READ (_Sir William_), a tailor, who set up for oculist, and was knighted
by Queen Anne. This quack was employed both by Queen Anne and George I.
Sir William could not read. He professed to cure wens, wry-necks and
hare-lips (died 1715).
... none their honors shall to merit owe--
That popish doctrine is exploded quite,
Or Ralph had been no duke, and Read no knight;
That none may virtue or their learning plead,
This hath no _grace_, and that can hardly _read_.
_A Political Squib of the Period._
⁂ The “Ralph” referred to is Ralph Montagu, son of Edward Montagu,
created viscount in 1682, and duke of Montagu in 1705 (died 1709).
ROCK (_Dr. Richard_), professed to cure every disease, at any stage
thereof. According to his bills, “Be your disorder never so far gone, I
can cure you.” He was short in stature and fat, always wore a white,
three-tailed wig, nicely combed and frizzed upon each cheek, carried a
cane, and waddled in his gait (eighteenth century).
Dr. Rock, F.U.N., never wore a hat. He is usually drawn at the top
of his own bills sitting in an armchair, holding a little bottle
between his finger and thumb, and surrounded with rotten teeth,
nippers, pills and gallipots.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_,
lxviii. (1759).
SMITH (_Dr._), who went about the country in the eighteenth century in
his coach with four outriders. He dressed in black velvet, and cured any
disease for sixpence. “His amusements on the stage were well worth the
sixpence which he charged for his box of pills.”
As I was sitting at the George Inn I saw a coach, with six bay
horses, a calash and four, a chaise and four, enter the inn, in
yellow livery turned up with red; and four gentlemen on horseback,
in blue trimmed with silver. As yellow is the color given by the
dukes in England, I went out to see what duke it was, but there was
no coronet on the coach, only a plain coat-of-arms, with the motto
ARGENTO LABORAT FABER [_Smith works for money_]. Upon inquiry I
found this grand equipage belonged to a mountebank named Smith.--_A
Tour through England_ (1723).
SOLOMON (_Dr._), eighteenth century. His “anti-impetigines” was simply a
solution of _bichloride of mercury_, colored.
TAYLOR (_Dr. Chevalier John_). He called himself “Opthalminator,
Pontificial, Imperial, and Royal.” It is said that five of his horses
were blind from experiments tried by him on their eyes (died 1767).
⁂ Hogarth has introduced Dr. Taylor in his “Undertakers’ Arms.” He is
one of the three figures at the top, to the left hand of the spectator.
UNBORN DOCTOR (_The_), of Moorfields. Not being born a doctor, he called
himself “The Un-born Doctor.”
WALKER (_Dr._), one of the three great quacks of the eighteenth century,
the others being Dr. Rock and Dr. Timothy Franks. Dr. Walker had an
abhorrence of quacks, and was for ever cautioning the public not to
trust them, but come at once to him, adding, “there is not such another
medicine in the world as mine.”
Not for himself but for his country he prepares his gallipot, and
seals up his precious drops for any country or any town, so great
is his zeal and philanthropy.--Goldsmith, _A Citizen of the World_,
lxviii. (1759).
WARD (_Dr._), a footman, famous for his “friars’ balsam.” He was called
in to prescribe for George II., and died 1761. Dr. Ward had a claret
stain on his left cheek, and in Hogarth’s famous picture, “The
Undertakers’ Arms,” the cheek is marked gules. He occupies the right
hand side of the spectator, and forms one of the triumvirate, the
others being Dr. Taylor and Mrs. Mapp.
Dr. Kirlëus and Dr. Tom Saffold are also known names.
=Quackleben= (_Dr. Quentin_), “the man of medicine,” one of the committee
at the Spa.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).
=Quaint= (_Timothy_), servant of Governor Heartall. Timothy is “an odd
fish, that loves to swim in troubled waters.” He says, “I never laugh at
the governor’s good humors, nor frown at his infirmities. I always keep
a steady, sober phiz, fixed as the gentleman’s on horseback at Charing
Cross; and, in his worst of humors, when all is fire and faggots with
him, if I turn round and coolly say, ‘Lord, sir, has anything ruffled
you?’ he’ll burst out into an immoderate fit of laughter, and exclaim,
‘Curse that inflexible face of thine! Though you never suffer a smile to
mantle on it, it is a figure of fun to the rest of the world.”--Cherry,
_The Soldier’s Daughter_ (1804).
=Quaker Poet= (_The_), Bernard Barton (1784-1849).
=Quaker Widow.= Gentle old dame who, on the afternoon of her husband’s
funeral, tells to a kindly visitor the simple story of her blameless
life, its joys and sorrows, and of the light that comes at eventide.
“It is not right to wish for death;
The Lord disposes best.
His spirit comes to quiet hearts
And fits them for His rest.
And that He halved our little flock
Was merciful, I see;
For Benjamin has two in Heaven,
And two are left with me.”
Bayard Taylor, _The Quaker Widow_.
=Quale= (_Mr._), a philanthropist, noted for his bald, shining forehead.
Mrs. Jellyby hopes her daughter, Caddy, will become Quale’s
wife.--Charles Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).
=Quarl= (_Philip_), a sort of Robinson Crusoe, who had a chimpanzee for
his “man Friday.” The story consists of the adventures and sufferings of
an English hermit named Philip Quarl (1727).
