Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Married first to Arthur, eldest son
of Henry VII, in 1501, but was left a widow, and in 1509 by a papal
dispensation was married to her brother-in-law, afterwards Henry VIII.
In 1533, shortly after Henry’s cleavage with Rome, Cranmer declared the
marriage null and void; but the pope pronounced it valid, 1534. Died
1535, and buried in Peterborough Abbey.
_Queen Mary._
CATHAY.
The mediæval name for Tartary, the capital of which was Albracca.
the ship
From Ceylon, Inde, or far Cathay, unloads
For him the fragrant produce of each trip;
Byron: _Don Juan, Canto XII. Stanza ix._
_Locksley Hall._
CATHERINE.
Daughter of a woman who chides her because she is contemplating a
marriage, of which her mother says she is unworthy.
Murder would not veil your sin,
Marriage will not hide it,
Earth and Hell will brand your name,
Wretch you must abide it....
She exhorts her to confess to her lover.
Up, get up, and tell him all,
Tell him you were lying!
_Forlorn._
CATIEUCHLANIAN.
An ancient British tribe whose kingdom embraced the present counties of
Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, and Middlesex.
_Boädicea._
CATO.
M. Porcius Cato, Roman orator and statesman. He was known as ‘the
Censor,’ to which office he was appointed in 184 +B.C.+ He was an
opponent of Hellenic fashions, and during the second Punic war (215
+B.C.+), when Rome was in danger of being captured by Hannibal, a
law--called the Oppian Law--was passed to restrain the extravagant
dress of the Roman ladies, but some years after the women rose in
revolt, and were successful in getting the law repealed in spite of the
opposition of Cato (234-149, +B.C.+).
Titanic shapes, they cramm’d
The forum, and half-crush’d among the rest
A dwarf-like Cato cower’d.
_The Princess._
CATULLUS.
Considered to be the greatest of Roman lyric poets. Some of his poems
are inspired by the love for a beautiful maiden named Lesbia, a passion
that eventually proved his downfall. The poem referred to in _Edwin
Morris_, 79, is by Catullus.
_Hendecasyllabics_;
_Frater Ave Atque Vale_;
_Poets and their Bibliographies_.
CAUCASIAN.
but every legend fair
Which the supreme Caucasian mind
Carved out of Nature for itself,
A phrase by which the race of people who inhabited the Caucasian
mountains was known.
_Palace of Art._
CAUCASIAN.
He never yet had set his daughter forth
Here in the woman-markets of the west,
Where our Caucasians let themselves be sold.
Alludes to the sale of Caucasian girls for Turkish harems.
_Aylmer’s Field._
CAUCASUS.
A mountain range, 900 miles in length, with an average height of 12,000
feet, extending from the Black Sea to the Caspian.
_The Poet_;
_A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna,
Duchess of Edinburgh_.
CAUF.
= Calf.
_Spinster’s Sweet-Arts._
CAVALL.
King Arthur’s best hound; name of a mountain in Wales, where tradition
says exists a stone with a footprint of the dog impressed in it.
And chiefly for the baying of Cavall,
King Arthur’s hound of deepest mouth,
_Marriage of Geraint._
CECIL.
William, baron Burghley, queen Elizabeth’s chief minister.
_Queen Mary._
CECILY.
A Roman virgin of rank, who embraced Christianity in the reign of
Antoninus, and who is said to have been visited by angels. She is the
Latin saint of music, and the reputed inventor of the organ. Suffered
martyrdom about 200 +B.C.+
Or in a clear-wall’d city on the sea,
Near gilded organ-pipes, her hair
Wound with white roses, slept St. Cecily;
An angel look’d at her.
Dryden, Pope, Addison and other English poets have contributed Odes,
but the best-known is Dryden’s (1697).
Orpheus could lead the savage race,
And trees unrooted left their place,
Sequacious of the lyre;
But bright Cecilia raised the wonder higher:
When to her organ vocal breath was given,
An angel heard, and straight appeared
Mistaking earth for heaven.
Dryden: _A Song for St. Cecilia’s Day, 48-54._
_Palace of Art._
CEDAR.
