Colman, _Heir-at-Law_, i. 2 (1797).
=Raoul= [_Rawl_], the old huntsman of Sir Raymond Berenger.--Sir W. Scott,
_The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
=Raoul di Nangis= (_Sir_), the Huguenot in love with Valentina (daughter
of the Comte de St. Bris, governor of the Louvre). Sir Raoul is offered
the hand of Valentina in marriage, but rejects it because he fancies she
is betrothed to the comte de Nevers. Nevers being slain in the
Bartholomew Massacre, Raoul marries Valentina, but scarcely is the
ceremony over when both are shot by the musketeers under the command of
St. Bris.--Meyerbeer, _Les Huguenots_ (opera, 1836).
=Raphael= (2 or 3 _syl._), called by Milton, “The Sociable Spirit,” and
“The Affable Archangel.” In the book of _Tobit_ it was Raphael who
travelled with Tobias into Media and back again; and it is the same
angel that holds discourse with Adam through two books of _Paradise
Lost_, v. and vi. (1665).
_Raphael_, the guardian angel of John the Beloved.
⁂ Longfellow calls Raphael “The Angel of the Sun,” and says that he
brings to man “the gift of faith.”--_Golden Legend_ (“Miracle-Play,”
iii., 1851).
_Raphael_ (_The Flemish_), Frans Floris. His chief works are “St. Luke
at His Easel,” and the “Descent of the Fallen Angels,” both in Antwerp
Cathedral (1520-1570).
_Raphael_ (_The French_), Eustace Lesueur (1617-1655).
=Raphael of Cats= (_The_), Godefroi Mind, a Swiss painter, famous for his
cats (1768-1814).
=Raphael of Holland= (_The_), Martin van Hemskerck (1498-1574).
=Raphael’s Enchanter=, La Fornarina, a baker’s daughter. Her likeness
appears in several of his paintings. (See FORNARINA.)
=Rapier= (_The_) was introduced by Rowland York in 1587.
He [_Rowland York_] was a Londoner, famous among the cutters in his
time for bringing in a new kind of fight--to run the point of a
rapier into a man’s body ... before that time the use was with
little bucklers, and with broadswords to strike and never thrust,
and it was accounted unmanly to strike under the girdle.--Carleton,
_Thankful Remembrance_ (1625).
=Rare Ben.= Ben Jonson, the dramatist, was so called by Robert Herrick
(1574-1637).
=Raredrench= (_Master_), apothecary.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_
(time, James I.).
=Rashleigh Osbaldistone=, called “the scholar,” an hypocritical and
accomplished villain, killed by Rob Roy.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time,
George I.).
⁂ Surely never gentleman was plagued with such a family as Sir
Hildebrand Osbaldistone, of Osbaldistone Hall. (1) Percival, “the sot;”
(2) Thorncliff, “the bully;” (3) John, “the gamekeeper;” (4) Richard,
“the horse-jockey;” (5) Wilfred, “the fool;” (6) Rashleigh, “the scholar
and knave.”
=Ras´selas=, prince of Abyssina, fourth son of the emperor. According to
the custom of the country, he was confined in a private paradise, with
the rest of the royal family. This paradise was in the valley of Amhara,
surrounded by high mountains. It had only one entrance, which was by a
cavern under a rock concealed by woods, and closed by iron gates. He
escaped with his sister, Nekayah, and Imlac, the poet, and wandered
about to find out what condition or rank of life was the most happy.
After careful investigation he found no lot without its drawbacks, and
resolved to return to the “happy valley.”--Dr. Johnson, _Rasselas_
(1759).
=Rats= (_Devoured by_). Archbishop Hatto, Count Graaf, Bishop Widerolf of
Strasburg, Bishop Adolph of Cologne, Freiherr von Güttingen were all
devoured by rats. (See HATTO.)
=Ratcliffe= (_James_), a notorious thief.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of
Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
_Ratcliffe_ (_Mr. Hubert_), a friend of Sir Edward Mauley, “the Black
Dwarf.”--Sir W. Scott, _The Black Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
_Ratcliffe_ (_Mrs._), the widow of “Don Carlos,” who rescued Sheva at
Cadiz from an _auto da fe_.
_Charles Ratcliffe_, clerk of Sir Stephen Bertram, discharged because he
had a pretty sister, and Sir Stephen had a young son. Charles supported
his widowed mother and his sister by his earnings. He rescued Sheva, the
Jew, from a howling London mob, and was left the heir of the old man’s
property.
_Miss [Eliza] Ratcliffe_, sister of Charles, clandestinely married to
Charles Bertram, and given £10,000 by the Jew to reconcile Sir Stephen
Bertram to the alliance. She was handsome, virtuous and elegant, mild,
modest and gentle.--Cumberland, _The Jew_ (1776).
=Rath´mor=, chief of Clutha (_the Clyde_), and father of Calthon and
Colmar. Dunthalmo, lord of Teutha, “came in his pride against him,” and
was overcome, whereupon his anger rose, and he went by night with his
warriors and slew Rathmor in his own halls, where his feasts had so
often been spread for strangers.--Ossian, _Calthon and Colmal_.
=Rattlin= (_Jack_), a famous naval character in Smollett’s _Roderick
Random_. Tom Bowling is in the same novel (1749).
=Rattray= (_Sir Runnion_), of Runnagullion; the duelling friend of Sir
Mungo Malagrowther.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Raucocan´ti=, leader of a troupe of singers going to act in Sicily. The
whole were captured by Lambro, the pirate, and sold in Turkey as slaves.
’Twould not become myself to dwell upon
My own merits, and, tho’ young, I see, sir, you [_Don Juan_]
Have got a travelled air, which shews you one
To whom the opera is by no means new.
