DANTE and Beatrice [Portinari].
EPICURUS and Leontium.
FRANCOIS I. and la duchesse d’Etampes [_Mdlle. d’Heilly_].
GEORGE I. and the duchess of Kendal [_Erangard Melrose de Schulemberg_].
GEORGE II. and Mary Howard, duchess of Suffolk.
GEORGE III. and the fair quakeress [_Hannah Lightfoot_].
GEORGE IV. and Mrs. Mary Darby Robinson, called “Perdĭta” (1758-1800);
Mrs. Fitzherbert, to whom he was privately married in 1785; and the
countess of Jersey.
GOETHE and the frau von Stein.
HABINGTON, the poet, and Castāra [_Lucy Herbert_, daughter of Lord
Powis], afterwards his wife.
HAZLITT and Sarah Walker.
HENRI II. and Diane de Poitiers.
HENRI IV. and La Belle Gabrielle [d’Estrées].
HENRY II. and the fair Rosamond [_Jane Clifford_].
HORACE and Lesbia.
HELOISE and Abelard.
LAMARTINE and Elvire, the Creole Girl.
LOUIS XIV. and Mdlle. de la Vallière; Mde. de Montespan; Mdlle. de
Fontage.
LOVELACE and the divine Althēa, also called Lucasta [_Sacheverell_].
MIRABEAU and Mde. Nehra.
NELSON and Lady Hamilton.
PERICLES and Aspasia.
PETRARCH and Laura [_wife of Hugues de Sade_].
PLATO and Archianassa.
PRIOR and Chloe, or Cloe, the cobbler’s wife of Linden Grove.
RAPHAEL and La Fornarina, the baker’s daughter.
ROUSSEAU and Julie [_la comtesse d’Houdetot_].
SCARRON and Mde. Maintenon, afterwards his wife.
SIDNEY and Stella [_Penelope Devereux_].
SPENSER and Rosalind [_Rose Lynde_, of Kent].
STERNE (in his old age) and Eliza [_Mrs. Draper_].
STESECHOROS and Himĕra.
SURREY (_Henry Howard_, _earl of_) and Geraldine, who married the earl
of Lincoln. (See GERALDINE).
SWIFT and (1) Stella [_Hester Johnson_]; (2) Vanessa [_Esther Van
Vanhomrigh_].
TASSO and Leonora, or Eleanora [d’Este].
THEOCRITOS and Myrto.
WALLER and Sacharissa [_Lady Dorothea Sidney_].
WILLIAM IV., as duke of Clarence, and Mrs. Jordan [_Dora Bland_].
WOLSEY and Mistress Winter.
WYAT and Anna [_Anne Boleyn_], purely platonic.
=Lovers Struck by Lightning=, John Hewit and Sarah Drew of Stanton
Harcourt, near Oxford (July 31, 1718). Gay gives a full description of
the incident in one of his letters. On the morning that they obtained
the consent of their parents to the match, they went together into a
field to gather wild flowers, when a thunderstorm overtook them and both
were killed. Pope wrote their epitaph.
⁂ Probably Thomson had this incident in view in his tale of Celadon and
Amelia.—See _Seasons_ (“Summer,” 1727).
=Lovers’ Leap.= The leap from the Leuca´dian promontory into the sea.
This promontory is in the island of Leucas or Leucadia, in the Ionian
Sea. Sappho threw herself therefrom when she found her love for Phaon
was not requited.
A precipice on the Guadalhorce (_4 syl._), from which Manuel and Laila
cast themselves, is also called “The Lovers’ Leap.” (See LAILA).
=Lovers’ Vows=, altered from Kotzebue’s drama, by Mrs. Inchbald (1800).
Baron Wildenhaim, in his youth, seduced Agatha Friburg, and then forsook
her. She had a son, Frederick, who in due time became a soldier. While
on furlough, he came to spend his time with his mother, and found her
reduced to abject poverty, and almost starved to death. A poor cottager
took her in, while Frederick, who had no money, went to beg charity.
Count Wildenhaim was out with his gun, and Frederick asked alms of him.
The count gave him a shilling; Frederick demanded more, and being
refused, seized the baron by the throat. The keepers soon came up,
collared him, and put him in the castle dungeon. Here he was visited by
the chaplain, and it came out that the count was his father. The
chaplain being appealed to, told the count the only reparation he could
make would be to marry Agatha, and acknowledge the young soldier to be
his son. The advice he followed, and Agatha Friburg, the beggar, became
the Baroness Wildenhaim, of Wildenhaim Castle.
=Love´rule= (_Sir John_), a very pleasant gentleman, but wholly
incapable of ruling his wife, who led him a miserable dance.
_Lady Loverule_, a violent termagant, who beat her servants, scolded her
husband, and kept her house in constant hot water, but was reformed by
Zakel Jobson, the cobbler. (See DEVIL TO PAY).—C. Coffey, _The Devil to
Pay_ (died 1745).
=Love´well=, the husband of Fanny Sterling, to whom he has been
clandestinely married for four months.—Colman and Garrick, _The
Clandestine Marriage_ (1766).
=Loving-Land=, a place where Neptune held his “nymphall,” or feast given
to the sea-nymphs.
[_He_] his Tritons made proclaim, a nymphall to be held
In honor of himself in Loving-land, where he
The most selected nymphs appointed had to be.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xx. (1622).
=Lovinski= (_Baron_), the friend of Prince Lupauski, under whose charge
the Princess Lodois´ka (_4 syl._) is placed during a war between the
Poles and the Tartars. Lovinski betrays his trust by keeping the
princess a virtual prisoner, because she will not accept him as a lover.
The Count Floreski makes his way into the castle, and the baron seeks to
poison him, but at this crisis the Tartars invade the castle, the baron
is slain, and Floreski marries the princess.—J.P. Kemble, _Lodoiska_ (a
melodrama).
