Dove. He went to sea in a privateer under captain Ironside, his uncle,
and changed his name to Lewson. The vessel was wrecked on the Cornwall
coast, and he renewed his acquaintance with Sophia, but heard that she
was engaged in marriage to his brother. As, however, it was proved
that his brother was already married, the young lady willingly
abandoned the elder for the younger brother.--K. Cumberland, _The
Brothers_ (1769).
BELMOUR (_Edward_), a gay young man about town.--Congreve, _The Old
Bachelor_ (1693).
_Belmour (Mrs_.), a widow of "agreeable vivacity, entertaining
manners, quickness of transition from one thing to another, a feeling
heart, and a generosity of sentiment." She it is who shows Mrs.
Lovemore the way to keep her husband at home, and to make him treat
her with that deference which is her just due.--A. Murphy, _The Way to
Keep Him_ (1760).
BELOVED DISCIPLE (_The_), St. John "the divine," and writer of the
fourth Gospel.--_John_ xiii. 23, etc.
BELOVED PHYSICIAN (_The_), St. Luke the evangelist.--_Col._ iv. 14.
BEL'PHEGOR, a Moabitish deity, whose orgies were celebrated on mount
Phegor, and were noted for their obscenity.
BELPHOE'BE (3 _syl._). "All the Graces rocked her cradle when she was
born." Her mother was Chrysog'onê (4 _syl._), daughter of Amphisa of
fairy lineage, and her twin-sister was Amoretta. While the mother and
her babes were asleep, Diana took one (Belphoebê) to bring up, and
Venus took the other.
[Illustration] Belphoebe is the "Diana" among women, cold,
passionless, correct, and strong-minded. Amoret is the "Venus," but
without the licentiousness of that goddess, warm, loving, motherly,
and wifely. Belphoebê was a lily; Amoret a rose. Belphoebê a moonbeam,
light without heat; Amoret a sunbeam, bright and warm and life-giving.
Belphoebê would go to the battle-field, and make a most admirable
nurse or lady-conductor of an ambulance; but Amoret would prefer to
look after her husband and family, whose comfort would be her first
care, and whose love she would seek and largely reciprocate.--See
Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. vi. (1590).
[Illustration] "Belphoebê" is queen Elizabeth. As _queen_ she is
Gloriana, but as _woman_ she is Belphoebê, the beautiful and chaste.
Either Grloriana let her choose,
Or in Belphoebe fashioned to be;
In one her rule, in the other her rare chastitie.
Spenser, _Faery Queen_ (introduction to bk. iii.).
BELTED WILL, lord William Howard, warden of the western marches
(1563-1640).
His Bilboa blade, by Marchmen felt,
Hung in a broad and studded belt;
Hence in rude phrase the Borderers still
Called noble Howard "Belted Will."
Sir W. Scott.
BELTEN'EBROS (4 _syl._). Amadis of Graul assumes the name when he
retires to the Poor Rock, after receiving a cruel letter from Oria'na
his lady-love.--Vasco de Lobeira, _Amadis de Gaul_, ii. 6 (before
1400).
One of the most distinguishing testimonies
which that hero gave of his fortitude, constancy,
and love, was his retiring to the Poor Rock when
in disgrace with his mistress Oriana, to do penance
under the name of _Beltenebros_ or the _Lovely
Obscure._--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. iii. 11 (1605).
BELVIDE'RA, daughter of Priu'li a senator of Venice. She was saved
from the sea by Jaffier, eloped with him, and married him. Her father
then discarded her, and her husband joined the conspiracy of Pierre to
murder the senators. He tells Belvidera of the plot, and Belvidera,
in order to save her father, persuades Jaffier to reveal the plot to
Priuli, if he will promise a general free pardon. Priuli gives the
required promise, but notwithstanding, all the conspirators, except
Jaffier, are condemned to death by torture. Jaffier stabs Pierre to
save him from the dishonor of the wheel, and then kills himself.
Belvidera goes mad and dies.--Otway, _Venice Preserved_ (1682).
