_Concordance to the Bible_, for many years a corrector of the press,
in London. He believed himself divinely inspired to correct the morals
and manners of the world (1701-1770).
COURROUGE' (2 _syl_.), the sword of Sir Otuel, a presumptuous Saracen,
nephew of Farracute (3 _syl_.). Otuel was in the end converted to
Christianity.
CORSAIR (_The_), Lord Conrad, afterwards called Lara. Hearing that the
Sultan Seyd [_Seed_] was about to attack the pirates, he assumed the
disguise of a dervise and entered the palace, while his crew set fire
to the Sultan's fleet. Conrad was apprehended and cast into a dungeon,
but being released by Glulnare (queen of the harem), he fled with her
to the Pirates' Isle. Here he found that Medo'ra (his heart's darling)
had died during his absence, so he left the Island with Gulnare,
returned to his native land, headed a rebellion, and was shot.--Byron,
_The Corsair_, continued in _Lara_ (1814).
(This tale is based on the adventures of Lafitte, the notorious
buccaneer. Lafitte was pardoned by General Jackson for services
rendered to the States in 1815, during the attack of the British on
New Orleans).
COR'SAND, a magistrate at the examination of Dirk Hatteraick at
Kippletringan.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time George II).
CORSICAN GENERAL (_The_), Napoleon I., who was born in Corsica
(1769-1821).
COR'SINA, wife of the corsair who found Fairstar and Chery in the boat
as it drifted on the sea. Being made very rich by her foster-children,
Corsina brought them up as princes. Comtesse D'Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_
(The Princess Fairstar, 1682).
CORTE'JO, a cavaliere servente, who as Byron says in _Beppo_:
Coach, servants, gondola, must go to call,
And carries fan and tippet, gloves and shawl.
Was it not for this that no cortejo ere
I yet have chosen from the youth of Sev'ille?
Byron, _Don Juan_, i. 148 (1819).
CORVI'NO (_Signior_), a Venetian merchant, duped by Mosca into
believing that he is Vol'pone's heir.--Ben Jonson, _Volpone or the
Fox_ (1605).
CORYATE'S CRUDITIES, a book of travels by Thomas Coryate, who called
himself the "Odcombian Legstretcher." He was the son of the rector of
Odcombe (1577--1617).
CORYCIAN NYMPHS (_The_), the Muses, so called from the cave of Corycîa
on Lyeorça, one of the two chief summits of Mount Parnassus, in
Greece.
COR'YDON, a common name for a shepherd. It occurs in the _Idylls_ of
Theocritos; the _Eclogues_ of Virgil; _The Cantata_, v., of Hughes,
etc.
_Cor'ydon_, the shepherd who languished for the fair Pastorella (canto
9). Sir Calidore, the successful rival, treated him most courteously,
and when he married the fair shepherdess, gave Corydon both flocks
and herds to mitigate his disappointment (canto 11).--Spenser, _Faëry
Queen_, vi. (1596).
_Cor'ydon_, the shoemaker, a citizen.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of
Paris_ (time, Rufus).
CORYPHAEUS OF GERMAN LITERATURE _(The)_, Goethe.
The Polish poet called upon ... the great Corypheeus of German
literature.--W. R. Morfell, _Notes and Queries_, April 27, 1878.
CORYPHE'US (4 _syl_.), a model man or leader, from the Koruphaios or
leader of the chorus in the Greek drama. Aristarchos is called _The
Corypheus of Grammarians_.
COSETTE. Illegitimate child of Fantine, a Parisian _grisette_. She
puts the baby into the care of peasants who neglect and maltreat the
little creature. She is rescued by the ex-convict Jean Valjean, who
nurtures her tenderly and marries her to a respectable man.--Victor
Hugo, _Les Miserables._
COSME _(St.)_, patron of surgeons, born in Arabia. He practised
medicine in Cilicia with his brother St. Damien, and both suffered
martyrdom under Diocletian in 303 or 310. Their fête day is December
27. In the twelfth century there was a medical society called _Saint
Cosme_.
