Name of a horse.
_The Brook._
BELLICENT.
Daughter of Gorloïs, duke of Cornwall, and his wife Ygernê. As a widow
married Uther the pendragon, and was therefore the mother of Arthur.
Tennyson says that she was the wife of Lot, king of Orkney, and mother
of Gawain and Modred:
there came to Cameliard,
With Gawain and young Modred, her two sons,
Lot’s wife, the Queen of Orkney, Bellicent;
Geoffrey of Monmouth says ‘that Lot’s wife was Anne, the sister of
Arthur;’ but Malory, in his _Morte d’Arthur_, says: ‘And king Lot of
Lothian and of Orkney then wedded Margawse that was Gawaine’s mother:
and king Nentres of the land of Garlot wedded Elaine.’
_Coming of Arthur_;
_Gareth and Lynette_.
BENEDICT.
Founder of the religious order of the Benedictines. Born at Nursia of
wealthy parents, he became convinced of the necessity of leading a
life of meditation and prayer, and lived for three years as a hermit.
Appointed abbot of the monastery of Vicovaro, he left it on account of
the rules not being severe enough and founded the monastery of Monte
Cassino, near Naples (480-543).
_Becket._
BENGAL.
A presidency of British India.
_The Brook._
BERKELEY (Maurice).
_See_ =Maurice, Maurice Berkeley=.
BERKHAMSTEAD.
A castle erected by the Saxons, but in the time of Henry I was ordered
to be razed to the ground. It is probable, however, that the demolition
was only partial, as we find it some years later fitted up as a royal
residence. In the twelfth century it was given to Thomas Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury, by Henry II, and since was granted by the
Crown from time to time to various noble families, until the time of
Edward III, when it descended from the Crown to the successive Princes
of Wales as heirs apparent to the throne and possessors of the dukedom
of Cornwall.
_Becket._
BERKSHIRE.
and as now
Men weed the white horse on the Berkshire hills
To keep him bright and clean as heretofore,
The figure of the White Horse on the Berkshire Hills is said to have
been executed by king Alfred to celebrate his victory over the Danes
at Ashdown in 871. The figure, which is 374 feet long, can be seen at
a distance of fifteen miles, and is formed by cutting away the turf
and leaving the chalk bare. A ceremony called the ‘Scouring of the
White Horse’ was formerly held once a year; and for this purpose it
was customary for the neighbouring inhabitants to assemble with picks
and shovels, and after they had rendered more distinct the form of the
horse, were entertained by the lord of the manor.
The owld White Harse wants zettin to rights,
And the Squire hev promised good cheer,
Zo we’ll gee un a scrape to kip un in shape,
And a’ll last for many a year.
A was made a lang lang time ago
Wi’ a good dale o’ labour and pains,
By King Alferd the Great when he spwiled their consate
And caddled thay wosbirds the Danes.
The Bleawin Stwun in days gone by
Wur King Alferd’s bugle harn,
And the tharnin tree you med plainly zee
As is called King Alferd’s tharn.
There’ll be backsword play, and climmin the powl,
And a race for a peg, and a cheese,
And us thenks as hisn’s a dummell zowl
As dwont care for zich spwoorts as theze.
Hughes: _Scouring of the White Horse._
The festival, which concluded their labours, included horse-racing,
foot-races, backsword-play, and other old English games, and prizes
were distributed to the successful competitors. The ceremony was
suspended in 1780, only, however, to be renewed with great pomp in
1857. Appended is a copy of the hand-bills announcing the ceremony for
the years 1776 and 1857; from _The Scouring of the White Horse_, by
Hughes.
+White Horse Hill, Berks, 1776.+
‘The scowering and cleansing of the White Horse is fixed for Monday
the 27th day of May; on which day a Silver Cup will be run for near
White Horse Hill, by any horse, etc., that never run for anything,
carrying 11 stone, the best of 3 two-mile heats, to start at ten
o’clock.
‘Between the heats will be run for by Poneys, a Saddle, Bridle and
Whip; the best of 3 two-mile heats, the winner of 2 heats will be
entitled to the Saddle, the second best the Bridle, and the third the
Whip.
