Louis XVI. published the edict for the convocation of the states-general
in the 14th year of his reign (September 27, 1788).
Louis XVIII. was restored to the throne, Napoleon abdicated, the “Peace
of Paris” was signed, and the “Congress of Vienna” met in 1814; and
these figures added together=14.
In 1832=14, was the death of the Duc de Reichstadt (only son of Napoleon
I.).
In 1841=14, the law was passed for the fortification of Paris.
In 1850=14, Louis Phillippe died.
=Fox= (_That_), Herod Antipas (B.C. 4 to A.D. 39).
Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils.—_Luke_ xiii. 32.
_Fox_ (_The Old_), Marshal Soult (1769-1851).
=Foxley= (_Squire Matthew_), a magistrate who examines Darsie Latimer
[_i.e._ Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet], after he had been attacked by
the rioters.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Fracasse= (_Capitaine_), the French Bombastes Furioso.—Theophile
Gautier.
=Fra Diavolo=, the sobriquet of Michel Pozza, a Calabrian insurgent and
brigand chief. In 1799 Cardinal Ruffo made him a colonel in the
Neapolitan army, but in 1806 he was captured by the French, and hanged
at Naples. Auber has a comic opera so entitled, the libretto of which
was written by Scribe, but nothing of the true character of the brigand
chief appears in the opera.
=Fradu´bio= [_i.e. Brother Doubt_]. In his youth he loved Frælissa, but
riding with her one day they encountered a knight accompanied by Duessa
(_false faith_), and fought to decide which lady was the fairer. The
stranger knight fell, and both ladies being saddled on the victor,
Duessa changed her rival into a tree. One day Fradubio saw Duessa
bathing, and was so shocked at her deformity that he determined to
abandon her, but the witch anointed him during sleep with herbs to
produce insensibility, and then planted him as a tree beside Frælissa.
The Red Cross Knight plucked a bough from this tree, and seeing with
horror that blood dripped from the rift, was told this tale of the
metamorphosis.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, i. 2 (1590).
=Frail= (_Mrs._), a demirep. Scandal says she is a mixture of “pride,
folly, affectation, wantonness, inconstancy, covetousness,
dissimulation, malice and ignorance, but a celebrated beauty” (act i.).
She is entrapped into marriage with Tattle.—W. Congreve, _Love for Love_
(1695).
=Frampton= (_Major_), the great man of the little village of
Hillsborough, and a connoisseur in peach-brandy. Losing money, horses,
wagons, and all his negroes except his body-servant, at cards, he blows
out his brains in a convenient pine thicket.—Joel Chandler Harris,
_Georgian Sketches_ (1888).
=Francatelli=, a _chef de cuisine_ at Windsor Castle, Crockford’s, and
at the Freemasons’ Tavern. He succeeded Ude at Crockford’s.
=Frances=, daughter of Vandunke (2 _syl._), burgomaster of
Bruges.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Beggars’ Bush_ (1622).
=France= (_Everidge_), the unworldly daughter of a worldly mother.—A. D.
T. Whitney’s story, _Odd or Even?_ (1880).
=Francesea=, daughter of Guido da Polenta (lord of Ravenna). She was
given by her father in marriage to Lanciotto, son of Malatesta, lord of
Rimini, who was deformed. His brother Paolo, who was a handsome man, won
the affections of Francesca; but being caught in adultery, both of them
were put to death by Lanciotto. Francesca told Dantê that the tale of
Lancelot and Guinever caused her fall. The tale forms the close of
Dantê’s _Hell_, v., and is alluded to by Petrarch in his _Triumph of
Love_, iii.
⁂ Leigh Hunt has a poem on the subject, and Silvio Pellico has made it
the subject of a tragedy.
George H. Boker’s play under the same title is also founded upon Dante’s
story. Lawrence Barrett as Lanciotto, Louis James as _Pepe_ and Marie
Wainwright as _Francesca_ will long be recollected by American
theatre-goers.
_Francesca_, a Venetian maiden, daughter of old Minotti, governor of
Corinth. Alp, the Venetian commander of the Turkish army in the siege of
Corinth, loved her; but she refused to marry a renegade. Alp was shot in
the siege, and Francesca died of a broken heart.—Byron, _Siege of
Corinth_ (1816).
Medora, Neuha, Leila, Francesca, and Theresa, it has been alleged, are
but children of one family, with differences resulting from climate and
circumstances.—Finden, _Byron Beauties_.
⁂ “Medora” in _The Corsair_; “Neuha” in _The Island_; “Leila” in _The
Giaour_; and “Theresa,” in _Mazeppa_.
=Francesco=, the “Iago” of Massinger’s _Duke of Milan_; the Duke Sforza
“the More” being Othello; and the cause of hatred being that Sforza had
seduced “Eugenia” Francesco’s sister. As Iago was Othello’s favorite and
ancient, so Francesco was Sforza’s favorite and chief minister. During
Sforza’s absence with the camp, Francesco tried to corrupt the duke’s
beautiful young bride Marcelia, and being repulsed, accused her to the
duke of wishing to play the wanton with him. The duke believed his
favorite minister, and in his mad jealously ran upon Marcelia and slew
her. He was then poisoned by Eugenia, whom he had seduced.—Massinger,
_The Duke of Milan_ (1622). (See FRANCISCO.)
=Francis=, the faithful, devoted servant of “the stranger.” Quite
impenetrable to all idle curiosity.—Benj. Thompson, _The Stranger_
(1797).
_Francis_ (_Ayrault_), a visionary who living in the dream-world he has
evoked, neglects his nearest of kin, and lets opportunities of
happiness, usefulness and patriotic service go by unimproved.—Thomas
Wentworth Higginson, _The Monarch of Dreams_ (1887).
_Francis_ (_Father_), a Dominican monk, the confessor of Simon
Glover.—Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
_Francis_ (_Le Baron_). Young French nobleman who renounces king and
country. Is shipwrecked in New England, marries Molly Wilder and settles
in Plymouth as a physician. He is the father of Lazarus le Baron.—“Round
Robin Series,” _A Nameless Nobleman_.
_Francis_ (_Father_), a monk of the convent at Namur.—Sir W. Scott,
_Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Franciscans.= So called from St. Francis, of Assisi, their founder, in
1208. Called “Min´orites” (_or Inferiors_), from their professed
humility; “Gray Friars,” from the color of their coarse clothing;
“Mendicants,” because they obtained their daily food by begging;
“Observants,” because they observed the rule of poverty. Those who lived
in convents were called “Conventual Friars.”
=Franciscan Sisters= were called “Clares,” “Poor Clares,” “Minoresses,”
“Mendicants,” and “Urbanites” (3 _syl._)
=Francis´co=, the son of Valentine. Both father and son are in love with
Cellide (2 _syl._), but the lady naturally prefers the son.—Beaumont and
Fletcher, _Mons. Thomas_ (1619).
_Francis´co_, a musician, Antonio’s boy in _The Chances_, a comedy by
Beaumont and Fletcher (1620).
_Francisco_, younger brother of Valentine (the gentleman who will not be
persuaded to keep his estate). (See FRANCESCO.)—Beaumont and Fletcher,
_Wit Without Money_ (1639).
=Frank=, sister to Frederick; passionately in love with Captain Jac´omo
the woman-hater.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Captain_ (1613).
=Frankenstein= (3 _syl._), a student, who constructed, out of the
fragments of bodies picked from churchyards and dissecting-rooms, a
human form without a soul. The monster had muscular strength, animal
passions, and active life, but “no breath of divinity.” It longed for
animal love and animal sympathy, but was shunned by all. It was most
powerful for evil, and being fully conscious of its own defects and
deformities, sought with persistency to inflict retribution on the young
student who had called it into being,—Mrs. Shelley, _Frankenstein_
(1817).
In the summer of 1816, Lord Byron and Mr. and Mrs. Shelley resided on
the banks of the lake of Geneva ... and the Shelleys often passed their
evenings with Byron, at his house at Diodati. During a week of rain,
having amused themselves with reading German ghost stories, they agreed
to write something in imitation of them. “You and I,” said Lord Byron to
Mrs. Shelley. “will publish ours together.” He then began his tale of
the _Vampire_ ... but the most memorable part of this story-telling
compact was Mrs. Shelley’s wild and powerful romance of
_Frankenstein_.—T. Moore, _Life of Byron_.
=Frankford= (_Mr._ and _Mrs._). Mrs. Frankford proved unfaithful to her
marriage vow, and Mr. Frankford sent her to reside on one of his
estates. She died of grief; but on her death-bed her husband went to see
her, and forgave her.—John Heywood, _A Woman Killed by Kindness_
(1576-1645).
=Frankland= (_Harry_), Englishman saved from death, when buried in the
ruins of Lisbon, by the exertions of the woman he has wronged and
deserted.—Edwin Lasseter Bynner, _Agnes Surriage_ (1886).
=Franklin= (_Lady_), the half-sister of Sir John Vesey, and a young
widow. Lady Franklin had an angelic temper, which nothing disturbed, and
she really believed that “whatever is is best.” She could bear with
unruffled feathers even the failure of a new cap or the disappointment
of a new gown. This paragon of women loved and married Mr. Graves, a
dolorous widower, for ever sighing over the superlative excellences of
his “sainted Maria,” his first wife.—Lord E. Bulwer Lytton, _Money_
(1840).
_Frank´lin_ (_The Polish_), Thaddeus Czacki (1765-1813).
=Franklin’s Tale= (_The_), in Chaucer’s _Canterbury Tales_, is that of
“Dorigen and Arvir´agus.” Dorigen, a lady of rank, married Arviragus,
out of pity for his love and meekness. One Aurelius tried to corrupt
her, but she said she would never listen to his suit till “on these
coasts there n’is no stone y-seen.” Aurelius contrived by magic to clear
the coast of stones, and Arviragus insisted that Dorigen should keep
troth with him. When Aurelius heard thereof, and saw the deep grief of
the lady, he said he would rather die than injure so true a wife and so
noble a gentleman.
⁂ This tale is taken from _The Decameron_, x. 5. (See DIANORA.) There is
also a similar one in Boccaccio’s _Filocopo_.
=Frankly= (_Charles_), a lighted-hearted, joyous, enthusiastic young
man, in love with Clarinda, whom he marries.—Dr. Hoadley, _The
Suspicious Husband_ (1747).
=Frank= (_Warrington_), a young teacher who goes out into the world to
seek her fortune as a governess. She wins the affections of the eldest
son of her employers, and, although preferring at heart an earlier
lover, marries the gay handsome heir secretly. When the truth is
revealed, the bridegroom is killed in a duel by the brother of a woman
to whom he had been betrothed. Frank Warrington, humbler and wiser,
returns to her country home, and eventually marries her first
love.—Mirian Coles Harris, _Frank Warrington_ (1863).
=Franval= (_Madame_), born of a noble family, is proud as the proudest
of the old French _noblesse_. Captain St. Alme, the son of a merchant,
loves her daughter; but the haughty aristocrat looks with disdain on
such an alliance. However, her daughter Marianne is of another way of
thinking, and loves the merchant’s son. Her brother intercedes in her
behalf, and madame makes a virtue of necessity, with as much grace as
possible.—Th. Holcroft, _The Deaf and Dumb_ (1785).
=Fra´teret´to=, a fiend, who told Edgar that Nero was an angler in the
Lake of Darkness.—Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
=Fraud=, seen by Dantê between the sixth and seventh circles of the
Inferno.
His face the semblance of a just man’s wore
(So kind and gracious was its outward cheer).
The rest was serpent all.
Dantê, _Hell_, xvii. (1300).
=Fred= or Frederick Lewis, prince of Wales, father of George III. It was
of this prince that the following epitaph was written:
Here lies Fred,
Who was alive, and is dead.
Had it been his father,
I had much rather;
Had it been his brother,
Still better than another;
Had it been his sister,
No one would have missed her;
Had it been the whole generation,
Still better for the nation;
But, since ’tis only Fred
Who was alive, and is dead,
There’s no more to be said!
=Frederick=, the usurping duke, father of Celia and uncle of Rosalind.
He was about to make war upon his banished brother, when a hermit
encountered him, and so completely changed him that he not only restored
his brother to his dukedom, but retired to a religious house, and passed
the rest of his life in penitence and acts of devotion.—Shakespeare, _As
You Like It_ (1598).
_Frederick_, the unnatural and licentious brother of Alphonso, king of
Naples, whose kingdom he usurped. He tried to seduce Evanthé (3 _syl._),
the chaste wife of Valerio, but not succeeding in his infamous design,
he offered her as a concubine for one month to any one who, at the end
of that period, would yield his head to the block. As no one would
accept the terms, Evanthê was restored to her husband.—Beaumont and
Fletcher, _A Wife for a Month_ (1624).
_Frederick_ (_Don_), a Portuguese merchant, the friend of Don
Felix.—Mrs. Centlivre, _The Wonder_ (1714).
=Frederick the Great in Flight=. In 1741 was the battle of Molwitz, in
which the Prussians carried the day, and the Austrians fled; but
Frederick, who commanded the cavalry, was put to flight early in the
action, and thinking that all was lost, fled with his staff many miles
from the scene of action.
Frederick the Great from Molwitz deigned to run.
Byron, _Don Juan_, viii. 22 (1824.)
_Frederick_ (_Olyphant_). Young man who has incurred the enmity of one
of the Brotherhood of the Sea. In consequence, he is abducted upon the
threshold of a friend’s house, and put on board a vessel with directions
to the Brotherhood never to allow him to land. He gains his liberty
through the accidental drowning of his jailor, and returns to New York,
where his absence had excited the wildest alarm among his friends and
the most fanciful speculations among acquaintances.—Brander Matthews,
_The Last Meeting_.
_Frederick_ (_Owen_). Rector and friend of the Major’s family, in
Constance Fenimore Woolson’s novel, _For the Major_.
=Freeborn John=, John Lilburne, the republican (1613-1657).
