been won and thrown away by the Earl of Leicester. She says if roses
and lilies grow in courts, why did he pluck the primrose of the field,
which some country swain might have won and valued! Thus sore and sad
the lady grieved in Cumnor Hall, and ere dawn the death bell rang, and
never more was that countess seen.
[Illustration] Sir W. Scott took this for the groundwork of his
_Kenihvorth_, which he called _Cumnor Hall_, but Constable, his
publisher, induced him to change the name.
CUNÉGONDE _[Ku'.na.gond]_, the mistress of Candide (2 _syl_.). in
Voltaire's novel called _Candide_. Sterne spells it "Cunëgund."
CUN'NINGHAM _(Archie)_, one of the archers of the Scotch guards at
Plessis lés Tours, in the pay of Louis XI.--Sir W. Scott, _Quentin
Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
CU'NO, the ranger, father of Agatha.--Weber, _Der Freischütz_ (1822).
CUNO'BELINE, a king of the Silurês, son of Tasciov'anus and father of
Caractacus. Coins still exist bearing the name of "Cunobeline," and
the word "Camalodunum" _[Colchester]_, the capital of his kingdom. The
Roman general between A.D. 43 and 47 was Aulus Plautius, but in 47
Ostorius Scapula took Caractacus prisoner.
Some think Cunobeline is Shakespeare's "Cymbeline," who reigned from
B.C. 8 to A.D. 27; but Cymbeline's father was Tenantius or Tenuantius,
his sons Guide'rius Arvir'agus, and the Roman general was Caius
Lucius.
... the courageous sons of our Cunobelin
Sank under Plautius' sword.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
CUNSTANCE or CONSTANCE (See CUSTANCE).
CUPID AND PSYCHE [_Si.ky_] an episode in _The Golden Ass_ of Apuleius.
The allegory represents Cupid in love with Psychê. He visited her
every evening, and left at sunrise, but strictly enjoined her not
to attempt to discover who he was. One night curiosity overcame her
prudence, and going to look upon her lover a drop of hot oil fell on
his shoulder, awoke him, and he fled. Psychê now wandered in search
of the lost one, but was persecuted by Venus with relentless cruelty.
Having suffered almost to the death, Cupid at length married her, and
she became immortal. Mrs. Tighe has a poem on the subject. Wm. Morris
has poetized the same in his _Earthly Paradise_ ("May"); Lafontaine
has a poem called _Psyché_, in imitation of the episode of Apuleius;
and Molière has dramatized the subject.
CU'PIDON (_Jean_). Count d'Orsay was so called by Lord Byron
(1798-1852). The count's father was styled _Le Beau d' Orsay._
CUR'AN, a courtier in Shakespeare's tragedy of _King Lear_ (1605).
CURÉ DE MEUDON, Rabelais, who was first a monk, then a leech, then
prebendary of St. Maur, and lastly curé of Meudon (1483-1553).
CU'RIO, a gentleman attending on the Duke of Illyria.--Shakespeare,
_Twelfth Night_ (1614).
_Curio_. So Akenside calls Mr. Pulteney, and styles him "the betrayer
of his country," alluding to the great statesman's change of politics.
Curio was a young Roman senator, at one time the avowed enemy of
Cæsar, but subsequently of Cæsar's party, and one of the victims of
the civil war.
Is this the man in freedom's cause approved.
The man so great, so honored, so beloved ...
This Curio, hated now and scorned by all,
Who fell himself to work his country's fall?
Akenside, _Epistle to Curio_.
CURIOUS IMPERTINENT (_The_), a tale introduced by Cervantês in his
_Don Quixote_. The "impertinent" is an Italian gentleman who is silly
enough to make trial of his wife's fidelity by persuading a friend to
storm it if he can. Of course his friend "takes the fort," and the
fool is left to bewail his own folly.--Pt. I. iv. 5 (1605).
CURRER BELL, the _nom de plume_ of Charlotte Brontê, author of _Jane
Eyre_ [_Air_] (1816-1855).
CURTA'NA, the sword of Edward the Con'fessor, which had no point, and
was therefore the emblem of mercy. Till the reign of Henry III., the
royal sword of England was so called.
