The chief political songs of Béranger are: _Adieux de Marie Stuart_, _La
Cocarde Blanche_, _Jacques_, _La Déesse_, _Marquis de Carabas_, _Le
Sacre de Charles le Simple_, _Le Senateur_, _Le Vieux Caporal_, and _Le
Vilain_.
In the American Revolution the air of _Yankee Doodle_ was sung to
various sets of words, all derisive of the British and exhilarating to
the Americans.
In the Civil War of the United States _The Star-Spangled Banner_, _Hail
Columbia_, _Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!_ and Julia Ward Howe’s _Battle Hymn of
the Republic_ to the air of _John Brown’s Body Lies Mouldering in the
Ground_ were favorites with the Federal troops.
Among the Confederates, _Dixie_, and _Maryland, My Maryland_, were most
popular.
=Rewcastle= (_Old John_), a Jedburgh smuggler, and one of the Jacobite
conspirators with the laird of Ellieslaw.--Sir W. Scott, _The Black
Dwarf_ (time, Anne).
=Reynaldo=, a servant to Polonius.--Shakespeare, _Hamlet_ (1596).
=Reynard the Fox=, the hero of the beast-epic so called. This prose poem
is a satire on the state of Germany in the Middle Ages. Reynard
represents the Church; Isengrin, the wolf (his uncle), typifies the
baronial element; and Nodel, the lion, stands for the regal power. The
plot turns on the struggle for supremacy between Reynard and Isengrin.
Reynard uses all his endeavors to victimize every one, especially his
uncle, Isengrin, and generally succeeds.--_Reinecke Fuchs_
(thierepos,[TN-125] 1498).
=Reynardine= (3 _syl._), eldest son of Reynard the Fox. He assumed the
names of Dr. Pedanto and Crabron.--_Reynard the Fox_ (1498).
=Reynold of Montalbon=, one of Charlemagne’s paladins.
=Reynolds= (_Sir Joshua_), is thus described by Goldsmith:
Here Reynolds is laid; and, to tell you my mind,
He has not left a wiser or better behind.
His pencil was striking, resistless and grand;
His manners were gentle, complying and bland ...
To coxcombs averse, yet most civilly steering,
When they judged without skill he was still hard of hearing;
When they talked of their Raphaels, Corregios, and stuff,
He shifted his trumpet, and only took snuff.
_Retaliation_ (1774).
N.B.--Sir Joshua Reynolds was hard of hearing, and used an ear-trumpet.
=Rez´io= (_Dr._) or “Pedro Rezio of Ague´ro,” the doctor of Barata´ria,
who forbade Sancho Panza to taste any of the meats set before him. Roast
partridge was “forbidden by Hippoc´ratês.” Podri´da was “the most
pernicious food in the world.” Rabbits were “a sharp-haired diet.” Veal
was “prejudicial to health.” But, he said, the governor might eat “a few
wafers, and a thin slice or two of quince.”--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_,
II. iii. 10 (1615).
=Rhadaman´thus=, son of Jupiter and Euro´pa. He reigned in the Cycladês
with such partiality, that at death he was made one of the judges of the
infernal regions.
And if departed souls must rise again ...
And bide the judgment of reward or pain ...
Then Rhadamanthus and stern Minos were
True types of justice while they livèd here.
Lord Brooke, _Monarchie_, i. (1554-1628).
=Rhampsini´tos=, king of Egypt, usually called Ram´esês III., the richest
of the Egyptian monarchs, who amassed 72 millions sterling, which he
secured in a treasury of stone. By an artifice of the builder, he was
robbed every night.--_Herodotus_, ii. 121.
A parallel tale is told of Hyrieus [_Hy´.ri.uce_] of Hyrĭa. His two
architects, Trophōnios and Agamēdês (brothers), built his
treasure-vaults, but left one stone removable at pleasure. After great
loss of treasure, Hyrieus spread a net, in which Agame´des was caught.
To prevent recognition, Trophonios cut off his brother’s
head.--Pausanias, _Itinerary of Greece_, ix. 37, 3.
A similar tale is told of the treasure-vaults of Augĕas, king of Elis.
=Rha´sis= or Mohammed Aboubekr ibn Zakaria el Razi, a noted Arabian
physician. He wrote a treatise on small-pox and measles, with some 200
other treatises (850-923).
