(The following are not dead, but only sleep till the fulness of their
respective times:--Elijah, Endymion, Merlin, King Arthur, Charlemagne,
Frederick Barbarossa and his knights, the three Tells, Desmond of
Kilmallock, Thomas of Erceldoune, Boabdil el Chico, Brian Boroimhe, Knez
Lazar, King Sebastian of Portugal, Olaf Tryggvason, the French slain in
the Sicilian Vespers, and one or two others.)
=Riquet with the Tuft=, the beau-ideal of ugliness, but with the power of
bestowing wit and intelligence on the person he loved best. Riquet fell
in love with a most beautiful woman, as stupid as he was ugly, but
possessing the power of giving beauty to the person she loved best. The
two married, whereupon Riquet gave his bride wit, and she bestowed on
him beauty.--Charles Perrault, _Contes des Fées_ (“Riquet à la Houppe,”
1697).
⁂ This tale is borrowed from the _Nights_ of Straparola. It is imitated
by Mde. Villeneuve in her _Beauty and the Beast_.
=Risingham= (_Bertram_), the vassal of Philip of Mortham. Oswald Wycliffe
induced him to shoot his lord at Marston Moor; and for this deed the
vassal demanded all the gold and movables of his late master. Oswald,
being a villain, tried to outwit Bertram, and even to murder him; but it
turned out that Philip of Mortham,[TN-129] was not killed, neither was
Oswald Wycliffe, his heir, for Redmond O’Neale (Rokeby’s page) was found
to be the son and heir of Philip of Mortham.--Sir W. Scott, _Rokeby_
(1812).
=Ritho= or =Rython=, a giant who had made himself furs of the beards of
kings killed by him. He sent to King Arthur, to meet him on Mount
Aravius, or else to send his beard to him without delay. Arthur met him,
slew him, and took “fur” as a spoil. Drayton says it was this Rython who
carried off Helĕna, the niece of Duke Hoel; but Geoffrey of Monmouth
says that King Arthur, having killed the Spanish giant, told his army
“he had found none so great in strength _since_ he killed the giant
Ritho;” by which it seems that the Spanish giant and Ritho are different
persons, although it must be confessed the scope of the chronicle seems
to favor their identity.--Geoffrey, _British History_, x. 3 (1142).
As how great Rython’s self he [_Arthur_] slew ...
Who ravished Howell’s niece, young Helena, the fair.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).
=Rival Queens= (_The_), Stati´ra and Roxa´na. Statīra was the daughter of
Darīus, and wife of Alexander the Great. Roxana was the daughter of
Oxyartês, the Bactrian; her, also, Alexander married. Roxana stabbed
Statira, and killed her.--N. Lee, _Alexander the Great_, or _The Rival
Queens_ (1678).
=Rivals= (_The_), a comedy by Sheridan (1775). The rivals are Bob Acres
and Ensign Beverley (_alias_ Captain Absolute), and Lydia Languish is
the lady they contend for. Bob Acres tells Captain Absolute that Ensign
Beverley is a booby; and if he could find him out, he’d teach him his
place. He sends a challenge to the unknown, by Sir Lucius O’Trigger, but
objects to forty yards, and thinks thirty-eight would suffice. When he
finds that Ensign Beverley is Captain Absolute, he declines to quarrel
with his friend; and when his second calls him a coward, he fires up and
exclaims, “Coward! Mind, gentlemen, he calls me a ‘coward,’ coward by my
valor!” and when dared by Sir Lucius, he replies, “I don’t mind the word
‘coward;’ ‘coward’ may be said in a joke; but if he called me
‘poltroon,’ ods, daggers and balls----” “Well, sir, what then?” “Why,”
rejoined Bob Acres, “I should certainly think him very ill-bred.” Of
course, he resigns all claim to the lady’s hand.
=River of Juvenescence.= Prester John, in his letter to Manuel Comnēnus,
emperor of Constantinople, says there is a spring at the foot of Mount
Olympus, which changes its flavor hour by hour, both night and day.
Whoever tastes thrice of its waters, will never know fatigue or the
infirmities of age.
=River of Paradise=, St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux (1091-1153).
=Rivers Arise....= In this _Vacation Exercise_, George Rivers (son of Sir
John Rivers of Westerham, in Kent), with nine other freshmen, took the
part of the ten “Predicaments,” while Milton himself performed the part
of “Ens.” Without a doubt, the pun suggested the idea in Milton’s
_Vacation Exercise_ (1627):
Rivers arise; whether thou be the son
Of utmost Tweed, or Ouse, or gulpy Don,
Or Trent, who, like some earthborn giant, spreads
His thirty arms along the indented meads,
Or sullen Mole that runneth underneath,
Or Severn swift, guilty of maiden’s death,
Or rocky Avon, or of sedgy Lee,
Or cooly Tyne, or ancient hallowed Dee,
Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythian’s name,
Or Medway smooth, or royal towered Thame.
=Rivulet Controversy= (_The_) arose against Rev. T. T. Lynch, a
Congregationalist, who, in 1853, had expressed neologian views in _The
Rivulet_, a book of poems.
=Rizzio= (_David_), the private secretary of Marie Stuart, queen of the
Scots, and reputed by her enemies to be her favored lover. He was
murdered in her presence by a gang of conspirators, led by Henry
Darnley, her husband. Poets and musicians have made lavish use of this
episode in the life of the unhappy queen.
=Road to Ruin=, a comedy by Thomas Holcroft (1792). Harry Dornton and his
friend, Jack Milford, are on “the road to ruin,” by their extravagance.
The former brings his father to the eve of bankruptcy; and the latter,
having spent his private fortune, is cast into prison for debt. Sulky, a
partner in the bank, comes forward to save Mr. Dornton from ruin; Harry
advances £6000 to pay his friend’s debts, and thus saves Milford from
ruin; and the father restores the money advanced by Widow Warren to his
son, to save Harry from the ruin of marrying a designing widow instead
of Sophia Freelove, her innocent and charming daughter.
=Roads= (_The king of_), John Loudon Macadam, the improver of roads
(1756-1836).
=Roan Barbary=, the charger of Richard II., which would eat from his
master’s hand.
Oh, how it yearned my heart when I beheld
In London streets, that coronation day,
When Bolingbroke rode on Roan Barbary!
That horse that thou so often hast bestrid;
That horse that I so carefully have dressed!
Shakespeare, _Richard II._ act v. sc. 5 (1597).
=Rob Roy=, published in 1818, excellent for its bold sketches of Highland
scenery. The character of Bailie Nicol Jarvie is one of Scott’s happiest
conceptions; and the carrying of him to the wild mountains among outlaws
and desperadoes is exquisitely comic. The hero, Frank Osbaldistone, is
no hero at all. Dramatized by I. Pocock.
=Rob Roy M’Gregor=, _i.e._ “Robert the Red,” whose surname was MacGregor.
He was an outlaw who assumed the name of Campbell in 1662. He may be
termed the Robin Hood of Scotland. The hero of the novel is Frank
Osbaldistone, who gets into divers troubles, from which he is rescued by
Rob Roy. The last service is to kill Rashleigh Osbaldistone, whereby
Frank’s great enemy is removed; and Frank then marries Diana
Vernon.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
Rather beneath the middle size than above it, his limbs were formed
upon the very strongest model that is consistent with agility....
Two points in his person interfered with the rules of symmetry: his
shoulders were too broad ... and his arms (though round, sinewy and
strong) were so very long as to be rather a deformity.--Ch. xxiii.