But when Curtana will not do the deed,
You lay the pointless clergy-weapon by,
And to the laws, your sword of justice, fly.
Dryden, _The Hind and the Panther_, ii. (1687).
CURTA'NA or COURTAIN, the sword of Ogier the Dane.
He [_Ogier_] drew Courtain his sword out of its
sheath.
W. Morris, _Earthly Paradise_, (634).
CURT-HOSE (2 _syl_.). Robert II. duc de Normandie (1087-1134).
CURT-MANTLE, Henry II. of England
(1133, 1154-1189). So called because he wore the Anjou mantle, which
was shorter than the robe worn by his predecessors.
CURTIS, one of Petruchio's servants.--Shakespeare, _Taming of the
Shrew_ (1594).
PARSON CUSHING, pastor of the Orthodox Church in Poganuc. In fits of
learned abstraction, he fed the dog surreptitiously under the table,
thereby encouraging his boys to trust his heart rather than his
tongue. He justifies the expulsion of the Indian tribes by Scripture
texts, and gathers eggs in the hay-mow with Dolly; upholds the
doctrines of his denomination and would seal his faith with his blood,
but admits that "the Thirty-nine articles (with some few exceptions)
are a very excellent statement of truth." He is Catholic without
suspecting it.--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _Poganuc People_, (1878).
CUSTANCE, daughter of the Emperor of Rome, affianced to the Sultan of
Syria, who abjured his faith and consented to be baptized in order
to marry her. His mother hated this apostasy, and at the wedding
breakfast slew all the apostates except the bride. Her she embarked
in a ship, which was set adrift and in due time reached the British
shores, where Custance was rescued by the Lord-constable of
Northumberland, who took her home, and placed her under the care of
his wife Hermegild. Custance converted both the constable and his
wife. A young knight wished to marry her, but she declined his suit,
whereupon he murdered Hermegild, and then laid the bloody knife beside
Custance, to make her suspected of the crime. King Alia examined the
case, and soon discovered the real facts, whereupon the knight was
executed, and the king married Custance.
The queen-mother highly disapproved of the match, and during the
absence of her son in Scotland embarked Custance and her infant boy in
a ship, which was turned adrift. After floating about for five years,
it was taken in tow by a Roman fleet on its return from Syria, and
Custance with her son Maurice became the guests of a Eoman Senator. It
so happened that Alla at this same time was at Rome on a pilgrimage,
and encountered his wife, who returned with him to Northumberland
and lived in peace and happiness the rest of her life.--Chaucer,
_Canterbury Tales_ ("The Man of Law's Tale," 1388).
_Custance_, a gay and rich widow, whom Ralph Roister Doister wishes
to marry, but he is wholly baffled in his scheme.--Nicholas TJdall,
_Ralph Roister Doister_ (first English comedy, 1534).
CUTE _(Alderman)_, a "practical philosopher," resolved to put down
everything. In his opinion "everything must be put down." Starvation
must be put down, and so must suicide, sick mothers, babies, and
poverty.--C. Dickens, _The Chimes_ (1844).
CUTHAL, same as Uthal, one of the Orkneys.
CUTHBERT _(St.)_, a Scotch monk of the sixth century.
CUTHBERT BEDE, the Rev. Edw. Bradley, author of _Verdant Green_
(1857.)
CUTHO'NA, daughter of Rumar, was betrothed to Conlath, youngest son of
Morni, of Mora. Not long before the espousals were to be celebrated,
Toscar came from Ireland, and was hospitably entertained by Morni. On
the fourth day, he saw Cuthona out hunting, and carried her off by
force. Being pursued by Conlath, a fight ensued, in which both the
young men fell, and Cuthona, after languishing for three days, died
also.--Ossian, _Conlath and Cuthona_.
CUTHULLIN, son of Semo, commander of the Irish army, and regent during
the minority of Cormac. His wife was Brag'elo, daughter of Sorglan. In
the poem called _Fingal_, Cuthullin was defeated by Swaran, king of
Lochlin _[Scandinavia]_, and being ashamed to meet Fingal, retired
from the field gloomy and sad. Fingal having utterly defeated Swaran,
invited Cuthullin to the banquet, and partially restored his depressed
spirits. In the third year of Cormac's reign, Torlah, son of Can'tela,
rebelled. Cuthullin gained a complete victory over him at the lake
Lego, but was mortally wounded in the pursuit by a random arrow.
