the clan Quhele, and had eight sons, the finest men in the clan.
Torquil was a seer, who was supposed to have communication with the
invisible world, and he declared a demon had told him that Eachin or
Hector M’Ian, was the only man in the two hostile clans of Chattan and
Quhele who would come off scathless in the approaching combat (ch
xxvi.).--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).
A parallel combat is described in _The Cid_. When Sancho of Castile
was stabbed by Bellĭdo of Zamora, Diego Ordoñez, of the house of Lara,
challenged five of the knights of Zamora to a single combat. Don Arias
Gonzalo and his four sons accepted the challenge. Pedro Arias was
first slain, then his brother, Diego. Next came Herman, who received a
mortal wound, but struck the charger of Diego Ordoñez. The charger,
furious with pain, carried its rider beyond the lists, and the combat
was declared to be drawn.
=Torralba= (_Dr._), carried by the spirit Cequiel from Valladŏlid to
Rome and back again in an hour and a half. He was tried by the
Inquisition for sorcery (time, Charles V.).--Joseph de Ossau Pellicer
(seventeenth century). (See TORALVA.)
=Torre= (_Sir_), son of Sir Bernard, baron of Astolat. His brother was
Sir Lavaine, and his sister Elaine “the lily maid of Astolat.” He was
blunt-mannered, but not without kindness of heart.--Tennyson, _Idylls
of the King_ (“Elaine”).
The word “Torre” is a blunder for Tirre. Sir Torre or Tor, according
to Arthurian legend, was the natural son of Pellinore, king of Wales,
“begotten of Aries’ wife, the cowherd” (pt. ii. 108). It was Sir Tirre
who was the brother of Elaine (pt. iii. 122).--Sir T. Malory, _History
of Prince Arthur_ (1470).
=Tor´rismond=, general of the forces of Aragon. He falls in love with
Leonora, the usurping queen, promised in marriage to Bertran, prince
of the blood-royal, but she falls in love with Torrismond, who turns
out to be the son of Sancho, the deposed king. Ultimately Sancho is
restored, and Leonora is married to Torrismond.--Dryden, _The Spanish
Fryar_ (1680),
=Torso Farne´se= (3 _syl._), Dircê and her sons, the work of
Apollonius and Tauriscus of Rhodes.
=Toshach Beg=, the “second” of M’Gillie Chattanach, chief of the clan
Chattan, in the great combat.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_
(time, Henry IV.).
=Tottenham in Boots=, a popular toast in Ireland in 1734. Mr.
Tottenham gave the casting vote which threw out a Government bill very
obnoxious to the Irish, on the subject of the Irish parliament. He had
come from the country, and rushed into the House, without changing his
boots just in time to give his vote, which prevented the bill from
passing by a majority of one.
=Totterly= (_Lord_), an Adonis of 60, and a _ci-devant Jeune
Homme_.--C. Selby, _The Unfinished Gentleman_.
=Touchet= [_Too-shay_]. When Charles IX. introduced Henri of Navarre
to Marie Touchet, the witty Navarrese made this anagram of her name,
_Je charme tout_.
=Touchetts= (_The_). _Mrs. Touchett_, “plain-faced old woman, without
coquetry, and without any great elegance, but with an extreme respect
for her own motives. Mrs. Touchett might do a great deal of good, but
she never pleases.” She lives in Florence, her husband in London.
_Mr. Touchett_, “a gentle, refined, fastidious old man, combining
consummate shrewdness with a sort of fraternizing good humor.” His
feeling about his own position in the world is of the democratic sort.
_Ralph Touchett_, philosophical invalid, whose interest in his cousin
Isabel is believed by most people to be brotherly. In order that she
may not feel obliged to marry for a support, he persuades his father
to divide his (Ralph’s) inheritance into two equal parts and give
one-half, unconditionally, to Isabel. She is married for this fortune,
and, a miserable woman, comes against her husband’s will, to see her
cousin die happy because she is with him.--Henry James, Jr., _Portrait
of a Lady_ (1881).