=Rob Tally-ho=, Esq., cousin of the Hon. Tom Dashall, the two blades whose
rambles and adventures through the metropolis are related by Pierce Egan
(1821-2).
=Rob the Rambler=, the comrade of Willie Steenson, the blind fiddler.--Sir
W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).
=Robb= (_Duncan_), the grocer near Ellangowan.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy
Mannering_ (time, George II.).
=Robber= (_Alexander’s_). The pirate who told Alexander he was the greater
robber of the two, was Dionĭdês. (See _Evenings at Home_, art.
“Alexander and the Robber.”) The tale is from Cicero:
Nam quum quæreretur ex eo, quo scelere impulsus mare haberet
infestum uno myoparone: eodem, inquit, quo tu orbem terræ.--_De
Repub._, iii. 14 sc. 24.
_Robber_ (_Edward the_). Edward IV. was so called by the Scotch.
=Robert=, father of Marian. He had been a wrecker, and still hankered
after the old occupation. One night a storm arose, and Robert went to
the coast to see what would fall into his hands. A body was washed
ashore, and he rifled it. Marian followed, with the hope of restraining
her father, and saw in the dusk some one strike a dagger into a
prostrate body. She thought it was her father, and when Robert was on
his trial he was condemned to death on his daughter’s evidence. Black
Norris, the real murderer, told her he would save her father if she
would consent to be his wife; she consented, and Robert was acquitted.
On the wedding day her lover, Edward, returned to claim her hand, Norris
was seized as a murderer, and Marian was saved.--S. Knowles, _The
Daughter_ (1836).
_Robert_, a servant of Sir Arthur Wardour, at Knockwinnock Castle.--Sir
W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).
_Robert_ (_Mons._), a neighbor of Sganarelle. Hearing the screams of
Mde. Martine (Sganarelle’s wife), he steps over to make peace between
them, whereupon Madame calls him an impertinent fool, and says if she
chooses to be beaten by her husband it is no affair of his; and
Sganarelle says, “Je la veux battre, si je le veux; et ne la veux pas
battre, si je ne le veux pas;” and beats M. Robert again.--Molière, _Le
Médecin Malgré Lui_ (1666).
=Robert Kent.= Weak, vicious husband of Margaret Kent. Causes trouble all
his life and dies of yellow fever.--Ellen Olney Kirk, _The Story of
Margaret Kent_ (1886).
=Robert Macaire=, a bluff, free-living libertine. His accomplice is
Bertrand, a simpleton and a villain.--Daumier, _L’Auberge des Adrets_.
=Robert, duke of Albany=, brother of Robert III. of Scotland.--Sir W.
Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.)[TN-130]
=Robert, duke of Normandy=, sold his dominions to Rufus for 10,000 marks,
to furnish him with ready money for the crusade, which he joined at the
head of 1000 heavy-armed horse and 1000 light-armed Normans.--Tasso,
_Jerusalem Delivered_ (1575).
=Robert III.= of Scotland, introduced by Sir W. Scott in the _Fair Maid of
Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
=Robert le Diable=, son of Bertha and Bertramo. Bertha was the daughter of
Robert, duke of Normandy, and Bertramo was a fiend in the guise of a
knight. The opera shows the struggle in Robert between the virtue
inherited from his mother and the vice inherited from his father. His
father allures him to gamble till he loses everything, and then claims
his soul, but his foster-sister, Alice, counterplots the fiend, and
rescues Robert by reading to him his mother’s will.--Meyerbeer, _Roberto
il Diavolo_ (libretto by Scribe, 1831).
⁂ Robert le Diable was the hero of an old French metrical romance
(thirteenth century). This romance in the next century was thrown into
prose. There is a miracle-play on the same subject.
=Robert of Paris= (_Count_), one of the crusading princes. The chief hero
of this novel is Hereward (3 _syl._), one of the Varangian guard of the
Emperor Alexius Comnēnus. He and the count fight a single combat with
battle-axes; after which Hereward enlists under the count’s banner, and
marries Bertha, also called Agatha.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of
Paris_ (time, Rufus).
=Robert Penfold.= Hero of Foul Play, by Charles Reade. He is foully
wronged by Arthur Wardlaw, who forges his father’s name on a note with
Penfold’s endorsement. Penfold is found guilty and imprisoned. After his
release, he takes passage in the ship with Helen Rolleston, Wardlaw’s
betrothed. Penfold also loves her, but hopelessly. They are wrecked and
cast upon an island in company, and for several months are the only
residents. After their rescue and return home, the truth is made
manifest, Robert is vindicated, and marries Helen. His aliases are James
Seaton and John Hazel.
=Robert the Devil=, or =Robert the Magnificent=, Robert I., duke of
Normandy, father of William “the Conqueror” (*, 1028-1035).
Robert François Damiens, who tried to assassinate Louis XV., was
popularly so called (*, 1714-1757).
=Robert of Lincoln.= The saucy songster is an especial favorite with
American poets. Bryant does not disdain to write a long poem that has
him as the theme.
“Merrily singing on briar and reed,
Near to the nest of his little dame,
Over the mountain-side or mead,
Robert of Lincoln is telling his name:
‘Bob-o’-link, bob-o’-link!
Spink, spank, spink!
Snug and safe is that nest of ours,
Hidden among the summer flowers,
Cha! cha! cha!’”
William Cullen Bryant, _Poems_.
=Roberts=, cash-keeper of Master George Heriot, the king’s goldsmith.--Sir
W. Scott, _Fortunes of Nigel_ (time, James I.).
_Roberts_ (_John_), a smuggler.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time,
George III.).
=Robespierre’s Weavers=, the fish-fags and their rabble female followers
of the very lowest class, partisans of Robespierre in the first French
Revolution.
=Robin=, the page of Sir John Falstaff.--Shakespeare, _Merry Wives of
Windsor_ (1601).
_Robin_, servant of Captain Rovewell, whom he helps in his love
adventure with Arethusa, daughter of Argus.--Carey, _Contrivances_
(1715).
_Robin_, brother-in-law of Farmer Crop, of Cornwall. Having lost his
property through the villainy of Lawyer Endless, he emigrates, and in
three years returns. The ship is wrecked off the coast of Cornwall and
Robin saves Frederick, the young squire. On landing, he meets his old
sweetheart, Margaretta, at Crop’s house, and the acquaintance is renewed
by mutual consent.--P. Hoare, _No Song no Supper_ (1790).
_Robin_, a young gardener, fond of the minor theatres, where he has
picked up a taste for sentimental fustian, but all his rhapsodies bear
upon his trade. Thus, when Wilhelmina asks why he wishes to dance with
her, he replies:
Ask the plants why they love a shower; ask the sunflower why it
loves the sun; ask the snowdrop why it is white; ask the violet why
it is blue; ask the trees why they blossom; the cabbages why they
grow. ’Tis all because they can’t help it; no more can I help my
love for you.--C. Didbin, _The Waterman_, i. (1774).
_Robin_ (_Old_), butler to old Mr. Ralph Morton, of Milnwood.--Sir W.
Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).
=Robin Bluestring.= Sir Robert Walpole was so called, in allusion to his
blue ribbon as a knight of the garter (1676-1745).
=Robin des Bois.= Mysterious rover of the woods in _Freischütz_, also in
Eugène Sue’s novels--“a bug-a-boo!”
