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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

E. Cobham Brewer From The Edition Of 1894

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D

This letter is the outline of a rude archway or door. It is called in Hebrew daleth (a door). In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is a man's hand.

D

or d, Indicating a penny or pence, is the initial letter of the Latin denarius a silver coin equal to 8 ¾d. during the commonwealth of Rome, but in the Middle Ages about equivalent to our penny. The word was used by the Romans for money in general.

D

stands for 500, which is half ¥, a form of m or M, which stands for mille.

D.O.M.

Deo Optimo Maximo. Datur omnibus mori (It is allotted to all to die).

D.T.

A contraction of delirium tremens.

“They get a look, after a touch of D.T., which nothing else that I know of can give them” — Indian Tale.

Da Capo

or D.C. From the beginning — that is, finish with a repetition of the first strain. A term in music. (Italian.)

Dab

Clever, skilled, as “a dab—hand at it”; a corrupt contraction of the Latin adeptus (an adept). “Dabster” is another form. Apt is a related word.

“An Eton stripling, training for the law.

A dunce at learning, but a dab at taw (marbles).” Anon: Logic; or, The Biter Bit “

Dab, Din

etc.

“Hab Dab and David Din

Ding the deil o'er Dabson's Linn.”

“Hab Dab” means Halbert Dobson;"David Din” means David Dun; and"Dabson's Linn,” or Dob's Linn, is a waterfall near the head of Moffat Water.

Dobson and Dun were two Cameronians who lived for security in a cave in the ravine. Here, as they said, they saw the devil in the form of a pack of dried hides, and after fighting the “foul fiend” for some time, they dinged him into the waterfall.

Dabaira

An idol of the savages of Panama', to whose honour slaves are burnt to death. (American mythology.)

Dabbat [the Beast]. The Beast of the Apocalypse, which the Mahometans say will appear with Antichrist, called by them daggial. (Rev. xix. 19; xx. 10.)

Dabble

To dabble in the funds; to dabble in politics — i.e. to do something in them in a small way. (Dutch, dabbelen, our dip and tap.)

Dabchick

The lesser grebe. Dab is a corruption of dap, the old participle of dip, and chick (any young or small fowl), literally the dipping or diving chick.

Dactyl

(Will). The “smallest of pedants.” (Steele: The Tatler.)

Dactyls

(The). Mythic beings to whom is ascribed the discovery of iron. Their number was originally three — the Smelter, the Hammer, and the Anvil; but was afterwards increased to five males and five females, whence their name Dactyls or Fingers.

Dad

or Daddy. Father. The person who acts as father at a wedding, a stage—manager. The superintendent of a casual ward is termed by the inmates “Old Daddy.” (A Night in a Work—house, by an Amateur Casual [J. Greenwood].)

In the Fortunes of Nigel, by Sir W. Scott, Steenie, Duke of Buckingham, calls King James “My dear dad and gossip.” (Welsh, tad; Irish, daid, father; Sanskrit, tada; Hindu, dada.)

Daddy Long—legs

A crane—fly; sometimes applied to the long—legged spiders called “harvestmen.”

Daedalos

A Greek who formed the Cretan labyrinth, and made for himself wings, by means of which he flew from Crete across the Archipelago. He is said to have invented the saw, the axe, the gimlet, etc.

Daffodil

(The), or “Lent Lily,” was once white; but Persephone, daughter of Demeter (Ceres), delighted to wander about the flowery meadows of Sicily. One spring—tide she tripped over the meadows, wreathed her head with wild lilies, and, throwing herself on the grass, fell asleep. The god of the Infernal Regions, called by the Romans Pluto, fell in love with the beautiful maid, and carried her off for his bride. His touch turned the white flowers to a golden yellow, and some of them fell in Acheron, where they grew luxuriantly; and ever since the flower has been planted on graves. Theophilus and Pliny tell us that the ghosts delight in the flower, called by them the Asphodel. It was once called the Affodil. (French, asphodéle; Latin, asphodilus; Greek, asphodilos.)

“Flour of daffodil is a cure for madness.” —

Med. MS.Lincoln Cathedral,

Dag

(day). Son of Natt or night. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Dagger

or Long Cross (†), used for reference to a note after the asterisk (*), is a Roman Catholic character, originally employed in church books, prayers of exorcism, at benedictions, and so on, to remind the priest where to make the sign of the cross. This sign is sometimes called an obelisk — that is, “a spit.” (Greek, obelos, a spit.) Dagger, in the City arms of London, commemorates Sir William Walworth's dagger, with which he slew Wat Tyler in 1381. Before this time the cognisance of the City was the sword of St. Paul.

“Brave Walworth, knight, lord mayor, that slew

Rebellious Tyler in his alarmes;

The king, therefore, did give him in lieu

The dagger to the city armes.”

Fourth year of Richard II.

Dagger Ale

is the ale of the Dagger, a celebrated ordinary in Holborn.

“My lawyer's clerk I lighted on last night

In Holborn, at the Dagger. '

Ben Jonson: The Alchemist, i. 1.

Dagger—scene in the House of Commons

Edmund Burke, during the French Revolution, tried a bit of bunkum by throwing down a dagger on the floor of the House, exclaiming as he did so, “There's French fraternity for you! Such is the weapon which French Jacobins would plunge into the heart of our beloved king.” Sheridan spoilt the dramatic effect, and set the House in a roar by his remark, “The gentleman, I see, has brought his knife with him, but where is his fork?” (See Coup De Theatre)

Daggers

To speak daggers, To look daggers. To speak or look so as to wound the sensibilities.

“I will speak daggers to her; but will use none.” — Shakespeare: Hamlet, iii. 2.

Daggers Drawn

(At). At great enmity, as if with daggers drawn and ready to rush on each other.

Daggle—tail

or Draggle—tail. A slovenly woman, the bottom of whose dress trails in the dirt. Dag (Saxon) means loose ends, mire or dirt; whence dag—locks, the soiled locks of a sheep's fleece, and dag—wool, refuse wool. (Compare TAG.)

Dagobert

King Dagobert and St. Eloi. There is a French song very popular with this title. St. Eloi tells the king his coat has a hole in it, and the king replies, “C'est vrai, le tien est bon; prête—le moi.” Next the saint

complains of the king's stockings, and Dagobert makes the same answer. Then of his wig and cloak, to which the same answer is returned. After seventeen complaints St. Eloi said, “My king, death is at hand, and it is time to confess,” when the king replied, “Why can't you confess, and die instead of me?”

Dagon

(Hebrew, dag On, the fish On). The idol of the Philistines; half woman and half fish. (See Atergata.)

“Dagon his name; sea—monster, upward man

And downward fish; yet had his temple high

Rear'd in Azotus dreaded through the coast

Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon,

And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, book i. 402.

Dagonet

(Sir). In the romance La Mort d' Arthure he is called the fool of King Arthur, and was knighted by the king himself.

“I remember at Mile—End Green, when I lay at Clement's Inn, I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's show.” — Henry IV., iii. 2. (Justice Shallow).

“Dagonet” is the pen—name of Mr. G. R. Sims.

Daguerreotype

(4 syl.). A photographic process. So named from M. Daguerre, who greatly improved it in 1839. (See Talbotype.)

Dagun

A god worshipped in Pegu. When Kiakiak destroyed the world, Dagun reconstructed it. (Indian mythology.)

Dahak

The Satan of Persia. According to Persian mythology, the ages of the world are divided into periods of 1,000 years. When the cycle of “chiliasms” (1,000—year periods) is complete, the reign of Ormuzd will begin, and men will be all good and all happy; but this event will be preceded by the loosing of Dahak, who will break his chain and fall upon the world, and bring on man the most dreadful calamities. Two prophets will appear to cheer the oppressed, and announce the advent of Ormuzd.

Dahlia

A flower. So called from Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist.

Dahomey

is not derived from Daho, the founder of the palace so called, but is a corruption of Danh—homen, “Danh's Belly.” The story is as follows: Ardrah divided his kingdom at death between his three sons, and Daho, one of the sons, received the northern portion. Being an enterprising and ambitious man, he coveted the country of his neighbour Danh, King of Gedavin, and first applied to him for a plot of land to build a house on. This being granted, Daho made other requests in quick succession, and Danh's patience being exhausted, he exclaimed, “Must I open my belly for you to build on?” On hearing this, Daho declared himself insulted, made war on Danh, and slew him. He then built his palace where Danh fell, and called it Danh—homen.

(Nineteenth Century, October, 1890, pp. 605—6.)

Daiboth

(3 syl.). A Japanese idol of colossal size. Each of her hands is full of hands. (Japanese mythology.)

Daikoku

(4 syl.). The god invoked specially by the artisans of Japan. He sits on a ball of rice, holding a hammer in his hand, with which he beats a sack; and every time he does so the sack becomes full of silver, rice, cloth, and other useful articles. (Japanese mythology.)

Dairi (3 syl.). The royal residence in Japan; the court of the mikado, used by metonomy for the sovereign or chief pontiff himself.

Dairy

A corrupt form of “dey—ery,” Middle English deierie and deyyerye, from deye, a dairymaid.

“The dey or farm—woman entered with her pitchers, to deliver the milk for the family.” — Scott: Fair Maid of Perth, chap. xxxii.

Dais

The raised floor at the head of a dining—room, designed for guests of distinction (French, dais, a canopy). So called because it used to be decorated with a canopy. The proverb “Sous le dais” means “in the midst of grandeur.”

Daisies

Slang for boots. Explained under CHIVY.

Daisy

Ophelia gives the queen a daisy to signify “that her light and fickle love ought not to expect constancy in her husband.” So the daisy is explained by Greene to mean a Quip for an upstart courtier. (Anglo—Saxon dages eage, day's eye.)

The word is Day's eye, and the flower is so called because it closes its pinky lashes and goes to sleep when the sun sets, but in the morning it expands its petals to the light. (See Violet.)

“That well by reason men calle it maie.

The daisie, or else the eie of the daie.”

Chaucer

Daisy

(Solomon). Parish clerk of Chigwell. He had little, round, black, shiny eyes like beads; wore rusty black breeches, a rusty black coat, and a long—flapped waistcoat with queer little buttons. Solomon Daisy, with Phil Parkes, the ranger of Epping Forest, Tom Cobb, the chandler and post—office keeper, and John Willet, mine host, formed a quadrilateral or village club, which used to meet night after night at the Maypole, on the borders of the forest. Daisy's famous tale was the murder of Mr. Reuben Haredale, and the conviction that the murderer would be found out on the 19th of March, the anniversary of the murder. (Dickens: Barnaby Rudge, chap. i., etc.)

Daisy—cutter

(A). In cricket, a ball that is bowled all along the ground.

Daisy—roots

like dwarf—elder berries, are said to stunt the growth; hence the fairy Milkah fed her royal

foster—child on this food, that his standard might not exceed that of a pigmy. This superstition arose from the notion that everything had the property of bestowing its own speciality on others. (See Fern Seed.)

“She robbed dwarf—elders of their fragrant fruit,

And fed him early with the daisy root,

Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran, And formed the beauteous miniature of man.”

Tickell: Kensington Gardens.

Dalai—Lama

[grand lama]. Chief of the two Tartar priests — a sort of incarnate deity. The other lama is called the “Tesho—lama.”

Daldah

Mahomet's favourite white mule.