CEDAR-TREE.
The name of several evergreen trees.
_Recollections of the Arabian Nights_;
_Gardener’s Daughter_;
_The Princess_;
_Milton_;
_Maud_;
_Queen Mary_.
CELANDINE.
A plant of the poppy family with yellow leaves.
_Progress of Spring._
CELIDON.
A forest, and the scene of Arthur’s seventh victory over the Saxons.
One authority considers it in Cornwall, another in Lincolnshire, while
another places it on the banks of the Carron in Upper-Tweeddale.
then the war
That thunder’d in and out the gloomy skirts
Of Celidon the forest;
_Lancelot and Elaine._
CELTIC DEMOS.
_See_ =Demos=.
CHAMIAN ORACLE.
There in a silent shade of laurel brown
Apart the Chamian Oracle divine
Shelter’d his unapproach’d mysteries:
The temple of Jupiter Ammon. Ammon was an Egyptian god, represented in
the shape of a ram, his chief temple being in the desert of Libyan,
twelve days’ journey from Memphis. This temple possessed a famous
oracle, said to have had connexion with the oracle at Dodona, two black
doves flying away from Thebes in Egypt, one to the temple of Jupiter
Ammon and the other to Dodona, by which the inhabitants were informed
of the divine mission; consequently the Greeks identified Ammon with
their god Zeus and the Romans with their Jupiter.
_Alexander._
CHARING CROSS.
A part of London, the junction of Whitehall and the Strand. It derived
its name from the stone cross which was erected as a memorial to
Eleanor, queen of Edward I.
_Queen Mary._
CHARIOTEER.
and the Charioteer
And starry Gemini hang like glorious crowns
Over Orion’s grave low down in the west,
The constellation Auriga, situated midway between the Polar Star and
Orion.
_Maud_;
_Achilles over the Trench_.
CHARLES (the First).
King of England, third son of James I and Anne, daughter of the king
of Denmark. Created duke of York and Cornwall on the accession of his
father, and in 1616, four years after the death of his elder brother
Henry, created Prince of Wales. Succeeding his father in 1625 he
married Henrietta Maria, youngest daughter of Henry IV of France.
Became involved in controversy with Parliament, particularly regarding
the revenues rendered necessary by his extravagant policy, and for
eleven years through his ministers governed without one. Civil war
eventually broke out which ended in the disastrous battle of Naseby
in 1645. In the following year he surrendered himself to the Scots at
Newark, who handed him over to the English. On January 20, 1649, he was
brought to trial, and on the 27th of the same month was condemned, and
beheaded at Whitehall three days later (1600-1649).
_Third of February._
CHARLES (the Second).
King of England, second son of Charles I. Having assisted his father
until after the battle of Naseby he proceeded with his mother to
the Hague, where he received the news of his father’s fate. He was
proclaimed king at Edinburgh on February 3, 1649, and again on July
15, 1650, after his arrival in that country, and on January 1 in the
following year was crowned at Scone, in Perthshire. In August of the
same year he invaded England at the head of 10,000 troops, but was
defeated by Cromwell at Worcester. Escaping, he hid in the branches
of a large oak in Boscobel wood to avoid his pursuers, who actually
came under the tree where he was. Wandering from place to place in
disguise he eventually reached Shoreham, escaped to France, and hence
to Brussels, where he remained until the death of Cromwell in 1658.
Two years later he was recalled to the throne, and arriving in England
was received with acclamation. In 1665 he declared war against Holland
and a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway and destroyed several ships. The
same year a great plague swept away a large number of the inhabitants
of London, and in the following year a large portion of the city was
destroyed by fire. In 1674 he made peace with Holland, and his niece,
princess Mary, married William of Orange in 1677 (1630-1685).
_Talking Oak._
CHARLES (the Fifth).
Emperor of Germany, son of Philip of Austria, became in 1516 by right
of birth, ruler of Spain, the Netherlands, Sicily, and Naples; and on
the death of his grandfather added Austria to his dominions. His chief
ambition was the suppression of the Reformation and the succession of
his son Philip to the imperial crown, but failing in both, abdicated
in favour of his son, and retired to the monastery of St. Yuste, in
Estremadura, where he died, having, notwithstanding his retirement,
continued to direct the policy of his son (1500-1558).