You’ve heard of Raucocanti--I’m that man ...
You was [_sic_] not last year at the fair of Lugo,
But next, when I’m engaged to sing there--do go.
Byron, _Don Juan_, iv. 88 (1820).
=Raven= (_Barnaby’s_), Grip, a large bird of most impish disposition. Its
usual phrases were: “I’m a devil!” “Never say die!” “Polly, put the
kettle on!” He also uttered a cluck like cork-drawing, a barking like a
dog, and a crowing like a cock. Barnaby Budge used to carry it about in
a basket at his back. The bird drooped while it was in jail with his
master, but after Barnaby’s reprieve
It soon recovered its good looks, and became as glossy and sleek as
ever ... but for a whole year it never indulged in any other sound
than a grave and decorous croak.... One bright summer morning ...
the bird advanced with fantastic steps to the door of the Maypole,
and then cried “I’m a devil!” three or four times, with
extraordinary rapture ... and from that time constantly practised
and improved himself in the vulgar tongue.--C. Dickens, _Barnaby
Rudge_, ii. (1841).
_Raven_ (_The_), Edgar Allan Poe’s poem bearing this caption is the best
known of his works, and one of the most remarkable in the English
language (1845).
=Ravens of Owain= (_The_). Owain had in his army 300 ravens, who were
irresistible. It is thought that these ravens were warriors who bore
this device on their shields.
A man who caused the birds to fly upon the host
Like the ravens of Owain, eager for prey.
Bleddynt Vardd, _Myvyrian Archaiology_, i. 365.
=Ravens once White.= One day a raven told Apollo that Coro´nis, a
Thessalian nymph whom he passionately loved, was faithless. Apollo, in
his rage, shot the nymph, but hated the raven, and “bade him prate in
white plumes never more.”--Ovid, _Metam._, ii.
=Ravenswood= (_Allan, lord of_), a decayed Scotch nobleman of the royalist
party.
_Master Edgar Ravenswood_, the son of Allan. In love with Lucy Ashton,
daughter of Sir William Ashton, lord-keeper of Scotland. The lovers
plight their troth at the “Mermaid’s Fountain,” but Lucy is compelled to
marry Frank Hayston, laird of Bucklaw. The bride, in a fit of insanity,
attempts to murder the bridegroom, and dies in convulsions. Bucklaw
recovers, and goes abroad. Colonel Ashton appoints a hostile meeting
with Edgar; but young Ravenswood, on his way to the place appointed, is
lost in the quicksands of Kelpies Flow, in accordance with an ancient
prophecy.--Sir W. Scott, _Bride of Lammermoor_ (time, William III.).
⁂ In Donizetti’s opera of _Lucia di Lammermoor_, Bucklaw dies of the
wound inflicted by the bride, and Edgar, heart-broken, comes on the
stage and kills himself.
The catastrophe in the _Bride of Lammermoor_, where [_Edgar_]
Ravenswood is swallowed up by a quicksand, is singularly grand in
romance, but would be inadmissible in a drama.--_Encyc. Brit._,
Art. “Romance.”
=Rawhead and Bloody-Bones=, two bogies or bugbears, generally coupled
together. In some cases the phrase is employed to designate one and the
same “shadowy sprite.”
Servants awe children ... by telling them of Rawhead and
Bloody-bones.--Locke.
=Ray.= One of two brothers, divided by the civil war. Beltran is in the
Southern army, Ray in the Northern. Both love the same woman whose heart
is Beltran’s. The brothers met[TN-117] in battle and Beltran falls. Ray is
wounded and left for dead; recovers and makes his way homeward. There he
lives--undergoing volcanic changes, now passionless lulls, and now rages
and spasms of grief; “gradually out of them all he gathers his strength
about him,” and wins Vivia’s hand.--Harriet Prescott Spofford, _Ray_.
_Ray_ (_Will_), popular officer in a frontier brigade who steals through
the deadly line of Cheyennes drawn about a handful of U. S. soldiers,
and, followed by shots and yells, rides for his life and his comrades’
lives to the nearest encampment of troops and brings succor to the
devoted little band with the dawn of the day that, but for him, would
have been the last on earth for those left behind.--Charles King,
_Marion’s Faith_ (1886).
=Rayland= (_Mrs._), the domineering lady of the _Old Manor-House_, by
Charlotte Smith (1749-1806).
Mrs. Rayland is a sort of Queen Elizabeth in private life.--Sir W.
Scott.
=Raymond=, count of Toulouse, the Nestor of the crusaders. He slays
Aladine, king of Jerusalem, and plants the Christian standard on the
tower of David.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_, xx. (1516).
⁂ Introduced by Sir W. Scott in _Count Robert of Paris_, a novel of the
period of Rufus.
_Raymond_ (_Sir Charles_), a country gentleman, the friend and neighbor
of Sir Robert Belmont.
_Colonel Raymond_, son of Sir Charles, in love with Rosetta Belmont.
Being diffident and modest, Rosetta delights in tormenting him, and he
is jealous even of William Faddle “a fellow made up of knavery, noise
and impudence.”
_Harriet Raymond_, daughter of Sir Charles, whose mother died in giving
her birth. She was committed to the care of a gouvernante, who changed
her name to Fidelia, wrote to Sir Charles to say that she was dead, and
sold her at the age of 12 to a villain named Villard. Charles Belmont,
hearing her cries of distress, rescued her and took her home. The
gouvernante at death confessed the truth, and Charles Belmont married
her.--Edward Moore, _The Foundling_ (1748).
=Raz´eka=, the giver of food, one of the four gods of the Adites (2
_syl._).