=Robin Gray= (_Auld_). The words of this song are by Lady Anne Lindsay,
daughter of the earl of Balcarres; she was afterwards Lady Barnard. The
song was written, in 1772, to an old Scotch tune called _The Bridegroom
Grat when the Sun gaed Down_. (See GRAY.)
=Robin Hood= was born at Locksley, in Notts., in the reign of Henry II.
(1160). His real name was Fitzooth, and it is commonly said that he was
the earl of Huntingdon. Having outrun his fortune, and being outlawed,
he lived as a freebooter in Barnsdale (Yorkshire), Sherwood (Notts.),
and Plompton Park (Cumberland). His chief companions were Little John
(whose name was _Nailor_), William Scadlock (or _Scarlet_), George
Green, the pinder (or pound-keeper) of Wakefield, Much, a miller’s son,
and Tuck, a friar, with one woman, Maid Marian. His company at one time
consisted of a hundred archers. He was bled to death in his old age by
his sister, the Prioress of Kirkley’s Nunnery, in Yorkshire, November
18, 1247, aged 87 years.
⁂ An excellent sketch of Robin Hood is given by Drayton in his
_Polyolbion_, xxvi. Sir W. Scott introduces him in two novels--_Ivanhoe_
and _The Talisman_. In the former he first appears as Locksley, the
archer, at the tournament. He is also called “Dickon Bend-the-Bow.”
The following dramatic pieces have the famous outlaw for the hero:
_Robin Hood_, i. (1597), Munday; _Robin Hood_, ii. (1598), Chettle;
_Robin Hood_ (1741), an opera, by Dr. Arne and Burney; _Robin Hood_
(1787), an opera by O’Keefe, music by Shield; _Robin Hood_, by Macnally
(before 1820).
Major tells us that this famous robber took away the goods of rich men
only; never killed any person except in self-defence; never plundered
the poor, but charitably fed them; and adds, “he was the most humane and
the prince of all robbers.”--_Britanniæ Historia_, 128 (1740).
The abbot of St. Mary’s, in York, and the sheriff at Nottingham were his
_bêtês noires_. Munday and Chettle wrote a popular play in 1601,
entitled _The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington_.
_Epitaph of Robin Hood._
Hear undernead dis laitl stean
Laiz robert earl of Huntingtun.
Near arcir ver az hie sa geud,
An pipl kauld im robin heud.
Sick utlawz az hi an iz men
Vil england nivr si agen.
Obiit 24 (? 14) kal dekembris, 1247.
Dr. Gale (dean of York).
_Robin Hood’s Fat Friar_ was Friar Tuck.
_Robin Hood’s Men_, outlaws, freebooters.
There came sodainly twelve men all appareled in short cotes of
Kentish Kendal [_green_] ... every one of them ... like outlaws or
Robyn Hodes men.--Hall (_fo._ lvi. _b_).
=Robin Redbreast.= One tradition is that the robin pecked a thorn out of
the crown of thorns when Christ was on His way to Calvary, and the blood
which issued from the wound, falling on the bird, dyed its breast red.
Another tradition is that it carries in its bill dew to those shut up in
the burning lake, and its breast is red from being scorched by the fire
of Gehenna.
He brings cool dew in his little bill,
And lets it fall on the souls of sin;
You can see the mark on his red breast still,
Of fires that scorch as he drops it in.
J. G. Whittier, _The Robin_.
=Robin Redbreasts=, Bow Street officers. So called from their red vests.
=Robin Roughhead=, a poor cottager and farm laborer, the son of Lord
Lackwit. On the death of his lordship, Robin Roughhead comes into the
title and estates. This brings out the best qualities of his
heart--liberality, benevolence and honesty. He marries Dolly, to whom he
was already engaged, and becomes the good genius of the peasantry on his
estate.--Allingham, _Fortune’s Frolic_.
=Robin and Makyne= (2 _syl._), an old Scotch pastoral. Robin is a
shepherd, for whom Makyne sighs, but he turns a deaf ear to her, and she
goes home to weep. In time, Robin sighs for Makyne, but she replies, “He
who wills not when he may, when he wills he shall have nay.”--Percy,
_Reliques, etc._, II.
=Robin of Bagshot=, _alias_ Gordon, _alias_ Bluff Bob, _alias_ Carbuncle,
_alias_ Bob Booty, one of Macheath’s gang of thieves, and a favorite of
Mrs. Peachum’s.--Gay, _The Beggar’s Opera_ (1727).
=Robins= (_Zerubbabel_), in Cromwell’s troop.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_
(time, Commonwealth).
=Robinson Cru´soe= (2 _syl._), a tale by Daniel Defoe. Robinson Crusoe ran
away from home, and went to sea. Being wrecked, he led for many years a
solitary existence on an uninhabited island of the tropics, and relieved
the weariness of life by numberless contrivances. At length he met a
human being, a young Indian, whom he saved from death on a Friday. He
called him his “man Friday,” and made him his companion and servant.
Defoe founded this story on the adventures of Alexander Selkirk,
sailing-master of the _Cinque Ports Galley_, who was left by Captain
Stradling on the desolate island of Juan Fernandez for four years and
four months (1704-1709), when he was rescued by Captain Woodes Rogers
and brought to England.
=Robsart= (_Amy_), countess of Leicester. She was betrothed to Edmund
Tressilian. When the earl falls into disgrace at court for marrying Amy,
Richard Varney loosens a trap-door at Cumnor Place; and Amy, rushing
forward to greet her husband, falls into the abyss and is killed.
_Sir Hugh Robsart_, of Lidcote Hall, father of Amy.--Sir W. Scott,
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).
=Roc=, a white bird of enormous size. Its strength is such that it will
lift up an elephant from the ground and carry it to its mountain nest,
where it will devour it. In the _Arabian Nights’ Entertainments_, it
was a roc which carried Sindbad the sailor from the island on which he
had been deserted by his companions (“Second Voyage”). And it was a roc
which carried Agib from the castle grounds of the ten young men who had
lost their right eyes (“The Third Calender’s Story”). Sindbad says one
claw of the roc is as “big as the trunk of a large tree,” and its egg is
“fifty paces [_150 feet_] in circumference.”
⁂ The “rukh” of Madagascar, lays an egg equal to 148 hen’s eggs.--_Comptes
Rendus_, etc., xxxii. 101 (1851).
=Rocco=, the jailer sent with Fidelio (_Leonora_) to dig the grave of
Fernando Florestan (_q.v._)[TN-131]--Beethoven, _Fidelio_ (1791).
=Roch´dale= (_Sir Simon_), of the manor-house. He is a J.P., but refuses
to give justice to Job Thornberry, the old brazier, who demands that his
son, Frank Rochdale, should marry Mary [Thornberry], whom he has
seduced. At this crisis, Peregrine appears, and tells Sir Simon he is
the elder brother, and, as such, is heir to the title and estates.
_Frank Rochdale_, son of the baronet, who has promised to marry Mary
Thornberry, but Sir Simon wants him to marry Lady Caroline Braymore, who
has £4000 a year. Lady Caroline marries the Hon. Tom Shuffleton, and
Frank makes the best reparation he can by marrying Mary.--G. Colman,
Jr., _John Bull_ (1805).
=Roche’s Bird= (_Sir Boyle_), which was “in two places at the same time.”
The tale is that Sir Boyle Roche said in the House of Commons, “Mr.