Dalgarno

(Lord). A heartless profligate in Scott's Fortunes of Nigel.

Dalgetty (Dugald). Jeffrey calls him “a compound of Captain Fluellen and Bobadil,” but this is scarcely just. Without doubt, he has all the pedantry and conceit of the former, and all the vulgar assurance of the latter; but, unlike Bobadil, he is a man of real courage, and wholly trustworthy to those who pay him for the service of his sword, which, like a thrifty mercenary, he lets out to the highest bidder. (Scott: Legend of Montrose.)

“Neither Schiller, Strads, Thuanus, Monroe, nor Dugald Dalgetty makes any mention of it.” — Carlyle.

Dalkey

(King of). A kind of “Mayor of Garrat” (q.v.) at Kingstown, in Ireland. A full description is given of this mock mayor, etc., in a book entitled Ireland Ninety Years Ago.

Dalle

(French), écu de six francs (5s.). Money generally.

“Quiconque parleroit de paix ... payeroit à la bourse de l'Union certaine quantitée de dales, pour l'entretenement des docteurs.” — Satyre Menippee, 1824, p.163.

Dalmatica

or Dalmatic. A robe, open in front, reaching to the knees; worn at one time by deacons over the alb or stole, when the Eucharist was administered. It is in imitation of the regal vest of Dalmatia, and was imported into Rome by the Emperor Commodus. A similar robe was worn by kings, in the Middle Ages, at coronations and other great solemnities, to remind them of their duty of bountifulness to the poor. The right sleeve was plain and full, but the left was fringed and tasselled. Deacons had broader sleeves than

sub—deacons, to indicate their duty to larger generosity; for a similar reason the sleeves of a bishop are larger than those of a priest. The two stripes before and behind were to show that the wearer should exercise his charity to all.

Dam

An Indian copper coin, the fortieth part of a rupee. Hence the expression “Not worth a dam”; similarly “not worth a farthing,” “not worth a rap” (q.v.); “not worth a sou,” “not worth a stiver,” etc.

Damage

What's the damage? What have I to pay? how much is the bill? The allusion is to the law assessing damages in remuneration to the plaintiff.

Damask Linen

So called from Damascus, where it was originally manufactured.

Damaskeening

Producing upon steel a blue tinge and ornamental figures, sometimes inlaid with gold and silver, as in Damascus blades; so called from Damascus, which was celebrated in the Middle Ages for this class of ornamental art.

Dambe'a

or Dembe'a. A lake in Gojam, Abyssinia, the source of the Blue Nile. Captain Speke traced the White Nile to Lake Victoria N'yanza, which, no doubt, is fed by the Mountains of the Moon.

“He [the Nile] thro' the Incid lake

Of fair Dambea rolls his infant stream.”

Thomson: Summer, 807—8.

Dame du Lac

A fay, named Vivienne, who plunged with the infant Lancelot into a lake. This lake was a kind of mirage, concealing the demesnes of the lady “en la marche de la petite Bretaigne.” (See Vivienne.)

“En ce lieu ... avoit la dame moult de belles maisons et moult riches; et au plain dessoubs elle avoit une gente petite rivière.”

Damiens' Bed of Steel

R. F. Damiens, in 1757, attempted the life of Louis XV. He was taken to the Conciergerie; an iron bed, which likewise served as a chair, was prepared for him, and to this he was fastened with chains. He was then tortured, and ultimately torn to pieces by wild horses. (Smollet: History of England, v. 12, p. 39.)

“The uplifted axe, the agonising wheel,

Luke's iron crown, and Damiens' bed of steel.”

Goldsmith: The Traveller (1768).

Damn with Faint Praise

To praise with such a voice and in such measured terms as to show plainly secret disapproval.

“Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,

And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer.”

Pope: Epistle to Arbuthnot.

Damocles' Sword

Evil foreboded or dreaded. Damocles, the sycophant of Dionysius the elder, of Syracuse, was invited by the tyrant to try the felicity he so much envied. Accordingly he was set down to a sumptuous banquet, but overhead was a sword suspended by a hair. Damocles was afraid to stir, and the banquet was a tantalising torment to him. (Cicero.)

“These fears hang like Damocles' sword over every feast,and make enjoyment impossible.” — Chambers's Cyclopædia.

Damon and Musidora

Two lovers in Thomson's Summer. One day Damon caught Musidora bathing, and his delicacy so won upon her that she promised to be his bride.

Damon and Pythias

Inseparable friends. They were two Syracusian youths. Damon, being condemned to death by Dionysius the tyrant, obtained leave to go home to arrange his affairs if Pythias became his security. Damon being delayed, Pythias was led to execution, but his friend arrived in time to save him. Dionysius was so struck with this honourable friendship that he pardoned both of them.

Damper

(A). A snap before dinner, which damps or takes off the edge, of appetite. “That's a damper” also means a wet—blanket influence, a rebuff which damps or cools one's courage.

Also a large thin cake of flour and water baked in hot ashes. The mute of a stringed instrument to deaden the sound is also called a “damper.”

Damsel

(See Domisellus. )

Damson

A corruption of Damascéne, a fruit from Damascus.

Damyan

(3 syl.). A “silke squyer,” whose illicit love was accepted by May, the youthful bride of January, a Lombard knight, sixty years old. (Chaucer: The Marchaundes Tale.)

Dan

A title of honour, common with the old poets, as Dan Phoebus, Dan Cupid, Dan Neptune, Dan Chaucer, etc. (Spanish, don.)

“Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled,

On Fame's eternal beadroll worthy to be filed.” Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iv. canto ii. 32.

From Dan to Beersheba. From one end of the kingdom to the other; all over the world; everywhere. The phrase is Scriptural, Dan being the most northern and Beersheba the most southern city of the Holy Land. We have a similar expression, “From John o' Groats to the Land's End.”

Dan Tucker

Out o' de way, old Dan Tucker. The first Governor of Bermuda was Mr. Moore, who was succeeded by Captain Daniel Tucker. These islands were colonised from Virginia.

Danace

(3 syl.). A coin placed by the Greeks in the mouth of the dead to pay their passage across the ferry of the Lower World.

Danae

An Argive princess whom Zeus (Jupiter) seduced under the form of a shower of gold, while she was confined in an inaccessible tower. She thus became the mother of Perseus (2 syl.).

Danaides

(4 syl.). Daughters of Danaos (King of Argos). They were fifty in number, and married the fifty sons of Ægyptos. They all but one murdered their husbands on their wedding—night, and were punished in the infernal regions by having to draw water everlastingly in sieves from a deep well.

This is an allegory. The followers of Danaos taught the Argives to dig wells, and irrigate their fields in the Egyptian manner. As the soil of Argos was very dry and porous, it was like a sieve.

The names of the fifty Danaïdes and their respective husbands are as follows:

Actaea wife of

Periphas.

Adianta wife of Daïphron.

Adyta wife of Menalces.

Agave wife of Lycos.

Amymone wife of Encelados.

Anaxibia wife of Archelaos.

Antodica wife of Clytos.

Asteria wife of Choetos.

Autholea wife of Cisseus.

Automata wife of Architelos.

Autonoe wife of Eurylochos.

Brycea wife of Chthonios.

Callidice wife of Pandion.

Celeno wife of Hyxobios.

Chrysippe wife of Chrysippos.

Chrysothemis wife of Asteris.

Cleodora wife of Lixos.

Cleopatra wife of Agenor.

Clio wife of Asterias.

Critomedia wife of Antipaphos.

Damone wife of Amyntor.

Dioxippe wife of Ægyptos.

Electra wife of Peristhenes.

Erato wife of Bromios.

Eupheno wife of Hyperbios.

Eurydice wife of Dryas.

Evippe wife of Imbros.

Glauca wife of Alcis.

Glaucippa wife of Potamon.

Gorga wife of Hyppothooa.

Gorgophon wife of Proteus.

Helcita wife of Cassos.

Hippodami'a wife of Ister.

Hippodica wife of Idras.

Hippomeduse wife of Alcmenon.

Hyperippa wife of Hippocoristes.

Hypermnestra wife of * Lynceus.

Iphimedusa wife of Euchenor.

Mnestra wife of Egios.

Ocypete wife of Lampos.

Oime wife of Arbelos.

Pharte wife of Eurydamas.

Pilarga wife of Idmon.

Pirene wife of Agaptolemos.

Podarca wife of Œneus.

Rhoda wife of Hippolytos.

Rhodia wife of Chalcedon.

Sthenela wife of Sthenelos.

Stygna wife of Polyctor.

Theano wife of Phanthes.

Lynceus (2 syl.), the one saved by his wife, is marked with an asterisk (*).

Danaos

According to the Roman de Rose, Denmark means the country of Danaos, who settled here with a colony after the siege of Troy, as Brutus is said by the same sort of name—legend to have settled in Britain. Saxo—Germanicus, with equal absurdity, makes Dan, the son of Humble, the first king, to account for the name of the country.

Danaw

The Danube (German).

“To pass

Rhone or the Danaw.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, book i. 353.

Dance The Spanish danza was a grave and stately court dance. Those of the seventeenth century were called the Turdion, Pabana, Madama Orleans, Piedelgiba'o, El Rey Don Alonzo, and El Caballero. Most of the names are taken from the ballad—music to which they were danced.

The light dances were called Baylë (q.v.).

Dance

(Pyrrhic). (See Pyrrhic ).

St. Vitus's Dance.

(See Vitus).

Dance of Death

A series of woodcuts, said to be by Hans Holbein (1538), representing Death dancing after all sorts of persons, beginning with Adam and Eve. He is beside the judge on his bench, the priest in the pulpit, the nun in her cell, the doctor in his study, the bride and the beggar, the king and the infant; but is

“swallowed up at last.”

This is often called the Dance Macabre, from a German who wrote verses on the subject. On the north side of Old St. Paul's was a cloister, on the walls of which was painted, at the cost of John Carpenter, town clerk of London (15th century), a “Dance of Death,” or “Death leading all the estate, with speeches of Death, and answers, by John Lydgate” (Stow). The Death—Dance in the Dominican Convent of Basle was retouched by Holbein.

PHRASES.

I'll lead you a pretty dance, i.e. I'll bother or put you to trouble. The French say, Donner le bal à quelqu'un. The reference is to the complicated dances of former times, when all followed the leader.

To dance attendance. To wait obsequiously, to be at the beck and call of another. The allusion is to the ancient custom of weddings, where the bride on the wedding—night had to dance with every guest, and play the amiable, though greatly annoyed.

“Then must the poore bryde kepe foote with a dauncer, and refuse none, how scabbed, foule, droncken, rude, and shameless soever he be.” — Christen: State of Matrimony, 1543.

“I had thought

They had parted so much honestly among them (At least, good manners) as not thus to suffer A man of his place, and so near our favour,

To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures.” Shakespeare: Henry VIII., v. 2.

To dance upon nothing.

To be hanged.

Dances

(National Dances): Bohemian: the redowa. English: the hornpipe and lancers. French: the contredanse (country dance), cotillon, and quadrille. German: the gallopade and waltz. Irish: the jig. Neapolitan: the tarantella. Polish: the mazurka and krakovieck, Russian: the cossac. Scotch: the reel. Spanish: the bolero and fandango. When Handel was asked to point out the peculiar taste of the different nations of Europe in dancing, he ascribed the minuet to the French, the saraband to the Spaniard, the arietta to the Italian, and the hornpipe and the morris—dance to the English.