‘The same time a Thill harness will be run for by Cart-horses, etc.,
in their harness and bells, the carters to ride in smock frocks
without saddles, crossing and jostling, but no whipping allowed.
‘A flitch of Bacon to be run for by asses.
‘A good Hat to be run for by men in sacks, every man to bring his own
sack.
‘A Waistcoat, 10_s._ 6_d._ value, to be given to the person who shall
take a bullet out of a tub of flour with his mouth in the shortest
time.
‘A Cheese to be run for down the White Horse Manger.
‘Smocks to be run for by ladies, the second best of each prize to be
entitled to a Silk Hat.
‘_Cudgel-playing_ for a _gold-laced Hat_ and a pair of buckskin
Breeches, and _Wrestling_ for a pair of silver Buckles and a pair of
pumps.
‘The horses to be on the White Horse Hill by nine o’clock.
‘No less than four horses, etc. or asses to start for any of the
above prizes.’
+Pastime.+
_To be held on the occasion of the Scouring of the White Horse,
September 17 and 18, 1857._
At a meeting held at the Craven Arms, Uffington, on the 20th day of
August, 1857, the following resolutions (amongst others) were passed
unanimously:--
First. That a pastime be held on the White Horse Hill, on Thursday
and Friday, the 17th and 18th of September, in accordance with
the old custom at the time of ‘The Scouring of the Horse.’
2dly. That E. Martin Atkins, Esq., of Kingston Lisle, be appointed
Treasurer.
3dly. That prizes be awarded for the following games and sports,
That is to say--
Backsword Play. { Old gamesters, £8
{ Young gamesters, £4
Wrestling. { Old gamesters, £5
{ Young gamesters, £4
A jingling match.
Foot races.
Hurdle races.
Race of cart-horses in Thill harness (for a new set of harness).
Donkey race (for a flitch of bacon).
Climbing pole (for a leg of mutton).
Races down ‘the Manger’ (for cheeses).
A pig will be turned out on the down, to be the prize of the man
who catches him (under certain regulations); and further prizes
will be awarded for other games and sports as the funds will
allow.
4thly. That no person be allowed to put up or use a stall or booth
on the ground, without the previous sanction of Mr. Spackman, of
Bridgecombe Farm [the occupier], who is hereby authorized to make
terms with any person wishing to put up a stall or booth.
Signed, +E. Martin Atkins+,
_Chairman_.
The White Horse was the emblem of Hengist, and represented Odin, the
war-god of the Teutonic Tribes.
_Geraint and Enid._
BESS.
The wife of a farmer, a native of the north of England.
_Owd Roä._
BESS.
Servant girl to an old spinster, who named her cats after her former
admirers.
_Spinster’s Sweet-Arts._
BESSY MARRIS.
A person of rather doubtful character. She accused an old farmer of
being the father of her child. In order to deal fairly he decided to
look after Bessy and her child.
I done moy duty boy ’um as I ’a done boy the lond.
_Northern Farmer, Old Style._
BETHLEHEM.
Not least art thou, little Bethlehem
In Judah, for in thee the Lord was born;
_See Matthew ii. v._
_Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham._
BEVERLEY (John).
Carmelite: doctor and professor of divinity at Oxford; canon of St.
John’s Church, Beverley; burnt to death, 1414.
Burnt--good Sir Roger Acton, my dear friend!
Burnt too, my faithful preacher, Beverley!
_Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham._
BIDEFORD.
A town on the north coast of Devonshire, and in the time of Elizabeth a
port of some importance. It was the birthplace of sir Richard Grenville
(_q.v._), commander of _The Revenge_; and we may assume the greater
part of his crew belonged to this place:
But Sir Richard bore in hand all his sick men from the land
Very carefully and slow,
Men of Bideford in Devon.
Here Kingsley wrote part of his _Westward Ho!_
_The Revenge._
BILLY.
Name of a horse.
_Village Wife._
BILLY-ROUGH-UN.
Name of a horse.
_Village Wife._
BINDWEED-BELL.
= the convolvulus, a genus of plants so-called from their twining or
binding, with showy bell-like flowers.
_The Brook._
BIRCH.
A tree of several species.
_Prologue to General Hamley._
BIRK.
= Birch.
_A Dirge_;
_Progress of Spring_.
BISCAY.
