"bloody brother" is Rollo duke of Normandy, who kills his brother Otto
and several other persons, but is himself killed ultimately by Hamond
captain of the guard.
BLOODY BUTCHER (_The_), the duke of Cumberland, second son of George
II., so called from his barbarities in the suppression of the
rebellion in favor of Charles Edward, the young pretender. "Black
Clifford" was also called "The Butcher" for his cruelties (died 1461).
BLOODY HAND, Cathal, an ancestor of the O'Connors of Ireland.
BLOODY MARY, queen Mary of England, daughter of Henry VIII. and elder
half-sister of queen Elizabeth. So called on account of the sanguinary
persecutions carried on by her government against the protestants.
It is said that 200 persons were burned to death in her short reign
(1516,1553-1558).
BLOOMFIELD (_Louisa_), a young lady engaged to lord Totterly the beau
of sixty, but in love with Charles Danvers the embryo barrister.--C.
Selby, _The Unfinished Gentleman_.
BLOUNT (_Nicholas_), afterwards knighted; master of the horse to the
earl of Sussex.
--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
_Blount_ (_Sir Frederick_), a distant relative of sir John Vesey. He
had a great objection to the letter _r_, which he considered "wough
and wasping." He dressed to perfection, and though not "wich," prided
himself on having the "best opewa-box, the best dogs, the best horses,
and the best house" of any one. He liked Greorgina Vesey, and as she
had £10,000 he thought he should do himself no harm by "mawy-wing the
girl."--Lord E. Bulwer Lytton, _Money_ (1840).
_Blount_ (_Master_), a wealthy jeweller of Ludgate Hill, London. An
old-fashioned tradesman, not ashamed of his calling. He had two sons,
John and Thomas; the former was his favorite.
_Mistress Blount_, his wife. A shrewd, discerning woman, who loved her
son Thomas, and saw in him the elements of a rising man.
_John Blount_, eldest son of the Ludgate jeweller. Being left
successor to his father, he sold the goods and set up for a man of
fashion and fortune. His vanity and snobbism were most gross. He
had good-nature, but more cunning than discretion, thought himself
far-seeing, but was most easily duped. "The phaeton was built after
my design, my lord," he says, "mayhap your lordship has seen it." "My
taste is driving, my lord, mayhap your lordship has seen me handle the
ribbons." "My horses are all bloods, mayhap your lordship has noticed
my team." "I pride myself on my seat in the saddle, mayhap your
lordship has seen me ride." "If I am superlative in anything, 'its in
my wines." "So please your ladyship, 'tis dress I most excel in ...
'tis walking I pride myself in." No matter what is mentioned, 'tis the
one thing he did or had better than any one else. This conceited fool
was duped into believing a parcel of men-servants to be lords and
dukes, and made love to a lady's maid, supposing her to be a countess.
_Thomas Blount_, John's brother, and one of nature's gentlemen. He
entered the army, became a colonel, and married lady Blanche. He is
described as having "a lofty forehead for princely thought to dwell
in, eyes for love or war, a nose of Grecian mould with touch of Rome,
a mouth like Cupid's bow, ambitious chin dimpled and knobbed."--S.
Knowles, _Old Maids_ (1841).
BLOUZELIN´DA or BLOWZELINDA, a shepherdess in love with Lobbin Clout,
in _The Shepherd's Week_.
My Blouzelinda is the blithest lass,
Than primrose sweeter, or the clover-grass.
My Blouzelind's than gilliflower more fair,
Than daisie, marygold, or kingcup rare.
Gay, _Pastoral_, i. (1714).
Sweet is my toil when Blowzelind is near,
Of her bereft 'tis winter all the year ...
Come, Blowzelinda, ease thy swain's desire,
My summer's shadow, and my winter's fire.
Ditto.
BLOWER (_Mrs. Margaret_), the shipowner's widow at the Spa. She
marries Dr. Quackleben, "the man of medicine" (one of the managing
committee at the Spa).--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan's Well_ (time, George
III.).
BLUCHER was nicknamed "Marshal Forward" for his dash and readiness in
the campaign of 1813.
