. 6.
A strange parallel is recorded of Wyat, in the reign of Richard III.
The king cast him into prison, and when he was nearly starved to
death, a cat appeared at the window-grating, and dropped into his hand
a pigeon, which the warder cooked for him. This was repeated daily.
E'LIM, the guardian angel of Lebbeus (3 _syl_.) the apostle. Lebbeus,
the softest and most tender of the twelve, at the death of Jesus
"sank under the burden of his grief."--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, iii.
(1748).
ELINOR GREY, self-poised daughter of a statesman in Frank Lee
Benedict's novel, _My Daughter Elinor_ (1869). EL'ION, consort of
Beruth, and father of Che.--Sanchoniathon.
ELIOT (_John_). Of the Apostle to the North American Indians, Dr.
Cotton Mather writes:
"He that will write of Eliot must write of
charity, or say nothing. His charity was a star
of the first magnitude in the bright constellation
of his virtues, and the rays of it were wonderfully
various and extensive."--Cotton Mather,
_Magna Christi Americana_ (1702).
_Eliot (George)_, Marian Evans (or "Mrs. Marian Lewes"), author of
_Adam Bede_ (1858), _Mill on the Floss_ (1860), _Silas Marner_ (1861),
etc.
ELISA, often written ELIZA in English, Dido, queen of Carthage.
... nec me meminisse pigebit Elisae,
Dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos reget artus.
Virgil, _Aeneid_, iv. 335, 336.
So to Eliza dawned that cruel day
Which tore AEneas from her sight away,
That saw him parting, never to return,
Herself in funeral flames decreed to burn.
Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, iii. 4 (1756).
ELIS'ABAT, a famous surgeon, who attended Queen Madasi'ma in all her
solitary wanderings, and was her sole companion.--_Amadis de Gaul_
(fifteenth century).
ELISABETH OU LES EXILES DE SIBERIE, a tale by Madame Cottin
(1773-1807). The family being exiled for some political offence,
Elizabeth walked all the way from Siberia to Russia, to crave pardon
of the Czar. She obtained her prayer, and the family returned.
ELISABETHA (_Miss_). "She is not young. The tall, spare form stiffly
erect, the little wisp of hair behind ceremoniously braided and
adorned with a high comb, the long, thin hands and the fine network of
wrinkles over her pellucid, colorless cheeks, tell this." But she is
a gentlewoman, with generations of gentlewomen back of her, and lives
for Doro, her orphan ward, whom she has taught music. She loved his
father, and for his sake--and his own--loves the boy. She works for
him, hoards for him, and is ambitious for him only. When he grows up
and marries a lowborn girl,--"a Minorcan"--and fills the old home with
rude children, who break the piano-wires, the old aunt slaves for
them. After he dies, a middle-aged man, she does not leave them.
"I saw her last year--an old woman, but working still."--Constance
Fennimore Woolson, _Southern Sketches_ (1880).
ELISE (2 _syl_.), the motherless child of Harpagon the miser. She was
affianced to Valere, by whom she had been "rescued from the waves."
Valere turns out to be the son of Don Thomas d'Alburci, a wealthy
nobleman of Naples.--Moliere, _L'Avare_ (1667).
ELIS'SA, step-sister of Medi'na and Perissa. They could never agree
upon any subject.--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, ii. 2 (1590).
"Medina" (_the golden mean_), "Elissa" and "Perissa" (_the two
extremes_).
ELIZABETH (_Le Marchant_.) Nice girl whose life is, darkened by a
frustrated elopement, by which she is apparently compromised. All
comes well in the end.--Rhoda Broughton, _Alas!_ (1890).
_Elizabeth (The Queen)_, haughty, imperious, but devoted to her
people. She loved the earl of Essex, and, when she heard that he was
married to the countess of Rutland, exclaimed that she never "knew
sorrow before." The queen gave Essex a ring after his rebellion,
saying, "Here, from my finger take this ring, a pledge of mercy; and
whensoe'er you send it back, I swear that I will grant whatever boon
you ask." After his condemnation, Essex sent the ring to the queen by
the countess of Nottingham, craving that her most gracious majesty
would spare the life of Lord Southampton; but the countess, from
jealousy, did not give it to the queen. The queen sent a reprieve for
Essex, but Burleigh took care that it came too late, and the earl was
beheaded as a traitor.--Henry Jones, _The Earl of Essex_ (1745).
_Elizabeth (Queen)_, introduced by Sir W. Scott in his novel called
_Kenilworth_.
ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY (_St._), patron saint of queens, being herself a
queen. Her day is July 9 (1207-1231).
