mythical line is: (1) Brute, great-great-grandson of Æneas; (2)
Locrin, his son; (3) Guendolen, the widow of Locrin; (4) Ebranc; (5)
Brute Green-Shield. Then follow in order Leil, Hudibras, Bladud, Leir
[Shakespeare's "Lear"], etc.
... of her courageous kings,
Brute Green-Shield, to whose name we providence impute
Divinely to revive the land's first conqueror, Brute.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
BRUTUS (_Lucius Junius_), first consul of Rome, who condemned his own
two sons to death for joining a conspiracy to restore Tarquin to
the throne, from which he had been banished. This subject has been
dramatized by N. Lee (1679) and John H. Payne, under the title of
_Brutus, or the_ _Fall of Tarquin_ (1820). Alfieri has an Italian
tragedy on the same subject. In French we have the tragedies of
Arnault (1792) and Ponsard (1843). (See LUCRETIA.)
The elder Kean on one occasion consented to appear at the Glasgow
theatre for his son's benefit. The play chosen was Payne's _Brutus_,
in which the father took the part of "Brutus" and Charles Kean that
of "Titus." The audience sat suffused in tears during the pathetic
interview, till "Brutus" falls on the neck of "Titus," exclaiming in
a burst of agony, "Embrace thy wretched father!" when the whole house
broke forth into peals of approbation. Edmund Kean then whispered in
his son's ear, "Charlie, we are doing the trick."--W. C. Russell,
_Representative Actors_, p. 476.
_Junius Brutus_. So James Lynch Fitz-Stephen has been called, because
(like the first consul of Rome) he condemned his own son to death for
murder, and to prevent a rescue caused him to be executed from the
window of his own house in Galway (1493).
_The Spanish Brutus_, Alfonso Perez de Gruzman, governor of Tarifa in
1293. Here he was besieged by the infant don Juan, who had revolted
against his brother, king Sancho IV., and having Guzman's son in his
power threatened to kill him unless Tarifa was given up to him. Guzman
replied, "Sooner than be guilty of such treason I will lend Juan a
dagger to slay my son;" and so saying tossed his dagger over the wall.
Sad to say, Juan took the dagger, and assassinated the young man there
and then (1258-1309).
_Brutus (Marcus)_, said to be the son of Julius Cæsar by Servilia.
Brutus' bastard hand
Stabb'd Julius Cæsar.
Shakespeare, 2 _Henry VI_. act iv. sc. 1 (1591).
This Brutus is introduced by Shakespeare in his tragedy of _Julius
Cæsar_, and the poet endows him with every quality of a true patriot.
He loved Cæsar much, but he loved Rome more.
_Brutus. Et tu, Brute_. Shakespeare, on the authority of Suetonius,
puts these words into the mouth of Cæsar when Brutus stabbed him.
Shakespeare's drama was written in 1607, and probably he had seen _The
True Tragedy of Richard duke of York_ (1600), where these words occur;
but even before that date H. Stephens had said:
Jule Cesar, quand il vit que Brutus aussi estoit de ceux qui luy
tirient des coups d'espee, luy dit, _Kai sy tecnon_? c'est à dire....
Et toy mon fils, en es tu aussi.--_Deux Dial. du Noveau Lang. Franc_
(1583).
BRUTUS AND CICERO. Cicero says: [Latin: "Cæsare interfecto, statim,
cruentum alte extollens M. Brutus pugionem _Ciceronem_ nominatim
exclamavit, atque ei recuperatam libertatem est gratulatus."]--_Philipp_.
ii. 12.
When Brutus rose, Refulgent from the stroke of Cæsar's fate,... [_he_]
called aloud On Tully's name, and shook his crimson steel, And bade
the "father of his country" hail.
Akenside, _Pleasures of Imagination_, i.
BRY'DONE (_Elspeth_), or Glendinning, widow of Simon Glendinning,
of the Tower of Glendearg.--Sir W. Scott, _The Monastery_ (time,
Elizabeth).
BUBAS'TIS, the Dian'a of Egyptian mythology. She was the daughter of
Isis and sister of Horus.