Speaker, it is impossible I could have been in two places at once,
unless I were a bird.” This is a quotation from Jevon’s play, _The Devil
of a Wife_ (seventeenth century).
_Wife._ I cannot be in two places at once.
_Husband_ (Rowland). Surely no, unless thou wert a bird.
=Rochecliffe= (_Dr. Anthony_), formerly Joseph Albany, a plotting
royalist.--Sir W. Scott, _Woodstock_ (time, commonwealth).
=Rochester= (_The earl of_), the favorite of Charles II., introduced in
high feather by Sir W. Scott in _Woodstock_, and in _Peveril of the
Peak_ in disgrace.
_Rochester_ (_Edward_). Brusque, cynical lover of _Jane Eyre_. Having
married in his early youth a woman who disgraces him and then goes
crazy, he shuts her up at Thornhill, and goes abroad. He returns to find
a governess there in charge of his child-ward; falls in love with her,
and would marry her, but for the discovery of his insane wife. _Jane
Eyre_ leaves him, and is lost to him until he is almost blind from
injuries received in trying to rescue his wife from burning Thornhill.
_Jane_ marries and ministers unto him.--Charlotte Bronté, _Jane Eyre_
(1847).
=Rock= (_Dr. Richard_), a famous quack, who professed to cure every
disease. He was short of stature and fat, wore a white three-tailed wig,
nicely combed and frizzed upon each cheek, carried a cane, and halted in
his gait.
Dr. Rock, F.U.N., never wore a hat.... He and Dr. Franks were at
variance.... Rock cautioned the world to beware of bog-trotting
quacks, while Franks called his rival “Dumplin’ Dick.” Head of
Confucius, what profanation!--Goldsmith, _Citizen of the World_
(1759).
Oh! when his nerves had received a shock,
Sir Isaac Newton might have gone to Rock.
Crabbe, _Borough_ (1810).
=Rocket.= _He rose like a rocket, and fell like the stick._ Thomas Paine
said this of Mr. Burke.
=Roderick=, the thirty-fourth and last of the Gothic kings of Spain, son
of Theod´ofred and Rusilla. Having violated Florinda, daughter of Count
Julian, he was driven from his throne by the Moors, and assumed the garb
of a monk with the name of “Father Maccabee.” He was present at the
great battle of Covadonga, in which the Moors were cut to pieces, but
what became of him afterwards no one knows. His helm, sword, and cuirass
were found, so was his steed. Several generations passed away, when, in
a hermitage near Viseu, a tomb was discovered, “which bore in ancient
characters King Roderick’s name;” but imagination must fill up the gap.
He is spoken of as most popular.
Time has been
When not a tongue within the Pyrenees
Dared whisper in dispraise of Roderick’s name,
Lest, if the conscious air had caught the sound,
The vengeance of the honest multitude
Should fall upon the traitorous head, and brand
For life-long infamy the lying lips.
Southey, _Roderick, etc._, xv. (1814).
_Roderick’s Dog_ was called Theron.
_Roderick’s Horse_ was Orel´io.
_Roderick_ (_The Vision of Don_). Roderick, the last of the Gothic kings
of Spain, descended into an ancient vault near Toledo. This vault was
similar to that in Greece, called the cave of Triphōnios, where was an
oracle. In the vault Roderick saw a vision of Spanish history from his
own reign to the beginning of the nineteenth century. _Period I._ The
invasion of the Moors, with his own defeat and death. _Period II._ The
Augustine age of Spain, and their conquests in the two Indies. _Period
III._ The oppression of Spain by Bonaparte, and its succor by British
aid.--Sir W. Scott, _The Vision of Don Roderick_ (1811).
=Roderick Dhu=, an outlaw and chief of a banditti, which resolved to win
back the spoil of the “Saxon spoiler.” Fitz-James, a Saxon, met him and
knew him not. He asked the Saxon why he was roaming unguarded over the
mountains, and Fitz-James replied that he had sworn to combat with
Roderick, the rebel, till death laid one of them prostrate. “Have, then,
thy wish!” exclaimed the stranger, “for I am Roderick Dhu.” As he spoke,
the whole place bristled with armed men. Fitz-James stood with his back
against a rock, and cried, “Come one, come all, this rock shall fly from
its firm base as soon as I.” Roderick, charmed with his daring, waved
his hand, and all the band disappeared as mysteriously as they had
appeared. Roderick then bade the Saxon fight, “For,” said he, “that
party will prove victorious which first slays an enemy.” “Then,” replied
Fitz-James, “thy cause is hopeless, for Red Murdock is slain already.”
They fought, however, and Roderick was slain (canto v.).--Sir W. Scott,
_The Lady of the Lake_ (1810).
=Roderick Random=, a child of impulse, and a selfish libertine. His
treatment of Strap is infamous and most heartless.--Smollett, _Roderick
Random_ (1748).
=Rod´erigo= or =Roderi´go= (3 _syl._), a Venetian gentleman, in love with
Desdemona. When Desdemona eloped with Othello, Roderigo hated the “noble
Moor,” and Ia´go took advantage of this temper for his own base
ends.--Shakespeare, _Othello_ (1611).
Roderigo’s suspicious credulity and impatient submission to the
cheats which he sees practised on him, and which, by persuasion, he
suffers to be repeated, exhibit a strong picture of a weak mind
betrayed by unlawful desires to a false friend.--Dr. Johnson.
=Rodilardus=, a huge cat, which attacked Panurge, and which he mistook for
“a young, soft-chinned devil.” The word means “gnaw-lard” (Latin,
_rodĕre lardum_).--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iv. 67 (1545).
⁂ The[TN-132] marquis de Carabas.” (See PUSS IN BOOTS.)
=Rodrigo=, king of Spain, conquered by the Moors. He saved his life by
flight, and wandered to Guadaletê, where he begged food of a shepherd,
and gave him in recompense his royal chain and ring. A hermit bade him,
in penance, retire to a certain tomb full of snakes and toads, where,
after three days, the hermit found him unhurt; so, going to his cell, he
passed the night in prayer. Next morning, Rodrigo cried aloud to the
hermit, “They eat me now; I feel the adder’s bite.” So his sin was
atoned for, and he died.
⁂ This Rodrigo is Roderick, the last of the Goths.
_Rodrigo_, rival of Pe´dro, “the pilgrim,” and captain of a band of
outlaws.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Pilgrim_ (1621).
=Rodri´go de Mondragon= (_Don_), a bully and tyrant, the self-constituted
arbiter of all disputes in a tennis-court of Valladolid.
Don Rodrigo de Mondragon was about 30 years of age, of an ordinary
make, but lean and muscular; he had two little twinkling eyes that
rolled in his head, and threatened everybody he looked at; a very
flat nose, placed between red whiskers that curled up to his very
temples; and a manner of speaking so rough and passionate that his
words struck terror into everybody.--Lesage, _Gil Bias_, ii. 5
(1715).
=Rodhaver=, the sweetheart of Zal, a Persian. Zal being about to scale
her bower, she let down her long tresses to assist him, but Zal managed
to fix his crook into a projecting beam, and thus made his way to the
lady of his devotion.--Champion, _Ferdosi_.