=Quasimo´do=, a foundling, hideously deformed, but of enormous muscular
strength, adopted by Archdeacon Frollo. He is brought up in the
cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris. One day, he sees Esmeralda, who had
been dancing in the cathedral close, set upon by a mob as a witch, and
he conceals her for a time in the church. When, at length, the beautiful
gypsy girl is gibbeted, Quasimodo disappears mysteriously, but a
skeleton corresponding to the deformed figure is found after a time in a
hole under the gibbet.--Victor Hugo, _Notre Dame de Paris_ (1831).
=Quatre Filz Aymon= (_Les_), the four sons of the duke of Dordona
(_Dordogne_). Their names are Rinaldo, Guicciardo, Alardo, and
Ricciardetto (_i.e._ Renaud, Guiscard, Alard, and Richard), and their
adventures form the subject of an old French romance by Huon de
Villeneuve (twelfth century).
=Quaver=, a singing-master, who says “if it were not for singing-masters,
men and women might as well have been born dumb.” He courts Lucy by
promising to give her singing lessons.--Fielding, _The Virgin Unmasked_.
=Queechy.= Farmstead to which the Rossiters retired after the ruin of
their fortunes in New York. Old-fashioned house and not productive
land.--Susan Warner, _Queechy_ (1852).
=Queen= (_The Starred Ethiop_), Cassiopēia, wife of Cepheus (2 _syl._),
king of Ethiopia. She boasted that she was fairer than the sea-nymphs,
and the offended nereids complained of the insult to Neptune, who sent a
sea-monster to ravage Ethiopia. At death, Cassiopeia was made a
constellation of thirteen stars.
... that starred Ethiop queen that strove
To set her beauty’s praise above
The sea-nymphs, and their powers offended.
Milton, _Il Penseroso_, 19 (1638).
_Queen_ (_The White_), Mary queen of Scots, _La Reine Blanche_; so
called by the French, because she dressed in white as mourning for her
husband.
=Queen Dick=, Richard Cromwell (1626, 1658-1660, died 1712).
⁂ _It happened in the reign of Queen Dick_, never, on the Greek kalends.
This does not refer to Richard Cromwell, but to Queen “Outis.” There
never was a Queen Dick, except by way of joke.
=Queen Sarah=, Sarah Jennings, duchess of Marlborough (1660-1744).
Queen Anne only reigned while Queen Sarah governed.--_Temple Bar_,
208.
=Queen Square Hermit=, Jeremy Bentham, 1 Queen Square, London (1748-1832).
=Queen of Hearts=, Elizabeth Stuart, daughter of James I., the unfortunate
queen of Bohemia (1596-1662).
=Queen of Heaven=, Ashtoreth (“the moon”). Horace calls the moon “the
two-horned queen of the stars.”
Some speak of the Virgin Mary as “the queen of heaven.”
=Queen of Queens.= Cleopatra was so called by Mark Antony (B.C. 69-30).
=Queen of Song=, Angelica Catala´ni; also called “the Italian Nightingale”
(1782-1849).
=Queen of Sorrow=, the marble tomb at Delhi called the Taj-Mahul, built by
Shah Jehan for his wife, Moomtaz-i-Mahul.
=Queen of Tears=, Mary of Mo´dena, second wife of James II. of England
(1658-1718).
Her eyes became eternal fountains of sorrow for that crown her own
ill policy contributed to lose.--Noble, _Memoirs, etc._ (1784).
=Queen of the East=, Zenobia, queen of Palmy´ra (*, 266-273).
=Queen of the South=, Maqueda, or Balkis, queen of Sheba, or Saba.
The queen of the south ... came from the uttermost parts of the
earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon.--_Matt._ xii. 42; see also 1
_Kings_ x. 1.
⁂ According to tradition, the queen of the south had a son by Solomon,
named Melech, who reigned in Ethiopia or Abyssinia, and added to his
name the words Belul Gian (“precious stone”), alluding to a ring given
to him by Solomon. Belul Gian translated into Latin, became _pretiosus
Joannes_, which got corrupted into Prester John (_presbyter Johannes_),
and has given rise to the fables of this “mythical king of Ethiopia.”
=Queen of the Swords.= Minna Troil was so called, because the gentlemen,
formed into two lines, held their swords so as to form an arch or roof
under which Minna led the ladies of the party.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Pirate_ (time, William III.).
⁂ In 1877, W. Q. Orchardson, R. A., exhibited a picture in illustration
of this incident.
=Queen= (_My_).
But thou thyself shall not come down
From that pure region far above,
But keep thy throne and wear thy crown,
Queen of my heart and queen of love!
A monarch in thy realm complete,
And I a monarch--at thy feet!
William Winter, _Wanderers_ (1889).
=Queens= (_Four Daughters_). Raymond Ber´enger, count of Provence, had
four daughters, all of whom married kings; Margaret married Louis IX. of
France; Eleanor married Henry III. of England; Sancha married Henry’s
brother, Richard, king of the Romans; and Beatrice married Charles I. of
Naples and Sicily.
Four daughters were there born
To Raymond Ber´enger, and every one
Became a queen.
Dantê, _Paradise_, vi. (1311).
=Quentin= (_Black_), groom of Sir John Ramorny.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid
of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Quentin Durward=, a novel by Sir W. Scott (1823). A story of French
history. The delineations of Louis XI., and Charles the Bold, of
Burgundy, will stand comparison with any in the whole range of fiction
or history.
=Quern-Biter=, the sword of Haco I. of Norway.
Quern-biter of Hacon the Good
Wherewith at a stroke he hewed
The millstone thro’ and thro’.