Dances

(Religious Dances):

Astronomical dances, invented by the Egyptians, designed (like our orreries) to represent the movements of the heavenly bodies.

The Bacchic' dances were of three sorts: grave (like our minuet), gay (like our gavotte), and mixed (like our minuet and gavotte combined).

The dance Champètre, invented by Pan, quick and lively. The dancers (in the open air) wore wreaths of oak and garlands of flowers.

Children's dances, in Lacedemonia, in honour of Diana. The children were nude; and their movements were grave, modest, and graceful.

Corybantic dances, in honour of Bacchus, accompanied with timbrels, fifes, flutes, and a tumultuous noise produced by the clashing of swords and spears against brazen bucklers.

Funereal dances, in Athens, slow, solemn dances in which the priests took part. The performers wore long white robes, and carried cypress slips in their hands.

Hymeneal dances were lively and joyous. The dancers being crowned with flowers. Of the Lapithæ, invented by Pirithöus. These were exhibited after some famous victory, and were designed to imitate the combats of the Centaurs and Lapithæ. These dances were both difficult and dangerous.

May—day dances at Rome. At daybreak lads and lasses went out to gather “May” and other flowers for themselves and their elders; and the day was spent in dances and festivities.

Military dances. The oldest of all dances, executed with swords, javelins, and bucklers. Said to be invented by Minerva to celebrate the victory of the gods over the Titans.

Nuptial dances. A Roman pantomimic performance resembling the dances of our harlequin and columbine. Sacred dances (among the Jews). David danced in certain religious processions (2 Sam. vi. 14). The people sang and danced before the golden calf (Exod. xxxii. 19). And in the book of Psalms (cl. 4) we read, “Let [the people] praise [the Lord] with timbrel and dance. Miriam, the sister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea, was followed by all the women with timbrels and dances (Exod. xv. 20).

Salic dances, instituted by Numa Pompilius in honour of Mars. They were executed by twelve priests selected from the highest of the nobility, and the dances were performed in the temple while sacrifices were being made and hymns sung to the god.

The Dancing Dervishes celebrate their religious rites with dances, which consist chiefly of spinning round and round a little allotted space, not in couples, but each one alone.

In ancient times the Gauls, the Germans, the Spaniards, and the English too had their sacred dances. In fact, in all religious ceremonies the dance was an essential part of divine worship. In India dancing is a part of religious worship in which the priests join.

See Danse.

Dancing—water

(The), which beautifies ladies, makes them young again, and enriches them. It fell in a cascade in the Burning Forest, and could only be reached by an underground passage. Prince Chery fetched a bottle of this water for his beloved Fair—star, but was aided by a dove. (Fairy Tales, by the Comtesse

d'Aulnoy.)

Dandelion

A flower. The word is a corruption of the French dent de lion (lion's tooth), Also called Leontodon (lion—tooth, Greek), from a supposed resemblance between its leaves and the teeth of lions.

Dander

Is your dander up or riz? Is your angry passion up? This is generally considered to be an Americanism; but Halliwell gives, in his Archaic Dictionary, both dander (anger) and dandy (distracted), the former common to several counties, and the latter peculiar to Somersetshire.

Dandie Dinmont A jovial, true—hearted store—farmer, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering. Also a hardy hairy short—legged terrier.

“From this dog descended Davidson of Hyndlee's breed, the original Dandie—Dinmont.” T. Brown: Our Dogs, p.104.

Dandin

(French). A ninny, a snob. From Molière's comedy of George Dandin.

Dandin

(George). A French cit, who marries a sprig of nobility, and lives with his wife's parents. Madame appeals on all occasions to her father and mother, who, of course, take her part against her husband. Poor George is in a sad plight, and is for ever lamenting his fate with the expression, Vous l'avez voulu, George Dandin (`Tis your own fault, George Dandin). George Dandin stands for anyone who marries above his sphere, and is pecked by his wife and mother—in—law. The word means “a ninny.” (Molière's comedy so called.)

Perrin Dandin.

A sort of Lynch judge in Rabelais, who seated himself on the trunk of the first tree he came to, and there decided the causes submitted to him.

Dandiprat

orDandëprat, according to Camden, is a small coin issued in the reign of Henry VII. Applied to a little fellow, it is about equal to our modern expression, a little “twopenny—ha'penny” fellow.

Dando

(A). One who frequents hotels, eating—houses, and other such places, satisfies his appetite, and decamps without payment.

Dandy

A coxcomb; a fop. The feminine of “dandy” is either dandilly or dandizett. Egan says the word was first used in 1813, but examples of the word occur at least one hundred years before that date. (French, dandin, a ninny, a vain, conceited fellow.)

Dandyism

The manners, etc., of a dandy; like a dandy.

Dane's Skin

(A). A freckled skin. Red hair and a freckled skin are the traditional characteristics of Danish blood.

Dangle

A theatrical amateur in Sheridan's Critic. It was designed for Thomas Vaughan, a playwright.

Daniel Lambert

weighed 739 lbs. In 1841 eleven young men stood within his waistcoat buttoned. (1770—1809.)

Danism

Lending money on usury. (Greek, daneisma, a loan.)

Dannebrog

or Danebrog. The old flag of Denmark. The tradition is that Waldemar II. of Denmark saw in the heavens a fiery cross which betokened his victory over the Esthonians (1219). This story is very similar to that of Constantine (q.v.), and of St. Andrew's Cross. (See Andrew, St.)

The order of Danebrog. The second of the Danish orders. Brog means “cloth” or banner.

Dannocks

Hedging — gloves. A corruption of Tournay, where they were originally manufactured.

Danse

La danse commence la—bas, fighting has broken out yondër.

“Mon Caporal, there is great news: La danse commence la—bas.” — Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap. xxv.

A la danse. On the march.

“The regiment was ordered out a la danse There was fresh war in the interior.” — Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap.xxv. (See Dance.)

Dansker

A Dane. Denmark used to be called Danskë. Hence Polonius says to Reynaldo, “Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris.” (Hamlet, ii. l.)

Dante and Beatrice

— i.e. Beatrice Portinari, who was only eight years old when the poet first saw her. His abiding love for her was chaste as snow and pure as it was tender. Beatrice married a nobleman named Simone de Bardi, and died young, in 1290. Dante married Gemma, of the powerful house of Donati. In the Divina Commedia the poet is conducted first by Virgil (who represents human reason) through hell and purgatory; then by the spirit of Beatrice (who represents the wisdom of faith); and finally by St. Bernard (who represents the wisdom from on high).

Dantesque

(2 syl.). Dante—like — that is, a minute life—like representation of the infernal horrors, whether by words, as in the poet, or in visible form, as in Doré's illustrations of the Inferno.

Daphnaida

An elegy on Douglas Howard, daughter and heiress of Lord Howard. (Spenser, 1591.)

Daphne

Daughter of a river—god, loved by Apollo. She fled from the amorous god, and escaped by being changed into a laurel, thenceforth the favourite tree of the sun—god.

“Nay, lady, sit. If I but wave this wand,

Your nerves are all chain'd up in alabaster, And you a statue, or, as Daphnë was,

Root—bound, that fled Apollo.”

Milton:Comus, 678—681.

Daphnis

A Sicilian shepherd who invented pastoral poetry.

Daphnis. The lover of Chloe in the exquisite Greek pastoral romance of Longos, in the fourth century. Daphnis was the model of Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, and the tale is the basis of St. Pierre's Paul and Virginia.

Dapper

A little, nimble, spruce young clerk in Ben Jonson's Alchemist.

Dapple

The name of Sancho Panza's donkey in Cervantes' romance of Don Quixote. Bailey derives dapple from the Teutonic dapper (streaked or spotted like a pippin). A dapple—grey horse is one of a light grey shaded with a deeper hue; a dapple—bay is a light bay spotted with bay of a deeper colour. (Icelandic, depill, a spot.)

Darbies

(2 syl.). Handcuffs. This is derived from “Darby and Joan,” because originally two prisoners were linked together as Darby and Joan.

“Hark ye! Jem Clink will fetch you the darbies.” — Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak.

Johnny Darbies, policemen, is a perversion' of the French gensdarmes, in conjunction with the above.

Darby and Joan

A loving, old—fashioned, virtuous couple. The names belong to a ballad written by Henry Woodfall, and the characters are those of John Darby, of Bartholomew Close, who died 1730, and his wife, “As chaste as a picture cut in alabaster. You might sooner move a Scythian rock than shoot fire into her bosom.” Woodfall served his apprenticeship to John Darby.

“Perhaps some day or other we may be Darby and Joan.” — Lord Lytton.

The French equivalent is C'est St. Roch et son chien.

Darbyites

(3 syl.). The Plymouth Brethren are so called on the Continent from Mr. Darby, a barrister, who abandoned himself to the work, and was for years the “organ” of the sect.

Darics

(or) Stateres Darici. Celebrated Persian coins. So called from Darius. They bear on one side the head of the king, and on the other a chariot drawn by mules. Their value is about twenty—five shillings.

Dariolet, Dariolette

(French). An intriguant, a confidant, a go—between, a pander. Originally a dariole meant a little sweetmeat or cake rayed with little bands of paste.

“Dariolette, employé comme un des nombreux synonymes de soubrette, a eu d'abord la mission particuliére de designer les suivantes de roman.”— Roland de Villarceaux.

“Mdlle. Vitry, confidente de Mdlle, de Guise, était la dariolette.” — Tallemant, vol. i. p. 125.

Darius

A classic way of spelling Darawesh (king), a Persian title of royalty. Gushtasp or Kishtasp assumed the title of darawesh on ascending the throne, and is the person generally called Darius the Great.

Darius. Seven princes of Persia agreed that he should be king whose horse neighed first; as the horse of Darius was the first to neigh, Darius was proclaimed king.

Darius, conquered by Alexander, was Dara, surnamed kuchek (the younger). When Alexander succeeded to the throne, Dara sent to him for the tribute of golden eggs, but the Macedonian returned for answer, “The bird which laid them is flown to the other world, where Dara must seek them.” The Persian king then sent him a bat and ball, in ridicule of his youth; but Alexander told the messengers, with the bat he would beat the ball of power from their master's hand. Lastly, Dara sent him a bitter melon, as emblem of the grief in store for him; but the Macedonian declared that he would make the Shah eat his own fruit.

Dark

To keep dark. To lie perdu; to lurk in concealment. (Ang. Sax. deorc.)

“We'd get away to some of the far—out stations ... where we could keep in the dark.” — Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms, xvi.

Keep it in the dark. Keep it a dead secret; don't enlighten anyone about the matter.

Dark Ages

The era between the death of Charlemagne and the close of the Carlovingian dynasty.

Dark Continent

(The). Africa, the land of the dark race or darkies.

Dark Horse

(A). A racing term for a horse of good pretensions, but of which nothing is positively known by the general public. Its merits are kept dark from betters and book—makers.

“At last a Liberal candidate has entered the field at Croydon. The Conservatives have kept their candidate back, as a dark horse.” — Newspaper paragraph, January, 1886.

Darkest Hour is that before the Dawn

(The). When Fortune's wheel is lowest, it must turn up again. When things have come to their worst, they must mend. In Latin, Post nubila, Phoebus.

