BLANDISH, a "practised parasite." His sister says to him, "May you find but half your own vanity in those you have to work on!" (act i. 1).

Miss Letitia Blandish, sister of the above, a fawning timeserver, who sponges on the wealthy. She especially toadies to Miss Alscrip "the heiress," flattering her vanity, fostering her conceit, and encouraging her vulgar affectations.—General Burgoyne, The Heiress (1781).

BLANE (Niell), town piper and publican.

Jenny Blane, his daughter.—Sir W, Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

BLANEY, a wealthy heir, ruined by dissipation.—Crabbe, Borough.

BLARNEY (Lady), one of the flash women introduced by squire Thornhill to the Primrose family.—Goldsmith, Vicar of Wakefield (1765).

BLASPHEMOUS BALFOUR. Sir James Balfour, the Scottish judge, was so called from his apostacy (died 1583).

BLATANT BEAST (The), the personification of slander or public opinion. The beast had 100 tongues and a sting. Sir Artegal muzzled the monster, and dragged it to Faery-land, but it broke loose and regained its liberty. Subsequently sir Calidore (3 syl.) went in quest of it.—Spenser, Faery Queen, v. and vi. (1596).

"Mrs. Grundy" is the modern name of Spenser's "Blatant Beast."

BLATHERS AND DUFF, detectives who investigate the burglary in which Bill Sikes had a hand. Blathers relates the tale of Conkey Chickweed, who robbed himself of 327 guineas.—C. Dickens, Oliver Twist (1837).

BLATTERGROWL (The Rev. Mr.), minister of Trotcosey, near Monkbarns.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, Elizabeth).

BLEEDING-HEART YARD (London). So called because it was the place where the devil cast the bleeding heart of lady Hatton (wife of the dancing chancellor), after he had torn it out of her body with his claws.—Dr. Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions.

BLEISE (1 syl.) of Northumberland, historian of king Arthur's period.

BLEMMYES (3 syl.), a people of Africa, fabled to have no head, but having eyes and mouth in the breast. (See GAOKA.)

Blemmyis traduntur capita abesse, ore et oculis pectori affixis.—Pliny.

Ctesias speaks of a people of India near the Ganges, sine cervice, oculos in humeris habentes. Mela also refers to a people quibus capita et vultus in pectore sunt.

BLENHEIM SPANIELS. The Oxford electors are so called, because for many years they obediently supported any candidate which the duke of Marlborough commanded them to return. Lockhart broke through this custom by telling the people the fable of the Dog and the Wolf. The dog, it will be remembered, had on his neck the marks of his collar, and the wolf said he preferred liberty.

(The race of the little dog called the Blenheim spaniel, has been preserved ever since Blenheim House was built for the duke of Marlborough in 1704.)

BLETSON (Master Joshua), one of the three parliamentary commissioners sent by Cromwell with a warrant to leave the royal lodge to the Lee family.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).

BLIFIL, a noted character in Fielding's novel entitled The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1750).

Blifil is the original of Sheridan's "Joseph Surface" in the School for Scandal (1777).

BLIGH (William), captain of the Bounty, so well known for the mutiny, headed by Fletcher Christian, the mate (1790).

BLIMBER (Dr.), head of a school for the sons of gentlemen, at Brighton. It was a select school for ten pupils only; but there was learning enough for ten times ten. "Mental green peas were produced at Christmas, and intellectual asparagus all the year round." The doctor was really a ripe scholar, and truly kind-hearted; but his great fault was over-tasking his boys, and not seeing when the bow was too much stretched. Paul Dombey, a delicate lad, succumbed to this strong mental pressure.

Mrs. Blimber, wife of the doctor, not learned, but wished to be thought so. Her pride was to see the boys in the largest possible collars and stiffest possible cravats, which she deemed highly classical.

Cornelia Blimber, the doctor's daughter, a slim young lady, who kept her hair short and wore spectacles. Miss Blimber "had no nonsense about her," but had grown "dry and sandy with working in the graves of dead languages." She married Mr. Feeder, B.A., Dr. Blimber's usher.—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).

BLIND BEGGAR OF BETHNAL GREEN, Henry, son and heir of sir Simon de Montfort. At the battle of Evesham the barons were routed, Montfort slain, and his son Henry left on the field for dead. A baron's daughter discovered the young man, nursed him with care, and married him. The fruit of the marriage was "pretty Bessee, the beggar's daughter." Henry de Montfort assumed the garb and semblance of a blind beggar, to escape the vigilance of king Henry's spies.

Day produced, in 1659, a drama called The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green, and S. Knowles, in 1834, produced his amended drama on the same subject. There is [or was], in the Whitechapel Road a public-house sign called the Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green.—History of Sign-boards.

BLIND EMPEROR (The), Ludovig III. of Germany (880, 890-934).

BLIND HARPER (The), John Parry, who died 1739.

John Stanley, mnsician and composer, was blind from his birth (1713-1786).

BLIND HARRY, a Scotch minstrel of the fifteenth century, blind from infancy. His epic of Sir William Wallace runs to 11,861 lines. He was minstrel in the court of James IV.

BLIND MECHANICIAN (The). John Strong, a great mechanical genius, was blind from his birth. He died at Carlisle, aged sixty-six (1732-1798).

BLIND POET (The), Luigi Groto, an Italian poet called Il Cieco (1541-1585). John Milton (1608-1674).

Homer is called The Blind Old Bard (fl. B.C. 960).

BLIND TRAVELLER (The), lieutenant James Holman. He became blind at the age of twenty-five, but, notwithstanding, travelled round the world, and published an account of his travels (1787-1857).

BLINKINSOP, a smuggler in Redgauntlet, a novel by sir W. Scott (time, George III.).

BLISTER, the apothecary, who says, "Without physicians, no one could know whether he was well or ill." He courts Lucy by talking shop to her.—Fielding, The Virgin Unmasked.

BLITHE-HEART KING (The). David is so called by Caedmon.

Those lovely lyrics written by his hand Whom Saxon Caedmon calls "The Blithe-heart King." Longfellow, The Poet's Tale (ref. is to Psalm cxlviii. 9).

BLOCK (Martin), one of the committee of the Estates of Burgundy, who refuse supplies to Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

BLOK (Nikkel), the butcher, one of the insurgents at Liege.—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).

BLONDEL DE NESLE [Neel], the favorite trouvere or minstrel of Richard Coeur de Lion. He chanted the Bloody Vest in presence of queen Berengaria, the lovely Edith Plantagenet.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

BLONDINA, the mother of Fairstar and two boys at one birth. She was the wife of a king, but the queen-mother hated her, and taking away the three babes substituted three puppies. Ultimately her children were restored to her, and the queen-mother with her accomplices were duly punished.—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("Princess Fairstar," 1682).

BLOOD (Colonel Thomas), emissary of the duke of Buckingham (1628-1680), introduced by sir W. Scott in Peveril of the Peak, a novel (time, Charles II.).

BLOODS (The Five): (1) The O'Neils of Ulster; (2) the O'Connors of Connaught; (3) the O'Brians of Thomond; (4) the O'Lachlans of Meath; and (5) the M'Murroughs of Leinster. These are the five principal septs or families of Ireland, and all not belonging to one of these five septs are accounted aliens or enemies, and could "neither sue nor be sued," even down to the reign of Elizabeth.

William Fitz-Roger, being arraigned (4th Edward II.) for the murder of Roger de Cantilon, pleads that he was not guilty of felony, because his victim was not of "free blood," i.e. one of the "five bloods of Ireland." The plea is admitted by the jury to be good.

BLOODY (The), Otho II. emperor of Germany (955, 973-983).

BLOODY-BONES, a bogie.

As bad as Bloody-bones or Lunsford (i.e. sir Thomas Lunsford, governor of the Tower, the dread of every one).—S. Butler, Hudibras.

BLOODY BROTHER (The), a tragedy by Beaumont and Fletcher (1639). The "bloody brother" is Rollo duke of Normandy, who kills his brother Otto and several other persons, but is himself killed ultimately by Hamond captain of the guard.

BLOODY BUTCHER (The), the duke of Cumberland, second son of George II., so called from his barbarities in the suppression of the rebellion in favor of Charles Edward, the young pretender. "Black Clifford" was also called "The Butcher" for his cruelties (died 1461).

BLOODY HAND, Cathal, an ancestor of the O'Connors of Ireland.

BLOODY MARY, queen Mary of England, daughter of Henry VIII. and elder half-sister of queen Elizabeth. So called on account of the sanguinary persecutions carried on by her government against the protestants. It is said that 200 persons were burned to death in her short reign (1516,1553-1558).

BLOOMFIELD (Louisa), a young lady engaged to lord Totterly the beau of sixty, but in love with Charles Danvers the embryo barrister.—C. Selby, The Unfinished Gentleman.

BLOUNT (Nicholas), afterwards knighted; master of the horse to the earl of Sussex.

—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).

Blount (Sir Frederick), a distant relative of sir John Vesey. He had a great objection to the letter r, which he considered "wough and wasping." He dressed to perfection, and though not "wich," prided himself on having the "best opewa-box, the best dogs, the best horses, and the best house" of any one. He liked Greorgina Vesey, and as she had L10,000 he thought he should do himself no harm by "mawy-wing the girl."—Lord E. Bulwer Lytton, Money (1840).

Blount (Master), a wealthy jeweller of Ludgate Hill, London. An old-fashioned tradesman, not ashamed of his calling. He had two sons, John and Thomas; the former was his favorite.

Mistress Blount, his wife. A shrewd, discerning woman, who loved her son Thomas, and saw in him the elements of a rising man.

John Blount, eldest son of the Ludgate jeweller. Being left successor to his father, he sold the goods and set up for a man of fashion and fortune. His vanity and snobbism were most gross. He had good-nature, but more cunning than discretion, thought himself far-seeing, but was most easily duped. "The phaeton was built after my design, my lord," he says, "mayhap your lordship has seen it." "My taste is driving, my lord, mayhap your lordship has seen me handle the ribbons." "My horses are all bloods, mayhap your lordship has noticed my team." "I pride myself on my seat in the saddle, mayhap your lordship has seen me ride." "If I am superlative in anything, 'its in my wines." "So please your ladyship, 'tis dress I most excel in ... 'tis walking I pride myself in." No matter what is mentioned, 'tis the one thing he did or had better than any one else. This conceited fool was duped into believing a parcel of men-servants to be lords and dukes, and made love to a lady's maid, supposing her to be a countess.