=Rodman= (_Keeper, The_), an ex-colonel of the Federal army, who has
become the keeper of a national cemetery at the south. “At sunrise, the
keeper ran up the stars and stripes, and ... he had taken money from his
own store to buy a second flag for stormy weather, so that, rain or not,
the colors should float over the dead.... It was simply a sense of the
fitness of things.” He deviates so far from his rule as to fall in love
with a Southern girl, whose nearest relative he has nursed through his
last illness. She despises him as a Yankee too much to suspect this; she
will not even write her name as a visitor to the National Cemetery. She
goes to Tennessee to teach school, and Rodman offers to buy the uprooted
vines discarded by the new owner of her cottage. “Wuth about twenty-five
cents, I guess,” said the Maine man, handing them over.--Constance
Fenimore Woolson (1880).
=Rodmond=, chief mate of the _Brittania_, son of a Northumbrian, engaged
in the coal trade; a hardy, weather-beaten seaman, uneducated,
“boisterous of manners,” and regardless of truth, but tender-hearted. He
was drowned when the ship struck on Cape Colonna, the most southern
point of Attica.
Unskilled to argue, in dispute yet loud,
Bold without caution, without honors proud,
In art unschooled, each veteran rule he prized,
And all improvement haughtily despised.
Falconer, _The Shipwreck_, i. (1756).
=Ro´dogune=, =Rhodogune=, or =Rho´dogyne= (3 _syl._), daughter of
Phraa´tês, king of Parthia. She married Deme´trius Nica´nor (the
husband of Cleopat´ra, queen of Syria) while in captivity.
⁂ P. Corneille has a tragedy on the subject entitled _Rodogune_ (1646).
=Rodolfo= (_Il conte_). It is in the bedchamber of this count that Ami´na
is discovered the night before her espousal to Elvi´no. Ugly suspicion
is excited, but the count assures the young farmer that Amina walks in
her sleep. While they are talking Amina is seen to get out of a window
and walk along a narrow edge of the mill-roof while the huge wheel is
rapidly revolving. She crosses a crazy bridge, and walks into the very
midst of the spectators. In a few minutes she awakens and flies to the
arms of her lover.--Bellini, _La Sonnambula_ (opera, 1831).
=Rodomont=, king of Sarza or Algiers. He was Ulien’s son, and called the
“Mars of Africa.” His lady-love was Dor´alis, princess of Grana´da, but
she eloped with Mandricardo, king of Tartary. At Rogero’s wedding
Rodomont accused him of being a renegade and traitor, whereupon they
fought, and Rodomont was slain.--_Orlando Innamorato_ (1495); and
_Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
Who so meek? I’m sure I quake at the very thought of him; why, he’s
as fierce as Rodomont!--Dryden, _Spanish Fryar_, v. 2 (1680).
⁂ Rodomontade (4 _syl._), from Rodomont, a bragging although a brave
knight.
=Rogel of Greece= (_The Exploits and Adventures of_), part of the series
called _Le Roman des Romans_, pertaining to “Am´adis of Gaul.” This part
was added by Feliciano de Silva.
=Roger=, the cook who “cowde roste, sethe, broille, and frie, make
mortreux, and wel bake a pye.”--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (1388).
_Roger_ (_Sir_), curate to “The Scornful Lady” (no name
given).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Scornful Lady_ (1616).
=Roger Armstrong=, clerical lover of Faith Gartney, and her preferred
suitor.--A. D. T. Whitney, _Faith Gartney’s Girlhood_.
=Roger Bontemps=, the personation of contentment with his station in life,
and of the buoyancy of good hope. “There’s a good time coming, John.”
Vous pauvres, pleins d’enviè;
Vous rich, désireux;
Vous dont le char dévie
Après un cours heureux;
Vous qui perdrez peut-être
Des titres éclatans;
Eh! gai! prenez pour maitre
Le gros Roger Bontemps.
Béranger (1780-1856).
Ye poor, with envy goaded;
Ye rich, for more who long;
Ye who by fortune loaded
Find all things going wrong;
Ye who by some disaster
See all your cables break;
From henceforth, for your master
Sleek Roger Bontemps take.
=Roger Chillingworth=, deformed husband of Hester Prynne. He returns to
Boston from a long sojourn with the Indians, and sees his wife in the
pillory with a baby--not his--in her arms. From that instant he sets
himself to work to discover the name of her seducer, and, suspecting
Arthur Dimmesdale, attaches himself to the oft-ailing clergyman as his
medical attendant. He it is who first suspects the existence of the
cancer that is devouring the young clergyman’s life, and when the
horrible thing is revealed, kneels by the dying man with the bitter
whisper, “Thou hast escaped me!”--Nathaniel Hawthorne, _The Scarlet
Letter_ (1850).
=Roger de Coverley= (_Sir_), an hypothetical baronet of Coverley or
Cowley, near Oxford.--Addison, _The Spectator_ (1711, 1712, 1714).
⁂ The prototype of this famous character was Sir John Pakington, seventh
baronet of the line.
=Roge´ro=, brother of Marphi´sa; brought up by Atlantês, a magician. He
married Brad´amant, the niece of Charlemagne. Rogero was converted to
Christianity, and was baptized. His marriage with Bradamant and his
election to the crown of Bulgaria concludes the poem.--Ariosto, _Orlando
Furioso_ (1516).
Who more brave than Rodomont? who more courteous than
Rogero?--Cervantês, _Don Quixote_, I. i. (1605).
_Rogero_, son of Roberto Guiscardo, the Norman. Slain by
Tisaphernês.--Tasso, _Jerusalem Delivered_, xx. (1575).
_Rogero_ (3 _syl._), a gentleman of Sicilia.--Shakespeare, _The Winter’s
Tale_ (1604).
⁂ This is one of those characters which appear in the _dramatis
personæ_, but are never introduced in the play. Rogero not only does not
utter a word--he does not even enter the stage all through the drama. In
the Globe edition his name is omitted. (See VIOLENTA.)
=Rogers= (_Mr._), illiterate, tender-hearted, great-souled old father of
_Louisiana_. When she begs his pardon for having been ashamed of, and
having disowned him, he tells her, “It’s _you_ as should be a-forgivin’
_me_ ... I hadn’t done ye no sort o’ justice in the world, an’ never
could.”--Frances Hodgson Burnett, _Louisiana_ (1880).
=Roget=, the pastoral name of George Wither in the four “eglogues” called
_The Shepheards Hunting_ (1615). The first and last “eglogues” are
dialogues between Roget and Willy, his young friend; in the second
pastoral Cuddy is introduced, and in the third Alexis makes a fourth
character. The subject of the first three is the reason of Roget’s
imprisonment, which, he says, is a hunt that gave great offence. This
hunt is in reality a satire called _Abuses Stript and Whipt_. The fourth
pastoral has for its subject Roget’s love of poetry.
⁂ “Willy” is his friend, William Browne, of the Inner Temple (two years
his junior), author of _Britannia’s Pastorals_.
=Roi Panade= (“_king of slops_”), Louis XVIII. (1755, 1814-1824).
=Roister Doister= (_Ralph_), a vain, thoughtless, blustering fellow, in
pursuit of Custance, a rich widow, but baffled in his endeavor.--Nicholas
Udall, _Ralph Roister Doister_ (the first English comedy, 1534).
=Rokesmith= (_John_), _alias_ JOHN HARMON, secretary of Mr. Boffin. He
lodged with the Wilfers, and ultimately married Bella Wilfer. John
Rokesmith is described as “a dark gentleman, 30 at the utmost, with an
expressive, one might say, a handsome face.”--Dickens, _Our Mutual
Friend_ (1864).
⁂ For solution of the mystery, see vol. I. ii. 13.