Darky

A negro.

Darley Arabians A breed of English racers, from an Arab stallion introduced by Mr. Darley. This stallion was the sire of the Flying Childers, and great—grandsire of Eclipse.

Daron, Daronne

(French). The sobriquet given, at the present day, by workmen to shopkeepers and cobblers.

“Il étoit maitre de tout, jusqu'à manier l'argent de la daronne.” — Histoire de Guillaume, cocher.

Daronne

The confidant of Elisenne, mother of Amadis, and wife of Perion des Gaules. (Amadis de Gaule.)

Dart

(See Abaris .)

Darwinian Theory

Charles Darwin, grandson of the poet, published in 1859 a work entitled Origin of Species, to prove that the numerous species now existing on the earth sprang originally from one or at most a few primal forms; and that the present diversity is due to special development and natural selection. Those plants and creatures which are best suited to the conditions of their existence survive and become fruitful; certain organs called into play by peculiar conditions of life grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength, till they become so much a part and parcel of their frames as to be transmitted to their offspring. The conditions of life being very diverse, cause a great diversity of organic development, and, of course, every such diversity which has become radical is the parent of a new species. (See Evolution.)

Dash

in printer's copy. One dash under a word in MS. means that the part so dashed must be printed in italics; two dashes means small capitals; three dashes, large capitals.

Cut a dash. (See Cut.)

Dash my Wig. Dash my Buttons

Dash is a euphemism for a common oath; and wig, buttons, etc., are relics of a common fashion at one time adopted in comedies and by “mashers” of swearing without using profane language.

Date

Not quite up to date. Said of books somewhat in arrears of the most recent information.

Daughter

Greek, thugater, contracted into thugter; Dutch, dogter; German, tochter; Persian, dochtar; Sanskrit, duhiter; Saxon, dohter; etc.

Daughter of Peneus

(The). The bay—tree is so called because it grows in greatest perfection on the banks of the river Peneus (3 syl.).

Daughter of the Horseleech

One very exigeant; one for ever sponging on another. (Prov. xxx. 15.)

“Such and many such like were the morning attendants of the Duke of Buckingham — all genuine descendants of the daughter of the horse—leech, whose cry is `Give, give.”' — Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxviii.

Dauphin

The heir of the French crown under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. Guy VIII., Count of Vienne, was the first so styled, because he wore a dolphin as his cognisance. The title descended in the family till 1349, when Humbert II., de la tour de Pisa, sold his seigneurie, called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI. (de Valois), on condition that the heir of France assumed the title of le dauphin. The first French prince so called was Jean, who succeeded Philippe; and the last was the Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles IX., who renounced the title in 1830.

Grand Dauphin. Louis, Duc de Bourgogne, eldest son of Louis XIV., for whose use was published the Latin classics entitled Ad Usum Delphini. (1661—1711.)

Second or Little Dauphin. Louis, son of the Grand Dauphin. (1682—1712.)

Davenport

A kind of small writing—desk with drawers each side, named after the maker.

Davenport

(The Brothers), from America. Two impostors, who professed that spirits would untie them when bound with cords, and even that spirits played all sorts of instruments in a dark cabinet. The imposition was exposed in 1865.

David

in Dryden's satire called Absalom and Achitophel, represents Charles II.; Absalom, his beautiful but rebellious son, represents the Duke of Monmouth; Achitophel, the traitorous counsellor, is the Earl of Shaftesbury; Barzillaï, the faithful old man who provided the kind sustenance, was the Duke of Ormond; Hushaï, who defeated the counsel of Achitophel, was Hyde, Duke of Rochester; Zadok the priest was Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury; Shimeï, who cursed the king in his flight, was Bethel, the lord mayor; etc. etc. (2 Sam. xvii.—xix.)

“Once more the godlike David was restored,

And willing nations knew their lawful lord.” Dryden: Absatom and Achitophel, part i.

David (St.) or Dewid, was son of Xantus, Prince of Cereticu, now called Cardiganshire; he was brought up a priest, became an ascetic in the Isle of Wight, preached to the Britons, confuted Pelagius, and was preferred to the see of Caerleon, since called St. David's. He died 544. (See Taffy.)

St. David's (Wales) was originally called Menevia (i.e. main aw, narrow water or frith). Here St. David received his early education, and when Dyvrig, Archbishop of Caerleon, resigned to him his see, St. David removed the archiepiscopal residence to Menevia, which was henceforth called by his name.

David and Jonathan

Inseparable friends. Similar examples of friendship were Pylades and Orestes (q.v.); Damon and Pythias (q.v.); etc.

“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been to me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” — 2 Sam. i. 26.

Davideis

An epic poem in four books, describing the troubles of King David. (Abraham Cowley [1618—1667].)

There is another sacred poem so called, by Thomas Elwood (1712).

Davus

Davus sum, non Œdipus (I am a plain, simple fellow, and no solver of riddles, like Œdipus). The words are from Terence's Andria, i. 2, 23.

Non te credas Davum ludere. Don't imagine you are deluding Davus. “Do you see any white in my eye?” I am not such a fool as you think me to be.

Davy

I'll take my davy of it. I'll take my “affidavit” it is true.

Davy (Snuffy). David Wilson. (See Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary, chap. iii. and note.)

Davy Jones's Locker

He's gone to Davy Jones's locker, i.e. he is dead. Jones is a corruption of Jonah, the prophet, who was thrown into the sea. Locker, in seaman's phrase, means any receptacle for private stores; and duffy is a ghost or spirit among the West Indian negroes. So the whole phrase is, “He is gone to the place of safe keeping, where duffy Jonah was sent to.”

“This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is seen in various shapes ... warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.” — Smollett: Peregrine Pickle, xiii.

Davy's Sow

Drunk as Davy's sow. Grose says: One David Lloyd, a Welshman, who kept an ale—house at Hereford, had a sow with six legs, which was an object of great curiosity. One day David's wife, having indulged too freely, lay down in the sty to sleep, and a company coming to see the sow, David led them to the sty, saying, as usual, “There is a sow for you! Did you ever see the like?” One of the visitors replied, “Well, it is the drunkenest sow I ever beheld.” Whence the woman was ever after called “Davy's sow.” (Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. )

Dawson

(Bully). A noted London sharper, who swaggered and led a most abandoned life about Blackfriars, in the reign of Charles II. (See Jemmy Dawson.)

“Bully Dawson kicked by half the town, and half the town kicked by Bully Dawson.” — Charles Lamb.

Day

When it begins. (1) With sun—set: The Jews in their “sacred year,” and the Church — hence the eve of feast—days; the ancient Britons “non dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant, “ says Tacitus — hence “se'n—night” and “fortnight;” the Athenians, Chinese, Mahometans, etc., Italians, Austrians, and Bohemians.

(2) With sun—rise: The Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, and modern Greeks. (3) With noon: The ancient Egyptians and modern astronomers. (4) With midnight: The English, French, Dutch, Germans, Spanish, Portuguese, Americans, etc.

A day after the fair. Too late; the fair you came to see is over.

Day in, day out. “ All day long. Sewing as she did, day in, day out.” —
W. R. Wilkins: The Honest Soul.

Every dog has its day. (See under DOG.)

I have had my day. My prime of life is over; I have been a man of light and leading, but am now “out of the swim.“

“Old Joe, sir ... was a bit of a favourite ... once; but he has had his day.” — Dickens.

I have lost a day (Perdidi diem) was the exclamation of Titus, the Roman emperor, when on one occasion he could call to mind nothing done during the past day for the benefit of his subjects.

To—day a man, to—morrow a mouse. In French, “Aujourd'hui roi, demain rien. ” Fortune is so fickle that one day we may be at the top of the wheel, and the next day at the bottom.

Day of the Barricades

(See Barricades.)

Day of the Dupes

in French history, was November 11th, 1630, when Marie de Medicis and Gaston Duc d'Orléans extorted from Louis XIII. a promise that he would dismiss his Minister, the Cardinal Richelieu. The cardinal went in all speed to Versailles, the king repented, and Richelieu became more powerful than ever.

Marie de Medicis and Gaston were the dupes who had to pay dearly for their short triumph.

Day—dream

A dream of the imagination when the eyes are awake.

Daylight

in drinking bumpers, means that the wine—glass is not full to the brim; between the wine and the rim of the wine—glass light may be seen. Toast—masters used to cry out, “Gentlemen, no daylights nor heeltaps” — the heeltap being a little wine left at the bottom of the glass. The glass must be filled to the brim, and every drop of it must be drunk.

Daylights

The eyes, which let daylight into the sensorium.

To darken one's daylights. To give one such a blow on the eyes with the fist as to prevent seeing. (Pugilistic slang.)

Days set apart as Sabbaths

Sunday by Christians; Monday by the Greeks; Tuesday by the Persians; Wednesday by the Assyrians; Thursday by the Egyptians; Friday by the Turks; Saturday by the Jews.

Christians worship God on Sunday.

Grecian zealots hallow Monday,

Tuesday Persians spend in prayer,

Assyrians Wednesday revere,

Egyptians Thursday, Friday Turks,

On Saturday no Hebrew works. E. C. B.

Daysman

An umpire, judge, or intercessor. The word is dais—man (a man who sits on the daïs); a sort of lit de justice. Hence Piers Ploughman —

“And at the day of doom

At the height Deys sit.”

Dayspring

The dawn: the commencement of the Messiah's reign.

“The dayspring from on high hath visited us.” — Luke i.78.

Daystar

(The). The morning star. Hence the emblem of hope or better prospects.

“Again o'er the vine—covered regions of France,

See the day—star of Liberty rise.”

Wilson: Noctes (Jan., 1831, vol. iv. p. 231).

De Bonne Grace

(French). Willingly; with good grace.

De Die in Diem

From day to day continuously, till the business is completed.

“The Ministry have elected to go on de die in diem.” — Newspaper paragraph, December, 1885.

De Facto

Actually, in reality; in opposition to de jure, lawfully or rightfully. Thus John was de facto king, but Arthur was so de jure.

De Haut en Bas

Superciliously.

“She used to treat him a little de haut en bas.” — C.Reade.

But Du haut en bas. From top to bottom.

De Jure

(Latin). By right, rightfully, lawfully, according to the law of the land. Thus a legal axiom says: “De jure Judices, de facto Juratores, respondent” (Judges look to the law, juries to the facts).

De Lunatico Inquirendo

(Latin). A writ issued to inquire into the state of a person's mind, whether it is sound or not. If not of sound mind, the person is called non compos, and is committed to proper guardians.

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum

Of the dead speak kindly or not at all.

De Nihilo Nihil Fit

(Latin). You cannot make anything out of nothing.

De Novo

(Latin). Afresh; over again from the beginning.

De Profundis

[Out of the depths]. The 130th Psalm is so called from the first two words in the Latin version. It is sung by Roman Catholics when the dead are committed to the grave.

De Rigueur

Strictly speaking, quite comme il faut, in the height of fashion.

De Trop

(French). Supererogatory, more than enough. Rien de trop, let nothing be in excess. Preserve in all things the golden mean. Also “one too many,” in the way; when a person's presence is not wished for, that person is de trop.

Dead

Dead as a door—nail. The door—nail is the plate or knob on which the knocker or hammer strikes. As this nail is knocked on the head several times a day, it cannot be supposed to have much life left in it.