=Touchfaucet= (_Captain_), in Picrochole’s army, taken captive by
Friar John. Being presented to Grangousier and asked the cause of his
king’s invasion, he replied, “To avenge the injury done to the
cake-bakers of Lernê” (ch. 25, 26). Grangousier commanded his
treasurer to give the friar 62,000 saluts (£15,500) in reward, and to
Touchfaucet he gave “an excellent sword of a Vienne blade, with a gold
scabbard, and a collar of gold weighing 702,000 merks (576,000
ounces), garnished with precious stones, and valued at £16,000
sterling, by way of present.” Returning to King Picrochole, he advised
him to capitulate, whereupon Rashcalf cried aloud, “Unhappy the prince
who has traitors for his counsellors!” and Touchfaucet, drawing “his
new sword,” ran him through the body. The king demanded who gave him
the sword, and being told the truth, ordered his guards “to hew him in
pieces.”--Rabelais, _Gargantua_, i. 45-47 (1533).
=Touching for the King’s Evil.= It is said that scrofulous diseases
were at one time very prevalent in the island, and that Edward the
Confessor, in answer to earnest prayer, was told it would be cured by
the royal touch. Edward, being gifted with this miraculous power,
transmitted it as an heir-loom to his successors. Henry VII. presented
each person touched with a small coin, called a touch-piece or
touch-penny.
Charles II. of England, during his reign, touched as many as 92,107
persons; the smallest number (2983) being in the year 1669, and the
largest number in 1684, when many were trampled to death (see
Macaulay’s _History of England_, xiv.). In these “touchings,” John
Brown, a royal surgeon, superintended the ceremony. (See _Macbeth_,
act iv. sc. 3.)
Prince Charles Edward, who claimed to be prince of Wales, touched a
female child for the disease in 1745.
The French kings claimed the same divine power from Anne of Clovis,
A.D. 481. And on Easter Sunday, 1686, Louis XIV. touched 1600, using
these words, _Le roy te touche, Dieu te guerisse_.
⁂ Dr. Johnson was the last person touched. The touch-piece given to
him has on one side this legend, _Soli Deo gloria_, and on the other
side, _Anna D: G. M. BR. F: et H. REG._ (“Anne, by the grace of God,
of Great Britain, France and Ireland, queen”).
Our good Edward he, the Confessor and king ...
That cancred evil cured, bred ’twixt the throat and jaws,
When physic could not find the remedy nor cause ...
He of Almighty God obtained by earnest prayer,
This tumor by a king might curêd be alone,
Which he an heir-loom left unto the English throne.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xi. (1613).
=Touchstone=, a clown filled with “quips and cranks and wanton wiles.”
The original of this character was Tarlton, the favorite court jester
of Queen Elizabeth.--Shakespeare, _As You Like It_ (1598).
His famous speech is “the seven degrees of affront:” (1) the _retort
courteous_, (2) the _quip modest_, (3) the _reply churlish_, (4) the
_reproof valiant_, (5) the _counter-check quarrelsome_, (6) the _lie
circumstantial_, (7) the _lie direct_ (act v. sc. 4).
=Touchwood= (_Colonel_), “the most passionate, impatient,
unreasonable, good-natured man in Christendom.” Uncle of Major and
Clarissa Touchwood.
_Sophia Touchwood_, the colonel’s daughter, in love with her cousin,
Major Touchwood. Her father wants her to marry Colonel Clifford, but
the colonel has fixed his heart on Clarissa, the major’s sister.
_Major Touchwood_, nephew of Colonel Touchwood, and in love with his
cousin, Sophia, the colonel’s daughter. He fancies that Colonel
Clifford is his rival, but Clifford is in love with Clarissa, the
major’s sister. This error forms the plot of the farce, and the
mistakes which arise when the major dresses up to pass himself off for
his uncle constitute its fun and entanglement.
_Clarissa Touchwood_, the major’s sister, in love with Colonel
Clifford. They first met at Brighton, and the colonel thought her
Christian name was Sophia; hence the major looked on him as a
rival.--T. Dibdin, _What Next?_
_Touchwood_ (_Lord_), uncle of Melle´font (2 _syl._).