=Freedom= (_Wheeler_). Hard-headed Yankee whose determination that one
of his children shall bear his name is thwarted by circumstances until
he gives up and “lets the Lord have His way.”—Rose Terry Cooke, _Freedom
Wheeler’s Controversy_ (1881).
=Freehold=, a grumpy, rusty, but soft-hearted old gentleman farmer, who
hates all new-fangled notions, and detests “men of fashion.” He lives in
his farm-house with his niece and daughter.
_Aura Freehold_, daughter of Freehold. A pretty, courageous,
high-spirited lass, who wins the heart of Modely, a man of the world and
a libertine.—John Philip Kemble, _The Farm-house_.
=Freelove= (_Lady_), aunt to Harriot [Russet]. A woman of the world, “as
mischievous as a monkey, and as cunning too” (act i. 1).—George Colman,
_The Jealous Wife_ (1761).
=Freeman= (_Charles_), the friend of Lovel, whom he assists in exposing
the extravagance of his servants.—Rev. J. Townley, _High Life Below
Stairs_ (1763).
_Freeman_ (_Sir Charles_), brother of Mrs. Sullen and friend of
Aimwell.—George Farquhar, _The Beaux’ Stratagem_ (1705).
_Freeman_ (_Mrs._), a name assumed by the duchess of Marlborough in her
correspondence with Queen Anne, who called herself “Mrs. Morley.”
=Freemason= (_The lady_), the Hon. Miss Elizabeth St. Leger (afterwards
Mrs. Aldworth), daughter of Arthur, lord of Doneraile. In order to
witness the proceedings of a lodge held in her father’s house, she hid
herself in an empty clock-case; but, on being discovered, she was
compelled to become a member of the craft.
=Free Joe=, negro manumitted by his master, the latter committing
suicide immediately afterward. Joe has an easy time until his wife’s
master refuses to let a “free nigger” hang about his place. He consorts
with “poor white folks” in order to see “Lucinda,” meeting her secretly.
At length she does not come for a month to the trysting-place, and he
consults a fortune-teller who shows him that her master has taken her
out of the county. Still he awaits her at the appointed rendezvous many
days and nights, always sure that she will come, and laughing when
others doubt it. One morning his friends, the poor whites, find him
there dead.—Joel Chandler Harris, _Free Joe_ (1888).
=Free´port= (_Sir Andrew_), a London merchant, industrious, generous,
and of sound good sense. He was one of the members of the hypothetical
club under whose auspices the _Spectator_ was enterprised.
=Freiherr von Guttingen=, having collected the poor of his neighborhood
in a great barn, burnt them to death, and mocked their cries of agony.
Being invaded by a swarm of mice, he shut himself up in his castle of
Güttingen, in the lake of Constance; but the vermin pursued him, and
devoured him alive. The castle then sank in the lake, and may still be
seen there. (See Hatto.)
=Freischütz= (_Der_), a legendary German archer, in league with the
devil. The devil gave him seven balls, six of which were to hit with
certainty any mark he aimed at; but the seventh was to be directed
according to the will of the giver.—Weber, _Der Freischütz_ (an opera,
1822).
⁂ The libretto is by F. Kind, taken from Apel’s _Gespensterbuch_ (or
ghost book). A translation of Apel’s story may be found in De Quincey’s
works.
=Freron= (_Jean_), the person bitten by a mad dog, referred to by
Goldsmith in the lines:
The man recovered of the bite
The dog it was that died.
_Elegy on a Mad Dog_.
Un serpent mordit Jean Freron, eh bien?
Le serpent en mourut.
Gibbon, _Decline and Fall, etc._, vii. 4 (Milman’s
notes).
=Freston=, an enchanter, introduced in the romance of _Don Belia´nis of
Greece_.
_Freston_, the enchanter, who bore Don Quixote especial ill-will. When
the knight’s library was destroyed, he was told that some enchanter had
carried off the books and the cupboard which contained them. The niece
thought the enchanter’s name was Munaton; but the don corrected her, and
said, “You mean Freston.” “Yes, yes,” said the niece, “I know the name
ended in _ton_.”
“That Freston,” said the knight, “is doing me all the mischief his
malevolence can invent; but I regard him not.”—Ch. 7.
“That cursed Freston,” said the knight, “who stole my closet and books,
has transformed the giants into windmills” (ch. 8).—Cervantes, _Don
Quixote._ I. i. (1605).
=Friars.= The four great religious orders were Dominicans, Franciscans,
Augustines, and Car´melites (3 _syl._). Dominicans are called _black_
friars, Franciscans _grey_ friars, and the other two _white_ friars. A
fifth order was the Trinitarians or Crutched friars, a later foundation.
The Dominicans were furthermore called _Frates Majores_, and the
Franciscans _Frates Minores_.
(For friars famed in fable or story, see under each respective name or
pseudonym.)
=Friar= (_Lawrence_). Ecclesiastic, who performs the marriage ceremony
between Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare’s play of that name.
=Friar’s Tale= (_The_), by Chaucer, in _The Canterbury Tales_ (1388). An
archdeacon employed a sumpnor as his secret spy to find out offenders,
with the view of exacting fines from them. In order to accomplish this
more effectually, the sumpnor entered into a compact with the devil,
disguised as a yeoman. Those who imprecated the devil were to be dealt
with by the yeoman-devil, and those who imprecated God were to be the
sumpnor’s share. They came in time to an old woman “of whom they knew no
wrong,” and demanded twelve pence “for cursing.” She pleaded poverty,
when the sumpnor exclaimed, “The foul fiend fetch me if I excuse thee!”
and immediately the foul fiend at his side did seize him, and made off
with him, too.
=Fribble=, a contemptible molly-coddle, troubled with weak nerves. He
“speaks like a lady for all the world, and never swears.... He wears
nice white gloves, and tells his lady-love what ribbons become her
complexion, where to stick her patches, who is the best milliner, where
they sell the best tea, what is the best wash for the face, and the best
paste for the hands. He is always playing with his lady’s fan, and
showing his teeth.” He says when he is married:
“All the domestic business will be taken from my wife’s hands. I shall
make the tea, comb the dogs, and dress the children myself.”—D. Garrick,
_Miss in Her Teens_, ii. (1753).
=Friday= (_My man_), a young Indian, whom Robinson Crusoe saved from
death on a Friday, and kept as his servant and companion on the desert
island.—Defoe, _Robinson Crusoe_ (1709).
=Friend= (_The Poor Man’s_), Nell Gwynne (1642-1691).
=Friend of Man= (_The_), the Marquis de ÈMirabeau; so called from one of
his books, entitled _L’Ami des Hommes_ (1715-1789).
=Friends.=
_Frenchmen_: Montaigne and Etienne de la Boëtie.
_Germans_: Goethe and Schiller.
_Greeks_: Achillês and Patroc´les; Diomēdês and Sthen´alos; Epaminondas
and Pelop´idas; Harmo´dius and Aristogi´ton; Herculês and Iola´os;
Idomeneus (4 _syl._) and Merĭon; Pyl´adês and Ores´tês; Septim´ios and
Alcander; Theseus (2 _syl._) and Pirith´oös.
_Jews_: David and Jonathan.
_Syracusans_: Damon and Pythias; Sacharissa and Amŏret.
_Trojans_: Nisus and Euryalus.
Of _Feudal History_: Amys and Amylion.
=Friendly= (_Sir Thomas_), a gouty baronet living at Friendly Hall.
_Lady Friendly_, wife of Sir Thomas.
_Frank Friendly_, son of Sir Thomas and fellow-collegian with Ned
Blushington.
_Dinah Friendly_, daughter of Sir Thomas. She marries Edward
Blushington, “the bashful man.”—W. T. Moncrieff, _The Bashful Man_.
=Frithiof= [_Frit.yof_], a hero of Icelandic story. He married Ingëborg
[_In.ge.boy´e_] daughter of a petty Norwegian king, and the widow of
Hring. His adventures are recorded in an ancient Icelandic saga of the
thirteenth century.
⁂ Bishop Tegnor has made this story the groundwork for his poem entitled
_Frithiof’s Saga_.
_Frithiof’s Sword_, Angurva´del.
⁂ _Frithiof_ means “peace-maker,” and _Angurvadel_ means “stream of
anguish.”
=Fritz= (_Old_), Frederick II. “the Great,” king of Prussia (1712,
1740-1786).
_Fritz_, a gardener, passionately fond of flowers, the only subject he
can talk about.—E. Stirling, _The Prisoner of State_ (1847).
=Frog= (_Nic._), the linen-draper. The Dutch are so called in
Arbuthnot’s _History of John Bull_.
Nic. Frog was a cunning, sly rogue, quite reverse of John [_Bull_] in
many particulars; covetous, frugal; minded domestic affairs; would pinch
his belly to save his pocket; never lost a farthing by careless servants
or bad debts. He did not care much for any sort of diversions, except
tricks of high German artists and legerdemain; no man exceeded Nic. in
these. Yet it must be owned that Nic. was a fair dealer, and in that way
acquired immense riches.—Dr. Arbuthnot, _History of John Bull_, v.
(1712).
=Frollo= (_Claude_), an archdeacon, absorbed in a search after the
philosopher’s stone. He has a great reputation for sanctity, but
entertains a base passion for Esmeralda, the beautiful gypsy girl.
Quasimodo flings him into the air from the top of Notre Dame, and dashes
him to death.—Victor Hugo, _Notre Dame de Paris_ (1831).
=Fronde War= (_The_), a political squabble during the ministry of
Maz´arin in the minority of Louis XIV. (1648-1653).
=Frondeur=, a “Mrs. Candor,” a backbiter, a railer, a scandal-monger;
any one who flings stones at another. (French, _frondeur_, “a slinger,”
_fronde_, “a sling.”)
“And what about Diebitsch?” began another frondeur.—_Véra_, 200.
=Frondeurs=, the malcontents in the Fronde war.
=Front de Bœuf= (_Sir Reginald_), a follower of Prince John of Anjou,
and one of the knight’s challengers.—Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time,
Richard I.).
=Frontaletto=, the name of Sa´cripant’s horse. The word means “Little
head.”—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=Fronti´no,= the horse of Bradaman´tê (4 _syl._). Roge´ro’s horse bore
the same name. The word means “Little head.”—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_
(1516).
The renowned Frontino, which Bradamantê purchased at so high a price,
could never be thought thy equal [i.e. _Rosinantês equal_].—Cervantes,
_Don Quixote_ (1605).
=Frost= (_Jack_), Frost personified.
Jack Frost looked forth one still, clear night,
And he said, “Now I shall be out of sight,
So over the valley and over the height
In silence I’ll take my way.”
Hannah F. Gould.
=Froth= (_Master_), a foolish gentleman. Too shallow for great crime and
too light for virtue.—Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_ (1603).
_Froth_ (_Lord_), a good boon companion; but he vows that “he laughs at
nobody’s jests but his own or a lady’s.” He says, “Nothing is more
unbecoming a man of quality than a laugh; ’tis such a vulgar expression
of the passion; every one can laugh.” To Lady Froth he is most gallant
and obsequious, though her fidelity to her liege lord is by no means
immaculate.
_Lady Froth_, a lady of letters, who writes songs, elegies, satires,
lampoons, plays, and so on. She thinks her lord the most polished of all
men, and his bow the pattern of grace and elegance. She writes an heroic
poem called _The Syllabub_, the subject of which is Lord Froth’s love
for herself. In this poem she calls her lord “Spumoso” (_Froth_), and
herself “Biddy” (her own name). Her conduct with Mr. Brisk is most
blamable.—W. Congreve, _The Double Dealer_ (1700).
=Frothal=, king of Sora, and son of Annir. Being driven by tempest to
Sarno, one of the Orkney Islands, he was hospitably entertained by the
king, and fell in love with Coma´la, daughter of Starno, king of
Inistore or the Orkneys. He would have carried her off by violence, but
her brother Cathulla interfered, bound Frothal, and, after keeping him
in bonds for three days, sent him out of the island. When Starno was
gathered to his fathers, Frothal returned and laid siege to the palace
of Cathulla; but Fingal, happening to arrive at the island, met Frothal
in single combat, overthrew him, and would have slain him, if Utha, his
betrothed (disguised in armor), had not interposed. When Fingal knew
that Utha was Frothal’s sweetheart, he not only spared the foe, but
invited both to the palace, where they passed the night in banquet and
song.—Ossian, _Carric-Thura_.
=Fudge Family= (_The_), a family supposed by T. Moore to be visiting
Paris after the peace. It consists of Phil Fudge, Esq., his son Robert,
his daughter Biddy, and a poor relation named Phelim Connor (an ardent
Bonapartist and Irish patriot), acting as bear-leader to Bob. These four
write letters to their friends in England. The skit is meant to satirize
the _parvenu_ English abroad.
_Phil Fudge, Esq._, father of Bob and Biddy Fudge; a hack writer devoted
to legitimacy and the Bourbons. He is a secret agent of Lord Castlereagh
[_Kar.´sl.ray_], to whom he addresses letters ii. and ix. and points out
to his lordship that Robert Fudge will be very glad to receive a snug
Government appointment, and hopes that his lordship will not fail to
bear him in mind. Letter vi. he addresses to his brother, showing how
the Fudge family is prospering, and ending thus:
Should we but still enjoy the sway
Of Sidmouth and of Castlereagh,
I hope ere long to see the day
When England’s wisest statesmen, judges,
Lawyers, peers, will all be—FUDGES.
_Miss Biddy Fudge_, a sentimental girl of 18, in love with “romances,
high bonnets, and Mde. le Roy.” She writes letters i., v., x., and xi.,
describing to her friend Dolly or Dorothy the sights of Paris, and
especially how she becomes acquainted with a gentleman whom she believes
to be the king of Prussia in disguise, but afterwards she discovers that
her disguised king calls himself “Colonel Calicot.” Going with her
brother to buy some handkerchiefs, her visions of glory are sadly dashed
when “the hero she fondly had fancied a king” turns out to be a common
linen-draper. “There stood the vile treacherous thing, with the
yard-measure in his hand.” “One tear of compassion for your poor
heart-broken friend. P.S.—You will be delighted to know we are going to
hear Brunel to-night, and have obtained the governor’s box; we shall all
enjoy a hearty good laugh, I am sure.”