Thomas Blount, John's brother, and one of nature's gentlemen. He entered the army, became a colonel, and married lady Blanche. He is described as having "a lofty forehead for princely thought to dwell in, eyes for love or war, a nose of Grecian mould with touch of Rome, a mouth like Cupid's bow, ambitious chin dimpled and knobbed."—S. Knowles, Old Maids (1841).

BLOUZELINDA or BLOWZELINDA, a shepherdess in love with Lobbin Clout, in The Shepherd's Week.

My Blouzelinda is the blithest lass, Than primrose sweeter, or the clover-grass. My Blouzelind's than gilliflower more fair, Than daisie, marygold, or kingcup rare. Gay, Pastoral, i. (1714).

Sweet is my toil when Blowzelind is near, Of her bereft 'tis winter all the year ... Come, Blowzelinda, ease thy swain's desire, My summer's shadow, and my winter's fire. Ditto.

BLOWER (Mrs. Margaret), the shipowner's widow at the Spa. She marries Dr. Quackleben, "the man of medicine" (one of the managing committee at the Spa).—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan's Well (time, George III.).

BLUCHER was nicknamed "Marshal Forward" for his dash and readiness in the campaign of 1813.

BLUE BEARD (La Barbe Bleue), from the contes of Charles Perrault (1697). The chevalier Raoul is a merciless tyrant, with a blue beard. His young wife is entrusted with all the keys of the castle, with strict injunctions on pain of death not to open one special room. During the absence of her lord the "forbidden fruit" is too tempting to be resisted, the door is opened, and the young wife finds the floor covered with the dead bodies of her husband's former wives. She drops the key in her terror, and can by no means obliterate from it the stain of blood. Blue Beard, on his return, commands her to prepare for death, but by the timely arrival of her brothers her life is saved and Blue Beard put to death.

Dr. C. Taylor thinks Blue Beard is a type of the castle-lords in the days of knight-errantry. Some say Henry VIII. (the noted wife-killer) was the "academy figure." Others think it was Giles de Retz, marquis de Laval, marshal of France in 1429, who (according to Mezeray) murdered six of his seven wives, and was ultimately strangled in 1440.

Another solution is that Blue Beard was count Conomar, and the young wife Triphyna, daughter of count Guerech. Count Conomar was lieutenant of Brittany in the reign of Childebert. M. Hippolyte Violeau assures us that in 1850, during the repairs of the chapel of St. Nicolas de Bieuzy, some ancient frescoes were discovered with scenes from the life of St. Triphyna: (1) The marriage; (2) the husband taking leave of his young wife and entrusting to her a key; (3) a room with an open door, through which are seen the corpses of seven women hanging; (4) the husband threatening his wife, while another female [sister Anne] is looking out of a window above; (5) the husband has placed a halter round the neck of his victim, but the friends, accompanied by St. Gildas, abbot of Rhuys in Brittany, arrive just in time to rescue the future saint.—Pelerinages de Bretagne.

BLUE KNIGHT (The), sir Persaunt of India, called by Tennyson "Morning Star" or "Phosphorus." He was one of the four brothers who kept the passages of Castle Perilous, and was overthrown by sir Gareth.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 131 (1470); Tennyson, Idylls ("Gareth and Lynette").

It is evidently a blunder in Tennyson to call the Blue Knight "Morning Star," and the Green Knight "Evening Star." The reverse is correct, and in the old romance the combat with the Green Knight was at day-break, and with the Blue Knight at sunset.

BLUE-SKIN, Joseph Blake, an English burglar, so called from his complexion. He was executed in 1723.

BLUFF (Bachelor), celibate philosopher upon social, domestic, and cognate themes.

"Give me," he says emphatically, "in our household, color and cheeriness—not cold art, nor cold pretensions of any kind, but warmth, brightness, animation. Bring in pleasing colors, choice pictures, bric-a-brac, and what-not. But let in, also, the sun; light the fires; and have everything for daily use."—Oliver Bell Bunce, Bachelor Bluff (1882).

Bluff (Captain Noll), a swaggering bully and boaster. He says, "I think that fighting for fighting's sake is sufficient cause for fighting. Fighting, to me, is religion and the laws."

"You must know, sir, I was resident in Flanders the last campaign ... there was scarce anything of moment done, but a humble servant of yours ... had the greatest share in't.... Well, would you think it, in all this time ... that rascally Gazette never so much as once mentioned me? Not once, by the wars! Took no more notice of Noll Bluff than if he had not been in the land of the living."—Congreve, The Old Bachelor (1693).

BLUFF HAL or BLUFF HARRY, Henry VIII.

Ere yet in scorn of Peter's pence, And numbered bead and shrift, Bluff Harry broke into the spence, And turned the cowls adrift. Tennyson, The Talking Oak.

BLUN'DERBORE (3 syl.), the giant who was drowned because Jack scuttled his boat.—Jack the Giant-killer.

BLUNT (Colonel), a brusque royalist, who vows "he'd woo no woman," but falls in love with Arbella, an heiress, woos and wins her. T. Knight, who has converted this comedy into a farce, with the title of Honest Thieves, calls colonel Blunt "captain Manly."—Hon. sir R. Howard, The Committee (1670).

Blunt (Major-General), an old cavalry officer, rough in speech, but brave, honest, and a true patriot.—Shadwell, The Volunteers.

BLUSHINGTON (Edward), a bashful young gentleman of twenty-five, sent as a poor scholar to Cambridge, without any expectations, but by the death of his father and uncle, left all at once as "rich as a nabob." At college he was called "the sensitive plant of Brazenose," because he was always blushing. He dines by invitation at Friendly Hall, and commits ceaseless blunders. Next day his college chum, Frank Friendly, writes word that he and his sister Dinah, with sir Thomas and lady Friendly, will dine with him. After a few glasses of wine, he loses his bashful modesty, makes a long speech, and becomes the accepted suitor of the pretty Miss Dinah Friendly.—W.T. Moncrieff, The Bashful Man.

BO or Boh, says Warton, was a fierce Gothic chief, whose name was used to frighten children.

BOADICEA, queen of a tribe of ancient Britons. Her husband having been killed by the Romans, she took the field in person. She was defeated and committed suicide.

BOANERGES (4 syl.), a declamatory pet parson, who anathematizes all except his own "elect." "He preaches real rousing-up discourses, but sits down pleasantly to his tea, and makes hisself friendly."—Mrs. Oliphant, Salem Chapel.

A protestant Boanerges, visiting Birmingham, sent an invitation to Dr. Newman to dispute publicly with him in the Town Hall.—E. Yates, Celebrities, xxii.

Boanerges or "sons of thunder" is the name given by Jesus Christ to James and John, because they wanted to call down fire from heaven to consume the Samaritans.—Mark iii. 17.

BOAR (The), Richard III., so called from his cognizance.

The bristled boar, In infant gore, Wallows beneath the thorny shade. Gray, The Bard (1757).

In contempt Richard III. is called The Hog, hence the popular distich:

The Cat, the Rat, and Lovell the dog, Rule all England, under the Hog.

("The Cat" is Catesby, and "the Rat" Ratcliffe).

Boar (The Blue). This public-house sign (Westminster) is the badge of the Veres earls of Oxford.

The Blue Boar Lane (St. Nicholas, Leicester) is so named from the cognizance of Richard III., because he slept there the night before the battle of Bosworth Field.

BOAR OF ARDENNES (The Wild), in French Le Sanglier des Ardennes (2 syl.), was Guillaume comte de la Marck, so called because he was as fierce as the wild boar he delighted to hunt. The character is introduced by sir W. Scott in Quentin Durward, under the name of "William count of la Marck."

BOB'ADIL, an ignorant, shallow bully, thoroughly cowardly, but thought by his dupes to be an amazing hero. He lodged with Cob (the water-carrier) and his wife Tib. Master Stephen was greatly struck with his "dainty oaths," such as "By the foot of Pharaoh!" "Body of Caesar!" "As I am a gentleman and a soldier!" His device to save the expense of a standing army is inimitable for its conceit and absurdity:

"I would select 19 more to myself throughout the land; gentlemen they should be, of a good spirit and able constitution. I would choose them by an instinct,... and I would teach them the special rules ... till they could play [fence] very near as well as myself. This done, say the enemy were 40,000 strong, we 20 would ... challenge 20 of the enemy; ... kill them; challenge 20 more, kill them; 20 more, kill them too; ... every man his 10 a day, that's 10 score ... 200 a day; five days, a thousand; 40,000, 40 times 5,200 days; kill them all."—Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, iv. 7 (1598).

Since his [Henry Woodward, 1717-1777] time the part of "Bobadil" has never been justly performed. It may be said to have died with him.

—Dr. Doran.

The name was probably suggested by Bobadilla first governor of Cuba, who superseded Columbus sent home in chains on a most frivolous charge. Similar characters are "Metamore" and "Scaramouch" (Moliere); "Parolles" and "Pistol" (Shakespeare); "Bessus" (Beaumont and Fletcher). (See also BASILISCO, BOROUGHCLIFF, CAPTAIN BRAZEN, CAPTAIN NOLL BLUFF, SIR PETRONEL FLASH, SACRIPANT, VINCENT DE LA ROSE, etc.)

BOBOLINKON. Christopher Pearse Cranch calls the bobolink:

Still merriest of the merry birds, and Pied harlequins of June.

O, could I share without champagne Or muscadel, your frolic; The glad delirium of your joy, Your fun unapostolic; Your drunken jargon through the fields, Your bobolinkish gabble, Your fine Anacreontic glee, Your tipsy reveller's babble!

Christopher Pearse Cranch, The Bird and the Bell (1875).

BODACH GLAY or "Grey Spectre," a house demon of the Scotch, similar to the Irish banshee.

BODLEY FAMILY, an American household, father, mother, sisters, and brothers, whose interesting adventures at home and abroad are detailed by Horace E. Scudder in The Bodley Books (1875-1887).

BOEMOND, the Christian king of Antioch, who tried to teach his subjects arts, law, and religion. He is of the Norman race, Rogero's brother, and son of Roberto Guiscardo.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

BOEUF (Front de), a gigantic, ferocious follower of prince John.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

BOFFIN (Nicodemus), "the golden dustman," foreman of old John Harmon, dustman and miser. He was "a broad, round-shouldered, one-sided old fellow, whose face was of the rhinoceros build, with overlapping ears." A kind, shrewd man was Mr. Boffin, devoted to his wife, whom he greatly admired. Being residuary legatee of John Harmon, dustman, he came in for L100,000. Afterwards, John Harmon, the son, being discovered, Mr. Boffin surrendered the property to him, and lived with him.