A bay between the west coast of France and the north coast of Spain.
Navigation is much impeded by the heavy seas produced by the north-west
winds.
_Enoch Arden._
BITHYNIA.
A country in the north-west of Asia Minor, its inhabitants being of
Thracian origin. In the seventh and sixth centuries +B.C.+ it was part
of the kingdom of Lydia, and afterwards became a part of the Persian
empire under Cyrus. During the decline of the Persian empire it became
an independent kingdom under a dynasty of native princes, which lasted
until 74 +B.C.+, when Nicomedes III bequeathed it after his death to
the Romans and it became a province of the empire.
_The Cup._
BLAISE (Saint).
Bishop of Sebaste, Cappadocia, suffered martyrdom, 316. In 1070 a
chapel in the north transept of Canterbury Cathedral was dedicated
to St. Blaise which stood intact until 1379, when, in the course of
rebuilding the nave the chapel was done away with. The staircase and
passage leading to it is however preserved in the existing wall.
To the crypt? no--no,
To the chapel of St. Blaise beneath the roof!
_Becket._
BLACK.
An inland sea bounded by Russia, Asia Minor and European Turkey,
Bulgaria and Roumania.
_Maud._
BLACK BESS.
Name of a horse.
_The Brook._
BLACKBIRD.
A species of thrush, a well-known singing bird.
_The Blackbird_;
_Audley Court_;
_Early Spring_.
BLACKCAP.
A small European bird, so-called from its black crown.
_Progress of Spring._
BLACKTHORN.
A dark-coloured thorn; the sloe.
_May Queen._
BLANCHE.
Lady Blanche, mother of Melissa, and a widow. She was a woman of narrow
and jealous disposition. Was engaged by the princess Ida in the college
founded by the princess for women. She regarded the institution as
a means for ignoble self-aggrandisement, and was willing to desert
it when she conceived that her end might be more effectively secured
elsewhere. Envious, self-centred, treacherous, she lacked even the
redeeming feature of love for her child or respect for the memory of
her dead husband.
_The Princess._
BLESSED ISLES.
Row to the blessed Isles! the blessed Isles!
Sinnatus!
Name given to the Canary Islands off the coast of north-west Africa.
_The Cup._
BLEYS.
The historian of Arthur’s court. Malory tells us how Merlin, after
Arthur’s great battle against the kings, ‘he took leave of Arthur and
of the two kings, for to go and see his master Bleise that dwelt in
Northumberland. Merlin gave Bleise an account of the fight, and so
Bleise wrote the battle, word by word, as Merlin told him.... All the
battles that was done in Arthur’s days Merlin did his master Bleise do
write.’
and one
Is Merlin’s master (so they call him) Bleys,
Who taught him magic; but the scholar ran
Before the master, and so far, that Bleys
Laid magic by, and sat him down and wrote
All things and whatsoever Merlin did
In one great annal-book, where after-years
Will learn the secret of our Arthur’s birth.’
_Coming of Arthur._
BLIND FATE.
Tho’ Sin too oft, when smitten by Thy rod,
Rail at ‘Blind Fate’ with many a vain ‘Alas!’
Has reference to a man who, for his evil deeds, and his violation of
the Divine Law, is overtaken by God’s judgments, but refuses to see in
them anything more than the operation of ‘Blind Fate.’
_Doubt and Prayer._
BLUEBELL.
A plant which bears blue bell-shaped flowers.
_A Dirge_;
_Adeline_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Becket_;
_Promise of May_.
BLUEBOTTLE.
A plant which grows in grain fields, so called from its blue
bottle-shaped flowers.
_Promise of May._
BOÄDICEA.
Queen of the Iceni in Britain who inhabited Norfolk and Suffolk. Being
treated with indignity by the Romans, she--during the absence of the
Roman governor in Anglesey--assembled an army, captured and burnt the
Roman colonies of London, Colchester, and Verulam and slew 70,000
Romans. Upon his return Suetonius Paulinus attacked and defeated her
and in despair she poisoned herself, +A.D.+ 61. This victory secured
the Roman dominion in Britain. Cowper makes her the subject of one of
his poems.
She, with all a monarch’s pride,
Felt them in her bosom glow,
Rushed to battle, fought and died,
Dying, hurled them at the foe.