COS'MIEL (3 _syl_.), the genius of the world. He gave to
Theodidactus a boat of asbestos, in which he sailed to the sun and
planets.--Kircher, _Ecstatic Journey to Heaven._
COSMOS, the personification of "the world" as the enemy of man.
Phineas Fletcher calls him "the first son to the Dragon red" (_the
devil_). "Mistake," he says, "points all his darts;" or, as the
Preacher says, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." Fully described in
_The Purple Island_, viii (1633). (Greek, _kosmos_, "the world.")
COS'TARD, a clown who apes the court wits of Queen Elizabeth's time.
He uses the word "honorificabilitudinitatibus," and some of his
blunders are very ridiculous, as "ad dunghill, at the fingers' ends,
as they say" (act v. I).--Shakespeare, _Love's Labour's Lost_ (1594).
COSTIGAN, Irish Captain in _Pendennis_, W. M. Thackeray.
COSTIN _(Lord)_, disguised as a beggar, in _The Beggar's Bush_, a
drama by Beaumont and Fletcher (1622).
COTE MALE-TAILÉ _(Sir)_, meaning the "knight with the villainous
coat," the nickname given by Sir Key (the seneschal of King Arthur) to
Sir Brewnor le Noyre, a young knight who wore his father's, coat with
all its sword-cuts, to keep him in remembrance of the vengeance due to
his father. His first achievement was to kill a lion that "had broken
loose from a tower, and came hurling after the queen." He married a
damsel called Maledisaunt (3 _syl_.), who loved him, but always chided
him. After her marriage she was called Beauvinant.--Sir T. Malory,
_History of Prince Arthur_, ii. 42-50 (1470).
COTTER'S SATURDAY NIGHT; Poem in which Burns depicts the household of
a Scottish peasant gathering about the hearth on the last evening of
the week for supper, social converse and family worship. The picture
of the "Saint, the Father and the Husband" is drawn the poet's
own father. COTYT´TO, Groddess of the Edõni of Thrace. Her orgies
resembled those of the Thracian Cyb´elê (_3 syl_).
Hail goddess of nocturnal sport,
Dark-veiled Cotytto, to whom the secret flame
Of midnight torches burns.
Milton, _Comus_, 136, etc. (1634.)
COULIN, a British giant pursued by Debon till he came to a chasm 132
feet across which he leaped; but slipping on the opposite side, he
fell backwards into the pit and was killed.
And eke that ample pit yet far renowned
For the great leap which Debon did compell
Coulin to make, being eight lugs of grownd,
Into which the returning back he fell.
Spencer, _Faëry Queen_, ii. 10 (1590.)
COUNT OF NARBONNE, a tragedy by Robert Jephson (1782). His father,
Count Raymond, having poisoned Alphonso, forged a will barring
Godfrey's right, and naming Raymond as successor. Theodore fell in
love with Adelaide, the count's daughter, but was reduced to this
dilemma: if he married Adelaide he could not challenge the count and
obtain the possessions he had a right to as grandson of Alphonso; if,
on the other hand, he obtained his rights and killed the count in
combat, he could not expect that Adelaide would marry him. At the end
the count killed Adelaide, and then himself. This drama is copied from
Walpole's _Castle of Otranto_.
COUNT ROBERT OF PARIS, a novel by Sir W. Scott, after the wreck of
his fortune and repeated strokes of paralysis (1831). The critic can
afford to be indulgent, and those who read this story must remember
that the sun of the great wizard was hastening to its set. The time of
the novel is the reign of Rufus. COUNTRY (_Father of his_). Cicero
was so called by the Roman senate (B.C. 106-43). Julius Cæsar was
so called after quelling the insurrection in Spain (B.C. 100-43).
Augustus Cæsar was called _Pater atque Princeps_ (B.C. 63, 31-14).
Cosmo de Med´ici (1389-1464). Washington, defender and paternal
counsellor of the American States (1732-1799). Andrea Dorea is so
called on the base of his statue in Gen´oa (1468-1560). Andronlcus
Palaeol´ogus II. assumed the title (1260-1332). (See 1 _Chron_. iv.
14).