Longfellow.
=Querno= (_Camillo_), of Apulia, was introduced to Pope Leo X., as a
buffoon, but was promoted to the laurel. This laureate was called the
“Antichrist of Wit.”
Rome in her capitol saw Querno sit,
Throned on seven hills, the antichrist of wit.
Pope, _The Dunciad_, ii. (1728).
=Querpo= (_Shrill_), in Garth’s _Dispensary_, is meant for Dr. Howe.
To this design shrill Querpo did agree,
A zealous member of the faculty,
His sire’s pretended pious steps he treads,
And where the doctor fails, the saint succeeds.
_Dispensary_, iv. (1699).
=Questing Beast= (_The_), a monster called Glatisaunt, that made a noise
called questing, “like thirty couple of hounds giving quest” or cry.
King Pellinore (3 _syl._) followed the beast for twelve months (pt. i.
17), and after his death Sir Palomidês gave it chase.
The questing beast had in shape and head like a serpent’s head, and
a body like a libard, buttocks like a lion, and footed like a hart;
and in his body there was such a noise as it had been the noise of
thirty couple of hounds questing, and such a noise that beast made
wheresoever he went; and this beast evermore Sir Palomides
followed.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, i. 17; ii. 53
(1470).
=Quiara and Mon´nema=, man and wife, the only persons who escaped the
ravages of the small-pox plague which carried off all the rest of the
Guara´ni race, in Paraguay. They left the fatal spot, settled in the
Mondai woods, had one son, Yerūti, and one daughter, Mooma; but Quiāra
was killed by a jagŭar before the latter was born.--Southey, _A Tale of
Paraguay_ (1814). (See MONNEMA[TN-113] and MOOMA.)
=Quick= (_Abel_), clerk to Surplus, the lawyer.--J. M. Morton, _A Regular
Fix_.
_Quick_ (_John_), called “The Retired Diocletian of Islington”
(1748-1831).
Little Quick, the retired Diocletian of Islington, with his squeak
like a Bart’lemew fiddle.--Charles Mathews.
=Quickly= (_Mistress_), servant-of-all-work, to Dr. Caius, a French
physician. She says, “I wash, wring, brew, bake, scour, dress meat and
drink, make the beds, and do all myself.” She is the go-between of three
suitors for “sweet Anne Page,” and with perfect disinterestedness wishes
all three to succeed, and does her best to forward the suit of all
three, “but speciously of Master Fenton.”--Shakespeare, _Merry Wives of
Windsor_ (1601).
_Quickly_ (_Mistress Nell_), a hostess of a tavern in East-cheap,
frequented by Harry, prince of Wales, Sir John Falstaff, and all their
disreputable crew. In _Henry V._ Mistress Quickly is represented as
having married Pistol, the “lieutenant of Captain Sir John’s army.” All
three die before the end of the play. Her description of Sir John
Falstaff’s death (_Henry V._ act ii. sc. 3) is very graphic and true to
nature. In 2 _Henry IV._ Mistress Quickly arrests Sir John for debt, but
immediately she hears of his commission is quite willing to dismiss the
bailiffs, and trust “the honey sweet” old knight again to any
amount.--Shakespeare, 1 and 2 _Henry IV._ and _Henry V._
=Quid= (_Mr._), the tobacconist, a relative of Mrs. Margaret Bertram.--Sir
W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=Quid Rides=, the motto of Jacob Brandon, tobacco-broker, who lived at the
close of the eighteenth century. It was suggested by Harry Calendon of
Lloyd’s coffee-house.
⁂ _Quid Ridês_ (Latin) means “Why do you laugh?” _Quid rides_, _i.e._
“the tobacconist rides.”
=Quidnunc= (_Abraham_), of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, an upholsterer by
trade, but bankrupt. His head “runs only on schemes for paying off the
National Debt, the balance of power, the affairs of Europe, and the
political news of the day.”
⁂ The prototype of this town politician was the father of Dr. Arne (see
_The Tatler_, No. 155).
_Harriet Quidnunc_, his daughter, rescued by Belmour from the flames of
a burning house, and adored by him.
_John Quidnunc_, under the assumed name of Rovewell, having married a
rich planter’s widow, returns to England, pays his father’s debts, and
gives his sister to Mr. Belmour for wife.--Murphy, _The Upholsterer_
(1758).
=Quidnuncs=, a name given to the ancient members of certain political
clubs, who were constantly inquiring, “Quidnunc? What news?”
This the Great Mother dearer held than all
The clubs of Quidnuncs, or her own Guildhall.
Pope, _The Dunciad_, i. 269 (1728).
=Quidnunkis=, a monkey which climbed higher than its neighbors, and fell
into a river. For a few moments the monkey-race stood panic-struck, but
the stream flowed on, and in a minute or two the monkeys continued their
gambols as if nothing had happened.--Gay, _The Quidnunkis_ (a fable,
1726).
=Quildrive= (2 _syl._), clerk to old Philpot “the citizen.”--Murphy, _The
Citizen_ (1761).