BEN [LEGEND], sir Sampson Legend's younger son, a sailor and
a "sea-wit," in whose composition there enters no part of the
conventional generosity and open frankness of a British tar. His slang
phrase is "D'ye see," and his pet oath "Mess!"--W. Congreve, _Love for
Love_ (1695). I cannot agree with the following sketch:--
What is _Ben_--the pleasant sailor which Bannister gives us--but a
piece of satire ... a dreamy combination of all the accidents of a
sailor's character, his contempt of money, his credulity to women,
with that necessary estrangement from home?... We never think the
worse of Ben for it, or feel it as a stain upon his character.--C.
Lamb.
C. Dibdin says: "If the description of Thom. Doggett's performance of
this character be correct, the part has certainly never been performed
since to any degree of perfection."
BEN BOLT, old schoolmate with whom Thomas Dunn English exchanges
reminiscences in the ballad, _Ben Bolt_, beginning:
Don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt?
Sweet Alice, whose hair was so brown;
Who wept with delight when you gave her a smile,
And trembled with fear at your frown. (1845.)
BEN-HUR, a young Jew, who, for accidentally injuring a Roman soldier,
is condemned to the galleys for life. Escaping, after three years of
servitude, through the favor of Arrius, a Roman Tribune, he seeks his
mother and sister to find both lepers. They are healed by Christ,
whose devoted followers they become.--Lew Wallace, _Ben-Hur: A Tale of
the Christ_ (1880).
BEN ISRAEL (_Nathan_) or NATHAN BEN SAMUEL, the physician and friend
of Isaac the Jew.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
BEN JOC'HANAN, in the satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_, by Dryden
and Tate, is meant for the Rev. Samuel Johnson, who suffered much
persecution for his defence of the right of private judgment.
Let Hebron, nay, let hell produce a man
So made for mischief as Ben Jochanan.
A Jew of humble parentage was he,
By trade a Levite, though of low degree.
Part ii.
BENAI'AH (3 _syl_.), in _Absalom and Achitophel_, is meant for general
George Edward Sackville. As Benaiah, captain of David's guard, adhered
to Solomon against Adonijah, so general Sackville adhered to the duke
of York against the prince of Orange (1590-1652).
Nor can Benaiah's worth forgotten lie,
Of steady soul when public storms were high.
Dryden and Tate, part ii.
BENAS'KAR or BENNASKAR, a wealthy merchant and magician of
Delhi.--James Ridley, _Tales of the Genii_ ("History of Mahoud," tale
vii., 1751).
BENBOW (_Admiral_). In an engagement with the French near St. Martha
on the Spanish coast in 1701, admiral Benbow had his legs and thighs
shivered into splinters by chain-shot, but supported in a wooden frame
he remained on the quarter-deck till morning, when Du Casse sheered
off.
Similar acts of heroism are recorded of Almeyda, the Portuguese
governor of India, of Cynaegiros brother of the poet AEschylos, of
Jaafer the standard-bearer of "the prophet" in the battle of Muta, and
of some others.
_Benbow_, an idle, generous, free-and-easy sot, who spent a good
inheritance in dissipation, and ended life in the workhouse.
Benbow, a boon companion, long approved
By jovial sets, and (as he thought) beloved,
Was judged as one to joy and friendship prone,
And deemed injurious to himself alone.
Crabbe, _Borough_, xvi. (1810).
BEND-THE-BOW, an English archer at Dickson's cottage.--Sir W. Scott,
_Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).