Well, error has no end;
And Rhasis is a sage.
R. Browning, _Paracelsus_, iii.
=Rhea’s Child.= Jupiter is so called by Pindar. He dethroned his father,
Saturn.
The child
Of Rhea drove him [_Saturn_] from the upper sky.
Akenside, _Hymn to the Naiads_ (1767).
=Rheims= (_The Jackdaw of_), The cardinal-archbishop of Rheims made a
great feast, to which he invited all the joblillies of the neighborhood.
There were abbots and prelates, knights and squires, and all who
delighted to honor the great panjandrum of Rheims. The feast over, water
was served, and his lordship’s grace, drawing off his turquoise ring,
laid it beside his plate, dipped his fingers into the golden bowl, and
wiped them on his napkin; but when he looked to put on his ring, it was
nowhere to be found. It was evidently gone. The floor was searched, the
plates and dishes lifted up, the mugs and chalices, every possible and
impossible place was poked into, but without avail. The ring must have
been stolen. His grace was furious, and, in dignified indignation,
calling for bell, book, and candle, banned the thief, both body and
soul, this life and for ever. It was a terrible curse, but none of the
guests seemed the worse for it--except, indeed, the jackdaw. The poor
bird was a pitiable object, his head lobbed down, his wings draggled on
the floor, his feathers were all ruffled, and with a ghost of a caw he
prayed the company follow him; when lo! there was the ring, hidden in
some sly corner by the jackdaw as a clever practical joke. His
lordship’s grace smiled benignantly, and instantly removed the curse;
when lo! as if by magic, the bird became fat and sleek again, perky and
impudent, wagging his tail, winking his eye, and cocking his head on one
side, then up he hopped to his old place on the cardinal’s chair. Never
after this did he indulge in thievish tricks, but became so devout, so
constant at feast and chapel, so well-behaved at matins and vespers,
that when he died he died in the odor of sanctity, and was canonized,
his name being changed to that of Jim Crow.--Barham, _Ingoldsby Legends_
(“Jackdaw of Rheims,” 1837).
=Rheingold.= The treasure given Siegfried by the dwarfs, and the cause of
contention after his death.
=Rhesus= was on his march to aid the Trojans in their siege, and had
nearly reached Troy, when he was attacked in the night by Ulysses and
Diomed. In this surprise Rhesus and all his army were cut to
pieces.--Homer, _Iliad_, x.
A parallel case was that of Sweno, the Dane, who was marching to join
Godfrey and the crusaders, when he was attacked in the night by Solyman,
and both Sweno and his army perished.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_
(1575).
=Rhiannon’s Birds.= The notes of these birds were so sweet that warriors
remained spell-bound for eighty years together, listening to them. These
birds are often alluded to by the Welsh bards. (Rhiannon was the wife of
Prince Pwyll.)--_The Mabinogion_, 363 (twelfth century).
The snow-white bird which the monk Felix listened to, sang so
enchantingly that he was spell-bound for a hundred years, listening to
it.--Longfellow, _Golden Legend_.
=Rhodalind=, daughter of Aribert, king of Lombardy, in love with Duke
Gondibert; but Gondibert preferred Birtha, a country girl, daughter of
the sage, Astrăgon. While the duke is whispering sweet love-notes to
Birtha, a page comes post-haste to announce to him that the king has
proclaimed him his heir, and is about to give him his daughter in
marriage. The duke gives Birtha an emerald ring, and says if he is false
to her, the emerald will lose its lustre; then hastens to court, in
obedience to the king’s summons. Here the tale breaks off, and was never
finished.--Sir Wm. Davenant, _Gondibert_ (1605-1668).
=Rhodian Venus= (_The_). This was the “Venus” of Protog´enês mentioned by
Pliny, _Natural History_, xxxv. 10.
When first the Rhodian’s mimic art arrayed
The Queen of Beauty in her Cyprian shade,
The happy master mingled in his piece
Each look that charmed him in the fair of Greece.
Campbell, _Pleasures of Hope_, ii. (1799).
Prior (1664-1721) refers to the same painting in his fable of
_Protogênes and Appellês_:
I hope, sir, you intend to stay
To see our Venus; ’tis the piece
The most renowned throughout all Greece.