=Quilp= (_Daniel_), a hideous dwarf, cunning, malicious, and a perfect
master in tormenting. Of hard, forbidding features, with head and face
large enough for a giant. His black eyes were restless, sly, and
cunning; his mouth and chin bristly with a coarse, hard beard; his face
never clean, but always distorted with a ghastly grin, which showed the
few discolored fangs that supplied the place of teeth. His dress
consisted of a large high-crowned hat, a worn-out dark suit, a pair of
most capacious shoes, and a huge crumpled dirty white neck-cloth. Such
hair as he had was a grizzled black, cut short but hanging about his
ears in fringes. His hands were coarse and dirty; his fingernails
crooked, long, and yellow. He lived on Tower Hill, collected rents,
advanced money to seamen, and kept a sort of wharf, containing rusty
anchors, huge iron rings, piles of rotten wood, and sheets of old
copper, calling himself a ship-breaker. He was on the point of being
arrested for felony, when he drowned himself.
He ate hard eggs, shell and all, for his breakfast, devoured
gigantic prawns with their heads and tails on, chewed tobacco and
water-cresses at the same time, drank scalding hot tea without
winking, bit his fork and spoon till they bent again, and performed
so many horrifying acts, that one might doubt if he were indeed
human.--Ch. v.
_Mrs. Quilp_ (_Betsy_), wife of the dwarf, a loving, young, timid,
obedient, and pretty blue-eyed little woman, treated like a dog by her
diabolical husband, whom she really loved but more greatly feared.--C.
Dickens, _The Old Curiosity Shop_ (1840).
=Quinnailon= (_Father_). Benevolent priest in Xerxes, a Western town. He
succors the suffering of whatever creed and conditions, and shares his
little all with the needy. When appointed bishop, he goes to Rome to beg
for permission to decline the honor.
“I will fall at the feet of the Holy Father, and beseech him not to
make a bishop out of a poor, simple old man who cannot bear so
great a burden; but to let me come back and die among my dear
people!”--Octave Thanet, _Quilters in the Sun_ (1877).
=Quinap´alus=, the Mrs. Harris of “authorities in citations.” If any one
quotes from an hypothetical author, he gives Quinapalus as his
authority.
What says Quinapalus: “Better a witty fool than a foolish
wit.”--Shakespeare, _Twelfth Night_, act.[TN-114] i. sc. 5 (1614).
=Quinbus Flestrin= (_the “man-mountain”_). So the Lilliputians called
Gulliver (ch. ii.).--Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels_ (“Voyage to Lilliput,”
1726).
=Quince= (_Peter_), a carpenter, who undertakes the management of the play
called “Pyramus and Thisbê,” in _Midsummer Night’s Dream_. He speaks of
“laughable tragedy,” “lamentable comedy,” “tragical mirth,” and so
on.--Shakespeare, _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ (1592).
=Quino´nes= (_Suero de_), in the reign of Juan II. He, with nine other
cavaliers, held the bridge of Orbigo against all comers for thirty-six
days, and in that time they overthrew seventy-eight knights of Spain and
France.
=Quintano´na=, the duenna of Queen Guinever or Ginebra.--Cervantes, _Don
Quixote_, II. ii. 6 (1615).
=Quintessence= (_Queen_), sovereign of Entéléchie, the country of
speculative science visited by Pantag´ruel and his companions in their
search for “the oracle of the Holy Bottle.”--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, v.
19 (1545).
=Quin´tiquinies´tra= (_Queen_), a much-dreaded, fighting giantess. It was
one of the romances of Don Quixote’s library condemned by the priest and
barber of the village to be burnt.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. (1605).
=Quintus Fixlein= [_Fix.line_], the title and chief character of a romance
by Jean Paul Friedrich Richter (1796).
Francia, like Quintus Fixlein, had perennial fireproof joys,
namely, employments.--Carlyle.
=Quiri´nus=, Mars.
Now, by our sire Quirīnus,
It was a goodly sight
To see the thirty standards
Swept down the stream of flight.
Lord Macaulay, _Lays of Ancient Rome_ (“Battle of the Lake Regillus,”
xxxvi., 1842).
=Quitam= (_Mr._), the lawyer at the Black Bear inn at Darlington.--Sir W.
Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
⁂ The first two words in an action on a penal statute are _Qui tam_.
Thus, _Qui tam pro domina regina, quam pro seipso, sequitur_.
=Quixa´da= (_Gutierre_), lord of Villagarcia. Don Quixote calls himself a
descendant of this brave knight.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. (1605).
=Quixote= (_Don_), a gaunt country gentleman of La Mancha, about 50 years
of age, gentle, and dignified, learned and high-minded; with strong
imagination perverted by romance, and crazed with ideas of chivalry. He
is the hero of a Spanish romance by Cervantes. Don Quixote feels himself
called on to become a knight-errant to defend the oppressed, and succor
the injured. He engages for his squire Sancho Panza, a middle-aged,
ignorant rustic, selfish, but full of good sense, a gourmand, attached
to his master, shrewd and credulous. The knight goes forth on his
adventures, thinks _wind-mills_ to be giants, _flocks of sheep_ to be
armies, _inns_ to be castles, and _galley-slaves_ oppressed gentlemen;
but the squire sees them in their true light. Ultimately, the knight is
restored to his right mind, and dies like a peaceful Christian. The
object of this romance was to laugh down the romances of chivalry of the
Middle Ages.
(Quixote means “armor for the thighs,” but Quixada means “lantern jaws.”
Don Quixote’s favorite author was Feliciano de Sylva; his model knight
was Am´adis de Gaul. The romance is in two parts, of four books each.
Pt. I. was published in 1605, and pt. II. in 1615.)
The prototype of the knight was the duke of Lerma.
