banquet, which excited the surprise of Antony; whereupon the queen
took a pearl ear-drop, dissolved it in a strong acid and drank the
liquor to the health of the triumvir, saying: "My draught to Antony
shall exceed in value the whole banquet."
[Illustration] When Queen Elizabeth visited the Exchange, Sir Thomas
Gresham pledged her health in a cup of wine containing a precious
stone crushed to atoms, and worth £15,000.
Here £15,000 at one clap goes Instead of sugar; Gresham drinks the
pearl Unto his queen and mistress. Pledge it; love it!--Th. Heywood,
_If You Know not Me. You Know Nobody_.
_Cleopatra in Hades_. Cleopatra, says Rabelais, is "a crier of onions"
in the shades below. The Latin for a pearl and onion is _unio_, and
the pun refers to Cleopatra giving her _pearl_ (or _onion_) to Antony
in a draught of wine, or, as some say, drinking it herself in toasting
her lover.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, ii. 30 (1553).
_Cleopat'ra_, Queen of Syria, daughter of Ptolemy Philome'ter, King of
Egypt. She first married Alexander Bala, the usurper (B.C. 149); next
Deme'trius Nica'nor. Demetrius, being taken prisoner by the Parthians,
married Rodogune (3 _syl_.), daughter of Phraa'tes (3 _syl_.) the
Parthian king, and Cleopatra married Antiochus Sidetês, brother of
Demetrius. She slew her son Seleucus (by Demetrius) for treason, and
as this produced a revolt, abdicated in favor of her second son,
Anti'ochus VIII., who compelled her to drink poison which she had
prepared for himself. P. Corneille has made this the subject of his
tragedy called _Rodogune_ (1646).
[Illustration] This is not the Cleopatra of Shakespeare's and Dryden's
tragedies.
_Cleopatra_. In his _Graffiti d'Italia_, William Wetmore Story gives a
passionate soliloquy of the Egyptian Queen, beginning:--
"Here, Charmian, take my bracelets;
They bar with a purple stain
My arms."
(1868).
CLERE'MONT (2 _syl_.), a merry gentleman, the friend of
Dinant'.--"Beaumont and Fletcher" _The Little French Lawyer_ (1547).
CLER'IMOND, niece of the Green Knight, sister of Fer'ragus the giant,
and bride of Valentine the brave.--_Valentine and Orson_.
CLERKS _(St. Nicholas's)_, thieves, also called "St. Nicholas's
Clergymen," in allusion to the tradition of "St. Nicholas and the
thieves." Probably a play on the words _Nich-olas_ and _Old Nick_ may
be designed.--See Shakespeare, 1 _Henry IV_. act ii. sc. 1 (1597).
CLESS'AMMOR, son of Thaddu and brother of Morna (Fingal's mother). He
married Moina, daughter of Reutha'mir (the principal man of Balclutha,
on the Clyde). It so happened that Moina was beloved by a Briton named
Reuda, who came with an army to carry her off. Reuda was slain by
Clessammor; but Clessammor, being closely pressed by the Britons,
fled, and never again saw his bride. In due time a son was born,
called Carthon; but the mother died. While Carthon was still an
infant, Fingal's father attacked Balclutha, and slew Reuthama
(Carthon's grandfather). While the boy grew to manhood, he determined
on vengeance; accordingly he invaded Morven, the kingdom of Fingal,
where Clessammor, not knowing who he was, engaged him in single
combat, and slew him. When he discovered that it was his son,
three days he mourned for him, and on the fourth he died.--Ossian,
_Carthon_.
CLEVE'LAND _(Barbara Villiers, Duchess of)_, one of the mistresses of
Charles II., introduced by Sir W. Scott in _Peveril of the Peak_.
_Cleve'land_ (Captain Clement), alias Vaughan [_Vawn_], "the pirate,"
son of Norna of the Fitful Head. He is in love with Minna Troil
(daughter of Magnus Troil, the udaller of Zetland).--Sir W. Scott,
_The Pirate_ (time, William III).