BENEDICK, a wild, witty, and light-hearted young lord of Padua, who
vowed celibacy, but fell in love with Beatrice and married her. It
fell out thus: He went on a visit to Leonato, governor of Messina;
here he sees Beatrice, the governor's niece, as wild and witty as
himself, but he dislikes her, thinks her pert and forward, and
somewhat ill-mannered withal. However, he hears Claudio speaking to
Leonata about Beatrice, saying how deeply she loves Benedick, and
bewailing that so nice a girl should break her heart with unrequited
love. This conversation was a mere ruse, but Benedick believed it to
be true, and resolved to reward the love of Beatrice with love and
marriage. It so happened that Beatrice had been entrapped by a similar
conversation which she had overheard from her cousin Hero. The end
was they sincerely loved each other, and became man and
wife.--Shakespeare, _Much Ado about Nothing_ (1600). BENEDICT
[BELLEFONTAINE], the wealthiest farmer of Grand Pré, in Acadia, father
of Evangeline ("the pride of the village"). He was a stalwart man
of seventy, hale as an oak, but his hair was white as snow. Colonel
Winslow in 1713 informed the villagers of Grand Pré that the French
had formally ceded their village to the English, that George II. now
confiscated all their lands, houses, and cattle, and that the people,
amounting to nearly 2000, were to be "exiled into other lands
without delay." The people assembled on the sea-shore; old Benedict
Bellefontaine sat to rest himself, and fell dead in a fit. The old
priest buried him in the sand, and the exiles left their village homes
forever.--Longfellow, _Evangeline_ (1849).
BEN'ENGEL'I (_Cid Hamet_), the hypothetical Moorish chronicler from
whom Cervantês pretends he derived the account of the adventures of
don Quixote.
The Spanish commentators ... have discovered that _cid Hamet
Benengeli_ is after all no more than an Arabic version of the name
of Cervantês himself. _Hamet_ is a Moorish prefix, and _Benengeli_
signifies "son of a stag," in Spanish _Cervanteno._--Lockhart.
_Benengeli_ (_Cid Hamet_), Thomas Babington lord Macaulay. His
signature in his _Fragment of an Ancient Romance_ (1826). (See Cid,
etc.)
BENEV'OLUS, in Cowper's _Task_, is John Courtney Throckmorton, of
Weston Underwood.
BENJAMIN PENGUILLAN. _The Pioneers_, by J. F. Cooper. A servant in the
family of Judge Temple. His sobriquet is "Ben Pump." (1823.)
BENJIE _(Little)_, or Benjamin Colthred, a spy employed by Cristal
Nixon, the agent of Redgauntlet.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time,
George III.).
BEN'NET _(Brother)_, a monk at St. Mary's convent.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Monastery_ (time, Elizabeth).
_Ben'net (Mrs.)_, a demure, intriguing woman in _Amelia_, a novel by
Fielding (1751).
BEN'OITON _(Madame)_, a woman who has been the ruin of the family by
neglect. In the "famille Benoiton" the constant question was "_Où
est Madame?_" and the invariable answer "_Elle est sortie_" At the
_dénouement_ the question was asked again, and the answer was varied
thus, "Madam has been at home, but is gone out again."--_La Famille
Benoiton_.
BEN'SHEE, the domestic spirit or demon of certain Irish families. The
benshee takes an interest in the prosperity of the family to which
it is attached, and intimates to it approaching disaster or death by
wailings or shrieks. The Scotch Bodach Glay or "grey spectre" is a
similar spirit. Same as _Banshee_ (which see).
How oft has the Benshee cried!
How oft has death untied
Bright links that glory wove,
Sweet bonds entwined by love!
T. Moore, _Irish Melodies_, ii.
BENVO'LIO, nephew to Montague, and Romeo's friend. A testy, litigious
fellow, who would quarrel about goat's wool or pigeon's milk. Mercutio
says to him, "Thou hast quarrelled with a man for coughing in the
street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath lain asleep in the
sun" (act iii. sc. 1),--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_ (1598).
BEOWULF, the name of an Anglo-Saxon epic poem of the sixth century. It
received its name from Beowulf, who delivered Hrothgar king of Denmark
from the monster Grrendel. This Grendel was half monster and half man,
and night after night stole into the king's palace called Heorot, and
slew sometimes as many as thirty of the sleepers at a time. Beowulf
put himself at the head of a mixed band of warriors, went against the
monster and slew it. This epic is very Ossianic in style, is full of
beauties, and is most interesting.--_Kemble's Translation._
(A.D. Wackerbarth published in 1849 a metrical translation of this
Anglo-Saxon poem, of considerable merit.)