Don Quixote is a tall, meagre, lantern-jawed, hawk-nosed,
long-limbed, grizzle-haired man, with a pair of large black
whiskers, and he styles himself “The Knight of the Woeful
Countenance.”--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, II. i. 14 (1615).
_Don Quixote’s Horse_, Rosinantê (4 _syl._), all skin and bone.
_Quixote_ (_The Female_), or _Adventures of Arabella_, a novel by Mrs.
Lennox (1752).
=Quixote of the North= (_The_), Charles XII. of Sweden; sometimes called
“The Madman” (1682, 1697-1718).
=Quodling= (_The Rev. Mr._), chaplain to the duke of Buckingham.--Sir W.
Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Quos Ego--=, a threat intended but withheld; a sentence broken off.
Eŏlus, angry with the winds and storms which had thrown the sea into
commotion without his sanction, was going to say he would punish them
severely for this act of insubordination; but having uttered the first
two words, “Whom I----,” he says no more, but proceeds to the business
in hand.--Virgil, _Æneid_, i.
“Next Monday,” said he, “you will be a ‘substance,’ and then----;”
with which _quos ego_ he went to the next boy.--Dasent, _Half a
Life_ (1850).
=Quo´tem= (_Caleb_), a parish clerk or Jack-of-all-trades.--G. Colman,
_The Review, or The Ways of Windsor_.
I resolved like Caleb Quotem, to have a place at the
review.--Washington Irving.
=R= Neither Demosthĕnês nor Aristotle could pronounce the letter _r_.
_R_ (_rogue_), vagabonds, etc., who were branded on the left shoulder
with this letter.
They ... may be burned with a hot burning iron, of the breadth of a
shilling, with a great Roman R on the left shoulder, which letter
shall remain as a mark of a rogue.--Pyrnne,[TN-115] _Histriomastix_,
or _The Player’s Scourge_.
If I escape the halter with the letter R
Printed upon it.
Massinger, _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_, iv. 2 (1629).
=Rab´agas=, an advocate and editor of a journal called the _Carmagnole_.
At the same office was published another radical paper, called the
_Crapaud Volant_. Rabagas lived in the kingdom of Monaco, and was a
demagogue leader of the deepest red; but was won over to the king’s
party by the tact of an American lady, who got him an invitation to dine
at the palace, and made him chief minister of state. From this moment he
became the most strenuous opponent of the “liberal” party.--M. Sardou,
_Rabagas_ (1872).
=Rabbi Jehosha=, wise teacher, whose good words are recorded in James
Russell Lowell’s poem “_What Rabbi Jehosha Said_.”
=Rabbi Abron of Trent=, a fictitious sage, and most wonderful linguist.
“He knew the nature of all manner of herbs, beasts and
minerals.”--_Reynard the Fox_, xii. (1498).
=Rabelais= (_The English_). Dean Swift was so called by Voltaire
(1667-1745).
Sterne (1713-1768) and Thomas Amory (1699-1788) have also been so
called.
_Rabelais_ (_The Modern_), William Maginn (1794-1842).
=Rabelais of Germany=, J. Fischart, called “Mentzer” (1550-1614).
=Rabelais’s Poison.= Rabelais, being at a great distance from Paris, and
without money to pay his hotel bill or his fare, made up three small
packets of brick-dust. One he labelled “Poison for the king,” another,
“Poison for monsieur,” and the third, “Poison for the dauphin.” The
landlord instantly informed against this “poisoner,” and the secretary
of state removed him at once to Paris. When, however, the joke was found
out, it ended only in a laugh.--_Spectator_ (“Art of Growing Rich”).
=Rab´ican= or =Rabica´no=, the horse of Astolpho. Its sire was Wind and
its dam Fire. It fed on human food. The word means “short
tail.”--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
⁂ Argalia’s horse is called by the same name in _Orlando Innamorato_
(1495).
=Rabisson=, a vagabond tinker and knife-grinder. He was the only person
who knew about “the gold-mine” left to the “miller of Grenoble.”
Rabisson was murdered for his secret by Eusebe Noel, the schoolmaster of
Bout des Monde.--E. Stirling, _The Gold Mine_, or _Miller of Grenoble_
(1854).
=Rab´sheka= (in the Bible RABSHAKEH), in the satire of _Absalom and
Achitophel_, by Dryden and Tate, is meant for Sir Thomas Player (2
_Kings_ xviii.).
Next him let railing Rabsheka have place--
So full of zeal, he has no need of grace.
Pt. ii. (1682).
=Raby= (_Aurora_), a rich young English orphan, Catholic in religion, of
virgin modesty, “a rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded.” She
was staying in the house of Lord and Lady Amundeville during the
parliamentary vacation. Here Don Juan, “as Russian envoy,” was also a
guest, with several others. Aurora Raby is introduced in canto xv., and
crops up here and there in the two remaining cantos; but, as the tale
was never finished, it is not possible to divine what part the beautiful
and innocent girl was designed by the poet to play. Probably Don Juan,
having sowed his “wild oats,” might become a not unfit match for the
beautiful orphan.--Byron, _Don Juan_ (1824).
_Raby_ (_The Rose of_), the mother of Richard III. She was Cecily,
daughter of Ralph Nevyll de Raby, first earl of Westmoreland. Her
husband was Richard, duke of York, who was slain at the battle of
Wakefield in 1460. She died 1495.
