Erath a rival lover having been rejected by her. One day, disguised as
an old grey-beard, Erath told Daura that he was sent to conduct her
to Armar, who was waiting for her. Without suspicion she followed her
guide, who took her to a rock in the midst of the sea, and there left
her. Her brother Arindal, returning from the chase, saw Erath on the
shore, and bound him to an oak; then pushing off the boat, went to
fetch back his sister. At this crisis Armar came up, and discharged
his arrow at Erath; but the arrow struck Arindal, and killed him. "The
boat broke in twain," and Armar plunged into the sea to rescue his
betrothed; but a "sudden blast from the hills struck him, and he sank
to rise no more." Daura was rescued by her father, but she haunted the
shore all night in a drenching rain. Next day "her voice grew very
feeble; it died away; and spent with grief, she expired." Ossian,
_Songs of Selma_.
DAVENANT (_Lord_), a bigamist. One wife was Marianne Dormer, whom
he forsook in three months. It was given out that he was dead, and
Marianne in time married Lord Davenant's son. His other wife was
Louisa Travers, who was engaged to Captain Dormer, but was told that
the Captain was faithless and had married another. When the villainy
of his lordship could be no longer concealed he destroyed himself.
_Lady Davenant_, one of the two wives of Lord Davenant. She was "a
faultless wife," with beauty to attract affection, and every womanly
grace.
_Charles Davenant_, a son of Lord Davenant, who married Marianne
Dormer, his father's wife.--Cumberland, _The Mysterious Husband_
(1783).
_Davenant (Will)_, a supposed descendant from Shakespeare,
and Wildrake's friend,--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_ (time, the
Commonwealth).
DAVENPORT (_Colonel_), a Revolutionary veteran who, fighting the
battle of Long Island over again in Parson Cushing's family, admits
that General Washington poured out "a terrible volley of curses."
"And he swore?" objects Parson Gushing.
"It was not profane swearing. It was not taking GOD'S name in vain,
for it sent us back as if we had been chased by lightning. It was
an awful hour, and he saw it. It was life or death; country or no
country."--Harriet Beecher Stowe, _Poganuc People_ (1878).
DAVID, in Dryden's satire of _Absalom and Achitophel_ is meant for
Charles II. As David's beloved son Absalom rebelled against him,
so the Duke of Monmouth rebelled against his father Charles II. As
Achitophel was a traitorous counsellor to David, so was the Earl of
Shaftesbury to Charles II. As Hushaï outwitted Achitophel, so Hyde
(duke of Eochester) outwitted the Earl of Shaftesbury, etc., etc.
Auspicious prince.
Thy longing country's darling and desire,
Their cloudy pillar, and their guardian fire ...
The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme,
The young men's vision and the old men's dream.
Dryden, _Absalom and Achitophel_, i. (1681).
_David_, king of North Wales, eldest son of Owen, by his second wife.
Owen died in 1169. David married Emma Plantagenet, a Saxon princess.
He slew his brother Hoel and his half-brother Yorworth (son of Owen
by his first wife), who had been set aside from the succession in
consequence of a blemish in the face. He also imprisoned his brother
Rodri, and drove others into exile. Madoc, one of his brothers, went
to America, and established there a Welsh colony.--Southey, _Madoc_
(1805).
DAVID SOVINE. Witness in a murder case in Edward Eggleston's novel
_The Graysons._ He is put upon the stand and tells a plausible story
of "the shooting," which he claims to have seen. The prosecutor then
hands him over to the prisoner's counsel, Abraham Lincoln, whose
cross-examination of the wretched man concludes thus:
"Why does David Sovine go to all this trouble to perjure himself? Why
does he wish to swear away the life of that young man who never did
him any harm? Because that witness shot and killed George Lockwood
himself. I move your honor that David Sovine be arrested at once for
murder!" (1888).