Cowper: _Boadicea, 37-40._
_Boädicea._
BOANERGES.
A declamatory parson, who consigns to perdition all except his own
followers.
Our Boanerges with his threats of doom,
And loud-lung’d Antibabylonianisms.
_Sea Dreams._
BOAR.
= the wild boar.
_Coming of Arthur_;
_Gareth and Lynette_;
_The Foresters_.
BOAZ.
A brass pillar, signifying strength, at the entrance to Solomon’s
Temple. _1 Kings vii. 21._
I have built the Lord a house--sing, Asaph! clash
The cymbal, Heman! blow the trumpet, priest!
Fall, cloud, and fill the house--lo! my two pillars
Jachin and Boaz!--
_Harold._
BOBOLI.
At Florence too what golden hours,
In those long galleries, were ours;
What drives about the fresh Cascinè,
Or walks in Boboli’s ducal bowers.
Giardino di Boboli, a garden behind the Pitti Palace, Florence. The
walks, bordered with evergreens, attract crowds of pleasure-seekers.
_The Daisy._
BOGGLE.
= a ghost.
_Northern Farmer, Old Style._
BOLEYN.
Second queen of Henry VIII, and mother of Elizabeth. After a three
years’ residence at the French court became maid-of-honour to queen
Catherine; attracted the admiration of Henry, and the king having
instituted proceedings with a view of his divorce from Catherine of
Aragon married her secretly on January 3, 1533; charged with adultery
and conspiracy she was condemned to death and beheaded on Tower Hill,
1536 (1507-1536).
_Queen Mary._
BOLINGBROKE (Harry).
_See_ =Harry Bolingbroke=.
BONNER (Edmund).
Bishop of London. Chaplain to cardinal Wolsey 1539; appeared before
the pope at Marseilles in 1533 to appeal for the excommunication of
Henry VIII; appointed to the living of East Dereham, 1534; bishop of
Hereford and ambassador to the French court, 1538. In 1540 he was
made bishop of London; and was appointed ambassador to the emperor,
1542; fell into disgrace under Edward VI, who imprisoned him in Fleet;
reprimanded for neglecting to enforce use of the new prayer book, and
imprisoned at Marshalsea, 1540-53; deprived of his bishoprick; restored
on the accession of Mary, 1553; refused to take the oath of supremacy
under Elizabeth and was again imprisoned in the Marshalsea where he
died (1500-1569).
_Queen Mary._
BONNY DOON.
where the waters marry--crost,
Whistling a random bar of Bonny Doon,
Air or tune to which the song of _The Banks o’ Doon_ is sung. The song
is by Robert Burns, and begins:
Ye banks and braes o’ bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair,
Doon is the name of a river in Ayrshire.
_The Brook._
BOOR-TREE.
= Elder-tree.
_Tomorrow._
BORS.
A Knight of the Round Table, called sir Bors de Ganis, brother of
sir Lionel and nephew of sir Lancelot. He was ‘a square-set man
and honest;’ and represented those who have sinned and effectually
repented. When sir Bors went to the castle of Corbin and saw Galahad,
the son of Lancelot and Elaine, he ‘wept for joy, and he prayed to God
it might prove as good a knight as his father was,’ and forthwith the
Holy Grail appeared unto him:
And so came in a white dove, and she bare a little censer of gold in
her mouth, and there was all manner of meats and drinks, and a maiden
bare that Sancgreal, and she said openly, Wit you well Sir Bors that
this child is Galahad, that shall sit in the siege perilous, and
achieve the Sancgreal, and he shall be much better than ever was Sir
Launcelot du Lake, that is his own father. And then they kneeled down
and made their devotions.... And then the dove took her flight, and
the maiden vanished with the Sancgreal as she came.
Malory: _Morte d’Arthur, Book XI. chap. iv._
Sir Bors accompanied sir Galahad and sir Percivale in the quest of
the Holy Grail, and was present when it appeared. After the death of
Galahad, sir Bors departed with sir Lancelot from Cardiff and sailed to
Benwick, and was crowned king of all king Claudus’ lands.
_Holy Grail._
BOS.
when the long wave broke
All down the thundering shores of Bude and Bos,
Represents the rocky coast of Cornwall. Bos, now called Boscastle, is a
village near Tintagil Head.