=Rachael=, a servant-girl at Lady Peveril’s of the Peak.--Sir W. Scott,
_Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
_Rachael_ (2 _syl._), one of the “hands” in Bounderby’s mill at
Coketown. She loved Stephen Blackpool, and was greatly beloved by him in
return; but Stephen was married to a worthless drunkard. After the death
of Stephen, Rachael watched over the good-for-nothing young widow, and
befriended her.--C. Dickens, _Hard Times_ (1854).
=Rachel Ffrench=, beautiful daughter of Haworth’s unworthy partner in the
iron business. Haworth loves her, as does Murdoch, a young inventor who
rises fast in Haworth’s employ. She seems to vacillate between the two
men, but really loves Murdoch, although pride will not let her avow it.
When he is on the point of embarking to America, with an assured future,
she confesses all, only to learn from him that “it is all over.” Yet, in
looking back at her “dark young face turned seaward” as his ship moves
away, he mutters, “When I return it will be to you.”--Frances Hodgson
Burnett, _Haworth’s_ (1879).
=Racine of Italy= (_The_), Metastasio (1698-1782).
=Racine of Music= (_The_), Antonio Gaspare Sacchini, of Naples
(1735-1786).
=Racket= (_Sir Charles_), a young man of fashion, who married the daughter
of a wealthy London merchant. In the third week of the honeymoon Sir
Charles paid his father-in-law a visit, and quarrelled with his bride
about a game of whist. The lady affirmed that Sir Charles ought to have
played a diamond instead of a club. Sir Charles grew furious, and
resolved upon a divorce; but the quarrel was adjusted, and Sir Charles
ended by saying, “You may be as wrong as you please, but I’ll be cursed
if I ever endeavor to set you right again.”
_Lady Racket_, wife of Sir Charles, and elder daughter of Mr.
Drugget.--Murphy, _Three Weeks after Marriage_ (1776).
_Racket_ (_Widow_), a sprightly, good-natured widow and woman of
fashion.
A coquette, a wit, and a fine lady.--Mrs. Cowley, _The Belle’s
Stratagem_, ii. 1 (1780).
The “Widow Racket” was one of Mrs. Pope’s best parts. Her usual manner
of expressing piquant carelessness consisted in tossing her head from
right to left, and striking the palm of one hand with the back of the
other [1740-1797].--James Smith.
=Rackrent= (_Sir Condy_), in Miss Edgeworth’s novel of _Castle Rackrent_
(1802).
=Raddle= (_Mrs._), keeper of the lodgings occupied by Bob Sawyer. The
young medical practitioner invited Mr. Pickwick and his three friends to
a convivial meeting; but the termagant Mrs. Raddle brought the meeting
to an untimely end.--C. Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).
=Rad´egonde= (_St._) or ST. RADEGUND, queen of France (born 519, died
587). She was the daughter of Bertaire, king of Thuringia, and brought
up a pagan. King Clotaire I. taught her the Christian religion, and
married her in 538; but six years later she entered a nunnery, and lived
in the greatest austerity.
There thou must walk in greatest gravity,
And seem as saintlike as St. Radegund.
Spenser, _Mother Hubbard’s Tale_ (1591).
=Radigund= or RADEGONE, the proud queen of the Amăzons. Being rejected by
Bellodant “the Bold,” she revenged herself by degrading all the men who
fell into her power by dressing them like women, giving them woman’s
work to do, such as spinning, carding, sewing, etc., and feeding them
on bread and water to effeminate them (canto 4). When she overthrew Sir
Artegal in single combat, she imposed on him the condition of dressing
in “woman’s weeds,” with a white apron, and to spend his time in
spinning flax, instead of in deeds of arms. Radigund fell in love with
the captive knight, and sent Clarinda as a go-between; but Clarinda
tried to win him for herself, and told the queen he was inexorable
(canto 5). At length Britomart arrived, cut off Radigund’s head, and
liberated the captive (canto 7).--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, v. 4-7 (1596).
=Rag and Famish= (_The_), the Army and Navy Club; so christened by
_Punch_. The _rag_ refers to the flag, and the _famish_ to the bad
cuisine.
=Ragged Regiment= (_The_), the wan figures in Westminster Abbey, in a
gallery over Islip’s Chapel.
=Railway King= (_The_), George Hudson, of Yorkshire, chairman of the North
Midland Company. In one day he cleared by speculation £100,000. It was
the Rev. Sydney Smith who gave Hudson the title of “Railway king”
(1800-1871).
=Raine= (_Old Roger_), the tapster, near the abode of Sir Geoffrey
Peveril.
_Dame Raine_, old Roger’s widow; afterwards Dame Chamberlain.--Sir W.
Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Rainy-Day Smith=, John Thomas Smith, the antiquary (1766-1833).
=Rajah of Mattan= (_Borneo_), has a diamond which weighs 367 carats. The
largest cut diamond in the world. It is considered to be a palladium.
(See DIAMONDS.)
=Rake= (_Lord_), a nobleman of the old school, fond of debauch, street
rows, knocking down Charlies, and seeing his guests drunk. His chief
boon companions are Sir John Brute and Colonel Bully.--Vanbrugh, _The
Provoked Wife_ (1697).
=Rakeland= (_Lord_), a libertine, who makes love to married women, but
takes care to keep himself free from the bonds of matrimony.--Mrs.
Inchbald, _The Wedding Day_ (1790).
=Rak´she= (2 _syl._), a monster, which lived on serpents and dragons.