We called on Razeka for food.
Southey, _Thalaba, the Destroyer_, i. 24 (1797).
=Razor=, a barber who could “think of nothing but old England.” He was the
friend and neighbor of Quidnunc, the upholsterer, who was equally crazy
about the political state of the nation, and the affairs of Europe in
general.--Murphy, _The Upholsterer_ (1758).
_Razor_ (_To cut blocks with a_). Oliver Goldsmith said of Edward Burke,
the statesman.
Too deep for his hearers, he went on refining,
And thought of convincing, while they thought of dining:
Tho’ equal to all things, to all things unfit;
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit;
For a patriot too cool; for a drudge disobedient;
And too fond of the _right_ to pursue the _expedient_.
In short, ’twas his fate, unemployed or in place, sir,
To eat mutton cold, and cut blocks with a razor.
_Retaliation_ (1774.)
=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 shall their rise to merit owe--
That popish doctrine is exploded quite,
Or Ralph had been no duke, and Read no knight.
_A Political Squib of the Period._
⁂ The “Ralph” refered[TN-118] to is Ralph Montagu, created viscount in
1682, and duke of Montagu in 1705 (died 1709).
=Ready-to-Halt=, a pilgrim that journeyed to the Celestial City on
crutches. He joined Mr. Greatheart’s party, and was carried to heaven
in a chariot of fire.--Bunyan, _Pilgrim’s Progress_, ii. (1684).
=Reason= (_The goddess of_), in the French Revolution, some say, was the
wife of Momoro, the printer; but Lamartine says it was Mdlle. Malliard,
an actress.
=Rebecca=, leader of the Rebeccaïtes, a band of Welsh rioters, who, in
1843, made a raid upon toll-gates. The captain and his guard disguised
themselves in female attire.
⁂ This name arose from a gross perversion of a text of Scripture: “And
they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, ... let thy seed possess the
gate of those which hate them.” (_Gen._ xxiv. 60).
_Rebecca_, daughter of Isaac, the Jew; meek, modest, and high-minded.
She loves Ivanhoe, who has shown great kindness to her and to her
father; and when Ivanhoe marries Rowena, both Rebecca and her father
leave England for a foreign land.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time,
Richard I.).
_Rebecca_ (_Mistress_), the favorite waiting-maid of Mrs. Margaret
Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George
II.).
=Record=, noted for his superlatives, “most presumptuous,” “most
audacious,” “most impatient,” as:
Oh, you will, most audacious.... Look at him, most inquisitive....
Under lock and key, most noble.... I will, most dignified.--S.
Birch, _The Adopted Child_.
=Recruiting Officer= (_The_), a comedy by G. Farquhar (1705). The
“recruiting officer” is Sergeant Kite, his superior officer is Captain
Plume, and the recruit is Sylvia, who assumes the military dress of her
brother and the name of Jack Wilful, _alias_ Pinch. Her father, Justice
Balance, allows the name to pass the muster, and when the trick is
discovered, to prevent scandal, the justice gives her in marriage to the
captain.
=Red Book of Hergest= (_The_), a collection of children’s tales in Welsh;
so called from the name of the place where it was discovered. Each tale
is called in Welsh a _Mabinogi_, and the entire collection is the
_Mabinogion_ (from _nab_, “a child”). The tales relate chiefly to Arthur
and the early British kings. A translation in three vols., with notes,
was published by Lady Charlotte Guest (1838-49).
=Red-Cap= (_Mother_), an old nurse at the Hungerford Stairs.--Sir W.
Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
_Red-Cap_ (_Mother_). Madame Bufflon was so called, because her bonnet
was deeply colored with her own blood in a street fight at the outbreak
of the French Revolution.--W. Melville.
=Red Cross Knight= (_The_) represents St. George, the patron saint of
England. His adventures, which occupy bk. i. of Spenser’s _Faëry Queen_,
symbolize the struggles and ultimate victory of holiness over sin (or
protestantism over popery). Una comes on a white ass to the court of
Gloriana, and craves that one of the knights would undertake to slay the
dragon which kept her father and mother prisoners. The Red Cross Knight,
arrayed in all the armor of God (_Eph._ vi. 11-17), undertakes the
adventure, and goes, accompanied for a time, with Una; but, deluded by
Archimago, he quits the lady, and the two meet with numerous adventures.
At last, the knight, having slain the dragon, marries Una; and thus
holiness is allied to the Oneness of Truth (1590).
=Red Hand of Ulster.=
Calverley, of Calverley, Yorkshire. Walter Calverley, Esq., in 1605,
murdered two of his children, and attempted to murder his wife and a
child “at nurse.” This became the subject of _The Yorkshire Tragedy_. In
consequence of these murders, the family is required to wear “the bloody
hand.”
The Holt family, of Lancashire, has a similar tradition connected with
their coat armor.
=Red Knight= (_The_), Sir Perimo´nês, one of the four brothers who kept
the passages leading to Castle Perilous. In the allegory of Gareth, this
knight represents noon, and was the third brother. Night, the eldest
born, was slain by Sir Gareth; the Green Knight, which represents the
young day-spring, was overcome, but not slain; and the Red Knight, being
overcome, was spared also. The reason is this: darkness is _slain_, but
dawn is only _overcome_ by the stronger light of noon, and noon decays
into the evening twilight. Tennyson in his _Gareth and Lynette_, calls
Sir Perimonês “Meridies,” or “Noonday Sun.” The Latin name is not
consistent with a British tale.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince
Arthur_, i. 129 (1470); Tennyson, _Idylls_.