CLEVER, the man-servant of Hero Sutton, "the city maiden." When Hero
assumed the guise of a quaker, Clever called himself Obadiah, and
pretended to be a rigid quaker also. His constant exclamation was
"Umph! "--S. Knowles, _Woman's Wit, etc_. (1838).
Clifford _(Sir Thomas_), betrothed to Julia (daughter of Master Walter
"the hunchback"). He is wise, honest, truthful, and well-favored,
kind, valiant, and prudent.--S. Knowles, _The Hunchback_ (1831).
_Clifford, (Mr.)_, the heir of Sir William Charlton in right of his
mother, and in love with Lady Emily Gayville. The scrivener Alscrip
had fraudulently got possession of the deeds of the Charlton estates,
which he had given to his daughter called "the heiress," and which
amounted to £2000 a year; but Rightly, the lawyer, discovered the
fraud, and "the heiress" was compelled to relinquish this part of
her fortune. Clifford then proposed to Lady Emily, and was
accepted.--General Burgoyne, _The Heiress_. (1781).
_Clifford (Paul)_, a highwayman, reformed by the power of love.--Lord
Lytton, _Paul Clifford_ (1830).
_Clifford (Rosamond)_, usually called "The Fair Rosamond," the
favorite mistress of Henry II.; daughter of Walter Lord Clifford. She
is introduced by Tennyson in his tragedy _Becket_. Miss Terry acted
the part. Dryden says:
_Jane_ Clifford was her name, as books aver,
"Fair Rosamond" was but her _nom de guerre.
Epilogue to Henry II_.
_Clifford (Henry Lord_), a general in the English army.--Sir W. Scott,
_Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).
CLIFTON (_Harry_), lieutenant of H.M. ship _Tiger_. A daring, dashing,
care-for-nobody young English sailor, delighting in adventure, and
loving a good scrape. He and his companion Mat Mizen take the side of
El Hyder, and help to re-establish the Chereddin, Prince of Delhi, who
had been dethroned by Hamlet Abdulerim.--Barrymore, _El Hyder, Chief
of the Ghaut Mountains_.
CLIM OF THE CLOUGH. (See CLYM).
CLINK (_Jem_), the turnkey at Newgate.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the
Peak_ (time, Charles II).
CLINKER (_Humphry_), a poor work-house lad, put out by the parish as
apprentice to a blacksmith, and afterwards employed as an ostler's
assistant and extra postilion. Being dismissed from the stables, he
enters the service of Mr. Bramble, a fretful, grumpy, but kind-hearted
and generous old gentleman, greatly troubled with gout. Here he falls
in love with Winifred Jenkins, Miss Tabitha Brambles's maid, and turns
out to be a natural son of Mr. Bramble.--T. Smollett, _The Expedition
of Humphry Clinker_ (1771.)
CLIP'PURSE (_Lawyer_), the lawyer employed by Sir Everard Waverley to
make his will.--Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).
CLIQUOT (_Klee'ko_), a nickname given by _Punch_ to Frederick William
IV. of Prussia, from his love of champagne of the "Cliquot brand"
(1795, 1840-1861).
CLITANDRE, a wealthy bourgeois, in love with Henriette, "the thorough
woman," by whom he is beloved with fervent affection. Her elder
sister, Armande (2 _syl_.), also loves him, but her love is of the
platonic hue, and Clitandre prefers in a wife the warmth of woman's
love to the marble of philosophic ideality.--Molière, _Les Femmes
Savantes_ (1672).
CLOACI'NA, the presiding personification of city sewers. (Latin,
_cloaca_, "a sewer.")
...Cloacina, goddess of the tide,
Whose sable streams beneath the city glide.
Gay, _Trivia_, ii. (1712).
CLOD'DIPOLE (3 _syl_.), "the wisest lout of all the neighboring
plain." Appointed to decide the contention between Cuddy and Lobbin
Clout.
From Cloddipole we learn to read the skies,
To know when hail will fall, or winds arise;
He taught us erst the heifer's tail to view,
When struck aloft that showers would straight ensue.
He first that useful secret did explain,
That pricking corns foretell the gathering rain;
When swallows fleet soar high and sport in air,
He told us that the welkin would be clear.
Gay, _Pastoral_, i. (1714).