_Bob_ or _Robert Fudge_, son of Phil Fudge, Esq., a young exquisite of
the first water, writes letters iii. and viii. to his friend Richard.
These letters describe how French dandies dress, eat, and kill time.—T.
Moore (1818).
⁂ A sequel, called _The Fudge Family in England_, was published.
=Fulgentio=, a kinsman of Roberto (king of the two Sicilies). He was the
most rising and most insolent man in the court. Cami´ola calls him “a
suit-broker,” and says he had the worse report among all good men for
bribery and extortion. This canker obtained the king’s leave for his
marriage with Camiŏla, and he pleaded his suit as a right, not a favor;
but the lady rejected him with scorn, and Adoni killed the arrogant
“sprig of nobility” in a duel.—Massinger, _The Maid of Honor_ (1637).
=Fulkerson=, Western man who removes to New York, and sets up a magazine
founded upon “the greatest idea that has been struck since—the creation
of man. I don’t want to claim too much, and I draw the line at the
creation of man. But if you want to ring the morning stars into the
prospectus, all right!”
He makes a success of it, as he has a habit of making of everything;
marries a Southern girl, and goes to live over “the office.” “In New
York you may do anything.” He violates all sorts of conventionalities,
talks slang and loudly, yet is everybody’s friend and most people’s
favorite.—W.D. Howells, _A Hazard of New Fortunes_ (1889).
=Fulmer=, a man with many shifts, none of which succeed. He says:
“I have beat through every quarter of the compass ... I have blustered
for prerogative; I have bellowed for freedom; I have offered to serve my
country; I have engaged to betray it ... I have talked treason, writ
treason ... And here I set up as a bookseller, but men leave off
reading; and if I were to turn butcher, I believe ... they’d leave off
eating.”
_Patty Fulmer_, an unprincipled, flashy woman, living with Fulmer, with
the brevet rank of wife. She is a swindler, a scandal-monger, anything,
in short, to turn a penny by; but her villainy brings her to
grief.—Cumberland, _The West Indian_ (1771).
=Fum=, George IV. The Chinese _fum_ is a mixture of goose, stag, and
snake, with the beak of a cock; a combination of folly, cowardice,
malice, and conceit.
And where is Fum the Fourth, our royal bird?
Byron, _Don Juan_, xi. 78 (1824).
=Fum-Hoam=, the mandarin who restored Malek-al-Salem, king of Georgia,
to his throne, and related to the king’s daughter Gulchenraz [Gundogdi]
his numerous metamorphoses; he was first Piurash, who murdered Siamek
the usurper; then a flea; then a little dog; then an Indian maiden named
Massouma; then a bee; then a cricket; then a mouse; then Abzenderoud the
imaum´; then the daughter of a rich Indian merchant, the Jezdad of
Iolcos, the greatest beauty of Greece; then a foundling found by a dyer
in a box; then Dugmê, queen of Persia; then a young woman named Hengu;
then an ape; then a midwife’s daughter of Tartary; then the only son of
the sultan of Agra; then an Arabian physician; then a wild man named
Kolao; then a slave; then the son of a cadi of Erzerûm; then a dervise;
then an Indian prince; and lastly Fum-Hoam.—T.S. Gueulette, _Chinese
Tales_ (1723).
_Fum-Hoam_, first president of the ceremonial academy of
Pekin.—Goldsmith, _Citizen of the World_ (1764).
=Funk= (_Peter_), auctioneer whose business is to cheat the unwary.
Having been branded by a placard placed before his door, “_Beware of
Mock Auctions!_” he concerts a scheme for labeling other places of
business and general resort, including newspaper offices and
churches.—Charles Frederick Briggs, _The Knickerbocker Magazine_ (1846).
=Fungo´so=, a character in Ben Jonson’s drama, _Every Man in His Humour_
(1598).
Unlucky as Fungoso in the play.
Pope, _Essay on Criticism_, 328 (1711).
=Furor= (_intemperate anger_), a mad man of great strength, the son of
Occasion. Sir Guyon, the “Knight of Temperance,” overcomes both Furor
and his mother, and rescues Phaon from their clutches.—Spenser, _Faëry
Queen_, ii. 4 (1590).
=Fusber´ta=, the sword of Rinaldo.—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=Fus´bos=, minister of state to Artaxam´is, king of Uto´pia. When the
king cuts down the boots which Bombastês has hung defiantly on a tree,
the general engages the king in single combat, and slays him. Fusbos
then coming up, kills Bombastês, “who conquered all but Fusbos, Fusbos
him.” At the close of the farce, the slain ones rise one after the other
and join the dance, promising “to die again tomorrow,” if the audience
desires it.—W.B. Rhodes, _Bombastês Furioso_.
_Fusbos_, a _nom de plume_ of Henry Plunkett, one of the first
contributors to _Punch_.
=Fy´rapel= (_Sir_), the leopard, the nearest kinsman of King Lion, in
the beast epic of _Reynard the Fox_ (1498).
=Gabble Rechet=, a cry like that of hounds, heard at night, foreboding
trouble. Said to be the souls of unbaptized children wandering through
the air till the day of judgment.—Charles Reade, _Put Yourself in His
Place_.
=Gabor=, a Hungarian who aided Ulric in saving Count Stral´enheim from
the Oder, and was unjustly suspected of being his murderer.—Bryon,
_Werner_ (1822).
=Ga´briel= (2 or 3 _syl._), according to Milton is called “chief of the
angelic guards” _(Paradise Lost_, iv. 549); but in bk. vi. 44, etc.,
Michael is said to be “of celestial armies prince,” and Gabriel “in
military prowess next.”
Go, Michael of celestial armies prince;
And thou in military prowess next,
Gabriel; lead forth to battle these my sons
Invincible.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 44, etc, (1665).
⁂ Gabriel is so called “The Messenger of the Messiah,” because he was
sent by the Messiah to execute his orders on the earth. He is referred
to in _Daniel_ viii. 16, ix. 21; and in _Luke_ i. 19, 26.
_Gabriel_ (according to the _Korân_ and Sale’s notes):
1. It is from this angel that Mahomet professes to have received the
_Korân_; and he acts the part of the Holy Ghost in causing believers to
receive the divine revelation.—Ch. ii.
2. It was the angel Gabriel that won the battle of Bedr. Mahomet’s
forces were 319, and the enemy’s a _thousand_; but Gabriel (1) told
Mahomet to throw a handful of dust in the air, and so doing the eyes of
the enemy were “confounded;” (2) he caused the army of Mahomet to appear
twice as many as the army opposed to it; (3) he brought from heaven 3000
angels, and, mounted on his horse Haïzûm, led them against the foe.—Ch.
iii.
3. Gabriel appeared twice to Mahomet in his angelic form: first “in the
highest part of the horizon,” and next “by the lote tree,” on the right
hand of the throne of God.—Ch. liv.
5. Gabriel’s horse is called Haïzûm, and when the golden calf was made,
a little of the dust from under this horse’s feet being thrown into its
mouth, the calf began to low, and received life.—Ch. ii.
_Gabriel_ (according to other legends):
The Persians call Gabriel “the angel of revelations,” because he is so
frequently employed by God to carry His messages to man.
The Jews call Gabriel their enemy and the messenger of wrath; but
Michael they call their friend, and the messenger of all good tidings.
In mediæval romance, Gabriel is the second of the seven spirits which
stand before the throne of God, and he is frequently employed to carry
the prayers of man to heaven, or bring the messages of God to man.
Longfellow, in the _Golden Legend_, makes Gabriel “the angel of the
moon,” and says that he “brings to man the gift of hope.”
=Gabriel Lajeunesse=, son of Basil the blacksmith of Grand Pré, in
Acadia (now _Nova Scotia_). He was legally plighted to Evangeline,
daughter of Benedict Bellefontaine (the richest farmer of the village);
but next day all the inhabitants were exiled by order of George II., and
their property confiscated. Gabriel was parted from his troth-plight
wife, and Evangeline spent her whole life in trying to find him. After
many wanderings, she went to Philadelphia, and became a sister of mercy.
The plague visited this city, and in the almshouse the sister saw an old
man stricken down by the pestilence. It was Gabriel. He tried to whisper
her name, but died in the attempt. He was buried, and Evangeline lies
beside him in the grave.—Longfellow, _Evangeline_ (1849).
=Gabrielle= (_Charmante_), or _La Belle Gabrielle_, daughter of Antoine
d’Estrèes (grand-master of artillery and governor of the Ile de France).
Henri IV. (1590) happened to stay for the night at the chateau de
Cœuvres, and fell in love with Gabrielle, then 19 years old. To throw a
veil over his intrigue, he gave her in marriage to Damerval de
Liancourt, created her duchess of Beaufort, and took her to live with
him at court.
The song beginning “Charmante Gabrielle ...” is ascribed to Henri VI.
=Gabrielle= (_von Dohna_). Brought up by her widowed father in
singleness of heart and happiness until when she is over twenty he is
again betrothed, and his _fiancée_ persuades him to send his daughter to
visit a relative, the Countess von Kronfels. She is a selfish old woman
who adores her dog, and slights her invalid son. Gabrielle is dutiful to
the old countess, and an angel of mercy to her son, although for awhile
she dislikes and fears him. Finally, she tells the crippled man:
“You are a greater hero in my eyes than if you were leading men to
battle. You may send me away if you will, but you will break my heart.”
He loves her too well to let her go.—Blanche Willis Howard, _The Open
Door_ (1889).
=Gabri´na=, wife of Arge´o, baron of Servia, tried to seduce Philandre,
a Dutch knight; but Philandre fled from the house, where he was a guest.
She then accused him to her husband of a wanton insult, and Argeo,
having apprehended him, confined him in a dungeon. One day, Gabrina
visited him there, and implored him to save her from a knight who sought
to dishonor her. Philandre willingly espoused her cause, and slew the
knight, who proved to be her husband. Gabrina then told her champion
that if he refused to marry her, she would accuse him of murder to the
magistrates. On this threat he married her, but ere long was killed by
poison. Gabrina now wandered about the country as an old hag, and being
fastened on Odori´co, was hung by him to the branch of an elm.—Ariosto,
_Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=Gabriolet´ta,= governess of Brittany, rescued by Am´adis de Gaul from
the hands of Balan (“the bravest and strongest of all giants”).—Vasco de
Lobeira, _Amadis de Gaul_, iv. 129 (fourteenth century.)
=Gadshill=, a companion of Sir John Falstaff. This thief receives his
name from a place called Gadshill, on the Kentish road, notorious for
the many robberies committed there.—Shakespeare, 1 _Henry IV._ act ii.
sc. 4 (1597).
=Ga´heris= (_Sir_), son of Lot (king of Orkney) and Morgause (King
Arthur’s sister). Being taken captive by Sir Turquine, he was liberated
by Sir Launcelot du Lac. One night, Sir Gaheris caught his mother in
adultery with Sir Lamorake, and, holding her by the hair, struck off her
head.
=Gaiour= [_Djow.´r_], emperor of China, and father, of Badour´a (the
“most beautiful woman ever seen upon earth”). Badoura married
Camaral´zaman, the most beautiful of men.—_Arabian Nights_
(“Camaralzaman and Badoura”). (See GIAOUR).
=Gal´ahad= (_Sir_), the chaste son of Sir Launcelot and the fair Elaine
(King Pelles’s daughter, pt. iii. 2), and thus was fulfilled a prophecy
that she should become the mother of the noblest knight that was ever
born. Queen Guenevere says that Sir Launcelot “came of the eighth degree
from our Saviour, and Sir Galahad is of the ninth ... and, therefore, be
they the greatest gentlemen of all the world” (pt. iii. 35). His sword
was that which Sir Balin released from the maiden’s scabbard (see
BALIN), and his shield belonged to King Euelake [_Evelake_], who
received it from Joseph of Arimathy. It was a snow-white shield, on
which Joseph had made a cross with his blood (pt. iii. 39). After divers
adventures, Sir Galahad came to Sarras, where he was made king, was
shown the sangraal by Joseph of Arimathy, and “took the Lord’s body
between his hands,” and died. Then suddenly “a great multitude of angels
bear his soul up to heaven,” and “sithence was never no man that could
say he had seen the sangraal” (pt. iii. 103).
Sir Galahad was the only knight who could sit in the “Siege Perilous,” a
seat in the Round Table reserved for the knight destined to achieve the
quest of the holy graal, and no other person could sit in it without
peril of his life (pt. iii. 32). He also drew from the iron and marble
rock the sword which no other knight could release (pt. iii. 33). His
great achievement was that of the Holy Graal.
Sometimes on lonely mountain-meres
I find a magic bark;
I leap on board: no helmsman steers
I float till all is dark.
A gentle sound, an awful light!
Three angels bear the holy Grail
With folded feet, in stoles of white
On sleeping wings they sail.
Ah, blessed vision! blood of God!
My spirit beats her mortal bars,
As down dark tides the glory slides
And star-like mingles with the stars.
Tennyson, _Sir Galahad_.
Then the bishop took a wafer, which was made in the likeness of bread,
and at the lifting up [_the elevation of the host]_ there came a figure
in the likeness of a child, and the visage was as red and as bright as
fire; and he smote himself into that bread; so they saw that the bread
was formed of a fleshly man, and then he put it into the holy vessel
again ... then he took the holy vessel and came to Sir Galahad as he
kneeled down, and there he received his Saviour ... then went he and
kissed Sir Bors ... and kneeled at the table and made his prayers; and
suddenly his soul departed ... and a great multitude of angels bear his
soul to heaven.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, iii. 101-103
(1470).