BEPPO. Byron's _Beppo_ is the husband of Laura, a Venetian lady. He
was taken captive in Troy, turned Turk, joined a band of pirates, grew
rich, and after several years returned to his native land. He found
his wife at a carnival ball with a _cavaliero_, made himself known
to her, and they lived together again as man and wife. (Beppo is a
contraction of _Guiseppe_, as Joe is of _Joseph_, 1820.)
_Beppo_, in _Fra Diavolo_, an opera by Auber (1836).
BERALDE (2 _syl._), brother of Argan the _malade imaginaire_. He tells
Argan that his doctors will confess this much, that the cure of a
patient is a very minor consideration with them, "_toute l'excellence
de leur art consiste en un pompeux galimatias, en un spécieux babil,
qui vous donne des mots pour des raisons, et des promesses pour des
effets._" Again he says, "_presque tous les hommes meurent de leur
remèdes et non pas de leurs maladies_." He then proves that Argan's
wife is a mere hypocrite, while his daughter is a true-hearted,
loving girl; and he makes the invalid join in the dancing and singing
provided for his cure.--Molière, _Le Malade Imaginaire_ (1673).
BERCH'TA ("_the white lady_"), a fairy of southern Germany, answering
to Hulda ("the gracious lady") of northern Germany. After the
introduction of Christianity, Berchta lost her first estate and lapsed
into a bogie.
BERECYNTHIAN GODDESS (_The_). Cybelê is so called from mount
Berecyntus, in Phrygia, where she was held in especial adoration. She
is represented as crowned with turrets, and holding keys in her hand.
Her helmèd head
Rose like the Berecynthian goddess crowned
With towers.
Southey, _Roderick, etc._, ii. (1814).
BERECYN'THIAN HERO (_The_), Midas king of Phyrgia, so called from
mount Berecyn'tus (4 _syl_.), in Phrygia.
BERENGA'RIA, queen-consort of Richard Coeur de Lion, introduced in
_The Talisman_, a novel by sir W. Scott (1825). Berengaria died 1230.
BERENGER (_Sir Raymond_), an old Norman warrior, living at the castle
of Garde Doloureuse.
_The lady Eveline_, sir Raymond's daughter, betrothed to sir Hugo de
Lacy. Sir Hugo cancels his own betrothal in favor of his nephew (sir
Damian de Lacy), who marries the lady Eveline, "the betrothed."--Sir
W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
BERENI'CE (4 _syl_.), sister-wife of Ptolemy III. She vowed to
sacrifice her hair to the gods if her husband returned home the
vanquisher of Asia. On his return, she suspended her hair in the
temple of the war-god, but it was stolen the first night, and Conon of
Samos told the king that the winds had carried it to heaven, where
it still forms the seven stars near the tail of Leo, called _Coma
Berenices_.
Pope, in _his Rape of the Lock_, has borrowed this fable to account
for the lock of hair cut from Belinda's head, the restoration of which
the young lady insisted upon.
_Bereni'ce_ (4 _syl_.), a Jewish princess, daughter of Agrippa. She
married Herod king of Chalcis, then Polemon king of Cilicia, and then
went to live with Agrippa II. her brother. Titus fell in love with her
and would have married her, but the Romans compelled him to renounce
the idea, and a separation took place. Otway (1672) made this the
subject of a tragedy called _Titus and Berenicê_; and Jean Racine
(1670), in his tragedy of _Bérénice_, has made her a sort of Henriette
d'Orleans.
(Henriette d'Orleans, daughter of Charles I. of England, married
Philippe due d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV. She was brilliant in
talent and beautiful in person, but being neglected by her husband,
she died suddenly after drinking a cup of chocolate, probably
poisoned.)
_Berenice_, heroine of a tragic-comic fantasy by Edgar Allan Poe,
in which Berenice's teeth hold a position as conspicuous as ghastly
(1845).