=Red Knight of the Red Lands= (_The_), Sir Ironside. “He had the strength
of seven men, and every day his strength went on increasing till noon.”
This knight kept the Lady Lionês captive in Castle Perilous. In the
allegory of Sir Gareth, Sir Ironside represents death, and the captive
lady “the Bride,” or Church triumphant. Sir Gareth combats with Night,
Morn, Noon, and Evening, or fights the fight of faith, and then
overcomes the last enemy, which is death, when he marries the lady, or
is received into the Church, which is “the Lamb’s Bride.” Tennyson, in
his _Gareth and Lynette_, makes the combat with the Red Knight (“Mors,”
or “Death”) to be a single stroke; but the _History_ says it is endured
from morn to noon, and from noon to night--in fact, that man’s whole
life is a contest with moral and physical death.--Sir T. Malory,
_History of Prince Arthur_, i. 134-137 (1470); Tennyson, _Idylls_
(“Gareth and Lynette”).
=Red Pipe.= The Great Spirit long ago called the Indians together, and,
standing on the red pipe-stone rock, broke off a piece, which he made
into a pipe, and smoked, letting the smoke exhale to the four quarters.
He then told the Indians that the red pipe-stone was their flesh, and
they must use the red pipe when they made peace; and that when they
smoked it, the war-club and scalping-knife must not be touched. Having
so spoken, the Great Spirit was received up into the clouds.--_Indian
Mythology._
The red pipe has blown its fumes of peace and war to the remotest
corners of the continent. It visited every warrior, and passed
through its reddened stem the irrevocable oath of war and
desolation. Here, too, the peace-breathing calumet was born, and
fringed with eagle’s quills, which has shed its thrilling fumes
over the land, and soothed the fury of the relentless
savage.--Catlin, _Letters on ... the North Americans_, ii. 160.
=Red Ridinghood= (_Little_), a child with a red cloak, who went to carry
cakes to her grandmother. A wolf placed itself in the grandmother’s bed,
and when the child remarked upon the size of its eyes, ears, and nose,
replied it was the better to see, hear, and smell the little grandchild.
“But, grandmamma,” said the child, “what a great mouth you have got!”
“The better to eat you up,” was the reply, and the child was devoured by
the wolf.
This nursery tale is, with slight variations, common to Sweden, Germany,
and France. In Charles Perrault’s _Contes des Fées_ (1697) it is called
“Le Petit Chaperon Rouge.”
=Red Swan= (_The_). Odjibwa, hearing a strange noise, saw in the lake a
most beautiful red swan. Pulling his bow, he took deliberate aim,
without effect. He shot every arrow from his quiver with the same
result; then, fetching from his father’s medicine sack three poisoned
arrows, he shot them also at the bird. The last of the three arrows
passed through the swan’s neck, whereupon the bird rose into the air and
sailed away towards the setting sun.--Schoolcraft, _Algic Researches_,
ii. 9 (1839).
=Redgauntlet=, a story told in a series of letters, about a conspiracy
formed by Sir Edward Hugh Redgauntlet, on behalf of the “Young
Pretender,” Charles Edward, then above 40 years of age. The conspirators
insist that the prince shall dismiss his mistress, Miss Walkingshaw,
and, as he refuses to comply with this demand, they abandon their
enterprise. Just as a brig is prepared for the prince’s departure from
the island, Colonel Campbell arrives with the military. He connives,
however, at the affair, the conspirators disperse, the prince embarks,
and Redgauntlet becomes the prior of a monastery abroad. This is one of
the inferior novels, but is redeemed by the character of Peter
Peebles.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (1824).
_Redgauntlet_ embodies a great deal of Scott’s own personal history
and experience.--Chambers, _English Literature_, ii. 589.
_Redgauntlet_ (_Sir Alberick_), an ancestor of the family.
_Sir Edward Redgauntlet_, son of Sir Alberick; killed by his father’s
horse.
_Sir Robert Redgauntlet_, an old tory, mentioned in Wandering Willie’s
tale.
_Sir John Redgauntlet_, son and successor of Sir Robert, mentioned in
Wandering Willie’s tale.
_Sir Redwald Redgauntlet_, son of Sir John.
_Sir Henry Darsie Redgauntlet_, son of Sir Redwald.
_Lady Henry Darsie Redgauntlet_, wife of Sir Henry Darsie.
_Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet_, alias _Darsie Latimer_, son of Sir
Henry and Lady Darsie.
_Miss Lilias Redgauntlet_, alias _Green-mantle_, sister of Sir Arthur.
She marries Allan Fairford.
_Sir Edward Hugh Redgauntlet_, the Jacobite conspirator. He is uncle to
Darsie Latimer, and is called “Laird of the Lochs,” _alias_ “Mr. Herries
of Birrenswark,” _alias_ “Master Ingoldsby.”--Sir W. Scott,
_Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Redi= (_Francis_), an Italian physician and lyric poet. He was first
physician to the grand-duke of Tuscany (1626-1698).
Even Redi, tho’ he chanted
Bacchus in the Tuscan valleys,
Never drank the wine he vaunted
In his dithyrambic sallies.
Longfellow, _Drinking Song_.
=Redlaw= (_Mr._), the “haunted man.” He was a professor of chemistry, who
bargained with the spirit which haunted him to leave him, on condition
of his imparting to others his own idiosyncrasies. From this moment the
chemist carried with him the infection of sullenness, selfishness,
discontent and ingratitude. On Christmas Day the infection ceased.
Redlaw lost his morbid feelings, and all who suffered by his infection,
being healed, were restored to love, mirth, benevolence and
gratitude.--C. Dickens, _The Haunted Man_ (1848).
=Redmain= (_Sir Magnus_), governor of the town of Berwick (fifteenth
century).