=Low-Heels and High-Heels=, two factions in Lilliput. The High-heels
were opposed to the emperor, who wore low heels, and employed Low-heels
in his cabinet. Of course the Low-heels are the whigs, and low-church
party, and the High-heels, the tories and high-church party. (See
BIG-ENDIANS).—Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels_ (“Voyage to Lilliput,” 1727).
=Lowestoffe= (_Reginald_), a young Templar.—Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of
Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Lowrie= (_Dan_), thoroughly debased ruffian, who beats his noble
daughter, plans again and again to murder or maim an honest man who has
defended himself successfully when assailed, and is by mistake, set upon
in the dark by the accomplices he has set in ambush for Fergus Derrick
and wounded mortally. His last act is to strike blindly at Joan, his
daughter.—Frances Hodgson Burnett, _That Lass o’ Lowrie’s_ (1877).
=Lowther= (_Jack_), a smuggler.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time,
George III.).
=Loyal Subject= (_The_), Archas, general of the Muscovites, and the
father of Colonel Theodore.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Loyal Subject_
(1618).
=Loyale Epée= (_La_), “the honest soldier,” Marshal de MacMahon (1808,
president of France from 1873 to 1879).
=Loys de Dreux=, a young Breton nobleman who joined the Druses, and was
appointed their prefect.
Loys (2 _syl._) the boy stood on the leading prow,
Conspicuous in his gay attire.
Robert Browning, _The Return of the Druses_, i.
=Luath= (2 _syl._), Cuthulin’s “swift-footed hound.”—Ossian, _Fingal_,
ii.
Fingal had a dog called “Luath” and another called “Bran.”
In Robert Burns’ poem, called _The Twa Dogs_, the poor man’s dog, which
represents the peasantry, is called “Luath” and the gentleman’s dog is
“Cæsar.”
=Lucan= (_Sir_), sometimes called “Sir Lucas,” butler of King Arthur,
and a knight of the Round Table.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince
Arthur_ (“Lucan,” ii. 160; “Lucas,” ii. 78; 1470).
=Lucasta=, whom Richard Lovelace celebrates, was Lucy Sacheverell.
(_Lucycasta_ or _Lux casta_, “chaste light.”)
=Lucentio=, son of Vicentio of Pisa. He marries Bianca, sister of
Katharina, “the Shrew” of Padua.—Shakespeare, _Taming of the Shrew_
(1594).
=Lucetta=, waiting-woman of Julia, the lady-love of Proteus (one of the
heroes of the play).—Shakespeare, _The Two Gentlemen of Verona_ (1594).
=Lu´cia=, daughter of Lucius (one of the friends of Cato at Utica, and a
member of the mimic senate). Lucia was loved by both the sons of Cato,
but she preferred the more temperate Porcius to the vehement Marcus.
Marcus being slain, left the field open to the elder brother.—Addison,
_Cato_ (1713).
_Lucia_, in _The Cheats of Scapin_, Otway’s version of _Les Fourberies
de Scapin_, by Molière. Lucia, in Molière’s comedy, is called
“Zerbinette;” her father, Thrifty, is called “Argante;” her brother,
Octavian, is “Octave;” and her sweetheart, Leander, son of Gripe, is
called by Molière, “Léandre, son of Géronte” (2 _syl._).
_Lucia_ (_St._) _Struck on St. Lucia’s thorn_, on the rack, in torment,
much perplexed and annoyed. St. Lucia was a virgin martyr, put to death
at Syracuse, in 304. Her _fête_-day is December 13. The “thorn” referred
to is in reality, the point of a sword, shown in all paintings of the
saint, protruding through the neck.
If I don’t recruit ... I shall be struck upon St. Lucia’s
thorn.—Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, II. i. 3 (1615).
=Lucia di Lammermoor=, called by Sir W. Scott, “Lucy Ashton,” sister of
Lord Henry Ashton, of Lammermoor. In order to retrieve the broken
fortune of the family, Lord Henry arranged a marriage between his sister
and Lord Arthur Bucklaw, _alias_ Frank Hayston, laird of Bucklaw.
Unknown to the brother, Edgardo (_Edgar_), master of Ravenswood, (whose
family had long had a feud with the Lammermoors), was betrothed to Lucy.
While Edgardo was absent in France, Lucia (_Lucy_) is made to believe he
is unfaithful to her, and in her despair she consents to marry the laird
of Bucklaw, but on the wedding night she stabs him, goes mad, and
dies.—Donizetti, _Lucia di Lammermoor_ (an opera, 1835); Sir W. Scott,
_The Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
=Luci´ana=, sister of Adrian´a. She marries Antipholus, of
Syracuse.—Shakespeare, _Comedy of Errors_ (1593).
=Lu´cida=, the lady-love of Sir Ferramont.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iv. 5
(1596).
=Lucifer= is described by Dantê as a huge giant, with three faces: one
red, indicative of anger; one yellow, indicative of envy; and one black,
indicative of melancholy. Between his shoulders, the poet says, there
shot forth two enormous wings, without plumage, “in texture like a
bat’s.” With these “he flapped i’ the air,” and “Cocy´tus to its depth
was frozen.” “At six eyes he wept,” and at every mouth he champed a
sinner.—Dantê, _Hell_, xxxiv. (1301).
=Lucif´era= (_Pride_), daughter of Pluto and Proser´pĭna. Her usher was
Vanity. Her chariot was drawn by six different beasts, on each of which
was seated one of the queen’s counsellors. The foremost beast was an
ass, ridden by Idleness, who resembled a monk; paired with the ass was a
swine, on which rode Gluttony, clad in vine leaves. Next came a goat,
ridden by Lechery, arrayed in green; paired with the goat was a camel,
on which rode Avarice, in threadbare coat and cobbled shoes. The next
beast was a wolf, bestrid by Envy, arrayed in a kirtle full of eyes; and
paired with the wolf was a lion, bestrid by Wrath, in a robe all
blood-stained. The coachman of the team was Satan.