_Guinevere._
BOSHAM.
A seaport in Sussex. It was for some time the residence of king
Harold, and the place from which he started on his journey to Normandy.
In the church is the tomb of Bosham, secretary to Thomas Becket. King
Canute built a castle here, and his daughter lies buried in the church.
_Harold_;
_Becket_.
BOUNTEOUS ISLE.
_See_ =Maeldune=.
BOURNE (Gilbert).
Son of Philip Bourne and brother of sir John Bourne, Secretary of State
in the time of Mary. In 1531 we find him Fellow of All Souls’ College,
Oxford, and ten years’ later was made prebendary of Worcester and of
St. Paul’s. In the meantime he had become chaplain to bishop Bonner,
and was in 1553 sent to preach at Paul’s Cross; and denouncing Edward
VI for having imprisoned Bonner in the Marshalsea, the crowd became so
exasperated that a dagger was hurled at him, and had it not been for
the interference of Courtenay, earl of Devon, would have undoubtedly
paid for his rashness with his life.
Son Courtenay, wilt thou see the holy father
Murdered before thy face? up, son, and save him!
They love thee, and thou canst not come to harm.
In 1553 he was created bishop of Bath and Wells, and soon afterwards
was made president of Wales, but in the reign of Elizabeth was deprived
(1559) for refusing to take the oath of supremacy, and was committed
to the Tower; afterwards being committed to ‘free custody.’ He died at
Silverton, Devonshire, 1569.
_Queen Mary._
BOVADILLA (Francisco de).
An official of the royal household of Ferdinand and Isabella; appointed
Commissioner to investigate the state of affairs that existed in the
island of Hispaniola under the vice-regency of Christopher Columbus.
Armed with authority to take complete possession of the island he
sailed from Spain in July 1500, and entered the harbour of San Domingo
on August 23 of the same year. Landing on the following day he demanded
from James Columbus--brother of the navigator, who was left in command
during Christopher’s absence in Vega Real--the release of all the
prisoners in the fortress, and upon James refusing took the fortress
by storm. He then occupied Columbus’ house and seized all his public
and private papers. Hearing of Bovadilla’s arrival, Columbus set out
for San Domingo, and upon his arrival was--with his brothers James
and Bartholomew--arrested, placed in chains and sent home to Spain,
Bovadilla remaining in command of the island. He however failed to
reduce the colony to order, and in 1501 was superseded by Nicholas de
Ovando. Upon the latter’s arrival in the island, Bovadilla embarked for
Spain, but encountering a hurricane immediately upon leaving the shore
was shipwrecked and consequently lost his life.
_Columbus._
BOX.
A tree or shrub remarkable for the hardness and smoothness of its wood.
_A Spirit haunts._
BRAMBLE.
A prickly shrub.
_Holy Grail_;
_Pelleas and Ettarre_.
BRANDAGORAS.
King of Latangor, subdued by king Arthur, fighting on behalf of
Leodogran, king of Cameliard.
_Coming of Arthur._
BRASTIAS.
A Knight of the Round Table: one of the three knights sent by king
Arthur to king Leodogran to ask for the hand of his daughter Guinevere.
Brastias became a hermit and retired to a hermitage in the forest of
Windsor, where he was visited by sir Lancelot when the latter was
commanded by Guinevere to avoid the court.
_Coming of Arthur._
BRENDAN.
An Irish saint of the sixth century. He lived an ascetic life and was
Abbot over 100 monks. Said to have visited certain islands in the
eastern ocean where he--with his Irish monks--preached.
And we came to the Isle of a Saint who had sail’d with St. Brendan
of yore.
The islands of St. Brendan are supposed to be to the west of the Canary
Islands. Brendan visited St. Columbia at Iona in 563. He is the hero of
the _Navigation of St. Brendan_, a popular tale of the mediæval ages.
_Voyage of Maeldune._
BRETON (Brittany).
_Maud_;
_Merlin and Vivien_;
_Last Tournament_.
BRETT (Captain).
Joined sir Thomas Wyatt in insurrection to prevent the marriage of Mary
with Philip of Spain, and was in charge of the London deserters; taken
prisoner by sir Maurice Berkeley at Temple Bar, and executed.