Cuthullin was succeeded by Nathos, but the young king was soon
dethroned by the rebel Cairbre, and murdered.--Ossian, _Fingal_ and
_The Death of Cuthullin_.
CUTLER _(Sir John)_, a royalist, who died 1699, reduced to the utmost
poverty.
Cutler saw tenants break, and houses fall. For very want he could not
build a wall. His only daughter in a stranger's power, for very want
he could not pay a dower. A few gray hairs his reverend temples
crowned, 'Twas very want that sold them for two pound....
Cutler and Brutus, dying, both exclaim, "Virtue and wealth, what are
ye but a name?" Pope, _Moral Essays_, iii. (1709).
CUTPURSE (_Moil_), Mary Frith, the heroine of Middleton's comedy
called _The Roaring Girl_ (1611). She was a woman of masculine vigor,
who not unfrequently assumed man's attire. This notorious cut-purse
once attacked General Fairfax on Hounslow Heath, but was arrested and
sent to Newgate; she escaped, however, by bribing the turnkey, and
died of dropsy at the age of 75. Nathaniel Field introduces her in his
drama called _Amends for Ladies_ (1618).
CUTSHAMAQUIN, an Indian Sachem, whose disobedient and rebellious son
was "dealt with" publicly by John Eliot. At the second summons and
serious admonition, the lad repented and confessed humbly, "and
entreated his father to forgive him, and took him by the hand, at
which his father burst forth into great weeping."--John Eliot, _The
Clear Sunshine of the Gospel Breaking Forth Upon the Indians_ (1648).
CUTTLE (_Captain Edward_), a great friend of Solomon Gills, ship's
instrument maker. Captain Cuttle had been a skipper, had a hook
instead of a right hand, and always wore a very hard, glazed hat. He
was in the habit of quoting, and desiring those to whom he spoke "to
overhaul the catechism till they found it;" but, he added, "when
found, make a note on." The kind-hearted seaman was very fond of
Florence Dombey, and of Walter Gay, whom he called "Wal'r." When
Florence left her father's roof, Captain Cuttle sheltered her at the
Wooden Midshipman. One of his favorite sentiments was "May we never
want a friend, or a bottle to give him."--C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_
(1846).
("When found, make a note of," is the motto of _Notes and Queries_.)
CYC'LADES (3 _syl_.), some twenty islands, so called from the classic
legend that they _circled round_ Delos when that island was rendered
stationary by the birth of Diana and Apollo.
CYCLIC POETS, a series of epic poets, who wrote continuations or
additions to Homer's _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_; they were called "Cyclic"
because they confined themselves to the _cycle_ of the Trojan war.
AG'IAS wrote an epic on "the return of the Greeks from Troy" (B.C.
740).
ARCTI'NOS wrote a continuation of the _Iliad_, describing the taking
of Troy by the "Wooden Horse," and its conflagration. Virgil has
copied from this poet (B.C. 776).
EU'GAMON wrote a continuation of the _Odyssey_. It contains the
adventures of Telegonos in search of his father Ulysses. When he
reached Ith'aca, Ulysses and Telemachos went against him, and
Telegonos killed Ulysses with a spear which his mother Circe had given
him (B.C. 568).
LES'CHES, author of the _Little Iliad_, in four books, containing the
fate of Ajax, the exploits of Philoctetes, Neoptol'emos, and Ulysses,
and the final capture of Troy (B.C. 708).
STASI'NOS, "son-in-law" of Homer. He wrote an introduction to the
_Iliad_.
CYCLOPS. Their names are Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. (See SINDBAD,
voy. 3).
_Cyclops (The Holy)_. So Dryden in the _Masque of Albion and
Albanius_, calls Richard Rumbold, an Englishman, the chief conspirator
in the "Ryehouse Plot." He had lost one eye, and was executed.