DAVID SWAN. A native of New Hampshire, born of respectable parents who
has had a "classic finish" by a year at Grilmanton Academy. He lies
down to sleep at noon of a Summer's day, pillowing his head on a
bundle of clothing. While sound asleep in the shade, he is passed by
many people on the road. Five or six pause to survey the youth and
comment upon him. Awakened by the stage-coach, he mounts to the top,
and bowls away, unconscious that a phantom of Wealth, of Love and
of Death had visited him in the brief hour since he lay down to
sleep.--Nathaniel Hawthorn, _Twice-told Tales_, (1851.)
_David (St.)_, son of Xantus, prince of Cereticu _(Cardiganshire)_ and
the nun Malearia. He was the uncle of King Arthur. St. David first
embraced the ascetic life in the Isle of Wight, but subsequently
removed to Menevia, in Pembrokeshire, where he founded twelve
convents. In 577 the archbishop of Caerleon resigned his see to
him, and St. David removed the seat of it to Menevia, which was
subsequently called St. David's and became the metropolis of Wales. He
died at the age of 146, in the year 642. The waters of Bath "owe their
warmth and salutary qualities to the benediction of this saint."
Drayton says he lived in the valley of Ewias (2 _syl_.), between the
hills of Hatterill, in Monmouthshire.
Here in an aged cell with moss and ivy grown,
In which not to this day the sun hath ever shown.
That reverend British saint in zealous ages past,
To contemplation lived.
_Polyolbion_, iv. (1612.)
DAVID AND JONATHAN, inseparable friends. The allusion is to David the
Psalmist and Jonathan the son of Saul. David's lamentation at the
death of Jonathan was never surpassed in pathos and beauty.--2
_Samuel_, i. 19-27.
DAVIE DEBET, debt.
So ofte thy neighbors banquet in thy hall,
Till Davie Debet in thy parler stand,
And bids thee welcome to thine own decay.
G. Gascoigne, _Magnum Vectigal, etc_. (died 1775).
DAVIE OF STENHONSE, a friend of Hobbie Elliott.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
DAVIES (_John_), an old fisherman employed by Joshua Geddes the
quaker.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III).
DA'VUS, a plain, uncouth servitor; a common name for a slave in Greek
and Roman plays, as in the _Andria_ of Terence.
His face made of brass, like a vice in a game.
His gesture like Davus, whom Terence doth name.
T. Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, liv. (1557).
_Davus sum, non Oedipus._ I am a homely man, and do not understand
hints, innuendoes, and riddles, like Oedipus. Oedipus was the
Theban who expounded the riddle of the Sphinx, that puzzled all his
countrymen. Davus was the stock name of a servant or slave in Latin
comedies. The proverb is used by Terence, _Andria_, 1, 2, 23.
DAVY, the varlet of Justice Shallow, who so identifies himself with
his master that he considers himself half host half varlet. Thus when
he seats Bardolph and Page at table, he tells them they must take
"his" good will for their assurance of welcome.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry
IV_. (1598).
DAW (_Sir David_), a rich, dunder-headed baronet of Monmouthshire,
without wit, words, or worth, but believing himself somebody, and
fancying himself a sharp fellow, because his servants laugh at his
good sayings, and his mother calls him a wag. Sir David pays his suit
to Miss [Emily] Tempest; but as the affections of the young lady are
fixed on Henry Woodville, the baron goes to the wall.--Cumberland,
_The Wheel of Fortune_ (1779).
_Daw (Marjorie)_ Edward Delaney, writing to another young fellow, John
Flemming, confined in town in August by a broken leg, interests him
in a charming girl, Marjorie Daw by name, whom he has met in his
(Delaney's) summering-place. His description of her ways, sayings and
looks so works upon the imagination of the invalid that he falls madly
in love with her--_without_ sight. As soon as he can travel he rushes
madly down to "The Pines" where his friend is staying, and finds
instead of Delaney a letter:
... "I tried to make a little romance to interest you, something
soothing and idyllic, and by Jove! I've done it only too well ... I
fly from the wrath to come--when you arrive! For, O, dear Jack, there
isn't any colonial mansion on the other side of the road, there isn't
any piazza, there isn't any hammock,--there isn't any Marjorie Daw!"
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, _Marjorie Daw_ (1873).