_Queen Mary._
CHARLES’S WAIN.
The constellation of Ursa Major, a wagon without a wagoner, an old
English name for the constellation of the Great Bear.
_May Queen._
CHARLEY.
A dog--a King Charles spaniel--belonging to Maud.
Look, a horse at the door,
And little King Charley snarling.
_Maud._
CHARLIE.
A son of an old woman, who outlived all her children. _See_ =Harry=.
_Grandmother._
CHARLIE.
Only son of an old book-loving village squire. Unlike his father he did
a little hunting and fishing. His father’s estate was entailed, and
being in debt he asked his son to help him out of the difficulty, but
he refused, suggesting that the books should be sold. Charlie however
did not live to enjoy the possession of the estates, for while out
riding one evening his horse threw him, and he was killed.
_Village Wife._
CHARLOCK.
A plant of the mustard family, with yellow leaves, that grows as a weed
in cornfields.
_Gareth and Lynette._
CHARTIST PIKE.
I once was near him, when his bailiff brought
A Chartist pike.
A weapon used by the revolutionary party known as the Chartists. During
the agitation by the working-classes for greater political power in
1838 in a document called the ‘People’s Charter’ there were fears of a
secret rising on account of the petition being refused by the House of
Commons.
_Walking to the Mail._
CHATELET.
A poet-squire in the suite of Marshal Damville, who was executed for
intrigue with Mary, queen of Scots.
_Margaret._
CHAUCER (Dan).
_See_ =Dan Chaucer=.
CHESTNUT.
= a tree.
_Miller’s Daughter_;
_Lord of Burleigh_;
_Progress of Spring_.
CHICHESTER (Bishop of).
Hilary; elected bishop of Chichester 1147, and archbishop of York the
same year, but the latter appointment was not confirmed by the pope. He
urged Becket to accept the ‘ancient customs’ included in the embassy to
the pope against Becket; and granted absolution to those bishops whom
Becket had excommunicated (d. 1169).
_Becket._
CHIMERA.
In Greek mythology a fire-eating monster, destroyed by Bellerophon,
having the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a
dragon. The word signifies any impossible monstrosity.
_The Princess._
CHINA.
till warming with her theme
She fulmined out her scorn of laws Salique
And little-footed China, touch’d on Mahomet
With much contempt and came to chivalry:
Refers to the custom prevalent in China of cramping the feet of girls
from an early age in tight bandages to keep them small.
_The Princess._
CHRISTCHURCH (Dean of).
our Bishops from their sees
Or fled, they say, or flying--Poinet, Barlow,
Bale, Scory, Coverdale; besides the Deans
Of Christchurch, Durham, Exeter, and Wells--
_Queen Mary._
CHRISTIAN.
More like the picture
Of Christian in my ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ here
Bow’d to the dust beneath the burthen of sin.
The hero of Bunyan’s _Pilgrim’s Progress_.
_Promise of May._
CHRISTOPHER COLON.
_See_ =Columbus=.
CICALA.
At eve a dry cicala sung,
There came a sound as of the sea;
An insect with wings. The male makes a shrill sound by peculiar organs
in the side of the abdomen.
_Mariana in the South._
CLARA VERE de VERE.
Daughter of an earl, nobly born, but of a haughty and proud
disposition. The poet assured her that hers was not a character to be
admired, and that for all her wealth and name he would not forsake a
simple maiden with a truer heart. In the poem appear the well-known
lines:
Howe’er it be, it seems to me,
’Tis only noble to be good.
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
_Lady Clara Vere de Vere._
CLARE, LADY.
The supposed child of an earl, who is afterwards told by her old nurse
that she is not the lady Clare, as the old earl’s daughter died almost
directly after birth. The nurse tells her that she is her mother.
The supposed lady Clare hastens to tell the truth to her lover, lord
Ronald, the real heir to her lands. This takes place on the eve of her
marriage. Lord Ronald greatly appreciates her honesty and frankness.