=Raleigh= (_Sir Walter_), introduced by Sir W. Scott in _Kenilworth_. The
tradition of Sir Walter laying down his cloak on a miry spot for the
queen to step on, and the queen commanding him to wear the “muddy cloak
till her pleasure should be further known,” is mentioned in ch. xv.
(1821).
_Raleigh_ (_Sir Walter_). Jealous of the earl of Essex, he plots with
Lord Burleigh to compass his death.--Henry Jones, _The Earl of Essex_
(1745).
=Ralph=, abbot of St. Augustine’s, expended £43,000 on the repast given at
his installation.
It was no unusual thing for powerful barons to provide 30,000 dishes at
a wedding breakfast. The coronation dinner of Edward III., cost £40,000,
equal to half a million of money now. The duke of Clarence, at his
marriage, entertained 1000 guests, and furnished his table with 36
courses. Archbishop Neville had 1000 egrettes served at one banquet,
and the whole species seems to have been extirpated.
After this it will be by no means difficult to understand why Apicius
despaired of being able to make two ends meet, when he had reduced his
enormous fortune to £80,000, and therefore hanged himself.
⁂ After the winter of 1327 was over, the elder Spenser had left of the
stores laid in by him the preceding November and salted down, “80 salted
beeves, 500 bacons, and 600 muttons.”
_Ralph_, son of Fairfield, the miller. An outlandish, ignorant booby,
jealous of his sister, Patty, because she “could paint picturs and strum
on the harpsicols.” He was in love with Fanny, the gypsy, for which
“feyther” was angry with him; but, “what argufies feyther’s anger?”
However, he treated Fanny like a brute, and she said of him, “He has a
heart as hard as a parish officer. I don’t doubt but he would stand by
and see me whipped.” When his sister married Lord Aimworth, Ralph said:
Captain Ralph my lord will dub me,
Soon I’ll mount a huge cockade;
Mounseer shall powder, queue, and club me,--
’Gad! I’ll be a roaring blade.
If Fan should offer then to snub me,
When in scarlet I’m arrayed;
Or my feyther ’temp to drub me--
Let him frown, but who’s afraid?
Bickerstaff, _The Maid of the Mill_ (1647).
_Ralph_ or RALPHO, the squire of Hudibras. Fully described in bk. i.
457-644.--S. Butler, _Hudibras_ (1663-78).
The prototype of “Ralph” was Isaac Robinson, a zealous butcher, in
Morefields. Ralph represents the independent party, and Hudibras the
Presbyterian.
⁂ In regard to the pronunciation of this name, which, in 1878, was the
subject of a long controversy in _Notes and Queries_, Butler says:
A squire he had whose name was Ralph,
That in th’ adventure went his half: ...
And when we can, with metre safe,
We’ll call him Ralpho, or plain Ra’ph.
Bk. l. 456.
_Ralph_ (_Rough_), the helper of Lance Outram, park-keeper at Sir
Geoffrey Peveril’s of the Peak.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_
(time, Charles II.).
_Ralph_ (_James_), an American, who came to London and published a poem
entitled _Night_ (1725).
Silence, ye wolves! while Ralph to Cynthia howls,
Making night hideous; answer him ye owls.
Pope, _The Dunciad_, iii. 165 (1728).
_Ralph_ [DE LASCOURS], captain of the _Uran´ia_, husband of Louise de
Lascours. Ralph is the father of Diana and Martha, _alias_ Orgari´ta.
His crew having rebelled, Ralph, his wife, infant [Martha], and servant,
Bar´abas, were put into a boat, and turned adrift. The boat ran on a
huge iceberg, which Ralph supposed to be a small island. In time, the
iceberg broke, when Ralph and his wife were drowned, but Martha and
Barabas escaped. Martha was taken by an Indian tribe, who brought her
up, and named her Orgarita (“withered corn”), because her skin was so
white and fair.--E. Stirling, _Orphan of the Frozen Sea_ (1856).
=Ralph Roister Doister=, by Nicholas Udall, the first English comedy,
about 1534. It contains nine male and four female characters. Ralph is a
vain, thoughtless, blustering fellow, who is in pursuit of a rich widow
named Custance, but he is baffled in his intention.
=Ramble= (_Sir Robert_), a man of gallantry, treats his wife with such
supreme indifference that she returns to her guardian, Lord Norland, and
resumes her maiden name of Marie Wooburn. Subsequently, however, she
returns to her husband.
_Mrs. Ramble_, wife of Sir Robert, and ward of Lord Norland.--Inchbald,
_Every One Has His Fault_ (1794).
=Ram´iel= (3 _syl._), one of the “atheist crew” overthrown by Ab´diel.
(The word means, according to Hume, “one who exalts himself against
God.”)--Milton, _Paradise Lost_, vi. 371 (1665).
=Raminago´bris.= Lafontaine, in his fables, gives this name to a cat.
Rabelais, in his _Pantag´ruel_, iii. 21, satirizes under the same name
Guillaume Crétin, a poet.
=Rami´rez=, a Spanish monk, and father confessor to Don Juan, duke of
Braganza. He promised Velasquez, when he absolved the duke at bed-time,
to give him a poisoned wafer prepared by the Carmelite Castruccio. This
he was about to do, when he was interrupted, and the breaking out of the
rebellion saved the duke from any similar attempt.--Robert Jephson,
_Braganza_ (1775).