DAWFYD, "the one-eyed" freebooter chief.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
DAWKINS (_Jack_), known by the sobriquet of the "Artful Dodger." He
is one of Fagin's tools. Jack Dawkins is a young scamp of unmitigated
villainy, and full of artifices, but of a cheery, buoyant temper.--C.
Dickens, _Oliver Twist_, viii. (1837).
DAWSON (_Bully_), a London sharper, bully, and debauchee of the
seventeenth century.--See _Spectator_, No. 2.
Bully Dawson kicked by half the town, and half the town kicked by
Bully Dawson.--Charles Lamb.
_Dawson (Jemmy)._ Captain James Dawson was one of the eight officers
belonging to the Manchester volunteers in the service of Charles
Edward, the young pretender. He was a very amiable young man, engaged
to a young lady of family and fortune, who went in her carriage to
witness his execution for treason. When the body was drawn, _i.e._
embowelled, and the heart thrown into the fire, she exclaimed, "James
Dawson!" and expired. Shenstone has made this the subject of a tragic
ballad.
Young Dawson was a gallant youth,
A brighter never trod the plain;
And well he loved one charming maid,
And dearly was he loved again.
Shenstone, _Jemmy Dawson_.
_Dawson (Phoebe)_, "the pride of Lammas Fair," courted by all the
smartest young men of the village, but caught "by the sparkling
eyes" and ardent words of a tailor. Phoebe had by him a child before
marriage, and after marriage he turned a "captious tyrant and a noisy
sot." Poor Phoebe drooped, "pinched were her looks, as one who pined
for bread," and in want and sickness she sank into an early tomb. This
sketch is one of the best in Crabbe's _Parish Register_ (1807).
DAY (_Justice_), a pitiable hen-pecked husband, who always addresses
his wife as "duck" or "duckie."
_Mrs. Day_, wife of the "justice," full of vulgar dignity,
overbearing, and loud. She was formerly the kitchen-maid of her
husband's father; but being raised from the kitchen to the parlor,
became my lady paramount.
In the comedy from which this farce is taken, "Mrs. Day" was the
kitchen-maid in the family of Colonel Careless, and went by the name
of Gillian. In her exalted state she insisted on being addressed as
"Your honor" or "Your ladyship."
Margaret Woffington [1718-1760], in "Mrs. Day," made no scruples to
disguise her beautiful face by drawing on it the lines of deformity,
and to put on the tawdry habiliments and vulgar manners of an old
hypocritical city vixen.--Thomas Davies.
_Abel Day_, a puritanical prig, who can do nothing without Obadiah.
This "downright ass" (act i. I) aspires to the hand of the heiress
Arabella.--T. Knight, _The Honest Thieves_.
This farce is a mere _réchauffé_ of _The Committee_, a comedy by
the Hon. Sir R. Howard (1670). The names of "Day," "Obadiah," and
"Arabella" are the same.
_Day (Ferquhard)_, the absentee from the clan Chattan ranks at the
conflict.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
DAY OF THE DUPES, November 11, 1630. The dupes were Marie de Medicis,
Anne of Austria, and Gaston, duc d'Orléans, who were outwitted by
Cardinal Richelieu. The plotters had induced Louis XIII. to dismiss
his obnoxious minister, whereupon the cardinal went at once to resign
the seals of office; the king repented, re-established the cardinal,
and he became more powerful than ever.
DAYS RECURRENT IN THE LIVES OF GREAT MEN.
BECKET. Tuesday was Becket's day. He was born on a Tuesday, and on
a Tuesday was assassinated. He was baptized on a Tuesday, took his
flight from Northampton on a Tuesday, withdrew to France on a Tuesday,
had his vision of martydom on a Tuesday, returned to England on a
Tuesday, his body was removed from the crypt to the shrine on a
Tuesday, and on Tuesday (April 13, 1875) Cardinal Manning consecrated
the new church dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket.
CROMWELL'S day was September 3. On September 3, 1650, he won the
battle of Dunbar; on September 3, 1651, he won the battle of
Worcester; on September 3, 1658, he died.
HAROLD'S day was October 14. It was his birthday, and also the day of
his death. William the Conqueror was born on the same day, and, on
October 14, 1066, won England by conquest.