Mrs. Boffin, wife of Mr. N. Boffin, and daughter of a cat's-meatman. She was a fat, smiling, good-tempered creature, the servant of old John Harmon, dustman and miser, and very kind to the miser's son (young John Harmon). After Mr. Boffin came into his fortune she became "a high flyer at fashion," wore black velvet and sable, but retained her kindness of heart and love for her husband. She was devoted to Bella Wilfer, who ultimately became the wife of young John Harmon, alias Rokesmith.—C. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (1864).

BO'GIO, one of the allies of Charlemagne. He promised his wife to return within six months, but was slain by Dardinello.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

BOHEMIAN (A), a gipsy, from the French notion that the first gipsies came from Bohemia.

A Literary Bohemian, an author of desultory works and irregular life.

Never was there an editor with less about him of the literary Bohemian.—Fortnightly Review ("Paston Letters").

Bohemian Literature, desultory reading.

A Bohemian Life, an irregular, wandering, restless way of living, like that of a gipsy.

BO'HEMOND, prince of Antioch, a crusader.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

BOIS'GRELIN (The young countess de), introduced in the ball given by king Rene at Aix.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

BOIS-GUILBERT (Sir Brian de), a preceptor of the Knights Templars. Ivanhoe vanquishes him in a tournament. He offers insult to Rebecca, and she threatens to cast herself from the battlements if he touches her. "When the castle is set on fire by the sibyl, sir Brian carries off Rebecca from the flames. The Grand-Master of the Knights Templars charges Rebecca with sorcery, and she demands a trial by combat. Sir Brian de Bois-Guilbert is appointed to sustain the charge against her, and Ivanhoe is her champion. Sir Brian being found dead in the lists, Rebecca is declared innocent."—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe time, (Richard I.).

BOISTERER, one of the seven attendants of Fortunio. His gift was that he could overturn a windmill with his breath, and even wreck a man-of-war.

Fortunio asked him what he was doing. "I am blowing a little, sir," answered he, "to set those mills at work." "But," said the knight, "you seem too far off." "On the contrary," replied the blower, "I am too near, for if I did not restrain my breath I should blow the mills over, and perhaps the hill too on which they stand."—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("Fortunio," 1682).

BOLD BEAUCHAMP [Beech-am], a proverbial phrase similar to "an Achilles," "a Hector," etc. The reference is to Thomas de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick, who, with one squire and six archers, overthrew a hundred armed men at Hogges, in Normandy, in 1346.

So had we still of ours, in France that famous were, Warwick, of England then high-constable that was, ...So hardy, great, and strong, That after of that name it to an adage grew, If any man himself adventurous happed to shew, "Bold Beauchamp" men him termed, if none so bold as he.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xviii. (1613).

BOLD STROKE FOR A HUSBAND, a comedy by Mrs. Cowley. There are two plots: one a bold stroke to get the man of one's choice for a husband, and the other a bold stroke to keep a husband. Olivia de Zuniga fixed her heart on Julio de Messina, and refused or disgusted all suitors till he came forward. Donna Victoria, in order to keep a husband, disguised herself in man's apparel, assumed the name of Florio, and made love as a man to her husband's mistress. She contrived by an artifice to get back an estate which don Carlos had made over to his mistress, and thus saved her husband from ruin (1782).

BOLD STROKE FOR A WIFE. Old Lovely at death left his daughter Anne L30,000, but with this proviso, that she was to forfeit the money if she married without the consent of her guardians. Now her guardians were four in number, and their characters so widely different that "they never agreed on any one thing." They were sir Philip Modelove, an old beau; Mr. Periwinkle, a silly virtuoso; Mr. Tradelove, a broker on 'Change; and Mr. Obadiah Prim, a hypocritical quaker. Colonel Feignwell contrived to flatter all the guardians to the top of their bent, and won the heiress.—Mrs. Centlivre (1717).

BOLDWOOD (Farmer), one of the wooers of Bathsheba Everdene. He serves for her seven years and loses her at last, after killing her husband to free her from his tyranny. He is sentenced to penal servitude "during Her Majesty's pleasure."—Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd (1874).

BOLSTER, a famous Wrath, who compelled St. Agnes to gather up the boulders which infested his territory. She carried three apronfuls to the top of a hill, hence called St. Agnes' Beacon. (See WRATH'S HOLE.)

BOL'TON (Stawarth), an English officer in The Monastery, a novel by sir W. Scott (time, Elizabeth).

BOLTON ASS. This creature is said to have chewed tobacco and taken snuff.—Dr. Doran.

BOMBA (King), a nickname given to Ferdinand II. of Naples, in consequence of his cruel bombardment of Messi'na in 1848. His son, who bombarded Palermo in 1860, is called Bombali'no ("Little Bomba").

A young Sicilian, too, was there... [Who] being rebellious to his liege, After Palermo's fatal siege, Across the western seas he fled In good king Bomba's happy reign.

Longfellow, The Wayside Inn (prelude).

BOMBARDIN'IAN, general of the forces of king Chrononhotonthologos. He invites the king to his tent, and gives him hashed pork. The king strikes him, and calls him traitor. "Traitor, in thy teeth," replies the general. They fight, and the king is killed.—H. Carey, Chrononhotonthologos (a burlesque).

BOMBASTES FURIOSO, general of Artaxam'inous (king of Utopia). He is plighted to Distaffi'na, but Artaxaminous promises her "half-a-crown" if she will forsake the general for himself. "This bright reward of ever-daring minds" is irresistible. When Bombastes sees himself flouted, he goes mad, and hangs his boots on a tree, with this label duly displayed:

Who dares this pair of boots displace, Must meet Bombastes face to face.

The king, coming up, cuts down the boots, and Bombastes "kills him." Fusbos, seeing the king fallen, "kills" the general; but at the close of the farce the dead men rise one by one, and join the dance, promising, if the audience likes, "to die again to-morrow."—W. B. Rhodes, Bombastes Furioso. This farce is a travesty of Orlando Furioso, and "Distaffina" is Angelica, beloved by Orlando, whom she flouted for Medoro, a young Moor. On this Orlando went mad, and hung up his armor on a tree, with this distich attached thereto:

Orlando's arms let none displace, But such who'll meet him face to face.

In the Rehearsal, by the duke of Buckingham, Bayes' troops are killed, every man of them, by Drawcansir, but revive, and "go off on their legs."

See the translation of Don Quixote, by C. H. Wilmot, Esq., ii. 363 (1764).

Bombastes Furioso (The French), capitaine Fracasse.—Theophile Gautier.

BOMBAS'TUS, the family name of Paracelsus. He is said to have kept a small devil prisoner in the pommel of his sword.

Bombastus kept a devil's bird Shut in the pommel of his sword, That taught him all the cunning pranks Of past and future mountebanks.

S. Butler, Hudibras, ii. 3.

BONAS'SUS, an imaginary wild beast, which the Ettrick shepherd encountered. (The Ettrick shepherd was James Hogg, the Scotch poet.)—Noctes Ambrosianae (No. xlviii., April, 1830).

BONAVENTU'RE (Father), a disguise assumed for the nonce by the chevalier Charles Edward, the pretender.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

BONDU'CA or BOADICE'A, wife of Praesutagus king of the Ice'ni. For the better security of his family, Praesutagus made the emperor of Rome co-heir with his daughters; whereupon the Roman officers took possession of his palace, gave up the princesses to the licentious brutality of the Roman soldiers, and scourged the queen in public. Bonduca, roused to vengeance, assembled an army, burnt the Roman colonies of London, Colchester [Camalodunum], Verulam, etc., and slew above 80,000 Romans. Subsequently, Sueto'nius Paulinus defeated the Britons, and Bonduca poisoned herself, A.D. 61. John Fletcher wrote a tragedy entitled Bonduca (1647).

BONE-SETTER (The), Sarah Mapp (died 1736).

BO'NEY, a familiar contraction of Bo'naparte (3 syl.), used by the English in the early part of the nineteenth century by way of depreciation. Thus Thom. Moore speaks of "the infidel Boney."

BONHOMME (Jacques), a peasant who interferes with politics; hence the peasants' rebellion of 1358 was called La Jacquerie. The words may be rendered "Jimmy" or "Johnny Goodfellow."

BON'IFACE (St.), an Anglo-Saxon whose name was Winifrid or Winfrith, born in Devonshire. He was made archbishop of Mayence by pope Gregory III., and is called "The Apostle of the Germans." St. Boniface was murdered in Friesland by some peasants, and his day is June 5 (680-755).

... in Friesland first St. Boniface our best, Who of the see of Mentz, while there he sat possessed, At Dockum had his death, by faithless Frisians slain.

Drayton, Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).

Bon'iface,(Father), ex-abbot of Kennaquhair. He first appears under the name of Blinkhoodie in the character of gardener at Kinross, and afterwards as the old gardener at Dundrennan. (Kennaquhair, that is, "I know not where.")—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

Bon'iface (The abbot), successor of the abbot Ingelram, as Superior of St. Mary's Convent.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery (time, Elizabeth).

Boni'face, landlord of the inn at Lichfield, in league with the highwaymen. This sleek, jolly publican is fond of the cant phrase, "as the saying is." Thus, "Does your master stay in town, as the saying is?" "So well, as the saying is, I could wish we had more of them." "I'm old Will Boniface; pretty well known upon this road, as the saying is." He had lived at Lichfield "man and boy above eight and fifty years, and not consumed eight and fifty ounces of meat." He says:

"I have fed purely upon ale. I have eat my ale, drank my ale, and I always sleep upon my ale."—George Farquhar, The Beaux' Stratagem, i. I (1707).

BONNE REINE, Claude de France, daughter of Louis XII. and wife of Francois I. (1499-1524).

BONNET ROUGE, a red republican, so called from the red cap of liberty which he wore.

BONNIBEL, southern beauty in Constance Cary Harrison's tale, Flower de Hundred.

The perfection of blonde prettiness, with a mouth like Cupid's bow, a tiny tip-tilted nose, eyes gold-brown to match her hair, a color like crushed roses in her cheeks (1891).