_Lady Touchwood_, his wife, sister of Sir Paul Pliant. She
entertains a criminal passion for her nephew, Mellefont, and,
because he repels her advances, vows to ruin him. Accordingly, she
tells her husband that the young man has sought to dishonor her, and
when his lordship fancies that the statement of his wife must be
greatly overstated, he finds Mellefont with Lady Touchwood in her
own private chamber. This seems to corroborate the accusation laid
to his charge, but it was an artful trick of Maskwell’s to make
mischief, and in a short time a conversation which he overhears
between Lady Touchwood and Maskwell reveals the whole infamous
scheme most fully to the husband.--Congreve, _The Double Dealer_
(1700).
(Lord and Lady Touchwood must not be mistaken for _Sir George_ and
_Lady Frances Touchwood_, who are very different characters.)
Their Wildairs, Sir John Brutes, Lady Touchwoods and Mrs Frails, are
conventional reproductions of those wild gallants and demireps which
figure in the licentious dramas of Dryden and Shadwell.--Sir W. Scott,
_The Drama_.
⁂ “Wildair,” in _The Constant Couple_, by Farquhar; “Brute,” in _The
Provoked Wife_, by Van Brugh; “Mrs. Frail,” in _Love for Love_, by
Congreve.
_Touchwood_ (_Sir George_), the loving husband of Lady Frances,
desperately jealous of her, and wishing to keep her out of all
society, that she may not lose her native simplicity and purity of
mind. Sir George is a true gentleman of most honorable feelings.
_Lady Frances Touchwood_, the sweet, innocent wife of Sir George
Touchwood. Before her marriage she was brought up in seclusion in the
country, and Sir George tries to keep her fresh and pure in
London.--Mrs. Cowley, _The Belle’s Stratagem_ (1780).
_Touchwood_ (_Peregrine_), a touchy old East Indian, a relation of the
Mowbray family.--Sir W. Scott, _St. Ronan’s Well_ (time, George III.).
=Tough= (_Mr._), an old barrister.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time,
George III.).
=Touran.= The death of the children of Touran forms one of the three
tragic stories of the ancient Irish. The other two are _The Death of
the Children of Lir_ and _The Death of the Children of Usnach_.
=Tournemine= (3 _syl._), a Jesuit of the eighteenth century, fond of
the marvellous. “Il aimait le merveilleux et ne renonçait qu’avec
peine à y croire.”
Il ressemble à Tournemine,
Il croit ce qu’il imagine.
_French Proverb._
=Touthope= (_Mr._), a Scotch attorney and clerk of the peace.--Sir W.
Scott, _Rob Roy_ (time, George I.).
She ordered the fellow to be drawn through a horse-pond, and then to
be well rubbed down with an oaken towel.--_The Adventure of My Aunt._
=Tower of Hunger= (_The_), Gualandi, the tower in which Ugolino with
his two sons and two grandsons were starved to death in 1288.--Dantê,
_Inferno_ (1300).
=Tower of London= (_The_), was really built by Gundulphus, bishop of
Rochester, in the reign of William I., but tradition ascribes it to
Julius Cæsar.
Ye towers of Julius, London’s lasting shame.
Gray, _The Bard_ (1757).
=Tower of Vathek=, built with the intention of reaching heaven, that
Vathek might pry into the secrets seen by Mahomet. The staircase
contained 11,000 stairs, and when the top was gained, men looked no
bigger than pismires, and cities seemed mere bee-hives.--Beckford,
_Vathek_ (1784).
=Townley Mysteries=, certain religious dramas; so called, because the
MS. containing them belonged to P. Townley. These dramas are supposed
to have been acted at Widkirk Abbey, in Yorkshire. In 1831, they were
printed for the Surtees Society under the editorship of the Rev.
Joseph Hunter, and J. Stevenson. (See COVENTRY MYSTERIES.)