NAPOLEON'S day was August 15, his birthday; but his his "lucky" day,
like that of his nephew, Napoleon III., was the 2nd of the month. He
was made consul for life on August 2, 1802; was crowned December
2, 1804; won his greatest battle, that of Austerlitz, for which
he obtained the title of "Great," December 2, 1805; married the
archduchess of Austria, April 2, 1810; etc.
NAPOLEON III. The _coup d'état_ was December 2, 1851. Louis Napoleon
was made emperor December 2, 1852; he opened, at Saarbrück, the
Franco-German war August 2, 1870; and surrendered his sword to William
of Prussia, September 2, 1870.
DAZZLE, in _London Assurance_, by D. Boucicault.
"Dazzle" and "Lady Gay Spanker" "act
themselves," and will never be dropped out of
the list of acting plays.--Percy Fitzgerald.
DE BOURGO (_William_), brother of the earl of Ulster and commander of
the English forces that defeated Felim O'Connor (1315) at Athunree, in
Connaught.
Why tho' fallen her brother kerne [_Irish infantry_]
Beneath De Bourgo's battle stern.
Campbell, _O'Connor's Child_.
DE COURCY, in a romance called _Women_, by the Rev. C.R. Maturin. An
Irishman, made up of contradictions and improbabilities. He is in love
with Zaira, a brilliant Italian, and also with her unknown daughter,
called Eva Wentworth, a model of purity. Both women are blighted by
his inconstancy. Eva dies, but Zaira lives to see De Courcy perish of
remorse (1822).
DE GARD, a noble staid gentleman, newly lighted from his travels;
brother of Oria'na, who "chases" Mi'rabel "the wild goose," and
catches him.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Wild-goose Chase_ (1652).
DE L'EPÈE (_Abbe_). Seeing a deaf and dumb lad abandoned in the
streets of Paris, he rescues him, and brings him up under the name of
Theodore. The foundling turned out to be Julio, count of Harancour.
"In your opinion, who is the greatest genius that France has ever
produced?" "Science would decide for D'Alembert, Nature [_would_] say
Buffon; Wit and Taste [_would_] present Voltaire; and Sentiment plead
for Rousseau; but Genius and Humanity cry out for De l'Epee, and him
I call the best and greatest of human creatures."--Th. Holcroft, _The
Deaf and Dumb_, iii. 2. (1785).
DE VALMONT (_Count_), father of Florian and uncle of Geraldine. During
his absence in the wars, he left his kinsman, the Baron Longueville,
guardian of his castle; but under the hope of coming into the
property, the baron set fire to the castle, intending thereby to kill
the wife and her infant boy. When De Valmont returned and knew his
losses, he became a wayward recluse, querulous, despondent, frantic at
times, and at times most melancholy. He adopted an infant "found in a
forest," who turned out to be his son. His wife was ultimately found,
and the villainy of Longueville was brought to light.--W. Dimond, _The
Foundling of the Forest._
Many "De Valmonts" I have witnessed in fifty-four years, but have
never seen the equal of Joseph George Holman [1764-1817].--Donaldson.
DEAF AND DUMB (_The_), a comedy by Thomas Holcroft. "The deaf and
dumb" boy is Julio, count of Harancour, a ward of M. Darlemont, who,
in order to get possession of his ward's property, abandons him when
very young in the streets of Paris. Here he is rescued by the Abbé De
l'Epèe, who brings him up under the name of Theodore. The boy being
recognized by his old nurse and others, Darlemont confesses his crime,
and Julio is restored to his rank and inheritance.--Th. Holcroft, _The
Deaf and Dumb_ (1785).
DEAN OF ST. PATRICK (_The_), Jonathan Swift, who was appointed to the
deanery in 1713, and retained it till his death. (1667-1745).
DEANS (_Douce Davie_), the cowherd at Edinburgh, noted for his
religious peculiarities, his magnanimity in affection, and his
eccentricities.
_Mistress Rebecca Deans_, Douce Davie's second wife.