(Cloddipole is the "Palaemon" of Virgil's _Ecl._ iii.).
CLO'DIO _(Count)_, governor. A dishonorable pursuer of Zeno'cia, the
chaste troth-plight wife of Arnoldo.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The
Custom of the Country_ (1647).
_Clodio_, the younger son of Don Antonio, a coxcomb and braggart.
Always boasting of his great acquaintances, his conquests, and
his duels. His snuff-box he thinks more of than his lady-love, he
interlards his speech with French, and exclaims "Split me!" by way of
oath. Clodio was to have married Angelina, but the lady preferred
his elder brother, Carlos, a bookworm, and Clodio engaged himself to
Elvira of Lisbon.--C. Cibber, _Love Makes a Man_ (1694).
CLO'E, in love with the shepherd, Thenot, but Thenot rejects her suit
out of admiration of the constancy of Clorinda for her dead lover. She
is wanton, coarse, and immodest, the very reverse of Clorinda, who is
a virtuous, chaste, and faithful shepherdess. ("Thenot," the final _t_
is sounded.)--John Fletcher, _The Faithful Shepherdess_ (1610). (See
CHLOE).
CLO'RA, sister of Fabrit'io, the merry soldier, and the sprightly
companion of Frances (sister to Frederick).--Beaumont and Fletcher,
_The Captain_ (1613).
CLORIDA'NO, a humble Moorish youth, who joined Medo'ro in seeking the
body of King Dardinello to bury it. Medoro being wounded, Cloridano
rushed madly into the ranks of the enemy and was slain.--Ariosto,
_Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
CLORIN'DA, daughter of Sena'pus of Ethiopia (a Christian). Being born
white, her mother changed her for a black child. The Eunuch Arse'tes
(3 _syl_.) was entrusted with the infant Clorinda, and as he was going
through a forest, saw a tiger, dropped the child, and sought safety in
a tree. The tiger took the babe and suckled it, after which the
eunuch carried the child to Egypt. In the siege of Jerusalem by the
Crusaders, Clorinda was a leader of the Pagan forces. Tancred fell in
love with her, but slew her unknowingly in a night attack. Before she
expired she received Christian baptism at the hands of Tancred, who
greatly mourned her death.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_, xii. (1675).
(The story of Clorinda is borrowed from the _Theag'anês and
Charicle'a_ of Heliodorus Bishop of Trikka).
_Clorinda_, "the faithful shepherdess" called "The Virgin of the
Grove," faithful to her buried love. From this beautiful character
Milton has drawn his "lady" in _Comus_. Compare the words of the
"First Brother" about chastity, in Milton's _Comus_, with these lines
of Clorinda:
Yet I have heard (my mother told it me),
And now I do believe it, if I keep
My virgin flower uncropt, pure, chaste, and fair,
No goblin, wood-god, fairy, elf, or fiend,
Satyr, or other power that haunts the groves
Shall hurt my body, or by vain illusion
Draw me to wander after idle fires,
Or voices calling me in dead of night
To make me follow and so tole me on
Through mire and standing-pools, to find my ruin.
...Sure there's a power
In the great name of Virgin that binds fast
All rude, uncivil bloods.... Then strong Chastity,
Be thou my strongest guard.
--J. Fletcher,--_The Faithful Shepherdess_ (1610).
CLORIS, the damsel beloved by Prince Prettyman.--Duke of Buckingham,
_The Rehearsal_ (1671).
CLOTAIRE (2 _syl_). The King of France exclaimed on his death-bed:
"Oh, how great must be the King of Heaven, if He can kill so mighty a
monarch as I am!"--_Gregory of Tours_, iv. 21.
CLOTEN or CLOTON, King of Cornwall, one of the five kings of Britain
after the extinction of the line of Brute (1 _syl_.).--Geoffrey,
_British History_, ii. 17 (1142).
_Cloten_, a vindictive lout, son of the second wife of Cymbeline by a
former husband. He is noted for "his unmeaning frown, his shuffling
gait, his burst of voice, his bustling insignificance, his
fever-and-ague fits of valor, his froward tetchiness, his unprincipled
malice, and occasional gleams of good sense." Cloten is the rejected
lover of Imogen (the daughter of his father-in-law by his first wife),
and is slain in a duel by Guiderius.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).