If you are not the heiress born
And I,’ said he, ‘the lawful heir,
We two will wed to-morrow morn,
And you shall still be Lady Clare.’
_Lady Clare._
CLARENCE.
A lady-in-waiting to queen Mary.
_Queen Mary._
CLARIANCE.
King of Northumberland, subdued by king Arthur fighting on behalf of
Leodogran, king of Cameliard.
_Coming of Arthur._
CLARIBEL.
Claribel lived in a beautiful bower, where everything was at peace.
Where Claribel low-lieth
The breezes pause and die,
Letting the rose-leaves fall:
_Claribel._
CLAUDIAS.
One of the petty kings overcome by king Arthur fighting on behalf of
Leodogran, king of Cameliard.
_Coming of Arthur._
CLELIA.
A Roman virgin who swam the river Tiber to escape from Porsina, king of
Clusium, whose hostage she was. Being sent back by the Romans, Porsina
not only set her at liberty but allowed her to take with her a part of
the hostages.
_The Princess._
CLEMATIS.
A genus of climbing plants.
_Golden Year_;
_City Child_;
_The Window_;
_Voyage of Maeldune_.
CLEOPATRA-LIKE.
Cleopatra-like as of old
To entangle me when we met,
= Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, distinguished for her beauty and her
charms; first fascinated Cæsar, and after his death Mark Antony
(_q.v._). On the fall and suicide of the latter she killed herself to
escape being taken to Rome.
_Maud._
CLIFFORD.
_See_ =Rosamund, Rosamund de Clifford=.
CLOVER.
A genus of plants, containing a great number of species.
_A Dirge_;
_City Child_.
COBHAM.
Sir John Oldcastle, lord Cobham; lollard leader; first author and
first martyr among the English nobility. In the reign of Henry IV he
commanded an English army in France, where he compelled the duke of
Orleans to raise the siege of Paris. Becoming a convert to Wycliffe’s
doctrines, he was in the reign of Henry V tried by archbishop Arundel
and other bishops; declared to be a heretic, and sent to the tower,
but escaping, summoned all his followers to meet him in St. Giles’
fields. The assemblage being attacked and his followers dispersed, he
fled to Wales, and after hiding for four years was captured, conveyed
to London, and being condemned was hanged in chains and burnt, December
1416.
_Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham._
COBRA.
A hooded and poisonous snake, a native of the East Indies.
_Akbar’s Dream._
COCK, THE.
O plump head-waiter at The Cock
To which I most resort,
A Tavern, No. 201, Fleet Street, near Temple Bar, and of great
antiquity.
Generally he would stay at the Temple or in Lincoln’s Inn Fields;
dining with his friends at The Cock, and other taverns. A perfect
dinner was a beefsteak, a potato, a cut of cheese, a pint of port,
and afterwards a pipe (never a cigar).
* * * * *
‘The plump head-waiter of The Cock,’ by Temple Bar, famous for
chop and porter, was rather offended when told of the poem [_Will
Waterproof_]. ‘Had Mr. Tennyson dined oftener there, he would not
have minded it so much,’ he said.
Edward Fitzgerald quoted in _Life of Tennyson_.
Pepys in his _Diary_ for April 23, 1668, speaks of having been there:
Thence by water to the Temple, and there to the Cock alehouse, and
drank, and ate a lobster, and sang, and mighty merry.
_Will Waterproof’s Lyrical Monologue._
COCKATRICE.
A fabulous monster, resembling a serpent.
_Holy Grail._
COCO.
= the cocoa-nut tree.
_Enoch Arden._
COCO-PALM.
= Cocoa-palm.
_Progress of Spring._
COESNON.
A river forming the boundary between Normandy and Brittany.
_Harold._
COGOLETTO.
A village in the province of Genoa, on the coast.
_The Daisy._
COLE (Henry).