_Jeanie Deans_, daughter of Douce Davie Deans, by his first wife. She
marries Reuben Butler, the Presbyterian minister. Jeanie Deans is
a model of good sense, strong affection, resolution, and
disinterestedness. Her journey from Edinburgh to London is as
interesting as that of _Elizabeth_ from Siberia to Moscow, or of
Bunyan's pilgrim.
_Effie [Euphemia] Deans_, daughter of Douce Davie Deans, by his second
wife. She is betrayed by George [afterward Sir George] Staunton
(called _Geordie Robertson_) and imprisoned for child-murder. Jeanie
goes to the queen and sues for pardon, which is vouchsafed to her,
and Staunton does what he can to repair the mischief he has done by
marrying Effie, who thus becomes Lady Staunton. Soon after this Sir
George is shot by a gypsy boy, who proves to be his own son, and
Effie retires to a convent on the Continent.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of
Midlothian_ (time, George II).
[Illustration] J.E.Millais has a picture of Effie Deans keeping tryst
with George Staunton.
[Illustration] The prototype of Jeanie Deans was Helen Walker, to
whose memory Sir W. Scott erected a tombstone in Irongray churchyard
(Kirkcudbright).
DEAN (Elder). Rigid and puritaincal church, official who brings a
charge of heretical opinions and blacksliding against his pastor's
wife in _John Ward, Preacher_, Margaret Deland (1888).
DEATH OR MORS. So did Tennyson call Sir Ironside the Red Knight of the
Red Lands, who kept Lyonors (for Lionês) captive in Castle Perilous.
The name "Mors," which is Latin, is very inconsistent with a
purely British tale, and of course does not appear in the original
story.--Tennyson, _Idylls_ ("Gareth and Lynette"); Sir T. Malory,
_History of Prince Arthur_, i. 134-137 (1470).
DEATH FROM STRANGE CAUSES.
Æschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his head from the
claws of an eagle in the air.--Pliny, _Hist_. vii. 7.
Agath'ocles (4 _syl_.), tyrant of Sicily, was killed by a tooth-pick,
at the age of 95.
Anacreon was choked by a grape stone.--Pliny, _Hist_. vii. 7.
Bassus (_Q. Lucilius_) died from the prick of a fine needle in his
left thumb.
Chalchas, the soothsayer, died of laughter at the thought of his
having outlived the time predicted for his death.
Charles VIII., conducting his queen into a tennis-court, struck his
head against the lintel, and it caused his death.
Fabius, the Roman praetor, was choked by a single goat-hair in the
milk which he was drinking.--Pliny, _Hist_. vii. 7.
Frederick Lewis, prince of Wales, died from the blow of a cricket
ball.
Itadach died of thirst in the harvest field, because (in observance of
the rule of St. Patrick) he refused to drink a drop of anything.
Louis VI. met with his death from a pig running under his horse, and
causing it to stumble. Margutte died of laughter on seeing a monkey
try ing to pull on a pair of his boots.
Philom'enes (4 _syl_.) died of laughter at seeing an ass eating the
figs provided for his own dessert.--Valerius Maximus.
Placut (_Phillipot_) dropped down dead while in the act of paying a
bill.--Backaberry the elder.
Quenelault, a Norman physician of Montpellier, died from a slight
wound made in his hand in the extraction of a splinter.
Saufeius (_Spurius_) was choked supping up the albumen of a
soft-boiled egg.
Zeuxis, the painter, died of laughter at sight of a hag which he had
just depicted.
DEATH RIDE (_The_), the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava,
October 25, 1854. In this action 600 English horsemen, under the
earl of Cardigan, charged a Russian force of 5,000 calvary and six
batallions of infantry. They galloped through the battery of thirty
guns, cutting down the artillerymen, and through the calvary, but then
discovered the batallions and cut their way back again. Of the 670
who advanced to this daring charge, not 200 returned. This reckless
exploit was the result of some misunderstanding in an order from the
commander-in-chief. Tennyson has a poem on the subject called _The
Charge of the Light Brigade_.
For chivalrous devotion and daring, "the Death Ride" of the Light
Brigade will not easily be paralleled.--Sir Edw. Creasy, _The Fifteen
Decisive Battles_ (preface).