BERINGHEN (_The Sieur de_), an old gourmand, who preferred patties to
treason; but cardinal Richelieu banished him from France, saying:
Sleep not another night in Paris,
Or else your precious life may be in danger.
Lord Lytton, _Richelieu_ (1839).
BERIN'THIA, cousin of Amanda; a beautiful young widow attached to
colonel Townly. In order to win him she plays upon his jealousy by
coquetting with Loveless.--Sheridan, _A Trip to Scarborough_ (1777).
BERKE'LEY (_The Old Woman of_), a woman whose life had been very
wicked. On her death-bed she sent for her son who was a monk, and for
her daughter who was a nun, and bade them put her in a strong stone
coffin, and to fasten the coffin to the ground with strong bands of
iron. Fifty priests and fifty choristers were to pray and sing over
her for three days, and the bell was to toll without ceasing. The
first night passed without much disturbance. The second night the
candles burnt blue and dreadful yells were heard outside the church.
But the third night the devil broke into the church and carried off
the old woman on his black horse.--R. Southey, _The Old Woman of
Berkeley_ (a ballad from Olaus Magnus).
Dr. Sayers pointed out to us in conversation a story related by Olaus
Magnus of a witch whose coffin was confined by three chains, but
nevertheless was carried off by demons. Dr. Sayers had made a
ballad on the subject; so had I; but after seeing _The Old Woman of
Berkeley_, we awarded it the preference.--W. Taylor.
BERKE'LY (_The lady Augusta_), plighted to sir John de Walton,
governor of Douglas Castle. She first appears under the name of
Augustine, disguised as the son of Bertram the minstrel, and the novel
concludes with her marriage to De Walton, to whom Douglas Castle had
been surrendered.--Sir W. Scott, _Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).
BERKSHIRE LADY (_The_), Miss Frances Kendrick, daughter of sir William
Kendrick, second baronet; his father was created baronet by Charles
II. The line, "Faint heart never won fair lady," was the advice of a
friend to Mr. Child, the son of a brewer, who sought the hand of the
lady.--_Quarterly Review_, cvi. 205-245.
BERNARD. Solomon Bernard, engraver of Lions (sixteenth century),
called _Le petit Bernard_. Claud Bernard of Dijon, the philanthropist
(1588-1641), is called _Poor Bernard._ Pierre Joseph Bernard, the
French poet (1710-1755), is called _Le gentil Bernard._
_Bernard_, an ass; in Italian _Bernardo_. In the beast-epic called
_Reynard the Fox_, the _sheep_ is called "Bernard," and the _ass_ is
"Bernard l'archipêtre" (1498).
BERNARD LANGDON, fine young fellow of the "Brahmin Caste," who teaches
school while preparing for a profession.--Oliver Wendell Holmes,
_Elsie Venner_ (1861).
BERNAR'DO, an officer in Denmark, to whom the ghost of the
murdured king appeared during the night-watch at the royal
castle.--Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ (1596).
BERNARDO DEL CARPIO, one of the favorite subjects of the old Spanish
minstrels. The other two were _The Cid_ and _Lara's Seven Infants_.
Bernardo del Carpio was the person who assailed Orlando (or Rowland)
at Roncesvalles, and finding him invulnerable, took him up in his arms
and squeezed him to death, as Hercules did Antae'os.--Cervantes, _Don
Quixote_, II. ii. 13 (1615).
[Illustration] The only vulnerable part of Orlando was the sole of the
foot.
BERSER'KER, grandson of the eight-handed Starka'der and the beautiful
Alfhil'de. He was so called because he wore "no shirt of mail," but
went to battle unharnessed. He married the daughter of Swaf'urlam, and
had twelve sons. (_Baer-syrce_, Anglo-Saxon, "bare of shirt;" Scotch,
"bare-sark.")
You say that I am a Berserker, and ... bare-sark I go to-morrow to the
war, and bare-sark I win that war or die.--Rev. C. Kingsley, _Hereward
the Wake_, i. 247.