BLUE BEARD (_La Barbe Bleue_), from the _contes_ of Charles Perrault
(1697). The chevalier Raoul is a merciless tyrant, with a blue beard.
His young wife is entrusted with all the keys of the castle, with
strict injunctions on pain of death not to open one special room.
During the absence of her lord the "forbidden fruit" is too tempting
to be resisted, the door is opened, and the young wife finds the floor
covered with the dead bodies of her husband's former wives. She drops
the key in her terror, and can by no means obliterate from it the
stain of blood. Blue Beard, on his return, commands her to prepare for
death, but by the timely arrival of her brothers her life is saved and
Blue Beard put to death.
Dr. C. Taylor thinks Blue Beard is a type of the castle-lords in the
days of knight-errantry. Some say Henry VIII. (the noted wife-killer)
was the "academy figure." Others think it was Giles de Retz, marquis
de Laval, marshal of France in 1429, who (according to Mézeray)
murdered six of his seven wives, and was ultimately strangled in 1440.
Another solution is that Blue Beard was count Conomar´, and the
young wife Triphy´na, daughter of count Guerech. Count Conomar was
lieutenant of Brittany in the reign of Childebert. M. Hippolyte
Violeau assures us that in 1850, during the repairs of the chapel of
St. Nicolas de Bieuzy, some ancient frescoes were discovered with
scenes from the life of St. Triphyna: (1) The marriage; (2) the
husband taking leave of his young wife and entrusting to her a key;
(3) a room with an open door, through which are seen the corpses of
seven women hanging; (4) the husband threatening his wife, while
another female [_sister Anne_] is looking out of a window above; (5)
the husband has placed a halter round the neck of his victim, but the
friends, accompanied by St. Gildas, abbot of Rhuys in Brittany, arrive
just in time to rescue the future saint.--_Pélerinages de Bretagne_.
BLUE KNIGHT (_The_), sir Persaunt of India, called by Tennyson
"Morning Star" _or_ "Phosphorus." He was one of the four brothers
who kept the passages of Castle Perilous, and was overthrown by sir
Gareth.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 131 (1470);
Tennyson, _Idylls_ ("Gareth and Lynette").
[Illustration] It is evidently a blunder in Tennyson to call the
_Blue_ Knight "Morning Star," and the _Green_ Knight "Evening Star."
The reverse is correct, and in the old romance the combat with the
Green Knight was at day-break, and with the Blue Knight at sunset.
BLUE-SKIN, Joseph Blake, an English burglar, so called from his
complexion. He was executed in 1723.
BLUFF (_Bachelor_), celibate philosopher upon social, domestic, and
cognate themes.
"Give me," he says emphatically, "in our
household, color and cheeriness--not cold art,
nor cold pretensions of any kind, but warmth,
brightness, animation. Bring in pleasing colors,
choice pictures, _bric-à-brac_, and what-not. But
let in, also, the sun; light the fires; and have
everything for daily use."--Oliver Bell Bunce,
_Bachelor Bluff_ (1882).
_Bluff (Captain Noll)_, a swaggering bully and boaster. He says,
"I think that fighting for fighting's sake is sufficient cause for
fighting. Fighting, to me, is religion and the laws."
"You must know, sir, I was resident in Flanders
the last campaign ... there was scarce
anything of moment done, but a humble servant
of yours ... had the greatest share in't....
Well, would you think it, in all this time ...
that rascally _Gazette_ never so much as once mentioned
me? Not once, by the wars! Took no
more notice of Noll Bluff than if he had not been
in the land of the living."--Congreve, _The Old
Bachelor_ (1693).
BLUFF HAL or BLUFF HARRY, Henry VIII.
Ere yet in scorn of Peter's pence,
And numbered bead and shrift,
Bluff Harry broke into the spence,
And turned the cowls adrift.
Tennyson, _The Talking Oak_.
BLUN'DERBORE (3 _syl._), the giant who was drowned because Jack
scuttled his boat.--_Jack the Giant-killer_.
BLUNT (_Colonel_), a brusque royalist, who vows "he'd woo no woman,"
but falls in love with Arbella, an heiress, woos and wins her. T.
Knight, who has converted this comedy into a farce, with the title of
_Honest Thieves_, calls colonel Blunt "captain Manly."--Hon. sir R.
Howard, _The Committee_ (1670).
_Blunt_ (_Major-General_), an old cavalry officer, rough in speech,
but brave, honest, and a true patriot.--Shadwell, _The Volunteers_.
BLUSHINGTON (_Edward_), a bashful young gentleman of twenty-five, sent
as a poor scholar to Cambridge, without any expectations, but by the
death of his father and uncle, left all at once as "rich as a nabob."
At college he was called "the sensitive plant of Brazenose," because
he was always blushing. He dines by invitation at Friendly Hall, and
commits ceaseless blunders. Next day his college chum, Frank Friendly,
writes word that he and his sister Dinah, with sir Thomas and lady
Friendly, will dine with him. After a few glasses of wine, he loses
his bashful modesty, makes a long speech, and becomes the accepted
suitor of the pretty Miss Dinah Friendly.--W.T. Moncrieff, _The
Bashful Man_.
BO or _Boh_, says Warton, was a fierce Gothic chief, whose name was
used to frighten children.
BOADICEA, queen of a tribe of ancient Britons. Her husband having been
killed by the Romans, she took the field in person. She was defeated
and committed suicide.
BOANER´GES (_4 syl._), a declamatory pet parson, who anathematizes all
except his own "elect." "He preaches real rousing-up discourses, but
sits down pleasantly to his tea, and makes hisself friendly."--Mrs.
Oliphant, _Salem Chapel_.
A protestant Boanerges, visiting Birmingham,
sent an invitation to Dr. Newman to dispute
publicly with him in the Town Hall.--E. Yates,
_Celebrities_, xxii.
[Illustration] Boanerges or "sons of thunder" is the name given by
Jesus Christ to James and John, because they wanted to call down fire
from heaven to consume the Samaritans.--Mark iii. 17.
BOAR (_The_), Richard III., so called from his cognizance.
The bristled boar,
In infant gore,
Wallows beneath the thorny shade.
Gray, _The Bard_ (1757).
In contempt Richard III. is called _The Hog_, hence the popular
distich:
The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the dog,
Rule all England, under the Hog.
("The Cat" is Catesby, and "the Rat" Ratcliffe).
_Boar (The Blue)_. This public-house sign (Westminster) is the badge
of the Veres earls of Oxford.
_The Blue Boar Lane_ (St. Nicholas, Leicester) is so named from the
cognizance of Richard III., because he slept there the night before
the battle of Bosworth Field.
BOAR OF ARDENNES (_The Wild_), in French _Le Sanglier des Ardennes_
(_2 syl._), was Guillaume comte de la Marck, so called because he was
as fierce as the wild boar he delighted to hunt. The character is
introduced by sir W. Scott in _Quentin_ _Durward_, under the name of
"William count of la Marck."
BOB'ADIL, an ignorant, shallow bully, thoroughly cowardly, but
thought by his dupes to be an amazing hero. He lodged with Cob (the
water-carrier) and his wife Tib. Master Stephen was greatly struck
with his "dainty oaths," such as "By the foot of Pharaoh!" "Body of
Cæsar!" "As I am a gentleman and a soldier!" His device to save
the expense of a standing army is inimitable for its conceit and
absurdity:
"I would select 19 more to myself throughout the land; gentlemen they
should be, of a good spirit and able constitution. I would choose them
by an instinct,... and I would teach them the special rules ... till
they could play _[fence]_ very near as well as myself. This done, say
the enemy were 40,000 strong, we 20 would ... challenge 20 of the
enemy; ... kill them; challenge 20 more, kill them; 20 more, kill them
too; ... every man his 10 a day, that's 10 score ... 200 a day; five
days, a thousand; 40,000, 40 times 5,200 days; kill them all."--Ben
Jonson, _Every Man in his Humour_, iv. 7 (1598).
Since his [_Henry Woodward, 1717-1777_] time the part of "Bobadil" has
never been justly performed. It may be said to have died with him.
--Dr. Doran.
The name was probably suggested by Bobadilla first governor of Cuba,
who superseded Columbus sent home in chains on a most frivolous
charge. Similar characters are "Metamore" and "Scaramouch" (Molière);
"Parolles" and "Pistol" (Shakespeare); "Bessus" (Beaumont and
Fletcher). (See also BASILISCO, BOROUGHCLIFF, CAPTAIN BRAZEN, CAPTAIN
NOLL BLUFF, SIR PETRONEL FLASH, SACRIPANT, VINCENT DE LA ROSE, etc.)
BOBOLINKON. Christopher Pearse Cranch calls the bobolink:
Still merriest of the merry birds, and
Pied harlequins of June.
O, could I share without champagne
Or muscadel, your frolic;
The glad delirium of your joy,
Your fun unapostolic;
Your drunken jargon through the fields,
Your bobolinkish gabble,
Your fine Anacreontic glee,
Your tipsy reveller's babble!
Christopher Pearse Cranch, _The Bird and the Bell_ (1875).
BODACH GLAY or "Grey Spectre," a house demon of the Scotch, similar to
the Irish banshee.
BODLEY FAMILY, an American household, father, mother, sisters, and
brothers, whose interesting adventures at home and abroad are detailed
by Horace E. Scudder in _The Bodley Books_ (1875-1887).
BOE´MOND, the Christian king of Antioch, who tried to teach his
subjects arts, law, and religion. He is of the Norman race, Roge´ro's
brother, and son of Roberto Guiscar´do.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_
(1575).
BOEUF (_Front de_), a gigantic, ferocious follower of prince
John.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).
BOFFIN (_Nicodemus_), "the golden dustman," foreman of old John
Harmon, dustman and miser. He was "a broad, round-shouldered,
one-sided old fellow, whose face was of the rhinoceros build, with
overlapping ears." A kind, shrewd man was Mr. Boffin, devoted to his
wife, whom he greatly admired. Being residuary legatee of John Harmon,
dustman, he came in for £100,000. Afterwards, John Harmon, the son,
being discovered, Mr. Boffin surrendered the property to him, and
lived with him.
_Mrs. Boffin_, wife of Mr. N. Boffin, and daughter of a cat's-meatman.
She was a fat, smiling, good-tempered creature, the servant of old
John Harmon, dustman and miser, and very kind to the miser's son
(young John Harmon). After Mr. Boffin came into his fortune she became
"a high flyer at fashion," wore black velvet and sable, but retained
her kindness of heart and love for her husband. She was devoted to
Bella Wilfer, who ultimately became the wife of young John Harmon,
_alias_ Rokesmith.--C. Dickens, _Our Mutual Friend_ (1864).
BO'GIO, one of the allies of Charlemagne. He promised his wife to
return within six months, but was slain by Dardinello.--Ariosto,
_Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
BOHEMIAN (_A_), a gipsy, from the French notion that the first gipsies
came from Bohemia.
_A Literary Bohemian_, an author of desultory works and irregular
life.
Never was there an editor with less about him of the literary
Bohemian.--_Fortnightly Review_ ("Paston Letters").
_Bohemian Literature_, desultory reading.
_A Bohemian Life_, an irregular, wandering, restless way of living,
like that of a gipsy.
BO'HEMOND, prince of Antioch, a crusader.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert
of Paris_ (time, Rufus).
BOIS'GRELIN (_The young countess de_), introduced in the ball given by
king René at Aix.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward
IV.).
BOIS-GUILBERT (_Sir Brian de_), a preceptor of the Knights Templars.
Ivanhoe vanquishes him in a tournament. He offers insult to Rebecca,
and she threatens to cast herself from the battlements if he touches
her. "When the castle is set on fire by the sibyl, sir Brian carries
off Rebecca from the flames. The Grand-Master of the Knights Templars
charges Rebecca with sorcery, and she demands a trial by combat. Sir
Brian de Bois-Guilbert is appointed to sustain the charge against her,
and Ivanhoe is her champion. Sir Brian being found dead in the lists,
Rebecca is declared innocent."--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ time, (Richard
I.).
BOISTERER, one of the seven attendants of Fortu´nio. His gift was
that he could overturn a windmill with his breath, and even wreck a
man-of-war.
Fortunio asked him what he was doing. "I
am blowing a little, sir," answered he, "to set
those mills at work." "But," said the knight,
"you seem too far off." "On the contrary," replied
the blower, "I am too near, for if I did not
restrain my breath I should blow the mills over,
and perhaps the hill too on which they stand."--Comtesse
D'Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ ("Fortunio,"
1682).
BOLD BEAUCHAMP _[Beech´-am]_, a proverbial phrase similar to "an
Achilles," "a Hector," etc. The reference is to Thomas de Beauchamp,
earl of Warwick, who, with one squire and six archers, overthrew a
hundred armed men at Hogges, in Normandy, in 1346.
So had we still of ours, in France that famous were,
Warwick, of England then high-constable that was,
...So hardy, great, and strong,
That after of that name it to an adage grew,
If any man himself adventurous happed to shew,
"Bold Beauchamp" men him termed, if none so bold as he.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xviii. (1613).
BOLD STROKE FOR A HUSBAND, a comedy by Mrs. Cowley. There are two
plots: one a bold stroke to get the man of one's choice for a husband,
and the other a bold stroke to keep a husband. Olivia de Zuniga fixed
her heart on Julio de Messina, and refused or disgusted all suitors
till he came forward. Donna Victoria, in order to keep a husband,
disguised herself in man's apparel, assumed the name of Florio, and
made love as a man to her husband's mistress. She contrived by an
artifice to get back an estate which don Carlos had made over to his
mistress, and thus saved her husband from ruin (1782).
BOLD STROKE FOR A WIFE. Old Lovely at death left his daughter Anne
£30,000, but with this proviso, that she was to forfeit the money if
she married without the consent of her guardians. Now her guardians
were four in number, and their characters so widely different that
"they never agreed on any one thing." They were sir Philip Modelove,
an old beau; Mr. Periwinkle, a silly virtuoso; Mr. Tradelove, a broker
on 'Change; and Mr. Obadiah Prim, a hypocritical quaker. Colonel
Feignwell contrived to flatter all the guardians to the top of their
bent, and won the heiress.--Mrs. Centlivre (1717).
BOLDWOOD (_Farmer_), one of the wooers of Bathsheba Everdene. He
serves for her seven years and loses her at last, after killing
her husband to free her from his tyranny. He is sentenced to penal
servitude "during Her Majesty's pleasure."--Thomas Hardy, _Far from
the Madding Crowd_ (1874).
BOLSTER, a famous Wrath, who compelled St. Agnes to gather up the
boulders which infested his territory. She carried three apronfuls to
the top of a hill, hence called St. Agnes' Beacon. (See WRATH'S HOLE.)
BOL'TON (_Stawarth_), an English officer in _The Monastery_, a novel
by sir W. Scott (time, Elizabeth).
BOLTON ASS. This creature is said to have chewed tobacco and taken
snuff.--Dr. Doran.
BOMBA _(King)_, a nickname given to Ferdinand II. of Naples, in
consequence of his cruel bombardment of Messi'na in 1848. His son, who
bombarded Palermo in 1860, is called _Bombali'no_ ("Little Bomba").
A young Sicilian, too, was there...
[_Who_] being rebellious to his liege,
After Palermo's fatal siege,
Across the western seas he fled
In good king Bomba's happy reign.
Longfellow, _The Wayside Inn_ (prelude).
BOMBARDIN'IAN, general of the forces of king Chrononhotonthologos.
He invites the king to his tent, and gives him hashed pork. The king
strikes him, and calls him traitor. "Traitor, in thy teeth,"
replies the general. They fight, and the king is killed.--H. Carey,
_Chrononhotonthologos_ (a burlesque).