_Queen Mary._
BRIAR.
= Brier.
_Day-Dream_;
_Promise of May_.
BRIER.
A plant with a stem bearing prickles.
_Buonaparte_;
_You might have won_;
_The Princess_;
_The Window_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Lover’s Tale_.
BRIGADE, Heavy.
_See_ =Heavy Brigade=.
BRIGADE, Light.
_See_ =Light Brigade=.
BRIGADE, Scarlett’s.
_See_ =Scarlett’s Brigade=.
BRIONY.
On a sudden a low breath
Of tender air made tremble in the hedge
The fragile bindweed-bells and briony rings;
And he look’d up.
A wild climbing plant common in English hedgerows; its _rings_ are its
spiral tendrils.
_Talking Oak_;
_The Brook_.
BRITAIN.
_You ask me why_;
_The Princess_;
_Third of February_;
_A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna_;
_Boädicea_;
_Maud_;
_Coming of Arthur_;
_Marriage of Geraint_;
_Balin and Balan_;
_Lancelot and Elaine_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Guinevere_;
_To the Queen, II_;
_Defence of Lucknow_;
_Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham_;
_Battle of Brunanburh_;
_Opening of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition_;
_To Marquis of Dufferin and Ava_;
_Harold_;
_Queen Mary_.
BRITO (Richard de).
_See_ =De Brito=.
BRITTANY.
The north-western peninsula of France. It was conquered by the Romans
in 57-56 +B.C.+, and in the fifth and sixth centuries was invaded and
christianized from England and Ireland. From the end of the tenth to
the middle of the fifteenth centuries it was independent of the French
king, being governed by dukes, but in 1532 was united to the French
crown.
_Last Tournament_;
_Harold_;
_The Foresters_.
BROC.
_See_ =De Broc=.
BROCELIANDE.
A forest supposed to have been Brittany. At one end of the forest
stands the fountain of Baranton, and near by is the tomb of Merlin
surmounted by a cross of wood. From the fountain flows a mineral
spring, which bubbles up when a piece of iron or copper is thrown into
it.
And chased the flashes of his golden horns
Until they vanish’d by the fairy well
That laughs at iron--as our warriors did--
Where children cast their pins and nails, and cry,
‘Laugh, little well,’ but touch it with a sword,
It buzzes fiercely round the point;
_Merlin and Vivien._
BROOKS.
William Henry Brookfield, son of Charles Brookfield, a Sheffield
solicitor. Curate of Maltby (1834), St. James’, Piccadilly, London
(1840), and St. Luke’s, Berwick Street (1841); chaplain-in-ordinary
to queen Victoria (1860). Whilst at Trinity College, Cambridge, made
the acquaintance of Tennyson, who in 1875 wrote for Lord Lyttelton’s
preface to _Sermons_ by the late Rev. William Henry Brookfield, the
following:
Old Brooks, who loved so well to mouth my rhymes,
How oft we two have heard St. Mary’s chimes!
How oft the Cantab supper, host and guest,
Would echo helpless laughter to your jest!
How oft with him we paced that walk of limes,
Him, the lost sight of those dawn-golden times.
_Life of Tennyson._
_To Rev. W. H. Brookfield._
BRUNANBURH.
The scene of a bloody battle in 937, where Athelstan (_q.v._) and
his brother Edmund Atheling (_q.v._) gained a decisive victory over
Anlaf the Dane, Constantine of Scotland, and the Northumbrian Danes,
which victory practically established the unity of England. The site
of the battle is uncertain, but it has been variously located in
Northumberland, Dumfriesshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire.
_Battle of Brunanburh_;
_Harold_.
BRUNELLESCHI.
A famous Italian architect, born at Florence. He built the Pitti
Palace, the churches of San Lorenzo, and Spirito Santo, as well as the
Duomo of the Cathedral, the latter being his principal title to fame.
My dearest brother, Edmund, sleeps,
Not by the well-known stream and rustic spire,
But unfamiliar Arno, and the dome
Of Brunelleschi:
_The Brook._
BRUSSELS.
The capital of Belgium.
_Queen Mary._
BRUTUS (Lucius Junius).