BONNIVARD (Francois de), the prisoner of Chillon. In Byron's poem he was one of six brothers, five of whom died violent deaths. The father and two sons died on the battle-field; one was burnt at the stake; three were imprisoned in the dungeon of Chillon, near the lake of Geneva. Two of the three died, and Francois was set at liberty by Henri the Bearnais. They were incarcerated by the duke-bishop of Savoy for republican principles (1496-1570).

BONSTET'TIN (Nicholas), the old deputy of Schwitz, and one of the deputies of the Swiss confederacy to Charles duke of Burgundy.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

BON'TEMPS (Roger), the personification of that buoyant spirit which is always "inclined to hope rather than fear," and in the very midnight of distress is ready to exclaim, "There's a good time coming, wait a little longer." The character is the creation of Beranger.

Vous, pauvres pleins d'envie, Vous, riches desireux; Vous, dont le char devie Apres un cours heureux; Vous, qui perdrez peut-etre Des titres eclatans, Eh gai! prenez pour maitre Le gros Roger Bontemps.

Beranger (1814).

BON'THORN (Anthony), one of Ramorny's followers; employed to murder Smith, the lover of Catherine Glover ("the fair maid of Perth"), but he murdered Oliver instead, by mistake. When charged with the crime, he demanded a trial by combat, and being defeated by Smith, confessed his guilt and was hanged. He was restored to life, but being again apprehended was executed.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

BON TON, a farce by Garrick. Its design is to show the evil effects of the introduction of foreign morals and foreign manners. Lord Minikin neglects his wife, and flirts with Miss Tittup. Lady Minikin hates her husband, and flirts with colonel Tivy. Miss Tittup is engaged to the colonel. Sir John Trotley, who does not understand bon ton, thinks this sort of flirtation very objectionable. "You'll excuse me, for such old-fashioned notions, I am sure" (1760).

BOO'BY (Lady), a vulgar upstart, who tries to seduce her footman, Joseph Andrews. Parson Adams reproves her for laughing in church. Lady Booby is a caricature of Richardson's "Pamela."—Fielding, Joseph Andrews (1742).

BOON ISLAND. In Celia Thaxter's poem, The Watch of Boon Island, is told the story of two wedded lovers who tended the lighthouse on Boon Island until the husband died, when the wife

Bowed her head and let the light die out, For the wide sea lay calm as her dead love, When evening fell from the far land, in doubt, Vainly to find that faithful star men strove. (1874.)

BOONE (1 syl.), colonel [afterwards "general"] Daniel Boone, in the United States' service, was one of the earliest settlers in Kentucky, where he signalized himself by many daring exploits against the Red Indians (1735-1820).

Of all men, saving Sylla the man-slayer... The general Boone, the back-woodsman of Kentucky, Was happiest among mortals anywhere, etc.

Byron, Don Juan, viii. 61-65 (1821).

BOOSHAL'LOCH (Neil), cowherd to Ian Eachin M'Ian, chief of the clan Quhele.—Sir W. Scott, The Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

BOO'TES (3 syl.), Arcas son of Jupiter and Calisto. One day his mother, in the semblance of a bear, met him, and Arcas was on the point of killing it, when Jupiter, to prevent the murder, converted him into a constellation, either Booetes or Ursa Major.—Pausanias, Itinerary of Greece, viii. 4.

Doth not Orion worthily deserve A higher place ... Than frail Booetes, who was placed above Only because the gods did else foresee He should the murderer of his mother be?

Lord Brooke, Of Nobility.

BOOTH, husband of Amelia. Said to be a drawing of the author's own character and experiences. He has all the vices of Tom Jones, with an additional share of meanness.—Fielding, Amelia (1751).

BORACH'IO, a follower of don John of Aragon. He is a great villain, engaged to Margaret, the waiting-woman of Hero.—Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing (1600).

Borach'io, a drunkard. (Spanish, borracho, "drunk;" borrachuelo, "a tippler.")

"Why, you stink of wine! D'ye think my niece will ever endure such a borachio? You're an absolute Borachio."—W. Congreve, The Way of the World (1700).

Borachio (Joseph), landlord of the Eagle Hotel, in Salamanca.—Jephson, Two Strings to your Bow (1792).

BOR'AK (Al), the animal brought by Gabriel to convey Mahomet to the seventh heaven. The word means "lightning." Al Borak had the face of a man, but the cheeks of a horse; its eyes were like jacinths, but brilliant as the stars; it had eagle's wings, glistened all over with radiant light, and it spoke with a human voice. This was one of the ten animals (not of the race of man) received into paradise.

Borak was a fine-limbed, high-standing horse, strong in frame, and with a coat as glossy as marble. His color was saffron, with one hair of gold for every three of tawny; his ears were restless and pointed like a reed; his eyes large and full of fire; his nostrils wide and steaming; he had a white star on his forehead, a neck gracefully arched, a mane soft and silky, and a thick tail that swept the ground.—Groquemitaine. ii. 9.

BORDER MINSTREL (The), sir Walter Scott (1771-1832).

My steps the Border Minstrel led.

W. Wordsworth, Yarrow Revisited.

BO'REAS, the north wind. He lived in a cave on mount Haemus, in Thrace.

Cease, rude Boreas, blustering railer.

G. A. Stephens, The Shipivreck.

BOR'GIA (Lucrezia di), duchess of Ferra'ra, wife of don Alfonso. Her natural son Genna'ro was brought up by a fisherman in Naples, but when he grew to manhood a stranger gave him a paper from his mother, announcing to him that he was of noble blood, but concealing his name and family. He saved the life of Orsi'ni in the battle of Rin'ini, and they became sworn friends. In Venice he was introduced to a party of nobles, all of whom had some tale to tell against Lucrezia: Orsini told him she had murdered her brother; Vitelli, that she had caused his uncle to be slain; Liverotto, that she had poisoned his uncle Appia'no; Gazella, that she had caused one of his relatives to be drowned in the Tiber. Indignant at these acts of wickedness, Gennaro struck off the B from the escutcheon of the duke's palace at Ferrara, changing the name Borgia into Orgia. Lucrezia prayed the duke to put to death the man who had thus insulted their noble house, and Gennaro was condemned to death by poison. Lucrezia, to save him, gave him an antidote, and let him out of prison by a secret door. Soon after his liberation the princess Negroni, a friend of the Borgias, gave a grand supper, to which Gennaro and his companions were invited. At the close of the banquet they were all arrested by Lucrezia after having drunk poisoned wine. Gennaro was told he was the son of Lucrezia, and died. Lucrezia no sooner saw him die than she died also.—Donizetti, Lucrezia di Borgia (an opera, 1835).

BOROS'KIE (3 syl.), a malicious counsellor of the great-duke of Moscovia.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Loyal Subject (1618).

BOR'OUGHCLIFF (Captain), a vulgar Yankee, boastful, conceited, and slangy. "I guess," "I reckon," "I calculate," are used indifferently by him, and he perpetually appeals to sergeant Drill to confirm his boastful assertions: as, "I'm a pretty considerable favorite with the ladies; arn't I, sergeant Drill?" "My character for valor is pretty well known; isn't it, sergeant Drill?" "If you once saw me in battle, you'd never forget it; would he, sergeant Drill?" "I'm a sort of a kind of a nonentity; arn't I, sergeant Drill?" etc. He is made the butt of Long Tom Coffin. Colonel Howard wishes him to marry his niece Katharine, but the young lady has given her heart to lieutenant Barnstable, who turns out to be the colonel's son, and succeeds at last in marrying the lady of his affection.—E. Fitzball, The Pilot.

BORRE (1 syl.), natural son of king Arthur, and one of the knights of the Round Table. His mother was Lyonors, an earl's daughter, who came to do homage to the young king.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 15 (1470).

Sir Bors de Granis is quite another person, and so is king Bors of Gaul.

BORRO'MEO (Charles), cardinal and archbishop of Milan. Immortalized by his self-devotion in ministering at Mil'an to the plague-stricken (1538-1584).

St. Roche, who died 1327, devoted himself in a similar manner to those stricken with the plague at Piacenza; and Mompesson to the people of Eyam. In 1720-22 H. Francis Xavier de Belsunce was indefatigable in ministering to the plague-stricken of Marseilles.

BORS (King) of Gaul, brother of king Ban of Benwicke [Brittany?]. They went to the aid of prince Arthur when he was first established on the British throne, and Arthur promised in return to aid them against king Claudas, "a mighty man of men," who warred against them.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470).

There are two brethren beyond the sea, and they kings both ... the one hight king Ban of Benwieke, and the other hight king Bors of Gaul, that is, France.—Pt. i. 8.

(Sir Bors was of Ganis, that is, Wales, and was a knight of the Round Table. So also was Borre (natural son of prince Arthur), also called sir Bors sometimes.)

Bors (Sir), called sir Bors de Ganis, brother of sir Lionell and nephew of sir Launcelot. "For all women he was a virgin, save for one, the daughter of king Brandeg'oris, on whom he had a child, hight Elaine; save for her, sir Bors was a clean maid" (ch. iv.). When he went to Corbin, and saw Galahad the son of sir Launcelot and Elaine (daughter of king Pelles), he prayed that the child might prove as good a knight as his father, and instantly a vision of the holy greal was vouchsafed him; for—

There came a white dove, bearing a little censer of gold in her bill ... and a maiden that bear the Sancgreall, and she said, "Wit ye well, sir Bors, that this child ... shall achieve the Sancgreall" ... then they kneeled down ... and there was such a savor as all the spicery in the world had been there. And when the dove took her flight, the maiden vanished away with the Sancgreall.—Pt. iii. 4.

Sir Bors was with sir Galahad and sir

Percival when the consecrated wafer assumed the visible and bodily appearance of the Saviour. And this is what is meant by achieving the holy greal; for when they partook of the wafer their eyes saw the Saviour enter it.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. 101, 102 (1470).

N.B.—This sir Bors must not be confounded with sir Borre, a natural son of king Arthur and Lyonors (daughter of the earl Sanam, pt. i. 15), nor yet with king Bors of Gaul, i.e., France (pt. i. 8).

BORTELL, the bull, in the beast-epic called Reynard the Fox (1498).

BOS'CAN-[ALMOGA'VA], a Spanish poet of Barcelona (1500-1543). His poems are generally bound up with those of Garcilasso. They introduced the Italian style into Castilian poetry.