“Come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a door—nail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.” —Shakespeare: 2 Henry VI., iv. 10. (Jack Cade.)

“Falstaff. What! is the old king dead?

Pistol. As nail in door.” Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV., v. 3.

Dead as a herring. (See Herring.)

Dead

He is dead. “Gone to the world of light.” “Joined the majority.”

The wind is dead against us. Directly opposed to our direction. Instead of making the ship more lively, its tendency is quite the contrary. It makes a “dead set” at our progress.

Dead

Let the dead bury the dead. Let bygones be bygones. Don't rake up old and dead grievances.

“Let me entreat you to let the dead bury the dead, to cast behind you every recollection of bygone evils, and to cherish, to love,to sustain one another through all the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times that are to come.” — Gladstone: Home Rule Bill (February 13th, 1893).

Dead Drunk

So intoxicated as to be wholly powerless.

“Pythagoras has finely observed that a man is not to be considered dead drunk till he lies on the floor and stretches out his arms and legs to prevent his going lower.” — S.Warren.

Dead—eye

in nautical phrase, is a block of wood with three holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to reeve through, without sheaves, and with a groove round it for an iron strap. (Dana: Seaman's Manual, p. 92.) The holes are eyes, but they are dead eyes.

Dead—flat

(A), in ship architecture, one of the bends amidship. (Dana.)

Dead Freight That part of a cargo which does not belong to the freight. Dead freight is not counted in the freight, and when the cargo is delivered is not to be reckoned.

Dead Hand

(A). A first—rate. One that would dead—beat. (See Mortmain.)

“First—rate work it was too; he was always a dead hand at splitting.” — Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms, xv.

Dead—heads

in theatrical language, means those admitted by orders without payment. They count for nothing. In the United States, persons who receive something of value for which the taxpayer has to pay. In nautical language, a log floating so low in the water that only a small part of it is visible.

Dead Heat

A race to be run again between two horses that have “tied.” A heat is that part of a race run without stopping. One, two, or more heats make a race. A dead heat is a heat which goes for nothing.

Dead Horse

Flogging a dead horse. Attempting to revive a question already settled. John Bright used the phrase in the House of Commons.

Working for a dead horse. Working for wages already paid.

Dead Languages

Languages no longer spoken.

Dead Letter

A written document of no value; a law no longer acted upon. Also a letter which lies buried in the post—office because the address is incorrect, or the person addressed cannot be found.

Dead—letter Office

(The). A department in the post—office where unclaimed letters are kept. (See above.)

Dead Lift

I am at a dead lift. In a strait or difficulty where I greatly need help; a hopeless exigency. A dead lift is the lifting of a dead or inactive body, which must be done by sheer force.

Dead Lights

Strong wooden shutters to close the cabin windows of a ship; they deaden or kill the daylight.

To ship the dead lights. To draw the shutter over the cabin window; to keep out the sea when a gale is expected.

Dead Lock

A lock which has no spring catch. Metaphorically, a state of things so entangled that there seems to be no practical solution.

“Things are at a dead—lock.” — The Times.

Dead Men

Empty bottles. Down among the dead men let me lie. Let me get so intoxicated as to slip from my chair, and lie under the table with the empty bottles. The expression is a witticism on the word spirit. Spirit means life, and also alcohol (the spirit of full bottles); when the spirit is out the man is dead, and when the bottle is empty its spirit is departed. Also, a loaf of bread smuggled into the basket for the private use of the person who carries the bread out is called a “dead man.”

Dead Men's Shoes

Waiting for dead men's shoes. Looking out for legacies; looking to stand in the place of some moneyed man when he is dead and buried.

Dead Pan

(The). A poem founded on the tradition that at the crucifixion a cry swept across the ocean in the hearing of many, “Great Pan is Dead,” and that at the same time the responses of the oracles ceased for ever. Elizabeth Barrett Browning has a poem so called (1844).

Dead Reckoning A calculation of the ship's place without any observation of the heavenly bodies. A guess made by consulting the log, the time, the direction, the wind, and so on. Such a calculation may suffice for many practical purposes, but must not be fully relied on.

Dead Ropes

Those which are fixed or do not run on blocks; so called because they have no activity or life in them.

Dead Sea

So the Romans called the “Salt Sea.” Josephus says that the vale of Siddim was changed into the Dead Sea at the destruction of Sodom (Antiq. i. 8, 3, etc.). The water is of a dull green colour. Few fish are found therein, but it is not true that birds which venture near its vapours fall down dead. The shores are almost barren, but hyenas and other wild beasts lurk there. Called the “Salt Sea" because of its saltness. The percentage of salt in the ocean generally is about three or four, but of the Salt Sea it is twenty—six or more.

Dead—Sea Fruit

Fair to the eye, but nauseous to the taste; full of promise, but without reality. (See Apples Of Sodom.)

Dead Set

He made a dead set at her. A pointed or decided determination to bring matters to a crisis. The allusion is to a setter dog that has discovered game, and makes a dead set at it.

To be at a dead set is to be set fast, so as not to be able to move. The allusion is to machinery.
To make a dead set upon someone is to attack him resolutely, to set upon him; the allusion being to dogs, bulls, etc., set on each other to fight.

Dead Shares

In theatrical sharing companies three or more supernumerary shares are so called. The manager has one or more of these shares for his expenses; a star will have another; and sometimes a share, or part of a share, is given to an actor who has brought down the house, or made a hit.

Dead Water

The eddy—water closing in with the ship's stern, as she passes through the water. It shifts its place, but is like taking money from one pocket and putting it into another.

Dead Weight

The weight of something without life; a burden that does nothing towards easing its own weight; a person who encumbers us and renders no assistance. (See Dead Lift.)

Dead Wind

(A). A wind directly opposed to a ship's course; a wind dead ahead.

Dead Wood

in shipbuilding. Blocks of timber laid on the ship's keel. This is no part of the ship, but it serves to make the keel more rigid.

Dead Works

in theology. Such works as do not earn salvation, or even assist in obtaining it. For such a purpose their value is nil. (Heb. ix. 14.)

Deaf

Deaf as an adder. (See below, Deaf adder.)

Deaf as a post. Quite deaf; or so inattentive as not to hear what is said. One might as well speak to a gate—post or log of wood.

Deaf as a white cat. It is said that white cats are deaf and stupid. None so deaf as those who won't hear. The French have the same locution: “Il n'y a de pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.”

Deaf Adder

“The deaf adder stoppeth her ears, and will not hearken to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely” (Psalm lviii. 4, 5). Captain Bruce says, “If a viper enters the house, the charmer is sent for, who entices the serpent, and puts it into a bag. I have seen poisonous vipers twist round the bodies of these

psylli in all directions, without having their fangs extracted.” According to tradition, the asp stops its ears when the charmer utters his incantation, by applying one ear to the ground and twisting its tail into the other. In the United States the copperhead is so called.

Deal

A portion. “A tenth deal of flour.” (Exodus xxix. 40.) (German, theil; Anglo—Saxon, dael verb, daelan, to share; Irish, dail; English, dole.)

To deal the cards

is to give each his dole or portion.

Deal—fish

So called because of some fancied resemblance to a deal—board, from its length and thinness.

Dean

(the Latin Decanus). The chief over ten prebends or canons.

The Dean (Il Piovano) . Arlotto, the Italian humorist. (1395—1483.) Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick. (1667—1745.)

Deans

(Effie), in Scott's Heart of Midlothian, is Helen Walker. She is abandoned by her lover, Geordie Robertson [Staunton], and condemned for child—murder.

Jeanie Deans. Half—sister of Effie Deans, who walks all the way to London to plead for her sister. She is a model of good sense, strong affection, and disinterested heroism. (See Walker.)

“We follow Pilgrim through his progress with an interest not inferior to that, with which we follow Elizabeth from Siberia to Moscow, and Jeanie Deans from Edinburgh to London.” — Lord Macaulay.

Dear

Oh, dear me! Regarded, but without evidence, as a corruption of the Italian O Dio mio!

Dear Bought and Far Brought

or Dear bought and far felt. A gentle reproof for some extravagant purchase of luxury.

Dearest

Most hateful, as dearest foe. The word dear, meaning “beloved,” is the Saxon deor (dear, rare); but dear, “hateful,” is the Anglo—Saxon derian (to hurt), Scotch dere (to annoy).

“Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven,

Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, i.2.

Death

according to Milton, is twin—keeper with Sin, of Hell—gate.

“The other shape (if shape it might be called that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;

Or substance might be called that shadow seemed;) ...

The likeness of a kingly crown had on.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, ii. 666 — 673.

Death. (See Black Death.)

Death stands, like Mercuries, in every way. (See Mercury.)

Till death us do part. (See Depart.) Angel of Death. (See Abou—Jahia, Azrael.) At death's door. On the point of death; very dangerously ill. In at the death. Present when the fox was caught and killed.

Death and Doctor Hornbook

Doctor Hornbook was John Wilson the apothecary, whom the poet met at the Torbolton Masonic Lodge. (Burns.)

Death from Strange Causes

Æ'schylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald head from the claws of an eagle in the air. (Valerius Maximus, ix. 12, and Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Agathocles (4 syl.), tyrant of Sicily, was killed by a toothpick at the age of ninety—five. Anacreon was choked by a grapestone. (Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Bassus (Quintus Lucanus) died from the prick of a needle in his left thumb.

Chalchas, the soothsayer, died of laughter at the thought of having outlived the predicted hour of his death.

Charles VIII., of France, conducting his queen into a tennis—court, struck his head against the lintel, and it caused his death.

Fabius, the Roman praetor, was choked by a single goat—hair in the milk which he was drinking. (Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, died from the blow of a cricket—ball.

Gallus (Cornelius), the praetor, and Titus Haterius, a knight, each died while kissing the hand of his wife.

Gabrielle (La belle), the mistress of Henri IV., died from eating an orange.

Itadach died of thirst in the harvest—field because (in observance of the rule of St. Patrick) he refused to drink a drop of anything.

Lepidus (Quintus Æm'ilius), going out of his house, struck his great toe against the threshold and expired. Louis VI. met with his death from a pig running under his horse and causing it to stumble.

Margutte died of laughter on seeing a monkey trying to pull on a pair of boots. Otway, the poet, in a starving condition, had a guinea given him, on which he bought a loaf of bread, and died while swallowing the first mouthful.

Pamphilius (Cneius Babius), a man of praetorian rank, died while asking a boy what o'clock it was. Philomenes (4 syl.) died of laughter at seeing an ass eating the figs provided for his own dessert. (Valerius Maximus.)

Placut (Phillipot) dropped down dead while in the act of paying a bill.

(Bacaberry the Elder.) Quenelault, a Norman physician, of Montpellier, died from a slight wound made in his hand in extracting a splinter.

Saufeius (Appius) was choked to death supping up the white of an under—boiled egg. (Pliny. History, vii.33.)

Torquatus (Aulus Manlius), a gentleman of consular rank, died in the act of taking a cheesecake at dinner. Valla (Lucius Tuscius), the physician, died in the act of taking a draught of medicine.

William III. died from his horse stumbling over a mole—hill.

Zeuxis, the great painter, died of laughter at sight of a hag which he had just depicted. It will be observed that four of the list died of laughter. No doubt the reader will be able to add other examples.