=Ro´land=, count of Mans and knight of Blaives. His mother, Bertha, was
Charlemagne’s sister. Roland is represented as brave, devotedly loyal,
unsuspicious, and somewhat too easily imposed npon.[TN-133] He was eight
feet high, and had an open countenance. In Italian romance he is called
Orlan´do. He was slain in the valley of Roncesvalles as he was leading
the rear of his uncle’s army from Spain to France. Charlemagne himself
had reached St. Jean Pied de Port at the time, heard the blast of his
nephew’s horn, and knew it announced treachery, but was unable to render
him assistance (A.D. 778).
Roland is the hero of Théroulde’s _Chanson de Roland_; of Turpin’s
_Chronique_; of Bojardo’s _Orlando Innamorato_; of Ariosto’s _Orlando
Furioso_; of Piccini’s opera called _Roland_ (1778); etc.
_Roland’s Horn_, Olivant or Olifant. It was won from the giant Jatmund,
and might be heard at the distance of thirty miles. Birds fell dead at
its blast, and the whole Saracen army drew back in terror when they
heard it. So loud it sounded, that the blast reached from Roncesvallês
to St. Jean Pied de Port, a distance of several miles.
Roland lifts Olifant to his month and blows it with all his might.
The mountains around are lofty, but high above them the sound of
the horn arises [_at the third blast, it split in twain_].--_Song
of Roland_ (as sung by Taillefer, at the battle of Hastings). See
Warton, _History of English Poetry_, v. I, sect. iii. 132 (1781).
_Roland’s Horse_, Veillantif, called in Italian _Velian´tino_ (“the
little vigilant one”).
In Italian romance, Orlando has another horse, called Brigliado´ro
(“golden bridle”).
_Roland’s Spear._ Visitors are shown a spear in the cathedral of Pa´via,
which they are told belonged to Roland.
_Roland’s Sword_, Duran´dal, made by the fairies. To prevent its falling
into the hands of the enemy, when Roland was attacked in the valley of
Roncesvallês, he smote a rock with it, and it made in the solid rock a
fissure some 300 feet in depth, called to this day _La Brêche de
Roland_.
Then would I seek the Pyrenean breach,
Which Roland clove with huge two-handed sway,
And to the enormous labor left his name.
Wordsworth.
⁂ A sword is shown at Rocamadour, in the department of Lot (France),
which visitors are assured was Roland’s _Durandal_. But the romances
says that Roland, dying, threw his sword into a poisoned stream.
_Death of Roland._ There is a tradition that Roland escaped the general
slaughter in the defile of Roncesvallês, and died of starvation while
trying to make his way across the mountains.--John de la Bruiere
Champier, _De Cibaria_, xvi. 5.
_Died like Roland_, died of thirst.
Nonnulli qui de Gallicis rebus historias conscripserunt, non
dubitarunt posteris significare Rolandum Caroli illius magni
sororis filium, verum certe bellica gloria omnique fortitudine
nobillissimum, post ingentem Hispanorum cædem prope Pyrenæi saltus
juga, ubi insidiæ ab hoste collocatæ fuerint, siti miserrime
extinctum. Inde nostri intolerabili siti et immiti volentes
significare se torqueri, facete aiunt “Rolandi morte se
perire.”--John de la Bruiere Champier, _De Cibaria_, xvi. 5.
_Roland_ (_The Roman_). Sicinius Dentātus is so called by Niebuhr. He is
not unfrequently called “The Roman Achillês” (put to death B.C. 450).
=Roland Blake.= Hero of a war-novel of the same name.--Silas Weir
Mitchell, M.D. (1886).
=Roland and Oliver=, the two most famous of the twelve paladins of
Charlemagne. To give a “Roland for an Oliver” is to give tit for tat, to
give another as good a drubbing as you receive.
Froissart, a countryman of ours [_the French_] records,
England all Olivers and Rowlands bred
During the time Edward the Third did reign.
Shakespeare, 1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 2 (1589).
=Roland de Vaux= (_Sir_), baron of Triermain, who wakes Gyneth from her
long sleep of 500 years, and marries her.--Sir W. Scott, _Bridal of
Triermain_ (1813).
=Rolando= (_Signor_), a common railer against women, but brave, of a
“happy wit and independent spirit.” Rolando swore to marry no woman, but
fell in love with Zam´ora, and married her, declaring “that she was no
woman, but an angel.”--J. Tobin, _The Honeymoon_ (1804).
The resemblance between Rolando and Benedick will instantly occur to the
mind.
=Rolandseck Tower=, opposite the Drachenfels. Roland was engaged to Aude,
daughter of Sir Gerard and Lady Guibourg; but the lady, being told that
Roland had been slain by Angoulaffre, the Saracen, retired to a convent.
The paladin returned home full of glory, having slain the Saracen, and
when he heard that his lady-love had taken the veil, he built Rolandseck
Castle, which overlooks the convent, that he might at least _see_ the
lady to whom he could never be united. After the death of Aude, Roland
“sought the battle-field again, and fell at Roncevall.”--Campbell, _The
Brave Roland_.
=Roldan=, “El encantado,” Roldan made invulnerable by enchantment. The
cleft “Roldan,” in the summit of a high mountain in the kingdom of
Valencia, was so called because it was made by a single back-stroke of
Roldan’s sword. The character is in two Spanish romances, authors
unknown.--_Bernardo del Carpio_ and _Roncesvalles_.
This book [_Rinaldo de Montalban_], and all others written on
French matters, shall be deposited in some dry place ... except one
called _Bernardo del Carpio_, and another called _Roncesvalles_,
which shall certainly accompany the rest on the
bonfire.--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, I. i. 6 (1605).
=Rolla=, kinsman of the Inca Atali´ba, and the idol of the army. “In war a
tiger chafed by the hunters’ spears; in peace more gentle than the
unweaned lamb” (act i. 1). A firm friend and most generous foe. Rolla is
wounded in his attempt to rescue the infant child of Alonzo from the
Spaniards, and dies. His grand funeral procession terminates the
drama.--Sheridan, _Pizarro_ (altered from Kotzebue, 1799).
=Rolleston= (_General_), father of Helen, in _Foul Play_, by Charles
Reade.
=Rollo=, duke of Normandy, called “The Bloody Brother.” He caused the
death of his brother, Otto, and slew several others, some out of mere
wantonness.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Bloody Brother_ (1639).
=Rollo=, boy who is the hero of Jacob Abbott’s celebrated and delightful
“_Rollo Books_,” embracing _Rollo Learning to Read_, _Rollo Learning to
Work_, _Rollo at School_, _Rollo’s Vacation_, etc., etc. (1840-1857).
=Roman= (_The_), Jean Dumont, the French painter, _Le Romain_ (1700-1781).
Stephen Picart, the French engraver, _Le Romain_ (1631-1721).
Giulio Pippi, called _Giulio Romano_ (1492-1546).
Adrian von Roomen, mathematician, _Adriānus Romānus_ (1561-1615).
=Roman Achillês=, Sicinius Dentātus (slain R.C.[TN-134] 450).
=Roman Brevity.= Cæsar imitated laconic brevity when he announced to
Amintius his victory at Zela, in Asia Minor, over Pharna´cês, son of
Mithridatês; _Veni, vidi, vici._
_Poins._ I will imitate the honorable Roman in
brevity.--Shakespeare, 2 _Henry IV._ act ii. sc. 2 (1598).
