Cas'yapa (_3 syl_.), father of the immortals. Ereenia took pity on
Kail'yal (_2 syl_.), daughter of Ladur'lad, and carried her to his
Bower of Bliss in paradise (canto vii.). Here Kailyal could not stay,
because she was still a living daughter of earth. On her return to
earth, she was chosen for the bride of Jagannaut, and Ar'valan came to
dishonor her; but she set fire to the pagoda, and Ereenia came to her
rescue. Ereenia was set upon by the witch Lor'rimite (_3 syl_.), and
carried to the submerged city of Baly, whence he was delivered by
Ladurlad. The glendoveer now craved Seeva for vengeance, but the
god sent him to Yamen (_i.e._ Pluto), and Yamen said the measure of
iniquity was now full, so Arvalan and his father Kehama were both made
inmates of the city of everlasting woe; while Ereenia carried Kailyal,
who had quaffed the waters of immortality, to his Bower of Bliss, to
dwell with him in everlasting joy.--Southey, _Curse of Kehoma_ (1809).
ERET'RIAN BULL _(The)._ Menede'mos of Eretria, in Eubae'a, was called
"Bull" from the bull-like breadth and gravity of his face. He founded
the Eretrian school (fourth century B.C.).
ERIC, "Windy-cap," king of Sweden. He could make the wind blow from
any quarter by simply turning his cap. Hence arose the expression, "a
capful of wind."
ERIC GRAY. A young man whose religious principles will not let him
marry the girl he loves because she has not "joined the church." His
old love tells the story after his funeral.
"And all my heart went forward, past the shadows and the cross,
Even to that home where perfect love hath never thorn nor loss;
Where neither do they marry, nor in marriage are given,
But are like unto the angels in GOD'S house, which is Heaven."
Margaret E. Sangster, _Eric's Funeral_ (1882).
ERICHTHO _[Erik'.tho]_, the famous Thessaliaii witch consulted by
Pompey.--Lucan, _Pharsalia_, vi.
ERICKSON _(Sweyn)_, a fisherman at Jarlshof.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Pirate_ (time, William III.).
ERIC'THO, the witch in John Marston's tragedy called _The Wonder of
Women_ or _Sophonisba_ (160)5.
ERIG'ENA (_John Scotus_), called "Scotus the Wise." He must not be
confounded with Duns Scotus, "the Subtle Doctor," who lived some four
centuries later. Erigena died in 875, and Duns Scotus in 1308.
ERIG'ONE (4 _syl_.), the constellation _Virgo_. She was the daughter
of Icarios, an Athenian, who was murdered by some drunken peasants.
Erigonê discovered the dead body by the aid of her father's dog Moera,
who became the star called _Canis_.
... "that virgin, frail Erigonê,
Who by compassion got preëminence."
Lord Brooke, _Of Nobility_.
ERILL'YAB (3 _syl_.), the widowed and deposed Queen of the Hoamen (2
_syl_.), an Indian tribe settled on a south branch of the Missouri.
Her husband was King Tepol'loni, and her son Amal'ahta. Madoc when he
reached America, espoused her cause, and succeeded in restoring her to
her throne and empire.--Southey, _Madoc_ (1805).
ERIPHY'LE (4 _syl_.), the wife of Amphiara'os. Being bribed by a
golden necklace, she betrayed to Polyni-cês where her husband had
concealed himself that he might not go to the seige of Thebes, where
he knew that he should be killed. Congreve calls the word Eriph'yle.
When Eriphylê broke her plighted faith,
And for a bribe procured her husband's death.
Ovid, _Art of Love_, iii.
ERISICH'THON (should be _Erysichthon_), a Thessaliad, whose appetite
was insatiable. Having spent all his estate in the purchase of food,
nothing was left but his daughter Metra, and her he sold to buy food
for his voracious appetite; but Metra had the power of transforming
herself into any shape she chose, so as often as as her father
sold her, she changed her form and returned to him. After a time,
Erisichthon was reduced to feed upon himself.--Ovid, _Metaph_, viii. 2
(740 to end).
Drayton says when the Wyre saw her goodly oak trees sold for firewood,
she bethought her of Erisichthon's end, who, "when nor sea, nor land,
sufficient were," ate his own flesh.--_Polyolbion_, vii.