Lo? underneath her scornful feet was lain
A dreadful dragon, with a hideous train;
And in her hand she held a mirror bright,
Wherein her face she often viewëd fain.
Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, i. 4 (1590).
=Lucille=. Brunette, in love with and beloved by _Lord Alfred_. They are
separated by circumstances, and meet again when Alfred’s promise to
another woman hinders a marriage between Lucille and her lover. She
remains single and becomes a Sister of Mercy.—_Lucille_, poem, by Owen
Meredith, (Robert, Lord Lytton).
=Lucinda=, the daughter of opulent parents, engaged in marriage to
Cardenio, a young gentleman of similar rank and equal opulence. Lucinda
was, however, promised by her father in marriage to Don Fernando,
youngest son of the Duke Ricardo. When the wedding day arrived, the
young lady fell into a swoon, and a letter informed Don Fernando that
the bride was married already to Cardenio. Next day, she left the house
privately, and took refuge in a convent, whence she was forcibly
abducted by Don Fernando. Stopping at an inn, the party found there
Dorothea, the wife of Don Fernando, and Cardenio, the husband of
Lucinda, and all things arranged themselves satisfactorily to the
parties concerned.—Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. iv. (1605).
_Lucinda_, the bosom friend of Rosetta; merry, coquettish, and fit for
any fun. She is the daughter of Justice Woodcock, and falls in love with
Jack Eustace, against her father’s desire. Jack, who is unknown to the
justice, introduces himself into the house, as a music-master; and Sir
William Meadows induces the old man to consent to the marriage of the
young people.—I. Bickerstaff, _Love in a Village_.
_Lucinda_, referred to by the poet Thomson in his _Spring_, was Lucy
Fortescue, daughter of Hugh Fortescue, of Devonshire, and wife of Lord
George Lyttelton.
O Lyttelton....
Courting the Muse, thro’ Hagely Park thou strayest....
Perhaps thy loved Lucinda shares thy walk,
With soul to thine attuned.
Thomson, _The Seasons_ (“Spring,” 1728).
=Lucinde= (2 _syl._), daughter of Sganarelle. As she has lost her spirit
and appetite, her father sends for four physicians, who all differ as to
the nature of the malady and the remedy to be applied. Lisette (her
waiting-woman) sends in the meantime for Clitandre, the lover of
Lucinde, who comes under the guise of a mock doctor. He tells Sganarelle
the disease of the young lady must be reached through the imagination,
and prescribes the semblance of a marriage. As his assistant is in
reality a notary, the mock marriage turns out to be a real one.—Molière,
_L’Amour Médecin_ (1665).
_Lucinde_ (2 _syl._), daughter of Géronte (2 _syl._). Her father wanted
her to marry Horace; but as she was in love with Léandre, she pretended
to have lost the power of articulate speech, to avoid a marriage which
she abhorred. Sganarelle, the faggot-maker, was introduced as a famous
dumb doctor, and soon saw the state of affairs; so he took with him
Léandre as an apothecary, and the young lady received a perfect cure
from “pills matrimoniac.”—Molière, _Le Médicin Malgré Lui_ (1666).
=Lu´cio=, a fantastic, not absolutely bad, but vicious and dissolute. He
is unstable, “like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed,”
and has no restraining principle.—Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_
(1603).
=Lucip´pe= (3 _syl._), a woman attached to the suite of the princess
Calis (sister of Astorax, king of Paphos).—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The
Mad Lover_ (1618).
=Lu´cius=, son of Coillus; a mythical king of Britain. Geoffrey says
he sent a letter to Pope Eleutherius (177-193) desiring to be
instructed in the Christian religion, whereupon the pope sent over Dr.
Faganus and Dr. Duvanus for the purpose. Lucius was baptized, and
“people from all countries” with him. The pagan temples in Britain
were converted into churches, the archflamens into archbishops, and
the flamens into bishops. So there were twenty-eight bishops and three
archbishops.—_British History_, iv. 19, (1470).
He our flamens’ seats who turned to bishops’ sees,
Great Lucius, that good king to whom we chiefly owe
This happiness we have—Christ crucified to know.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
After baptism, St. Lucius abdicated, and became a missionary in
Switzerland, where he died a martyr’s death.
_Lucius_ (_Caius_), general of the Roman forces in Britain, in the reign
of king Cym´beline (3 _syl._).—Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).
=Lucius Tiberius=, general of the Roman army, who wrote to King Arthur,
commanding him to appear at Rome to make satisfaction for the conquests
he had made, and to receive such punishment as the senate might think
proper to pass on him. This letter induced Arthur to declare war with
Rome. So, committing the care of government to his nephew Modred, he
marched to Lyonaise (in Gaul), where he won a complete victory, and left
Lucius dead on the field. He now started for Rome; but being told that
Modred had usurped the crown, he hastened back to Britain, and fought
the great battle of the West, where he received his death wound from the
hand of Modred.—Geoffrey, _British History_, ix. 15-20; x (1142).
Great Arthur did advance
To meet, with his allies, that puissant force in France
By Lucius thither led.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).
=Luck of Roaring Camp=. A baby born in a mining-camp, loses his mother
in the first hour of his life, and is adopted by “the boys.” A run of
success having followed mining operations since his birth, he is named
“Luck.” His cabin is kept clean, a rosewood cradle brought fifty miles
for his use, “the boys” take turns in holding him, and must be clean
before they can do it. He is taken daily up the “gulch,” to be in the
shade while they work, but “Kentuck” is his chief guardian. One night a
freshet carries off Kentuck’s hut, the owner and “The Luck.” Man and
baby are picked up below; the child is dead, the man dying, “He’s a
takin’ me with him. Tell the boys I’ve got ‘The Luck’ with me now!” and
the strong man clinging to the frail babe as a drowning man is said to
cling to a straw, drifted away with the shadowy river that flows forever
to the unknown sea.—Bret Harte, _The Luck of Roaring Camp_ (1870).