Death in the Pot

During a dearth in Gilgal, there was made for the sons of the prophets a pottage of wild herbs, some of which were poisonous. When the sons of the prophets tasted the pottage, they cried out, “There is death in the pot.” Then Elisha put into it some meal, and its poisonous qualities were counteracted. (2 Kings iv. 40.)

Death under Shield

Death in battle.

“Her imagination had been familiarised with wild and bloody events ... and had been trained up to consider an honourable `death under shield' (as that in a field of battle was termed) a desirable termination to the life of a warrior.” — Sir W. Scott:The Betrothed, chap. 6.

Death—bell

A tinkling in the ears, supposed by the Scotch peasantry to announce the death of a friend.

“O lady, `tis dark, an' I heard the death—bell,

An' I darena gae yonder for gowd nor fee.” James Hogg: Mountain Bard.

Death—meal

(A). A funeral banquet.

“Death—meals, as they were termed, were spread in honour of the deceased.” — Sir W. Scott: The Betrothed, chap.7.

Death—watch

Any species of Anobium, a genus of wood—boring beetles that make a clicking sound, once supposed to presage death.

Death's Head

Bawds and procuresses used to wear a ring bearing the impression of a death's head in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Allusions not uncommon in plays of the period.

“Sell some of my cloaths to buy thee a death's—head, and put [it] upon thy middle finger. Your least considering bawds do so much.” — Messenger: Old Laws, iv. 1.

Death's Head on a Mopstick

A thin, sickly person, a mere anatomy, is so called. When practical jokes were more common it was by no means unusual to mount on a mopstick a turnip with holes for eyes, and a candle inside, to scare travellers at night time.

Deaths—man

An executioner; a person who kills another brutally but lawfully.

“Great Hector's deaths—man.”

Heywood: Iron Age.

Debateable Land

A tract of land between the Esk and Sark, claimed by both England and Scotland, and for a long time the subject of dispute. This tract of land was the hotbed of thieves and vagabonds.

Debon

One of the heroes who accompanied Brute to Britain. According to British fable, Devonshire is the county or share of Debon. (See Devonshire.)

Debonair'

[Le Débonnaire ]. Louis I. of France, sometimes called in English The Meek, son and succassor of Charlemagne; a man of courteous manners, cheerful temper, but effeminate and deficient in moral energy.

(778, 814—840.)

Debris

The débris of an army. The remnants of a routed army. Débris means the fragments of a worn—down rock. It is a geological term (débriser, to break down).

Debt of Nature

To pay the debt of Nature. To die. Life is a loan, not a gift, and the debt is paid off by death.

“The slender debt to Nature's quickly paid.”

Quarles: Emblems.

Decameron A volume of tales related in ten days (Greek, deka, hemera), as the Decameron of Boccaccio, which contains one hundred tales related in ten days.

Decamp

He decamped in the middle of the night. Left without paying his debts. A military term from the Latin de—campus (from the field); French, décamper, to march away.

Decaniller

To be off, to decamp, to escape. A curious instance of argot. Canille is old French for chenille, a pupa, imago, or chrysalis. These afterwards become winged insects and take their flight. So a visitor says in France, “Il faut me sauver, ” or “Il faut decaniller. ” I must be off.

December

(Latin, the tenth month.) So it was when the year began in March with the vernal equinox; but since January and February have been inserted before it, the term is quite incorrect.

Deception

“Doubtless the pleasure is as great

Of being cheated as to cheat:

As lookers—on feel most delight

That least perceive a juggler's sleight,

And still the less they understand,

The more they admire his sleight of hand.” Butler: Hudibras, part ii. 3.

Decide

(2 syl.) means “to knock out.” Several things being set before a person, he eliminates all but one, which he selects as his choice. A decided man is one who quickly eliminates every idea but the one he intends to adhere to.

Decimo

A man in decimo — i.e. a hobby—de—hoy. Jonson uses the phrase in decimo—sexto.

Deck

A pack of cards, or that part of the pack which is left after the hands have been dealt.

“But whilst he thought to steal the single`ten,'

The `king' was slyly fingered from the deck.” Shakespeare: 3 Henry VI., v. 1.

To sweep the deck. To clear off all the stakes. (See above.) To deck is to decorate or adorn. (Anglo—Saxon, decan; Dutch, dekken, to cover.)

“I thought thy bride—bed to have decked, sweet maid,

And not have strewed thy grave.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, v. 1.

Clear the decks — i.e. get out of the way; your room is better than your company; I am going to be busy. A sea term. Decks are cleared before action.

Decking Churches

Isaiah (lx. 13) says: “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee; the fir—tree, the

pine—tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary.” The “glory of Lebanon” is the

cedar—tree. These are not the evergreens mainly used in church decorations. At Christmas the holly is chiefly used, though those mentioned by Isaiah abound.

Decollete

[da—coal—ta ]. Nothing even décolleté should be uttered before ladies — i.e. bearing the least semblance to a double entendre. Décolleté is the French for a “dress cut low about the bosom.”

Decoration Day May 30th; set apart in the United States for decorating the graves of those who fell in the “War of the Union" (1861—5).

Decoy Duck

A bait or lure; a duck taught to allure others into a net, and employed for this purpose.

Decrepit

Unable to make a noise. It refers rather to the mute voice and silent footstep of old age than to its broken strength. (Latin, de—crepo.)

Decuman Gate

The gate where the 10th cohorts of the legions were posted. It was opposite the Praetorian gate, and farthest from the enemy. (Latin, decem, ten.)

Dedalian

Intricate; variegated. So called from Dædalos who made the Cretan labyrinth.

Dedlock

(Sir Leicester). An honourable and truthful gentleman, but of such fossilised ideas that no “tongue of man” could shake his prejudices. (Charles Dickens: Bleak House.)

Dee

— i.e. D for a detective. Look sharp! the dees are about.

Dee

(Dr. John). A man of vast knowledge, whose library, museum, and mathematical instruments were valued at pound £2,000. On one occasion the populace broke into his house and destroyed the greater part of his valuable collection, under the notion that Dee held intercourse with the devil. He ultimately died a pauper, at the advanced age of eighty—one, and was buried at Mortlake. He professed to be able to raise the dead, and had a magic mirror, afterwards in Horace Walpole's collection at Strawberry Hill (1527—1608).

Dee's speculum or mirror, in which persons were told they could see their friends in distant lands and how they were occupied. It is a piece of solid pink—tinted glass about the size of an orange. It is now in the British Museum.

Dee Mills

If you had the rent of Dee Mills, you would spend it all. Dee Mills, in Cheshire, used to yield a very large annual rent. (Cheshire proverb.)

“There was a jolly miller

Lived on the river Dee;

He worked and sung from morn to night;— No lark so blithe as he;

And this the burden of his song

For ever used to be —

I care for nobody, no, not I

If nobody cares for me.' “

Bickerstaff: Love in a Village (1762).

Deer

Supposed by poets to shed tears. The drops, however, which fall from their eyes are not tears, but an oily secretion from the so—called tear—pits.

“A poor sequestered stag ...

Did come to languish ... and the big round tears Coursed one another down his innocent nose In piteous chase.”

Shakespeare: As You Like It, ii. 2.

Small deer. Any small animal; and used metaphorically for any collection of trifles or trifling matters.

“But mice and rats, and such small deer,

Have been Tom's food for seven long year.” Shakespeare: Lear, iii.4.

Deerslayer

The hero of a novel so called, by F. Cooper. He is the beau—ideal of a man without cultivation — honourable in sentiment, truthful, and brave as a lion; pure of heart, and without reproach in conduct. The character appears, under different names, in five novels — The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pioneers, and The Prairie. (See Natty Bumpo.)

Dees

(The). (See above Dee .)

Deev—Binder

Tamnuras, King of Persia, who defeated the Deev king and the fierce Demrush, but was slain by Houndkonz, another powerful Deev.

Default

Judgment by default is when the defendant does not appear in court on the day appointed. The judge gives sentence in favour of the plaintiff, not because the plaintiff is right, but from the default of the defendant.

Defeat

“What though the field be lost? all is not lost.” (Milton: Paradise Lost, i, line 105—6.) “All is lost but honour” (Tout est perdu, madame, fors l'honneur) is what François I. is said to have written to his mother, after the Battle of Pavia in 1525.

Defeat

There is a somewhat strange connection between de—feat and de—feature. Defeat is the French de—fait, un—made or un—done, Latin, de—factus (defectus, our “defect"); and feature is the Norman faiture, Latin factura, the make—up, frame, or form. Hence old writers have used the word “defeat” to mean disfigure or spoil the form.

“Defeat thy favour [face] with an usurped beard.” —Shakespeare: Othello, i. 3.

Defender of the Faith

A title given by Pope Leo X. to Henry VIII. of England, in 1521, for a Latin treatise On the Seven Sacraments. Many previous kings, and even subjects, had been termed “defenders of the Catholic faith,” “defenders of the Church,” and so on, but no one had borne it as a title. The sovereign of Spain is entitled Catholic, and of France Most Christian.

“God bless the king! I mean the `faith's defender! '

God bless — no harm in blessing the Pretender. But who Pretender is, or who is king—

God bless us all! that's quite another thing.”

John Byron: Shorthand Writer.

Richard II., in a writ to the sheriffs, uses these words: “Ecclesia cujus nos defensor sumus,” and Henry VII., in the Black Book, is called “Defender of the Faith;” but the pope gave the title to Henry VIII., and from that time to this it has been perpetuated. (See Graceless Florin.)

Deficit

(Madame). Marie Antoinette. So called because she was always demanding money of her ministers, and never had any. According to the Revolutionary song:

“La Boulangère a des ecus

Qui ne lui content guère.”

(See Baker.)

Degenerate (4 syl.) is to be worse than the parent stock. (Latin, de genus.)

Dei Gratia

By God's grace. Introduced into English charters in 1106; as much as to say, “dei non hominum gratia,” by divine right and not man's appointment. The archbishops of Canterbury from 676 to 1170 assumed the same style.

From the time of Offa, King of Mercia (A.D. 780), we find occasionally the same or some similar assumption as, Dei dono, Christo donante, etc. The Archbishop of Canterbury is now divina providentia.

Dei Gratia omitted on a florin. (See Graceless Florin.)

Dei Judicium

(Latin). The judgment of God; so the judgment by ordeals was called, because it was supposed that God would deal rightly with the appellants.

Deianira

Wife of Hercules, and the inadvertent cause of his death. Nessos told her that anyone to whom she gave a shirt steeped in his blood, would love her with undying love; she gave it to her husband, and it caused him such agony that he burnt himself to death on a funeral pile. Deianira killed herself for grief.

Deiphobus

(4 syl.). One of the sons of Priam, and, next to Hector, the bravest and boldest of all the Trojans. On the death of his brother Paris, he married Helen; but Helen betrayed him to her first husband, Menelaos, who slew him. (Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Æncid. )

Deities

Air: Ariel, Elves (singular, Elf). Caves or Caverns: Hill—people (Hög—folk, hög = height). Corn: Ceres (2 syl.) (Greek, Demeter).

Domestic Life: Vesta.

Eloquence: Mercury (Greek, Hermes). Evening: Vesper.

Fates (The): Three in number (Greek, Parcæ, Moiræ, 2 syl., Keres). Fire: Vulcan (Greek, Hephaistos, 3 syl.), Vesta, Mulciber. Fairies: (q.v.).