=Townley= (_Colonel_), attached to Berinthia, a handsome young widow,
but in order to win her he determines to excite her jealousy, and
therefore pretends love to Amanda, her cousin. Amanda, however, repels
his attentions with disdain; and the colonel, seeing his folly,
attaches himself to Berinthia.--Sheridan, _A Trip to Scarborough_
(1777).
_Townley_ (_Lord_) a nobleman of generous mind and high principle,
liberal and manly. Though very fond of his wife, he insists on a
separation because she is so extravagant and self-willed. Lady Townly
sees at length the folly of her ways, and promises amendment,
whereupon the husband relents and receives her into favor again.
_Lady Townly_, the gay, but not unfaithful young wife of Lord Townley,
who thinks that the pleasure of life consists in gambling; she “cares
nothing for her husband,” but “loves almost everything he hates.” She
says:
I dote upon assemblies; my heart bounds at a ball; and at an opera, I
expire. Then I love play to distraction; cards enchant me; and dice
put me out of my little wits.--Vanbrugh and Cibber, _The Provoked
Husband_, iii. 1 (1728).
(Mrs. Pritchard, Margaret Woffington, Miss Brunton, Miss M. Tree, and
Miss E. Tree, were all excellent in this favorite part.)
=Tox= (_Miss Lucretia_), the bosom friend of Mr. Dombey’s married
sister (Mrs. Chick). Miss Lucretia was a faded lady, “as if she had
not been made in fast colors,” and was washed out. She “ambled through
life without any opinions, and never abandoned herself to unavailing
regrets.” She greatly admired Mr. Dombey, and entertained a forlorn
hope that she might be selected by him to supply the place of his
deceased wife. Miss Tox lived in Princess’s Place, and maintained a
weak flirtation with a Major Bagstock, who was very jealous of Mr.
Dombey.--C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).
=Tozer=, one of the ten young gentlemen in the school of Dr. Blimber,
when Paul Dombey was there. A very solemn lad, whose “shirt-collar
curled up the lobes of his ears.”--C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_
(1846).
=Trabb=, a prosperous old bachelor, a tailor by trade.
He was having his breakfast in the parlor behind the shop.... He had
sliced his hot roll into three feather-beds, and was slipping butter
in between the blankets.... He was a prosperous old bachelor, and his
open window looked into a prosperous little garden and orchard, and
there was a prosperous iron safe let into the wall at the side of the
fireplace, and without doubt, heaps of his prosperity were put away in
it in bags.--Dickens, _Great Expectations_ (1860).
=Traddles=, a simple, honest young man, who believes in everybody and
everything. Though constantly failing, he is never depressed by his
want of success. He had the habit of brushing his hair up on end,
which gave him a look of surprise.
At the Creakle’s school, when I was miserable, he [_Traddles_] would
lay his head on the desk for a little while, and then, cheering up,
would draw skeletons all over his slate.--C. Dickens, _David
Copperfield_, vii.(1849).
=Trade´love= (_Mr._), a broker on ’Change, one of the four guardians
of Anne Lovely, the heiress. He was “a fellow that would out-lie the
devil, for the advantage of stock, and cheat his own father in a
bargain. He was a great stickler for trade, and hated every one that
wore a sword” (act. i. 1). Colonel Feignwell passed himself off as a
Dutch merchant named Jan van Timtamtirelereletta herr van Feignwell,
and made a bet with Tradelove. Tradelove lost, and cancelled the debt
by giving his consent to the marriage of his ward to the supposed
Dutchman.--Mrs. Centlivre, _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_ (1717).
=Tragedy= (_Father of Greek_), Thespis, a traditional actor of Athens.
Æschylos is also called “The Father of Greek Tragedy” (B.C. 525-426).
=Tragedy of Gorboduc=, otherwise entitled the _Tragedy of Ferrex and
Porrex_, the earliest English tragedy, was the joint production of
Thomas Sackville, afterwards Lord Buckhurst, and earl of Dorset, and
Thomas Norton, a Puritan clergyman. It was produced before Queen
Elizabeth, at Whitehall, January 18, 1562. Sackville was already known
as the most important of the writers who produced “The Mirror for
Magistrates,” a collection of narratives of various remarkable English
historical personages, which was first published in 1559. Norton had
been associated with Sternhold and Hopkins in their metrical version
of the _Psalms_. On the title-page of the first edition of Gorboduc,
published in 1565, without the consent of the authors, it is stated
that the first three acts were written by Norton and the last two by
Sackville, but Charles Lamb expresses himself “willing to believe that
Lord Buckhurst supplied the more vital parts.”
=Trainband=, the volunteer artillery, whose ground for practice was in
Moorfields.
A trainband captain eke was he,
Of famous London town.
Cowper, _John Gilpin_ (1782).
=Trajan= (_The Second_), Marcus Aurelius Claudius, surnamed Gothĭcus,
noted for his valor, justice, and goodness (215, 268-270).
=Trajan and St. Gregory.= It is said that Trajan, although unbaptized,
was delivered from hell in answer to the prayers of St. Gregory.
There was storied on the rock
The exalted glory of the Roman prince,
Whose mighty worth moved Gregory to earn.
His mighty conquest--Trajan, the emperor.
Dantê, _Purgatory_, xi. (1308).
=Trajan and the Importunate Widow.= One day a mother appeared before
the Emperor Trajan, and cried, “Grant vengeance, sire! My son is
murdered.” The emperor replied, “I cannot stop now; wait till I
return.” “But, sire,” pleaded the widow, “if you do not return, who
will grant me justice?” “My successor,” said Trajan. “And can Trajan
leave to another the duty that he himself is appointed to perform?” On
hearing this the emperor stopped his cavalcade, heard the woman’s
cause, and granted her suit. Dantê tells this tale in his _Purgatory_,
xi.--John of Salisbury, _Polycraticos de Curialium Nugis_, v. 8
(twelfth century).
Dion Cassius (_Roman Historia_, lxix.) tells the same story of
Hadrian. When a woman appeared before him with a suit as he was
starting on a journey, the emperor put her off, saying, “I have no
leisure now.” She replied, “If Hadrian has no leisure to perform his
duties, let him cease to reign!” On hearing this reproof he dismounted
from his horse and gave ear to the woman’s cause.
A woman once made her appeal to Philip of Macedon, who, being busy at
the time, petulantly exclaimed, “Woman, I have no time now for such
matters.” “If Philip has no time to render justice,” said the woman,
“then it is high time for Philip to resign!” The king felt the rebuke,
heard the cause patiently, and decided it justly.
=Tramecksan and Slamecksan=, the High-heels and Low-heels, two great
political factions of Lilliput. The animosity of these Guelphs and
Ghibellines of punydom ran so high “that no High-heel would eat or
drink with a Low-heel, and no Low-heel would salute or speak to a
High-heel.” The king of Lilliput was a High-heel, but the
heir-apparent a Low-heel.--Swift, _Gulliver’s Travels_ (“Voyage to
Lilliput.” iv., 1726).
=Tramp= (_Gaffer_), a peasant at the execution of old Meg
Mudochson.--Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).
=Tramtrist= (_Sir_), the name assumed by Sir Tristram, when he went to
Ireland to be cured of his wounds after his combat with Sir Marhaus.
Here La Belle Isold (or Isold “the Fair”) was his leech, and the young
knight fell in love with her. When the queen discovered that Sir
Tramtrist was Sir Tristram, who had killed her brother, Sir Marhaus,
in combat, she plotted to take his life, and he was obliged to leave
the island. La Belle Isold subsequently married King Mark of Cornwall,
but her heart was ever fixed on her brave young patient.--Sir T.
Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, ii. 9-12 (1470).
=Tranchera=, Agricane’s sword which afterwards belonged to
Brandimart.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).
=Tra´nio=, one of the servants of Lucentio, the gentleman who marries
Bianca (the sister of Kathari´na, “the Paduan shrew”).--Shakespeare,
_Taming of the Shrew_ (1594).