Sir Charles Napier is credited with a far more laconic despatch, on
making himself master of Scinde, in 1843. Taking possession of
Hyderabad, and outflanking Shere Mohammed by a series of most brilliant
manœuvres, he is said to have written home this punning despatch:
_Peccāvi_ (“I have sinned” [Scinde]).
=Roman Father= (_The_), Horatius, father of the Horatii and of Horatia.
The story of the tragedy is the well-known Roman legend about the
Horatii and Curiatii. Horatius rejoices that his three sons have been
selected to represent Rome, and sinks the affection of the father in
love for his country. Horatia is the betrothed of Caius Curiatius, but
is also beloved by Valerius, and when the Curiatii are selected to
oppose her three brothers, she sends Valerius to him with a scarf, to
induce him to forego the fight. Caius declines, and is slain. Horatia is
distracted; they take from her every instrument of death, and therefore
she resolves to provoke her surviving brother, Publius, to kill her.
Meeting him in his triumph, she rebukes him for murdering her lover,
scoffs at his “patriotism,” and Publius kills her. Horatius now resigns
Publius to execution for murder, but the king and Roman people rescue
him.--W. Whitehead (1741).
⁂ Corneille has a drama on the same subject, called _Les Horaces_
(1639).
=Roman des Romans= (_Le_), a series of prose romances connected with
Am´adis, of Gaul. So called by Gilbert Saunier.
=Romans= (_Last of the_), Rienzi, the tribune (1310-1354).
Charles James Fox (1749-1806).
Horace Walpole, _Ultimus Romanorum_ (1717-1797).
Caius Cassius was so called by Brutus.
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow.
Shakespeare, _Julius Cæsar_, act v. sc. 3. (1607).
_Romans_ (_Most Learned of the_), Marcus Terentius Varro (B.C. 116-28).
=Romance of the Rose=, a poetical allegory, begun by Guillaume di Lorris
in the latter part of the thirteenth century, and continued by Jean de
Meung in the former half of the fourteenth century. The poet dreams that
Dame Idleness conducts him to the palace of Pleasure, where he meets
Love, whose attendant maidens are Sweet-looks, Courtesy, Youth, Joy, and
Competence, by whom he is conducted to a bed of roses. He singles out
one, when an arrow from Love’s bow stretches him fainting on the ground,
and he is carried off. When he comes to himself, he resolves, if
possible, to find his rose, and Welcome promises to aid him; Shyness,
Fear, and Slander obstruct him; and Reason advises him to give up the
quest. Pity and Kindness show him the object of his search; but Jealousy
seizes Welcome, and locks her in Fear Castle. Here the original poem
ends. The sequel, somewhat longer than the twenty-four books of Homer’s
_Iliad_, takes up the tale from this point.
=Roma´no=, the old monk who took pity on Roderick in his flight (viii.),
and went with him for refuge to a small hermitage on the sea-coast,
where they remained for twelve months, when the old monk died.--Southey,
_Roderick, The Last of the Goths_, i., ii. (1841).
=Rome Does= (_Do as_). The saying originated with Saint Ambrose (fourth
century). It arose from the following diversity in the observance of
Saturday:--The Milanese make it a feast, the Romans a fast. St. Ambrose,
being asked what should be done in such a case, replied, “In matters of
indifference, it is better to be guided by the general usage. When I am
at Milan, I do not fast on Saturdays, but when I am at Rome, I do as
they do at Rome.”
=Rome Saved by Geese.= When the Gauls invaded Rome, a detachment in single
file scaled the hill on which the capitol stood, so silently that the
foremost man reached the summit without being challenged; but while
striding over the rampart, some sacred geese were disturbed, and by
their cackle aroused the guard. Marcus Manlius rushed to the wall, and
hustled the Gaul over, thus saving the capitol.
A somewhat parallel case occurred in Ireland in the battle of Glinsaly,
in Donegal. A party of the Irish would have surprised the Protestants if
some wrens had not disturbed the guards by the noise they made in
hopping about the drums and pecking on the parchment heads.--Aubrey,
_Miscellanies_, 45.
=Ro´meo=, a son of Mon´tague (3 _syl._), in love with Juliet, the
daughter of Cap´ulet; but between the houses of Montague and Capulet
there existed a deadly feud. As the families were irreconcilable, Juliet
took a sleeping draught, that she might get away from her parents and
elope with Romeo. Romeo, thinking her to be dead, killed himself; and
when Juliet awoke and found her lover dead, she also killed
herself.--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_ (1598).
=Romeo and Juliet=, a tragedy by Shakespeare (1598). The tale is taken
from _Rhomeo and Julietta_, a novel by Boisteau, in French, borrowed
from an Italian story by Bandello (1554).
In 1562 Arthur Brooke produced the same tale in verse, called _The
Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet_. In 1567 Painter published a
prose translation of Boisteau’s novel.
=Romola=, superb woman, high-spirited, pure and single of heart, the idol
and co-laborer of her scholarly father. She wrecks her life by the
marriage with the fascinating Greek, Tito Melema.--George Eliot,
_Romola_.
=Romp= (_The_), a comic opera altered from Bickerstaff’s _Love in the
City_. Priscilla Tomboy is “the romp,” and the plot is given under that
name.
A splendid portrait of Mrs. Jordan, in her character of “The Romp,”
hung over the mantelpiece in the dining-room [_of Adolphus
Fitzclarence_].--Lord W. P. Lennox, _Celebrities, etc._, i. 11.
=Rom´uald= (_St_).[TN-135] The Catalans had a great reverence for a hermit
so called, and hearing that he was about to quit their country, called
together a parish meeting, to consult how they might best retain him
amongst them, “For,” said they, “he will certainly be consecrated, and
his relics will bring a fortune to us.” So they agreed to strangle him;
but their intention being told to the hermit, he secretly made his
escape.--St. Foix, _Essais Historiques sur Paris_, v. 163.
⁂ Southey has a ballad on the subject.
=Romulus= (_The Second and Third_), Camillus and Marĭus. Also called “The
Second and Third Founders of Rome.”
=Romulus and Remus=, the twin sons of Silvia, a vestal virgin, and the god
Mars. The infants were exposed in a cradle, and the floods carried the
cradle to the foot of the Palatine. Here a wolf suckled them, till one
Faustulus, the king’s shepherd, took them to his wife, who brought them
up. When grown to manhood, they slew Amulius, who had caused them to be
exposed.
The Greek legend of Tyro is in many respects similar. This Tyro had an
amour with Poseidon (as Silvia had with Mars), and two sons were born in
both cases. Tyro’s mother-in-law confined her in a dungeon, and exposed
the two infants (Pelias and Neleus) in a boat on the river Enīpeus (3
_syl._). Here they were discovered and brought up by a herdsman (Romulus
and Remus were brought up by a shepherd), and when grown to manhood,
they put to death their mother-in-law, who had caused them to be exposed
(as Romulus and Remus put to death their great-uncle, Amulius).
=Ron=, the ebony spear of Prince Arthur.
The temper of his sword, the tried Excalibor,
The bigness and the length of Rone his noble spear,
With Pridwin his great shield.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).
=Ronald= (_Lord_), in love with Lady Clare, to whom he gave a lily-white
doe. The day before the wedding nurse Alice told Lady Clare she was not
“Lady Clare” at all, but her own child. On hearing this, she dressed
herself as a peasant girl, and went to Lord Ronald to release him from
his engagement. Lord Ronald replied, “If you are not the heiress born,
we will be married to-morrow, and you shall still be Lady
Clare.”--Tennyson, _Lady Clare_.