Fellow of the New College, Oxford, 1521-40; submitted to the
Reformation, and became prebendary of Salisbury in 1539, but on Mary’s
accession joined the Roman Catholic party; was made archdeacon of Ely
in 1553, canon of Westminster and provost of Eton; and disputed with
Cranmer at Oxford in 1554. He preached at St. Mary’s Church, Oxford, on
the occasion of the martyrdom of Cranmer in 1556.
Him perch’d up there? I wish some thunderbolt
Would make this Cole a cinder, pulpit and all.
Dean of St. Paul’s, 1556-9; vicar-general of the archbishop of
Canterbury, 1557-8; sent to Ireland to extirpate protestantism 1558.
‘In 1558,’ says Timbs and Gunn’s _Abbey, Castles, etc._, ‘Dr. Henry
Cole, dean of St. Paul’s, was entrusted with the commission issued by
queen Mary, to institute prosecutions against such as should refuse
to observe the ceremonies of the Roman Catholic religion in Ireland.
The doctor stopped at Chester on his way, and at the Blue Posts Inn
was visited by the Mayor, to whom, in the course of conversation,
he communicated the business upon which he was engaged; opening his
cloak-bag, he took out a leather box, observing with exultation, “he
had that within which would lash the heretics of Ireland.” The hostess
accidentally overheard the discourse, and having a brother who was a
Protestant, she became alarmed for his safety; and with a surprising
quickness of thought, whilst the doctor was complimenting his worship
down the stairs, to open the box, take out the commission, and leave
instead a pack of cards, with the knave of clubs uppermost. Soon
afterwards the dean sailed for Ireland, where he arrived on December
7, 1558. Being introduced to the Lord-Deputy Fitzwalter and the Privy
Council, he explained the nature of his embassy, and then presented
the box containing, as he thought, the commission; his lordship took
it, and having lifted the lid, beheld with considerable surprise the
pack of cards, with the knave on the top. The doctor was thunderstruck,
and in much confusion affirmed that a commission he certainly had,
and that some artful person must have made the exchange. “Then,” said
his lordship, “you have nothing to do but return to London and get it
renewed; meanwhile we’ll shuffle the cards.” This unwelcome advice
the doctor was constrained to follow ... but before he could reach
Ireland a second time queen Mary died, and her sanguinary commission
became useless. The woman whose dexterity and presence of mind had thus
providentially operated, was rewarded by Elizabeth with a pension of
forty pounds a year.’
In 1559 he was one of the eight romanist disputants at Westminster
Abbey, and for contempt was fined 500 marks and deprived of all his
preferments. In the following year he was committed to the Tower,
whence he was removed to the Fleet. His subsequent history is obscure.
_Queen Mary._
COLEWORT.
A species of cole, or cabbage.
_Guinevere._
COLLANTINE.
A town on the Anio, built by the people of Alba.
_Lucretius._
COLOSSEUM.
Like some old wreck on some indrawing sea,
Gain’d their huge Colosseum.
The great amphitheatre in Rome standing on the site of Nero’s palace.
It was begun by Vespasian 72 +A.D.+, and finished by Titus +A.D.+ 82.
It was here the fights of wild beasts and gladiators went on.
_St. Telemachus._
COLT.
A young horse.
_Talking Oak_;
_Enoch Arden_;
_The Brook_;
_The Princess_;
_Coming of Arthur_;
_Romney’s Remorse_.
COLUMBUS.
A celebrated Genoese navigator. His life is of little interest till
1470, when he settled in Lisbon and made voyages to the Madeira and
the Azores. Thinking it possible to reach India by sailing westward,
he made an appeal to his native city but without result; to the king
of Portugal, to Henry VII of England, and to the dukes of Medina
Sidonia, and Medina Celi, who advised him to lay his proposals before
the Spanish king and queen. After seven years of delay his proposals
were accepted by the Spanish monarchs, and on August 3, 1492, his
little squadron of three small ships set sail on its perilous voyage,
and on October 12 of the same year landed on the island of Guanahani,
one of the Bahamas, which he called San Salvador, and thence sailed
to Cuba and Hispaniola. On his return to Spain in 1493 he was welcomed
with great enthusiasm, and many honours were conferred upon him, that
which he prized most of all being the title ‘Admiral of the Ocean.’ He
sailed on his second voyage on September 25, 1493, and discovered Porto
Rico and Jamaica. Returned in 1496 and set out on his third voyage
which resulted in the discovery of Trinidad, and the mainland of South
America. His enemies in Spain, however, did him much harm, and a new
governor, Francisco Bovadilla (_q.v._), acted with great harshness; and
in October 1500 Columbus was placed in irons and sent back to Spain.