CLOTHA'RIUS or CLOTHAIRE, leader of the Franks after the death of
Hugo. He is shot with an arrow by Clorinda.--Tasso, _Jerusalem
Delivered_, xi. (1675).
_Cloud (St.)_, patron saint of nail-smiths. A play on the French word
_clou_ ("a nail").
CLOUDES'LEY _(William of_), a famous north-country archer, the
companion of Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough. Their feats of robbery
were chiefly carried on in Englewood Forest, near Carlisle. William
was taken prisoner at Carlisle, and was about to be hanged, but was
rescued by his two companions. The three then went to London to ask
pardon of the King, which at the Queen's intercession was granted. The
King begged to see specimens of their skill in archery, and was so
delighted therewith, that he made William a "gentleman of fe," and the
other two "yemen of his chambre." The feat of William was very similar
to that of William Tell _(q.v.)._--Percy, _Reliques_, I. ii. 1.
CLOUT _(Colin)_, a shepherd loved by Marian "the parson's maid,"
but for whom Colin (who loved Cicily) felt no affection. (See COLIN
CLOUT).
Young Colin Clout, a lad of peerless meed,
Full well could dance, and deftly tune the reed;
In every wood his carols sweet were known,
At every wake his nimble feats were shown.
Gay, _Pastoral_, ii. (1714).
_Clout (Loblin)_, a shepherd in love with Blouzelinda. He challenged
Cuddy to a contest of song in praise of their respective sweethearts,
and Cloddipole was appointed umpire. Cloddipole was unable to award
the prize, for each merited "an oaken staff for his pains." "Have
done, however, for the herds are weary of the song, and so am
I."--Gay, _Pastoral_, i. (1714).
CLOYSE _(Goody)._ A pious and exemplary dame, especially well-versed
in the catechism, who, in Goodman Brown's fantasy of the witches'
revel in the forest, joins him on his way thither, and croaks over
the loss of her broomstick, which was "all anointed with the juice of
small-age and cinquefoil and wolf's bane--" "Mingled with fine wheat
and the fat of a new-born babe," says another shape.--Nathaniel
Hawthorne, _Mosses from an Old Manse_ (1854).
CLUB-BEARER _(The)_, Periphe'tes, the robber of Ar'golis, who murdered
his victims with an iron club.--_Greek Fable_.
CLUMSEY _(Sir Tunbelly_), father of Miss Hoyden. A mean, ill-mannered
squire and justice of the peace, living near Scarborough. Most
cringing to the aristocracy, whom he toadies and courts. Sir Tunbelly
promises to give his daughter in marriage to Lord Foppington, but
Tom Fashion, his lordship's younger brother, pretends to be Lord
Foppington, gains admission to the family and marries her. When the
real Lord Foppington arrives he is treated as an imposter, but Tom
confesses the ruse. His lordship treats the knight with such ineffable
contempt, that Sir Tunbelly's temper is aroused, and Tom is received
into high favor.--Sheridan, _A Trip to Scarborough_ (1777).
[Illustration] This character appears in Vanbrugh's _Relapse_,
of which comedy the _Trip to Scarborough_ is an abridgment and
adaptation.
CLU'RICAUNE (3 _syl_.), an Irish elf of evil disposition, especially
noted for his knowledge of hidden treasure. He generally assumes the
appearance of a wrinkled old man.
CLUTTERBUCK (_Captain_), the hypothetical editor of some of Sir Walter
Scott's novels, as _The Monastery_ and _The Fortunes of Nigel_.
Captain Clutterbuck is a retired officer, who employs himself in
antiquarian researches and literary idleness. _The Abbot_ is dedicated
by the "author of _Waverley_" to "Captain Clutterbuck," late of his
majesty's--infantry regiment.
CLYM OF THE CLOUGH ("_Clement of the Cliff_"), noted outlaw,
associated with Adam Bell and William of Cloudesley, in Englewood
Forest, near Carlisle. When William was taken prisoner at Carlisle,
and was about to be hanged, Adam and Clym shot the magistrates, and
rescued their companion. The mayor with his _posse_ went out against
them, but they shot the mayor, as they had done the sheriff, and
fought their way out of the town. They then hastened to London to
beg pardon of the king, which was granted them at the queen's
intercession. The king, wishing to see a specimen of their shooting,
was so delighted at their skill that he made William a "gentleman of
fe," and the other two "yemen of his chambre."--Percy, _Reliques_
("Adam Bell," etc., I. ii. 1).
CLY'TIE, a water-nymph in love with Apollo. Meeting with no return,
she was changed into a sunflower, or rather a _tournesol_, which still
turns to the sun, following him through his daily course.
The sunflower does not turn to the sun. On the same stem may be seen
flowers in every direction, and not one of them shifts the direction
in which it has first opened. T. Moore (1814) says:
The sunflower turns on her god when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.
This may do in poetry, but it is not correct. The sunflower is so
called simply because the flower resembles a pictured sun.
Lord Thurlow (1821) adopted Tom Moore's error, and enlarged it:
Behold, my dear, this lofty flower,
That now the golden sun receives;
No other deity has power,
But only Phoebus, on her leaves;
As he in radiant glory burns,
From east to west her visage turns.
_The Sunflower_.
CLYTUS, an old officer in the army of Philip of Macedon, and
subsequently in that of Alexander. At a banquet, when both were heated
with wine, Clytus said to Alexander, "Philip fought men, but Alexander
women," and after some other insults, Alexander in his rage stabbed
the old soldier; but instantly repented and said:
What has my vengeance done?
Who is it thou hast slain? Clytus? What was he
The faithfullest subject, worthiest counsellor,
The bravest soldier. He who saved my life
Fighting bare-headed at the river Granic.
For a rash word, spoke in the heat of wine,
The poor, the honest Clytus thou hast slain,--
Clytus, thy friend, thy guardian, thy preserver!
N. Lee, _Alexander the Great_, iv. 2 (1678).
CNE'US, the Roman officer in command of the guard set to watch the
tomb of Jesus, lest the disciples should steal the body, and then
declare that it had risen from the dead.--Klopstock, _The Messiah_,
xiii. (1771). CO'AN (_The_), Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine"
(B.C. 460-357).
... the great Coan, him whom Nature made
To serve the costliest creature of her tribe [_man_].
Dantê, _Purgatory_, xxix. (1308).
CO'ANOCOT'ZIN (_5 syl_.), King of the Az'tecas. Slain in battle by
Madoc.--Southey, _Madoc_ (1805).
CO'ATEL, daughter of Acul'hua, a priest of the Az'tecas, and wife
of Lincoya. Lincoya, being doomed for sacrifice, fled for refuge to
Madoc, the Welsh Prince, who had recently landed on the North American
coast, and was kindly treated by him. This gave Coatel a sympathetic
interest in the White strangers, and she was not backward in showing
it. Then, when young Hoel was kidnapped, and confined in a cavern to
starve to death, Coatel visited him and took him food. Again, when
Prince Madoc was entrapped, she contrived to release him, and assisted
the prince to carry off young Hoel. After the defeat of the Az'tecas
by the White strangers, the chief priest declared that some one had
proved a traitor, and resolved to discover who it was by handing round
a cup, which he said would be harmless to the innocent, but death to
the guilty. When it was handed to Coatel, she was so frightened that
she dropped down dead. Her father stabbed himself, and "fell upon his
child," and when Lincoya heard thereof, he flung himself down from a
steep precipice on to the rocks below.--Southey, _Madoc_ (1805).
COBB (_Ephraim_), in Cromwell's troop.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_
(time, Commonwealth).
COBBLER-POET (_The_), Hans Sachs, of Nuremberg. (See TWELVE WISE
MASTERS).
COBHAM (_Eleanor_), wife of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and aunt of
King Henry VI., compelled to do penance barefoot in a sheet in
London, and after that to live in the Isle of Man in banishment, for
"sorcery." In _2 Henry VI_., Shakespeare makes Queen Margaret "box
her ears," but this could not be, as Eleanor was banished three years
before Margaret came to England.
Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloster's wife ...
You, madam ... despoiled of your honor ...
Shall, after three days' open penance done,
Live in your country, here in banishment,
With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man.
Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI_. act ii. sc. 3 (1591).
COCK OF WESTMINSTER (_The_). Castell, a shoemaker, was so called
from his very early hours. He was one of the benefactors of Christ's
Hospital (London).
COCKER (_Edward_), published a useful treatise on arithmetic, in the
reign of Charles II., which had a prodigious success, and has given
rise to the proverb, "According to Cocker" (1632-1675).
COCKLE (_Sir John_), the miller of Mansfield, and keeper of Sherwood
Forest. Hearing a gun fired one night, he went into the forest,
expecting to find poachers, and seized the king (Henry VIII.), who had
been hunting and had got separated from his courtiers. When the miller
discovered that his captor was not a poacher, he offered him a night's
lodging. Next day the courtiers were brought to Cockle's house by
under-keepers, to be examined as poachers, and it was then discovered
that the miller's guest was the king. The "merry monarch" knighted the
miller, and settled on him 1000 marks a year.--R. Dodsley, _The King
and the Miller of Mansfield_ (1737).
Cockney (_Nicholas_), a rich city grocer, brother of Barnacle.
Priscilla Tomboy, of the West Indies, is placed under his charge for
her education.
_Walter Cockney_, son of the grocer, in the shop. A conceited young
prig, not yet out of the quarrelsome age. He makes boy-love to
Priscilla Tomboy and Miss La Blond; but says he will "tell papa" if
they cross him.
_Penelope Cockney_, sister of Walter.--_The Romp_ (altered from
Bickerstaff's _Love in the City_).
Coelebs' Wife, a bachelor's ideal of a model wife. Coelebs is the hero
of a novel, by Mrs. Hannah Moore, entitled _Coelebs in Search of a
Wife_ (1809).
In short, she was a walking calculation,
Miss Edgworth's novels stepping from their covers,
Or Mrs. Trimmer's books on education.
Or "Coelebs' wife" set out in quest of lovers.
Byron, _Don Juan_, i. 16 (1819).
COEUR DE LION, Surname of Richard of England (1157-1199.) Also
conferred upon Louis VIII. of France.
COFFIN (_Long Tom_), the best sailor character ever drawn. He is
introduced in _The Pilot_, a novel by J. Fenimore Cooper. Cooper's
novel has been dramatized by E. Fitzball, under the same name, and
Long Tom Coffin preserves in the burletta his reckless daring, his
unswerving fidelity, his simple-minded affection, and his love for the
sea.
COGIA HOUSSAIN, the captain of forty thieves, outwitted by Morgiana,
the slave. When, in the guise of a merchant, he was entertained by
Ali Baba, and refused to eat any salt, the suspicions of Morgiana was
aroused, and she soon detected him to be the captain of the forty
thieves. After supper she amused her master and his guest with
dancing; then playing with Cogia's dagger for a time, she plunged it
suddenly into his heart and killed him.--_Arabian Nights_ ("Ali Baba
or the Forty Thieves").
COL'AX. Flattery personified in _The Purple Island_ (1633), by Phineas
Fletcher. Colax "all his words with sugar spices ... lets his tongue
to sin, and takes rent of shame ... His art [_was_] to hide and not
to heal a sore." Fully described in canto viii. (Greek, _kolax_, "a
flatterer or fawner.")
COLBRAND or COLEBROND (_2 syl_.), the Danish giant, slain in the
presence of King Athelstan, by Sir Guy of Warwick, just returned
from a pilgrimage, still "in homely russet clad," and in his hand a
"hermit's staff." The combat is described at length by Drayton, in his
_Polyolbion_, xii.
One could scarcely bear his axe ...
Whose squares were laid with plates, and riveted with steel,
And armed down along with pikes, whose hardened points
... had power to tear the joints
Of cuirass or of mail.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xii. (1613).
COLDSTREAM (_Sir Charles_), the chief character in Charles Mathew's
play called _Used up_. He is wholly _ennuyé_, sees nothing to admire
in anything; but is a living personification of mental inanity and
physical imbecility.