=Lucre´tia=, daughter of Spurius Lucretius, prefect of Rome, and wife of
Tarquinius Collati´nus. She was dishonored by Sextus, the son of
Tarquinius Superbus. Having avowed her dishonor in the presence of her
father, her husband, Junius Brutus, and some others, she stabbed
herself.
This subject has been dramatized in _French_ by Ant. Vincent Arnault, in
a tragedy called _Lucrèce_ (1792); and by François Ponsard in 1843. In
_English_, by Thomas Heywood, in a tragedy entitled _The Rape of
Lucrece_ (1630); by Nathaniel Lee, entitled _Lucius Junius Brutus_
(seventeenth century); and by John H. Payne, entitled _Brutus_ or _the
Fall of Tarquin_ (1820). Shakespeare selected the same subject for his
poem entitled _The Rape of Lucrece_ (1594).
=Lucrezia di Borgia=, daughter of Pope Alexander VI. She was thrice
married, her last husband being Alfonso, duke of Ferra´ra. Before this
marriage, she had a natural son, named Genna´ro, who was brought up by a
Neapolitan fisherman. When grown to manhood, Gennaro had a commission
given him in the army, and in the battle of Rim´ini he saved the life of
Orsini. In Venice he declaimed freely against the vices of Lucrezia di
Borgia, and on one occasion he mutilated the escutcheon of the duke, by
knocking off the B, thus converting Borgia into Orgia. Lucrezia insisted
that the perpetrator of this insult should suffer death by poison; but
when she discovered that the offender was her own son, she gave him an
antidote, and released him from jail. Scarcely, however, was he
liberated, than he was poisoned at a banquet given by the Princess
Neg´roni. Lucrezia now told Gennaro that he was her own son, and died as
her son expired.—Donizetti, _Lucrezia di Borgia_ (an opera, 1834).
⁂ Victor Hugo has a drama entitled _Lucrèce Borgia_.
=Lucullus=, a wealthy Roman, noted for his banquets and self-indulgence.
On one occassion, when a superb supper had been prepared, being asked
who were to be his guests, he replied, “Lucullus will sup to-night with
Lucullus” (B.C. 110-57).
Ne’er Falernian threw a richer
Light upon Lucullus’ tables.
Longfellow, _Drinking Song_.
=Luc´umo=, a satrap, chieftain, or khedive among the ancient Etruscans.
The over-king was called _lars_. Servius, the grammarian says: “Lŭcŭmo
_rex_ sonat linguâ Etruscâ;” but it was such a king as that of Bavaria
in the empire of Germany, where the king of Prussia is the _lars_.
And plainly and more plainly
Now might the burghers know,
By port and vest, by horse and crest,
Each warlike lucumo.
Lord Macaulay, _Lays of Ancient Rome_ (“Horatius,” xxiii., 1842).
=Lucy=, a dowerless girl, betrothed to Amidas. Being forsaken by him for
the wealthy Philtra, she threw herself into the sea, but was saved by
clinging to a chest. Both being drifted ashore, it was found that the
chest contained great treasures, which Lucy gave to Bracidas, the
brother of Amidas, who married her. In this marriage, Bracidas found
“two goodly portions, and the better she.”—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 4
(1596).
=Lucy Fountain=. The heroine of _Love Me Little, Love Me Long_. She has
sundry suitors, each backed by her uncle or her aunt, and chooses for
herself a stalwart, handsome sailor, David Dodd by name, who adores her.
She figures as a devoted wife and mother in _Very Hard Cash_, Charles
Reade.
_Lucy_, daughter of Mr. Richard Wealthy, a rich London merchant. Her
father wanted her to marry a wealthy tradesman, and as she refused to do
so, he turned her out of doors. Being introduced as a _fille de joie_ to
Sir George Wealthy, “the minor,” he soon perceived her to be a modest
girl, who had been entrapped, and he proposed marriage. When the facts
of the case were known, Mr. Wealthy and the Sir William (the father of
the young man) were delighted at the happy termination of what might
have proved a most untoward affair.—S. Foote, _The Minor_ (1760).
_Lucy_ [GOODWILL], a girl of 16, and a child of nature, reared by her
father, who was a widower. “She has seen nothing,” he says; “she knows
nothing, and, therefore, has no will of her own.” Old Goodwill wished
her to marry one of her relations, that his money might be kept in the
family; but Lucy had “will” enough of her own to see that her relations
were boobies, and selected for her husband a big, burly footman, named
Thomas.—Fielding, _The Virgin Unmasked_.
_Lucy_ [LOCKIT], daughter of Lockit, the jailer, a foolish young woman,
who, decoyed by Captain Macheath, under the specious promise of
marriage, effected his escape from jail. The captain, however, was
recaptured, and condemned to death; but, being reprieved, confessed
himself married to Polly Peachum, and Lucy was left to seek another
mate.
How happy could I be with either [_Lucy or Polly_],
Were t’other dear charmer away!
J. Gay, _The Beggars Opera_, ii. 2 (1727).
Miss Fenton (duchess of Bolton) was the original “Lucy Lockit”
(1708-1760).
=Lucy and Colin.= Colin was betrothed to Lucy, but forsook her for a
bride “thrice as rich as she.” Lucy drooped, but was present at the
wedding; and when Colin saw her, “the damps of death bedewed his brow,
and he died.” Both were buried in one tomb, and many a hind and plighted
maid resorted thither, “to deck it with garlands and true love
knots.”—T. Tickell, _Lucy and Colin_.
⁂ Vincent Bourne has translated this ballad into Latin verse.