⁂ Sir Galahalt, the son of Sir Brewnor, must not be confounded with Sir
Galahad, the son of Sir Launcelot.
=Galahalt= (_Sir_), called “The Haut Prince,” son of Sir Brewnor. He was
one of the knights of the Round Table.
=Gal´antyse= (3 _syl._), the steed given to Graunde Armoure by King
Melyzyus.
And I myselfe shall give you a worthy stede,
Called Galantyse, to helpe you in your nede.
Stephen Hawes, _The Passe-tyme of Plesure_, xxviii. (1515).
=Ga´laor= (_Don_), brother of Am´adis de Gaul. A _desultor amoris_, who,
as Don Quixote says, “made love to every pretty girl he met.” His
adventures form a strong contrast to those of his more serious
brother.—_Amadis de Gaul_ (fourteenth century).
A barber in the village insisted that none equalled “The Knight of the
Sun” [i.e. _Amadis_], except Don Galaor his brother.—Cervantes, _Don
Quixote,_ I. 1 (1605).
=Gal´apas=, a giant of “marvellous height” in the army of Lucius, king
of Rome. He was slain by King Arthur.
[_King Arthur_] slew a great giant named Galapas ... He shortened him by
smiting off both his legs at the knees, saying, “Now art thou better of
a size to deal with than thou wert.” And after, he smote off his
head.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, I. 115 (1470).
=Gal´aphron= or GALLAPHRONE (3 _syl._), a king of Cathay, father of
Angelica.—Bojardo, _Orlando Innamorato_ (1495); Ariosto, _Orlando
Furioso_ (1516).
When Agrican ... besieged Albracca ...
The city of Gallaphrone, whence to win
The fairest of her sex, Angelica.
Milton, _Paradise Regained_, iii. (1671).
=Galasp=, or rather George Gillespie, mentioned by Milton in _Sonnet_,
x., was a Scottish writer against the independents, and one of the
“Assembly of Divines” (1583-1648). See Colkitto.
=Galatea.= Lovely statue, made by Pygmalion, and endued with life by
Venus at the prayer of the sculptor-lover.
=Galate´a=, a sea-nymph, beloved by Polypheme (3 _syl._) She herself had
a heartache for Acis. The jealous giant crushed his rival under a huge
rock, and Galatēa, inconsolable at the loss of her lover, was changed
into a fountain. The word Galatea is used poetically for any rustic
maiden.
⁂ Handel has an opera called _Acis and Galatea_ (1710).
_Galatea_, a wise and modest lady attending on the princess in the drama
of _Philaster_ or _Love Lies a-bleeding,_ by Beaumont and Fletcher
(1608).
=Gala´tine= (3 _syl._), the sword of Sir Gaw´ain, King Arthur’s
nephew.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 93 (1470).
=Galbraith= (_Miss Lucy_), a young lady who finds herself _en
tête-a-tête_ with her _çi-devant_ lover in a parlor-car. Conversation
ensues and a quarrel. Upon attempting to leave the car, she discovers
that it is uncoupled and solitary upon the track. In the fright of the
alarm caused by what she assumes to be peril, she falls into her lover’s
arms entreating forgiveness. The reconciliation is complete by the time
they arrive safely at Schenectady.—W. D. Howells, _The Parlor Car, A
Farce_ (1876).
=Galbraith= (_Major Duncan_), of Garschattachin, a militia officer.—Sir
W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
=Ga´len=, an apothecary, a medical man (in disparagement). Galen was the
most celebrated physician of ancient Greece, and had a greater influence
on medical science than any other man before or since (A. D. 130-200).
Unawed, young Galen bears the hostile brunt,
Pills in his rear, and Cullen in his front.
Wm. Falconer, _The Midshipman_.
Dr. William Cullen, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire, author of _Nosology_,
(1712-1790).
=Gal´enist=, a herb doctor.
The Galĕnist and Paracelsian
S. Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 3 (1678).
=Galeotti Martivalle=, (_Martius_), astrologer of Louis XI. Being asked
by the superstitious king if he knew the day of his own death, the
crafty astrologer replied that he could not name the exact day, but he
had learnt thus much by his art—that it would occur just twenty-four
hours before the decease of his majesty (ch. xxix.).—Sir W. Scott,
_Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
⁂ Thrasullus the soothsayer made precisely the same answer to Tibe´rius,
emperor of Rome.
=Galera´na= is called by Ariosto the wife of Charlemagne; but the nine
wives of that emperor are usually given as Hamiltrude (3 _syl._),
Desidera´ta, Hil´degarde (3 _syl._), Fastrade (2 _syl._), Luitgarde,
Maltegarde, Gersuinde, Regi´na, and Adalin´da.—Ariosto, _Orlando
Furioso_, xxi. (1516).
=Galère= (2 _syl._). _Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?_
Scapin wants to get from Géronte (a miserly old hunks) £1500, to help
Leandre, the old man’s son, out of a money difficulty. So Scapin vamps
up a cock-and-bull story about Leandre being invited by a Turk on board
his galley, where he was treated to a most sumptuous repast; but when
the young man was about to quit the galley, the Turk told him he was a
prisoner, and demanded £1500 for his ransom within two hours’ time. When
Géronte hears this, he exclaims, “Que diable allait-il faire dans cette
galère?” and he swears he will arrest the Turk for extortion. Being
shown the impossibility of so doing, he again exclaims, “Que diable
allait-il faire dans cette galère?” and it flashes into his mind that
Scapin should give himself up as surety for the payment of the ransom.
This of course Scapin objects to. The old man again exclaims, “Que
diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?” and commands Scapin to go and
tell the Turk that £1500 is not to be picked off a hedge. Scapin says
the Turk does not care a straw about that, and insists on the ransom.
“Mais, que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?” cries the old
hunks; and tells Scapin to go and pawn certain goods. Scapin replies
there is no time, the two hours are nearly exhausted. “Que diable,”
cries the old man again, “allait-il faire dans cette galère?” and when
at last he gives the money, he repeats the same words, “Mais, que diable
allait-il faire dans cette galère?”—Molière, _Les Fourberies de Scapin_.
ii. 11 (1671).
=Gal´gacus=, chief of the Caledonians, who resisted Agricŏla with great
valor. In A. D. 84 he was defeated, and died on the field. Tacĭtus puts
into his mouth a noble speech, made to his army before the battle.
Galgacus, their guide,
Amongst his murthered troops there resolutely died.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
=Galia´na=, a Moorish princess, daughter of Gadalfe, king of Tolēdo. Her
father built for her a palace on the Tagus, so splendid that “a palace
of Galiana” has become a proverb in Spain.
=Galien Restored=, a mediæval romance of chivalry. Galien was the son of
Jaqueline (daughter of Hugh, king of Constantinople). His father was
Count Oliver of Vienne. Two fairies interested themselves in Jaqueline’s
infant son; one, named Galienne, had the child named after her, Galien;
and the other insisted that he should be called “Restored,” for that the
boy would _restore_ the chivalry of Charlemagne.—Author unknown.
=Galile´o= [GALILEI], born at Pisa, but lived chiefly in Florence. In
1633 he published his work on the Copernican system, showing that “the
earth moved and the sun stood still.” For this he was denounced by the
Inquisition of Rome, and accused of contradicting the Bible. At the age
of 70 he was obliged to abjure his system, in order to gain his liberty.
After pronouncing his abjuration, he said, in a stage whisper, _E pur si
muove_ (“It does move, though”). This is said to be a romance
(1564-1642).
=Galinthia=, daughter of Prœtus, king of Argos. She was changed by the
Fates into a cat, and in that shape was made by Hecate her high
priestess.—Antonius Liberalis, _Metam_, xxix.
=Gallegher=, audacious errand-boy in the office of a daily newspaper. He
outwits police and sporting-men, and shows detective genius unequalled
by a “professional,” becoming the means of arresting a noted murderer,
and driving into town after midnight with the news of this event and of
a big prize-fight, sinking exhausted on the office floor with the
exclamation, “I beat the town!”—Richard Harding Davis, _Gallegher_
(1890).
=Gallegos= [_Gal´.le.goze_], the people of Galacia (once a province of
Spain).
=Gallice´næ=, priestesses of Gallic mythology, who had power over the
winds and waves. There were nine of them, all virgins.
=Galligan´tus=, the giant who lived with Hocus-Pocus, the conjuror. When
Jack the Giant-killer blew the magic horn, both the giant and conjuror
were overthrown.—_Jack the Giant-killer._
=Gallo-ma´nia=, a _furor_ for everything French. Generally applied to
that vile imitation of French literature and customs which prevailed in
Germany in the time of Frederick II. of Prussia. It is very conspicuous
in the writings of Wieland (1733-1813).
=Galloping Dick=, Richard Ferguson, the highwayman, executed in 1800.
=Galloway= (_The Fair Maid of_), Margaret, only daughter of Archibald,
fifth earl of Douglas. She married her cousin William, to whom the
earldom passed in 1443. After the death of her first husband, she
married his brother James (the last earl of Douglas).
=Gallowglasses=, heavy-armed foot-soldiers of Ireland and the western
isles; the light-armed troops were called kernes.
—— the merciless Macdonwald
—— from the western isles
Of kernes and gallowglasses is supplied.
Shakespeare’s _Macbeth_, act i. sc. 2.
=Gallura’s Bird=, the cock, the emblem of Gallura in Sardinia, ruled by
Nino di Gallura de’Visconti. Dante meets Nino in purgatory, who sends a
message to his daughter, but reproaches the mother with her marriage
after his death, to Galeazzo de’Visconti of Milan, whose emblem was a
viper.
For her so fair a burial will not make
The viper which calls Milan to the field,
As had been made by shrill Gallura’s bird.
Dante, _Purgatorio_, viii.
=Gal´way Jury=, an independent jury, neither to be brow-beaten nor led
by the nose. In 1635, certain trials were held in Ireland, respecting
the right of the Crown to the counties of Ireland. Leitrim, Roscommon,
Sligo, and Mayo gave judgment for the Crown, but Galway stood out,
whereupon each of the jury was fined £4000.
=Ga´ma= (_Vasco da_), the hero of Camoëns’s _Lusiad_. Sagacious,
intrepid, tender-hearted, pious, and patriotic. He was the first
European navigator who doubled the Cape of Good Hope (1497).
Gama, captain of the venturous band,
Of bold emprise, and born for high command,
Whose martial fires, with prudence close allied,
Ensured the smiles of fortune on his side.
Camoens, _Lusiad_, i. (1569).
⁂ Gama is also the hero of Meyerbeer’s posthumous opera called
_L’Africaine_ (1865).
=Gam´elyn= (3 _syl._), youngest of the three sons of Sir Johan di
Boundys, who, on his death-bed, left “five plowes of land” to each of
his two elder sons, and the residue of his property to the youngest. The
eldest son took charge of Gamelyn, but treated him shamefully. On one
occasion he said to him, “Stand still, gadelyng, and hold thy peace.” To
which the proud boy retorted, “I am no gadelyng, but the lawful son of a
lady and true knight.” On this, the elder brother sent his servants to
chastise him, but he drove them off “with a pestel.” At a wrestling
match young Gamelyn threw the champion, and carried off the prize ram;
but on reaching home found the door closed against him. He at once
kicked the door down, and threw the porter into a well. The elder
brother now bound the young madcap to a tree, and left him two days
without food; but Adam the spencer, unloosed him; and Gamelyn fell upon
a party of ecclesiastics, who had come to dine with his brother, and
“sprinkled holy water on them with a stout oaken cudgel.” The sheriff
sent to apprehend the young spitfire, but he fled with Adam into the
woods, and came upon a party of foresters sitting at meat. The captain
gave him welcome, and Gamelyn in time became “king of the outlaws.” His
brother being sheriff, would have put him to death, but Gamelyn hanged
his brother on a forest tree. After this the king appointed him chief
ranger, and he married.—The Coke’s _Tale of Gamelyn_, formerly
attributed to Chaucer.
⁂ Lodge has made this tale the basis of his romance entitled _Rosalynd_
or _Eupheus’ Golden Legacye_ (1590); and from Lodge’s novel Shakespeare
has borrowed the plot, with some of the character and dialogue, of _As
You Like It_.
=Gamelyn de Guar´dover= (_Sir_), an ancestor of Sir Arthur Wardour.—Sir
W. Scott, _Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
=Gamester= (_The_), a tragedy by Ed. Moore (1753). The name of the
gamester is Beverley, who in despair commits suicide; and the object of
the play is to show the great evils of gambling.
_Gamester (The)_, by Mrs. Centlivre (1705). The hero is Valere, to whom
Angelica gives a picture, which she enjoins him not to lose on pain of
forfeiting her hand. Valere loses it in play, and Angelica, in disguise,
is the winner. After much tribulation, Valere is cured of his vice, the
picture is restored, and the two are happily united in marriage.
=Gammer Gurton’s Needle=, by Mr. S., Master of Arts. It was in
existence, says Warton, in 1551 (_English Poetry_, iv. 32). Sir Walter
Scott says; “It was the supposed composition of John Still, M.A.,
afterwards bishop of Bath and Wells;” but in 1551 John Still was a boy
not nine years old. The fun of this comedy turns on the loss and
recovery of a _needle_, with which Gammer Gurton was repairing the
breeches of her man Hodge. The comedy contains the famous drinking song,
“I cannot eat but little Meat.”
=Gamp= (_Sarah_), a monthly nurse, residing in Kingsgate Street, High
Holborn. Sarah was noted for her gouty umbrella, and for her perpetual
reference to an hypothetical Mrs. Harris, whose opinions were a
confirmation of her own. She was fond of strong tea and strong
stimulants. “Don’t ask me,” she said, “whether I won’t take none, or
whether I will, but leave the bottle on the chimley piece, and let me
put my lips to it when I am so dispoged.” When Mrs. Prig “her pardner,”
stretched out her hand to the teapot [_filled with gin_], Mrs. Gamp
stopped the hand and said with great feeling, “No, Betsy! drink fair,
wotever you do.” (See HARRIS.)—C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_, xlix.