Sometimes he turned to gaze upon his book, Boscan, or Garcilasso.

Byron, Don Juan, i. 95 (1819).

BOSCOSEL, mysterious being, who brings about a reunion on earth of friends who have long ago departed for the spirit-world.—Francis Howard Williams, Boscosel (1888).

BOSMI'NA, daughter of Fingal king of Morven (north-west coast of Scotland).—Ossian.

BOS'N HILL. In Poems by John Albee (1883) we find a legend of a dead Bos'n (boatswain) whose whistle calls up the dead on stormy nights when

The wind blows wild on Bos'n Hill, But sailors know when next they sail Beyond the hilltop's view, There's one amongst them shall not fail To join the Bos'n's crew.

BOSSU (Rene le), French scholar and critic (1631-1680).

And for the epic poem your lordship bade me look at, upon taking the length, breadth, height, and depth of it, and trying them at home upon an exact scale of Bossu's, 'tis out, my lord, in every one of its dimensions.—Sterne (1768).

BOSSUT (Abbe Charles), a celebrated mathematician (1730-1814).

(Sir Richard Phillips assumed a host of popular names, among others that of M. l'Abbe Bossut in several educational works in French.)

BOSTA'NA, one of the two daughters of the old man who entrapped prince Assad in order to offer him in sacrifice on "the fiery mountain." His other daughter was named Cava'ma. The old man enjoined these two daughters to scourge the prince daily with the bastinado and feed him with bread and water till the day of sacrifice arrived. After a time, the heart of Bostana softened towards her captive, and she released him. Whereupon his brother Amgiad, out of gratitude, made her his wife, and became in time king of the city in which he was already vizier.—Arabian Nights ("Amgiad and Assad").

BOSTOCK, a coxcomb, cracked on the point of aristocracy and family birth. His one and only inquiry is "How many quarterings has a person got?" Descent from the nobility with him covers a multitude of sins, and a man is no one, whatever his personal merit, who "is not a sprig of the nobility."—James Shirley, The Ball (1642).

BOT'ANY (Father of English), W. Turner, M.D. (1520-1568).

J.P. de Tournefort is called The Father of Botany (1656-1708).

Antoine de Jussieu lived 1686-1758, and his brother Bernard 1699-1777.

BOTHWELL (Sergeant), alias Francis Stewart, in the royal army.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Bothwell (Lady), sister of lady Forester.

Sir Geoffrey Bothwell, the husband of lady Bothwell.

Mrs. Margaret Bothwell, in the introduction of the story. Aunt Margaret proposed to use Mrs. Margaret's tombstone for her own.—Sir W. Scott, Aunt Margaret's Mirror (time, William III.).

BOTTLED BEER, Alexander Nowell, author of a celebrated Latin catechism which first appeared in 1570, under the title of Christianae pietatis prima Institutio, ad usum Scholarum Latine Scripta. In 1560 he was promoted to the deanery of St. Paul's (1507-1602).—Fuller, Worthies of England ("Lancashire").

BOTTOM (Nick), an Athenian weaver, a compound of profound ignorance and unbounded conceit, not without good-nature and a fair dash of mother-wit. When the play of Pyramus and Thisbe is cast, Bottom covets every part; the lion, Thisbe, Pyramus, all have charms for him. In order to punish Titan'ia, the fairy-king made her dote on Bottom, on whom Puck had placed an ass's head.—Shakespeare, Midsummer Night's Dream.

Bottom. An' I may hide my face; let me play Thisby, too: I'll speak in a monstrous little voice.

* * * * *

Let me play the lion, too; I will roar that I will do any man's heart good to hear me.

Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 2.

BOUBEKIR' MUEZ'IN, of Bag dad, "a vain, proud, and envious iman, who hated the rich because he himself was poor." When prince Zeyn Alasnam came to the city, he told the people to beware of him, for probably he was "some thief who had made himself rich by plunder." The prince's attendant called on him, put into his hand a purse of gold, and requested the honor of his acquaintance. Next day, after morning prayers, the iman said to the people, "I find, my brethren, that the stranger who is come to Bag dad is a young prince possessed of a thousand virtues, and worthy the love of all men. Let us protect him, and rejoice that he has come among us."—Arabian Nights ("Prince Zeyn Alasnam").

BOUCHARD (Sir), a knight of Flanders, of most honorable descent. He married Constance, daughter of Bertulphe provost of Bruges. In 1127 Charles "the Good," earl of Flanders, made a law that a serf was always a serf till manumitted, and whoever married a serf became a serf. Now, Bertulphe's father was Thancmar's serf, and Bertulphe, who had raised himself to wealth and great honor, was reduced to serfdom because his father was not manumitted. By the same law Bouchard, although a knight of royal blood became Thancmar's serf because he married Constance, the daughter of Bertulphe (provost of Bruges). The result of this absurd law was that Bertulphe slew the earl and then himself, Constance went mad and died, Bouchard and Thancmar slew each other in fight, and all Bruges was thrown into confusion.—S. Knowles, The Provost of Bruges (1836).

BOU'ILLON (Godfrey duke of), a crusader (1058-1100), introduced in Count Robert of Paris, a novel by Sir W. Scott (time, Rufus).

BOUNCE (Mr. T.), a nickname given in 1837 to T. Barnes, editor of the Times (or the Turnabout, as it was called).

BOUND'ERBY (Josiah), of Coketown, banker and mill-owner, the "Bully of Humility," a big, loud man, with an iron stare and metallic laugh. Mr. Bounderby is the son of Mrs. Pegler, an old woman, to whom he pays L30 a year to keep out of sight, and in a boasting way he pretends that "he was dragged up from the gutter to become a millionaire." Mr. Bounderby marries Louisa, daughter of his neighbor and friend, Thomas Gradgrind, Esq., M.P.—C. Dickens, Hard Times (1854).

BOUNTIFUL (Lady), widow of sir Charles Bountiful. Her delight was curing the parish sick and relieving the indigent.

"My lady Bountiful is one of the best of women. Her late husband, sir Charles Bountiful, left her with L1000 a year; and I believe she lays out one-half on't in charitable uses for the good of her neighbors. In short, she has cured more people in and about Lichfield within ten years than the doctors have killed in twenty; and that's a bold word."—George Farquhar, The Beaux' Stratagem, i. 1 (1705).

BOUNTY (Mutiny of the), in 1790, headed by Fletcher Christian. The mutineers finally settled in Pitcairn Island (Polynesian Archipelago). In 1808 all the mutineers were dead except one (Alexander Smith), who had changed his name to John Adams, and became a model patriarch of the colony, which was taken under the protection of the British Government in 1839. Lord Byron, in The Island, has made the "mutiny of the Bounty" the basis of his tale, but the facts are greatly distorted.

BOUS'TRAPA, a nickname given to Napoleon III. It is compounded of the first syllables of Bou [logne], Stra [sbourg], Pa[ris], and alludes to his escapades in 1836, 1840, 1851 (coup d'etat).

No man ever lived who was distinguished by more nicknames than Louis Napoleon. Besides the one above mentioned, he was called Badinguet, Man of December, Man of Sedan, Ratipol, Verhuel, etc.; and after his escape from the fortress of Ham he went by the pseudonym of count Arenenberg.

BOWER OF BLISS, a garden belonging to the enchantress Armi'da. It abounded in everything that could contribute to earthly pleasure. Here Rinal'do spent some time in love-passages with Armi'da, but he ultimately broke from the enchantress and rejoined the war.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

Bower of Bliss, the residence of the witch Acras'ia, a beautiful and most fascinating woman. This lovely garden was situated on a floating island filled with everything which could conduce to enchant the senses, and "wrap the spirit in forgetfulness."—Spenser, Faery Queen, ii. 12 (1590).

BOWKIT, in The Son-in-Law.

In the scene where Cranky declines to accept Bowkit as son-in-law on account of his ugliness, John Edwin, who was playing "Bowkit" at the Haymarket, uttered in a tone of surprise, "Ugly?" and then advancing to the lamps, said with infinite impertinence, "I submit to the decision of the British public which is the ugliest fellow of us three: I, old Cranky, or that gentleman there in the front row of the balcony box?"—Cornhill Magazine (1867).

BOWLEY (Sir Joseph), M.P., who facetiously calls himself "the poor man's friend." His secretary is Fish.—C. Dickens, The Chimes (1844).

BOWLING (Lieutenant Tom), an admirable naval character in Smollett's Roderick Random. Dibdin wrote a naval song in memoriam of Tom Bowling, beginning thus:

Here a sheer hulk lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of the crew ...

BOWYER (Master), usher of the black rod in the court of queen Elizabeth.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).

BOWZYBE'US (4 syl.), the drunkard, rioted for his songs in Gray's pastorals, called The Shepherd's Week. He sang of "Nature's Laws," of "Fairs and Shows," "The Children in the Wood," "Chevy Chase," "Taffey Welsh," "Rosamond's Bower," "Lilly-bullero," etc. The 6th pastoral is in imitation of Virgil's 6th Ecl., and Bowzybeus is a vulgarized Silenus.

That Bowzybeus, who with jocund tongue, Ballads, and roundelays, and catches sung. Gay, Pastoral, vi. (1714).

BOX AND COX, a dramatic romance, by J. M. Morton, the principal characters of which are Box and Cox.

BOY BACHELOR (The), William Wotton, D.D., admitted at St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge, before he was ten, and to his degree of B.A. when he was twelve and a half (1666-1726).

BOY BISHOP (The), St. Nicholas, the patron saint of boys (fourth century).

(There was also an ancient custom of choosing a boy from the cathedral choir on St. Nicholas' Day (December 6) as a mock bishop. This boy possessed certain privileges, and if he died during the year was buried in pontificalibus. The custom was abolished by Henry VIII. In Salisbury Cathedral visitors are shown a small sarcophagus, which the verger says was made for a boy bishop.)

BOY BLUE (Little) is the subject of a poem in Eugene Field's Little Book of Western Verse.

The little toy-dog is covered with dust, But sturdy and staunch he stands; And the little toy-soldier is red with rust, And his musket moulds in his hands. Time was when the little toy-dog was new, And the soldier was passing fair, And that was the time when our Little Boy Blue Kissed them and put them there.

Ay, faithful to Little Boy Blue they stand, Each in the same old place, Awaiting the touch of a little hand, The smile of a little face. (1889.)