=Rami´ro= (_King_) married Aldonza, who, being faithless, eloped with
Alboa´zar, the Moorish king of Gaya. Ramiro came disguised as a
traveller to Alboazar’s castle, and asked a damsel for a draught of
water, and when he lifted the pitcher to his mouth, he dropped in it his
betrothal ring, which Aldonza saw and recognized. She told the damsel to
bring the stranger to her apartment. Scarce had he arrived there when
the Moorish king entered, and Ramiro hid himself in an alcove. “What
would you do to Ramiro,” asked Aldonza, “if you had him in your power?”
“I would hew him limb from limb,” said the Moor. “Then lo! Alboazar, he
is now skulking in that alcove.” With this, Ramiro was dragged forth,
and the Moor said, “And how would you act if our lots were reversed?”
Ramiro replied, “I would feast you well, send for my chief princes and
counsellors, and set you before them and bid you blow your horn till you
died.” “Then be it so,” said the Moor. But when Ramiro blew his horn,
his “merry men” rushed into the castle, and the Moorish king, with
Aldonza and all their children, princes, and counsellors, were put to
the sword.--Southey, _Ramiro_ (a ballad from the Portuguese, 1804).
=Ramona=, young Indian woman, who, in defiance of her duenna’s fierce
opposition, goes out into the wide world with gallant Alessandro. The
struggles and disappointments of the wedded pair, and their oppression
by Indian agents are told in Helen Hunt Jackson’s novel, _Ramona_,
(1884).
=Ramorny= (_Sir John_), a voluptuary, master of the horse to Prince Robert
of Scotland.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Ramsay= (_David_), the old watch-maker, near Temple Bar.
_Margaret Ramsay_, David’s daughter. She marries Lord Nigel.--Sir W.
Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Ramsbottom= (_Mrs._), a vile speller of the language. Theodore Hook’s
pseudonym in the _John Bull_ newspaper, 1829.
⁂ Winifred Jenkins, the maid of Miss Tabitha Bramble (in Smollett’s
_Humphrey Clinker_, 1770), rivals Mrs. Ramsbottom in bad spelling.
=Randal=, the boatman at Lochleven Castle.--Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_
(time, Elizabeth).
=Randolph= (_Lord_), a Scotch nobleman, whose life was saved by young
Norval. For this service, his lordship gave the youth a commission; but
Glenalvon, the heir presumptive, hated the new favorite, and persuaded
Lord Randolph that Norval was too familiar with his lady. Accordingly,
Glenalvon and Lord Randolph waylaid the lad, who being attacked, slew
Glenalvon in self-defence, but was himself slain by Lord Randolph. When
the lad was killed, Lord Randolph learned that “Norval” was the son of
Lady Randolph by Lord Douglas, her former husband. He was greatly vexed,
and went to the war then raging between Scotland and Denmark, to drown
his sorrow by activity and danger.
_Lady Randolph_, daughter of Sir Malcolm, was privately married to Lord
Douglas, and when her first boy was born, she hid him in a basket,
because there was a family feud between Malcolm and Douglas. Soon after
this, Douglas was slain in battle, and the widow married Lord Randolph.
The babe was found by old Norval, a shepherd, who brought it up as his
own son. When 18 years old, the lad saved the life of Lord Randolph, and
was given a commission in the army. Lady Randolph, hearing of the
incident, discovered that young Norval was her own son, Douglas.
Glenalvon, who hated the new favorite, persuaded Lord Randolph that the
young man was too familiar with Lady Randolph, and being waylaid, a
fight ensued, in which Norval slew Glenalvon, but was himself slain by
Lord Randolph. Lord Randolph being informed that the young man was Lady
Randolph’s son, went to the wars to “drive away care;” and Lady
Randolph, in her distraction, cast herself headlong from a steep
precipice.--J. Home, _Douglas_ (1757).
The voice of Mrs. Crawford [1734-1801], when thrown out by the
vehemence of strong feeling, seemed to wither up the hearer; it was
a flaming arrow, a lighting of passion. Such was the effect of her
almost shriek to old Norval, “Was he alive?” It was like an
electric shock, which drove the blood back to the heart, and
produced a shudder of terror through the crowded theatre.--Boaden,
_Life of Kemble_.
=Random=, a man of fortune with a scapegrace son. He is pale and puffy,
with gout and a tearing cough. Random goes to France to recruit his
health, and on his return to England, gets arrested for debt by mistake
for his son. He raves and rages, threatens and vows vengeance, but finds
his son on the point of marrying a daughter of Sir David Dunder of
Dunder Hall, and forgets his evils in contemplation of this most
desirable alliance.--G. Colman, _Ways and Means_ (1788).
_Random_ (_Roderick_), a young Scotch scapegrace, in quest of fortune.
At one time he revels in prosperity, at another he is in utter
destitution. Roderick is led into different countries (whose
peculiarities are described), and falls into the society of wits,
sharpers, courtiers, and harlots. Occasionally lavish, he is essentially
mean; with a dash of humor, he is contemptibly revengeful; and, though
generous minded when the whim jumps with his wishes, he is thoroughly
selfish. His treatment of Strap is revolting to a generous mind. Strap
lends him money in his necessity, but the heartless Roderick wastes the
loan, treats Strap as a mere servant, fleeces him at dice, and cuffs him
when the game is adverse.--T. Smollett, _Roderick Random_ (1748).
=Ranger=, the madcap cousin of Clarinda, and the leading character in
Hoadly’s _Suspicious Husband_ (1747).
=Ran´tipole= (3 _syl._), a madcap. One of the nicknames given to Napoleon
III. (See NAPOLEON III.)