(1843).
⁂ A big, pawky umbrella is called a _Mrs. Gamp_, and in France, _un
Robinson_, from Robinson Crusoe’s umbrella.
⁂ Mrs. Gamp and Mrs. Harris have Parisian sisters in Mde. Pochet and
Mde. Gibou, creations of Henri Monnier.
=Gan.= (See GANELON.)
=Gan´dalin=, earl of the Firm Island, and ’squire of Am´adis de Gaul.
Gandalin, though an earl, never spoke to his master but cap in hand, his
head bowing all the time, and his body bent after the Turkish
manner.—Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. iii. 6 (1605).
=Gan´elon= (2 _syl._), count of Mayence, the “Judas” of Charlemagne’s
paladins. His castle was built on the Blocksberg, the loftiest peak of
the Hartz Mountains. Charlemagne was always trusting this base knight,
and was as often betrayed by him. Although the very business of the
paladins was the upholding of Christianity, Sir Ganelon was constantly
intriguing for its overthrow. No doubt jealousy of Sir Roland made him a
traitor, and he basely planned with Marsillus (the Moorish king), the
attack of Roncesvallês. The character of Sir Ganelon was marked with
spite, dissimulation, and intrigue, but he was patient, obstinate and
enduring. He was six feet and a half in height, had large glaring eyes
and fiery red hair. He loved solitude, was very taciturn, disbelieved in
the existence of moral good, and has become a by-word for a false and
faithless friend. Dantê has placed him in his “Inferno.” (Sometimes
called GAN.)
The most faithless spy since the days of Ganelon.—Sir W. Scott, _The
Abbot_, xxiv. (1820).
=Ganem=, “The Slave of Love.” The hero and title of one of the _Arabian
Nights_ tales. Ganem was the son of a rich merchant of Damascus, named
Abou Aibou. On the death of his father he went to Bagdad, to dispose of
the merchandise left, and accidentally saw three slaves secretly burying
a chest in the earth. Curiosity induced him to disinter the chest, when
lo! it contained a beautiful woman, sleeping from the effects of a
narcotic drug. He took her to the lodgings, and discovered that the
victim was Fetnab, the caliph’s favorite, who had been buried alive by
order of the sultana, out of jealousy. When the caliph heard thereof, he
was extremely jealous of the young merchant, and ordered him to be put
to death, but he made good his escape in the guise of a waiter, and lay
concealed till the angry fit of the caliph had subsided. When
Haroun-al-Raschid (the caliph) came to himself, and heard the
unvarnished facts of the case, he pardoned Ganem, gave to him Fetnab for
a wife, and appointed him to a lucrative post about the court.
=Gan´esa=, goddess of wisdom, in Hindû mythology.
Then Camdeo _[Love]_ bright and Ganesa sublime
Shall bless with joy their own propitious clime.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. (1799).
=Ganlesse= (_Richard_), _alias_ SIMON CANTER, _alias_ EDWARD CHRISTIAN,
one of the conspirators.—Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time,
Charles II.).
=Ganna=, the Celtic prophetess, who succeeded Velle´da. She went to
Rome, and was received by Domitian with great honor.—Tacitus, _Annals_,
55.
=Ganor=, Gano´ra, Geneura, Ginevra, Genievre, Guinevere, Guenever, are
different ways of spelling the name of Arthur’s wife; called by Geoffrey
of Monmouth, Guanhuma´ra or Guan´humar; but Tennyson has made Guenevere
the popular English form.
=Gants Jaunes= (_Des_), dandies, men of fashion.
=Gan´ymede= (3 _syl._), a beautiful Phrygian boy, who was carried up to
Olympos on the back of an eagle, to become cup-bearer to the gods
instead of Hebê. At the time of his capture he was playing a flute while
tending his father’s sheep.
There fell a flute when Ganymede went up—
The flute that he was wont to play upon.
Jean Ingelow, _Honours_, ii.
(Jupiter compensated the boy’s father for the loss of his son, by a pair
of horses.)
Tennyson, speaking of a great reverse of fortune from the highest glory
to the lowest shame, says:
They mounted _Ganymedes_,
To tumble _Vulcans_ on the second morn.
_The Princess_, iii.
_The Birds of Ganymede_, eagles. Ganymede is represented as sitting on
an eagle, or attended by that bird.
To see upon her shores her foul and conies feed,
And wantonly to hatch the birds of Ganymede.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).
⁂ Ganymede is the constellation _Aquarius_.
=Garagan´tua=, a giant, who swallowed five pilgrims with their staves in
a salad.—Rabelais, _The History of Garagantua_ (1533).
“You must borrow me Garagantua’s mouth first: ’tis a word too great for
any mouth of this age’s size.”—Shakespeare, _As You Like It_, act iii.
sc. 2.
=Gar´cias=. _The soul of Peter Garcias_, money. Two scholars, journeying
to Salamanca, came to a fountain, which bore this inscription; “Here is
buried the soul of the licentiate Peter Garcias.” One scholar went away
laughing at the notion of a buried _soul_, but the other, cutting with
his knife, loosened a stone, and found a purse containing 100
ducats.—Lesage, _Gil Blas_ (to the reader, 1715).
=Garcilas´o=, surnamed “the Inca,” descended on the mother’s side from
the royal family of Peru (1530-1568). He was the son of Sebastian
Garcilaso, a lieutenant of Alvarado and Pizarro. Author of _Commentaries
on the Origin of the Incas, their Laws and Government_.
_Garcilaso_ [DE LA VEGA], called “The Petrarch of Spain”, born at Toledo
(1503-1536). His poems are eclogues, odes, and elegies of great
_naïveté_, grace, and harmony.
Sometimes he turned to gaze upon his book,
Boscan or Garcilasso [_sic_].
Byron, _Don Juan_ i. 95 (1819).
=Garda= (_Thorne_). Beautiful, untaught and utterly unreasonable girl,
whom everybody pets and who always gets her own way. She fascinates men
and outwits women, defies all authority, and never loses her temper. In
a lazy way she falls in love with one man after another, and is most
constant to the least worthy. The best and kindest woman among her
friends suffers in reputation from her escapades, and Garda accepts the
sacrifice as a matter of course. The incarnation of sensuous
selfishness.—Constance Fennimore Woolson, _East Angels_ (1886).
=Gardening= (_Father of Landscape_), Lenotre (1613-1700).
=Gar´diner= (_Richard_), porter to Miss Seraphine Arthuret and her
sister Angelica.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
_Gardiner (Colonel)_, colonel of Waverley’s Regiment.—Sir W. Scott,
_Waverley_ (time, George II.).
=Gareth= (_Sir_), according to Ancient romance, was the youngest son of
Lot, king of Orkney and Morgawse, Arthur’s [half] sister. His mother, to
deter him from entering Arthur’s court, said, jestingly, she would
consent to his so doing if he concealed his name and went as a scullion
for twelve months. To this he agreed, and Sir Kay, the king’s steward,
nicknamed him “Beaumains,” because his hands were unusually large. At
the end of the year he was knighted, and obtained the quest of Linet,
who craved the aid of some knight to liberate her sister Lionês, who was
held prisoner by Sir Ironside in Castle Perilous. Linet treated Sir
Gareth with great contumely, calling him a washer of dishes and a
kitchen knave; but he overthrew the five knights and liberated the lady,
whom he married. The knights were—first, the Black Knight of the Black
Lands _or_ Sir Pere´ard (2 _syl._), the Green Knight _or_ Sir Pertolope,
the Red Knight _or_ Sir Perimo´nês, the Blue Knight _or_ Sir Persaunt of
India (four brothers), and lastly, the Red Knight of the Red Lands or
Sir Ironside.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 120-153
(1470).
⁂ According to Tennyson, Sir Gareth was “the last and tallest son of
Lot, king of Orkney, and of Bellicent his wife.” He served as kitchen
knave in King Arthur’s hall a twelvemonth and a day, and was nicknamed
“Fair-hands” (_Beaumains_). At the end of twelve months he was knighted,
and obtained leave to accompany Lynette to the liberation of her sister
Lyonors, who was held captive in Castle Perilous by a knight called
Death or Mors. The passages to the castle were kept by four brothers,
called by Tennyson, Morning Star _or_ Phos´phorus, Noonday Sun _or_
Meridies, Evening Star _or_ Hespĕrus, and Night _or_ Nox, all of whom he
overthrew. At length Death leapt from the cleft skull of Night, and
prayed the knight not to kill him, seeing that what he did his brothers
had made him do. At starting, Lynette treated Gareth with great
contumely, but softened to him more and more after each victory, and at
last married him.
He that told the tale in olden times
Says that Sir Gareth wedded Lyonors;
But he that told it later says Lynette.
Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Gareth and Lynette”).
_Gareth and Linet´_ is in reality an allegory, a sort of Bunyan’s
_Pilgrim’s Progress_, describing the warfare of a Christian from birth
to his entrance into glory. The “Bride” lived in Castle Perilous, and
was named Lionês; Linet´ represents the “carnal world,” which, like the
inhabitants of the City of Destruction, jest and jeer at everything the
Christian does. Sir Gareth fought with four knights, keepers of the
roads “to Zion” or Castle Perilous, viz., Night, Dawn, Midday, and
Evening, meaning the temptations of the four ages of man. Having
conquered in all these, he had to encounter the last enemy, which is
Death, and then the bride was won—the bride who lived in Castle Perilous
or Mount Zion.
⁂ Tennyson, in his version of this beautiful allegory, has fallen into
several grave errors, the worst of which is his making Gareth marry
Linet instead of the true bride. This is like landing his Pilgrim in the
City of Destruction, after having finished his journey and passed the
flood. Gareth’s _brother_ was wedded to the world (_i.e._ Linet), but
Gareth himself was married to the “true Bride,” who dwelt in Castle
Perilous. Another grave error is making Death crave of Gareth not to
kill him, as what he did he was compelled to do by his elder brothers. I
must confess that this to me is quite past understanding.—See _Notes and
Queries_, January 19, February 16, March 16, 1878.
=Gar´gamelle= (3 _syl._), wife of Grangousier and daughter of the
Parpaillons. On the day that she gave birth to Gargantua, she ate 16
qrs. 2 bush. 3 pecks and a pipkin of dirt, the mere remains left in the
tripe which she had for supper, although the tripe had been cleaned with
the utmost care.—Rabelais, _Gargantua_, i. 4 (1533).
⁂ Gargamelle is an allegorical skit on the extravagance of queens, and
the dirt is their pin-money.
=Gargan´tua=, son of Grangousier and Gargamelle. It needed 17,913 cows
to supply the babe with milk. Like Garagantua (_q.v._), he ate in his
salad lettuces as big as walnut trees, in which were lurking six
pilgrims from Sebastian. He founded and endowed the abbey of Theleme (2
_syl._), in remembrance of his victory over Picrochole (3
_syl._).—Rabelais, _Gargantua_, i. 7 (1533).
⁂ Of course, Gargantua is an allegorical skit on the allowance accorded
to princes for their maintenance.
_Gargantua’s Mare._ This mare was as big as six elephants, and had feet
with fingers. On one occasion, going to school, the “boy” hung the bells
of Notre Dame de Paris on his mare’s neck, as jingles; but when the
Parisians promised to feed his beast for nothing, he restored the peal.
This mare had a terrible tail “every whit as big as the steeple of St.
Mark’s,” and on one occasion being annoyed by wasps, she switched it
about so vigorously that she knocked down all the trees in the vicinity.
Gargantua roared with laughter, and cried, “Je trouve beau ce!” where
upon the locality was called “Beauce.”—Rabelais, _Gargantua_, i. 16
(1533).
⁂ Of course this “mare” is an allegorical skit on the extravagance of
court mistresses, and the “tail” is the suite in attendance on them.
=Gargan´tuan Curriculum=, a course of studies including all languages,
all sciences, all the fine arts, with all athletic sports and
calisthenic exercises.—Grangousier wrote to his son, saying:
“There should not be a river in the world, no matter how small, thou
dost not know the name of, with the nature and habits of all fishes, all
fowls of the air, all shrubs and trees, all metals, minerals, gems and
precious stones. I would, furthermore, have thee study the Talmudists
and Cabalists, and get a perfect knowledge of man, together with every
language, ancient and modern, living or dead.”—Rabelais, _Pantag´ruel´_
ii. 8 (1533).
=Gar´gery= (_Mrs. Joe_), Pip’s sister. A virago, who kept her husband
and Pip in constant awe.
_Joe Gargery_, a blacksmith, married to Pip’s sister. A noble-hearted
simple-minded man who loved Pip sincerely. Though uncouth in manners and
ungainly in appearance, Joe Gargery was one of nature’s gentlemen.—C.
Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).
=Gargouille= (2 _syl._), the great dragon that lived in the Seine,
ravaged Rouen, and was slain by St. Roma´nus in the seventh century.
=Garlic.= The purveyor of the sultan of Casgar says he knew a man who
lost his thumbs and great toes from eating garlic. The facts were these:
A young man was married to the favorite of Zobeidê, and partook of a
dish containing garlic; when he went to his bride, she ordered him to be
bound, and cut off his two thumbs and two great toes, for presuming to
appear before her without having purified his fingers. Ever after this
he always washed his hands 120 times with alkali and soap after
partaking of garlic in a ragout.—_Arabian Nights_ (“The Purveyor’s
Story”).
=Gar´rat= (_The mayor of_). Garrat is a village between Wandsworth and
Tooling. In 1780 the inhabitants associated themselves together to
resist any further encroachments on their common, and the chairman was
called the _Mayor_. The first “mayor” happened to be chosen on a general
election, and so it was decreed that a new mayor should be appointed at
each general election. This made excellent capital for electioneering
squibs, and some of the greatest wits of the day have ventilated
political grievances, gibbeted political characters, and sprinkled holy
water with good stout oaken cudgels under the mask of “addresses by the
mayors of Garrat.”