BOY CRUCIFIED. It is said that some time during the dark ages, a boy named Werner was impiously crucified at Bacharach, on the Rhine, by the Jews. A little chapel erected to the memory of this boy stands on the walls of the town, close to the river. Hugh of Lincoln and William of Norwich are instances of a similar story.

See how its currents gleam and shine ... As if the grapes were stained with the blood Of the innocent boy who, some years back, Was taken and crucified by the Jews In that ancient town of Bacharach.

Longfellow, The Golden Legend.

BOYET', one of the lords attending on the princess of France.—Shakespeare, Love's Labor's Lost (1594).

BOYTHORN (Laurence), a robust gentleman with the voice of a Stentor; a friend of Mr. Jarndyce. He would utter the most ferocious sentiments, while at the same time he fondled a pet canary on his finger. Once on a time he had been in love with Miss Barbary, lady Dedlock's sister. But "the good old times—all times when old are good—were gone."—C. Dickens, Bleak House (1853).

("Laurence Boythorn" is a caricature of W. S. Landor; as "Harold Skimpole," in the same story, is drawn from Leigh Hunt.)

BOZ, Charles Dickens. It was the nickname of a pet brother dubbed Moses, in honor of "Moses Primrose" in the Vicar of Wakefield. Children called the name Bozes, which got shortened into Boz (1812-1870).

BOZZY, James Boswell, the gossipy biographer of Dr. Johnson (1740-1795).

BRABAN'TIO, a senator of Venice, father of Desdemo'na; most proud, arrogant, and overbearing. He thought the "insolence" of Othello in marrying his daughter unpardonable, and that Desdemona must have been drugged with love-potions so to demean herself.—Shakespeare, Othello (1611).

BRAC'CIO, commissary of the republic of Florence, employed in picking up every item of scandal he could find against Lu'ria the noble Moor, who commanded the army of Florence against the Pisans. The Florentines hoped to find sufficient cause of blame to lessen or wholly cancel their obligations to the Moor, but even Braccio was obliged to confess. This Moor hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been so clear in his great office, that his virtues would plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against the council which should censure him.—Robert Browning, Luria.

BRAC'IDAS AND AM'IDAS, the two sons of Mile'sio, the former in love with the wealthy Philtra, and the latter with the dowerless Lucy. Their father at death left each of his sons an island of equal size and value, but the sea daily encroached on that of the elder brother and added to the island of Amidas. The rich Philtra now forsook Bracidas for the richer brother, and Lucy, seeing herself forsaken, jumped into the sea. A floating chest attracted her attention, she clung to it, and was drifted to the wasted island, where Bracidas received her kindly. The chest was found to contain property of great value, and Lucy gave it to Bracidas, together with herself, "the better of them both." Amidas and Philtra claimed the chest as their right, and the dispute was submitted to sir Ar'tegal. Sir Artegal decided that whereas Amidas claimed as his own all the additions which the sea had given to his island, so Lucy might claim as her own the chest which the sea had given into her hands.—Spenser, Faery Queen, v. 4 (1596).

BRAEKENBURY (Lord), English peer of nomadic tastes. He disappears from his world, leaving the impression that he has been murdered, that he may live unhampered by class-obligations.—Amelia B. Edwards, Lord Brackenbury.

Bracy (Sir Maurice de), a follower of prince John. He sues the lady Rowen'a to become his bride, and threatens to kill both Cedric and Ivanhoe if she refuses. The interview is interrupted, and at the close of the novel Rowena marries Ivanhoe.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

BRAD'AMANT, daughter of Amon and Beatrice, sister of Rinaldo, and niece of Charlemagne. She was called the Virgin Knight. Her armor was white, and her plume white. She loved Roge'ro the Moor, but refused to marry him till he was baptized. Her marriage with great pomp and Rogero's victory over Rodomont form the subject of the last book of Orlando Furioso. Bradamant possessed an irresistible spear, which unhorsed any knight with a touch. Britomart had a similar spear.—Bojardo, Orlando Innamorato (1495); Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

BRAD'BOURNE (Mistress Lilias), waiting-woman of lady Avenel (2 syl.), at Avenel Castle.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

BRADWARDINE (Como Cosmyne), baron of Bradwardine and of Tully Veolan. He is very pedantic, but brave and gallant.

Rose Bradwardine, his daughter, the heroine of the novel, which concludes with her marriage with Waverley, and the restoration of the manor-house of Tully Veolan.

Malcolm Bradwardine of Inchgrabbit, a relation of the old baron.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).

BRADY (Martha), a young "Irish widow" twenty-three years of age, and in love with William Whittle. She was the daughter of sir Patrick O'Neale. Old Thomas Whittle, the uncle, a man of sixty-three, wanted to oust his nephew in her affections, for he thought her "so modest, so mild, so tenderhearted, so reserved, so domestic. Her voice was so sweet, with just a soupcon of the brogue to make it enchanting." In order to break off this detestable passion of the old man, the widow assumed the airs and manners of a boisterous, loud, flaunting, extravagant, low Irishwoman, deeply in debt, and abandoned to pleasure. Old Whittle, thoroughly frightened, induced his nephew to take the widow off his hands, and gave him L5000 as a douceur for so doing.—Garrick, The Irish Widow (1757).

BRAG (Jack), a vulgar boaster, who gets into good society, where his vulgarity stands out in strong relief.—Theodore Hook, Jack Brag (a novel).

Brag (Sir Jack), general John Burgoyne (died 1792).

BRAGANZA (Juan duke of). In 1580 Philip II. of Spain claimed the crown of Portugal, and governed it by a regent. In 1640 Margaret was regent, and Velasquez her chief minister, a man exceedingly obnoxious to the Portuguese. Don Juan and his wife Louisa of Braganza being very popular, a conspiracy was formed to shake off the Spanish yoke. Velasquez was torn to death by the populace, and don Juan of Braganza was proclaimed king.

Louisa duchess of Braganza. Her character is thus described:

Bright Louisa, To all the softness of her tender sex, Unites the noblest qualities of man: A genius to embrace the amplest schemes... Judgment most sound, persuasive eloquence... Pure piety without religious dross, And fortitude that shrinks at no disaster. Robert Jephson, Braganza, i. 1 (1775).

Mrs. Bellamy took her leave of the stage May 24, 1785. On this occasion Mrs. Yates sustained the part of the "duchess of Braganza," and Miss Farren spoke the address.—F. Reynolds.

BRAGELA, daughter of Sorglan, and wife of Cuthullin (general of the Irish army and regent during the minority of king Cormac).—Ossian, Fingal.

BRAGGADOCIO, personification of the intemperance of the tongue. For a time his boasting serves him with some profit, but being found out, he is stripped of his borrowed plumes. His shield is claimed by Marinel; his horse by Guyon; Talus shaves off his beard; and his lady is shown to be a sham Florimel.—Spenser, Faery Queen, iii. 8 and 10, with v. 3.

It is thought that Philip of Spain was the academy figure of "Braggadocio."

Braggadocio's Sword, Sanglamore (3 syl).

BRAGMARDO (Janotus de), the sophister sent by the Parisians to Gargantua, to remonstrate with him for carrying off the bells of Notre-Dame to suspend round the neck of his mare for jingles.—Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, ii. (1533).

BRAHMIN CASTE OF NEW ENGLAND, term used by Oliver Wendell Holmes in Elsie Venner to describe an intellectual aristocracy: "Our scholars come chiefly from a privileged order just as our best fruits come from well-known grafts."—Elsie Venner (1863).

BRAIN'WORM, the servant of Knowell, a man of infinite shifts, and a regular Proteus in his metamorphoses. He appears first as Brainworm; after as Fitz-Sword; then as a reformed soldier whom Knowell takes into his service; then as justice Clement's man; and lastly as valet to the courts of law, by which devices he plays upon the same clique of some half-dozen men of average intelligence.—Ben Jonson, Every Man in His Humour (1598).

BRAKEL (Adrian), the gipsy mountebank, formerly master of Fenella, the deaf and dumb girl.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).

BRAMBLE (Matthew), an "odd kind of humorist," "always on the fret," dyspeptic, and afflicted with gout, but benevolent, generous, and kind-hearted.

Miss Tabitha Bramble, an old maiden sister of Matthew Bramble, of some forty-five years of age, noted for her bad spelling. She is starched, vain, prim, and ridiculous; soured in temper, proud, imperious, prying, mean, malicious, and uncharitable. She contrives at last to marry captain Lismaha'go, who is content to take "the maiden" for the sake of her L4000.

Bramble (Sir Robert), a baronet living at Blackberry Hall, Kent. Blunt and testy, but kind-hearted; "charitable as a Christian, and rich as a Jew;" fond of argument and contradiction, but detesting flattery; very proud, but most considerate to his poorer neighbors. In his first interview with lieutenant Worthington, "the poor gentleman," the lieutenant mistook him for a bailiff come to arrest him, but sir Roflert nobly paid the bill for L500 when it was presented to him for signature as sheriff of the county.

Frederick Bramble, nephew of sir Robert, and son of Joseph Bramble, a Russian merchant. His father having failed in business, Frederick is adopted by his rich uncle. He is full of life and noble instincts, but thoughtless and impulsive. Frederick falls in love with Emily Worthington, whom he marries.—G. Colman, The Poor Gentleman (1802).

BRAMINE (2 syl.) AND BRAMIN (The), Mrs. Elizabeth Draper and Laurence Sterne. Sterne being a clergyman, and Mrs. Draper having been born in India, suggested the names. Ten of Sterne's letters to Mrs. Draper are published, and called Letters to Eliza.

BRAN, the dog of Lamderg the lover of Gelchossa (daughter of Tuathal).—Ossian, Fingal, v.

Fingal king of Morven had a dog of the same name, and another named Luaeth.

Call White-breasted Bran and the surly strength of Luaeth.—Ossian, Fingal, vi.

BRAND (Ethan), an ex-lime burner in Nathaniel Hawthorne's story of the same name, who, fancying he has committed the Unpardonable Sin, commits suicide by leaping into the burning kiln.

Brand (Sir Denys), a county magnate, who apes humility. He rides a sorry brown nag "not worth L5," but mounts his groom on a race-horse "twice victor for a plate."

BRANDAMOND of Damascus, whom sir Bevis of Southampton defeated.

That dreadful battle where with Brandamond he fought. And with his sword and steed such earthly wonders wrought As e'en among his foes him admiration won. M. Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. (1612).