BUBENBURG (_Sir Adrian de_), a veteran knight of Berne.--Sir W. Scott,
_Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
BUCCA, goblin of the wind in Celtic mythology, and supposed by the
ancient inhabitants of Cornwall to foretell shipwreck.
BUCEN'TAUR, the Venetian state galley used by the doge when he went
"to wed the Adriatic." In classic mythology the bucentaur was half man
and half ox.
BUCEPH'ALOS ("_bull-headed_"), the name of Alexander's horse, which
cost £3500. It knelt down when Alexander mounted, and was thirty years
old at its death. Alexander built a city called Bucephala in its
memory.
_The Persian Bucephalos_, Shibdiz, the famous charger of Chosroes
Parviz.
BUCK CHEEVER, mountaineer and "moonshiner" in Charles Egbert
Craddock's _In the Stranger People's Country_.
He had been a brave soldier, although the flavor of bushwhacking clung
to his war record; he was a fast friend and a generous foe; what
one hand got by hook or by crook--chiefly, it is to be feared, by
crook--the other made haste to give away (1890).
BUCK FANSHAWE, a popular Californian in the days when Lynch Law was in
vogue in mining districts. He dies, and his partner seeks a clergyman
to arrange for the funeral, which "the fellows" have determined shall
be the finest ever held in the region. The divine questions in his
professional vein and the miner answers in _his_, each sorely puzzled
to interpret the meaning of his companion.
"Was he a--ah--peaceable man?"
"Peaceable! he jest _would_ have peace, ef he
had to lick every darned galoot in the valley to
git it."--Mark Twain, _Buck Fanshawe's Funeral_,
(1872).
BUCK GRANGERFORD, a spirited son of the Grangerford clan, who pays
with his life for fealty to family and feud.--Mark Twain [Samuel
Langhorne Clemens], _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ (1885).
BUCK'ET (_Mr._), a shrewd detective officer who cleverly discovers
that Hortense, the French maid-servant of lady Dedlock, was the
murderer of Mr. Tulkinghorn, and not lady Dedlock, who was charged
with the deed by Hortense.--C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).
BUCKINGHAM (_George Villiers, duke of_). There were two dukes of
this name, father and son, both notorious for their profligacy and
political unscrupulousness. The first (1592-1628) was the favorite
of James I., nicknamed "Steenie" by that monarch from his personal
beauty, "Steenie" being a pet corruption of Stephen, whose face at
martyrdom was "as the face of an angel." He was assassinated by
Fenton. Sir Walter Scott introduces him in _The Fortunes of Nigel_,
and his son in _Peveril of the Peak_. The son (1627-1688) also appears
under the name of "Zimri" (q.v.) in Dryden's _Absalom and Achitophel_.
He was the author of _The Rehearsal_, a drama upon which Sheridan
founded his _Critic_, and of other works, but is principally
remembered as the profligate favorite of Charles II. He was a member
of the famous "CABAL" (q.v.), and closed a career of great splendor
and wickedness in the most abject poverty.
_Buckingham_ (_Henry de Stafford, duke of_) was a favorite of Richard
III. and a participator in his crimes, but revolted against him, and
was beheaded in 1483. This is the duke that Sackville met in the
realms of Pluto, and whose "complaynt" is given in the prologue to _A
Mirrour for Magistraytes_ (1587). He also appears in Shakespeare's
_Richard III._ His son in _Henry VIII._
_Buckingham_ (_Mary duchess of_), introduced by sir W. Scott in
_Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
BUCKLAW (_The laird of_), afterwards laird of Girnington. His name
was Frank Hayston. Lucy Ashton plights her troth to Edgar master of
Ravenswood, and they exchange love-tokens at the Mermaid's Fountain;
but her father, sir William Ashton, from pecuniary views, promises her
in marriage to the laird of Bucklaw, and as she signs the articles
Edgar suddenly appears at the castle. They return to each other their
love-tokens, and Lucy is married to the laird; but on the wedding
night the bridegroom is found dangerously wounded in the bridal
chamber, and the bride hidden in the chimney-corner insane. Lucy dies
in convulsions, but Bucklaw recovers and goes abroad.--Sir W. Scott,
_The Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
BUCKTHORNE, a conspicuous figure in _Tales of a Traveller_, by
Washington Irving. He is gentleman student, dancing buffoon, lover,
poet, and author by turns, and nothing long unless it be a royally
good fellow (1824).