BERTHA, the supposed daughter of Vandunke (2 _syl_.), burgomaster of
Bruges, and mistress of Goswin, a rich merchant of the same city. In
reality. Bertha is the duke of Brabant's daughter _Gertrude_, and
Goswin is _Florez_, son of Gerrard king of the beggars.--Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Beggars' Bush_ (1622).
_Ber'tha_, daughter of Burkhard duke of the Alemanni, and wife of
Rudolf II. king of Burgundy beyond Jura. She is represented on
monuments of the time as sitting on her throne spinning.
Yon are the beautiful Bertha the Spinner, the queen of Helvetia; ...
Who as she rode on her palfrey o'er valley, and meadow, and mountain,
Ever was spinning her thread from the distaff fixed to her saddle.
She was so thrifty and good that her name passed into a proverb.
Longfellow, _Courtship of Miles Standish_, viii.
_Bertha, alias_ AGATHA, the betrothed of Hereward (3 _syl_.), one of
the emperor's Varangian guards. The novel concludes with Hereward
enlisting under the banner of count Robert, and marrying Bertha.--Sir
W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
_Ber'tha_, the betrothed of John of Leyden. When she went with her
mother to ask count Oberthal's permission to marry, the count resolved
to make his pretty vassal his mistress, and confined her in his
castle. She made her escape and went to Munster, intending to set fire
to the palace of "the prophet," who, she thought, had caused the
death of her lover. Being seized and brought before the prophet, she
recognized in him her lover, and exclaiming, "I loved thee once, but
now my love is turned to hate," stabbed herself and died.--Meyerbeer,
_Le Prophète_ (an opera, 1849).
BERTHA AMORY, wife of Richard Amory and used by him in political
intrigues, in _Through One Administration_, by Francis Hodgson
Burnett. Secretly, and against her will, in love with Trevannion, an
army officer whom she has known from childhood (1883).
BERTHE AN GRAND-PIED, mother of Charlemagne, so called from a
club-foot.
BERTIE CECIL, noble young Englishman who assumes his brother's crime
to save the family name, and exiles himself as a soldier in the French
army of Algiers. Eventually his fame is cleared and he returns to
England as lord Royalieu.--Ouida, _Under Two Flags_.
BERTIE THE LAMB, professional dude, with a heart yet softer than his
head, in _The Henrietta_, a play of New York life, by Bronson Howard.
Stuart Robson's impersonation of "Bertie" is without a flaw (1887).
BERTOLDE (3 _syl_.), the hero of a little _jeu d'esprit_ in Italian
prose by Julio Cæsare Crocê (2 _syl_.). He is a comedian by
profession, whom nothing astonishes. He is as much at his ease with
kings and queens as with those of his own rank. Hence the phrase
_Imperturbable as Bertolde_, meaning "never taken by surprise," "never
thrown off one's guard," "never disconcerted."
BERTOLDO _(Prince)_, a knight of Malta, and brother of Roberto king of
the two Sicilies. He was in love with Cami'ola "the maid of honor,"
but could not marry without a dispensation from the pope. While
matters were at this crisis, Bertoldo laid siege to Sienna, and was
taken prisoner. Camiola paid his ransom, but before he was released
the duchess Aurelia requested him to be brought before her. As soon
as the duchess saw him, she fell in love with him, and offered him
marriage, and Bertoldo, forgetful of Camiola, accepted the offer. The
betrothed then presented themselves before the king. Here Camiola
exposed the conduct of the knight; Roberto was indignant;
Aurelia rejected her _fiancé_ with scorn; and Camiola took the
veil.--Massinger, _The Maid of Honor_ (1637).
_Bertol'do_, the chief character of a comic romance called _Vita di
Bertoldo_, by Julio Cesare Crocê, who flourished in the sixteenth
century. It recounts the successful exploits of a clever but ugly
peasant, and was for two centuries as popular in Italy as _Robinson
Crusoe_ is in England. Same as, _Bertolde_ and _Bartoldo_.
BERTOLDO'S SON, Rinaldo.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
BERTRAM _(Baron)_, one of Charlemagne's paladins.