=Rhod´ope= (3 _syl._), or =Rhod´opis=, a celebrated Greek courtezan, who
afterwards married Psammetichus, king of Egypt. It is said she built the
third pyramid.--Pliny, _Nat. Hist._, xxxvi. 12.
A statelier pyramis to her I’ll rear,
Than Rhodope’s.
Shakespeare, _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 6 (1589).
=Rhombus=, a schoolmaster who speaks “a leash of languages at once,”
puzzling himself and his hearers with a jargon like that of “Holofernês”
in Shakespeare’s _Love’s Labor’s Lost_ (1594).--Sir Philip Sidney,
_Pastoral Entertainment_ (1587).
_Rhombus_, a spinning-wheel or rolling instrument used by the Roman
witches for fetching the moon out of heaven.
Quæ nunc Thessalico lunam deducere rhombo [_sciet_].--Martial,
_Epigrams_, ix. 30.
=Rhone of Christian Eloquence= (_The_), St. Hilary (300-367).
=Rhone of Latin Eloquence= (_The_). St. Hilary is so called by St. Jerome
(300-367).
=Rhongomyant=, the lance of King Arthur.--_The Mabinogion_ (“Kilhwch and
Olwen,” twelfth century).
=Rhyming to Death.= In 1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 1, Thomas Beaufort, duke
of Exeter, speaking about the death of Henry V., says, “Must we think
that the subtle-witted French conjurors and sorcerers, out of fear of
him, ‘by magic verses have contrived his end?’” The notion of killing by
incantation was at one time very common.
Irishmen ... will not stick to affirme that they can rime either
man or beast to death.--Reg. Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_
(1564).
=Ribbon.= The _yellow_ ribbon, in France, indicates that the wearer has
won a _médaille militaire_ (instituted by Napoleon III.) as a minor
decoration of the Legion of Honor.
The _red_ ribbon marks a _chevalier_ of the Legion of Honor. A _rosette_
indicates a higher grade than that of _chevalier_.
=Ribemont= (3 _syl._), the bravest and noblest of the French host in the
battle of Poitiers. He alone dares confess that the English are a brave
people. In the battle he is slain by Lord Audley.--Shirley, _Edward the
Black Prince_ (1640).
_Ribemont_ (_Count_), in _The Siege of Calais_, by Colman.
=Riccar´do=, commander of Plymouth fortress, a Puritan to whom Lord Walton
has promised his daughter, Elvira, in marriage. Riccardo learns that the
lady is in love with Arthur Talbot, and when Arthur is taken prisoner by
Cromwell’s soldiers, Riccardo promises to use his efforts to obtain his
pardon. This, however, is not needful, for Cromwell, feeling quite
secure of his position, orders all the captives of war to be released.
Riccardo is the Italian form of Sir Richard Forth.--Bellini, _I
Puritani_ (opera, 1834).
=Ricciardetto=, son of Aymon, and brother of Bradamante.--Ariosto,
_Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=Rice.= _Eating rice with a bodkin._ Aminê, the beautiful wife of Sidi
Nouman, ate rice with a bodkin, but she was a ghoul. (See AMINE.)
=Richard=, a fine, honest lad, by trade a smith. He marries, on New Year’s
Day, Meg, the daughter of Toby Veck.--C. Dickens, _The Chimes_ (1844).
_Richard_ (_Squire_), eldest son of Sir Francis Wronghead, of Bumper
Hall. A country bumpkin, wholly ignorant of the world and of
literature.--Vanbrugh and Cibber, _The Provoked Husband_ (1727).
Robert Wetherilt [1708-1745] came to Drury Lane a boy, where he
showed his rising genius in the part of “Squire
Richard.”--Chetwood, _History of the Stage_.
_Richard_ (_Prince_), eldest son of King Henry II.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).
_Richard_ “Cœur de Lion,” introduced in two novels by Sir W. Scott (_The
Talisman_ and _Ivanhoe_). In the latter he first appears as “The Black
Knight,” at the tournament, and is called _Le Noir Fainéant_, or “The
Black Sluggard;” also “The Knight of the Fetter-lock.”