CYDIP'PE (3 _syl_), a lady courted by Acontius of Cea, but being
unable to obtain her, he wrote on an apple, "I swear by Diana that
Acontius shall be my husband." This apple was presented to the
maiden, and being persuaded that she had written the words, though
inadvertently, she consented to marry Acontius for "the oath's sake."
Cydippe by a letter was betrayed,
Writ on an apple to th' unwary maid
Ovid, _Art of Love_, 1.
CYL'LAROS, the horse of Pollux according to Virgil (_Georg_. iii.
90), but of Castor according to Ovid _(Metam._ xii. 408). It was
coal-black, with white legs and tail.
CYLLE'NIUS, Mercury; so called from Mount Cylenê, in Arcadia, where he
was born.
CYM'BELINE (3 _syl_.), mythical king of Britain for thirty-five years.
He began to reign in the nineteenth year of Augustus Cæsar. His father
was Tenantius, who refused to pay the tribute to the Romans exacted of
Cassibelan after his defeat by Julius Cæsar. Cymbeline married
twice. By his first wife he had a daughter named Imogen, who married
Posthumus Leonatus. His second wife had a son named Cloten by a former
husband.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).
CYMOCHLES _[Si. mok'.leez]_, brother of Pyroch'lês, son of Aeratês,
husband of Acras'ia the enchantress. He sets out against Sir Guyon,
but being ferried over Idle Lake, abandons himself to self-indulgence,
and is slain by King Arthur (canto 8).--Spencer, _Faery Queen_, ii. 5,
etc. (1590).
CYMOD'OCE (4 _syl_.). The mother of Mar'inel is so called in bk.
iv. 12 of the _Faery Queen_, but in bk. iii. 4 she is spoken of as
Cymo'ent "daughter of Nereus" (2_syl_.) by an earth-born father, "the
famous Dumarin."
CYMOENT. (See CYMODOCE.)
CYM'RY, the Welsh.
The Welsh always called themselves "Cym-ry", the literal meaning of
which is "aborigines." ... It is the same word as "Cimbri." ... They
call their language "Cymraeg," _i.e_, "the primitive tongue."--E.
Williams.
CYNGÆI'ROS, brother of the poet Æschylos. When the Persians, after the
battle of Marathon, were pushing off from shore, Cyngæiros seized one
of their ships with his right hand, which being lopped off, he grasped
it with his left hand; this being cut off, he seized it with his
teeth, and lost his life.
ADMIEAL BENBOW, in an engagement with the French, near St. Martha, in
1701, had his legs and thighs shivered into splinters by chain-shot;
but (supported on a wooden frame) he remained on deck till Du Casse
sheered off.
ALMEYDA, the Portuguese Governor of India, had his legs and thighs
shattered in a similar way, and caused himself to be bound to the
ship's mast, that he might wave his sword to cheer on the combatants.
JAAFER, at the battle of Muta, carried the sacred banner of the
prophet. One hand being lopped off, he held it with the other; this
also being cut off, he held it with his two stumps, and when at last
his head was cut off, he contrived to fall dead on the banner, which
was thus detained till Abdallah had time to rescue it and hand it to
Khaled.
CYNE'THA(3 _syl._), eldest son of Cadwallon (king of North Wales). He
was an orphan, brought up by his uncle Owen. During his minority, Owen
and Cynetha loved each other dearly; but when the orphan came of age
and claimed his inheritance, his uncle burnt his eyes out by exposing
them to plates of hot brass. Cynetha and his son Cadwallon accompanied
Madoc to North America, where the blind old man died while Madoc was
in Wales preparing for his second voyage.--Southey, _Madoc_, i. 3
(1805).
Cadwallonis erat primaevus jure Cynëtha:
Proh pudor! hunc oculis patruus privavit Oenus.
_The Pentarchia_.
CYNIC TUB (_The_), Diog'enês, the Cynic philosopher lived in a tub,
and it is to this fact that illusion is made in the line:
[_They_] fetch their doctrines from the Cynic tub.
Milton, _Comus_, 708 (1634).
CY'NOSURE (3 _syl_.), the pole-star. The word means "the dog's tail,"
and is used to signify a guiding genius, or the observed of all
observers. Cynosu'ra was an Idaean nymph, one of the nurses of Zeus (1
_syl_.).