_The Mayor of Garrat_, a farce by S. Foote (1762).
=Garrick.= Cool-headed, cool-hearted Federal agent who runs all sorts of
dangers to bear into camp dispatches found upon a dead comrade, and
marries a woman many degrees too noble for one whose ideals of morality
are lower than becomes a man so brave in other matters.—Rebecca Harding
Davis, _Waiting for the Verdict_ (1866).
=Garter.= According to legend, Joan, countess of Salisbury, accidentally
dropped her garter at a court ball. It was picked up by her royal
partner, Edward III., who gallantly diverted the attention of the guests
from the lady by binding the blue band round his own knee, saying, as he
did so,“Honi soit qui mal y pense.”
The earl’s greatest of all grandmothers
Was grander daughter still to that fair dame
Whose garter slipped down at the famous ball.
Robert Browning, _A Blot on the ’Scutcheon_, i., 3.
=Gartha=, sister of Prince Oswald of Vero´na. When Oswald was slain in
single combat by Gondibert (a combat provoked by his own treachery),
Gartha used all her efforts to stir up civil war; but Hermegild, a man
of great prudence, who loved her, was the author of wiser counsel, and
diverted the anger of the camp by a funeral pageant of unusual splendor.
As the tale is not finished, the ultimate lot of Gartha is unknown.—Sir
William Davenant, _Gondibert_ (died 1668).
=Garth= (_Sip_), woman of the people, who “puts” everything “honest” to
people. Shrewd, deep of heart and almost fierce of will, girding at her
limitations, yet profoundly in sympathy with her fellow-sufferers, she
becomes a valuable ally to her high-bred friend, Perley Kelso, in her
efforts to bring comfort and beauty into the dwellings of the
poor.—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, _The Silent Partner_ (1871).
_Garth_ (_Caleb_), surveyor and land-agent. Excellent man, but better at
lending than keeping money.
_Mary Garth_, his daughter; sensible and true woman, with few graces of
person and no affectations.—George Eliot, _Middlemarch._
=Gas´abal,= the ’squire of Don Galaor.
Gasabal was a man of such silence that the author names him only once in
the course of his voluminous history.—_Don Quixote_, I. iii. 6 (1605).
=Gascoigne= (_Sir William_). Shakespeare says that Prince Henry “struck
the chief justice in the open court;” but it does not appear from
history that any blow was given. The fact is this:
One of the gay companions of the prince being committed for felony, the
prince demanded his release, but Sir William told him the only way of
obtaining a release would be to get from the king a free pardon. Prince
Henry now tried to rescue the prisoner by force, when the judge ordered
him out of court. In a towering fury, the prince flew to the judgment
seat, and all thought he was about to slay the judge; but Sir William
said very firmly and quietly. “Syr, remember yourselfe. I kepe here the
place of the kynge, your sovereigne lorde and father, to whom you owe
double obedience; wherefore I charge you in his name to desyste of your
wylfulnes.... And nowe for your contempte goo you to the pryson of the
Kynges Benche, whereunto I commytte you, and remayne ye there prisoner
untyll the pleasure of the kynge be further known.” With which words the
prince being abashed, the noble prisoner departed and went to the King’s
Bench.—Sir Thomas Elyot, _The Governour_ (1531).
=Gashford=, secretary to Lord George Gordon. A detestable, cruel sneak,
who dupes his half-mad master, and leads him to imagine he is upholding
a noble cause in plotting against the English Catholics. To wreak
vengeance on Geoffrey Haredale, he incites the rioters to burn “The
Warren,” where Haredale resided. Gashford commits suicide.—C. Dickens,
_Barnaby Rudge_ (1841).
=Gaspar= or Casper (“_the white one_”), one of the three Magi or kings
of Cologne. His offering to the infant Jesus was _frankincense_, in
token of divinity.
⁂ The other two were Melchior (“king of light”), who offered _gold_,
symbolical of royalty; and Balthazar (“lord of treasures”), who offered
_myrrh_, to denote that Christ would die. Klopstock, in his _Messiah_,
makes the number of the Magi _six_, not one of which names agrees with
those of Cologne Cathedral.
=Gaspard=, the steward of Count De Valmont, in whose service he had been
for twenty years, and to whom he was most devotedly attached.—W. Dimond,
_The Foundling of the Forest_.
=Gas´pero=, secretary of state, in the drama called _The Laws of Candy_,
by Beaumont and Fletcher (1647).
=Gathe´ral= (_Old_), steward to the duke of Buckingham.—Sir W. Scott,
_Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Gath´erill= (_Old_), bailiff to Sir Geoffrey Peveril of the Peak.—Sir
W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Gauden´tio di Lucca=, the hero and title of a romance by Simon
Berington. He makes a journey to Mezzoramia, an imaginary country in the
interior of Africa.
=Gau´difer=, a champion in the romance of _Alexander_.
=Gaudio´sa= (_Lady_), wife of Pelayo; a wise and faithful counsellor,
high-minded, brave in danger, and a real helpmate.—Southey, _Roderick,
Last of the Goths_ (1814).
=Gaudissart=, the droll French bagman.
=Gaul=, son of Morni of Strumon. He was betrothed to Oith´ona, daughter
of Nuäth, but before the day of marriage he was called away by Fingal to
attend him on an expedition against the Britons. At the same time Nuäth
was at war, and sent for his son Lathmon; so Oithona was left
unprotected in her home. Donrommath, lord of Uthal (or Cuthal) seized
this opportunity to carry her off, and concealed her in a cave in the
desert island of Trom´athon. When Gaul returned to claim his betrothed,
he found she was gone, and was told by a vision in the night where she
was hidden. Next day, with three followers, Gaul went to Tromathon, and
the ravisher coming up, he slew him and cut off his head. Oithona, armed
as a combatant, mingled with the fighters and was wounded. Gaul saw what
he thought a youth dying, and went to offer assistance, but found it was
Oithona, who forthwith expired. Disconsolate, he returns to Dunlathmon,
and thence to Morven. Ossian, _Oithona_.
=Gaunt´grim=, the wolf, in Lord Lytton’s _Pilgrims of the Rhine_ (1834).
Bruin is always in the sulks, and Gauntgrim always in a passion.—Ch.
xii.
=Gavar´ni=, the pseudonym of Sulpice Paul Chevalier, the great
caricaturist of the French _Charivari_ (1803-1896).
=Gavroche= (_2 syl._), type of the Parisian street arab.—Victor Hugo,
_Les Misèrables_ (1862).
=Gawain= [_Gaw´’n_], son of King Lot and Morguase (Arthur’s sister). His
brothers were Agravain, Ga´heris, and Ga´reth. The traitor Mordred was
his half-brother, being the adulterous offspring of Morgause and Prince
Arthur. Lot was king of Orkney. Gawain was the second of the fifty
knights created by King Arthur; Tor was the first, and was dubbed the
same day (pt. i. 48). When the adulterous passion of Sir Launcelot for
Queen Guenever came to the knowledge of the king, Sir Gawain insisted
that the king’s honor should be upheld. Accordingly, King Arthur went in
battle array to Benwicke (_Brittany_), the “realm of Sir Launcelot,” and
proclaimed war. Here Sir Gawain fell, according to the prophecy of
Merlin, “With this sword shall Launcelot slay the man that in this world
he loved the best” (pt. i. 44). In this same battle the king was told
that his bastard son Mordred had usurped his throne, so he hastened back
with all speed, and in the great battle of the West received his mortal
wound (pt. iii. 160-167).—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_
(1470).
Of Arthurian knights, Gawain is called the “Courteous,” Sir Kay the
“Rude and Boastful,” Mordred the “Treacherous,” Launcelot the
“Chivalrous,” Galahad the “Chaste,” Mark the “Dastard,” Sir Palomides
(_3 syl._) the “Saracen,” _i.e._ unbaptized, etc.
=Gawky= (_Lord_), Richard Grenville (1711-1770).
=Gaw´rey=, a flying woman, whose wings served the double purpose of
flying and dress.—R. Pultock, _Peter Wilkins_ (1750).
=Gay= (_Walter_), in the firm of Dombey and Son; an honest, frank, and
ingenuous youth, who loved Florence Dombey, and comforted her in her
early troubles. Walter Gay was sent in the merchantman called _The Son
and Heir_, as junior partner, to Barbadoes, and survived a shipwreck.
After his return from Barbadoes, he married Florence.—C. Dickens,
_Dombey and Son_ (1846).
=Gayless= (_Charles_), the penniless suitor of Melissa. His valet is
Sharp.—Garrick, _The Lying Valet_ (1741).
=Gaylords= (_The_). Village family in good circumstances.
_Squire Gaylord_, shrewd lawyer, with one tender place in his heart—his
love for his only child.
_Mrs. Gaylord_, a calvinistic invalid, in awe of her imperious lord.
_Marcia Gaylord_, headstrong village beauty, who elopes with Bartley
Hubbard, a newspaper man; goes with him to Boston; shares his capricious
fortunes; adores and is madly jealous of him and goes home to nurse her
sick mother, without her husband’s consent. He sues for a divorce,
prevented by her father’s arrival prepared to give the other side of the
question.—W. D. Howells, _A Modern Instance_.
=Gay´ville= (_Lord_), the affianced husband of Miss Alscrip “the
heiress,” whom he detests; but he ardently loves Miss Alton, her
companion. The former is conceited, overbearing, and vulgar, but very
rich; the latter is modest, retiring, and lady-like, but very poor. It
turns out that £2000 a year of “the heiress’s” property was entailed on
Sir William Charleton’s heirs, and therefore descended to Mr. Clifford
in right of his mother. This money Mr. Clifford settles on his sister,
Miss Alton (whose real name is Clifford). Sir Clement Flint tears the
conveyance, whereby Clifford retains the £2000 a year, and Sir Clement
settles the same amount on Lord Gayville, who marries Miss Alton,
_alias_ Miss Clifford.
_Lady Emily Gayville_, sister of Lord Gayville. A bright, vivacious, and
witty lady, who loves Mr. Clifford. Clifford also greatly loves Lady
Emily, but is deterred from proposing to her because he is poor and
unequal to her in a social position. It turns out that he comes into
£2000 a year in right of his mother, Lady Charlton; and is thus enabled
to offer himself to the lady, by whom he is accepted.—General Burgoyne,
_The Heiress_ (1781).
=Gayworthys’= (_The_), New England household.
_Dr. Gayworthy._ Excellent man and physician. His heart is bound up in
his step-grandson in whose favor he makes a will.
_Johanna and Rebecca Gayworthy_; one round, laughing and fair; the
other, slight, brown, delicate, serious-eyed. Each has a lover and each
her disappointment and victory.
_Mrs. Vorse_ or “Sister Prue,” step-daughter, a widow with one
son—_Gershom_, who is wild for sea-life, and gets it.
_Mrs. Gair_, née Gayworthy; the town-sister, diplomatic and suave. She
secretes the doctor’s will and manœuvres Gershom off to sea.
_Sadie, or Say Gair_; upright little girl, who grows into a
sound-hearted woman, and brings crooked things straight after many days
and much striving, by marrying Gershom.—A.D.T. Whitney, _The Gayworthys_
(1865).
=Gaz´ban=, the black slave of the old fire-worshipper, employed to
sacrifice the Mussulmans to be offered on the “mountain of
fire.”—_Arabian Nights_ (“Amgiad and Assad”).
=Gazette= (_Sir Gregory_), a man who delights in news, without having
the slightest comprehension of politics.—Samuel Foote, _The Knights_.
=Ge´ber=, an Arabian alchemist, born at Thous, in Persia (eighth
century). He wrote several treatises on the “art of making gold,” in the
usual mystical jargon of the period; and hence our word _gibberish_
(“senseless jargon”).
This art the Arabian Geber taught ...
The Elixir of Perpetual Youth.
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_.
=Geddes= (_Joshua_), the quaker.
_Rachael Geddes_, sister of Joshua.
_Philip Geddes_, grandfather of Joshua and Rachael Geddes.—Sir W. Scott,
_Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Geierstein= [_Gi´.er.stine_], Arnold, count of.
_Count Albert of Geierstein_, brother of Arnold Biederman, disguised (1)
as the black priest of St. Paul’s; (2) as president of the secret
tribunal; (3) as monk at Mont St. Victoire.
_Anne of Geierstein_, called “The Maiden of the Mist,” daughter of Count
Albert, and baroness of Arnheim.
_Count Heinrich of Geierstein_, grandfather of Count Arnold.
_Count Williewald of Geierstein_, father of Count Arnold.—Sir W. Scott,
_Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Geislaer= (_Peterkin_), one of the insurgents at Liège [_Le.aje_].—Sir
W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Geith= (_George_), a model of untiring industry, perseverance, and
moral courage. Undaunted by difficulties, he pursued his onward way, and
worked as long as breath was left him.—Mrs. Trafford [Riddell], _George
Geith_.
=Gelert=, Llewellyn’s favorite hound. One day, Llewellyn returned from
hunting, when Gêlert met him smeared with gore. The chieftain felt
alarmed, and instantly went to look for his baby son. He found the
cradle overturned, and all around was sprinkled with gore and blood. He
called his child, but no voice replied, and thinking the hound had eaten
it, he stabbed the animal to the heart. The tumult awoke the baby boy,
and on searching more carefully, a huge wolf was found under the bed,
quite dead. Gêlert had slain the wolf and saved the child.
And now a gallant tomb they raise,
With costly sculpture decked;
And marbles, storied with his praise.
Poor Gêlert’s bones protect.
Hon. W.R. Spencer, _Beth Gêlerts_ (“Gêlerts Grave”).