_Richard a Name of Terror._ The name of Richard I., like that of Attila,
Bonaparte, Corvīnus, Narses, Sebastian, Talbot, Tamerlane, and other
great conquerors, was at one time employed _in terrorem_ to disobedient
children. (See NAMES OF TERROR.)
His tremendous name was employed by the Syrian mothers to silence
their infants; and if a horse suddenly started from the way, his
rider was wont to exclaim, “Dost thou think King Richard is in the
bush?”--Gibbon, _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_, xi. 146
(1776-88).
_The Daughters of Richard I._ When Richard was in France, Fulco, a
priest, told him he ought to beware how he bestowed his daughters in
marriage. “I have no daughters,” said the king. “Nay, nay,” replied
Fulco, “all the world knows that you have three--Pride, Covetousness and
Lechery.” “If these are my daughters,” said the king, “I know well how
to bestow them where they will be well cherished. My eldest I give to
the Knights Templars, my second to the monks; and my third I cannot
bestow better than on yourself, for I am sure she will never be divorced
nor neglected.”--Thomas Milles, _True Nobility_ (1610).
_The Horse of Richard I._, Fennel.
Ah, Fennel, my noble horse, thou bleedest, thou art slain!--_Cœur
de Lion and His Horse._
_The Troubadour of Richard I._, Bertrand de Born.
=Richard Pennyroyal=, unhappy man whose weary indifference to his first
wife heightens into aversion as she becomes insane. He is relieved when
she drowns herself. His second wife, passionately beloved, is unfaithful
to him, and loathes him as he drinks more and more to drown
disappointment. His rival triumphs over him in a struggle for property,
but Richard has his wife still. Straying one night toward the pool in
which his first wife drowned herself, he comes upon the false wife and
her lover, challenges the latter to a duel then and there, and is shot
through the heart. His body is tossed into the pool and never
discovered.--Julian Hawthorne, _Archibald Malmaison_ (1878).
=Richard II’s Horse=, Roan Barbary.--Shakespeare, _Richard II._ act v. sc.
5 (1597).
=Richard III.=, a tragedy by Shakespeare (1597). At one time parts of
Rowe’s tragedy of _Jane Shore_ were woven in the acting edition, and
John Kemble introduced other clap-traps from Colley Cibber. The best
actors of this part were David Garrick (1716-1779), Henry Mossop
(1729-1773) and Edmund Kean (1787-1833).
Richard III. was only 19 years old at the opening of Shakespeare’s
play.--Sharon Turner.
_The Horse of Richard III._, White Surrey.--Shakespeare, _Richard III._
act v. sc. 3 (1597).
_Richard’s himself again!_ These words were interpolated by John Kemble
from Colley Cibber.
=Richards= (_Allen_). He meets his lately betrothed in a parlor-car, and
the dialogue that ensues ends in reconciliation and renewal of vows.
They are alone, except when the porter enters from time to time, and a
providential detention on the road prolongs the interview.--W. D.
Howells, _The Parlor Car_ (a farce, 1876).
=Richelieu= (_Armand_), cardinal and chief minister of France. The duke of
Orleans (the king’s brother), the count de Baradas (the king’s
favorite), and other noblemen, conspired to assassinate Richelieu,
dethrone Louis XIII., and make Gaston, duke of Orleans, the regent. The
plot was revealed to the cardinal by Marion de Lorme, in whose house the
conspirators met. The conspirators were arrested, and several of them
put to death, but Gaston, duke of Orleans, turned king’s evidence, and
was pardoned.--Lord Lytton, _Richelieu_ (1839).
=Richland= (_Miss_), intended for Leontine Croaker, but she gives her
hand in marriage to Mr. Honeywood, “the good-natured man,” who promises
to abandon his quixotic benevolence, and to make it his study in future
“to reserve his pity for real distress, his friendship for true merit,
and his love for her who first taught him what it is to be
happy.”--Goldsmith, _The Good-natured Man_ (1768).
=Richlings= (_The_). Brave young couple who come to New Orleans to make a
living. _John Richling_ has forfeited the favor of a rich father by
marrying the woman of his choice, but never regrets the action. From the
outset ill-fortune pursues him. He is willing to work, but work is hard
to get. He accepts various employments, more or less menial, and through
no fault of his, loses one after another. Nothing is stable except
_Mary’s_ love and _Dr. Sevier’s_ friendship. Just before the war poverty
compels him to send Mary to her mother in Milwaukee. There her child is
born. He remains in New Orleans, working hard, and steadily failing in
health. For three years they are separated by war, the noble wife trying
all the while to get to her husband. When she succeeds, it is to find
him on his death-bed.