Through all Tickell’s works there is a strain of ballad thinking.... In
this ballad [_Lucy and Colin_], he seems to have surpassed himself. It
is, perhaps, the best in our language.—Goldsmith, _Beauties of English
Poetry_ (1767).
=Lucyl´ius= (B.C. 148-103), the father of Roman satire.
I have presumed, my lord, for to present
With this poor Glasse, which is of trustie Steele [_satire_],
And came to me by wil and testament
Of one that was a Glassmaker [_satirist_] indeede:
Lucylius, this worthy man was namde.
G. Gascoigne, _The Steele Glas_ (died 1577).
=Lud=, son of Heli, who succeeded his father as king of Britain. “Lud
rebuilt the walls of Trinovantum, and surrounded the city with
innumerable towers ... for which reason it was called Kaer-lud,
Anglicized into Ludton, and softened into London.... When dead, his
body was buried by the gate ... Parthlud, called in Saxon
Ludes-gate.”—Geoffrey, _British History_, iii. 20 (1142).
... that mighty Lud, in whose eternal name Great London still shall live
(by him rebuilded). Drayton, _Polyolbion_, viii. (1612).
(“Parth-lud,” in Latin _Porta-Lud_).
=Lud= (_General_), the leader of distressed and riotous artisans in the
manufacturing districts of England, who, in 1811, endeavoured to prevent
the use of power-looms.
=Luddites= (_2 syl._), the riotous artisans who followed the leader
called General Lud.
Above thirty years before this time, an imbecile named Ned Lud, living
in a village in Leicestershire, being tormented by some boys, ...
pursued one of them into a house, and ... broke two stocking-frames. His
name was taken by those who broke power-looms.—H. Martineau.
=Ludovico=, chief minister of Naples. He heads a conspiracy to murder
the king and seize the crown. Ludovico is the craftiest of villains,
but, being caught in his own guile, he is killed.—Sheil, _Evadne_, or
_The Statue_ (1820).
=Ludwal= or =Idwal=, son of Roderick the Great, of North Wales. He
refused to pay Edgar, king of England, the tribute which had been levied
ever since the time of Æthelstan. William of Malmesbury tells us that
Edgar commuted the tribute for 300 wolves’ heads yearly; the
wolf-tribute was paid for three years, and then discontinued, because
there were no more wolves to be found.
O, Edgar! who compelledst our Ludwal hence to pay
Three hundred wolves a year for tribute unto thee.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, ix. (1612).
=Lufra=, Douglas’s dog, “the fleetest hound in all the North.”—Sir W.
Scott, _Lady of the Lake_ (1810).
Ellen, the while, with bursting heart,
Remained in lordly bower apart ...
While Lufra, crouching at her side,
Her station claimed with jealous pride.
Sir W. Scott, _Lady of the Lake_, vi. 23 (1810).
=Lu´gier=, the rough, confident tutor of Oriana, etc., and chief engine
whereby “the wild goose” Mirabel is entrapped into marriage with
her.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Wild-goose Chase_ (1652).
=Luke,= brother-in-law of “the city madam.” He was raised from a state
of indigence into enormous wealth by a deed of gift of the estates of
his brother, Sir John Frugal, a retired merchant. While dependent on his
brother, Lady Frugal (“the city lady”) treated Luke with great scorn and
rudeness; but, when she and her daughter became dependent on him, he cut
down the superfluities of the fine lady to the measure of her original
state—as daughter of Goodman Humble, farmer.—Massinger, _The City Madam_
(1639).
Massinger’s best characters are the hypocritical “Luke” and the heroic
“Marullo.”—W. Spalding.
_Luke_, patriarch’s nuncio, and bishop of the Druses. He terms the
Druses,
... the docile crew
My bezants went to make me bishop of.
Robert Browning, _The Return of the Druses_, v.
_Luke (Sir)_ or SIR LUKE LIMP, a tuft-hunter, a devotee to the bottle,
and a hanger-on of great men for no other reason than mere snobbism. Sir
Luke will “cling to Sir John till the baronet is superseded by my lord;
quitting the puny peer for an earl, and sacrificing all three to a
duke.”—S. Foote, _The Lame Lover_.
=Luke’s Bird= (_St._), the ox.
=Luke’s Iron Crown.= George and Luke Dosa headed an unsuccessful revolt
against the Hungarian nobles in the sixteenth century. Luke was put to
death by a red-hot iron crown, in mockery of his having been proclaimed
king.
This was not an unusual punishment for those who sought regal honors in
the Middle Ages. Thus, when Tancred usurped the crown of Sicily, Kaiser
Heinrich VI. of Germany, set him on a red-hot iron throne, and crowned
him with a red-hot iron crown (twelfth century).
⁂ The “iron crown of Lombardy” must not be mistaken for an iron crown of
punishment. The former is one of the nails used in the Crucifixion,
beaten out into a thin rim of iron, magnificently set in gold, and
adorned with jewels. Charlemagne and Napoleon I. were both crowned with
it.
=Lully= (_Raymond_), an alchemist who searched for the philosopher’s
stone by distillation, and made some useful chemical discoveries. Lully
was also a magician and a philosophic dreamer. He is generally called
_Doctor Illuminātus_ (1235-1315).
He talks of Raymond Lully and the ghost of Lilly [_q.v._]. W. Congreve,
_Love for Love_, iii. (1695).
=Lumbercourt= (_Lord_), a voluptuary, greatly in debt, who consented,
for a good money consideration, to give his daughter to Egerton
McSycophant. Egerton, however, had no fancy for the lady, but married
Constantia, the girl of his choice. His lordship was in alarm lest this
_contretemps_ should be his ruin; but Sir Pertinax told him the bargain
should still remain good if Egerton’s younger brother, Sandy, were
accepted by his lordship instead. To this his lordship readily agreed.