Furies: Three in number (Greek, Eumenides, 4 syl., Erinnyes) Gardens: Priapus, Vertumnus with his wife Pomona. Graces (The): Three in number (Greek, Charites).

Hills: Trolls. There are also Wood Trolls and Water Trolls. (See below Mountains.) Home Spirits (q.v.): Penates (3 syl.), Lares (2 syl.).

Hunting: Diana (Greek, Artemis). Infernal Regions: Pluto, with his wife Proserpine, 3 syl. (Greek, Aides and Persephone). Justice: Themis, Astræa, Nemesis.

Love: Cupid (Greek, Eros). Marriage: Hymen. Medicine: Æsculapius. Mines: Trolls.

Morning: Aurora (Greek, Eos). Mountains: Oreads or Oreades (4 syl.), from the Greek, oros a mountain; Trolls. Ocean (The): Oceanides.

Poetry and Music: Apollo, the nine Muses. Rainbow (The): Iris.

Riches: Plutus. Shakespeare speaks of “Plutus' mine,” (Julius Caesar, iv. 3). Rivers and Streams: Fluviales, 4 syl. (Greek, Potameides, 5 syl.).

Sea (The): Neptune (Greek, Poseidon, 3 syl.), his son Triton, Necks, Mermaids, Nereids (3 syl.). (See Sea.) Shepherds and their Flocks: Pan, the Satyrs.

Springs, Lakes, Brooks, etc.: Nereides or Naiads (2 syl.). Time: Saturn (Greek, Chronos).

War: Mars (Greek, Ares), Bellona, Thor. Water—nymphs: Naiads (2 syl.), Undine (2 syl.). Winds (The): Æolus.

Wine: Bacchus (Greek, Dionysos).

Wisdom: Minerva (Greek, Pallas, Athene or Pallas—Athene). Woods: Dryads (A Hama—Dryad presides over some particular tree), Wood—Trolls. Youth: Hebe

Of course this is not meant for a complete list of heathen and pagan deities. Such a list would require a volume.

Dejeuner a la Fourchette

(French). Breakfast with forks; a cold collation; a breakfast in the middle of the day, with meat and wine; a lunch.

Delaware

U.S. America, was granted by charter in 1701 to Lord De la Ware, who first explored the bay into which the river empties itself.

Delectable Mountains

(The), in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, are a range of mountains from which the “Celestial City” may be seen. They are in Immanuel's land, and are covered with sheep, for which Immanuel had died.

Delf

or more correctly Delft. A common sort of pottery made at Delft in Holland, about 1310.

Delia

of Pope's line, “Slander or poison dread from Delia's rage,” was Lady Deloraine, who married W. Windam of Carsham, and died 1744. The person said to have been poisoned was Miss Mackenzie. (Satires and Epistles, i. 81.)

Delia is not better known to our yard—dog — i.e. the person is so intimate and well known that the yard—dog will not bark at his approach. It is from Virgil, who makes his shepherd Menalcas boast “That his sweetheart is as well known to his dog as Delia the shepherdess.” (Eclogues, iii. 67.)

Delias

The sacred vessel made by Theseus (2 syl.) and sent annually from Athens to Delos. This annual festival lasted 30 days, during which no Athenian could be put to death, and as Socrates was condemned during this period his death was deferred till the return of the sacred vessel. The ship had been so often repaired that not a stick of the original vessel remained at the time, yet was it the identical ship. So the body changes from infancy to old age, and though no single particle remains constant, yet the man 6 feet high is identical with his infant body a span long. (Sometimes called Theoris.)

Delight

is “to make light.” Hence Shakespeare speaks of the disembodied soul as “the delighted spirit ... blown with restless violence round about the pendant world” (Measure for Measure, iii. 1). So again he says of gifts, “the more delayed; delighted” (Cymbeline, v. 5), meaning the longer they are delayed the “lighter” or less valuable they are esteemed. Delighted, in the sense of “pleased,” means light—hearted, with buoyant spirits.

The delight of mankind. So Titus, the Roman emperor, was entitled (40, 79—81).

Delirium

From the Latin lira (the ridge left by the plough), hence the verb de—lirare, to make an irregular ridge or balk in ploughing. Delirus is one whose mind is not properly tilled or cultivated, a person of irregular intellect; and delirium is the state of a person whose mental faculties are like a field full of balks or irregularities. (See Prevarication.)

Della Cruscans or Della Cruscan School. So called from Crusca, the Florentine academy. The name is applied to a school of poetry started by some young Englishmen at Florence in the latter part of the eighteenth century. These silly, sentimental affectations, which appeared in the World and the Oracle, created for a time quite a furore. The whole affair was mercilessly gibbeted in the Baviad and Mæviad of Gifford. (Academia della Crusca literally means, the Academy of Chaff, and its object was to sift the chaff from the Italian language, or to purify it.)

Delmonico

The great American cuisinier, of New York.

“The table service is of heavy silver, French cut glasses, and handsome china; and the meals are worthy of Delmonico.” — The Oracle, August 2nd 1884, p. 495.

Delos

A floating island ultimately made fast to the bottom of the sea by Poseidon (Neptune). Apollo having become possessor of it by exchange, made it his favourite retreat. It is one of the Cyclades.

Delphi

or Delphos. A town of Phocis, famous for a temple of Apollo and for an oracle celebrated in every age and country. So called from its twin peaks, which the Greeks called brothers (adelphoi ).

Delphin Classics

A set of Latin classics edited in France by thirty—nine scholars, under the superintendence of Montausier, Bossuet, and Huet, for the use of the son of Louis XIV., called the Grand Dauphin. Their chief value consists in their verbal indexes or concordances.

Delta

The island formed at the mouth of a river, which usually assumes a triangular form, like the Greek letter ( ) called delta; as the delta of the Nile, the delta of the Danube, Rhine, Ganges, Indus, Niger, Mississippi, Po, and so on.

Deluge

After me the Deluge [”Après moi le Déluge “]. When I am dead the deluge may come for aught I care. Generally ascribed to Prince Metternich, but the Prince borrowed it from Mme. Pompadour, who laughed off all the remonstrances of ministers at her extravagance by saying, “Après nous le déluge” (Ruin, if you like, when we are dead and gone).

Deluges

(3 syl.). The chief, besides that recorded in the Bible, are the following: — The deluge of Fohi, the Chinese; the Satyavrata, of the Indians; the Xisuthrus, of the Assyrians; the Mexican deluge; and the Greek deluges of Deucalion and Ogyges.

The most celebrated painting of Noah's Flood is by Poussin, in Paris; and that by Raphael is in the Vatican (Rome).

Demerit

has reversed its original meaning (Latin, demereo, to merit, to deserve). Hence Plautus, Demertas dare laudas (to accord due praise); Ovid, Numina culta demeruisse; Livy, dernerèri beneficio civitatem. The de — is intensive, as in “de—mand,” “de—scribe,” “de—claim,” etc.; not the privative deorsum, as in the word

“de—fame.”

“My demerits [deserts]

May speak unbonneted.”

Shakespeare: Othello, i. 2.

Demijohn

(A). A glass vessel with a large body and small neck, enclosed in wickerwork like a Florence flask, and containing more than a bottle. (French, dame—jeanne, “Madam Jane,” a corruption of Damaghan, a town in Persia famous for its glass works.)

Demi—monde Lorettes, courtezans. Le beau monde means “fashionable society,” and demi—monde the society only half acknowledged.

“Demi—monde implies not only recognition and a status, but a certain social standing.” — Saturday Review.

Demi—rep

A woman whose character has been blown upon. Contraction of demi—reputation.

Demiurge

(3 syl.), in the language of Platonists, means that mysterious agent which made the world and all that it contains. The Logos or Word spoken of by St. John, in the first chapter of his gospel, is the Demiurgus of Platonising Christians. In the Gnostic systems, Jehovah (as an eon or emanation of the Supreme Being) is the Demiurge.

“The power is not that of an absolute cause, but only a world—maker, a demiurge; and this does not answer to the human idea of deity.” — Winchell: Science and Religion, chap. x.

p.295.

Demobilisation

of troops. The disorganisation of them, the disarming of them. This is a French military term. To “mobilise” troops is to render them liable to be moved on service out of their quarters; to “demobilise" them is to send them home, so that they cannot be moved from their quarters against anyone. To change from a war to a peace footing.

Democracy

A Republican form of government, a commonwealth. (Greek, demos—kratia, the rule of the people.)

Democritos

The laughing philosopher of Abdera. He should rather be termed the deriding philosopher, because he derided or laughed at people's folly or vanity. It is said that he put out his eyes that he might think more deeply.

“Democritus, dear droll, revisit earth,

And with our follies glut thy heightened mirth.” Prior.

Democritus Junior. Robert Burton, author of The Anatomy of Melancholy (1576—1640).

Demodocos

A minstrel who, according to Homer, sang the amours of Mars and Venus in the court of Alcin'oös while Ulysses was a guest there.

Demogorgon

A terrible deity, whose very name was capable of producing the most horrible effects. Hence Milton speaks of “the dreaded name of Demogorgon” (Paradise Lost, ii. 965). This tyrant king of the elves and fays lived on the Himalayas, and once in five years summoned all his subjects before him to give an account of their stewardship. Spenser (book iv. 2) says, “He dwells in the deep abyss where the three fatal sisters dwell.” (Greek daimon, demon; gorgos, terrible.)

“Must I call your master to my aid,

At whose dread name the trembling furies quake, Hell stands abashed, and earth's foundations shake?” Rowe: Lucan's Pharsalia, vi.

“When the morn arises none are found,

For cruel Demogorgon walks his round,

And if he finds a fairy lag in light,

He drives the wretch before, and lashes into night.” Dryden: The Flower and the Leaf, 492—5.

Demon of Matrimonial Unhappiness

Asmodeus, who slew the seven husbands of Sara. (Tobit.) (See Asmodaeus.)

Prince of Demons. Asmodeus. (Talmud.)

Demos

(King). The electorate; the proletariat. Not the mob, but those who choose and elect our senators, and are therefore the virtual rulers of the nation.

Demosthenes' Lantern

A choragic monument erected by Lysicrates in Athens, originally surmounted by the tripod won by Lysicrates. A “tripod” was awarded to everyone in Athens who produced the best drama or choral piece of his tribe. The street in which Demosthenes' Lantern stood was full of these tripods.

Demurrage

An allowance made to the master or owners of a ship by the freighters for detaining her in port longer than the time agreed upon. (Latin, demorari, to delay.)

“The extra days beyond the lay days ... are called days of demurrage.” — Kent: Commentaries, vol. iii. part v. lecture xlvii. p. 159.

Demy'

A size of paper between royal and crown. Its size is 22 1/2 in. x 17 1/2 in. It is from the French word demi (half), and means demi—royal (a small royal), royal being 25 in. x 20 in. The old watermark is a fleur—de—lis.

A Demy' of Magdalene College, Oxford, is a “superior” sort of scholar, half a Fellow.

Den Evening. God ye good den! — i.e. God (give) ye good evening. This is the final d of good joined to the “en,” a contraction of evening.

Denarius

A Roman silver coin, equal in value to ten ases (deni—ases ). The word was used in France and England for the inferior coins, whether silver or copper, and for ready money generally. Now d (denarius) stands for money less than a shilling, as £ s. d.