COUNTRY GIRL (_The_), a comedy by Garrick, altered from Wycherly. The
"country girl" is Peggy Thrift, the orphan daughter of Sir Thomas
Thrift, and ward of Moody, who brings her up in the country in perfect
seclusion. When Moody is 50 and Peggy is 19, he wants to marry her,
but she outwits him and marries Bellville, a young man of suitable age
and position.
COUNTRY WIFE (_The_), a comedy by William Wycherly (1675).
Pope was proud to receive notice from the
author of _The Country Wife_.--R. Chambers,
_English Literature_, i. 393.
COUPEE, the dancing-master, who says "if it were not for
dancing-masters, men might as well walk on their heads as heels." He
courts Lucy by promising to teach her dancing.--Fielding, _The Virgin
Unmasked._
COUR´TAIN, one of the swords of Ogier the Dane, made by Munifican. His
other sword was Sauvagine.
But Ogier gazed upon it [_the sea_] doubtfully
One Moment, and then, sheathing, Courtain, said,
"What tales are these?"
W. Morris, _The Earthly Paradise_ ("August").
COURTALL, a fop and consummate libertine, for ever boasting of his
love-conquests over ladies of the _haut monde_. He tries to corrupt
Lady Frances Touchwood, but is foiled by Saville.--Mrs. Cowley, _The
Belle's Stratagem_ (1780).
COURTLY (_Sir Charles_), a young libertine, who abducted the beautiful
wife of Farmer Cornflower.--Dibdin, _The Farmer's Wife_ (1780).
COUSIN COPELAND, a little old bachelor, courtly and quaint, who lives
in "Old Gardiston," the home of his ancestors "befo' de wah." He has
but one suit of clothes, so he dresses for dinner by donning a ruffled
shirt and a flower in his buttonhole. His work is among "documents,"
his life in the past; without murmur at poverty or change he keeps
up the even routine of life until one evening, trying to elevate his
gentle little voice as he reads to his niece, so as to be heard above
the rain and wind, it fails.
"Four days afterward he died, gentle and
placid to the last. He was an old man, although
no one had ever thought so."--Constance
Fennimore Woolson, _Southern Sketches_, (1880).
COUSIN MICHEL or MICHAEL, the nickname of a German, as John Bull is of
an Englishman, Brother Jonathan of an American, Colin Tampon a Swiss,
John Chinaman a Chinese, etc.
COUVADE´ (_2 syl._), a man who takes the place of his wife when she is
in child-bed. In these cases the man lies a-bed, and the woman does
the household duties. The people called "Gold Tooth," in the confines
of Burmah, are _couvades_. M. Francisque Michel tells us the custom
still exists in Biscay; and Colonel Yule assures us that it is common
in Yunnan and among the Miris in Upper Assam. Mr.
Tylor has observed the same custom among the Caribs of the West
Indies, the Abipones of Central South America, the aborigines of
California, in Guiana, in West Africa, and in the Indian Archipelago.
Diodorus speaks of it as existing at one time in Corsica; Strabo says
the custom prevailed in the north of Spain; and Apollonius Rhodius
that the Tabarenes on the Euxine Sea observed the same:
In the Tabarenian land,
When some good woman bears her lord a babe,
'_Tis he_ is swathed, and groaning put to bed;
While she arising tends his bath and serves
Nice possets for her husband in the straw.
Apollonius Rhodius, _Argonautic Exp_
COV´ERLEY (_Sir Roger de_), a member of an hypothetical club, noted
for his modesty, generosity, hospitality, and eccentric whims; most
courteous to his neighbors, most affectionate to his family, most
amiable to his domestics. Sir Roger, who figures in thirty papers
of the _Spectator_, is the very beau-ideal of an amiable country
gentleman of Queen Anne's time.
What would Sir Roger de Coverley be without
his follies and his charming little brain-cracks? If
the good knight did not call out to the people
sleeping in church, and say "Amen" with such
delightful pomposity; if he did not mistake Mde.
Doll Tearsheet for a lady of quality in Temple
Garden; if he were wiser than he is ... of
what worth were he to us? We love him for his
vanities as much as for his virtues.--Thackeray.
COWARDS and BULLIES. In Shakespeare we have Parolès and Pistol; in Ben
Jonson, Bob´adil; in Beaumont and Fletcher, Bessus and Mons. Lapet,
the very prince of cowards; in the French drama, La Capitan, Metamore,
and Scaramouch. (See also BASILISCO, CAPTAIN NOLL BLUFF, BOROUGHCLIFF,
CAPTAIN BRAZEN, SIR PETRONEL FLASH, SACRIPANT, VINCENT DE LA ROSA,
etc.)
COWPER, called "Author of _The Task_," from his principal poem
(1731-1800).
COXCOMB (_The Prince of_) Charles Joseph Prince de Ligne (1535-1614).
Richard II. of England (1366, 1377-1400).
Henri III, of France, _Le Mignon_ (1551, 1574-1589).
COXE (_Captain_), one of the masques at Kenilworth.--Sir W. Scott,
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
COY BISHOP. Best friend and unconscious foil to Avis Dobell in
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps' _Story of Avis_. "Her face is as innocent of
sarcasm as a mocking bird's;" she "is one of the immortal few who can
look pretty in their crimping-pins;" she "has the glibness of most
unaccentuated natures;" she admires Avis without comprehending her,
and she makes an excellent wife to John Rose, a practical young
clergyman. (1877).
CRABSHAW (_Timothy_), the servant of Sir Launcelot Greaves's
squire.--Smollett, _Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves_ (1760).
CRAB´TREE, in Smollett's novel called _The Adventures of Peregine
Pickle_ (1751).
_Crab´tree_, uncle of Sir Harry Bumber, in Sheridan's comedy, _The
School for Scandal_ (1777).
_Crab´tree_, a gardener at Fairport.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_
(time George III.).
CRAC (_M. de_), the French Baron Munchausen; hero of a French
operetta.
CRACK´ENTHORP (_Father_), a publican.
_Dolly Crackenthorp_, daughter of the publican.--Sir W. Scott,
_Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
CRACKIT (_Flash Toby_), one of the villains in the attempted burglary
in which Bill Sikes and his associates were concerned.--C. Dickens,
_Oliver Twist_ (1837.)
CRA'DLEMONT, king of Wales, subdued by Arthur, fighting for
Leod'ogran, king of Cam'eliarn (3 _syl_.).--Tennyson, _Coming of
Arthur_.
CRADOCK (_Sir_), the only knight who could carve the boar's head which
no cuckold could cut; or drink from a bowl which no cuckold could
quaff without spilling the liquor. His lady was the only one in King
Arthur's court who could wear the mantle of chastity brought thither
by a boy during Christmas-tide.--Percy, _Reliques, etc._, III. iii.
18.
CRAIGDAL'LIE (_Adam_), the senior baillie of Perth.--Sir W. Scott,
_Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
CRAIG'ENGELT (_Captain_), an adventurer and companion of Bucklaw. Sir
W. Scott, _Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
CRAIK MAMSELL. A murderer who allows suspicion to fall upon the
innocent in Anna Katherine Green's story, _Hand and Ring_ (1883).
CRAMP (_Corporal_), under captain Thornton.--Sir W. Scott, _Bob Roy_
(time, George I.)
CRAN'BOURNE, (_Sir Jasper_), a friend of Sir Geoffrey Peveril--Sir W.
Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
CRANE (_Dame Alison_), mistress of the Crane inn, at Marlborough.
_Gaffer Crane_, the dame's husband.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time,
Elizabeth).
_Crane (Ichabod)_, a credulous Yankee schoolmaster. He is described as
"tall, exceedingly lank, and narrow-shouldered; his arms, legs, and
neck unusually long; his hands dangle a mile out of his sleeves; his
feet might serve for shovels; and his whole frame is very loosely hung
together."
The head of Ichabod Crane was small and
flat at top, with huge ears, large green glassy
eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked
like a weather-cock perched upon his spindle
neck to tell which way the wind blew.--W. Irving,
_Sketch-Book_ ("Legend of Sleepy Hollow.")
CRANES (1 _syl_.). Milton, referring to the wars of the pygmies and
the cranes, calls the former
That small infantry
Warred on by cranes.
_Paradise Lost_, i. 575 (1665).
CRANION, queen Mab's charioteer.
Four nimble gnats the horses were,
Their harnesses of gossamere,
Fly Cranion, her charioteer.
M. Dayton, _Nymphidia_ (1563-1631).
CRANK (_Dame_), the papist laundress at Marlborough.--Sir W. Scott,
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
CRA'PAUD (_Johnnie_), a Frenchman, as John Bull is an Englishman,
Cousin Michael a German, Colin Tampon a Swiss, Brother Jonathan a
North American, etc. Called Crapaud from the device of the ancient
kings of France, "three toads erect saltant." Nostradamus, in the
sixteenth century, called the French _crapauds_ in the well-known
line:
Les anciens crapauds prendront Sara.
("Sara" is Aras backwards, a city taken from the Spaniards under
Louis XIV.) CRATCHIT (_Bob_ or _Robert_), clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge,
stock-broker. Though Bob Cratchit has to maintain nine persons on 15s.
a week, he has a happier home and spends a merrier Christmas than his
master with all his wealth and selfishness.
_Tiny Tim Cratchit_, the little lame son of Bob Cratchit, the Benjamin
of the family, the most helpless and most beloved of all. Tim does not
die, but Ebenezer Scrooge, after his change of character, makes him
his special care.--C. Dickens, _A Christmas Carol_ (in five staves,
1843).
CRAW'FORD (_Lindsay, earl of_), the young earl-marshal of
Scotland.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
_Craw'ford (Lord)_, captain of the Scottish guard at Plessis lés
Tours, in the pay of Louis XI.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time,
Edward IV.).
CRAWLEY (_Sir Pitt_), of Great Gaunt Street, and of Queen's Crawley,
Hants. A sharp, miserly, litigious, vulgar, ignorant baronet, very
rich, desperately mean, "a philosopher with a taste for low life," and
intoxicated every night. Becky Sharp was engaged by him to teach his
two daughters. On the death of his second wife, Sir Pitt asked her to
become lady Crawley, but Becky had already married his son, Captain
Rawdon Crawley. This "aristocrat" spoke of "brass fardens," and was
unable to spell the simplest words, as the following specimen will
show:--"Sir Pitt Crawley begs Miss Sharp and baggidge may be hear on
Tuseday, as I leaf ... to-morrow erly." The whole baronetage, peerage,
and commonage of England did not contain a more cunning, mean,
foolish, disreputable old rogue than Sir Pitt Crawley. He died at the
age of fourscore, "lamented and beloved, regretted and honored," if we
can believe his monumental tablet.
_Lady Crawley_. Sir Pitt's first wife was "a confounded quarrelsome,
high-bred jade." So he chose for his second wife the daughter of Mr.
Dawson, iron-monger, of Mudbury, who gave up her sweetheart, Peter
Butt, for the gilded vanity of Crawleyism. This ironmonger's daughter
had "pink cheeks and a white skin, but no distinctive character, no
opinions, no occupation, no amusements, no vigor of mind, no temper;
she was a mere female machine." Being a "blonde, she wore draggled
sea-green or slatternly sky-blue dresses," went about slip-shod and in
curl-papers all day till dinner-time. She died and left Sir Pitt for
the second time a widower, "to-morrow to fresh woods and pastures
new."
_Mr. Pitt Crawley_, eldest son of Sir Pitt, and at the death of his
father inheritor of the title and estates. Mr. Pitt was a most proper
gentleman. He would rather starve than dine without a dress-coat and
white neckcloth. The whole house bowed down to him; even Sir Pitt
himself threw off his muddy gaiters in his son's presence. Mr. Pitt
always addressed his mother-in-law with "most powerful respect," and
strongly impressed her with his high aristocratic breeding. At Eton
he was called "Miss Crawley." His religious opinions were offensively
aggressive and of the "evangelical type." He even built a
meeting-house close by his uncle's church. Mr. Pitt Crawley came
into the large fortune of his aunt, Miss Crawley, married Lady Jane
Sheepshanks, daughter of the Countess of Southdown, became an M.P.,
grew money-loving and mean, but less and less "evangelical" as he grew
great and wealthy.
_Captain Rawdon Crawley_, younger brother of Mr. Pitt Crawley. He was
in the Dragoon Guards, a "blood about town," and an adept in boxing,
rat-hunting, the fives-court, and four-in-hand driving. He was a young
dandy, six feet high, with a great voice, but few brains. He could
swear a great deal, but could not spell. He ordered about the
servants, who nevertheless adored him; was generous, but did not pay
his tradesmen; a Lothario, free and easy. His style of talk was, "Aw,
aw; Jave-aw; Grad-aw; it's a confounded fine segaw-aw--confounded as I
ever smoked. Gad-aw." This military exquisite was the adopted heir of
Miss Crawley, but as he chose to marry Becky Sharp, was set aside for
his brother Pitt. For a time Becky enabled him to live in splendor
"upon nothing a year," but a great scandal got wind of gross
improprieties between Lord Steyne and Becky, so that Rawdon separated
from his wife, and was given the governorship of Coventry Isle by Lord
Steyne. "His Excellency Colonel Rawdon Crawley died in his island of
yellow fever, most deeply beloved and deplored," and his son Rawdon
inherited his uncle's title and the family estates.
_The Rev. Bute Crawley_, brother of Sir Pitt. He was a "tall, stately,
jolly, shovel-hatted rector." "He pulled stroke-oar in the Christ
Church boat, and had thrashed the best bruisers of the town. The Rev.
Bute loved boxing-matches, races, hunting, coursing, balls, elections,
regattas, and good dinners; had a fine singing voice, and was very
popular." His wife wrote his sermons for him.
_Mrs. Bute Crawley_, the rector's wife, was a smart little lady,
domestic, politic, but apt to overdo her "policy." She gave
her husband full liberty to do as he liked; was prudent and
thrifty.--Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_ (1848).
CRAYDOCKE _(Miss)._ Quaint friend of the Ripwinkleys and of everybody
else who figures in A.D.T. Whitney's _Real Folks_, and other of her
books. "Around her there is always springing up a busy and a spreading
crystallizing of shining and blessed elements. The world is none too
big for her, or for any such, of course."
CRAY'ON _(Le Sieur de_), one of the officers of Charles "the Bold,"
Duke of Burgundy.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward
IV.).
_Crayon (Geoffrey), Esq._, Washington Irving, author of _The
Sketch-Book_ (1820).
CREA'KLE, a hard, vulgar school-master, to whose charge David
Copperfield was entrusted, and where he first made the acquaintance of
Steerforth.
The circumstance abont him which impressed
me most was that he had no voice, but spoke in
a whisper.--C. Dickens, _David Copperfield_, vi.
(1849).
CREAM CHEESE _(Rev.)_, an aesthetic divine whose disciple Mrs.
Potiphar is in _The Potiphar Papers_.--George William Curtis (1853).
CREBILLON OF ROMANCE _(The)_, A. François Prévost d'Exiles
(1697-1763).
CREDAT JUDAEUS APELLA, NONEGO (Horace, _Sat. I_. v. 100). Of "Apella"
nothing whatever is known. In general the name is omitted, and the
word "Judaeus" stands for any Jew. "A disbelieving Jew would give
credit to the statement sooner than I should."
CRES'SIDA, in Chaucer CRESSEIDE (2 _syl_.), a beautiful, sparkling,
and accomplished woman, who has become a by-word for infidelity. She
was the daughter of Calchas, a Trojan priest, who took part with the
Greeks. Cressida is not a character of classic story, but a mediaeval
creation. Pope says her story was the invention of Lollius the
Lombard, historiographer of Urbino, in Italy. Cressida betroths
herself to Troilus, a son of Priam, and vows eternal fidelity. Troilus
gives the maiden a _sleeve_, and she gives her Adonis a _glove_, as a
love-knot. Soon after this betrothal an exchange of prisoners is made,
when Cressida falls to the lot of Diomed, to whom she very soon yields
her love, and even gives him the very sleeve which Troilus had given
her as a love-token.
As false
As air, as water, wind, or sandy earth.
Yea, let [_men_] say to stick the heart of falsehood,
"As false as Cressid."
(Shakespeare, _Troilus and Cressida_, act iii. sc. 2)
(1602).