CYN'THIA, the moon or Diana, who was born on Mount Cynthus, in Dêlos.
Apollo is called "Cynthius."
... watching, in the night,
Beneath pale Cynthia's melancholy light.
Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, iii. 2 (1756).
_Cyn'thia._ So Spenser, in _Colin Clout's Come Home Again_, calls
Queen Elizabeth, "whose angel's eye" was his life's sole bliss, his
heart's eternal treasure. Ph. Fletcher, in _The Purple Island_, iii.,
also calls Queen Elizabeth "Cynthia."
Her words were like a stream of honey fleeting..
Her deeds were like great clusters of ripe grapes...
Her looks were like beams of the morning sun
Forth looking thro' the windows of the east...
Her thoughts were like the fumes of frankincense
Which from a golden censer forth doth rise.
Spenser, _Colin Clout's Come Home Again_ (1591).
_Cyn'thia_, daughter of Sir Paul Pliant, and daughter-in-law of Lady
Pliant. She is in love with Melle'font (2 _syl_.). Sir Paul calls her
"Thy"--W. Congreve, _The Double Dealer_ (1694).
CYN'THIA WARE. Auburn-haired girl living upon Lost Creek in Tennessee,
in love with Evander Price, a young blacksmith. When he is sent to the
penitentiary upon a false accusation, she labors unceasingly for a
year to obtain his pardon. A year after it is granted, she learns that
he is doing well in another State and has forgotten her. In time, he
returns, married and prosperous, and calls upon his old friends upon
Lost Creek.
"His recollections were all vague, although at
some reminiscence of hers he laughed jovially,
and ''lowed that in them days, Cinthy, you
an' me had a right smart notion of keepin' company
tergether.' He did not notice how pale
she was, and that there was often a slight spasmodic
contraction of her features. She was
busy with her spinning-wheel, as she placidly
replied: 'Yes,--'though I always 'lowed ez I
counted on livin' single.'"--Charles Egbert Craddock,
_In the Tennessee Mountains_ (1885).
CYP'RIAN _(A)_, a woman of loose morals; so called from the island
Cyprus, a chief seat of the worship of Venus or Cyp'ria.
_Cyp'rian (Brother)_, a Dominican monk at the monastery of
Holyrood.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
CYRENA'IC SHELL _(The)_, the lyre or strain of Callini'achos, a Greek
poet of Alexandria, in Egypt. Six of his hymns in hexameter verse are
still extant.
For you the Cyrenaic shell
Behold I touch revering.
Akenside, _Hymn to the Naiads_.
CYR'IC _(St.)_, the saint to whom sailors address themselves. The St.
Elmo of the Welsh.
The weary mariners
Called on St. Cyric's aid.
Southey, _Madoc_, i. 4 (1805).
CYRUS AND TOM'YRIS. Cyrus, after subduing the eastern parts of Asia,
was defeated by Tomyris queen of the Massage'tae, in Scythia. Tomyris
cut off his head, and threw it into a vessel filled with human blood,
saying, as she did so, "There, drink thy fill." Dantê refers to this
incident in his _Purgatory_, xii.
Consyder Syrus ...
He whose huge power no man might overthrowe,
Tom'yris Queen with great despite hath slowe,
His head dismembered from his mangled corps
Herself she cast into a vessel fraught
With clotted bloud of them that felt her force.
And with these words a just reward she taught--
"Drynke now thy fyll of thy desired draught."
T. Sackville, _A Mirrour for Magistraytes_
("The Complaynt," 1587).
CYTHERE'A, Venus; so called from Cythe'ra (now _Cerigo_), a
mountainous island of Laco'nia, noted for the worship of Aphrodite
(or Venus). The tale is that Venus and Mars, having formed an illicit
affection for each other, were caught in a delicate net made by
Vulcan, and exposed to the ridicule of the court of Olympus.
He the fate [_May sing_]
Of naked Mars with Cytherea chained.
Akenside, _Hymn to the Naiads_.
CYZE'NIS, the infamous daughter of Diomed, who killed every one
that fell into her clutches, and compelled fathers to eat their own
children.