DEB'ON, one of the companions of Brute. According to British fable,
Devonshire is a corruption of "Debon's-share", or the share of the
country assigned to Debon.
DEBORAH DEBBITCH, governante at Lady Peveril's--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril
of the the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
DEBORAH WOODHOUSE. The practical sister of the spinster pair who
cherish (respectively) a secret attachment for Mr. Dermer. Miss
Deborah is an admirable cook, and an affectionate aunt and considers
that in religion a woman ought to think just as her husband
does.--Margaret Deland, _John Ward, Preacher_ (1888).
DECEM SCRIPTORES, a collection of ten ancient chronicles on English
history, edited by Twysden and John Selden. The names of the
chroniclers are Simeon of Durham, John of Hexham, Richard of Hexham,
Ailred of Rieval, Ralph De Diceto, John Brompton of Jorval, Gervase
of Canterbury, Thomas Stubbs, William Thorn of Canterbury, and Henry
Knighton of Leicester.
DECEMBER. A mother laments in the
"Darkest of all Decembers
Ever her life has known,"
the death of two sons, one of whom fell in battle, while the other
perished at sea.
"Ah, faint heart! in thy anguish
What is there left to thee?
Only the sea intoning
Only the wainscot-mouse
Only the wild wind moaning
Over the lonely house!"
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, _Poems_, (1882).
DE'CIUS, friend of Antin'ous (4 _syl_.).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _Laws
of Candy_ (1647).
DEDLOCK _(Sir Leicester), bart_., who has a general opinion that the
world might get on without hills, but would be "totally done up"
without Dedlocks. He loves Lady Dedlock, and believes in her
implicity. Sir Leicester is honorable and truthful, but intensely
prejudiced, immovably obstinate, and proud as "county" can make a man;
but his pride has a most dreadful fall when the guilt of Lady Dedlock
becomes known.
_Lady Dedlock_, wife of Sir Leicester, beautiful, cold, and apparently
heartless; but she is weighed down with this terrible secret, that
before marriage she had had a daughter by Captain Hawdon. This
daughter's name is Esther [Summerson] the heroine of the novel.
_Volumnia Dedlock_, cousin of Sir Leicester. A "young" lady of 60,
given to rouge, pearl-powder, and cosmetics. She has a habit of prying
into the concerns of others.--C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).
DEE'S SPEC'ULUM, a mirror, which Dr. John Dee asserted was brought to
him by the angels Raphael and Gabriel. At the death of the doctor it
passed into the possession of the Earl of Peterborough, at Drayton;
then to Lady Betty Grermaine, by whom it was given to John, last duke
of Argyll. The duke's grandson (Lord Frederic Campbell) gave it to
Horace Walpole; and in 1842 it was sold, at the dispersion of the
curiosities of Strawberry Hill, and bought by Mr. Smythe Pigott.
At the sale of Mr. Pigott's library, in 1853, it passed into the
possession of the late Lord Londesborough. A writer in _Notes and
Queries_ (p. 376, November 7, 1874) says, it "has now been for many
years in the British Museum," where he saw it "some eighteen years
ago."
This magic speculum is a flat _polished mineral, like cannel coal_, of
a circular form, fitted with a handle.
DEERSLAYER (_The_), the title of a novel by J.F. Cooper, and the
nickname of its hero, Natty or Nathaniel Bumppo. He is a model
uncivilized man, honorable, truthful, and brave, pure of heart and
without reproach.
DEERFIELD. The particulars of the captivity of the Williams family
of Deerfield, (Mass.), are told by John Williams, the head of the
household. The Indians entered the town before dawn Feb. 29, 1703,
broke into the house, murdered two children and a servant and carried
the rest into the wilderness. Mrs. Williams being weak from a recent
illness, was killed on the journey.--John Williams, _The Redeemed
Captive Returning to Zion_ (1707).
DEFARGE (_Mons._), keeper of a wine shop in the Faubourg St. Antoine,
in Paris. He is a bull-necked, good-humored, but implacable-looking
man.
_Mde. Defarge_, his wife, a dangerous woman, with great force of
character; everlastingly knitting.