So Erisicthon, once fired (as men say),
With hungry rage, fed never, ever feeding;
Ten thousand dishes severed every day,
Yet in ten thousand thousand dishes needing.
In vain his daughter hundred shapes assumed;
A whole camp's meat he in his gorge inhumed;
And all consumed, his hunger yet was unconsumed.
Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_ (1633).
ERLAND, father of Norna "of the Fitful Head."--Sir W. Scott, _The
Pirate_ (time, William III.).
ERL-KING, a spirit of mischief, which haunts the Black Forest of
Thuringia.
Goethe has a ballad called the _Erl-könig_, and Herder has translated
the Danish ballad of _Sir Olaf and the Erl-King's Daughter_.
In Goethe's ballad, a father, riding home through the night and storm
with a child in his arms is pursued by the Erl-king, who entices the
child with promises of fairy-gifts, and finally kills it.
ERMANGARDE OF BALDRINGHAM (_The Lady_), aunt of the Lady Eveline
Berenger "the betrothed."--Sir W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry
II.).
ER'MELINE (_Dame_), the wife of Reynard, in the beast-epic called
_Reynard the Fox_ (1498).
ERMIN'IA, the heroine of _Jerusalem Delivered_. She fell in love with
Tancred, and when the Christian army beseiged Jerusalem, arrayed
herself in Clorinda's armor to go to him. After certain adventures,
she found him wounded, and nursed him tenderly; but the poet has
not told us what was the ultimate lot of this fair Syrian.--Tasso,
_Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
ERNA'NI, the robber-captain, duke of Segor'bia and Cardo'na, lord of
Aragon, and count of Ernani. He is in love with Elvi'ra, the betrothed
of Don Ruy Gomez de Silva, an old Spanish grandee, whom she detests.
Charles V. falls in love with her, and Ruy Gomez joins Ernani in a
league against their common rival. During this league Ernani gives Ruy
Gomez a horn, saying, "Sound but this horn, and at that moment Ernani
will cease to live." Just as he is about to espouse Elvira, the horn
is sounded, and Ernani stabs himself.--Verdi, _Ernani_ (an opera,
1841).
ERNEST (_Duke_), son-in-law of Kaiser Konrad II. He murders his feudal
lord, and goes on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to expiate his crime.
The poem so called is a mixture of Homeric legends, Oriental myths,
and pilgrims' tales. We have pygmies and cyclopses, genii and
enchanters, fairies and dwarfs, monks and devotees. After a world of
hair-breadth escapes, the duke reaches the Holy Sepulchre, pays
his vows, returns to Germany, and is pardoned.--Henry Von Veldig
(minnesinger), _Duke Ernest_ (twelfth century).
ERNEST DE FRIDBERG, "the prisoner of the State." He was imprisoned in
the dungeon of the Giant's Mount fortress for fifteen years on a false
charge of treason. Ul'rica (his natural daughter by the countess
Marie), dressed in the clothes of Herman, the deaf and dumb
jailor-boy, gets access to the dungeon and contrives his escape; but
he is retaken, and led back to the dungeon. Being subsequently set at
liberty, he marries the countess Marie (the mother of Ulrica).--E.
Stirling, _The Prisoner of State_ (1847.)
EROS, the manumitted slave of Antony the triumvir. Antony made Eros
swear that he would kill him if commanded by him so to do. When in
Egypt, Antony after the battle of Actium, fearing lest he should fall
into the hands of Octavius Cæsar, ordered Eros to keep his promise.
Eros drew his sword, but thrust it into his own side, and fell dead at
the feet of Antony. "O noble Eros," cried Antony, "I thank thee for
teaching me how to die!"--Plutarch.
[Illustration] Eros is introduced in Shakespeare's _Antony and
Cleopatra_, and in Dryden's _All for Love or the World Well Lost_.
(Eros is the Greek name of Cupid, and hence amorous poetry is called
Erotic.)
EROS'TRATOS (in Latin EROSTRATUS), the incendiary who set fire to the
temple of Diana of Ephesus, that his name might be perpetuated. An
edict was published, prohibiting any mention of the name, but the
edict was wholly ineffective.