⁂ This tale, with a slight difference, is common to all parts of the
world. It is told in the _Gesta Romanorum_ of Follicŭlus, a knight, but
the wolf is a “serpent,” and Folliculus, in repentance, makes a
pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the sanskrit version, given in the
_Pantschatantra_ (A.D. 540), the tale is told of the brahmin Devasaman,
an “ichneumon” and “black snake” taking the places of the dog and the
wolf. In the Arabic version by Nasr-Allah (twelfth century), a “weasel”
is substituted for the dog; in the Mongolian _Uligerun_ a “polecat;” in
the Persian _Sindibadnâmeh_, a “cat;” and in the _Hitopadesa_ (iv. 3),
an “otter.” In the Chinese _Forest of Pearls from the Garden of the
Law_, the dog is an “ichneumon,” as in the Indian version (A.D. 668). In
Sandabar, and also in the Hebrew version, the tale is told of a dog. A
similar tale is told of Czar Piras of Russia; and another occurs in the
_Seven Wise Masters_.
=Gel´latly= (_Davie_) idiot servant of the baron of Bradwardine (3
_syl._).
_Old Janet Gellatly_, the idiot’s mother.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_
(time, George II.).
⁂ In some editions the word is spelt “Gellatley.”
=Geloi´os.= Silly laughter personified. Geloios is slain by Encra´tês
(_temperance_) in the battle of Mansoul. (Greek, _gĕloios_,
“facetious”).
=Gem of Normandy=, Emma, daughter of Richard “the Fearless,” duke of
Normandy. She first married Ethelred II. of England, and then Canute,
but survived both, and died in 1052.
=Gems emblems of the Twelve Apostles.=
ANDREW, the bright blue _sapphire_, emblematic of his heavenly faith.
BARTHOLOMEW, the red _carnelian_, emblematic of his martyrdom.
JAMES, the white _chalcedony_, emblematic of his purity.
JAMES THE LESS, the _topaz_, emblematic of delicacy.
JOHN, the _emerald_, emblematic of his youth and gentleness.
MATTHEW, the _amethyst_, emblematic of sobriety. Matthew was once a
“publican,” but was “sobered” by the leaven of Christianity.
MATTHIAS, the _chrysolite_, pure as sunshine.
PETER, the _jasper_, hard and solid as the rock of the Church.
PHILIP, the friendly _sardonyx_.
SIMEON of Cana, the pink _hyacinth_, emblematic of sweet temper.
THADDEUS, the _chrysoprase_, emblematic of serenity and trustfulness.
THOMAS, the _beryl_, indefinite in lustre, emblematic of his doubting
faith.
=Gems symbolic of the Months.=
_January_, the jacinth or hyacinth, symbolizing constancy and fidelity.
_February_, the amethyst, symbolizing peace of mind and sobriety.
_March_, the blood-stone or jasper, symbolizing courage and success in
dangerous enterprise.
_April_, the sapphire and diamond, symbolizing repentance and innocence.
_May_, the emerald, symbolizing success in love.
_June_, the agate, symbolizing long life and health.
_July_, the carnelian, symbolizing cure of evils resulting from
forgetfulness.
_August_, the sardonyx or onyx, symbolizing conjugal felicity.
_September_, the chrysolite, symbolizing preservation from folly, or its
cure.
_October_, the aqua-marine, opal, or beryl, symbolizing hope.
_November_, the topaz, symbolizing fidelity and friendship.
_December_, the turquoise or ruby, symbolizing brilliant success.
⁂ Some doubt exists between May and June, July and August. Thus some
give the _agate_ to May, and the _emerald_ to June; the _carnelian_ to
August, and the _onyx_ to July.
=Gem´ini= (“_the twins_”). Castor and Pollux are the two principal stars
of this constellation; the former has a bluish tinge, and the latter a
damask red.
As heaven’s high twins, whereof in Tyrian blue
The one revolveth; through his course immense
Might love his fellow of the damask hue.
Jean Ingelow, _Honours_, i.
_Gemini._ Mrs. Browning makes Eve view in the constellation _Gemini_ a
symbol of the increase of the human race, and she loved to gaze on
it.—E. B. Browning, _A Drama of Exile_ (1850).
=Geneu´ra.= (See GINEURA).
⁂ Queen Guinever or Guenever is sometimes called “Geneura,” or
“Genevra.”
=Gene´va Bull= (_The_), Stephen Marshall, a Calvinistic preacher.
=Geneviève= (_St._) the patron saint of Paris, born at Nanterre. She was
a shepherdess, but went to Paris when her parents died, and was there
during Attila’s invasion (A.D. 451). She told the citizens that God
would spare the city, and “her prediction came true.” At another time,
she procured food for the Parisians suffering from famine. At her
request, Clovis built the church of St. Pierre et St. Paul, afterwards
called Ste. Geneviève. Her day is January 3. Her relics are deposited in
the Panthèon now called by her name (419-512).
=Genii= or =Ginu=, an intermediate race between angels and men. They
ruled on earth before the creation of Adam—D’Herbelot, _Bibliothèque
Orientale_, 357 (1697). Also spelt Djinn and Jinn.
⁂ Solomon is supposed to preside over the whole race of genii. This
seems to have arisen from a mere confusion of words of somewhat similar
sound. The chief of the genii was called a suleyman, which got corrupted
into a proper name.
=Genius and Common Sense=, T. Moore says that Common Sense and Genius
once went out together on a ramble by moonlight. Common Sense went
prosing on his way, arrived home in good time, and went to bed; but
Genius, while gazing at the stars, stumbled into a river, and died.
⁂ This story is told of Thalês, the philosopher, by Plato. Chaucer has
also an allusion thereto in his _Miller’s Tales_.
So ferde another clerk with ’stronomye:
He walkêd in the feeldês for to prye
Upon the sterrês, what ther shuld befall,
Til he was in a marlê pit i-fall,
Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_, (1388).
=Genna´ro= the natural son of Lucrezia di Borgia (daughter of Pope
Alexander VI.) before her marriage with Alfonso, duke of Ferra´ra. He
was brought up by a Neapolitan fisherman. In early manhood he went to
Venice, heard of the scandalous cruelty of Lucrezia, and with the
heedless petulance of youth, mutilated the duke’s escutcheon by striking
out the B, thus converting Borgia into Orgia (_orgies_). Lucrezia
demanded vengeance, and Gennaro was condemned to death by poison. When
Lucrezia discovered that the offender was her own son, she gave him an
antidote to the poison, and set him free. Not long after this, at a
banquet given by Negro´ni Lucrezia revealed herself to Gennaro as his
mother, and both expired of poison in the banquet hall.—Donizetti,
_Lucrezia di Borgia_ (1834).
=Gennil= (_Ralph_), a veteran in the troop of Sir Hugo de Lacy.—Sir W.
Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
=Genove´va,= wife of Siegfried, count palatine of Brabant. Being
suspected of infidelity, she was driven into the forest of Ardennes,
where she gave birth to a son, who was suckled by a white doe. After a
time Siegfried discovered his error, and both mother and child were
restored to their proper home.—_German Popular Stories._
Tieck and Müller have popularized the tradition, and Raupach has made it
the subject of a drama.
=Gentle Shepherd= (_The_), George Grenville. In one of his speeches he
exclaimed in the House, “Tell me where!” when Pitt hummed the line of a
popular song, “Gentle Shepherd, tell me where!” and the House was
convulsed with laughter (1712-1770).
_Gentle Shepherd_ (_The_), the title and chief character of Allan
Ramsay’s pastoral (1725).
=Gentleman of Europe= (_The First_), George IV. (1762, 1820-1830).
It was the “first gentleman in Europe” in whose high presence Mrs.
Rawdon passed her examination, and took her degree in reputation; so it
must be flat disloyalty to doubt her virtue. What a noble appreciation
of character must there not have been in Vanity Fair when that august
sovereign was invested with the title of _Premier Gentilhomme_ of all
Europe!—Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_ (1843).
_Gentleman of Europe_ (_First_), Louis d’Artois.
=Gentleman Smith=, William Smith, actor, noted for his gentlemanly
deportment on the stage (1730-1790).
=Geoffrey=, archbishop of York.—Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time,
Richard I.).
_Geoffrey_, the old ostler of John Mengs (inn-keeper at Kirchhoff).—Sir
W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Geoffrey Crayon=, the hypothetical name of the author of the
_Sketch-Book_ by Washington Irving (1818-1820).
=George= (_Honest_). General Monk, George, duke of Albemarle, was so
called by the votaries of Cromwell (1608-1670).
_George_ (_Mr._), a stalwart, handsome, simple-hearted fellow, son of
Mrs. Rouncewell, the housekeeper at Chesney Wold. He was very wild as a
lad, and ran away from his mother to enlist as a soldier; but on his
return to England he opened a shooting-gallery in Leicester Square,
London. When Sir Leicester Dedlock, in his old age, fell into trouble,
George became his faithful attendant.—C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).
_George_ (_St._), the patron saint of England. He was born at Lydda, but
brought up in Cappadocia, and suffered martyrdom in the reign of
Diocletian, April, 23, A.D. 303. Mr. Hogg tells us of a Greek
inscription at Ezra, in Syria, dated 346, in which the martyrdom of St.
George is referred to. At this date was living George, bishop of
Alexandria, with whom Gibbon, in his _Decline and Fall_, has confounded
the patron saint of England; but the bishop died in 362, or fifty-nine
years after the prince of Cappadocia. (See RED CROSS KNIGHT.)
⁂ Mussulmans revere St. George under the name of “Gherghis.”
_St. George’s Bones_ were taken to the church in the City of
Constantine.
_St. George’s Head._ One of his heads was preserved at Rome. Long
forgotten, it was rediscovered in 751, and was given in 1600 to the
church of Ferrara. Another of his heads was preserved in the church of
Mares-Moutier, in Picardy.
_St. George’s Limbs._ One of his arms fell from heaven upon the altar of
Pantaleon, at Cologne. Another was preserved in a religious house of
Barala, and was transferred thence in the ninth century to Cambray. Part
of an arm was presented by Robert of Flanders to the City of Toulouse;
another part was given to the abbey of Auchin, and another to the
Countess Matilda.
=George and the Dragon= (_St._). St. George, son of Lord Albert of
Coventry, was stolen in infancy by “the weird lady of the woods,” who
brought the lad up to deeds of arms. His body had three marks; a dragon
on the breast, a garter round one of the legs, and a blood-red cross on
the right arm. When he grew to manhood, he fought against the Saracens.
In Libya he heard of a huge dragon, to which a damsel was daily given
for food, and it so happened that when he arrived the victim was Sabra,
the king’s daughter. She was already tied to the stake when St. George
came up. On came the dragon; but the knight, thrusting his lance into
the monster’s mouth, killed it on the spot. Sabra, being brought to
England, became the wife of her deliverer, and they lived happily in
Coventry till death.—Percy, _Reliques_ III. iii. 2.
_St. George and the Dragon_, on old guinea-pieces, was the design of
Pistrucci. It was an adaptation of a didrachm of Tarentum, B.C. 250.
⁂ The encounter between George and the dragon took place at Berytus
(_Beyrut_).
The tale of St. George and the dragon is told in the _Golden Legends_ of
Jacques de Voragine.—See S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of The Middle
Ages_.
=George I. and the duchess of Kendal= (1719). The duchess was a German,
whose name was Erangard Melrose de Schulemberg. She was created duchess
of Munster, in Ireland, baroness Glastonbury, Countess of Feversham, and
duchess of Kendal (died 1743).
=George II.= His favorite was Mary Howard, duchess of Suffolk.
George II., when angry, vented his displeasure by kicking his hat about
the room. We are told that Xerxes vented his displeasure at the loss of
his bridges by ordering the Hellespont to be fettered, lashed with 300
stripes, and insulted.
=George III., and the Fair Quakeress.= When George III. was about 20
years of age he fell in love with Hannah Lightfoot, daughter of a
linen-draper in Market Street, St. James’s. He married her in Kew
Church, 1759, but of course the marriage was not recognized. (See
LOVERS.)
⁂ The following year (September, 1760), he married the Princess
Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Hannah Lightfoot married a Mr.
Axford, and passed out of public notice.
=George IV. and Mrs. Mary Robinson=, generally called Perdita. Mary
Darby, at the age of 15, married Mr. Robinson, who lived a few months on
credit, and was then imprisoned for debt. Mrs. Robinson sought a
livelihood on the stage, and George IV., then Prince of Wales and a mere
lad, saw her as “Perdita,” fell in love with her, corresponded with her
under the assumed name of “Florizel,” and gave her a bond for £20,000,
subsequently cancelled for an annuity of £500 (1758-1800).
⁂ George IV. was born 1762, and was only 16 in 1778, when he fell in
love with Mrs. Robinson. The young prince suddenly abandoned her, and
after two other love affairs, privately married, at Carleton House (in
1785), Mrs. Fitzherbert, a lady of good family, and a widow, seven years
his senior. The marriage being contrary to the law, he married the
Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795; but still retained his
connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and added a new favorite, the Countess
of Jersey.
=George= [DE LAVAL], a friend of Horace de Brienne (2 _syl._). Having
committed forgery, Carlos (_alias_ Marquis d’Antas), being cognizant of
it, had him in his power; but Ogarita (_alias_ Martha) obtained the
document, and returned it to George.—E. Stirling, _Orphan of the Frozen
Sea_ (1856).
=George-a-Green=, the pinner or pound-keeper of Wakefield, one of the
chosen favorites of Robin Hood.
Veni Wakefield peramænum,
Ubi quærens Georgium Greenum,
Non inveni, sed in lignum,
Fixim reperi Georgii signum,
Ubi allam bibi feram,
Donec Georgio fortior eram.
_Drunken Barnaby_ (1640).
Once in Wakefield town, so pleasant,
Sought I George-a-Green, the peasant;
Found him not, but spied instead, sir,
On a sign, “The George’s Head,” sir:
Valiant grown with ale like nectar.
What cared I for George or Hector?
⁂ Robert Green has a drama entitled _George-a-Green, the Pinner of
Wakefield_ (1589).