He was remarkable for his long red beard, and was therefore called
by the English “Magnus Red-beard,” but by the Scotch, in derision,
“Magnus Red-mane,” as if his beard had been a
horse-mane.--Godscroft, 178.
=Redmond O’Neale=, Rokeby’s page, beloved by Rokeby’s daughter, Matilda,
whom he marries. He turns out to be Mortham’s son and heir.--Sir W.
Scott, _Rokeby_ (1812).
=Reece= (_Captain_), R.N., of the _Mantelpiece_; adored by all his crew.
They had feather-beds, warm slippers, hot-water cans, brown Windsor
soap, and a valet to every four, for Captain Reece said, “It is my duty
to make my men happy, and I will.” Captain Reece had a daughter, ten
female cousins, a niece and a ma, six sisters and an aunt or two, and,
at the suggestion of William Lee, the coxswain, married these ladies to
his crew--“It is my duty to make my men happy, and I will.” Last of all,
Captain Reece married the widowed mother of his coxswain, and they were
all married on one day--“It was their duty, and they did it.”--W. S.
Gilbert, _The Bab Ballads_ (“Captain Reece, R.N.”).
=Reeve’s Tale= (_The_). Symond Symkyn, a miller of Trompington, near
Cambridge, used to serve “Soler Hall College,” but was an arrant thief.
Two scholars, Aleyn and John, undertook to see that a sack of corn sent
to be ground was not tampered with; so one stood by the hopper, and one
by the trough which received the flour. In the mean time the miller let
their horse loose, and, when the young men went to catch it, purloined
half a bushel of the flour, substituting meal instead. It was so late
before the horse could be caught that the miller offered the two
scholars a “shakedown” in his own chamber, but when they were in bed he
began to belabor them unmercifully. A scuffle ensued, in which the
miller, being tripped up, fell upon his wife. His wife, roused from her
sleep, seized a stick, and, mistaking the bald pate of her husband for
the night-cap of one of the young men, banged it so lustily that the man
was almost stunned with the blows. In the mean time the two scholars
made off without payment, taking with them the sack and also the
half-bushel of flour, which had been made into cakes.--Chaucer,
_Canterbury Tales_ (1388).
⁂ Boccaccio has a similar story in his _Decameron_. It is also the
subject of a _fabliau_ entitled _De Gombert et des Deux Clers_. Chaucer
borrowed his story from a _fabliau_ given by Thomas Wright in his
_Anecdota Literaria_, 15.
=Reformation= (_The_). It was in germ in the early Lollards, and was
radiant in the works of Wycliffe.
It was present in the pulpit of Pierre de Bruys, in the pages of Arnoldo
da Brescia, in the cell of Roger Bacon.
It was active in the field with Peter Revel, in the castle of Lord
Cobham, in the pulpit with John Huss, in the camp with John Ziska, in
the class-room of Pico di Mirandola, in the observatory of Abraham
Zacuto, and the college of Antonio di Lebrija, and it burst into full
light through Martin Luther.
=Re´gan=, second daughter of King Lear, and wife of the duke of Cornwall.
Having received the half of her father’s king-[TN-119] she refused to
entertain him with his suite. On the death of her husband, she designed
to marry Edmund, natural son of the earl of Gloster, and was poisoned by
her elder sister, Goneril, out of jealousy. Regan, like Goneril, is
proverbial for “filial ingratitude.”--Shakespeare, _King Lear_ (1605).
=Regent Diamond= (_The_). So called from the regent duke of Orleans. This
diamond, the property of France, at first set in the crown, and then in
the sword of state, was purchased in India by a governor of Madras, of
whom the regent bought it for £80,000.
=Regillus= (_The Battle of Lake_). Regillus Lacus is about twenty miles
east of Rome, between Gabii (north) and Lavīcum (south). The Romans had
expelled Tarquin the Proud from the throne, because of the most
scandalous conduct of his son Sextus, who had violated Lucretia, the
wife of Collatinus. Thirty combined cities of Latium, with Sabines and
Volscians, took the part of Tarquin, and marched towards Rome. The
Romans met the allied army at the Lake Regillus, and here, on July 15,
B.C. 499, they won the great battle which confirmed their republican
constitution, and in which Tarquin, with his sons Sextus and Titus, was
slain. While victory was still doubtful, Castor and Pollux, on their
white horses, appeared to the Roman dictator, and fought for the Romans.
The victory was complete, and ever after the Romans observed the
anniversary of this battle with a grand procession and sacrifice. The
procession started from the temple of Mars outside the city walls,
entered by the Porta Capēna, traversed the chief streets of Rome,
marched past the temple of Vesta in the Forum, and then to the opposite
side of the “great square,” where they had built a temple to Castor and
Pollux in gratitude for the aid rendered by them in this battle. Here
offerings were made, and sacrifice was offered to the Great
Twin-Brothers, the sons of Leda. Macaulay has a lay, called _The Battle
of the Lake Regillus_, on the subject.
Where, by the Lake Regillus,
Under the Porcian height,
All in the land of Tusculum,
Was fought the glorious fight.
Macaulay, _Lays of Ancient Rome_ (1842).
A very parallel case occurs in the life of Mahomet. The Koreishites had
armed to put down “the prophet;” but Mahomet met them in arms, and on
January 13, 624, won the famous battle of Bedr. In the _Korân_ (ch.
iii.), he tells us that the angel Gabriel, on his horse, Haïzûm,
appeared on the field with 3000 “angels,” and won the battle for him.