[Illustration] Charles V., wishing to be shown over the Pantheon [_All
Saints_] of Rome, was taken to the top by a Roman knight. At parting,
the knight told the emperor that he felt an almost irresistible desire
to push his majesty down from the top of the building, "in order to
immortalize his name." Unlike Erostratos, the name of this knight has
not transpired. ERO'TA, a very beautiful but most imperious princess,
passionately beloved by Philander, Prince of Cyprus.--Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Laws of Candy_ (1647).
ERRA-PATER, an almanac, an almanac-maker, an astrologer. Samuel Butler
calls Lilly, the almanac-maker, an Erra-Pater, which we are told was
the name of a famous Jewish astrologer.
His only Bible was an Erra-Pater.
Phin. Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, vii. (1633).
"What's here? Erra-Pater or a bearded sibyl"
[_the person was Foresight_].
Congreve, _Love for Love_, iv. (1695).
ERRAGON, king of Lora (in Scandinavia). Aldo, a Caledonian chief,
offered him his services, and obtained several important victories;
but Lorma, the king's wife, falling in love with him, the guilty pair
escaped to Morven. Erragon invaded the country, and slew Aldo in
single combat, but was himself slain in battle by Gaul, son of Morni.
As for Lorma, she died of grief.--Ossian, _The Battle of Lora_.
ERRANT DAMSEL (_The_), Una.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 1 (1590).
ERRIMA, Greek maiden chidden by her mother for dreaming of Sappho, and
Lesbian dances and Delphian lyre, and commanded to
"rend thy scrolls and keep thee to thy spinning."
She answers that talk of matron dignities and household tasks wearies
her:
"I would renounce them all for Sappho's bay:
Forego them all for room to chant out free
The silent rhythms I hum within my heart,
And so for ever leave my weary spinning!"
Margaret J. Preston, _Old Song and New_. (1870).
ERROL (_Cedric_). Bright American boy, living with his widowed mother,
whose grandfather, Lord Fauntleroy, sends for and adopts him. The
boy's sweetness of manners and nobility of nature conquer the old
man's prejudices, and win him to sympathy and co-operation in his
schemes for making the world better.--Frances Hodgson Burnett, _Little
Lord Fauntleroy_ (1889).
ERROL (_Gilbert, earl of_), lord high constable of Scotland.--Sir W.
Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
ERROR, a monster who lived in a den in "Wandering Wood," and with,
whom the Red Cross Knight had his first adventure. She had a brood
of 1000 young ones of sundry shape, and these cubs crept into their
mother's mouth when alarmed, as young kangaroos creep into their
mother's pouch. The knight was nearly killed by the stench which
issued from the foul fiend, but he succeeded in "rafting" her head
off, whereupon the brood lapped up the blood, and burst with satiety.
Half like a serpent horribly displayed,
But th' other half did woman's shape retain.
And as she lay upon the dirty ground,
Her huge long tail her den all overspread,
Yet was in knots and many boughts [_folds_] up-wound,
Pointed with mortal sting.
Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, i. 1 (1590).
ERROR OF ARTISTS, (See ANACHRONISMS).
ANGELO (_Michel_), in his great picture of the "Last Judgment" has
introduced Charon's bark.
BREUGHEL, the Dutch painter, in a picture of the "Wise Men of the
East" making their offerings to the infant Jesus, has represented
one of them dressed in a large white surplice, booted and spurred,
offering the model of a Dutch seventy-four to the infant.
ETTY has placed by the bedside of Holofernes a helmet of the period of
the seventeenth century.
MAZZOCHI (_Paulo_), in his "Symbolical Painting of the Four Elements,"
represents the sea by _fishes_, the earth by _moles_, fire by a
_salamander_, and air by a _camel_! Evidently he mistook the chameleon
(which traditionally lives on air) for a camel.
TINTORET, in a picture which represents the "Israelites Gathering
Manna in the Wilderness," has armed the men with guns.
VERONESE (_Paul_), in his "Marriage Feast of Cana of Galilee," has
introduced among the guests several Benedictines.
WEST, president of the Royal Academy, has represented Paris the
Phrygian in Roman costume.
WESTMINSTER HALL is full of absurdities. Witness the following as
specimens:--
Sir Cloudesley Shovel is dressed in a Roman cuirass and sandals, but
on his head is a full-bottomed wig of the eighteenth century.