Mary becomes, under Dr. Sevier’s direction a city-missionary. “The work
... seemed to keep John near. Almost, sometimes, he seemed to walk at
her side in her errands of mercy, or to spread above her the arms of
benediction.”--George W. Cable, _Dr. Sevier_ (1888).
=Richmond= (_The duchess of_) wife of Charles Stuart, in the court of
Charles II. The line became extinct, and the title was given to the
Lennox family.--Sir W. Scott, _Perveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles
II.).
_Richmond_ (_The earl of_), Henry of Lancaster.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of
Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).
=Richmond Hill= (_The Lass of_), Miss l’Anson, of Hill House, Richmond,
Yorkshire. Words by M’Nally, music by James Hook, who married the young
lady.
_The Lass of Richmond Hill_ is one of the sweetest ballads in the
language.--John Bell.
=Richmond= (_Kate_). New England girl, heroine of several sketches in
Grace Greenwood’s _Leaves_. “Aside from her beauty and unfailing
cheerfulness, she has a clear, strong intellect, an admirable taste and
an earnest truthfulness of character.”--Grace Greenwood, _Greenwood
Leaves_ (1850).
=Rickets= (_Mabel_), the old nurse of Frank Osbaldistone.--Sir W. Scott,
_Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
=Riderhood= (_Rogue_), the villain in Dickens’s novel of _Our Mutual
Friend_ (1864).
=Rides on the Tempest and Directs the Storm.= Joseph Addison, speaking of
the duke of Marlborough and his famous victories, says that he inspired
the fainting squadrons, and stood unmoved in the shock of battle:
So when an angel by divine command,
With rising tempests shakes a guilty land,
Such as of late o’er pale Britannia past,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast;
And, pleased th’ Almighty’s orders to perform,
Rides on the tempest and directs the storm.
_The Campaign_ (1705).
=Ridicule= (_Father of_). François Rabelais is so styled by Sir Wm. Temple
(1495-1553).
=Ridolphus=, one of the band of adventurers that joined the crusaders. He
was slain by Argantês (bk. vii.)[TN-126]--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_
(1575).
=Rienzi= (_Nicolo Gabrïni_) or COLA DI RIENZI, last of the tribunes, who
assumed the name of “Tribune of Liberty, Peace and Justice”
(1313-1354).
⁂ Cola di Rienzi is the hero of a novel by Lord Bulwer Lytton, entitled
_Rienzi_, or _The Last of the Tribunes_ (1849).
_Rienzi_, an opera by Wagner (1841). It opens with a number of the
Orsini breaking into Rienzi’s house, in order to abduct his sister,
Irēnê, but in this they are foiled by the arrival of the Colonna and his
followers. The outrage provokes a general insurrection, and Rienzi is
appointed leader. The nobles are worsted, and Rienzi becomes a senator;
but the aristocracy hate him, and Paolo Orsini seeks to assassinate him,
but without success. By the machinations of the German emperor and the
Colonna, Rienzi is excommunicated and deserted by all his adherents. He
is ultimately fired on by the populace and killed on the steps of the
capitol.--Libretto by J. P. Jackson.
_Rienzi_ (_The English_), William with the Long Beard, _alias_
Fitzosbert (*-1196).
=Rigaud= (_Mons._), a Belgian, 35 years of age, confined in a villainous
prison at Marseilles, for murdering his wife. He has a hooked nose,
handsome after its kind, but too high between the eyes, and his eyes,
though sharp, were too near to one another. He was, however, a large,
tall man, with thin lips, and a goodly quantity of dry hair shot with
red. When he spoke, his moustache went up under his nose, and his nose
came down over his moustache. After his liberation from prison, he first
took the name of Lagnier, and then of Blandois, his name being Rigaud
Lagnier Blandois.--Charles Dickens, _Little Dorrit_ (1857).
=Rigdum-Funnidos=, a courtier in the palace of King Chrononhotonthologos.