In the conquest of Mexico, we are told that St. James appeared on his
grey horse at the head of the Castilian adventurers, and led them on to
victory. Bernal Diaz, who was in the battle, saw the grey horse, but
fancies the rider was Francesco de Morla, though, he confesses, “it
might be the glorious apostle St. James” for aught he knew.
=Regimen of the School of Salerno=, a collection of precepts in Latin
verse, written by John of Milan, a poet of the eleventh century, for
Robert, the duke of Normandy.
A volume universally known
As the “Regimen of the School of Salern.”
Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_ (1851).
=Reginald Archer.= A refined, debonnaire sensualist, courted by women and
envied by men. He wooes and marries a gentle, pure heiress, and would,
as her husband, break her heart were not the evil work cut short by his
death at the hands of a man whose wife Reginald has lured from her
allegiance to her lawful lord.--Anne Crane Seemuller, _Reginald Archer_
(1865).
=Region of Death=, (_Marovsthulli_), Thurr, near Delhi, fatal, from some
atmospheric influence, especially about sunset.
=Regno= (_The_), Naples.
Are our wiser heads leaning towards an alliance with the pope and
the Regno?--George Eliot (Marian Evans).
=Reg´ulus=, a Roman general, who conquered the Carthaginians (B.C. 256),
and compelled them to sue for peace. While negotiation was going on, the
Carthaginians, joined by Xanthippos, the Lacedemonian, attacked the
Romans at Tunis, and beat them, taking Regulus prisoner. The captive was
sent to Rome to make terms of peace and demand exchange of prisoners,
but he used all his influence with the senate to dissuade them from
coming to terms with their foe. On his return to captivity, the
Cathaginians[TN-120] cut off his eyelids and exposed him to the burning
sun, then placed him in a barrel armed with nails, which was rolled up
and down a hill till the man was dead.
⁂ This subject has furnished Pradon and Dorat with tragedies (_French_),
and Metastasio, the Italian poet, with an opera called _Regolo_ (1740).
“Regulus” was a favorite part of the French actor, François J. Talma.
=Rehearsal= (_The_), a farce by George Villiers, duke of Buckingham
(1671). It was designed for a satire on the rhyming plays of the time.
The chief character, Bayes (1 _syl._), is meant for Dryden.
The name of George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, demands cordial
mention by every writer on the stage. He lived in an age when plays
were chiefly written in rhyme, which served as a vehicle for
foaming sentiment clouded by hyperbolê.... The dramas of Lee and
Settle ... are made up of blatant couplets that emptily thundered
through five long acts. To explode an unnatural custom by
ridiculing it, was Buckingham’s design in _The Rehearsal_, but in
doing this the gratification of private dislike was a greater
stimulus than the wish to promote the public good.--W. C. Russell,
_Representative Actors_.
=Reichel= (_Colonel_), in _Charles XII._, by J. R. Planché (1826).
=Rejected Addresses=, parodies on Wordsworth, Cobbett, Southey, Scott,
Coleridge, Crabbe, Byron, Theodore Hook, etc., by James and Horace
Smith; the copyright after the sixteenth edition was purchased by John
Murray, in 1819, for £131. The directors of Drury Lane Theatre had
offered a premium for the best poetical address to be spoken at the
opening of the new building, and the brothers Smith conceived the idea
of publishing a number of poems supposed to have been written for the
occasion and rejected by the directors (1812).
“I do not see why they should have been rejected,” said a
Leicestershire clergyman, “for I think some of them are very
good.”--James Smith.
=Reksh=, Sir Rustam’s horse.
=Relapse=, (_The_), a comedy by Vanbrugh (1697). Reduced to three acts,
and adapted to more modern times by Sheridan, under the title of _A Trip
to Scarborough_ (1777).
=Rel´dresal=, principal secretary for private affairs in the court of
Lilliput, and great friend of Gulliver. When it was proposed to put the
Man-mountain to death for high treason, Reldresal moved as an
amendment, that the “traitor should have both his eyes put out, and be
suffered to live that he might serve the nation.”--Swift, _Gulliver’s
Travels_ (“Voyage to Lilliput,” 1726).
⁂ Probably the dean had the Bible story of Samson and the Philistines in
his thoughts.
=Relics.= The following relics are worthy of note, if for no other reason,
because of the immense number of pilgrims who are drawn to them from all
parts of the world.
1. THE HOUSE OF THE VIRGIN. This is now to be seen at Loreto, a
town on the Adriatic, near Ancona, whither it was miraculously
transported through the air by angels in the year 1294. It had been
originally brought from Nazareth to Dalmatia in 1291, but after
resting there for three years was again lifted up and placed where
it now stands. It is a small brick structure surrounded by a marble
screen designed by Bramante and decorated with carvings and
sculptures by a number of celebrated sculptors. The church in which
the house stands was built over it to protect it shortly after its
arrival.
2. THE HOLY COAT. This is the seamless coat worn by Jesus, and for
which the soldiers drew lots at his crucifixion. It is described by
John alone of the evangelists: “Now the coat was without seam,
woven from the top throughout.” John 19, 23. It is preserved at
Treves in the cathedral, and is shown at long intervals to the
faithful, attracting vast crowds of pilgrims from all parts of
Europe and America. It was last shown in 1891. The village of
Argenteuil, near Paris, disputes with Treves the possession of the
true garment, insisting on its own superior claim, but the right of
Treves is generally acknowledged by Catholics.
3. THE HOLY FACE. According to the legend, when Jesus was on His
way to Calvary, one of the women standing by, whose name was
Veronica, seeing Him sinking under the weight of the cross, gave
Him her handkerchief to wipe the sweat from His face. When He
returned it the impression of His face was left upon the cloth, and
remains distinctly to be seen at the present day.