The Duke of Buckingham is arrayed in the costume of a Roman emperor,
and his duchess in the court dress of George I. period.
ERRORS OF AUTHORS, (See ANACHRONISMS.)
AKENSIDE. He views the Ganges from _Alpine_ heights.--_Pleasures of
Imagination_.
ALLISON (_Sir Archibald_), says: "_Sir Peregine Pickle_ was one of the
pall-bearers of the Duke of Wellington."--_Life of Lord Castlereagh_.
In his _History of Europe_, the phrase _droit de timbre_ ("stamp
duty") he translates "timber duties."
ARTICLES OF WAR FOR THE ARMY. It is ordered "that every recruit shall
have the 40th and 46th of the articles read to him." (art. iii.).
The 40th article relates wholly to the misconduct of _chaplains_, and
has no sort of concern with recruits. Probably the 41st is meant,
which is about mutiny and insubordination.
BROWNE (_William_) _Apellês' Curtain_. W. Browne says:
If ... I set my pencil to Appellês table [painting]
Or dare to _draw his curtain_.
_Britannia's Pastorals_, ii. 2.
This curtain was not drawn by Apelles, but by Parrhasius, who lived
a full century before Apelles. The contest was between Zeuxis and
Parrhasius. The former exhibited a bunch of grapes which deceived the
birds, and the latter a curtain which deceived the competitor.
BRUYSSEL (_E. von_) says: "According to Homer, Achillês had a
vulnerable heel." It is a vulgar error to attribute this myth to
Homer. The blind old bard nowhere says a word about it. The story of
dipping Achillês in the river Styx is altogether post-Homeric.
BYRON. _Xerxes' Ships_. Byron says that Xerxes looked on his "ships by
thousands" off the coast of Sal'amis. The entire number of sails were
1200; of these 400 were wrecked before the battle off the coast of
Sêpias, so that even supposing the whole of the rest were engaged, the
number could not exceed 800.--_Isles of Greece_.
_The Isle Teos_. In the same poem he refers to "Teos" as one of the
isles of Greece, but Teos is a maritime town on the coast of Ionia, in
Asia Minor.
CERVANTES. _Dorothea's Father_. Dorothea represents herself as Queen
of Micomicon, because both her father and mother were _dead_, but Don
Quixote speaks of him to her as _alive_.--Pt. I. iv. 8.
_Mambrino's Helmet_. In pt. I. iii. 8 we are told that the
galley-slaves set free by Don Quixote assaulted him with stones, and
"snatching the basin from his head, _broke it to pieces_." In bk. iv.
15 we find this basin quite whole and sound, the subject of a judicial
inquiry, the question being whether it was a helmet or a barber's
basin. Sancho (ch. 11) says, he "picked it up, bruised and battered,
intending to get it mended;" but he says, "I broke it to pieces," or,
according to one translator, "broke it into a thousand pieces." In
bk. iv. 8 we are told that Don Quixote "came from his chamber armed
_cap-à-pie_, with the barber's basin on his head."
_Sancho's Ass_. We are told (pt. I. iii. 9) that Gines de Passamonte
"stole Sancho's ass." Sancho laments the loss with true pathos, and
the knight condoles with him. But soon afterwards Cervantes says: "He
_[Sancho]_ jogged on leisurely upon his ass after his master."
_Sancho's Great-coat_. Sancho Panza, we are told, left his wallet
behind in the Crescent Moon tavern, where he was tossed in a blanket,
and put the provisions left by the priests in his great-coat (ch. 5).
The galley-slaves robbed him of "his _great-coat_, leaving only his
doublet" (ch. 8), but in the next chapter (9) we find "the victuals
had not been touched," though the rascals "searched diligently for
booty." Now, if the food was in the great-coat, and the great-coat was
stolen, how is it that the victuals remained in Sancho's possession
untouched?
_Sancho's Wallet_. We are told that Sancho left his wallet by mistake
at the tavern where he was blanket-tossed (ch. 5), but in ch. 9, when
he found the portmanteau, "he crammed the gold and linen into his
wallet."--Pt. I. iii.
To make these oversights more striking, the author says, when Sancho
found the portmanteau, "he entirely forgot the loss of his _wallet_,
his _great-coat_, and of his faithful companion and servant Dapple"
(_the ass_).