BUFFOON (_The Pulpit_). Hugh Peters is so called by Dugdale
(1599-1660).
BUG JARGAL, a negro, passionately in love with a white woman, but
tempering the wildest passion with the deepest respect.--Victor Hugo,
_Bug Jargal_ (a novel).
BULBUL, an Oriental name for a nightingale. When, in _The Princess_
(by Tennyson), the prince, disguised as a woman, enters with his two
friends (similarly disguised) into the college to which no man was
admitted, he sings; and the princess, suspecting the fraud, says to
him, "Not for thee, O bulbul, any rose of Gulistan shall burst her
veil," i.e., "O singer, do not suppose that any woman will be taken
in by such a flimsy deceit." The bulbul loved the rose, and Gulistan
means the "garden of roses." The prince was the bulbul, the college
was Gulistan, and the princess the rose sought.--Tennyson, _The
Princess_, iv.
BULBUL-HE'ZAR, the talking bird, which was joined in singing by all
the song-birds in the neighborhood. (See TALKING BIRD.)--_Arabian
Nights_ ("The Two Sisters," the last story).
BULIS, mother of Egyp'ius of Thessaly. Egypius entertained a criminal
love for Timandra, the mother of Neoph'ron, and Neophron was guilty of
a similar passion for Bulis. Jupiter changed Egypius and Neophron
into vultures, Bulis into a duck, and Timandra into a
sparrow-hawk.--_Classic Mythology_.
BULL (_John_), the English nation personified, and hence any typical
Englishman.
_Mrs. Bull_, queen Anne, "very apt to be choleric." On hearing that
Philip Baboon (_Philippe duc d'Anjou_) was to succeed to lord Strutt's
estates (_i.e. the Spanish throne_), she said to John Bull:
"You sot, you loiter about ale-houses and taverns,
spend your time at billiards, ninepins, or
puppet-shows, never minding me nor my numerous
family. Don't you hear how lord Strutt
[_the king of Spain_] has bespoke his liveries at
Lewis Baboon's shop [_France_]?... Fie upon it!
Up, man!... I'll sell my shift before I'll be so
used."--Chap. iv.
_John Bull's Mother_, the Church of England.
_John Bull's Sister Peg_, the Scotch, in love with Jack (_Calvin_).
John had a sister, a poor girl that had been
reared ... on oatmeal and water ... and lodged
in a garret exposed to the north wind.... However,
this usage ... gave her a hardy constitution....
Peg had, indeed, some odd humors and
comical antipathies,... she would faint at the
sound of an organ, and yet dance and frisk at
the noise of a bagpipe.--Dr. Arbuthnot, _History
of John Bull_, ii. 2 (1712).
BULLAMY, porter of the "Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life
Insurance Company." An imposing personage, whose dignity resided
chiefly in the great expanse of his red waistcoat. Respectability and
well-to-doedness were expressed in that garment.--C. Dickens, _Martin
Chuzzlewit_ (1844).
BULLCALF (_Peter_), of the Green, who was pricked for a recruit in
the army of sir John Falstaff. He promised Bardolph "four Harry
ten-shillings in French crowns" if he would stand his friend, and when
sir John was informed thereof, he said to Bullcalf, "I will have none
of you." Justice Shallow remonstrated, but Falstaff exclaimed, "Will
you tell me, master Shallow, how to choose a man? Care I for the
limb, the thews, the stature?... Give me the spirit, master
Shallow."--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV_. act iii. sc. 2 (1598).
BULL-DOGS, the two servants of a university proctor, who follow him in
his rounds to assist him in apprehending students who are violating
the university statutes, such as appearing in the streets after dinner
without cap and gown, etc.
BULLET-HEAD (_The Great_), George Cadoudal, leader of the Chouans
(1769-1804).
BULL´SEGG (_Mr._), laird of Killancureit, a friend of the baron of
Bradwardine.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
BULMER (_Valentine_), titular earl of Etherington, married to Clara
Mowbray.
_Mrs. Ann Bulmer_, mother of Valentine, married to the earl of
Etherington during the life-time of his countess; hence his wife in
bigamy.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan's Well_ (time, George III.).
BUM´BLE, beadle of the workhouse where Oliver Twist was born and
brought up. A stout, consequential, hard-hearted, fussy official, with
mighty ideas of his own importance. This character has given to the
language the word _bumbledom_, the officious arrogance and bumptious
conceit of a parish authority or petty dignitary. After marriage the
high-and-mighty beadle was sadly henpecked and reduced to a Jerry
Sneak.--C. Dickens, _Oliver Twist_ (1837).
BUM'KINET, a shepherd. He proposes to Grub'binol that they should
repair to a certain hut and sing "Gillian of Croydon," "Patient
Grissel," "Cast away Care," "Over the Hills," and so on; but being
told that Blouzelinda was dead, he sings a dirge, and Grubbinol joins
him.
Thus wailed the louts in melancholy strain,
Till bonny Susan sped across the plain;
They seized the lass in apron clean arrayed,
And to the ale-house forced the willing maid;
In ale and kisses they forgot their cares,
And Susan Blouzelinda's loss repairs.
Gay, _Pastoral_, v. (1714).
(An imitation of Virgil's _Ecl_. v. "Daphnis.")
BUMPER (_Sir Harry_), a convivial friend of Charles Surface. He sings
the popular song, beginning--
Here's to the maiden of bashful fifteen,
Here's to the widow of fifty, etc.
Sheridan, _School for Scandal_ (1777).
BUMPPO (_Natty_), the Leather Stocking of Cooper's _Pioneers_;
Hawk-Eye of _The Last of the Mohicans_; the Deer Slayer and the
Pathfinder of the novels of those names; and the trapper of _The
Prairie_, in which his death is recorded. A white man who has lived
so long with Indians as to surpass them in skill and cunning, retains
native nobility of character, and in his countenance "an open honesty
and total absence of guile" that inspires trust.
BUNCE (_Jack_), _alias_ Frederick Altamont, a _ci-devant_ actor, one
of the crew of the pirate vessel.--Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time,
William III.).
BUNCH (_Mother_), an alewife, mentioned by Dekker in his drama called
_Satiromastix_ (1602). In 1604 was published _Pasquil's Jests, mixed
with Mother Bunch's Merriments_.
There is a series of "Fairy Tales" called _Mother Bunch's Fairy
Tales_.
_Bunch (Mother)_, the supposed possessor of a "cabinet broken open"
and revealing "rare secrets of Art and Nature," such as love-spells
(1760).
BUN'CLE, messenger to the earl of Douglas.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid
of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
_Bun'cle (John)_, a prodigious hand at matrimony, divinity, a song,
and a glass. He married seven wives, and lost all in the flower of
their age. For two or three days after the death of a wife he was
inconsolable, but soon became resigned to his loss, which he repaired
by marrying again.--Thos. Amory, _The Life, etc., of John Buncle,
Esq._
BUNDLE, the gardener, father of Wilelmi'na and friend of Tom Tug the
waterman. He is a plain, honest man, but greatly in awe of his wife,
who nags him from morning till night.
_Mrs. Bundle_, a vulgar Mrs. Malaprop, and a termagant. "Everything
must be her way or there's no getting any peace." She greatly
frequents the minor theatres, and acquires notions of sentimental
romance.
BUN'GAY (_Friar_), one of the friars in a comedy by Robert Green,
entitled _Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay_. Both the friars are
conjurors, and the piece concludes with one of their pupils being
carried off to the infernal regions on the back of one of friar
Bacon's demons (1591).
_Bungay_, publisher in _History of Pendennis_, by W.M. Thackeray.
BUNGEY (_Friar_), personification of the charlatan of science in the
fifteenth century.
[Illustration] In _The Last of the Barons_, by lord Lytton, friar
Bungey is an historical character, and is said to have "raised mists
and vapors," which befriended Edward IV, at the battle of Barnet.
BUNS'BY (_Captain John_ or _Jade_), owner of the _Cautious Clara_.
Captain Cuttle considered him "a philosopher, and quite an oracle."
Captain Bunsby had one "stationary and one revolving eye," a very red
face, and was extremely taciturn. The captain was entrapped by Mrs.
MacStinger (the termagant landlady of his friend captain Cuttle) into
marrying her.--C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).
BUNTING, the pied piper of Ham'elin. He was so called from his dress.
BUR (_John_), the servant of Job Thornberry, the brazier of Penzance.
Brusque in his manners, but most devotedly attached to his master,
by whom he was taken from the workhouse. John Bur kept his master's
"books" for twenty-two years with the utmost fidelity.--G.R. Colman,
Jun., _John Bull_ (1805).
BUR'BON (_i.e. Henri IV. of France_). He is betrothed to Fordelis
_(France)_, who has been enticed from him by Grantorto (_rebellion_).
Being assailed on all sides by a rabble rout, Fordelis is carried
off by "hell-rake hounds." The rabble batter Burbon's shield
(_protestantism_), and compel him to throw it away. Sir Ar´tegal
(_right_ or _justice_) rescues the "recreant knight" from the mob, but
blames him for his unknightly folly in throwing away his shield
(of faith). Talus (_the executive_) beats off the hellhounds, gets
possession of the lady, and though she flouts Burbon, he catches her
up upon his steed and rides off with her.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v.
2 (1596).
BURCHELL (_Mr._), _alias_ sir William Thornhill, about thirty years
of age. When Dr. Primrose, the vicar of Wakefield, loses £1400, Mr.
Burchell presents himself as a broken-down gentleman, and the doctor
offers him his purse. He turns his back on the two flash ladies who
talked of their high-life doings, and cried "Fudge!" after all their
boastings and remarks. Mr. Burchell twice rescues Sophia Primrose, and
ultimately marries her.--Goldsmith, _Vicar of Wakefield_ (1765).
BURGUNDY (_Charles the Bold, duke of_) introduced by sir W. Scott
in _Quentin Durward_ and in _Anne of Geierstein_. The latter novel
contains the duke's defeat at Nancy´, and his death (time, Edward
IV.).
BU´RIDAN'S ASS. A man of indecision is so called from the hypothetical
ass of Buridan, the Greek sophist. Buridan maintained that "if an ass
could be placed between two hay-stacks in such a way that its choice
was evenly balanced between them, it would starve to death, for there
would be no motive why he should choose the one and reject the other."
BURLEIGH (_William Cecil, lord_), lord treasurer to queen Elizabeth
(1520-1598), introduced by sir W. Scott in his historical novel called
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
He is one the principal characters in _The Earl of Essex_, a tragedy
by Henry Jones (1745).
_Burleigh (Lord)_, a parliamentary leader in _The Legend of Montrose_,
a novel by sir W. Scott (time, Charles I.).
_A lord Burleigh shake of the head_, a great deal meant by a look or
movement, though little or nothing is said. Puff, in his tragedy of
the "Spanish Armada," introduces lord Burleigh, "who has the affairs
of the whole nation in his head, and has no time to talk;" but his
lordship comes on the stage and shakes his head, by which he means far
more than words could utter. Puff says:
Why, by that shake of the head he gave you
to understand that even though they had more
justice in their cause and wisdom in their measures,
yet, if there was not a greater spirit shown
on the part of the people, the country would at
last fall a sacrifice to the hostile ambition of the
Spanish monarchy.
_Sneer_. Did he mean all that by shaking his
head?
_Puff_. Every word of it.--Sheridan, _The Critic_,
ii. 1 (1779).
The original "lord Burleigh" was Irish Moody (1728-1813).--_Cornhill
Magazine_ (1867).
BURLESQUE POETRY (_Father of_), Hippo'nax of Ephesus (sixth century
B.C.).
BURLONG, a giant whose legs sir Try'amour cut off.--_Romance of Sir
Tryamour_.