4. THE SAINTE CHAPELLE at Paris, one of the most beautiful Gothic
buildings in Europe, was built as a shrine to contain the fragment
of the true Cross and a thorn from the Crown of Thorns given by
Louis IX. of France (Saint Louis). These relics have since been
transferred to the Treasury of Notre Dame, at Paris. The church at
Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) also contains a fragment of the true
Cross. In various churches of Italy, pictures of the Virgin Mary
said to have been painted by Saint Luke (a painter as well as a
physician, and the patron saint of both professions) are preserved,
but no one of them has any fame above the rest.
=Remember, Thou Art Mortal!= When a Roman conqueror entered the city in
triumph, a slave was placed in the chariot to whisper from time to time
into the ear of the conqueror, “Remember, thou art a man!”
Vespasian, the Roman emperor, had a slave who said to him daily as he
left his chamber, “Remember, thou art a man!”
In the ancient Egyptian banquets it was customary during the feast to
draw a mummy, in a car, round the banquet hall, while one uttered aloud,
“To this estate you must come at last!”
When the sultan of Serendib (_i.e._ Ceylon) went abroad, his vizier
cried aloud, “This is the great monarch, the tremendous sultan of the
Indies ... greater than Solimo or the grand Mihragê!” An officer behind
the monarch then exclaimed, “This monarch, though so great and powerful,
must die, must die, must die!”--_Arabian Nights_ (“Sindbad,” sixth
voyage).
=Remois= (2 _syl._), the people of Rheims, in France.
=Remond=, a shepherd in _Britannia’s Pastorals_, by William Browne (1613).
Remond, young Remond, that full well could sing,
And tune his pipe at Pan’s birth carolling;
Who, for his nimble leaping, sweetest layes,
A laurell garland wore on holidayes;
In framing of whose hand Dame Nature swore,
There never was his like, nor should be more.
_Pastoral_, i.
=Rem´ores=, birds which retard the execution of a project.
“Remores” aves in auspicio dicuntur quæ acturum aliquid remorari
compellunt.--Festus, _De VerborumSignificatione_.[TN-121]
=Remus.= (See ROMULUS AND REMUS.)
_Remus_ (_Uncle_). Hero of many of Joel Chandler Harris’s tales of
negro-life. His fables of “Brer Rabbit,” “Brer Bear,” and the like are
curious relics of African folk-lore (1886).
=Re´naud=, one of the paladins of Charlemagne, always described with the
properties of a borderer, valiant, alert, ingenious, rapacious, and
unscrupulous. Better known in the Italian form _Rinaldo_ (_q.v._).
=Renault=, a Frenchman, and one of the chief conspirators in which Pierre
was concerned. When Jaffier joined the conspiracy, he gave his wife,
Belvide´ra, as surety of his fidelity, and a dagger to be used against
her if he proved unfaithful. Renault attempted the honor of the lady,
and Jaffier took her back in order to protect her from such insults. The
old villain died on the wheel, and no one pitied him.--T. Otway, _Venice
Preserved_ (1682).
=René=, the old king of Provence, father of Queen Margaret of Anjou (wife
of Henry VI. of England). A minstrel-monarch, friend to the chase and
tilt, poetry, and music. Thiebault says he gave in largesses to
knights-errant and minstrels more than he received in revenue (ch.
xxix.).--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
_René_ (2 _syl._), the hero and title of a romance by Châteaubriand
(1801). It was designed for an episode to his _Génie du Christianisme_
(1802). René is a man of social inaction, conscious of possessing a
superior genius, but his pride produces in him a morbid bitterness of
spirit.
_René_ [LEBLANC], notary public of Grand Pré, in Arcadia (_Nova
Scotia_). Bent with age, but with long yellow hair flowing over his
shoulders. He was the father of twenty children, and had a hundred
grandchildren. When Acadia was ceded by the French to England, George
II. confiscated the goods of the simple colonists, and drove them into
exile. René went to Pennsylvania, where he died, and was
buried.--Longfellow, _Evangeline_ (1849).
=Renton= (_Dr._). A Boston physician, whose best friend, dying, leaves a
letter charging Renton, “_In the name of the Saviour, be true and tender
to mankind_.” The doctor believes himself to be haunted by the ghost of
this man, intent upon inforcing the admonition, and the needy and the
afflicted profit by the hallucination.--William D. O’Connor, _The
Ghost_.
=Rentowel= (_Mr. Jabesh_), a covenanting preacher.--Sir W. Scott,
_Waverley_ (time, George II.).
With vehemence of some pulpit-drumming Gowkthrapple, or “precious”
Mr. Jabesh Rentowel.--Carlyle.
=Renzo and Lucia=, the hero and heroine of an Italian novel by Alessandro
Manzoni, entititled[TN-122] _The Betrothed Lover_ (“I Promessi Sposi”).
This novel contains an account of the Bread Riot and plague of Milan.
Cardinal Borro´meo is also introduced. There is an English translation
(1827).
=Republican Queen=, (_The_), Sophie Charlotte, wife of Frederick I. of
Prussia.
=Resequenz=, wily major-domo to the duke of Romagna, audacious,
unscrupulous and treacherous.--William Waldorf Astor, _Valentino_
(1886).
=Resolute= (_The_), John Florio, philologist (1545?-1625). Translated
Montaigne’s Essays and wrote a French and English Dictionary called a
_World of Words_. One of the few autographs of Shakespeare is in a copy
of Florio’s Montaigne in the British Museum.
⁂ Florio is said to have been the prototype of Shakespeare’s “Holofernês,”
in _Love’s Labour’s Lost_.
=Resolute Doctor= (_The_), John Baconthorpe (*-1346).