_Supper_. Cervantes makes the party at the Crescent tavern eat two
suppers in one evening. In ch. 5 the curate orders in supper, and
"after supper" they read the story of _Fatal Curiosity_. In ch. 12 we
are told "the cloth was laid [_again_] for supper," and the company
sat down to it, quite forgetting that they had already supped.--Pt. I.
iv.
CHAMBERS'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA states that "the fame of Beaumarchais rests
on his two operas, _Le Barbier de Seville_ (1755) and _Le Mariage de
Figaro_." Every one knows that Mozart composed the opera of _Figaro_
(1786), and that Casti wrote the libretto. The opera of _Le Barbier
de Seville_, or rather _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_, was composed by
Rossini, in 1816. What Beaumarchais wrote was two comedies, one in
four acts and the other in five acts.--Art. "Beaumarchais."
CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL. We are told, in a paper entitled "Coincidences,"
that Thursday has proved a fatal day with the Tudors, for on that day
died Henry VIII., Edward VI., Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. If this
had been the case it would, indeed, have been startling; but what
are the facts? Henry VIII. died on _Friday_, January 28, 1547, and
Elizabeth died on _Monday_, March 24, 1603.--Rymer, _Foedera_, xv.
In the same paper we are told with equal inaccuracy that _Saturday_
has been fatal to the present dynasty, "for William IV. and every
one of the Georges died on a Saturday." What, however, says history
proper? William IV. died on _Tuesday_, June 20, 1837; George I. died
_Wednesday_, June 11, 1727; George III. died _Monday_, January 29,
1820; George IV. died _Sunday_, June 26, 1830; and only George II.
died on a _Saturday_, "the day [_so_] fatal to the present dynasty."
CHAUCER says: The throstle-cock sings so sweet a tone that Tubal
himself, the first musican, could not equal it.--_The Court of Love_.
Of course he means Jubal.
CIBBER (_Colley_), in his _Love Makes a Man_, i., makes Carlos the
student say, "For the cure of herds [_Virgil's_] _bucolicks_ are a
master-piece; but when his art describes the commonwealth of bees ...
I'm ravished." He means _Georgics_. The _Bucolics_ are eclogues, and
never touch upon either of these subjects. The diseases and cures of
cattle are in _Georgic_ iii., and the habits, etc., of bees, _Georgic_
iv.
CID (_The_). When Alfonso succeeded his brother Sancho and banished
the Cid, Rodrigo is made to say:
Prithee say where were these gallants
(Bold enough when far from blows)?
Where were they when I, unaided,
Rescued thee from thirteen foes?
The historic fact is, not that Rodrigo rescued Alfonso from thirteen
foes, but that the Cid rescued Sancho from thirteen of Alfonso's foes.
Eleven he slew, and two he put to flight.--_The Cid_, xvi. 78.
COLMAN. Job Thornberry says to Peregrine, who offers to assist him in
his difficulties, "Desist, young man, in time." But Peregrine was at
least 45 years old when so addressed. He was 15 when Job first knew
him, and had been absent thirty years in Calcutta. Job Thornberry
himself was not above five or six years older.
COWPER calls the rose "the glory of April and May," but June is the
great rose month. In the south of England they begin to bloom in the
latter half of May, and go on to the middle of July. April roses would
be horticultural curiosities.
CRITICS at fault. The licentiate tells Don Quixote that some critics
found fault with him for defective memory, and instanced it in this;
"We are told that Sancho's ass is stolen, but the author has forgotten
to mention who the thief was." This is not the case, as we are
distinctly informed that it was stolen by Gines de Passamonte, one of
the galley slaves.--_Don Quixote_, II. i. 3.
DICKENS, in _Edwin Drood_, puts "rooks and rooks' nests" (instead of
daws) "in the tower of Cloisterham."
In _Nicholas Nickleby_ he presents Mr. Squeers as setting his boys "to
hoe turnips" in midwinter.
In _The Tale of Two Cities_, iii. 4, he says: "The name of the strong
man of Old Scripture descended to the chief functionary who worked the
guillotine." But the name of this functionary was Sanson, not Samson.
GALEN says that man has seven bones in the sternum (instead of three);
and Sylvius, in reply to Vesalius, contends that "in days of yore the
robust chests of heroes had more bones than men now have."
GREENE (_Robert_) speaks of Delphos as an _island_; But Delphos, or
rather Delphi, was a city of Phocis, and no island. "Six noblemen were
sent to the isle of Delphos."--_Donastus and Faunia_. Probably he
confounded the city of Delphi with the isle of Delos.
HALLIWELL, in his _Archaic Dictionary_, says: "Crouchmas means
Christmas," and adds that Tusser is his authority. But this is
altogether a mistake. Tusser, in his "_May_ Remembrances," says: "From
bull cow fast, till Crouchmas be past," _i.e._ St. Helen's Day. Tusser
evidently means from May 3 (the invention of the Cross) to August 18
(St. Helen's Day or the Cross-mas), not Christmas.
HIGGONS (_Bevil_) says:
The Cyprian queen, drawn by Apellês hand.
Of perfect beauty did the pattern stand!
But then bright nymphs from every part of Greece
Did all contribute to adorn the piece.
_To Sir Godfrey Kneller_ (1780).
Tradition says that Apellês model was either Phyrne, or Campaspê,
afterwards his wife. Campbell has borrowed these lines, but ascribes
the painting to Protog'enês the Rhodian.
When first the Rhodian's mimic art arrayed
The queen of Beauty in her Cyprian shade,
The happy master mingled in the piece
Each look that charmed him in the fair of Greece.
_Pleasures of Hope_, ii.
JOHNSON (_Dr_.) makes Addison speak of Steele as "Little Dicky"
whereas the person so called by Addison was not Richard Steele, but a
dwarfish actor who played "Gomez" in Dryden's _Spanish Fryar_.
LONDON NEWSPAPER (_A_), one of the leading journals of the day, has
spoken three times within two years of "passing _under_ the Caudine
Forks," evidently supposing them to be a "yoke" instead of a valley or
mountain pass.
LONGFELLOW calls Erig'ena a _Scotchman_, whereas the very word means
an Irishman.
Done into Latin by that Scottish beast.
Erigena Johannes.
_Golden Legend_.
"Without doubt, the poet mistook John Duns _[Scottus]_, who died
in 1308, for John Scottus _[Erigena]_, who died in 875. Erigena
translated into Latin, _St. Dionysius._ He was latitudinarian in his
views, and anything but 'a Scottish beast or Calvinist.'"
_The Two Angels_. Longfellow crowns the _death-angel_ with amaranth,
with which Milton says, "the spirits elect bind their resplendent
locks;" and his angel of _life_ he crowns with asphodels, the flowers
of Pluto or the grave.
MELVILLE (_Whyte_) makes a very prominent part of his story called
_Holmby House_ turn on the death of a favorite hawk named Diamond,
which Mary Cave tossed off, and saw "fall lifeless at the king's feet"
(ch. xxix.). In ch. xlvi. this very hawk is represented to be alive;
"proud, beautiful, and cruel, like a _Venus Victrix_ it perched on her
mistress's wrist, unhooded."
MILTON. "Colkitto or Macdonnel or Galasp." In this line of Sonnet XI,
Milton seems to speak of three different persons, but in reality they
are one and the same; i.e., Macdonnel, son of Colkittoch, son of
Gillespie (Galasp). Colkittoch means left-handed.
In _Comus_ (ver. 880) he makes the siren Ligea sleek her hair with a
golden comb, as if she were a Scandinavian mermaid.
MOORE (_Thom_.) says:
The sunflower turns on her god, when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.
_Irish Melodies_, ii. ("Believe Me, if all those Endearing Young
Charms").
The sunflower does not turn either to the rising or setting sun. It
receives its name solely because it resembles a picture sun. It is not
a turn-sun or heliotrope at all.
MORRIS (_W_.), in his _Atalanta's Race_, renders the Greek word
_Saophron_ "safron," and says:
She the saffron gown will never wear,
And in no flower-strewn couch shall she be laid;
_i.e._ she will never be a bride. Nonnius (bk. xii.) tells us that
virtuous women wore a girdled gown called _Saophron_ ("chaste"), to
indicate their purity and to prevent indecorous liberties. The gown
was not yellow at all, but it was girded with a girdle.
MURPHY, in the _Grecian Daughter_, says (act i. 1):