_Lady Rodolpha Lumbercourt_, daughter of Lord Lumbercourt, who, for a
consideration, consented to marry Egerton McSycophant; but, as Egerton
had no fancy for the lady, she agreed to marry Egerton’s brother, Sandy,
on the same terms.
“As I ha’ nae reason to have the least affection till my Cousin Egerton,
and as my intended marriage with him was entirely an act of obedience
till my grandmother, provided my Cousin Sandy will be as agreeable till
her ladyship as my Cousin Charles here would have been, I have nae the
least objection till the change. Ay, ay, one brother is as good to
Rodolpha as another.”—C. Macklin, _The Man of the World_, v. (1764).
=Lumbey= (_Dr._), a stout, bluff-looking gentleman, with no
shirt-collar, and a beard that had been growing since yesterday morning;
for the doctor was very popular, and the neighborhood prolific.—C.
Dickens, _Nicholas Nickleby_ (1838).
=Lumley= (_Captain_), in the royal army under the duke of Montrose.—Sir.
W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).
=Lumon=, a hill in Inis-Huna, near the residence of Sulmalla. Sulmalla
was the daughter of Conmor (king of Inis-Huna) and his wife,
Clun´-galo.—Ossian, _Temora_.
Where art thou, beam of light? Hunters from the mossy rock, saw you the
blue-eyed fair? Are her steps on grassy Lumon, near the bed of roses? Ah
me! I beheld her bow in the hall. Where art thou, beam of light?
=Lumpkin= (_Tony_), the rough, good-natured booby son of Mrs.
Hardcastle, by her first husband. Tony dearly loved a practical joke,
and was fond of low society, spending most of his time at the tavern,
where he could air his conceit and self-importance. He is described as
“an awkward booby, reared up and spoiled at his mother’s apron-string;”
and “if burning the footman’s shoes, frighting the maids, and worrying
the kittens, be humorous,” then Tony was indeed a humorous fellow. By
his blundering he first gets everybody into difficulties and then by
fresh blunders brings everything right again.—Oliver Goldsmith, _She
Stoops to Conquer_ (1773).
=Lun.= So John Rich called himself when he performed “harlequin.” It was
John Rich who introduced pantomime (1681-1761).
On one side Folly sits, by some called Fun;
And on the other his archpatron, Lun.
Churchill.
=Luna= (_Il contê di_), uncle of Manri´co. He entertains a base passion
for the Princess Leonōra, who is in love with Manrico; and, in order to
rid himself of his rival, is about to put him to death, when Leonora
promises to give herself to him if he will spare her lover. The count
consents; but, while he goes to release his captive, Leonora poisons
herself.—Verdi, _Il Trovato´rê_ (an opera, 1853).
=Lundin= (_Dr. Luke_), the chamberlain at Kinross.—Sir W. Scott, _The
Abbot_ (time, Elizabeth).
_Lundin (The Rev. Sir Louis)_, town clerk of Perth.—Sir W. Scott, _Fair
Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Lunsford= (_Sir Thomas_), governor of the Tower. A man of such
vindictive temper that the name was used as a terror to children.
Made children with your tones to run for’t,
As bad as Bloody-bones or Lunsford.
S. Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 2, line 1112 (1678).
From Fielding and from Vavasour,
Both ill-affected men;
From Lunsford eke deliver us,
That eateth childëren.
=Lupauski= (_Prince_), father of Princess Lodois´ka (4 _syl._).—J. P.
Kemble, _Lodoiska_ (a melodrama).
=Lu´pin= (_Mrs._), hostess of the Blue Dragon. A buxom, kind-hearted
woman, ever ready to help any one over a difficulty.—C. Dickens, _Martin
Chuzzlewit_ (1844).
=Lu´ria,= a noble Moor, single-minded, warm-hearted, faithful and most
generous; employed by the Florentines to lead their army against the
Pisans (fifteenth century). Luria was entirely successful; but the
Florentines, to lessen their obligation to the conqueror, hunted up
every item of scandal they could find against him: and, while he was
winning their battles, he was informed that he was to be brought to
trial to answer these floating censures. Luria was so disgusted at this
that he took poison to relieve the state, by his death, of a debt of
gratitude which the republic felt too heavy to be borne.—Robert
Browning, _Luria_.
=Lu´siad=, the adventures of the Lusians (_Portuguese_), under Vasquez
da Gama, in their discovery of India. Bacchus was the guardian power of
the Mohammedans, and Venus or Divine Love of the Lusians. The fleet
first sailed to Mozambique, then to Quil´oa, then to Melinda (in
Africa), where the adventurers were hospitably received and provided
with a pilot to conduct them to India. In the Indian Ocean, Bacchus
tried to destroy the fleet; but the “silver star of Divine Love” calmed
the sea, and Gama arrived at India in safety. Having accomplished his
object, he returned to Lisbon.—Camoens, _The Lusiad_, in ten books
(1572).
⁂ Vasquez da Gama sailed thrice to India: (1) in 1497, with four
vessels. This expedition lasted two years and two months. (2) In 1502,
with twenty ships. In this expedition he was attacked by Zamorin, king
of Calicut, whom he defeated, and returned to Lisbon the year following.
(3) When John III. appointed him viceroy of India. He established his
government at Cochin, where he died in 1525. The story of _The Lusiad_
is the first of these expeditions.
=Lusignan= [D’OUTREMER], king of Jerusalem, taken captive by the
Saracens, and confined in a dungeon for twenty years. When 80 years old,
he was set free by Osman, the sultan of the East, but died within a few
days.—A. Hill, _Zara_ (adapted from Voltaire’s tragedy).
=Lusita´nia=, the ancient name of Portugal; so called from Lusus, the
companion of Bacchus in his travels. This Lusus colonized the country,
and called it “Lusitania,” and the colonists “Lusians.”—Pliny, _Historia
Naturalis_, iii. 1.
=Luther= (_The Danish_), Hans Tausen. There is a stone in Viborg called
“Tausensminde,” with this inscription: “Upon this stone, in 1528, Hans
Tausen first preached Luther’s doctrine in Viborg.”
=Lutin=, the gypsy page of Lord Dalgarno.—Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of
Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Lux Mundi=, Johann Wessel; also called _Magister Contradictionum_, for
his opposition to the Scholastic philosophy. He was the predecessor of
Luther (1419-1489).
=Luz=, a bone which the Jews affirm remains uncorrupted till the last
day, when it will form the nucleus of the new body. This bone Mahomet
called _Al Ajb_, or the rump bone.
Eben Ezra and Manasseh ben Israil say this bone is in the rump.
The learned rabbins of the Jews
Write, there’s a bone, which they call luez (1 _syl._)
I’ the rump of man.
S. Butler, _Hudibras_, iii. 2 (1678).
=Lyæus= (“_spleen-melter_”), one of the names of Bacchus.
He perchance the gifts
Of young Lyæus, and the dread exploits,
May sing.
Akenside, _Hymn to the Naiads_ (1767).
=Lyb´ius= (_Sir_), a very young knight who undertook to rescue the lady
of Sinadone. After overcoming sundry knights, giants, and enchanters, he
entered the palace, when the whole edifice fell to pieces, and a
horrible serpent coiled about his neck and kissed him. The spell being
broken, the serpent turned into the lady of Sinadone, who became Sir
Lybius’s bride.—_Libeaux_ (a romance).
=Lyca´on=, king of Arcadia, instituted human sacrifices and was
metamorphosed into a wolf. Some say all his sons were also changed into
wolves, except one named Nictimus. Oh that
Of Arcady the beares
Might plucke away thine ears;
The wilde wolf, Licăon´,
Bite asondre thy backe-bone.
J. Skelton, _Philip Sparow_ (time, Henry VIII.).
For proof, when with Lycā´on’s tyranny
Man durst not deal, then did Jove....
Him fitly to the greedy wolf transform.
Lord Brooke, _Declination of Monarchy_ (1633).
=Lychor´ida=, nurse of Mari´na, who was born at sea. Marina was
the daughter of Pericles, prince of Tyre, and his wife,
Thais´a.—Shakespeare, _Pericles, Prince of Tyre_ (1608).
=Lyc´idas=, the name under which Milton celebrates the untimely death of
Edward King, fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge. Edward King was
drowned in the passage from Chester to Ireland, August 10, 1637. He was
the son of Sir John King, secretary for Ireland.
⁂ Lycĭdas is the name of a shepherd in Virgil’s _Eclogue_, iii.
=Lycome´des= (4 _syl._), king of Scyros, to whose court Achillês was
sent, disguised as a maiden, by his mother Thetis, who was anxious to
prevent his going to the Trojan war.
=Lydia=, daughter of the king of Lydia, was sought in marriage by
Alcestês, a Thracian knight. His suit being rejected, he repaired to the
king of Armenia, who gave him an army, with which he beseiged Lydia. He
was persuaded to raise the siege, and the lady tested the sincerity of
his love by a series of tasks, all of which he accomplished. Lastly, she
set him to put to death his allies, and, being powerless, mocked him.
Alcestês pined and died, and Lydia was doomed to endless torment in
hell.—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_, xvii. (1516).
_Lydia_, lady’s-maid to Widow Green. She was the sister of Trueworth,
ran away from home to avoid a hateful marriage, took service for the
nonce, and ultimately married Waller. She was “a miracle of virtue, as
well as beauty,” warm-hearted, and wholly without artifice.—S. Knowles,
_The Love-Chase_ (1837).
=Lydia Blood.= (See THE LADY OF THE AROOSTOOK.)
=Lydia Languish=, niece and ward of Mrs. Malaprop. She had a fortune of
£30,000, but, if she married without her aunt’s consent, forfeited the
larger part thereof. She was a great novel reader and was courted by two
rival lovers—Bob Acres and Captain Absolute, whom she knew only as
ensign Beverley. Her aunt insisted that she should throw over the ensign
and marry the son of Sir Anthony Absolute, and great was her joy to find
that the man of her own choice was that of her aunt—_nomine mutato_. Bob
Acres resigned all claim on the lady to his rival.—Sheridan, _The
Rivals_ (1775).
=Lydian Poet= (_The_), Alcman of Lydia (fl. B.C. 670).
=Lyddy Russell.= The last New England witch of whom we have authentic
record. She followed a schooner out to sea and raised a terrible storm,
she riding the highest waves, shrieking with laughter. The captain, Ezra
Coffin, saw her, and charging his gun with a silver bullet, shot her
dead. The storm subsided at once and old Lyddy was washed ashore,
clutching a bit of sail cloth, and with the silver bullet in her
breast.—Clara Florida Guernsey, _Old and New_ (1873).
=Lygo´nes=, father of Spaco´nia.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _A King or no
King_ (1611).
=Lying Traveller= (_The_), Sir John Mandeville (1300-1372).
=Lying Valet= (_The_), Timothy Sharp, the lying valet of Charles
Gayless. He is the Mercury between his master and Melissa, to whom
Gayless is about to be married. The object of his lying is to make his
master, who has not a sixpence in the world, pass for a man of
fortune.—D. Garrick, _The Lying Valet_ (1741).
=Lyle= (_Annot_), daughter of Sir Duncan Campbell, the knight of
Ardenvohr. She was brought up by the M’Aulays, and was beloved by Allan
M’Aulay; but she married the earl of Menteith.—Sir W. Scott, _Legend of
Montrose_ (time, Charles I.)
=Lyn´ceus=, one of the Argonauts; so sharp-sighted that he could discern
objects at a distance of 130 miles. Varro says he could “see through
rocks and trees;” and Pliny, that he could see “the infernal regions
through the earth.”