After the death of the king, the widowed queen is advised to marry
again, and Rigdum Funnidos is proposed to her as “a very proper man.” At
this Aldiborontephoscophornio takes umbrage, and the queen says, “Well,
gentlemen, to make matters easy, I’ll have you both.”--H. Carey,
_Chrononhotonthologos_ (1734).
⁂ John Ballantyne, the publisher, was so called by Sir W. Scott. He was
“a quick, active, intrepid little fellow, full of fun and merriment ...
all over quaintness and humorous mimicry.”
=Right-Hitting Brand=, one of the companions of Robin Hood, mentioned by
Mundy.
=Rig´olette= (3 _syl._), a grisette and courtezan.--Eugène Sue, _Mysteries
of Paris_ (1842-3).
_Rigoletto_, an opera, describing the agony of a father obliged to
witness the violation of his own daughter.--Verdi, _Rigoletto_ (1852).
⁂ The libretto of this opera is borrowed from Victor Hugo’s drama _Le
Roi s’Amuse_.
=Rimegap= (_Joe_), one of the miners of Sir Geoffrey Perveril[TN-127] of
the Peak.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).
=Rimini= (_Francesca di_), a woman of extraordinary beauty, daughter of
the lord of Ravenna. She was married to Lanciotto Malatesta, signore of
Rimini, a man of great bravery, but deformed. His brother, Paolo, was
extremely handsome, and with him Francesca fell in love. Lanciotto,
detecting them in criminal intercourse, killed them both (1389).
This tale forms one of the episodes of Dantê’s _Inferno_; is the subject
of a tragedy called _Francesca di Rimini_, by Silvio Pellico (1819); and
Leigh Hunt, about the same time, published his _Story of Rimini_, in
verse.
=Rimmon=, seventh in order of the hierarchy of Hell: (1) Satan, (2)
Beëlzebub, (3) Moloch, (4) Chemos, (5) Thammuz, (6) Dagon, (7) Rimmon,
whose chief temple was at Damascus (2 _Kings_ v. 18).
Him [_Dagon_] followed Rimmon, whose delightful seat
Was fair Damascus on the fertile banks
Of A´bana and Pharpar, lucid streams.
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, i. 467, etc. (1665).
=Rinaldo=, son of the fourth Marquis d’Estê, cousin of Orlando, and nephew
of Charlemagne. He was the rival of Orlando in his love for Angelica,
but Angelica detested him. Rinaldo brought an auxiliary force of English
and Scotch to Charlemagne, which “Silence” conducted safely into
Paris.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
_Rinaldo_, the Achillês of the Christian army in the siege of Jerusalem.
He was the son of Bertoldo and Sophia, but was brought up by Matilda.
Rinaldo joined the crusaders at the age of 15. Being summoned to a
public trial for the death of Gernando, he went into voluntary
exile.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
⁂ Pulci introduces the same character in his burlesque poem entitled
_Morgantê Maggiorê_, which holds up to ridicule the romances of
chivalry.
_Rinaldo_, steward to the countess of Rousillon--Shakespeare, _All’s
Well that Ends Well_ (1598).
=Rinaldo of Montalban=, a knight who had the “honor” of being a public
plunderer. His great exploit was stealing the golden idol of Mahomet.
In this same _Mirror of Knighthood_ we meet with Rinaldo de
Montalban and his companions, with the twelve peers of France, and
Turpin, the historian.... Rinaldo had a broad face, and a pair of
large rolling eyes; his complexion was ruddy, and his disposition
choleric. He was, besides, naturally profligate, and a great
encourager of vagrants.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. i. 1, 6
(1605).
=Ring= (_Dame Liŏnês’s_), a ring given by Dame Lionês to Sir Gareth,
during a tournament.
“That ring,” said Dame Lionês, “increaseth my beauty much more than
it is of itself; and this is the virtue of my ring: that which is
green it will turn to red, and that which is red it will turn
green; that which is blue it will turn white, and that which is
white it will turn blue; and so with all other colors. Also,
whoever beareth my ring can never lose blood.”--Sir T. Malory,
_History of Prince Arthur_, i. 146 (1470).