BOMBASTES FURIOSO, general of Artaxam'inous (king of Utopia). He is
plighted to Distaffi'na, but Artaxaminous promises her "half-a-crown"
if she will forsake the general for himself. "This bright reward
of ever-daring minds" is irresistible. When Bombastês sees himself
flouted, he goes mad, and hangs his boots on a tree, with this label
duly displayed:
Who dares this pair of boots displace,
Must meet Bombastês face to face.
The king, coming up, cuts down the boots, and Bombastês "kills him."
Fusbos, seeing the king fallen, "kills" the general; but at the
close of the farce the dead men rise one by one, and join the dance,
promising, if the audience likes, "to die again to-morrow."--W. B.
Rhodes, _Bombastes Furioso._ [Illustration] This farce is a travesty
of _Orlando_ _Furioso_, and "Distaffina" is Angelica, beloved by
Orlando, whom she flouted for Medoro, a young Moor. On this Orlando
went mad, and hung up his armor on a tree, with this distich attached
thereto:
Orlando's arms let none displace,
But such who'll meet him face to face.
In the _Rehearsal_, by the duke of Buckingham, Bayes' troops are
killed, every man of them, by Drawcansir, but revive, and "go off on
their legs."
See the translation of _Don Quixote_, by C. H. Wilmot, Esq., ii. 363
(1764).
_Bombastes Furioso (The French)_, capitaine Fracasse.--Théophile
Gautier.
BOMBAS'TUS, the family name of Paracelsus. He is said to have kept a
small devil prisoner in the pommel of his sword.
Bombastus kept a devil's bird
Shut in the pommel of his sword,
That taught him all the cunning pranks
Of past and future mountebanks.
S. Butler, _Hudibras_, ii. 3.
BONAS'SUS, an imaginary wild beast, which the Ettrick shepherd
encountered. (The Ettrick shepherd was James Hogg, the Scotch
poet.)--_Noctes Ambrosianae_ (No. xlviii., April, 1830).
BONAVENTU'RE _(Father)_, a disguise assumed for the nonce by the
chevalier Charles Edward, the pretender.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_
(time, George III.).
BONDU'CA or BOADICE'A, wife of Præsutagus king of the Ice'ni. For the
better security of his family, Præsutagus made the emperor of Rome
co-heir with his daughters; whereupon the Roman officers took
possession of his palace, gave up the princesses to the licentious
brutality of the Roman soldiers, and scourged the queen in public.
Bonduca, roused to vengeance, assembled an army, burnt the Roman
colonies of London, Colchester [_Camalodunum_], Verulam, etc., and
slew above 80,000 Romans. Subsequently, Sueto'nius Paulinus defeated
the Britons, and Bonduca poisoned herself, A.D. 61. John Fletcher
wrote a tragedy entitled _Bonduca_ (1647).
BONE-SETTER _(The)_, Sarah Mapp (died 1736).
BO'NEY, a familiar contraction of Bo'naparte (3 _syl_.), used by
the English in the early part of the nineteenth century by way of
depreciation. Thus Thom. Moore speaks of "the infidel Boney."
BONHOMME (_Jacques_), a peasant who interferes with politics; hence
the peasants' rebellion of 1358 was called _La Jacquerie_. The words
may be rendered "Jimmy" or "Johnny Goodfellow."
BON'IFACE (_St._), an Anglo-Saxon whose name was Winifrid or Winfrith,
born in Devonshire. He was made archbishop of Mayence by pope Gregory
III., and is called "The Apostle of the Germans." St. Boniface
was murdered in Friesland by some peasants, and his day is June 5
(680-755).
... in Friesland first St. Boniface our best,
Who of the see of Mentz, while there he sat possessed,
At Dockum had his death, by faithless Frisians slain.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xxiv. (1622).
_Bon'iface_,(_Father_), ex-abbot of Kennaquhair. He first appears
under the name of Blinkhoodie in the character of gardener at Kinross,
and afterwards as the old gardener at Dundrennan. (_Kennaquhair_, that
is, "I know not where.")--Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_ (time, Elizabeth).
_Bon'iface_ (_The abbot_), successor of the abbot Ingelram, as
Superior of St. Mary's Convent.--Sir W. Scott, _The Monastery_ (time,
Elizabeth).