BURNBILL, Henry de Londres, archbishop of Dublin and lord justice of
Ireland, in the reign of Henry III. It is said that he fraudulently
_burnt_ all the "bills" or instruments by which the tenants of the
archbishopric held their estates.
BURNS OF FRANCE (_The_), Jasmin, a barber of Gascony. Louis Philippe
presented to him a gold watch and chain, and the duke of Orléans an
emerald ring.
BUR'RIS, an honest lord, favorite of the great-duke of
Muscovia.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Loyal Subject_ (1618).
BURROUGHS (_George_), a Salem citizen whose trial for witchcraft
is recorded by Rev. Cotton Mather. The counts are many, and in the
opinion of the court are proven, George Burroughs being condemned to
die. In the story of his crimes set down by Dr. Mather, the climax
would seem to be a paper handed by the accused to the jury, "wherein
he goes to evince 'That there neither are, nor ever were, witches
that, having made a compact with the devil, can send a devil to
torment other people at a distance.'"
"When he came to die, he utterly denied the fact whereof he had been
convicted."--Cotton Mather, _The Wonders of the Invisible World_
(1693).
BU'SIRANE (3 _syl_.), an enchanter who bound Am'oret by the waist to a
brazen pillar, and, piercing her with a dart, wrote magic characters
with the dropping blood, "all for to make her love him." When
Brit'omart approached, the enchanter started up, and, running to
Amoret, was about to plunge a knife into her heart; but Britomart
intercepted the blow, overpowered the enchanter, compelled him
to "reverse his charms," and then bound him fast with his own
chain.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 11, 12 (1590).
BUSI'RIS, king of Egypt, was told by a foreigner that the long drought
of nine years would cease when the gods of the country were mollified
by human sacrifice. "So be it," said the king, and ordered the man
himself to be offered as the victim.--_Herod_, ii. 59-61.
'Tis said that Egypt for nine years was dry;
Nor Nile did floods nor heaven did rain supply.
A foreigner at length informed the king
That slaughtered guests would kindly moisture bring.
The king replied, "On thee the lot shall fall;
Be thou, my guest, the sacrifice for all."
Ovid, _Art of Love_, i.
_Busi'ris_, supposed by Milton to be the Pharaoh drowned in the Red
Sea.
Hath vexed the Red Sea coast, whose waves o'erthrew
Busiris and his Memphian chivalry.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 306 (1665).
BUS'NE (2 _syl._). So the gipsies call all who do not belong to their
race.
The gold of the Busnê; give me her gold. Longfellow, _The Spanish
Student_.
BUSQUEUE (_Lord_), plaintiff in the great Pantagruelian lawsuit known
as "lord Busqueue _v._ lord Suckfist," in which the parties concerned
pleaded for themselves. Lord Busqueue stated his grievance and spoke
so learnedly and at such length, that no one understood one word about
the matter; then lord Suckfist replied, and the bench declared "We
have not understood one iota of the defence." Pantag'ruel, however,
gave judgment, and as both plaintiff and defendant considered he had
got the verdict, both were fully satisfied, "a thing without parallel
in all the annals of the court."--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, ii. (1533).
BUSY BODY (_The_), a comedy by Mrs. Centlivre (1709). Sir Francis
Gripe (guardian of Miranda, an heiress, and father of Charles), a man
sixty-five years old, wishes to marry his ward for the sake of her
money, but Miranda loves and is beloved by sir George Airy, a man of
twenty-four. She pretends to love "Gardy," and dupes him into yielding
up her money, and giving his consent to her marriage with "the man of
her choice," believing himself to be the person. Charles is in love
with Isabinda, daughter of sir Jealous Traffick, who has made up
his mind that she shall marry a Spaniard named don Diego Babinetto,
expected to arrive forthwith. Charles dresses in a Spanish costume,
passes himself off as the expected don, and is married to the lady of
his choice; so both the old men are duped, and all the young people
wed according to their wishes.
BUTCHER (_The_), Achmet pasha, who struck off the heads of seven of
his wives at once. He defended Acre against Napoleon I.