_Ring_ (_Luned’s_). This ring rendered the wearer invisible. Luned or
Lynet gave it to Owain, one of King Arthur’s knights. Consequently, when
men were sent to kill him he was nowhere to be found, for he was
invisible.
Take this ring, and put it on thy finger, with the stone inside thy
hand; and close thy hand upon the stone; and as long as thou
concealest it, it will conceal thee.--_The Mabinogion_ (“Lady of
the Fountain,” twelfth century).
_Ring_ (_The Steel_), made by Siedel-Beckir. This ring enabled the
wearer to read the secrets of another’s heart.--Comte de Caylus,
_Oriental Tales_ (“The Four Talismans,” 1743).
_Ring_ (_The Talking_), a ring given by Tartaro, the Basque Cyclops, to
a girl whom he wished to marry. Immediately she put it on, it kept
incessantly saying, “You there, and I here;” so, to get rid of the
nuisance, she cut off her finger and threw both ring and finger into a
pond.--Rev. W. Webster, _Basque Legends_, 4 (1876).
The same story appears in Campbell’s _Popular Tales of the West
Highlands_, i. 111, and in Grimm’s tale of _The Robber and His Sons_.
When the robber put on the ring, it incessantly cried out, “Here I am;”
so he bit off his finger, and threw it from him.
_Ring_ (_The Virgin’s Wedding Ring_), kept in the Duomo of Perugia,
under fourteen locks.
=Ring and the Book= (_The_), an idyllic epic, by Robert Browning, founded
on a _cause célèbre_ of Italian history in 1698. The case was this:
Guido Franceschini, a Florentine count of shattered fortune, married
Pompilia, thinking her to be an heiress. When the young bride discovered
that she had been married for her money only, she told her husband she
was no heiress at all, but was only the supposititious child of Pietro
(2 _syl._), supplied by one Violantê, for the sake of keeping in his
hands certain entailed property. The count now treated Pompilia so
brutally that she ran away from home, under the protection of
Caponsacchi, a young priest, and being arrested at Rome, a legal
separation took place. Pompilia sued for a divorce, but, pending the
suit, gave birth to a son. The count now murdered Pietro, Violantê, and
Pompilia, but being taken red-handed, was brought to trial, found
guilty, and executed.
=Ring the Bells Backwards= (_To_), to ring a muffled peal, to lament.
Thus, John Cleveland, wishing to show his abhorrence of the Scotch,
says:
How! Providence! and yet a Scottish crew!...
Ring the bells backwards. I am all on fire;
Not all the buckets in a country quire
Shall quench my rage.
_The Rebel Scot_ (1613-1659).
=Ringdove= (_The Swarthy_). The responses of the oracle of Dodōna, in
Epīros, were made by old women called “pigeons,” who derived their
answers from the cooing of certain doves, the bubbling of a spring, a
rustling of the sacred oak [or _beech_], and the tinkling of a gong or
bell hung in the tree. The women were called pigeons by a play on the
word _pelīæ_, which means “old women” as well as “pigeons;” and as they
came from Libya they were _swarthy_.
According to the fable, Zeus gave his daughter, Thēbê, two black doves
endowed with the gift of human speech; one of them flew into Libya, and
the other into Dodona. The former gave the responses in the temple of
Ammon, and the latter in the oracle of Dodona.
... beach or lime,
Or that Thessalian growth,
In which the swarthy ringdove sat,
And mystic sentence spoke.
Tennyson.
=Ringhorse= (_Sir Robert_), a magistrate at Old St. Ronan’s.--Sir W.
Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).
=Ringwood=, a young Templar.--Sir W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time,
James I.).
=Rintherout= (_Jenny_), a servant at Monkbarns to Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck,
the antiquary.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
=Riou= (_Captain_), called by Nelson “The Gallant and the Good;” fell in
the battle of the Baltic.
Brave hearts! to Britain’s pride
Once so faithful and so true,
On the deck of fame that died,
With the gallant, good Riou.
Campbell, _Battle of the Baltic_ (1777-1844).
=Rip van Winkle= slept twenty years in the Catskill Mountains, of North
America. (See WINKLE.)
Epimenĭdês, the Gnostic, slept for fifty-seven years.
Gyneth slept 500 years, by the enchantment of Merlin.
The seven sleepers slept for 250 years in Mount Celion.