=Georgian Women= (_The_) Allah, wishing to stock his celestial harem,
commissioned an imaum to select for him forty of the loveliest women he
could find. The imaum journeyed into Frankistan, and from the country of
the Ingliz carried off the king’s daughter. From Germany he selected
other maidens; but when he arrived at Gori (north-west of Tiflis) he
fell in love with one of the beauties, and tarried there. Allah punished
him by death, but the maidens remained in Gori, and became the mothers
of the most beautiful race of mortals in the whole earth.—_A Legend._
=Georgina [Vesey]=, daughter of Sir John Vesey. Pretty, but vain and
frivolous. She loved, as much as her heart was susceptible of such a
passion, Sir Frederick Blount, but wavered between her liking and the
policy of marrying Alfred Evelyn, a man of great wealth. When she
thought the property of Evelyn was insecure, she at once gave her hand
to Sir Frederick.—Lord E. Bulwer Lytton, _Money_ (1840).
=Geraint´= (_Sir_) of Devon, one of the knights of the Round Table. He
was married to E´nid, only child of Yn´iol. Fearing lest Enid should be
tainted by the queen, Sir Geraint left the court, and retired to Devon.
Half sleeping and half waking, he overheard part of Enid’s words, and
fancying her to be unfaithful to him, treated her for a time with great
harshness; but Enid nursed him when he was wounded with such wifely
tenderness that he could no longer doubt her fealty, and a complete
understanding being established, “they crowned a happy life with a fair
death.”—Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Geraint and Enid”).
=Ger´aldin= (_Lord_), son of the earl of Glenallen. He appears first as
William Lovell, and afterwards as Major Neville. He marries Isabella
Wardour (daughter of Sir Arthur Wardour).
_Sir Aymer de Geraldin_, an ancestor of Lord Geraldin.—Sir W. Scott,
_the Antiquary_ (time, George III.)
=Ger´aldine= (3 _syl._), a young man who comes home from his travels to
find his playfellow (who should have been his wife) married to old
Wincott, who receives him hospitably as a friend of his father’s, takes
delight in hearing tales of his travels, and treats him most kindly.
Geraldine and the wife mutually agree not in any wise to wrong so noble
and confiding an old gentleman.—John Heywood, _The English Traveller_
(1576-1645).
_Geraldine_ (_Lady_), an orphan, the ward of her uncle Count de Valmont,
and the betrothed of Florian (“the foundling of the forest,” and the
adopted son of the count). This foundling turns out to be his real son,
who had been rescued by his mother and carried into the forest to save
him from the hands of Longueville, a desperate villain.—W. Dimond, _The
Foundling of the Forest_.
_Geraldine_ (_The Fair_), the lady whose praises are sung by Henry
Howard, earl of Surrey. Supposed to be Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of
Gerald Fitzgerald, ninth earl of Kildare. She married the earl of
Lincoln.
=Gerard= (_John_), an English botanist (1545-1607), who compiled the
_Catalogus Arborum, Fruticum, et Plantorum, tam Indigenarum quam
Exoticarum, in Horto Johanis Gerardi_. Also author of the _Herbal or
General History of Plants_ (1597).
Of these most helpful herbs yet tell we but a few,
To those unnumbered sorts of simples here that grew...
Not skillful Gerard yet shall ever find them all.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_ xiii. (1613).
_Gerard_, attendant of Sir Patrick Charteris (provost of Perth).—Sir W.
Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Gerhard the Good=, a merchant of Cologne, who exchanges his rich
freight for a cargo of Christian slaves, that he may give them their
liberty. He retains only one, who is the wife of William, king of
England. She is about to marry the merchant’s son, when the king
suddenly appears, disguised as a pilgrim. Gerhard restores the wife,
ships both off to England, refuses all recompense, and remains a
merchant as before.—Rudolf of Ems (a minnesinger), _Gerhard the Good_
(thirteenth century).
=Ger´ion.= So William Browne, in his _Britannia’s Pastorals_ (fifth
song), calls Philip of Spain. The allusion is to Geryon of Gadês
(_Cadiz_), a monster with three bodies (or, in other words, a king over
three kingdoms) slain by Herculês.
⁂ The three kingdoms over which Philip reigned were Spain, Germany and
the Netherlands.
=Gerlinda= or =Girlint=, the mother of Hartmuth, king of Norway. When
Hartmuth carried off Gudrun the daughter of Hettel (_Attila_), who
refused to marry him, Gerlinda put her to the most menial work, such as
washing the dirty linen. But her lover, Herwig, king of Heligoland,
invaded Norway, and having gained a complete victory, put Gerlinda to
death.—_An Anglo-Saxon Poem_ (thirteenth century).
=German Literature= (_Father of_), Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781).
=Germany=, formerly called Tongres. The name was changed (according to
fable) in compliment to Ger´mana, sister of Julius Cæsar, and wife of
Salvius Brabon, duke of Brabant.—Jehan de Maire, _Illustrations de
Gaule_, iii. 20-23.
Geoffrey of Monmouth says that Ebraucus, one of the descendants of
Brute, king of Britain, had twenty sons, all of whom, except the eldest,
settled in Tongres which was then called Germany, because it was the
land of the _germans_ or brothers.
These germans did subdue all Germany,
Of whom it hight.
Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, ii. 10 (1590).
=Geron´imo,= the friend of Sganarelle (3 _syl._). Sganarelle asks him if
he would advise his marrying. “How old are you?” asks Geronimo; and
being told that he is 63, and the girl under 20, says, “No.” Sganarelle,
greatly displeased at his advice, declares he is hale and strong, that
he loves the girl, and has promised to marry her. “Then do as you like,”
says Geronimo.—Molière, _Le Mariage Force_ (1664).
⁂ This joke is borrowed from Rabelais. Panurge asks Pantagruel whether
he advises him to marry. “Yes,” says the prince; whereupon Panurge
states several objections. “Then don’t,” says the prince. “But I wish
to marry,” says Panurge. “Then do it by all means,” says the prince.
Every time the prince advises him to marry, Panurge objects; and every
time the prince advises the contrary, the advice is equally
unacceptable.—_Pantagruel_, iii. 9 (1545).
=Géronte´= (2 _syl._), father of Léandre and Hyacinthe; a miserly old
hunks. He has to pay Scapin £1500 for the “ransom” of Léandre, and after
having exhausted every evasion, draws out his purse to pay the money,
saying, “The Turk is a villain!” “Yes,” says Scapin. “A rascal!” “Yes,”
says Scapin. “A thief!” “Yes,” says Scapin. “He would wring from me
£1500! would he?” “Yes,” says Scapin. “Oh, if I catch him, won’t I pay
him out?” “Yes,” says Scapin. Then putting his purse back into his
pocket, Géronte´ walks off, saying, “Pay the ransom, and bring back the
boy.” “But the money; where’s the money?” says Scapin. “Oh, didn’t I
give it you?” “No,” says Scapin. “I forgot,” says Géronte, and he pays
the money (act ii. 11).—Molière, _Les Fourberies de Scapin_ (1671).
In the English, version called _The Cheats of Scapin_, by Otway, Géronte
is called “Gripe” Hyacinthe is called “Clara,” Léandre is Anglicized
into “Leander,” and the sum of money borrowed is £200.
_Geronte_ (2 _syl._), the father of Lucinde (2 _syl._). He wanted his
daughter to marry Horace, but as she loved Léandre, in order to avoid a
marriage she detested she pretended to have lost the power of articulate
speech, and only answered, “Han, hi, hon!” “Han, hi, hon, han!”
Sganarelle, “le médecin malgré lui,” seeing that this jargon was put on,
and ascertaining that Léandre was her lover, introduced him as an
apothecary, and the young man soon effected a perfect cure with “pills
matrimoniac.”—Molière, _Le Médecin Malgré Lui_ (1666).
=Ger´rard=, king of the beggars, disguised under the name of Clause. He
is the father of Florez, the rich merchant of Bruges.—Beaumont and
Fletcher, _The Beggars’ Bush_ (1622).
=Ger´trude= (2 _syl._), Hamlet’s mother. On the death of her husband,
who was king of Denmark, she married Claudius, the late king’s brother.
Gertrude was accessory to the murder of her first husband, and Claudius
was principal. Claudius prepared poisoned wine, which he intended for
Hamlet; but the queen not knowing it was poisoned drank it and died;
Hamlet, seeing his mother fall dead, rushed on the king and killed
him.—Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ (1596).
⁂ In the _Historie of Hamblett_, Gertrude is called “Geruth.”
_Gertrude_, daughter of Albert, patriarch of Wy´oming. One day an Indian
brought to Albert a lad (nine years old) named Henry Waldegrave (2
_syl._), and told the patriarch he had promised the boy’s mother, at her
death, to place her son under his care. The lad remained at Wyoming for
three years, and was then sent to his friends. When grown to manhood,
Henry Waldegrave returned to Wyoming, and married Gertrude; but three
months afterwards Brandt, at the head of a mixed army of British and
Indians attacked the settlement, and both Albert and Gertrude were shot.
Henry Waldegrave then joined the army of Washington, which was fighting
for American independence.—Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809).
_Gertrude._ Brave heroine of Maria S. Cummins’s _Lamplighter_. She
raises herself by sheer force of energy and talent from the lowly
station in which she was born to a position of highest respectability
and influence (1853).
=Gerun´dio= (_Fray_), _i.e._ Friar Gerund, the hero and title of a
Spanish romance, by the Jesuit De l’Isla. It is a satire on the
absurdities and bad taste of the popular preachers of the time (1758).
=Ge´ryon’s Sons=, the Spaniards; so called from Geryon, an ancient king
of Spain, whose oxen were driven off by Her´culês. This task was one of
the hero’s “twelve labors.” Milton uses the expression in _Paradise
Lost_, xi. 410 (1665).
=Geryon´eo=, a human monster with three bodies. He was of the race of
giants, being the son of Geryon, the tyrant who gave all strangers “as
food to his kine, the fairest and the fiercest kine alive.” Geryoneo
promised to take the young widow Belgê (2 _syl._) under his protection;
but it was like the wolf protecting the lamb, for “he gave her children
to a dreadful monster to devour.” In her despair she applied to King
Arthur for help, and the British king, espousing her cause, soon sent
Geryoneo “down to the house of dole.”—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 10, 11
(1596).
⁂ “Geryoneo” is the house of Austria, and Philip of Spain in particular.
“King Arthur” is England, and the earl of Leicester in particular. The
“Widow Belgê” is the Netherlands; and the monster that devoured her
children the inquisition, introduced by the duke of Alva. “Geryoneo” had
three bodies, for Philip ruled over three kingdoms—Spain, Germany and
the Netherlands. The earl of Leicester, sent in 1585 to the aid of the
Netherlands, broke off the yoke of Philip.
=Ges´mas=, the impenitent thief crucified with our Lord. In the
apocryphal _Gospel of Nicodemus_, he is called Gestas. The penitent
thief was Dismas, Dysmas, Demas, or Dumacus.
Three bodies on three crosses hang supine;
Dismas and Gesmas and the power Divine.
Dismas seeks heaven, Gesmas his own damnation.
The Mid-one seeks our ransom and salvation.
_Translation of a Latin Charm._
=Gessler= (_Albrecht_), the brutal and tyrannical governor of
Switzerland, appointed by Austria over the three forest cantons. When
the people rose in rebellion, Gessler insulted them by hoisting his cap
on a pole, and threatening death to any one who refused to bow down to
it in reverence. William Tell refused to do so, and was compelled to
shoot at an apple placed on the head of his own son. Having dropped an
arrow by accident, Gessler demanded why he had brought a second. “To
shoot you,” said the intrepid mountaineer, “if I fail in my task.”
Gessler then ordered him to be cast into Kusnacht Castle, “a prey to the
reptiles that lodged there.” Gessler went in the boat to see the order
executed, and as the boat neared land, Tell leapt on shore, pushed back
the boat, shot Gessler, and freed his country from Austrian
domination.—Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_ (1829).
=Geta,= according to Sir Walter Scott, the representative of a stock
slave and rogue in the new comedy of Greece and Rome (? _Getês_).
The principal character, upon whose devices and ingenuity the whole plot
usually turns, is the _Geta_ of the piece—a witty, roguish, insinuating,
and malignant slave, the confidant of a wild and extravagant son, whom
he aids in his pious endeavors to cheat a suspicious, severe, and
griping father.—Sir Walter Scott, _The Drama_.
=Ghengis Khan=, a title assumed by Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar
(1336-1405).
=Giaffir= [_Djaf.fir_], pacha of Aby´dos, and father of Zuleika
[_Zu.lee´.kah_]. He tells his daughter he intends her to marry the
governor of Magne´sia, but Zuleika has given her plight to her cousin
Selim. The lovers take to flight; Giaffir pursues and shoots Selim;
Zuleika dies of grief; and the father lives on, a broken-hearted old
man, calling to the winds, “Where is my daughter?” and echo answers,
“Where?”—Byron, _Bride of Abydos_ (1813).
=Giam´schid= [_Jam.shid_], suleyman of the Peris. Having reigned seven
hundred years, he thought himself immortal; but God, in punishment, gave
him a human form, and sent him to live on earth, where he became a great
conqueror, and ruled over both the East and West. The bulwark of the
Peris’ abode was composed of green chrysolite, the reflection of which
gives to the sky its deep blue-green hue.
Soul beamed forth in every spark
That darted from beneath the lid,
Bright as the jewel of Giamschid,
Byron, _The Giaour_ (1813).
She only wished the amorous monarch had shown more ardor for the
carbuncle of Giamschid.—W. Beckford, _Vathek_ (1786).
=Giants of Mythology and Fable.= Strabo makes mention of the skeleton of
a giant 60 cubits in height. Pliny tells us of another 46 cubits.
Boccaccio describes the body of a giant from bones discovered in a cave
near Trapani, in Sicily, 200 cubits in length. One tooth of this “giant”
weighed 200 ounces; but Kircher says the tooth and bones were those of a
mastodon.