BRAN'DAN (Island of St.) or ISLAND of SAN BORANDAN, a flying island, so late as 1755 set down in geographical charts west of the Canary group. In 1721 an expedition was sent by Spain in quest thereof. The Spaniards say their king Rodri'go has retreated there, and the Portuguese affirm that it is the retreat of their don Sebastian. It was called St. Brandan from a navigator of the sixth century, who went in search of the "Islands of Paradise."

Its reality was for a long time a matter of firm belief ... the garden of Armi'da, where Rinaldo was detained, and which Tasso places in one of the Canary Isles, has been identified with San Borandan.—W. Irving.

(If there is any truth at all in the legend, the island must be ascribed to the Fata Morgana.)

BRAN'DEUM, plu. Brandea, a piece of cloth enclosed in a box with relics, which thus acquired the same miraculous powers as the relics themselves.

Pope Leo proved this fact beyond a doubt, for when some Greeks ventured to question it, he cut a brandeum through with a pair of scissors, and it was instantly covered with blood.—J. Brady, Clavis Calendaria, 182.

BRAN'DIMART, brother-in-law of Orlando, son of Monodantes, and husband of For'delis. This "king of the Distant Islands" was one of the bravest knights in Charlemagne's army, and was slain by Gradasso.—Bojardo, Orlando Innamorata (1495); Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

BRAND, a term often applied to the sword in medaeval romances.

Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur, Which was my pride— Tennyson, The Morte d'Arthur.

BRANGTONS (The), vulgar, jealous, malicious gossips in Evelina, a novel by Miss Burney (1778).

BRANNO, an Irishman, father of Evirallin. Evirallin was the wife of Ossian and mother of Oscar.—Ossian.

BRASS, the roguish confederate of Dick Amlet, and acting as his servant.

"I am your valet, 'tis true; your footman sometimes ... but you have always had the ascendant, I confess. When we were school-fellows, you made me carry your books, make your exercise, own your rogueries, and sometimes take a whipping for you. When we were fellow-'prentices, though I was your senior, you made me open the shop, clean my master's boots, cut last at dinner, and eat all the crusts. In your sins, too, I must own you still kept me under; you soared up to the mistress, while I was content with the maid."—Sir John Yanbrugh, The Confederacy, iii. 1 (1695).

Brass (Sampson), a knavish, servile attorney, affecting great sympathy with his clients, but in reality fleecing them without mercy.

Sally Brass, Sampson's sister, and an exaggerated edition of her brother.—C. Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop (1840).

BRAVE (The), Alfonzo IV. of Portugal (1290-1357).

The Brave Fleming, John Andrew van der Mersch (1734-1792).

The Bravest of the Brave, Marshal Ney, Le Brave des Braves (1769-1815).

BRAY (Mr.), a selfish, miserly old man, who dies suddenly of heart-disease, just in time to save his daughter from being sacrificed to Arthur Gride, a rich old miser.

Madeline Bray, daughter of Mr. Bray, a loving, domestic, beautiful girl, who marries Nicholas Nickleby.—C. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1838).

Bray (Vicar of), supposed by some to be Simon Aleyn, who lived (says Fuller) "in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth. In the first two reigns he was a protestant, in Mary's reign a catholic, and in Elizabeth's a protestant again." No matter who was king, Simon Aleyn resolved to live and die "the vicar of Bray" (1540-1588).

Others think the vicar was Simon Symonds, who (according to Ray) was an independent in the protectorate, a high churchman in the reign of Charles II., a papist under James II., and a moderate churchman in the reign of William III.

Others again give the cap to one Pendleton.

The well-known song was written by an officer in colonel Fuller's regiment, in the reign of George I., and seems to refer to some clergyman of no very distant date.

BRAYMORE (Lady Caroline), daughter of lord Fitz-Balaam. She was to have married Frank Rochdale, but hearing that her "intended" loved Mary Thornberry, she married the Hon. Tom Shuffleton.—G. Colman, jun., John Bull (1805).

BRAZEN (Captain), a kind of Bobadil. A boastful, tongue-doughty warrior, who pretends to know everybody; to have a liaison with every wealthy, pretty, or distinguished woman; and to have achieved in war the most amazing prodigies.

BRAZEN HEAD. The first on record is one which Sylvester II. (Gerbert) possessed. It told him he would be pope, and not die till he had sung mass at Jerusalem. When pope he was stricken with his death-sickness while performing mass in a church called Jerusalem (999-1003).

The next we hear of was made by Rob. Grosseteste (1175-1253).

The third was the famous brazen head of Albertus Magnus, which cost him thirty years' labor, and was broken to pieces by his disciple Thomas Aquinas (1193-1280).

The fourth was that of friar Bacon, which used to say, "Time is, time was, time comes." Byron refers to it in the lines:

Like friar Bacon's brazen head, I've spoken, "Time is, time was, time's past [?]" Don Juan, i. 217 (1819).

Another was made by the marquis of Vilena of Spain (1384-1434). And a sixth by a Polander, a disciple of Escotillo an Italian.

Brazen Head (The), a gigantic head kept in the castle of the giant Ferragus of Portugal. It was omniscient, and told those who consulted it whatever they desired to know, past, present, or future.—Valentine and Orson.

BREAKFAST TABLE (Autocrat of). See AUTOCRAT.

BREAKING A STICK is part of the marriage ceremony of the American Indians, as breaking a glass is still part of the marriage ceremony of the Jews.—Lady Augusta Hamilton, Marriage Rites, etc., pp. 292, 298.

In one of Raphael's pictures we see an unsuccessful suitor of the Virgin Mary breaking his stick, and this alludes to the legend that the several suitors of the "virgin" were each to bring an almond stick which was to be laid up in the sanctuary over night, and the owner of the stick which budded was to be accounted the suitor God ordained, and thus Joseph became her husband.—B.H. Cowper, Apocryphal Gospel ("Pseudo-Matthew's Gospel," 40, 41).

In Florence is a picture in which the rejected suitors break their sticks on the back of Joseph.

BRECAN, a mythical king of Wales. He had twenty-four daughters by one wife. These daughters, for their beauty and purity, were changed into rivers, all of which flow into the Severn. Brecknockshire, according to fable, is called after this king. (See next art.)

Brecan was a prince once fortunate and great (Who dying lent his name to that his noble seat), With twice twelve daughters blest, by one and only wife. They, for their beauties rare and sanctity of life, To rivers were transformed; whose pureness doth declare How excellent they were by being what they are ... ...[they] to Severn shape their course. M. Drayton, Polyolbion, iv. (1612).

BREC'HAN (Prince), father of St. Cadock and St. Canock, the former a martyr and the latter a confessor.

BRECK (Alison), an old fishwife, friend of the Mucklebackits.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, Greorge III.).

Breck (Angus), a follower of Rob Roy M'Gregor, the outlaw.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, Greorge I.).

BREITMAN (Hans), the giver of the entertainment celebrated in Charles Godfrey Leland's dialect verses, Hans Breitman gave a Party. A favorite with parlor and platform "readers." (1871.)

BRENDA [TROIL], daughter of Magnus Troil and sister of Minna.—Sir W. Scott, The Pirate (time, William III.).

BRENGWAIN, the confidante of Isolde (2 syl.) wife of sir Mark king of Cornwall. Isolde was criminally attached to her nephew sir Tristram, and Brengwain assisted the queen in her intrigues.

Brengwain, wife of Gwenwyn prince of Powys-land.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

BRENNETT (Maurice), a man whom "life had always cast for the leading business" and who "bears himself in a manner befitting the title role." In pursuance of this destiny he becomes a mining speculator, betrays his confiding partner and everybody else who will trust, and when success seems within his grasp is thwarted by the discovery of a man he had supposed to be dead. The woman he would have married to secure her fortune, around which he had woven the fine web of his schemes, breaks out impetuously:

"If you will prove his complicity ... I will pursue him to the ends of the earth."

At that moment through the window she sees the head-light of the train that is bearing Maurice Brennett away into the darkness. The thorough search made for him afterward is futile.—Charles Egbert Craddock, Where the Battle was Fought (1885).

BRENTANO (A), one of inconceivable folly. The Brentanos, Clemens and his sister Bettina, are remarkable in German literary annals for the wild and extravagant character of their genius. Bettina's work, Goethe's Correspondence with a Child (1835), is a pure fabrication of her own.

At the point where the folly of others ceases, that of the Brentanos begins.—German Proverb.

BRENTFORD (The two kings of). In the duke of Buckingham's farce called The Rehearsal (1671), the two kings of Brentford enter hand-in-hand, dance together, sing together, walk arm-in-arm, and to heighten the absurdity the actors represent them as smelling at the same nosegay (act ii. 2).

BRETWALDA, the over-king of the Saxon rulers, established in England during the heptarchy. In Germany the over-king was called emperor. The bretwalda had no power in the civil affairs of the under-kings, but in times of war or danger formed an important centre.

BREWER OF GHENT (The), James van Artevelde, a great patriot. His son Philip fell in the battle of Rosbecq (fourteenth century).

BREWSTER (William). The Life and Death of William Brewster, elder in the first church planted in Massachusetts, was written by his colleague William Bradford (1630-1650). After a feeling eulogy upon his departed friend, he remarks, parenthetically: "He always thought it were better for ministers to pray oftener and divide their prayers, than be long and tedious in the same (except upon solemn and special occasions, as in days of humiliation and the like). His reason was that the hearts and spirits of all, especially the weak, continue and stand bent (as it were) so long towards God as they ought to do in that duty without flagging and falling off." This is a remarkable deliverance for a day when two-hour prayers were the rule, and from a man who, his biographer tells us, "had a singular good gift in prayer."

BRIANA, the lady of a castle who demanded for toll "the locks of every lady and the beard of every knight that passed." This toll was established because sir Crudor, with whom she was in love, refused to marry her till she had provided him with human hair sufficient to "purfle a mantle" with. Sir Crudor, having been overthrown in knightly combat by sir Calidore, who refused to pay "the toll demanded," is made to release Briana from the condition imposed on her, and Briana swears to discontinue the discourteous toll.—Spenser, Faery Queen, vi. 1 (1596).

BRIANOR (Sir), a knight overthrown by the "Salvage Knight," whose name was sir Artegal.—Spenser, Faery Queen, iv. 5 (1596).