⁂ Guillaume Durandus de St. Pourçain was called “the Most Resolute
Doctor[TN-123] (1267-1332).
=Restless= (_Sir John_), the suspicious husband of a suspicious wife.
_Lady Restless_, wife of Sir John. As she has a fixed idea that her
husband is inconstant, she is always asking the servants, “Where is Sir
John?” “Is Sir John returned?” “Which way did Sir John go?” “Has Sir
John received any letters?” “Who has called?” etc.; and, whatever the
answer, it is to her a confirmation of her surmises.--A. Murphy, _All in
the Wrong_ (1761).
=Reuben Dixon=, a village schoolmaster of “ragged lads.”
’Mid noise, and dirt, and stench, and play, and prate,
He calmly cuts the pen or views the slate.
Crabbe, _Borough_, xxiv. (1810).
=Reuben and Seth=, servants of Nathan ben Israel, the Jew at Ashby, a
friend of Isaac and Rebecca.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard
I.).
=Reullu´ra= (_i.e. “beautiful star”_), the wife of Aodh, one of the
Culdees, or primitive clergy of Scotland, who preached the gospel of God
in Io´na, an island south of Staffa. Here Ulvfa´gre, the Dane, landed,
and, having put all who opposed him to death, seized Aodh, bound him in
iron, carried him to the church, and demanded where the treasures were
concealed. Just then appeared a mysterious figure all in white, who
first unbound Aodh, and then taking the Dane by the arm, led him up to
the statue of St. Columb, which immediately fell and crushed him to
death. Then turning to the Norsemen, the same mysterious figure told
them to “go back and take the bones of their chief with them;” adding,
whoever lifted hand in the island again, should be a paralytic for life.
“The[TN-124] “saint” then transported the remnant of the islanders to
Ireland; but when search was made for Reullura, her body was in the sea,
and her soul in heaven.--Campbell, _Reullura_.
=Reutha´mir=, the principal man of Balclutha, a town belonging to the
Britons on the river Clyde. His daughter, Moina, married Clessammor
(Fingal’s uncle on the mother’s side). Reuthamir was killed by Combal
(Fingal’s father) when he attacked Balcutha and burned it to the
ground.--Ossian, _Carthon_.
=Reutner= (_Karl_), young German, serving in the Federal army, finds, on
the Gettysburg battle-field, a four-leafed clover, and waves it in the
air. The gesture attracts a sharp-shooter, and Reutner falls insensible.
He is taken from hospital to prison, and languishes for weeks, in
delirium, all the while haunted by a vision of a woman, dark-eyed and
beautiful, who brings him handfuls of four-leaved clover. When he
reaches home, he recognizes her in Margaret Warren, a guest in his
father’s house. The betrothal-ring bears a four-leaved clover of green
enamel, set in diamonds.--Helen Hunt Jackson, _A Four-Leaved Clover_
(1886).
=Rev´eller= (_Lady_), cousin of Valeria, the blue-stocking. Lady Reveller
is very fond of play, but ultimately gives it up, and is united to Lord
Worthy.--Mrs. Centlivre, _The Basset Table_ (1706).
=Revenge= (_The_), a tragedy by Edward Young (1721). (For the plot, see
ZANGA.)
_Revenge_ (_The_), the ship under the command of Sir Richard Grenville,
anchored at Flores, in the Azores, when a fleet of fifty-three Spanish
ships hove in sight. Lord Thomas Howard, with six men-of-war, sailed
off; but Sir Richard stood his ground. He had only a hundred men, but
with this crew and his one ship, he encountered the Spanish fleet. The
fight was very obstinate. Some of the Spanish ships were sunk, and many
shattered; but Sir Richard at length was wounded, and the surgeon shot
while dressing the wound. “Sink the ship, master gunner!” cried Sir
Richard; “sink the ship, and let her not fall into the hands of Spain!”
But the crew were obliged to yield, and Sir Richard died. The Spaniards
were amazed at Grenville’s pluck, and gave him all honors, as they cast
his body into the sea. _The Revenge_ was then manned by Spaniards, but
never reached the Spanish coast, for it was wrecked in a tempest, and
went down with all hands aboard.--Tennyson, _The Revenge_, a ballad of
the fleet (1878).
⁂ This sea-fight is the subject of one of Froude’s essays.
Canon Kingsley has introduced it in _Westward Ho!_ where he gives a
description of Sir Richard Grenville.
Lord Bacon says the fight “was memorable even beyond credit, and to the
height of heroic fable.”
Mr. Arber published three interesting contemporary documents relating to
_The Revenge_, by Sir Walter Raleigh.
Gervase Markham wrote a long poem on the subject (two hundred stanzas of
eight lines each).
_Revenge_ (_The Palace of_), a palace of crystal, provided with
everything agreeable to life except the means of going out of it. The
fairy Pagan made it, and when Imis rejected his suit because she loved
Prince Philax, he shut them up in this palace out of revenge. At the end
of a few years Pagan had his revenge, for Philax and Imis longed as
eagerly for a separation as they had once done to be united.--Comtesse
D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Palace of Revenge,” 1682).
=Revenons à nos Moutons=, let us return to the matter in hand. This phrase
comes from an old French comedy of the fifteenth century, entitled
_L’Avocat Patelin_, by Blanchet. A clothier, giving evidence against a
shepherd who had stolen some sheep, is for ever running from the subject
to talk about some cloth of which Patelin, his lawyer, had defrauded
him. The judge from time to time pulls him up by saying, “Well, well!
and about the sheep?” “What about the sheep!” (See PATELIN.)
=Revolutionary Songs.= By far the most popular were: