Monford, the lover of Charlotte Whimsey. He plans various devices to hoodwink her old father, in order to elope with the daughter.—James Cobb, The First Floor (1756-1818).

Monime (2 syl.), in Racine's tragedy of Mithridate. This was one of Mdlle. Rachel's great characters, first preformed[TN-19] by her in 1838.

Monim'ia, "the orphan," sister of Chamont, and ward of Lord Acasto. Monimia was in love with Acasto's son, Castalio, and privately married him. Polydore (the brother of Castalio) also loved her, but his love was dishonorable love. By treachery, Polydore obtained admission to Monimia's chamber, and passed the bridal night with her, Monimia supposing him to be her husband; but when the next day she discovered the deceit, she poisoned herself; and Polydore, being apprised that Monimia was his brother's wife, provoked a quarrel with him, ran on his brother's sword, and died.—Otway, The Orphan (1680).

More tears have been shed for the sorrows of "Belvidēra" and "Monimia," than for those of "Juliet" and "Desdemona."—Sir W. Scott, The Drama.

Monimia, in Smollett's novel of Count Fathom (1754).

Moniplies (Richie), the honest, self-willed Scotch servant of Lord Nigel Olifaunt, of Glenverloch.—Sir W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I.).

Monk (General), introduced by Sir Walter Scott in Woodstock (time, Commonwealth.[TN-20]

Monk (The Bird Singing to a). The monk is Felix, who listened to a bird for a hundred years, and thought the time only an hour.—Longfellow, The Golden Legend, ii. (1851).

Monk (The), a novel, by Sir Matthew G. Lewis (1794).

Monk Lewis. Matthew Gregory Lewis; so called from his novel (1773-1818).

Monk of Bury, John Lydgate, poet, who wrote the Siege of Troy, the Story of Thebes, and the Fall of Princes (1375-1460).

Nothynge I am experte in poetry, As the monke of Bury, floure of eloquence.

Stephen Hawes, The Passe-Tyme[TN-21] of Plesure (1515).

Monk of Westminister, Richard, of Cirencester, the chronicler (fourteenth century).

This chronicle, On the Ancient State of Britain, was first brought to light in 1747, by Dr. Charles Julius Bertram, professor of English at Copenhagen; but the original being no better known than that of Thomas Rowley's poems, published by Chatterton, grave suspicions exist that Dr. Bertram was himself the author of the chronicles.

Monks (The Father of), Ethelwold, of Winchester (*-984).

Monks, alias Edward Leeford, a violent man, subject to fits. Edward Leeford, though half-brother to Oliver Twist, was in collusion with Bill Sykes, to ruin him. Failing in this, he retired to America, and died in jail.—C. Dickens, Oliver Twist (1837).

Monkbarns (Laird of), Mr Jonathan Oldbuck, the antiquary.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Mon'ker and Nakir [Na.keer'], the two examiners of the dead, who put questions to departed spirits respecting their belief in God and Mahomet, and award their state in after-life according to their answers.—Al Korân.

"Do you not see those spectres that are stirring the burning coals? Are they Monker and Nakir come to throw us into them?"—W. Beckford, Vathek (1786).

Monmouth, the surname of Henry V. of England, who was born in that town (1388, 1413-1422).

[Asterism] Mon-mouth is the mouth of the Monnow.

Monmouth (The duke of), commander-in-chief of the royal army.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

[Asterism] The duke of Monmouth was nicknamed "The Little Duke," because he was diminutive in size. Having no name of his own, he took that of his wife, "Scott," countess of Buccleuch. Pepys says: "It is reported that the king will be tempted to set the crown on the Little Duke" (Diary, seventeenth century).

Mon'ema, wife of Quia'ra, the only persons of the whole of the Guārani race who escaped the small-pox plague which ravaged that part of Paraguay. They left the fatal spot, and settled in the Modai woods. Here they had one son, Yerūti, and one daughter, Mooma, but Quiāra was killed by a jagŭar before the latter was born. Monĕma left the Mondai woods, and went to live at St. Joăchin, in Paraguay, but soon died from the effects of a house and city life.—Southey, A Tale of Paraguay (1814).

Mononia, when nature embellished the tint Of thy fields and thy mountains so fair, Did she ever intend that a tyrant should print The footstep of slavery there?

T. Moore, Irish Melodies, i. ("War Song," 1814).

Monsieur, Philippe, Duc d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV. (1674-1723).

[Asterism] Other gentlemen were Mons. A or Mons. B, but the regent was Mons. without any adjunct.

Similarly, the daughter of the duc de Chartres (the regent's grandson) was Mademoiselle.

Monsieur le Coadjuteur, Paul de Gondi, afterwards Cardinal de Retz (1614-1679).

Monsieur le duc, Louis Henri de Bourbon, eldest son of the prince de Condé (1692-1740).

Monsieur Thomas, a drama by Beaumont and Fletcher (1619).

Monsieur Tonson, a farce by Moncrieff. Jack Ardourly fails in love with Adolphine de Courcy in the street, and gets Tom King to assist in ferreting her out. Tom King discovers that his sweeting lives in the house of a French refugee, a barber, named Mons. Morbleu; but not knowing the name of the young lady, he inquires for Mr. Thompson, hoping to pick up information. Mons. Morbleu says no Mons. Tonson lives in the house, but only Mde. Bellegarde and Mdlle. Adolphine de Courcy. The old Frenchman is driven almost crazy by different persons inquiring for Mons. Tonson; but ultimately Jack Ardourly marries Adolphine, whose mother is Mrs. Thompson after all.

Taylor wrote a drama of the same title in 1767.

Monster (The), Renwick Williams, a wretch who used to prowl about London by night, armed with a double-edged knife, with which he mutilated women. He was condemned July 8, 1790.

Mont Rognon (Baron of), a giant of enormous strength and insatiable appetite. He was bandy-legged, had an elastic stomach, and four rows of teeth. He was a paladin of Charlemagne, and one of the four sent in search of Croquemitaine and Fear Fortress.—Croquemitaine.

Mont St. Michel, in Normandy. Here nine druidesses used to sell arrows to sailors to charm away storms. The arrows had to be discharged by a young man 25 years of age.

The Laplanders drove a profitable trade by selling winds to sailors. Even so late as 1814, Bessie Millie, of Pomōna (Orkney Islands), helped to eke out a livelihood by selling winds for sixpence.

Eric, king of Sweden, could make the winds blow from any quarter he liked by a turn of his cap. Hence, he was nicknamed "Windy Cap."

Mont Trésor, in France; so called by Gontran "the Good," king of Burgundy (sixteenth century). One day, weary with the chase, Gontran laid himself down near a small river, and fell asleep. The squire who watched his master, saw a little animal come from the king's mouth, and walk to the stream, over which the squire laid his sword, and the animal running across, entered a hole in the mountain. When Gontran was told of this incident, he said he had dreamt that he crossed a bridge of steel, and, having entered a cave at the foot of a mountain, entered a palace of gold. Gontran employed men to undermine the hill, and found there vast treasures, which he employed in works of charity and religion. In order to commemorate this event he called the hill Mont Trésor.—Claud Paradin, Symbola Heroica.

[Asterism] This story has been ascribed to numerous persons.

Mon'tague (3 syl.), head of a noble house in Verona, at feudal enmity with the house of Capŭlet. Romeo belonged to the former, and Juliet to the latter house.

Lady Montague, wife of Lord Montague, and mother of Romeo.—Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1598).

Montalban.

Don Kyrie Elyson de Montalban, a hero of romance, in the History of Tirante the White.

Thomas de Montalban, brother of Don Kyrie Elyson, in the same romance of chivalry.

Rinaldo de Montalban, a hero of romance, in the Mirror of Knighthood, from which work both Bojardo and Ariosto have largely borrowed.

Montalban, now called Montauban (a contraction of Mons Alba'nus), in France, in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne.

Jousted in Aspramont or Montalban.

Milton, Paradise Lost, i. 583 (1665).

Montalban (The Count), in love with Volantê (3 syl.), daughter of Balthazar. In order to sound her, the count disguised himself as a father confessor; but Volantê detected the trick instantly, and said to him, "Come, come, count, pull off your lion's hide, and confess yourself an ass." However, as Volantê really loved him, all came right at last.—J. Tobin, The Honeymoon (1804).

Montanto (Signor), a master of fence and a great braggart.—Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour (1598).

Montargis (The Dog of), named Dragon. It belonged to Captain Aubri de Montdidier, and is especially noted for his fight with the Chevalier Richard Macaire. The dog was called Montargis, because the encounter was depicted over the chimney of the great hall in the castle of Montargis. It was in the forest of Bondi, close by this castle, that Aubri was assassinated.

Monte Christo (Count), convict who escapes from prison, and finds immense treasure, with which he does incredible things.

Assuming the title of "count," he adds the name of the island on which his treasure is buried, and plays the grande seignior in society, punishing his former persecutors and false friends, and rewarding his old allies. Finally he is brought to confess that man cannot play providence, and to recall the words "Vengeance is mine!"—Alexander Dumas, Count of Monte Christo.

Montenay (Sir Philip de), an old English knight.—Sir W. Scott, Castle Dangerous (time, Henry I.).

Montesi'nos, a legendary hero, who received some affront at the French court, and retired to La Mancha, in Spain. Here he lived in a cavern, some sixty feet deep, called "The Cavern of Montesinos." Don Quixote descended part of the way down this cavern, and fell into a trance, in which he saw Montesinos himself, Durandartê and Belerma under the spell of Merlin, Dulcin'ea del Toboso enchanted into a country wench, and other visions, which he more than half believed to be realities.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, II. ii. 5, 6 (1615).

[Asterism] This Durandartê was the cousin of Montesinos, and Belerma the lady he served for seven years. When he fell at Roncesvallês, he prayed his cousin to carry his heart to Belerma.

Montespan (The marquis de), a conceited court fop, silly and heartless. When Louis XIV. took Mde. de Montespan for his concubine, he banished the marquis, saying:

Your strange and countless follies— The scenes you make—your loud domestic broils— Bring scandal on our court. Decorum needs Your banishment.... Go! And for your separate household, which entails A double cost, our treasure shall accord you A hundred thousand crowns.

Act iv. 1.

The foolish old marquis says, in his self-conceit:

A hundred thousand crowns for being civil To one another! Well now, that's a thing That happens but to marquises. It shows My value in the state. The king esteems My comfort of such consequence to France, He pays me down a hundred thousand crowns, Rather than let my wife disturb my temper!

Act v. 2.

Madame de Montespan, wife of the marquis. She supplanted La Vallière in the base love of Louis XIV. La Vallière loved the man, Montespan the king. She had wit to warm but not to burn, energy which passed for feeling, a head to check her heart, and not too much principle for a French court. Mde. de Montespan was the protégée of the Duke de Lauzun, who used her as a stepping-stone to wealth; but when in favor, she kicked down the ladder by which she had climbed to power. However, Lauzun had his revenge; and when La Vallière took the veil, Mde. de Montespan was banished from the court.—Lord E. L. B. Lytton, The Duchess de la Vallière (1836).

Montfauçon (The Lady Calista of), attendant of Queen Berengaria.—Sir. W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Mont-Fitchet (Sir Conrade), a preceptor of the Knights Templar.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

Montfort (De), the hero and title of a tragedy, intended to depict the passion of hate, by Joanna Baillie (1798). The object of De Montfort's hatred is Rezenvelt, and his passion drives him on to murder.

[Asterism] De Montfort was probably the suggestive inspiration of Byron's Manfred (1817).

Montgomery (Mr.), Lord Godolphin, lord high treasurer of England in the reign of Queen Anne. The queen called herself "Mrs. Morley," and Sarah Jennings, duchess of Marlborough, was "Mrs. Freeman."

Monthermer (Guy), a nobleman, and the pursuivant of King Henry II.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

Montjoie, chief herald of France.—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

Montorio, the hero of a novel, who persuaded his "brother's sons" to murder their father by working on their fears, and urging on them the doctrine of fatalism. When the deed was committed, Montorio discovered that the young murderers were not his nephews, but his own sons.—Rev. C. R. Maturin, Fatal Revenge (1807).

Montreal d'Albano, called "Fra Moriale," knight of St. John of Jerusalem, and captain of the Grand Company in the fourteenth century, when sentenced to death by Rienzi, summoned his judge to follow him within the month. Rienzi was killed by the fickle mob within the stated period. (See SUMMONS TO DEATH.)

Montreville (Mde. Adela), or the Begum Mootee Mahul, called "the queen of Sheba."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter (time, George II.).

Montrose (The duke of), commander-in-chief of the king's army.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy, xxxii. (time, George I.).

Montrose (The Marquis of).—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).

Montrose (James Grahame, earl of), the king's lieutenant in Scotland. He appears first disguised as Anderson, servant of the earl of Menteith.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).

Monuments (The), Poor family in London.

Father, a convict who gets out of prison on a ticket-of-leave.

Mother, Hester, an honest washerwoman, afterwards in almshouse, and blind.

Claude. Bright young fellow, educated by Lady Mildred Eldredge.

Melenda, a work-girl, fierce and virtuous, starving, yet independent.

Joe, plumber and house-decorator, typical British workman.

Polly, adopted by Lady Mildred, called "Violet," and brought up with her own daughter.

Sam, a red-hot socialist, ready with impracticable plans of leagues and reformation.—Walter Besant, Children of Gibeon (1890).

Montserrat (Conrade, marquis of), a crusader.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Moody (John), the guardian of Peggy Thrift, an heiress, whom he brings up in the country, wholly without society. John Moody is morose, suspicious, and unsocial. When 50 years of age, and Peggy 19, he wants to marry her, but is out-witted by "the country girl," who prefers Belville, a young man of more suitable age.

Alithea Moody, sister of John. She jilts Sparkish, a conceited fop, and marries Harcourt.—The Country Girl (time, Garrick, altered from Wycherly).

Mooma, youngest sister of Yerūti. Their father and mother were the only persons of the whole Guarāni race who escaped a small-pox plague which ravished that part of Paraguay. They left the fatal spot and lived in the Mondai woods, where both their children were born. Before the birth of Mooma, her father was eaten by a jagŭar, and the three survivors lived in the woods alone. When grown to a youthful age, a Jesuit priest persuaded them to come and live at St. Joăchin (3 syl.); so they left the wild woods for a city life. Here the mother soon flagged and died. Mooma lost her spirits, was haunted with thick-coming fancies of good and bad angels, and died. Yerūti begged to be baptized, received the rite, cried, "Ye are come for me! I am ready;" and died also.—Southey, A Tale of Paraguay (1814).

Moon (Man in the), said to be Cain, with a bundle of thorns.

Now doth Cain with fork of thorns confine On either hemisphere, touching the wave Beneath the towers of Seville. Yesternight The moon was round.

Dantê, Hell, xx. (1300).

Moon (Minions of the), thieves or highwaymen. (See MOON'S MEN.)

Moon and Mahomet. Mahomet made the moon perform seven circuits round Caaba or the holy shrine of Mecca, then enter the right sleeve of his mantle and go out at the left. At its exit, it split into two pieces, which re-united in the centre of the firmament. This miracle was performed for the conversion of Hahab, the Wise.

Moon-Calf, an inanimate, shapeless human mass, said by Pliny to be engendered of woman only.—Nat. Hist., x. 64.

Moon's Men, thieves or highwaymen, who ply their vocation by night.

The fortune of us that are but moon's men doth ebb and flow like the sea.—Shakespeare, 1 Henry IV. act i. sc. 2 (1597).

Moonshine (Saunders), a smuggler.—Sir W. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor (time, William III.).

Moore (Mr. John), of the Pestle and Mortar, Abchurch Lane, immortalized by his "worm-powder," and called the "Worm Doctor."

Moors. The Moors of Aragon are called Tangarins; those of Granāda are Mudajares; and those of Fez are called Elches. They are the best soldiers of the Spanish dominions. In the Middle Ages, all Mohammedans were called Moors; and hence Camoens, in the Lusiad, viii., called the Indians so.

Mopes (Mr.), the hermit, who lived on Tom Tiddler's Ground. He was dirty, vain, and nasty, "like all hermits," but had landed property, and was said to be rich and learned. He dressed in a blanket and skewer, and, by steeping himself in soot and grease, soon acquired immense fame. Rumor said he murdered his beautiful young wife, and abandoned the world. Be this as it may, he certainly lived a nasty life. Mr. Traveller tried to bring him back into society, but a tinker said to him "Take my word for it, when iron is thoroughly rotten, you can never botch it, do what you may."—C. Dickens, A Christmas Number (1861).

Mopsus, a shepherd, who, with Menalcas, celebrates the funeral eulogy of Daphnis.—Virgil, Eclogue, v.

Mora, the betrothed of Oscar, who mysteriously disappears on his bridal eve, and is mourned for as dead. His younger brother, Allan, hoping to secure the lands and fortune of Mora, proposes marriage, and is accepted. At the wedding banquet, a stranger demands "a pledge to the lost Oscar," and all accept it except Allan, who is there and then denounced as the murderer of his brother. Oscar then vanishes, and Allan dies.—Byron, Oscar of Alva.

Moradbak, daughter of Fitead, a widower. Hudjadge, king of Persia, could not sleep, and commanded Fitead, his porter and jailer, under pain of death, to find some one to tell him tales. Fitead's daughter, who was only 11, undertook to amuse the king with tales, and was assisted in private by the sage Abou'melek. After a perfect success, Hudjadge married Moradbak, and at her recommendation, Aboumelek was appointed overseer of the whole empire.—Comte de Caylus, Oriental Tales (1743).

Morakan'abad, grand vizier of the Caliph Vathek.—Beckford, Vathek (1784).

Moral Philosophy (The Father of), Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274).

Moran, Son of Fithil, one of the scouts in the army of Swaran, king of Lochlin (Denmark).—Ossian, Fingal.

Moran's Collar, a collar for magistrates, which had the supernatural power of pressing the neck of the wearer if his judgments deviated from strict justice, and even of causing strangulation if he persevered in wrong doing. Moran, surnamed "the Just," was the wise counsellor of Feredach, an early king of Ireland.

Morat, in Aurungzebe, a drama by Dryden (1675).

Edward Kynaston [1619-1687] shone with uncommon lustre in "Morat" and "Muley Moloch." In both these parts he had a fierce, lion-like majesty in his port and utterance, that gave the spectators a kind of trembling admiration.—Colley Cibber.

Morbleu! This French oath is a corrupt contraction of Mau'graby; thus, maugre bleu, mau'bleu. Maugraby was the great Arabian enchanter, and the word means "barbarous," hence a barbarous man or barbarian. The oath is common in Provence, Languedoc, and Gascoigne. I have often heard it used by the medical students at Paris.

Probably it is a punning corruption of Mort de Dieu.

Mordaunt, the secretary, at Aix, of Queen Margaret, the widow of Henry VI. of England.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Mor'decai (Beau), a rich Italian Jew, one of the suitors of Charlotte Goodchild, but, supposing the report to be true that she has lost her fortune, he calls off and retires.—C. Macklin, Love à-la-Mode-[TN-22] (1759).

Mordecai. Earnest young Jew, supporting himself by repairing watches, jewelry, etc. He is devoted to his race, proud of his lineage, and versed in all pertaining to Hebrew history. He dies of consumption.—George Eliot, Daniel Deronda.

Mordent, father of Joanna, by a former wife. In order to marry Lady Anne, he deserts Joanna and leaves her to be brought up by strangers. Joanna is placed under Mrs. Enfield, a crimp, and Mordent consents to a proposal of Lennox to run off with her. Mordent is a spirit embittered with the world—a bad man, with a goading conscience. He sins and suffers the anguish of remorse; does wrong, and blames Providence because when he "sows the wind he reaps the whirlwind."

Lady Anne, the wife of Mordent, daughter of the earl of Oldcrest, sister of a viscount, niece of Lady Mary, and one of her uncles is a bishop. She is wholly neglected by her husband, but, like Griselda (q.v.), bears it without complaint.—Holcroft, The Deserted Daughter (1784, altered into The Steward).

Mordred (Sir), son of Margawse (sister of King Arthur), and Arthur, her brother, while she was the wife of Lot, king of Orkney (pt. i. 2, 35, 36). The sons of Lot himself and his wife were Gaw'ain, Agravain, Ga'heris, and Gareth, all knights of the Round Table. Out of hatred to Sir Launcelot, Mordred and Agravain accuse him to the king of too great familiarity with Queen Guenever, and induce the king to spend a day in hunting. During his absence, the queen sends for Sir Launcelot to her private chamber, and Mordred and Agravain, with twelve other knights, putting the worst construction on the interview, clamorously assail the chamber, and call on Sir Launcelot to come out. This he does, and kills Agravain with the twelve knights, but Mordred makes his escape and tells the king, who orders the queen to be burnt alive. She is brought to the stake, but is rescued by Sir Launcelot, who carries her off to Joyous Guard, near Carlisle, which the king besieges. While lying before the castle, King Arthur receives a bull from the pope, commanding him to take back his queen. This he does, but as he refuses to be reconciled to Sir Launcelot, the knight betakes himself to Benwick, in Brittany. The king lays siege to Benwick, and during his absence leaves Mordred regent. Mordred usurps the crown, and tries, but in vain, to induce the queen to marry him. When the king hears thereof, he raises the siege of Benwick, and returns to England. He defeats Mordred at Dover, and at Barondown, but at Salisbury (Camlan) Mordred is slain fighting with the king, and Arthur receives his death-wound. The queen then retires to a convent at Almesbury, is visited by Sir Launcelot, declines to marry him, and dies.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur iii. 143-174 (1470).

[Asterism] The wife of Lot is called "Anne" by Geoffrey, of Monmouth (British History, viii. 20, 21); and "Bellicent" by Tennyson, in Gareth and Lynette.

This tale is so very different from those of Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Tennyson, that all three are given. (See MODRED.)

Mor'dure (2 syl.), son of the emperor of Germany. He was guilty of illicit love with the mother of Sir Bevis, of Southampton, who murdered her husband and then married Sir Mordure. Sir Bevis, when a mere lad, reproved his mother for the murder of his father, and she employed Saber to kill him; but the murder was not committed, and young Bevis was brought up as a shepherd. One day, entering the hall where Mordure sat with his bride, Bevis struck at him with his axe. Mordure slipped aside, and the chair was "split to shivers." Bevis was then sold to an Armenian, and was presented to the king, who knighted him and gave him his daughter Josian in marriage.—M. Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. (1612).

Mordure (2 syl.), Arthur's sword, made by Merlin. No enchantment had power over it, no stone or steel was proof against it, and it would neither break nor bend. (The word means "hard biter.")—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 8 (1590).

More (Margareta), the heroine and feigned authoress of Household of Sir Thomas More, by Miss Manning (1851).

More of More Hall, a legendary hero, who armed himself with armor full of spikes, and, concealing himself in the cave where the dragon of Wantley dwelt, slew the monster by kicking it in the mouth, where alone it was mortal.

[Asterism] In the burlesque of H. Carey, entitled The Dragon of Wantley, the hero is called "Moore of Moore Hall," and he is made to be in love with Gubbins's daughter, Margery, of Roth'ram Green (1696-1743).

Morecraft, at first a miser, but after losing most of his money he became a spendthrift.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Scornful Lady (1616).

[Asterism] "Luke," in Massinger's City Madam, is the exact opposite. He was at first a poor spendthrift, but coming into a fortune he turned miser.

Morell (Sir Charles), the pseudonym of the Rev. James Ridley, affixed to some of the early editions of The Tales of the Genii, from 1764.

More'love (Lord), in love with Lady Betty Modish, who torments him almost to madness by an assumed indifference, and rouses his jealousy by coquetting with Lord Foppington. By the advice of Sir Charles Easy, Lord Morelove pays the lady in her own coin, assumes an indifference to her, and flirts with Lady Grave'airs. This brings Lady Betty to her senses, and all ends happily.—Colley Cibber, The Careless Husband (1704).

Morë'no (Don Antonio), a gentleman of Barcelona, who entertained Don Quixote with mock-heroic hospitality.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, II. iv. 10 (1615).

Morfin (Mr.), a cheerful bachelor, in the office of Mr. Dombey, merchant. He calls himself "a creature of habit," has a great respect for the head of the house, and befriends John Carker when he falls into disgrace by robbing his employer. Mr. Morfin is a musical amateur, and finds in his violoncello a solace for all cares and worries. He marries Harriet Carker, the sister of John and James.—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).

Morgan (le Fay), one of the sisters of King Arthur (pt. i. 18); the others were Margawse, Elain, and Anne (Bellicent was his half-sister). Morgan calls herself "queen of the land of Gore" (pt. i. 103). She was the wife of King Vrience (pt. i. 63), the mother of Sir Ew'ain (pt. i. 73), and lived in the castle of La Belle Regard (pt. ii. 122).

On one occasion, Morgan le Fay stole her brother's sword, "Excalibur," with its scabbard, and sent them to Sir Accolon, of Gaul, her paramour, that he might kill her brother Arthur in mortal combat. If this villany had succeeded, Morgan intended to murder her husband, marry Sir Accolon, and "devise to make him king of Britain;" but Sir Accolon, during the combat, dropped the sword, and Arthur, snatching it up, would have slain him had he not craved mercy and confessed the treasonable design (pt. i. 70). After this, Morgan stole the scabbard and threw it into the lake (pt. i. 73). Lastly, she tried to murder her brother by means of a poisoned robe; but Arthur told the messenger to try it on, that he might see it, and when he did so he dropped down dead, "being burnt to a coal" (pt. i. 75).—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470).

W. Morris, in his Earthly Paradise ("August"), makes Morgan la Fée the bride of Ogier, the Dane, after his earthly career was ended.

Morgan, a feigned name adopted by Belarius, a banished lord.—Shakespeare, Cymbeline (1605).

Morgan, one of the soldiers of Prince Gwenwyn of Powys-land.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

Morgane (2 syl.), a fay, to whose charge Zephyr committed young Passelyon and his cousin, Bennucq. Passelyon fell in love with the fay's daughter, and the adventures of these young lovers are related in the romance of Perceforest, iii.

Morgante (3 syl.), a ferocious giant, converted to Christianity by Orlando. After performing the most wonderful feats, he died at last from the bite of a crab.—Pulci, Morgante Maggiore (1488).

He [Don Quixote] spoke favorably of Morgante, who, though of gigantic race, was most gentle in his manners.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. 1 (1605).

Morgause or MARGAWSE, wife of King Lot. Their four sons were Gaw'ain, Agravain, Ga'heris, and Gareth (ch. 36); but Morgause had another son by Prince Arthur, named Mordred. Her son Gaheris, having caught his mother in adultery with Sir Lamorake, cut off her head.

Morgia'na, the female slave, first of Cassim, and then of Ali Baba, "crafty, cunning, and fruitful in inventions." When the thief marked the door of her master's house with white chalk in order to recognize it, Morgiana marked several other doors in the same manner; next day she observed a red mark on the door, and made a similar one on others, as before. A few nights afterwards, a merchant with thirty-eight oil-jars begged a night's lodging; and as Morgiana wanted oil for a lamp, she went to get some from one of the leather jars. "Is it time?" asked a voice. "Not yet," replied Morgiana, and going to the others, she discovered that a man was concealed in thirty-seven of the jars. From the last jar she took oil, which she made boiling hot, and with it killed the thirty-seven thieves. When the captain discovered that all his men were dead, he decamped without a moment's delay. Soon afterwards, he settled in the city as a merchant, and got invited by Ali Baba to supper, but refused to eat salt. This excited the suspicion of Morgiana, who detected in the pretended merchant the captain of the forty thieves. She danced awhile for his amusement, playfully sported with his dagger, and suddenly plunged it into his heart. When Ali Baba knew who it was that she had slain, he not only gave the damsel her liberty, but also married her to his own son.—Arabian Nights ("Ali Baba, or the Forty Thieves").

Morglay, the sword of Sir Bevis, of Hamptoun, i.e. Southampton, given to him by his wife, Josian, daughter of the king of Armenia.—Drayton, Polyolboin,[TN-23] ii. (1612).

You talk of Morglay, Excalibur [Arthur's sword], and Durindana [Orlando's sword], or so. Tut! I lend no credit to that is fabled of 'em.—Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humor, iii. 1 (1598).

Morgue la Faye, a fée who watched over the birth of Ogier, the Dane, and after he had finished his earthly career, restored him to perpetual youth, and took him to live with her in everlasting love in the isle and castle of Av'alon.—Ogier, le Danois (a romance).

Mor'ice (Gil or Chĭld), the natural son of Lady Barnard, "brought forth in her father's house wi' mickle sin and shame." One day, Gil Morice sent Willie to the baron's hall, with a request that Lady Barnard would go at once to Greenwood to see the chĭld. Lord Barnard, fancying the "chĭld" to be some paramour, forbade his wife to leave the hall, and went himself to Greenwood, where he slew Gil Morice, and sent his head to Lady Barnard. On his return, the lady told her lord he had slain her son, and added, "Wi' the same spear, oh, pierce my heart, and put me out o' pain!" But the baron repented of his hasty deed, and cried, "I'll lament for Gil Morice, as gin he were mine ain."—Percy, Reliques, etc., III. i.

[Asterism] This tale suggested to Home the plot of his tragedy called Douglas.

Mor'land, in Lend Me Five Shillings, by J. M. Morton (1838).

Morland (Henry), "the heir-at-law" of Baron Duberly. It was generally supposed that he had perished at sea; but he was cast on Cape Breton, and afterwards returned to England, and married Caroline Dormer, an orphan.—G. Colman, The Heir-at-Law (1797).

Mr. Beverley behaved like a father to me [B. Webster], and engaged me as a walking gentleman for his London theatre, where I made my first appearance as "Henry Morland," in The Heir-at-Law, which, to avoid legal proceedings, he called The Lord's Warming-pan.—Peter Paterson.

Morley (Mrs.), the name under which Queen Anne corresponded with Mrs. Freeman (The Duchess of Marlborough).

Morna, daughter of Cormac, king of Ireland. She was in love with Câthba, youngest son of Torman. Duchômar, out of jealousy, slew his rival, and then asked Morna to be his bride. She replied, "Thou art dark to me, O, Duchômar, and cruel is thine arm to Morna." She then begged him for his sword, and when "he gave it to her she thrust it into his heart." Duchômar fell, and begged the maid to pull out the sword that he might die, but when she did so, he seized it from her and plunged it into her side. Whereupon Cuthullin said:

"Peace to the souls of the heroes! Their deeds were great in fight. Let them ride around me in clouds. Let them show their features in war. My soul shall then be firm in danger, mine arm like the thunder of heaven. But be thou on a moonbeam, O, Morna, near the window of my rest, when my thoughts are at peace, when the din of war is past."—Ossian, Fingal, i.

Morna, wife of Compal, and mother of Fingal. Her father was Thaddu, and her brother Clessammor.—Ossian.

Mornay, the old seneschal, at Earl Herbert's tower at Peronne.—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

Morning Star of the Reformation, John Wycliffe (1324-1384).

Morocco or MAROCCUS, the performing horse, generally called "Bankes's Horse." Among other exploits, we are told that "it went up to the top of St. Paul's." Both horse and man were burnt alive at Rome, by order of the pope, as magicians.—Don Zara del Fogo, 114 (1660).

[Asterism] Among the entries at Stationers' Hall is the following:—Nov. 14, 1595: A Ballad showing the Strange Qualities of a Young Nagg called Morocco.

In 1595 was published the pamphlet Maroccus Extaticus, or Bankes's Horse in a Trance.

Morocco Men, agents of lottery assurances. In 1796, The great State lottery employed 7500 morocco men. Their business was to go from house to house among the customers of the assurances, or to attend in the back parlors of public-houses, where the customers came to meet them.

Morolt (Dennis), the old squire of Sir Raymond Berenger.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

Morose (2 syl.), a miserly old hunks, who hates to hear any voice but his own. His nephew, Sir Dauphine, wants to wring out of him a third of his property, and proceeds thus: He gets a lad to personate "a silent woman," and the phenomenon so delights the old man, that he consents to a marriage. No sooner is the ceremony over, than the boy-wife assumes the character of a virago of loud and ceaseless tongue. Morose, driven half-mad, promises to give his nephew a third of his income if he will take this intolerable plague off his hands. The trick being revealed, Morose retires into private life, and leaves his nephew master of the situation.—Ben Jonson, The Silent Woman (1609).

("Wasp" in Bartholomew Fair, "Corbaccio" in The Fox, and "Ananias" in The Alchemist.)

Moroug, the monkey mistaken for the devil. A woman of Cambalu died, and Moroug, wishing to personate her, slipped into her bed, and dressed himself in her night-clothes, while the body was carried to the cemetery. When the funeral party returned, and began the usual lamentations for the dead, pug stretched his night-capped head out of the bed, and began moaning and grimacing most hideously. All the mourners thought it was the devil, and scampered out as fast they could run. The priests assembled, and resolved to exorcise Satan; but pug, noting their terror, flew on the chief of the bonzes, and bit his nose and ears most viciously. All the others fled in disorder; and when pug had satisfied his humor, he escaped out of the window. After a while, the bonzes returned, with a goodly company well armed, when the chief bonze told them how he had fought with Satan, and prevailed against him. So he was canonized, and made a saint in the calendar for ever.—T. S. Gueulette, Chinese Tales ("The Ape Moroug," 1723).

Morrel or Morell, a goat-herd, who invites Thomalin, a shepherd, to come to the higher grounds, and leave the low-lying lands. He tells Thomalin that many hills have been canonized, as St. Michael's Mount, St. Bridget's Bower in Kent, and so on; then there was Mount Sinah and Mount Parnass, where the Muses dwelt. Thomalin replies, "The lowlands are safer, and hills are not for shepherds." He then illustrates his remark by the tale of shepherd Algrind, who sat, like Morrel, on a hill, when an eagle, taking his white head for a stone, let a shell-fish fall on it, and cracked his skull.—Spenser, Shepheardes Calendar, vii.

[AEschylus was killed by a tortoise dropped on his head by an eagle].

(This is an allegory of the high and low church parties. Morel is an anagram of Elmer or Aylmer, bishop of London, who "sat on a hill," and was the leader of the high-church party. Algrind is Grindal, archbishop of Canterbury, head of the low-church party, who in 1578 was sequestrated for writing a letter to the queen on the subject of puritanism. Thomalin represents the puritans. This could not have been written before 1578, unless the reference to Algrind was added in some later edition).

Morris, a domestic of the earl of Derby.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II).

Morris (Mr.), the timid fellow-traveller of Frank Osbaldistone, who carried the portmanteau. Osbaldistone says, concerning him, "Of all the propensities which teach mankind to torment themselves, that of causeless fear is the most irritating, busy, painful, pitiable."—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).

Morris (Peter), the pseudonym of John G. Lockhart, in Peter's Letters to His Kinsfolk (1819).

Morris (Dinah). Beautiful gospeller, who marries Adam Bede, after the latter recovers from his infatuation for pretty Hetty Sorrel. Hetty is seduced by the young squire, murders her baby, and is condemned to die for the crime. Dinah visits the doomed girl in prison, wins her to a confession and repentance, and accompanies her in the gallows-cart. They are at the scaffold when a reprieve arrives.—George Eliot, Adam Bede.

Morris-Dance, a comic representation of every grade of society. The characters were dressed partly in Spanish and partly in English costume. Thus, the huge sleeves were Spanish, but the laced stomacher English. Hobby-horse represented the king and all the knightly order; Maid Marian, the queen; the friar, the clergy generally; the fool, the court jester. The other characters represented a franklin or private gentleman, a churl or farmer, and the lower grades were represented by a clown. The Spanish costume is to show the origin of the dance.

A representation of a morris-dance may still be seen at Betley, in Staffordshire, in a window placed in the house of George Tollet, Esq., in about 1620.

Morrison (Hugh), a Lowland drover, the friend of Robin Oig.—Sir W. Scott, The Two Drovers (time, George III.).

Mortality (Old), a religious itinerant who frequented country churchyards and the graves of covenanters. He was first discovered in the burial ground at Gandercleugh, clearing the moss from the gray[TN-24] tombstones, renewing with his chisel the half-defaced inscriptions, and repairing the decorations of the tombs.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

[Asterism] "Old Mortality" is said to be meant for Robert Patterson.

Morta'ra, the boy who died from being covered all over with gold-leaf by Leo XII., to adorn a pageant.

Mortcloke (Mr.), the undertaker at the funeral of Mrs. Margaret Bertram of Singleside.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

Morte d'Arthur, a compilation of Arthurian tales, called on the title-page The History of Prince Arthur, compiled from the French by Sir Thomas Malory, and printed by William Caxton in 1470. It is divided into three parts. The first part contains the birth of King Arthur, the establishment of the Round Table, the romance of Balin and Balan, and the beautiful allegory of Gareth and Linet'. The second part is mainly the romance of Sir Tristram. The third part is the romance of Sir Launcelot, the quest of the Holy Graal, and the death of Arthur, Guenever, Tristram, Lamorake, and Launcelot.

[Asterism] The difference of style in the third part is very striking. The end of ch. 44, pt. i., is manifestly the close of a romance. The separate romances are not marked by any formal indication; but, in the modern editions, the whole is divided into chapters, and these are provided with brief abstracts of their contents.

This book was finished the ninth year of the reign of King Edward IV. by Sir Thomas Malory, knight. Thus endeth this noble and joyous book, entitled La Morte d'Arthur, notwithstanding it treateth of the birth, life and acts of the said King Arthur, and of his noble knights of the Round Table ... and the achieving of the Holy Sancgreall, and in the end the dolorous death and departing out of the world of them all.—Concluding paragraph.

Morte d'Arthur, by Tennyson. The poet follows closely the story of the death of Arthur, as told by Malory. The king is borne off the field by Sir Bedivere. Arthur orders the knight to throw his sword Excalibur into the mere. Twice the knight disobeyed the command, intending to save the sword; but the dying king detected the fraud, and insisted on being obeyed. Sir Bedivere then cast the sword into the mere, and an arm, clothed in white samite, caught it by the hilt, brandished it three times, and drew it into the mere. Sir Bedivere then carried the dying king to a barge, in which were three queens, who conveyed him to the island-valley of Avil'ion, "where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, nor ever wind blows loudly." Here was he taken to be healed of his grievous wound; but whether he lived or died we are not told.

In his "Idylls of the King," Tennyson has taken the stories as told by Malory, and has turned them into his own melodious verse; yet, while adhering to the substance of each tale, he has in minor matters taken such liberties as have been allowed to poets since the earliest times. Shakespeare, in his "Julius Caesar," makes a like use of Sir Thomas North's translation of Plutarch; the speech of Mark Antony over the body of Caesar, to cite the most striking instance among many, is almost a literal transcription of North's version, but subjected to the laws of verse.

Mortemar (Alberick of), an exiled nobleman, alias Theodorick, the hermit of Engaddi, the enthusiast.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Mor'timer (Mr.), executor of Lord Abberville, and uncle of Frances Tyrrell. "He sheathed a soft heart in a rough case." Externally, Mr. Mortimer seemed unsympathetic, brusque and rugged; but in reality he was most benevolent, delicate and tender-hearted. "He did a thousand noble acts without the credit of a single one." In fact, his tongue belied his heart, and his heart his tongue.—Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover (1780).

Mortimer (Sir Edward), a most benevolent man, oppressed with some secret sorrow. In fact, he knew himself to be a murderer. The case was this: Being in a county assembly, the uncle of Lady Helen insulted him, struck him down, and kicked him. Sir Edward rode home to send a challenge to the ruffian; but, meeting him on the road drunk, he murdered him, was tried for the crime, but was honorably acquitted. He wrote a statement of the case, and kept the papers connected with it in an iron chest. One day Wilford, his secretary, whose curiosity had been aroused, saw the chest unlocked, and was just about to take out the documents when Sir Edward entered, and threatened to shoot him; but he relented, made Wilford swear secrecy, and then told him the whole story. The young man, unable to live under the jealous eyes of Sir Edward, ran away; but Sir Edward dogged him, and at length arrested him on the charge of robbery. The charge broke down, Wilford was acquitted, Sir Edward confessed himself a murderer, and died.—G. Colman, The Iron Chest (1796).

Mortimer Lightwood, solicitor employed in the "Harmon murder" case. He was the great friend of Eugene Wrayburn, barrister-at-law, and it was the ambition of his life to imitate the nonchalance and other eccentricities of his friend. At one time he was a great admirer of Bella Wilfer. Mr. Veneering called him "one of his oldest friends;" but Mortimer was never in the merchant's house but once in his life, and resolved never to enter it again.—C. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (1864).

Morten (Sir), a spectre who appears at King Olaf's feast, in the guise of a one-eyed old man, and carouses with the guests until bed-time. When the morning breaks, he has departed, and no trace of him is to be found.

"King Olaf crossed himself and said— 'I know that Odin the Great is dead; Sure is the triumph of our Faith, This one-eyed stranger was his wraith.' Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang."

H. W. Longfellow, The Wraith of Odin.

Morton, a retainer of the earl of Northumberland.—Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV. (1508).[TN-25]

Morton (Henry), a leader in the covenanters' army with Balfour. While abroad, he is Major-general Melville. Henry Morton marries Miss Edith Bellenden.

Old Ralph Morton of Milnwood, uncle of Henry Morton.

Colonel Silas Morton of Milnwood, father of Henry Morton.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Morton (The earl of), in the service of Mary queen of Scots, and a member of the privy council of Scotland.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery and The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

Morton (The Rev. Mr.)[TN-26] the Presbyterian pastor of Cairnvreckan village.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).

Mortsheugh (Johnie), the old sexton of Wolf's Hope village.—Sir W. Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor (time, William III.).

Morvi'dus, son of Danius by his concubine, Tangustĕla. In his reign, there "came from the Irish coasts a most cruel monster, which devoured the people continually, but as soon as Morvidus heard thereof, he ventured to encounter it alone. When all his darts were spent, the monster rushed upon him, and swallowed him up like a small fish."—Geoffrey of Monmouth, British History, iii. 15 (1142).

Mosby, an unmitigated villain. He seduced Alicia, the wife of Arden of Feversham. Thrice he tried to murder Arden, but was baffled, and then frightened Alicia into conniving at a most villainous scheme of murder. Pretending friendship, Mosby hired two ruffians to murder Arden while he was playing a game of draughts. The villains, who were concealed in an adjacent room, were to rush on their victim when Mosby said, "Now I take you." The whole gang was apprehended and executed.—Arden of Feversham (1592), altered by George Lillo (1739).

Mosca, the knavish confederate of Vol'pone (2 syl.), the rich Venetian "fox."—Ben Jonson, Volpone or The Fox (1605).

If your mother, in hopes to ruin me, should consent to marry my pretended uncle, he might, like "Mosca" in The Fox, stand upon terms.—W. Congreve, The Way of the World, ii. 1. (1700).

Mo'ses, the Jew money-lender in Sheridan's comedy, The School for Scandal (1777).

Moses' Clothes. The Korân says: "God cleared Moses from the scandal which was rumored against him" (ch. xxxiii.). The scandal was that his body was not properly formed, and therefore he would never bathe in the presence of others. One day, he went to bathe, and laid his clothes on a stone, but the stone ran away with them into the camp. Moses went after it as fast as he could run, but the Israelites saw his naked body, and perceived the untruthfulness of the common scandal.—Sale, Al Korân, xxxiii. notes.

Moses' Horns. The Vulgate gives quod cornuta esset facies sua, for what our version has translated "he wist not that the skin of his face shone." The Hebrew word used means both a "horn" and an "irradiation." Michael Angelo followed the Vulgate.

Moses' Rod.

While Moses was living with Re'uël [Jethro], the Midianite, he noticed a staff in the garden, and he took it to be his walking-stick. This staff was Joseph's, and Re'uel carried it away when he fled from Egypt. This same staff Adam carried with him out of Eden. Noah inherited it, and gave it to Shem. It passed into the hands of Abraham, and Abraham left it to Isaac; and when Jacob fled from his brother's anger into Mesopotamia, he carried it in his hand, and gave it at death to his son Joseph.—The Talmud, vi.

Moses Slow of Speech. The tradition is this: One day, Pharaoh was carrying Moses in his arms, when the child plucked the royal beard so roughly that the king, in a passion, ordered him to be put to death. Queen Asia said to her husband, the child was only a babe, and was so young he could not discern between a ruby and a live coal. Pharaoh put it to the test, and the child clapped into his mouth the burning coal, thinking it something good to eat. Pharaoh's anger was appeased, but the child burnt its tongue so severely that ever after it was "slow of speech."—Shalshel, Hakkabala, 11.

Moses Slow of Speech. The account given in the Talmud is somewhat different. It is therein stated that Pharaoh was sitting one day with Moses on his lap, when the child took the crown from the king's head and placed it on his own. The "wise men" of Egypt persuaded Pharaoh that this act was treasonable, and that the child should be put to death. Jithro [sic] the priest of Midian, said it was the act of a child who knew no better. "Let two plates," said he, "be set before the child, one containing gold and the other live coals, and you will presently see that he will choose the coals in preference to the gold." The advice of Jithro being followed, the boy Moses snatched at the coals, and putting one of them into his mouth, burnt his tongue so severely that ever after he was "heavy of speech."—The Talmud, vi.

Moses Pennell. Waif rescued from a wrecked vessel, and adopted by old Captain Pennell and his wife. He is, in time, discovered to belong to a noble Cuban family.—Harriet Beecher Stowe, The Pearl of Orr's Island.

Most Christian King (Le Roy Tres-Christien). The king of France is so called by others, either with or without his proper name; but he never styles himself so in any letter, grant, or rescript.

In St. Remigius or Remy's Testament, King Clovis is called Christianissimus Ludovicus.—Flodoard, Historia Remensis, i. 18 (A.D. 940).

Motallab (Abd al), one of the four husbands of Zesbet, the mother of Mahomet. He was not to know her as a wife till he had seen Mahomet in his pre-existing state. Mahomet appeared to him as an old man, and told him he had chosen Zesbet, for her virtue and beauty, to be his mother.—Comte de Caylus, Oriental Tales ("History of Abd al Motallab," 1743).

Mo'tar ("One doomed or devoted to sacrifice"). So Prince Assad was called, when he fell into the hands of the old fire-worshipper, and was destined by him to be sacrificed on the fiery mountain.—Arabian Nights ("Amgiad and Assad").

Moth, page to Don Adriano de Arma'do, the fantastic Spaniard. He is cunning and versatile, facetious and playful.—Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost (1594).

Moth, one of the fairies.—Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream (1592).

Moths and Candles. The moths fell in love with the night-fly; and the night-fly, to get rid of their importunity, maliciously bade them to go and fetch fire for her adornment. The blind lovers flew to the first flame to obtain the love-token, and few escaped injury or death.—Kaempfer, Account of Japan, vii. (1727).

Mother Ann, Ann Lee, the "spiritual mother" of the Shakers (1731-1784).

[Asterism] Mother Ann is regarded by the Shakers as the female form, and Jesus as the male form, of the Messiah.

Mother Bunch, a celebrated ale-wife in Dekker's Satiromaster (1602).

[Asterism] In 1604 was published Pasquil's Jests, mixed with Mother Bunch's Merriments. In 1760 was published, in two parts, Mother Bunch's Closet Newly Broke Open, etc., by a "Lover of Mirth and Hater of Treason."

Mother Bunch's Fairy Tales are known in every nursery.

Mother Carey's Chickens. The fish-fags of Paris in the first Great Revolution were so called, because, like the "stormy petrel," whenever they appeared in force in the streets of Paris, they always foreboded a tumult or political storm.

Mother Carey's Goose, the great black petrel or gigantic fulmar of the Pacific Ocean.

Mother Douglas, a noted crimp, who lived at the north-east corner of Covent Garden. Her house was superbly furnished. She died 1761.

[Asterism] Foote introduces her in The Minor, as "Mrs. Cole" (1760); and Hogarth in his picture called "The March to Finchley."

Mother Goose, in French Contes de Ma Mère l'Oye, by Charles Perrault (1697).

[Asterism] There are ten stories in this book, seven of which are from the Pentamerone.

Mother Goose, according to a new exploded story, was a native of Boston, and the author of the nursery rhymes that bear her name. She used to sing her rhymes to her grandson, and Thomas Fleet, her brother-in-law, published the first edition of these rhymes, entitled Songs for the Nursery, or Mother Goose's Melodies, in 1719.

[Asterism] Dibdin wrote a pantomime entitled Mother Goose.

Mother Hubbard, an old lady, whose whole time and attention were taken up by her dog, who was most willful; but the dame never lost her temper, or forgot her politeness. After running about all day to supply Master Doggie,

The dame made a curtsey, the dog made a bow; The dame said, "Your servant!" the dog said, "Bow, wow!"

A Nursery Tale in Rhyme.

Mother Hubberd, the supposed narrator of a tale called The Fox and the Ape, related to the poet Spenser to beguile the weary hours of sickness. Several persons told him tales, but

Amongst the rest a good old woman was Hight Mother Hubberd, who did far surpass The rest in honest mirth that seemed her well; She, when her turn was come her tale to tell, Told of a strange adventure that betided Betwixt a fox and ape by him misguided; The which, for that my sense it greatly pleased ... I'll write it as she the same did say.

Spenser.

Mother Hubberd's Tale. A fox and an ape determined to travel about the world as chevaliers de l'industrie. First, Ape dressed as a broken-down soldier, and Fox as his servant. A farmer agreed to take them for his shepherds; but they devoured all his lambs and then decamped. They next "went in for holy orders." Reynard contrived to get a living given him, and appointed the ape as his clerk; but they soon made the parish too hot to hold them, and again sheered off. They next tried their fortune at court; the ape set himself up as a foreigner of distinction with Fox for his groom. They played the part of rakes, but being found to be desperate rogues, had to flee with all despatch, and seek another field of action. As they journeyed on, they saw a lion sleeping, and Master Fox persuaded his companion to steal the crown, sceptre and royal robes. The ape, arrayed in these, assumed to be king, and Fox was his prime minister; but so ill did they govern, that Jupiter interfered, the lion was restored, and the ape was docked of his tail and had his ears cropt.

Since which, all apes but half their ears have left, And of their tails are utterly bereft. So Mother Hubberd her discourse did end.

Spenser, Mother Hubberd's Tale.

Mother Shipton, T. Evan Preece, of South Wales, a prophetess, whose predictions (generally in rhymes) were at one time in everybody's mouth in South Wales, especially in Glamorganshire.

[Asterism] She predicted the death of Wolsey, Lord Percy, and others. Her prophecies are still extant, and contain the announcement that "the end of the world shall come in eighteen hundred and eighty-one."

Mother of the People (The), Marguerite of France, La Mère des Peuples, daughter of François I. (1523-1574).

Mould (Mr.), undertaker. His face had a queer attempt at melancholy, sadly at variance with a smirk of satisfaction which might be read between the lines. Though his calling was not a lively one, it did not depress his spirits, as in the bosom of his family he was the most cheery of men, and to him the "tap, tap" of coffin-making was as sweet and exhilarating as the tapping of a woodpecker.—C. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844).

Mouldy (Ralph), "a good-limbed fellow, young, strong, and of good friends." Ralph was pricked for a recruit in Sir John Falstaff's regiment. He promised Bardolph forty shillings "to stand his friend." Sir John being told this, sent Mouldy home, and when Justice Shallow remonstrated, saying that Ralph "was the likeliest man of the lot," Falstaff replied, "Will you tell me, Master Shallow, how to choose a man? Care I for the limb, the thews, the stature, bulk, and big assemblance of a man? Give me the spirit, Master Shallow."—Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV. act iii. sc. 2 (1598).

Moullahs, Mohammedan lawyers, from which are selected the judges.

Mountain (The), a name given in the French revolution to a faction which sat on the benches most elevated in the Hall of Assembly. The Girondins sat in the centre or lowest part of the hall, and were nicknamed the "plain." The "mountain" for a long time was the dominant part; it utterly overthrew the "plain" on August 31, 1793, but was in turn overthrown at the fall of Robespierre (9 Thermidor ii. or July 27, 1794).

Mountain (The Old Man of the), the imaum Hassan ben Sabbah el Homari. The sheik Al Jebal was so called. He was the prince of the Assassins.

[Asterism] In Rymer's Foedera (vol. i.), Dr. Clarke, the editor, has added two letters of this sheik; but the doctor must be responsible for their genuineness.

Mountain Brutus (The), William Tell (1282-1350).

Mountain of Flowers, the site of the palace of Violenta, the mother fairy who brought up the young princess afterwards metamorphosed into "The White Cat."—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("The White Cat," 1682).

Mountain of Miseries. Jupiter gave permission for all men to bring their grievances to a certain plain, and to exchange them with any others that had been cast off. Fancy helped them; but though the heap was so enormous, not one single vice was to be found amongst the rubbish. Old women threw away their wrinkles, and young ones their mole-spots; some cast on the heap poverty; many their red noses and bad teeth; but no one his crimes. Now came the choice. A galley-slave picked up gout, poverty picked up sickness, care picked up pain, snub noses picked up long ones, and so on. Soon all were bewailing the change they had made; and Jupiter sent Patience to tell them they might, if they liked, resume their old grievances again. Every one gladly accepted the permission, and Patience helped them to take up their own bundle and bear it without murmuring.—Addison, The Spectator (1711, 1712, 1714).

Mourning. In Colman's Heir-at-Law (1796), every character is in mourning: the Dowlases as relatives of the deceased Lord Duberly; Henry Morland as heir of Lord Duberly; Steadfast as the chief friend of the family; Dr. Pangloss as a clergyman; Caroline Dormer for her father recently buried; Zekiel and Cicely Homespun for the same reason; Kenrick for his deceased master.—James Smith, Memoirs (1840).

Mourning Bride (The), a drama by W. Congreve (1697). "The mourning bride" is Alme'ria, daughter of Manuel, king of Grana'da, and her husband was Alphonso, prince of Valentia. On the day of their espousals they were shipwrecked, and each thought the other had perished; but they met together in the court of Granada, where Alphonso was taken captive under the assumed name of Osmyn. Osmyn, having effected his escape, marched to Granada, at the head of an army, found the king dead, and "the mourning bride" became his joyful wife.

Mouse-Tower (The), on the Rhine. It was here that Bishop Hatto was devoured by mice. (See HATTO.)

[Asterism] Mauth is a toll or custom house, and the mauth or toll-house for collecting duty on corn being very unpopular, gave rise to the tradition.

Moussa, Moses.

Mowbray (Mr. John), lord of the manor of St. Ronan's.

Clara Mowbray, sister of John Mowbray. She was betrothed to Frank Tyrrel, but married Valentine Bulmer.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan's Well (time, George III.).

Mowbray (Sir Miles), a dogmatical, self-willed old man, who fancied he could read character, and had a natural instinct for doing the right thing; but he would have been much wiser if he had paid more heed to the proverb, "Mind your own business and not another's."

Frederick Mowbray, his eldest son, a young man of fine principle, and greatly liked. His "first love" was Clara Middleton, who, being poor, married the rich Lord Ruby. His lordship soon died, leaving all his substance to his widow, who bestowed it, with herself, on Frederick Mowbray, her first and only love.

David Mowbray, younger brother of Frederick. He was in the navy, and was a fine, open-hearted, frank and honest British tar.

Lydia Mowbray, sister of Frederick and David, and the wife of Mr. Wrangle.—R. Cumberland, First Love (1796).

Mow'cher (Miss), a benevolent little dwarf, patronized by Steerforth. She is full of humor and comic vulgarity. Her chief occupation is that of hair-dressing.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who wooed and won a beautiful bride, but at dawn melted in the sun. The bride hunted for him night and day, but never saw him more.—Indian Legend.

Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who won and wedded a maiden, But, when the morning came, arose and passed from the wigwam, Fading and melting away, and dissolving into the sunshine, Till she beheld him no more, tho' she followed far into the forest.

Longfellow, Evangeline, ii. 4 (1849).

Moxon (Mr.), clergyman at Agawam (Mass.). Sincere in his bigotry, pitiable in the superstition that darkens his life, honestly persuaded that he and his are the victims of witchcraft, and that duty forces him to punish those who have afflicted the Lord's saints.—Josiah Gilbert Holland, The Bay Path (1857).

Mozaide (2 syl.), the Moor who befriended Vasco de Gama when he first landed on the Indian continent.

The Moor attends Mozaide, whose zealous care To Gama's eyes revealed each treacherous snare.

Camoens, Lusiad, ix. (1569).

Mozart (The English), Sir Henry Bishop (1780-1855).

Mozart (The Italian), Cherubini, of Florence (1760-1842).

Much, the miller's son, the bailiff or "acater" of Robin Hood. (See MIDGE.)

Robyn stode in Bernysdale, And lened hym to a tree; And by hym stode Lytell Johan, A good yeman was he; And also dyde good Scathelock, And Much, the miller's sone.

Ritson, Robin Hood Ballads, i. 1 (1594).

Much, the miller's son, in the morris-dance. His feat was to bang, with an inflated bladder, the heads of gaping spectators. He represented the fool or jester.

Much Ado about Nothing, a comedy by Shakespeare (1600). Hero, the daughter of Leonato, is engaged to be married to Claudio of Aragon; but Don John, out of hatred to his brother, Leonato, determines to mar the happiness of the lovers. Accordingly, he bribes the waiting-maid of Hero to dress in her mistress's clothes, and to talk with his man by night from the chamber balcony. The villain tells Claudio that Hero has made an assignation with him, and invites him to witness it. Claudio is fully persuaded that the woman he sees is Hero, and when next day she presents herself at the altar, he rejects her with scorn. The priest feels assured there is some mistake, so he takes Hero apart, and gives out that she is dead. Then Don John takes to flight, the waiting-woman confesses, Claudio repents, and, by way of amendment (as Hero is dead) promises to marry her cousin, but this cousin turns out to be Hero herself.

[Asterism] A similar tale is told by Ariosto in his Orlando Furioso, v. (1516).

Another occurs in the Faëry Queen, by Spenser, bk. ii. 4, 38, etc. (1590).

George Turbervil's Geneura (1576) is still more like Shakespeare's tale. Belleforest and Bandello have also similar tales (see Hist., xviii.).

Mucklebacket (Saunders), the old fisherman at Musselcrag.

Old Elspeth Mucklebacket, mother of Saunders, and formerly servant to Lady Glenallan.

Maggie Mucklebacket, wife of Saunders.

Steenie Mucklebacket, eldest son of Saunders. He is drowned.

Little Jennie Mucklebacket, Saunders's child.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Mucklethrift (Bailie), ironmonger and brazier of Kippletringan, in Scotland.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

Mucklewrath (Habukkuk), a fanatic preacher.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Mucklewrath (John), smith at Cairnvreckan village.

Dame Mucklewrath, wife of John. A terrible virago.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).

Muckworm (Sir Penurious), the miserly old uncle and guardian of Arbella. He wants her to marry Squire Sapskull, a raw Yorkshire tike; but she loves Gaylove, a young barrister, and, of course, Muckworm is outwitted.—Carey, The Honest Yorkshireman (1736).

Mudarra, son of Gonçolo Bustos de Salas de Lara, who murdered his uncle Rodri'go, while hunting, to avenge the death of his seven half-brothers. The tale is, that Rodrigo Velasquez invited his seven nephews to a feast, when a fray took place in which a Moor was slain; the aunt, who was a Moorish lady, demanded vengeance, whereupon the seven boys were allured into a ravine and cruelly murdered. Mudarra was the son of the same father as "the seven sons of Lara," but not of the same mother.—Romance of the Eleventh Century.

Muddle, the carpenter under Captain Savage and Lieutenant O'Brien.—Captain Marryat, Peter Simple (1833).

Muddlewick (Triptolemus), in Charles XII., an historical drama by J. R. Planché (1826).

Mudjekee'wis, the father of Hiawatha, and subsequently potentate of the winds. He gave all the winds but one to his children to rule; the one he reserved was the west wind, which he himself ruled over. The dominion of the winds was given to Mudjekeewis, because he slew the great bear called the Mishê-Mokwa.

Thus was slain the Mishê-Mokwa ... "Honor be to Mudjekeewis! Henceforth he shall be the west wind. And hereafter, e'en for ever, Shall he hold supreme dominion, Over all the winds of heaven."

Longfellow, Hiawatha, ii. (1855).

Mug (Matthew), a caricature of the duke of Newcastle.—S. Foote, The Mayor of Garratt (1763).

Mugello, the giant slain by Averardo de Medici, a commander under Charlemagne. This giant wielded a mace from which hung three balls, which the Medici adopted as their device.

[Asterism] They have been adopted by pawnbrokers as a symbol of their trade.

Muggins (Dr.), a sapient physician, who had the art "to suit his physic to his patients' taste;" so when King Artaxaminous felt a little seedy after a night's debauch, the doctor prescribed to his majesty "to take a morning whet."—W. B. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso (1790).

Muhldenau, the minister of Mariendorpt, and father of Meeta and Adolpha. When Adolpha was an infant, she was lost in the siege of Magdeburg; and Muhldenau, having reason to suppose that the child was not killed went to Prague in search of her. Here Muhldenau was seized as a spy, and condemned to death. Meeta, hearing of his capture, walked to Prague to beg him off, and was introduced to the governor's supposed daughter, who, in reality, was Meeta's sister, Adolpha. Rupert Roselheim, who was betrothed to Meeta, stormed the prison and released Muhldenau.—S. Knowles, The Maid of Mariendorpt (1838).

Mulatto, a half-caste. Strictly speaking, Zambo is the issue of an Indian and a Negress; Mulatto, of a White man and a Negress; Terzeron, of a White man and a Mulatto woman; Quadroon, of a Terzeron and a White.

Mul'ciber, Vulcan, who was blacksmith, architect, and god of fire.

In Ausonian land Men called him Mulciber; and how he fell From heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove Sheer o'er the crystal battlements; from morn To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve, A Summer's day; and with the setting sun Dropt from the Zenith like a falling star, On Lemnos, the AEgean isle.

Milton, Paradise Lost, 739, etc. (1665).

Muley Bugentuf, king of Morocco, a blood-and-thunder hero. He is the chief character of a tragedy of the same name, by Thomas de la Fuenta.

In the first act, the king of Morocco, by way of recreation, shot a hundred Moorish slaves with arrows; in the second, he beheaded thirty Portuguese officers, prisoners of war; and in the third and last act, Muley, mad with his wives, set fire with his own hand to a detached palace, in which they were shut up, and reduced them all to ashes.... This conflagration, accompanied with a thousand shrieks, closed the piece in a very diverting manner.—Lesage, Gil Blas, ii. 9 (1715).

Mull Sack. John Cottington, in the time of the Commonwealth, was so called, from his favorite beverage. John Cottington emptied the pockets of Oliver Cromwell when lord protector; stripped Charles II. of [pounds]1500; and stole a watch and chain from Lady Fairfax.

[Asterism] Mull sack is spiced sherry negus.

Mulla's Bard, Spenser, author of the Faëry Queen. The Mulla, a tributary of the Blackwater, in Ireland, flowed close by the spot where the poet's house stood. He was born and died in London (1553-1599).

... it irks me while I write, As erst the bard of Mulla's silver stream, Oft as he told of deadly dolorous plight Sighed as he sung, and did in tears indite.

Shenstone, The Schoolmistress (1758).

Mulla. Thomas Campbell, in his poem on the Spanish Parrot, calls the island of Mull, "Mulla's Shore."

Mullet (Professor), the "most remarkable man" of North America. He denounced his own father for voting on the wrong side at an election for president, and wrote thunderbolts in the form of pamphlets, under the signature of "Suturb" or Brutus reversed.—C. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844).

Mullins (Rev. Peter). A minister of the gospel, who holds so hard to the belief that the laborer is worthy of his hire, that he can see nothing but the hire.

"How am I to know whether my services are acceptable unless every year there is some voluntary testimonial concerning them? It seems to me that I must have such a testimonial. I find myself looking forward to it."—Josiah Gilbert Holland, Arthur Bonnicastle (1873).

Mul'mutine Laws, the code of Dunvallo Mulmutius, sixteenth king of the Britons (about B.C. 400). This code was translated by Gildas from British into Latin, and by Alfred into English. The Mulmutine laws obtained in this country till the Conquest.—Holinshed, History of England, etc., iii. 1 (1577).

Mulmutius made our laws, Who was the first of Britain which did put His brows within a golden crown, and call'd Himself a king.

Shakespeare, Cymbeline, act iii. sc. 1 (1605).

Mulmutius (Dunwallo), son of Cloten, king of Cornwall. "He excelled all the kings of Britain in valor and gracefulness of person." In a battle fought against the allied Welsh and Scotch armies, Mulmutius tried the very scheme which Virgil (AEneid, ii.) says was attempted by AEneas and his companions—that is, they dressed in the clothes and bore the arms of the enemy slain, and thus disguised, committed very great slaughter. Mulmutius, in his disguise, killed both the Cambrian and Albanian kings, and put the allied army to thorough rout.—Geoffrey, British History, ii. 17.

Mulmutius this land in such estate maintained As his great Belsire Brute.

Drayton, Polyolbion, viii. (1612).

Mulvaney (Terence). Rollicking, epigrammatic, harum-scarum Irish trooper, in the Indian service, whose adventures and sayings are narrated in Soldiers Three, The Courting of Dinah Shadd, etc., by Rudyard Kipling.

Multon (Sir Thomas de), of Gilsland. He is Lord de Vaux, a crusader, and master of the horse to King Richard I.—Sir. W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Mumblazen (Master Michael), the old herald, a dependant of Sir Hugh Robsart.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).

Mumbo Jumbo, an African bogie, hideous and malignant, the terror of women and children.

Mumps (Tib), keeper of the "Mumps' Ha' ale-hous'," on the road to Charlie's Hope farm.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).

Munchau'sen (The Baron), a hero of most marvellous adventures.—Rudolf Erich Raspe (a German, but storekeeper of the Dolcoath mines, in Cornwall, 1792).

[Asterism] The name is said to refer to Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen, a German officer in the Russian army, noted for his marvellous stories (1720-1797). It is also supposed to be an implied satire on the traveller's tales of Baron de Tott, in his Mémoires sur les Turcs et Tartares (1784), and those of James Bruce, "The African Traveller," in his Travels to Discover the Sources of the Nile (1790).

Munchausen (The Baron). The French Baron Munchausen is represented by M. de Crac, the hero of a French operetta.

Mu'nera, daughter of Pollentê, the Saracen, to whom he gave all the spoils he could lay his hands on. Munera was beautiful and rich exceedingly; but Talus, having chopped off her golden hands and silver feet, tossed her into the moat.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 2 (1596).

Mungo, a black slave of Don Diego.

Dear heart, what a terrible life am I led! A dog has a better dat's sheltered and fed ... Mungo here, Mungo dere, Mungo everywhere ... Me wish to the Lord me was dead.

I. Bickerstaff, The Padlock (1768).

Münster (Baroness). American woman married to a German prince, who wants to get rid of her. She comes to America with her brother to visit relatives, and is bored by everything, and forever threatening to write to the reigning prince to recall her to Germany.—Henry James, Jr., The Europeans (1878).

Murat (The Russian), Michael Miloradowitch (1770-1820).

Murdstone (Edward), the second husband of Mrs. Copperfield. His character was "firmness," that is, an unbending self-will, which rendered the young life of David intolerably wretched.

Jane Murdstone, sister of Edward, as hard and heartless as her brother. Jane Murdstone became the companion of Dora Spenlow, and told Mr. Spenlow of David's love for Dora, hoping to annoy David. At the death of Mr. Spenlow, Jane returned to live with her brother.—Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).

Murray or Moray (The bonnie earl of), James Stewart, the "Good Regent," a natural son of James V. of Scotland, by Margaret, daughter of John, Lord Erskine. He joined the reform party in 1556, and went to France in 1561, to invite Mary queen of Scots to come and reside in her kingdom. He was an accomplice in the murder of Rizzio, and during the queen's imprisonment was appointed regent. According to an ancient ballad, this bonny earl "was the queen's love," i.e. Queen Anne of Denmark, daughter of Frederick II., and wife of James I. of England. It is said that James, being jealous of the handsome earl, instigated the earl of Huntly to murder him (1531-1570).

Introduced by Sir W. Scott in The Monastery and The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

Murray (John), of Broughton, secretary to Charles Edward, the Young Pretender. He turned king's evidence, and revealed to Government all the circumstances which gave rise to the rebellion, and the persons most active in its organization.

If crimes like these hereafter are forgiven, Judas and Murray both may go to heaven.

Jacobite Relics, ii. 374.

Musaeus, the poet (B.C. 1410), author of the elegant tale of Leander and Hero. Virgil places him in the Elysian fields attended by a vast multitude of ghosts, Musaeus being taller by a head than any of them (AEneid, vi. 677).

Swarm ... as the infernal spirits On sweet Musaeus when he came to hell.

C. Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (1590).

Muscadins of Paris, Paris exquisites, who aped the London cockneys in the first French Revolution. Their dress was top-boots with thick soles, knee-breeches, a dress-coat with long tails and high stiff collar, and a thick cudgel called a constitution. It was thought John Bull-like to assume a huskiness of voice, a discourtesy of manners, and a swaggering vulgarity of speech and behavior.

Cockneys of London! Muscadins of Paris!

Byron, Don Juan, viii. 124 (1824).

Mus'carol, king of flies, and father of Clarion, the most beautiful of the race.—Spenser, Muiopotmos, or The Butterfly's Fate (1590).

Muse (The Tenth), Marie Lejars de Gournay, a French writer (1566-1645).

Antoinette Deshoulieres; also called "The French Callĭŏpê." Her best work is an allegory called Les Moutons (1633-1694).

Mdlle. Scudéri was preposterously so called (1607-1701).

Also Delphine Gray, afterwards Mde. Emile de Girardin. Her nom de plume was "viconte de Launay." Béranger sang of "the beauty of her shoulders," and Châteaubriand, of "the charms of her smile" (1804-1855).

Muse-Mother, Mnemos'ynê, goddess of memory, and mother of the Muses.

Memory, That sweet Muse-mother.

E. B. Browning, Prometheus Bound (1850).

Muses (Symbols of the).

CAL'LIOPE [Kăl'.ly.ŏ.py], the epic Muse: a tablet and stylus, sometimes a scroll.

CLIO, Muse of history: a scroll or open chest of books.

ER'ATO, Muse of love ditties: a lyre.

EUTER'PÊ, Muse of lyric poetry: a flute.

MELPOM'ENÊ, Muse of tragedy: a tragic mask, the club of Hercules, or a sword. She wears the cothurnus, and her head is wreathed with vine leaves.

POL'YHYM'NIA, Muse of sacred poetry: sits pensive, but has no attribute, because deity is not to be represented by any visible symbol.

TERPSIC'HORÊ [Terp.sick'.o.ry], Muse of choral song and dance: a lyre and the plectrum.

THALI'A, Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry: a comic mask, a shepherd's staff, or a wreath of ivy.

URAN'IA, Muse of astronomy: carries a staff pointing to a globe.

Museum (A Walking), Longīnus, author of a work on The Sublime (213-273).

Musgrave (Sir Richard), the English champion who fought with Sir William Deloraine, the Scotch champion, to decide by combat whether young Scott, the heir of Branksome Hall, should become the page of King Edward, or be delivered up to his mother. In the combat, Sir Richard was slain, and the boy was delivered over to his mother.—Sir W. Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805).

Musgrave (Sir Miles), an officer in the king's service under the earl of Montrose.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).

Music. Amphion is said to have built the walls of Thebes by the music of his lyre. Ilium and the capital of Arthur's kingdom were also built to divine music. The city of Jericho was destroyed by music (Joshua vi. 20).

They were building still, seeing the city was built To music.

Tennyson.

Music and Men of Genius. Hume, Dr. Johnson, Sir W. Scott, Robert Peel and Lord Byron had no ear for music, and neither vocal nor instrumental music gave them the slightest pleasure. To the poet Rogers it gave actual discomfort. Even the harmonious Pope preferred the harsh dissonance of a street organ to Handel's oratorios.

Music (Father of), Giovanni Battista Pietro Aloisio da Palestri'na (1529-1594).

Music (Father of Greek), Terpander (fl. B.C. 676).

Music's First Martyr. Menaphon says that when he was in Thessaly he saw a youth challenge the birds in music; and a nightingale took up the challenge. For a time the contest was uncertain; but then the youth, "in a rapture," played so cunningly that the bird, despairing, "down dropped upon his lute, and brake her heart."

[Asterism] This beautiful tale, by Strada (in Latin) has been translated in rhyme by R. Crashaw. Versions have been given by Ambrose Philips, and others; but none can compare with the exquisite relation of John Ford, in his drama entitled The Lover's Melancholy (1628).

Musical Small-Coal Man, Thos. Britton, who used to sell small coals and keep a musical club (1654-1714).

Musicians (Prince of), Giovanni Battista Pietro Aloisio da Palestri'na (1529-1594).

Musidora, the dame du coeur of Damon. Damon thought her coyness was scorn; but one day he caught her bathing, and his delicacy on the occasion so enchanted her that she at once accepted his proffered love.—Thomson, Seasons ("Summer," 1727).

Musido'rus, a hero, whose exploits are told by Sir Philip Sidney, in his Arcadia (1581).

Musketeer, a soldier armed with a musket, but specially applied to a company of gentlemen who were a mounted guard in the service of the king of France from 1661.

They formed two companies, the grey and the black; so called from the color of their hair. Both were clad in scarlet, and hence their quarters were called the Maison rouge. In peace they followed the king in the chase, to protect him; in war they fought either on foot or horseback. They were suppressed in 1791; restored in 1814, but only for a few months; and after the restoration of Louis XVIII. we hear no more of them. Many Scotch gentlemen enrolled themselves among these dandy soldiers, who went to war with curled hair, white gloves, and perfumed like milliners.

[Asterism] A. Dumas has a novel called The Three Musketeers (1844), the first of a series; the second is Twenty Years Afterwards; and the third, Viconte de Bragelonne.

Muslin, the talkative, impertinent, intriguing suivante of Mrs. Lovemore. Mistress Muslin is sweet upon William, the footman, and loves cards.—A. Murphy, The Way to Keep Him (1760).

Mus'tafa, a poor tailor of China, father of Aladdin, killed by illness brought on by the idle vagabondism of his son.—Arabian Nights ("Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp").

Mutton, a courtezan, sometimes called a "laced mutton." "Mutton Lane," in Clerkenwell, was so called because it was a suburra or quarter for harlots. The courtezan was called a "Mutton" even in the reign of Henry III., for Bracton speaks of them as oves.—De Legibus, etc., ii. (1569).

Mutton-Eating King (The), Charles II. of England (1630, 1659-1685).

Here lies our mutton-eating king, Whose word no man relies on; He never said a foolish thing, And never did a wise on'.

Earl of Rochester.

Mutual Friend (Our), a novel by Charles Dickens (1864). The "mutual friend" is Mr. Boffin, "the golden dustman," who was the mutual friend of John Harmon and of Bella Wilfer. The tale is this: John Harmon was supposed to have been murdered by Julius Handford; but it was Ratford, who was murdered by Rogue Riderhood, and the mistake arose from a resemblance between the two persons. By his father's will, John Harmon was to marry Bella Wilfer; but John Harmon knew not the person destined by his father for his wife, and made up his mind to dislike her. After his supposed murder, he assumed the name of John Rokesmith, and became the secretary of Mr. Boffin, "the golden dustman," residuary legatee of old John Harmon, by which he became possessor of [pounds]100,000. Boffin knew Rokesmith, but concealed his knowledge for a time. At Boffin's house, John Harmon (as Rokesmith) met Bella Wilfer, and fell in love with her. Mr. Boffin, in order to test Bella's love, pretended to be angry with Rokesmith for presuming to love Bella; and, as Bella married him, he cast them both off "for a time," to live on John's earnings. A baby was born, and then the husband took the young mother to a beautiful house, and told her he was John Harmon, that the house was their house, that he was the possessor of [pounds]100,000 through the disinterested conduct of their "mutual friend," Mr. Boffin; and the young couple lived happily with Mr. and Mrs. Boffin, in wealth and luxury.

Mutusa-ili, Babylonian sage and unsuspected Jew, high in repute for wisdom and prophetic powers.—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Herbert D. Ward, The Master of the Magicians (1890).

My Book (Dr.). Dr. John Aberne'thy (1765-1830) was so called because he used to say to his patients, "Read my book" (On Surgical Observations).

My Little All.

I was twice burnt out, and lost my little all both times.—Sheridan, The Critic, i. 1 (1779).

Myrebeau (Le sieure de), one of the committee of the states of Burgundy.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).