Strange tale to tel: all officers be blynde,
And yet their one eye, sharpe as Lin´ceus sight.
G. Gascoigne, _The Steele Glas_ (died 1577).
=Lynch= (_Governor_), was a great name in Galway, Ireland. It is said
that he hanged his only son out of the window of his own house (1526).
The very window from which the boy was hung is carefully preserved, and
still pointed out to travellers.—_Annals of Galway_.
=Lynch Law=, law administered by a self-constituted judge. Webster says
James Lynch, a farmer of Piedmont, in Virginia, was selected by his
neighbors (in 1688) to try offences on the frontier summarily, because
there were no law courts within seven miles of them.
=Lynchno´bians=, lantern-sellers, that is, booksellers and publishers.
Rabelais says they inhabit a little hamlet near Lantern-land.—Rabelais,
_Pantag´ruel_, v. 33 (1545).
=Lyndon= (_Barry_), an Irish sharper, whose adventures are told by
Thackeray. The story is full of spirit, variety, and humor, reminding
one of _Gil Blas_. It first came out in _Fraser’s Magazine_.
=Lynette=, sister of Lady Lyonors of Castle Perilous. She goes to King
Arthur, and prays him to send Sir Lancelot to deliver her sister from
certain knights. The king assigns the quest to Beaumains (the nickname
given by Sir Kay to Gareth), who had served for a twelvemonth in
Arthur’s kitchen. Lynette is exceedingly indignant, and treats her
champion with the utmost contumely; but, after each victory, softens
towards him, and at length marries him.—Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_
(“Gareth and Lynette”).
⁂ This version of the tale differs from that of the _History of Prince
Arthur_ (Sir T. Malory, 1470) in many respects. (See LINET.)
=Lyon= (_Esther_), clergyman’s daughter, won to sympathy with the
radicalism she had despised, by the young revolutionist, Felix Holt,
whose wife she becomes.—George Elliot, _Felix Holt_.
=Lyonors=, daughter of Earl Sanam. She came to pay homage to King
Arthur, and by him became the mother of Sir Borre (1 _syl._), one of the
knights of the Round Table.—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_,
i. 15 (1470).
⁂ Lionês, daughter of Sir Persaunt, and sister of Linet, of Castle
Perilous, married Sir Gareth. Tennyson calls this Lady “Lyonors,” and
makes Gareth marry her sister, who, we are told in the _History_, was
married to Sir Gaheris (Gareth’s brother).
_Lyonors_, the lady of Castle Perilous, where she was held captive by
several knights called Morning Star _or_ Phosphŏrus, Noonday Sun _or_
Merid´ies, Evening Star _or_ Hesperus, and Night _or_ Nox. Her sister,
Lynette, went to King Arthur, to crave that Sir Lancelot might be sent
to deliver Lyonors from her oppressor. The king gave the quest to
Gareth, who was knighted, and accompanied Lynette, who used him very
scornfully at first; but at every victory which he gained she abated
somewhat of her contempt; and married him after he had succeeded in
delivering Lyonors. The lot of Lyonors is not told. (See
LIONES.)—Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Gareth and Lynette”).
⁂ According to the collection of tales edited by Sir T. Malory, the Lady
Lyonors was quite another person. She was daughter of Earl Sanam, and
mother of Sir Borre by King Arthur (pt. i. 15). It was Lionês who was
the sister of Linet, and whose father was Sir Persaunt, of Castle
Perilous (pt. i. 153). The _History_ says that Lionês married Gareth,
and Linet married his brother, Sir Gaheris. (See GARETH.)
=Lyrists= (_Prince of_), Franz Schubert (1797-1828).
=Lysander=, a young Athenian, in love with Hermia, daughter of Egēus (3
_syl._). Egēus had promised her in marriage to Demētrius, and insisted
that she should either marry him or suffer death “according to the
Athenian law.” In this dilemma, Hermia fled from Athens with Lysander.
Demetrius went in pursuit, and was followed by Helena, who doted on him.
All four fell asleep, and “dreamed a dream” about the faries. When
Demetrius awoke he become more reasonable, for seeing that Hermia
disliked him and Helena loved him sincerely, he consented to forego the
former and wed the latter. Egeus, being informed thereof, now readily
agreed to give his daughter to Lysander, and all went merry as a
marriage bell.—Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (1592).
=Lysim´achus=, governor of Medali´nê, who married Mari´na, the daughter
of Per´iclês, prince of Tyre, and his wife, Thais´a.—Shakespeare,
_Pericles, Prince of Tyre_ (1608).
_Lysimachus_, the artist, a citizen.—Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of
Paris_ (time, Rufus).
=Lyttel Boy= (_The_). A troublesome baby that always clung to his busy
mother although she bade him “runne and play.”
“He wolde not goe, but tarrying soe
Ben allwais in the way”—
until he was taken out of the way, to heaven.
* * * * *
“And then a moder felt her heart
How that it ben to-torne,—
She kissed each day till she ben gray,
The shoon he use to worn:
No bairn let hold untill her gown,
Nor played upon the floore,—
Goddes’ was the joy; a lyttel boy
Ben in the way no more!”
Eugene Field, _A Little Book of Western Verse_
(1890).
=Lyttelton,= addressed by Thompson in “Spring,” was Lord George
Lyttelton, of Hagley Park, Worcestershire, who procured for the poet a
pension of £100 a year. He was a poet and historian (1709-1773).
O Lyttelton ... from these distracted, oft
You wander thro’ the philosophic world; ...
And oft, conducted by historic truth,
You tread the long extent of backward time; ...
Or, turning thence thy view, these graver thoughts
The Muses charm.
Thompson, _The Seasons_ (“Spring,” 1728).
M
This letter is very curiously coupled with Napoleon I. and III.