BRIAREOS (4 syl.), usually called Briareus [Bri.a.ruce], the giant with a hundred hands. Hence Dryden says, "And Briareus, with all his hundred hands" (Virgil, vi.); but Milton writes the name Briareos (Paradise Lost, i. 199).

Then, called by thee, the monster Titan came, Whom gods Briareos, men AEgeon name. Pope, Iliad, i.

BRIAREUS (Bold), Handel (1685-1757).

BRIAREUS OF LANGUAGES, cardinal Mezzofanti, who was familiar with fifty-eight different languages. Byron calls him "a walking polyglot" (1774-1849).

BRIBOCI, inhabitants of Berkshire and the adjacent counties.—Caesar, Commentaries.

BRICK (Jefferson), a very weak pale young man, the war correspondent of the New York Rowdy Journal, of which colonel Diver was editor.—C. Dickens, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844).

BRIDE OF ABYDOS (The), Zuleika (3 syl.), daughter of Giaffer (2 syl.), pacha of Abydos. She is the troth-plight bride of Selim; but Giaffer shoots the lover, and Zuleika dies of a broken heart.—Byron, Bride of Abydos (1813).

BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR, Lucy Ashton, in love with Edgar master of Ravenswood, but compelled to marry Frank Hayston, laird of Bucklaw. She tries to murder him on the bridal night, and dies insane the day following.—Sir W. Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor (time, William III.).

The Bride of Lammermoor is one of the most finished of Scott's novels, presenting a unity of plot and action from beginning to end. The old butler, Caleb Balderston, is exaggerated and far too prominent, but he serves as a foil to the tragic scenes.

In The Bride of Lammermoor we see embodied the dark spirit of fatalism—that spirit which breathes on the writings of the Greek tragedians when they traced the persecuting vengeance of destiny against the houses of Laius and Atreus. From the time that we hear the prophetic rhymes the spell begins, and the clouds blacken round us, till they close the tale in a night of horror.—Ed. Rev.

BRIDE OF THE SEA, Venice, so called from the ancient ceremony of the doge marrying the city to the Adriatic by throwing a ring into it, pronouncing these words, "We wed thee, O sea, in token of perpetual domination."

BRIDGE. The imaginary bridge between earth and the Mohammedan paradise is called "Al Sirat."

The rainbow bridge which spans heaven and earth in Scandinavian mythology is called "Bifrost."

BRIDGE OF GOLD. According to German tradition, Charlemagne's spirit crosses the Rhine on a golden bridge, at Bingen, in reasons of plenty, and blesses both cornfields and vineyards.

Thou standest, like imperial Charlemagne, Upon thy bridge of gold. Longfellow, Autumn.

BRIDGE OF SIGHS, the covered passageway which connects the palace of the doge in Venice with the State prisons. Called "the Bridge of Sighs," because the condemned passed over it from the judgment hall to the place of execution. Hood has a poem called The Bridge of Sighs.

BRIDGEMORE (Mr.), of Fish Street Hill, London. A dishonest merchant, wealthy, vulgar, and purse-proud. He is invited to a soiree given by lord Abberville, "and counts the servants, gapes at the lustres, and never enters the drawing-room at all, but stays below, chatting with the travelling tutor."

Mrs. Bridgemore, wife of Mr. Bridgemore, equally vulgar, but with more pretension to gentility.

Miss Lucinda Bridgemore, the spiteful, purse-proud, malicious daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bridgemore, of Fish Street Hill. She was engaged to lord Abberville, but her money would not out-balance her vulgarity and ill-temper, so the young "fashionable lover" made his bow and retired.—Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover (1780).

BRIDGENORTH (Major Ralph), a roundhead and conspirator, neighbor of sir Geoffrey Peveril of the Peak, a staunch cavalier.

Mrs. Bridgenorth, the major's wife.

Alice Bridgenorth, the major's daughter and heroine of the novel. Her marriage with Julian Peveril, a cavalier, concludes the novel.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).

BRIDGET (Miss), the mother of Tom Jones, in Fielding's novel called The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (1750).

It has been wondered why Fielding should have chosen to leave the stain of illegitimacy on the birth of his hero ... but had Miss Bridget been privately married ... there could have been no adequate motive assigned for keeping the birth of the child a secret from a man so reasonable and compassionate as Allworthy.—Encyc. Brit. Art. "Fielding."

Bridget (Mrs.), in Sterne's novel called The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent. (1759).

Bridget (Mother), aunt of Catherine Seyton, and abbess of St. Catherine.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

Bridget (May), the milkwoman at Falkland Castle.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

BRIDGEWARD (Peter), the bridgekeeper of Kennaquhair ("I know not where").—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).

Bridgeward (Peter), warder of the bridge near St. Mary's Convent. He refuses a passage to father Philip, who is carrying off the Bible of lady Alice.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery (time, Elizabeth).

BRIDLE. John Grower says that Rosiphele princess of Armenia, insensible to love, saw in a vision a troop of ladies splendidly mounted, but one of them rode a wretched steed, wretchedly accoutred except as to the bridle. On asking the reason, the princess was informed that she was disgraced thus because of her cruelty to her lovers, but that the splendid bridle had been recently given, because the obdurate girl had for the last month shown symptoms of true love. Moral—Hence let ladies warning take—

Of love that they be not idle, And bid them think of my bridle. Confessio Amantis ("Episode of Rosiphele," 1325-1402).

BRIDLEGOOSE (Judge), a judge who decided the causes brought before him, not by weighing the merits of the case, but by the more simple process of throwing dice. Rabelais, Pantagruel, iii. 39 (1545.)

BRIDLESLY (Joe), a horse-dealer at Liverpool, of whom Julian Peveril buys a horse.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).

BRIDOISON [Bree.dwoy.zong], a stupid judge in the Mariage de Figaro, a comedy in French, by Beaumarchais (1784).

BRIDOON (Corporal), in lieutenant Nosebag's regiment.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).

BRIENNIUS (Nicephorus), the Caesar of the Grecian empire, and husband of Anna Comnena (daughter of Alexius Comnenus, emperor of Greece).—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

BRIGADORE (4 syl.), sir Guyon's horse. The word means "Golden saddle."—Spenser, Faery Queen, v. 3 (1596).

BRIGANTES (3 syl.), called by Drayton Brigants, the people of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham.

Where in the Britons' rule of yore the Brigants swayed, The powerful English established ... Northumberland [Northumbria]. Drayton, Polyolbion, xvi. (1613).

BRIGGS, one of the ten young gentlemen in the school of Dr. Blimber when Paul Dombey was a pupil there. Briggs was nicknamed the "Stoney," because his brains were petrified by the constant dropping of wisdom upon them.—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).

BRIGLIADORO [Bril.ye.dor.ro], Orlando's steed. The word means "Gold bridle."—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

Sir Guyon's horse, in Spenser's Faery Queen, is called by a similar name.

BRILLIANT (Sir Philip), a great fop, but brave soldier, like the famous Murat. He would dress with all the finery of a vain girl, but would share watching, toil, and peril with the meanest soldier. "A butterfly in the drawing-room, but a Hector on the battle-field." He was a "blade of proof; you might laugh at the scabbard, but you wouldn't at the blade." He falls in love with lady Anne, reforms his vanities, and marries.—S. Knowles, Old Maids (1841).

BRILLIANT MADMAN (The), Charles XII. of Sweden (1682, 1697-1718).

BRILLIANTA (The lady), a great wit in the ancient romance entitled Tirante le Blanc, author unknown.

Here (in Tirante le Blanc) we shall find the famous knight don Kyrie Elyson of Montalban, his brother Thomas, the knight Fonseca ... the stratagems of the widow Tranquil ... and the witticisms of lady Brillianta. This is one of the most amusing books ever written.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).

BRIS (Il conte di San), governor of the Louvre. He is father of Valenti'na and leader of the St. Bartholomew massacre.—Meyerbeer, Les Huguenots (1836).

BRISAC' (Justice), brother of Miramont.

Charles Brisac, a scholar, son of justice Brisac.

Eustace Brisac, a courtier, brother of Charles.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Elder Brother (1637).

BRISE'IS (3 syl.), whose real name was Hippodami'a, was the daughter of Brises, brother of the priest Chryses. She was the concubine of Achilles, but when Achilles bullied Agamemnon for not giving Chryse'is to her father, who offered a ransom for her, Agamemnon turned upon him and said he would let Chryseis go, but should take Briseis instead.—Homer, Iliad, i.

BRISK, a good-natured conceited coxcomb, with a most voluble tongue. Fond of saying "good things," and pointing them out with such expressions as "There I had you, eh?" "That was pretty well, egad, eh?" "I hit you in the teeth there, egad!" His ordinary oath was "Let me perish!" He makes love to lady Froth.—W. Congreve, The Double Dealer (1694).

BRIS'KIE (2 syl.), disguised under the name of Putskie. A captain in the Moscovite army, and brother of general Archas "the loyal subject" of the great-duke of Moscovia.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Loyal Subject (1618).

BRIS'SOTIN, one of the followers of Jean Pierre Brissot, an advanced revolutionist. The Brissotins were subsequently merged in the Girondists, and the word dropped out of use.

BRISTOL BOY (The), Thomas Chatterton, the poet, born at Bristol. Also called "The Marvellous Boy." Byron calls him "The wondrous boy who perished in his pride" (1752-1770).

BRITAN'NIA. The Romans represented the island of Great Britain by the figure of a woman seated on a rock, from a fanciful resemblance thereto in the general outline of the island. The idea is less poetically expressed by "An old witch on a broomstick."

The effigy of Britannia on British copper coin dates from the reign of Charles II. (1672), and was engraved by Roetier from a drawing by Evelyn. It is meant for one of the king's court favorites, some say Frances Theresa Stuart, duchess of Richmond, and others Barbara Villiers, duchess of Cleveland.

BRITISH HISTORY of Geoffrey of Monmouth, is a translation of a Welsh Chronicle. It is in nine books, and contains a "history" of the Britons and Welsh from Brutus, great-grandson of Trojan AEneas to the death of Cadwallo or Cadwallader in 688. This Geoffrey was first archdeacon of Monmouth and then bishop of St. Asaph. The general outline of the work is the same as that given by Nennius three centuries previously. Geoffrey's Chronicle, published about 1143, formed a basis for many subsequent historical works. A compendium by Diceto is published in Gale's Chronicles.