=Ronaldson= (_Neil_), the old ranzelman of Jarlshof (ch. vii.).--Sir W.
Scott, _The Pirate_ (time William III.).
=Rondib´ilis=, the physician consulted by Panurge, on the knotty question,
“whether he ought to marry, or let it alone.”--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_
(1545).
⁂ This question, which Panurge was perpetually asking every one, of
course refers to the celibacy of the clergy.
=Rondo= (_The Father of the_), Jean Baptiste Davaux.
=Rope of Ocnus= (_A_), profitless labor. Ocnus was always twisting a rope
with unwearied diligence, but an ass ate it as fast as it was twisted.
⁂ This allegory means that Ocnus worked hard to earn money, which his
wife squandered by her extravagance.
The work of Penelopê’s web was “never ending, still beginning,” because
Penelopê pulled out at night all that she had spun during the day. Her
object was to defer doing what she abhorred but knew not how to avoid.
=Roper= (_Margaret_), was buried with the head of her father, Sir Thomas
More, between her hands.
Her who clasped in her last trance
Her murdered father’s head.
Tennyson.
=Roque= (1 _syl._), a blunt, kind-hearted old servitor to Donna
Floranthe.--Colman, _The Mountaineers_ (1793).
=Roque Guinart=, a freebooter, whose real name was Pedro Rocha Guinarda.
He is introduced by Cervantês in _Don Quixote_.
=Rosa=, a village beauty, patronized by Lady Dedlock. She marries Mrs.
Rouncewell’s grandson.--C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).
=Rosabelle= (3 _syl._), the lady’s-maid of Lady Geraldine. Rosabelle
promised to marry L’Eclair, the orderly of Chevalier Florian.--W.
Dimond, _The Foundling of the Forest_.
=Rosalind= (_i.e._ Rose Daniel), the shepherd lass who rejected Colin
Clout (the poet Spenser) for Menalcas (John Florio, the lexicographer,
1579). Spenser was at the time in his twenty-sixth year. Being rejected
by Rosalind, he did not marry till he was nearly 41, and then we are
told that Elizabeth “was the name of his mother, queen and wife”
(_Sonnet_, 74). In the _Faëry Queen_, “the country lass” (Rosalind) is
introduced dancing with the Graces, and the poet says she is worthy to
be the fourth (bk. vi. 10, 16). In 1595 appeared the _Epithala´mion_, in
which the recent marriage is celebrated.--Ed. Spenser, _Shepheardes
Calendar_, i., vi. (1579).
“Rosalinde” is an anagram for Rose Daniel, evidently a well-educated
young lady of the north, and probably the “Lady Mirabella” of the _Faëry
Queen_, vi. 7, 8. Spenser calls her “the widow’s daughter of the glen”
(ecl. iv.), supposed to be either Burnley or Colne, near Hurstwood, in
Yorkshire. Ecl. i. is the plaint of Colin for the loss of Rosalind. Ecl.
vi. is a dialogue between Colin and Hobbinol, his friend, in which Colin
laments, and Hobbinol tries to comfort him. Ecl. xii. is a similar
lament to ecl. i. Rose Daniel married John Florio, the lexicographer,
the “Holofernês” of Shakespeare.
_Rosalind_, daughter of the banished duke who went to live in the forest
of Arden. Rosalind was retained in her uncle’s court as the companion of
his daughter, Celia; but when the usurper banished her, Celia resolved
to be her companion, and, for greater security, Rosalind dressed as a
boy, and assumed the name of Ganymede, while Celia dressed as a peasant
girl, and assumed the name of Aliēna. The two girls went to the forest
of Arden, and lodged for a time in a hut; but they had not been long
there when Orlando encountered them. Orlando and Rosalind had met before
at a wrestling match, and the acquaintance was now renewed; Ganymede
resumed her proper apparel, and the two were married, with the sanction
of the duke.--Shakespeare, _As You Like It_ (1598).
Nor shall the griefs of Lear be alleviated, or the charms and wit
of Rosalind be abated by time.--N. Drake, M.D., _Shakespeare and
His Times_, ii. 554 (1817).
=Rosaline=, the niece of Capulet, with whom Romeo was in love before he
saw Juliet. Mercutio calls her “a pale-hearted wench,” and Romeo says
she did not “grace for grace and love for love allow,” like
Juliet.--Shakespeare, _Romeo and Juliet_ (1598).
⁂ Rosaline is frequently mentioned in the first act of the play, but is
not one of the _dramatis personæ_.
_Rosaline_, a lady in attendance on the princess of France. A sharp wit
was wedded to her will, and “two pitch balls were stuck in her face for
eyes.” Rosaline is called “a merry, nimble, stirring spirit.” Biron, a
lord in attendance on Ferdinand, king of Navarre, proposes marriage to
her, but she replies:
You must be purged first, your sins are racked ...
Therefore if you my favor mean to get,
A twelvemonth shall you spend, and never rest,
But seek the weary beds of people sick.
Shakespeare, _Love’s Labor’s Lost_ (1594).
=Rosalu´ra=, the airy daughter of Nantolet, beloved by Belleur.--Beaumont
and Fletcher, _The Wild-goose Chase_ (1652).
=Ros´amond= (_The Fair_), Jane Clifford, daughter of Walter, Lord
Clifford. The lady was loved, not wisely, but too well, by Henry II.,
who kept her for concealment in a labyrinth at Woodstock. Queen Eleanor
compelled the frail fair one to swallow poison (1777).
She was the fayre daughter of Walter, Lord Clifford.... Henry made
for her a house of wonderfull working, so that no man or woman
might come to her. This house was named “Labyrinthus,” and was
wrought like unto a knot, in a garden called a maze. But the queen
came to her by a clue of thredde, and so dealt with her that she
lived not long after. She was buried at Godstow, in a house of
nunnes, with these verses upon her tombe:
Hic jacet in tumba Rosa mundi, non Rosa munda;
Non redolet, sed olet, quæ redolere solet.
_Here Rose the graced, not Rose the chaste, reposes;
The smell that rises is no smell of roses._
⁂ The subject has been a great favorite with poets. We have in English
the following tragedies:--_The Complaint of Rosamond_, by S. Daniel
(before 1619); _Henry II.... with the Death of Rosamond_, either
Bancroft or Mountford (1693); _Rosamond_, by Addison (1706); _Henry and
Rosamond_, by Hawkins (1749); _Fair Rosamond_, by Tennyson (1879). In
Italian, _Rosmonda_, by Rucellai (1525). In Spanish, _Rosmunda_, by Gil
y Zarate (1840). We have also _Rosamond_, an opera, by Dr. Arne (1733);
and _Rosamonde_, a poem in French, by C. Briffaut (1813). Sir Walter
Scott has introduced the beautiful soiled dove in two of his
novels--_The Talisman_ and _Woodstock_.
⁂ Dryden says her name was _Jane_:
Jane Clifford was her name, as books aver:
“Fair Rosamond” was but her _nom de guerre_.
We rede that in Englande was a king that had a concubyne whose name
was Rose, and for hir greate bewtye he cleped hir Rose à mounde
(Rosa mundi), that is to say, Rose of the world, for him thought
that she passed al wymen in bewtye.--R. Pynson (1493), subsequently
printed by Wynken de Worde in 1496.