This treatment caused a wave of indignation to sweep over Spain, and
Columbus, on landing, was restored to favour by Ferdinand and Isabella.
Chains for the Admiral of the Ocean! chains
For him who gave a new heaven, a new earth,
As holy John had prophesied of me,
Gave glory and more empire to the kings
Of Spain than all their battles! chains for him
Who push’d his prows into the setting sun
And made West East, and sail’d the Dragon’s mouth,
And came upon the Mountain of the World,
And saw the rivers roll from Paradise!
In 1502 he made his fourth and last voyage and explored the north coast
of the gulf of Mexico. He returned in 1504, and worn out in body died
two years later at Valladolid, in poverty and want. He was buried at
Valladolid, but in 1513 his remains were translated to Seville, and a
monument erected to his memory inscribed: ‘To Castile and Leon Columbus
has given a new world.’ In 1513 they were taken, with those of his
son Diego, and laid in the Cathedral of San Domingo. Two hundred and
fifty years later the island was ceded to the French, and they were
removed to the cathedral of Havana in Cuba. After the Cuban war the
bones were--in 1898--brought from Havana to Spain, kept for a time at
Granada, and finally deposited in 1912 in the cathedral of Seville
(1435-1506).
_The Daisy_;
_Columbus_.
COMO.
A town on the lake of Como of Italy.
_The Daisy._
CONSTANTINUS.
A king of Scotland, who allied himself with the Danes under Anlaf
against Athelstan. The allied kings were defeated at Brunanburh (937
+A.D.+), by Athelstan and his brother Edmund. This victory practically
established the unity of England.
_Battle of Brunanburh._
CONVOLVULUS.
A genus of twining plants, called also Bindweed.
_Enoch Arden_;
_Voyage of Maeldune_.
CONY.
= a rabbit.
_Enoch Arden._
COOMBERLAND (Cumberland).
_Promise of May._
COOT.
A short-tailed water-fowl, with a white spot on the forehead.
_The Brook._
COPHETUA.
An imaginary king of Africa. Sitting one day at his palace window he
saw a beggar maid pass, and fell in love with her and married her. The
story is alluded to in Percy’s _Reliques_, and in Shakespeare’s _Love’s
Labour’s Lost_, and _Romeo and Juliet_.
The magnanimous and most illustrate king Cophetua set eye upon the
pernicious and indubitate beggar Zenelophon,
Shakespeare: _Love’s Labour’s Lost, Act IV. Scene i._
So sweet a face, such angel grace,
In all that land had never been:
Cophetua sware a royal oath:
‘This beggar maid shall be my queen!’
_Beggar Maid._
COPTIC.
Peal after peal, the British battle broke,
Lulling the brine against the Coptic sands.
= Egyptian.
_Buonaparte._
CORINNA.
A Greek poetess, born at Tanagra in Bœotia. She was the most eminent of
the Greek lyric poets, but only fragments of her poems remain. At the
national games she was said to have obtained a victory over Pindar, the
lyric poet of Greece. Her name is the title of one of de Stael’s novels:
At the word, they raised
A tent of satin, elaborately wrought
With fair Corinna’s triumph; here she stood,
Engirt with many a florid maiden-cheek,
The woman-conqueror;
_The Princess._
CORITANIAN.
A British tribe who inhabited the present counties of Lincolnshire,
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire.
_Boädicea._
CORNELIA.
Wife of Titus Sempronius Gracchus, and mother of the Gracchi. She was
held in high esteem by the Romans, who during her lifetime erected a
statue in her honour with the inscription: _Cornelia, the mother of the
Gracchi_.
_The Princess._
CORNWALLIS (Sir Thomas).