ELLEN (_Montgomery_). The orphaned heroine of Susan Warner's story,
_The Wide, Wide World_ (1851.)
_Ellen (Wade)_. Girl of eighteen who travels and camps with the family
of Ishmael Bush, although many grades above them in education and
refinement. Betrothed to Paul Hover, the bee-hunter.--James Fennimore
Cooper, _The Prairie_, (1827).
ELLESMERE (_Mistress_), the head domestic of Lady Peveril.--Sir W.
Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
ELLIOTT, (_Hobbie, i.e._ Halbert), farmer at the Heugh-foot. His
bride-elect is Grace Armstrong.
_Mrs. Elliott_, Hobbie's grandmother. _John_ and _Harry_, Hobbie's
brothers.
_Lilias, Jean_, and _Arnot_, Hobbie's sisters.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
ELMO (_St._). _The fire of St. Elmo_ (_Feu de Saint Elme_), a
comazant. If only one appears on a ship-mast, foul weather is at hand;
but if two or more, they indicate that stormy weather is about to
cease. By the Italians these comazants are called the "fires of St.
Peter and St. Nicholas." In Latin the single fire is called "Helen,"
but the two "Castor and Pollux." Horace says (_Odes_, I. xiii. 27):
Quorum simul alba nautis stella refulsit,
Defluit saxis agitatus humor,
Concident venti, fugiuntque nubes, etc.
But Longfellow makes the _stella_ indicative of foul weather:
Last night I saw St. Elmo's stars,
With their glimmering lanterns all at play ...
And I knew we should have foul weather to-day.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_.
(St. Elmo is the patron saint of sailors.)
ELOA, the first of seraphs. He name with God is "The Chosen One," but
the angels call him Eloa. Eloa and Gabriel were angel friends.
Eloa, fairest spirit of heaven. His thoughts
are past understanding to the mind of man.
He looks more lovely than the day-spring, more
beaming than the stars of heaven when they
first flew into being at the voice of the Creator.
--Klopstock, _The Messiah_, i. (1748).
ELOI (_St._), that is, St. Louis. The kings of France were called
Loys up to the time of Louis XIII. Probably the "delicate oath" of
Chaucer's prioress, who was a French scholar "after the scole of
Stratford-atte-Bowe," was St. Loy, _i.e._ St. Louis, and not St. Eloi
the patron saint of smiths and artists. St.
Eloi was bishop of Noyon in the reign of Dagobert, and a noted
craftsman in gold and silver. (Query, "Seint Eloy" for Seinte Loy?)
Ther was also a nonne, a prioresse,
That of hire smiling was full simp' and coy,
Hire greatest othe was but by Seint Eloy!
Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).
ELOPS. There was a fish so-called, but Milton uses the word
(_Paradise Lost_, x. 525) for the dumb serpent or serpent which gives
no warning of its approach by hissing or otherwise. (Greek, _ellops_,
"mute or dumb.")
ELOQUENCE (_The Four Monarchs of_): (1) Demonsthenes, the Greek orator
(B.C. 385-322); (2) Cicero, the Roman orator (B.C. 106-43); (3) Burke,
the English orator (1730-1797); (4) Webster, the American orator
(1782-1852).
ELOQUENT (_That old Man_), Isocrates, the Greek orator. When he heard
that the battle of Chaeronea was lost, and that Greece was no longer
free, he died of grief.
That dishonest victory
At Chaeronea, fatal to liberty,
Killed with report that Old Man Eloquent.
Milton, _Sonnet_ ix.
In the United States the term was freely applied to John Quincy Adams,
in the latter years of his life.
ELOQUENT DOCTOR (_The_), Peter Aurelolus, archbishop of Aix
(fourteenth century).
ELPINUS, Hope personified. He was "clad in sky-like blue" and the
motto of his shield was "I hold by being held." He went attended by
Pollicita (_promise_). Fully described in canto ix. (Greek, _elpis_,
"hope.")--Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_ (1633).
ELSA. German maiden, accused of having killed her little brother.
At her trial a knight appears, drawn by a swan, champions her and
vanquishes her accuser. Elsa weds him (Lohengrin) promising never to
ask of his country or family. She breaks the vow; the swan appears and
bears him away from her.--_Lohengrin_ Opera, by Richard Wagner.
ELSHENDER THE RECLUSE, called "the Canny Elshie" or the "Wise Wight of
Mucklestane Moor." This is "the black dwarf," or Sir Edward Mauley,
the hero of the novel.--Sir W. Scott, _The Black Dwarf_ (time Anne).
ELSIE, the daughter of Gottlieb, a cottage farmer of Bavaria. Prince
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