CZAR (_Casar_), a title first assumed in Russia by Ivan III., who,
in 1472, married a princess of the imperial Byzantine line. He also
introduced the double-headed black eagle of Byzantium as the national
symbol. The official style of the Russian autocrat is _Samoderjetz_.
D'ACUNHA (_Teresa_), waiting-woman to the countess of Glenallan.--Sir
W. Scott, _Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
DAFFODIL. When Perseph'onê, the daughter of Deme'ter, was a little
maiden, she wandered about the meadows of Enna in Sicily, to gather
_white_ daffodils to wreathe into her hair, and being tired she fell
asleep. Pluto, the god of the infernal regions, carried her off to
become his wife, and his touch turned the white flowers to a golden
yellow. Some remained in her tresses till she reached the meadows of
Acheron, and falling off there grew into the asphodel, with which the
meadows thenceforth abounded.
She stepped upon Sicilian grass,
Demeter's daughter, fresh and fair,
A child of light, a radiant lass,
And gamesome as the morning air.
The daffodils were fair to see,
They nodded lightly on the lea;
Persephonê! Persephonê!
Jean Ingelow, _Persephone_.
DAGON, sixth in order of the hierarchy of hell: (1) Satan, (2)
Beëlzebub, (3) Moloch, (4) Chemos, (5) Thammuz, (6) Dagon. Dagon was
half man and half fish. He was worshipped in Ashdod, Gath, Ascalon,
Ekron, and Gaza (the five chief cities of the Philistines). When the
"ark" was placed in his temple, Dagon fell, and the palms of his hands
were broken off.
Next came ...
Dagon ... sea-monster, upward man
And downward fish.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 457, etc. (1665).
DAG'ONET (_Sir_), King Arthur's fool. One day Sir Dagonet, with two
squires, came to Cornwall, and as they drew near a well Sir Tristram
soused them all three in, and dripping wet made them mount their
horses and ride off, amid the jeers of the spectators (pt. ii. 60).
King Arthur loved Sir Dagonet passing well,
and made him knight; with his own hands; and
at every tournament he made King Arthur
laugh.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_.
ii. 97 (1470).
Justice Shallow brags that he once personated Sir Dagonet, while he
was a student at Clement's Inn.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV_. act ii.
sc. 2 (1598).
[Illustration] Tennyson deviates in this, as he does in so many other
instances, from the old romance. The _History_ says that King Arthur
made Dagonet knight "with his own hands," because he "loved him
passing well;" but Tennyson says that Sir Gawain made him "a
mock-knight of the Round Table."--_The Last Tournament_, 1.
DAISY MILLER. Mrs. Miller, _nouvelle riche_ and in true American
subjection to her children, is travelling abroad. Her only daughter is
pretty, unconventional, and so bent upon having "a good time" that she
falls under the most degrading suspicions. The climax of flirtation
and escapade is a midnight expedition to the Colosseum, where she
contracts Roman fever and dies.--Henry James, Jr., _Daisy Miller_
(1878).
DAL'DAH, Mahomet's favorite white mule.
DALES (_The_), a family in Ashurst, where is laid the scene of _John
Ward, Preacher_: By Margaret Deland. The wife is prim and dictatorial,
a pattern housewife, with decided views upon all subjects, including
religion and matrimony. The husband wears a cashmere dressing-gown,
and spreads a red handkerchief over his white hair to protect his
white head from draughts; reads "A Sentimental Journey;" looks at his
wife before expressing an opinion, and makes an excellent fourth at
whist (1888).
DALGA, a Lombard harlot, who tries to seduce young Goltho, but Goltho
is saved by his friend Ulfinore.--Sir W. Davenant, _Gondibert_ (died
1668).
DALGARNO (_Lord Malcolm of_), a profligate young nobleman, son of
the earl of Huntinglen (an old Scotch noble family). Nigel strikes
Dalgarno with his sword, and is obliged to seek refuge in "Alsatia."
Lord Dalgarno's villainy to the Lady Hermïonê excites the displeasure
of King James, and he would have been banished if he had not married
her. After this, Lord Dalgarno carries off the wife of John Christie,
the ship-owner, and is shot by Captain Colepepper, the Alsatian
bully.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).