=Transfer=, a usurer, who is willing to advance Sir George Wealthy a
sum of money on these easy terms: (1) 5 per cent. interest; (2) 10 per
cent. premium; (3) 5 per cent. for insuring the young man’s life; (4)
a handsome present to himself as broker; (5) the borrower to pay all
expenses; and (6) the loan not to be in cash but goods, which are to
be taken at a valuation and sold at auction at the borrower’s sole
hazard. These terms are accepted, and Sir George promises besides a
handsome _douceur_ to Loader for having found a usurer so
promptly.--Foote, _The Minor_ (1760).
=Transformations.= In the art of transformation, one of the most
important things was a ready wit to adopt in an instant some form
which would give you an advantage over your adversary; thus, if your
adversary appeared as a mouse, you must change into an owl, then your
adversary would become an arrow to shoot the owl, and you would assume
the form of fire to burn the arrow, whereupon your adversary would
become water to quench the fire; and he who could outwit the other
would come off victorious. The two best examples I know of this sort
of contest are to be found, one in the _Arabian Nights_, and the other
in the _Mabinogion_.
The former is the contest between the Queen of Beauty and the son of
the daughter of Eblis. He appeared as a scorpion, she in a moment
became a serpent; whereupon he changed into an eagle, she into a more
powerful black eagle; he became a cat, she a wolf; she instantly
changed into a worm and crept into a pomegranite, which in time burst,
whereupon he assumed the form of a cock to devour the seed, but it
became a fish; the cock then became a pike, but the princess became a
blazing fire, and consumed her adversary before he had time to
change.--“The Second Calendar.”
The other is the contest between Caridwen and Gwion Bach. Bach fled as
a hare, she changed into a greyhound; whereupon he became a fish, she
an otter-bitch, he instantly became a bird, she a hawk; but he became
as quick as thought a grain of wheat. Caridwen now became a hen, and
made for the wheat-corn and devoured him.--“Taliesin.”
=Translator-General.= Philemon Holland is so called by Fuller, in his
_Worthies of England_. Holland translated Livy, Pliny, Plutarch,
Suetonius, Xenophon, and several other classic authors (1551-1636).
=Transome= (_Harold_), takes a leading part in George Eliot’s novel
_Felix Holt_.
_Transome_ (_Mrs_). Mother of Harold.
=Trapbois= (_Old_), a miser in Alsatia. Even in his extreme age, “he
was believed to understand the plucking of a ‘pigeon’ better than any
man in Alsatia.”
_Martha Trapbois_, the miser’s daughter, a cold, decisive, masculine
woman, who marries Richie Moniplies.--Sir W. Scott, _The Fortunes of
Nigel_ (time, James I.).
=Trapper= (_The_). One of the titles of Natty Bumpo, a character
introduced into several of Cooper’s novels. In _The Pioneers_, he
bears his own name, in others he is “The Trapper,” “The Deerslayer,”
“The Pathfinder,” “The Hawk-eye” and “Leatherstocking.”
=Traveller= (_The_). The scheme of this poem is very simple: The poet
supposes himself seated among Alpine solitudes, looking down upon a
hundred kingdoms. He would fain find some spot where happiness can be
attained, but the natives of each realm think their own the best; yet
the amount of happiness in each is pretty well equal. To illustrate
this, the poet describes the manners and government of Italy,
Switzerland, France, Holland, and England.--O. Goldsmith (1764).
_Traveller_ (_Mr._), the stranger who tried to reason with Mr. Mopes
and bring him back to society, but found the truth of the tinker’s
remark, “When iron is thoroughly rotten, you cannot botch it.”--C.
Dickens, _A Christmas Number_ (1861).
=Travellers’ Tales.= Marco Polo says,
“Certain islands lie so far north in the Northern Ocean, that one
going thither actually leaves the pole-star a trifle behind to the
south.”
A Dutch skipper told Master Noxon, the hydrographer of Charles II.,
that he had himself sailed two degrees beyond the pole.
Maundeville says, in Prester John’s country is a sea of sand which
ebbs and flows in great waves without one drop of water. This sea,
says the knight of St. Alban’s, men find full of right good fish of
most delicious eating.