“The denarius ... shown to our Lord ... was the tribute—money payable by the Jews to the Roman emperor, and must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Temple.” — F. H. Madden: Jewish Coinage, chap. xi. p. 247.

Denarius Dei [God's penny]. An earnest of a bargain, which was given to the church or poor. Denarii St. Petri [Peter's pence]. One penny from each family, given to the Pope.

Denarius tertius comitatus. One—third of the pence of the county, which was paid to the earl. The other two—thirds belonged to the Crown. (See D.)

Denizen

A made citizen — i.e. an alien who has been naturalised by letters patent. (Old French deinzein; Latin de—intus, from within.)

“A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural—born subject, and partakes of both.” — Blackstone: Commentaries, book i. chap. x. p. 374.

Dennis

(John), called the “best abused man in England.” Swift and Pope both satirised him. He is called Zoïlus.

Denouement

(3 syl.). The untying of a plot; the winding—up of a novel or play. (French dénouer, to untie.)

Denys

(St.), according to tradition, carried his head, after martyrdom, for six miles, and then deliberately laid it down on the spot where stands the present cathedral bearing his name. This absurd tale took its rise from an ancient painting, in which the artist, to represent the martyrdom of the bishop, drew a headless body; but, in order that the trunk might be recognised, placed the head in front, between the martyr's hands.

Sir Denys Brand, in Crabbe's Borough, is a country magnate who apes humility. He rides on a sorry brown pony “not worth £5,” but mounts his lackey on a racehorse, “twice victor for a plate.” Sir Denys Brand is the type of a character by no means uncommon.

Deo Gratias

(Latin). Thanks to God.

Deo Juvante

(Latin). With God's help.

Deo, non Fortuna

(Latin). From God, not from mere luck; [I attribute it] to God and not to blind chance.

Deo Volente

contracted into D. V. (Latin). God being willing; by God's will.

Deodand

means something “given to God” (deo—dandum). This was the case when a man met with his death through injuries inflicted by some chattel, as by the fall of a ladder, the toss of a bull, or the kick of a horse. In such cases the cause of death was sold, and the proceeds given to the Church. The custom was based on the doctrine of purgatory. As the person was sent to his account without the sacrament of extreme unction, the money thus raised served to pay for masses for his repose. Deodands were abolished September 1st, 1846.

Depart

To part thoroughly; to separate effectually. The marriage service in the ancient prayer—books had “till death us depart,” or “till alimony or death us departs,” a sentence which has been corrupted into “till death us

do part.”

“Before they settle hands and hearts,

Till alimony or death departs.”

Butler: Hudibras, iii. 3.

Department

France is divided into departments, as Great Britain and Ireland are divided into counties or shires. From 1768 it was divided into governments, of which thirty—two were grand and eight petit. In 1790, by a decree of the Constituent Assembly, it was mapped out de novo into eighty—three departments. In 1804 the number of departments was increased to 107, and in 1812 to 130. In 1815 the territory was reduced to eighty—six departments, and continued so till 1860, when Savoy and Nice were added. The present number is eighty—seven.

Dependence

An existing quarrel. (A term used among swordsmen.)

“Let us pause ... until I give you my opinion on this dependence ... for if we coolly examine the state of our dependence, we may the better apprehend whether the sisters three have doomed one of us to expiate the same with our blood.” — Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chap.

xxi.

Depinges

(2 syl.) or Deepings. A breadth of netting to be sewed on a hoddy (net) to make it sufficiently large. Sometimes the breadth is called a depth, and the act of sewing one depth on another is called deepening the net. In 1574 the Dutch settlers at Yarmouth were required “to provide themselves with twine and depinges in foreign places.”

Deputations

The year of deputations. The eighth of the Hedjrah, after Mahomet's victory over the Arabs near Taïf, when deputations from all parts flocked to do him homage.

Depute

(2 syl.). To depute means to prune or cut off a part; deputation is the part cut off. A deputation is a slip cut off to represent the whole. (Latin, deputo.)

Derbend

[iron ]. A town on the Caspian, commanding the coast road. D'Herbelot says: “Les Turcs appellent cette ville `Demir Capi' (porte de fer); ce sont les Caspiæ Portæ des anciens.”

“Beyond the Caspian's iron gates.”

Moore: Fire Worshippers.

Derby Stakes

Started by Edward Smith Stanley, the twelfth Earl of Derby, in 1780, the year after his establishment of the Oaks stakes (q.v. ).

The Derby Day is the day when the Derby stakes are run for; it is the second Wednesday of the great Epsom Spring Meeting, in May.

The Derby Day.

The Derby, the Oaks, and the St. Leger are called “The Classic Races.” The Oaks is the classic race for fillies only, three years' old (£1,000); the Derby (Darby) for colts and fillies three years' old; the St. Leger for colts and fillies, those which have run in the Oaks or Derby being eligible.

Derive

(2 syl.) means “back to its channel or source” (Latin, de rivo). The Latin rivus (a river) does not mean the stream or current, but the source whence it flows, or the channel through which it runs. As Ulpian says,

“Fons sive locus per longitudinem depressus, quo aqua decurrat.”

Dernier Ressort

(French). A last resource.

Derrick A hangman; a temporary crane to remove goods from the hold of a vessel. So called from Derrick, the Tyburn hangman early in the seventeenth century, who for more than a hundred years gave his name to gibbets. (See Hangman.)

“He rides circuit with the devil, and Derrick must be his host, and Tyborne the inn at which he will light.” — Bellman of London, 1616.

Derwentwater

Lord Derwentwater's lights. The Aurora borealis; so called from James, Earl of Derwentwater, beheaded for rebellion February 24th, 1716. It is said that the northern lights were unusually brilliant on that night.

Desdemona

(in Shakespeare's Othello). Daughter of Brabantio. She fell in love with Othello, and eloped with him. Iago, acting on the jealous temper of the Moor, made him believe that his wife had an intrigue with Cassio, and in confirmation of this statement told the Moor that she had given Cassio a pocket—handkerchief, the fact being that Iago's wife, to gratify her husband, had purloined it. Othello asked his bride for it, but she was unable to find it; whereupon the Moor murdered her and then stabbed himself.

“She ... was ready to listen and weep, like Desdemona, at the stories of his dangers and campaigns.” — Thackeray.

Despair

The Giant Despair, in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, lived in “Doubting Castle.”

Dessert

means simply the cloth removed (French, desservir, to clear the cloth); and dessert is that which comes after the cloth is removed.

Destruction

Prince of Destruction. Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar (1335, 1360—1405.)

Destructives

(The), as a political term, arose in 1832.

“The Times newspaper, hitherto the most effective advocate of the [Reform] bill, has been obliged to designate those whom it formerly glorified as Radicals, by the more appropriate and emphatic title of the Destructives.” — Quarterly Review (Dec.,1832, p. 545.)

Desultory

Those who rode two or more horses in the circus of Rome, and used to leap from one to the other, were called desultores; hence desultor came in Latin to mean one inconstant, or who went from one thing to another; and desultory means after the manner of a desultor.

Detest

is simply to witness against. (Latin, de—testor.)

Deucalion

after the Deluge, was ordered to cast behind him the bones of his mother (i.e. the stones of mother earth). Those thrown by Deucalion became men, and those thrown by his wife, Pyrrha, became women. For the interchange between laoz (people), and laaz (a stone), see Pindar: Olympic Games, ix. 66.

Deucalion's flood. According to Greek mythology, Deucalion was a king of Thessaly, in whose reign the whole world was covered with a deluge in consequence of the great impiety of man. (See Deluges.)

Deuce

The Kelts called wood—demons dus. (Compare the Latin deus.)

“In the popular mythology both of the Kelts and Teutons there were certain hairy

wood—demons, called by the former dus, and by the latter scrat (? scratz). Our common names of `Deuce' and `Old Scratch' are plainly derived from these.” — Lowell: Among my

Books (Witchcraft), p. 109.

It played the deuce with me. It made me very ill; it disagreed with me; it almost ruined me. The deuce is in you. You are a very demon.

Deuce take you. Get away! you annoy me. What the deuce is the matter? What in the world is amiss?

Deuce—ace

A throw of two dice, one showing one spot and the other showing two spots.

Deuce of Cards

(The). The two (French, deux). The three is called “Tray” (French, trois; Latin, tres).

“A gentleman being punched by a butcher's tray, exclaimed,`Deuce take the tray.' `Well,' said the boy, `I don't know how the deuce is to take the tray.”' — Jest Book.

Deus

(2 syl.). Deus ex machina. The intervention of a god, or some unlikely event, in order to extricate from difficulties in which a clumsy author has involved himself; any forced incident, such as the arrival of a rich uncle from the Indies to help a young couple in their pecuniary embarrassments. Literally, it means “a god (let down upon the stage or flying in the air) by machinery.”

Deva's Vale

The valley of the river Dee or Deva, in Cheshire, celebrated for its pastures and dairy produce.

“He chose a farm in Deva's vale,

Where his long alleys peeped upon the main.” Thomson: Castle of Indolence, canto ii.

Development

(See Evolution .)

Devil

Represented with a cloven foot, because by the Rabbinical writers he is called seirissim (a goat). As the goat is a type of uncleanness, the prince of unclean spirits is aptly represented under this emblem.

Devil among the Tailors

(The). On Dowton's benefit at the Haymarket, some 7,000 journeymen tailors congregated in and around the theatre to prevent a burlesque called The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather, which they considered insulting to the trade. Fairburn's edition of this play is headed The Devil among the Tailors, and contains an account of this fracas. (See also Biographia Dramatica, article TAILORS.) There is a Scotch reel so called.

Devil and Bag o'Nails

(The). The public—house by Buckingham Gate was so called, but the sign was The Blackamoor's Head and the Woolpack. (Remarkable Trials, ii. p. 14; 1765.)

Devil and Dr. Faustus

(The). Faust was the first printer of Bibles, and issued a large number in imitation of those sold as manuscripts. These he passed off in Paris as genuine, and sold for sixty crowns apiece, the usual price being five hundred crowns. The uniformity of the books, their rapid supply, and their unusual cheapness excited astonishment. Information was laid against him for magic, and, in searching his lodgings, the brilliant red ink with which his copies were adorned was declared to be his blood. He was charged with dealings with the Devil, and condemned to be burnt alive. To save himself, he revealed his secret to the Paris Parlement, and his invention became the admiration of the world. N.B. — This tradition is not to be accepted as history.

Devil and his Dam

(The). Either the Devil and his mother, or the Devil and his wife. Numerous quotations may be adduced in support of either of these interpretations. Shakespeare uses the phrase six times, and in King John (ii. 1) dam evidently means mother; thus Constance says that her son Arthur is as like his father as the Devil is like his dam (mother); and in Titus Andronicus Tamora is called the “dam” of a black child. We

also read of the Devil's daughter and the Devil's son.

In many mythologies the Devil is supposed to be an animal: Thus in Cazotte's Diable Amoureux he is a camel; the Irish and others call him a black cat; the Jews speak of him as a dragon (which idea is carried out in our George and the Dragon); the Santons of Japan call him a species of fox; others say he is a goat; and Dante associates him with dragons, swine, and dogs. In all which cases dam for mother is not inappropriate. On the other hand, dam for leman or wife has good support. We are told that Lilith was the wife of Adam, but was such a vixen that Adam could not live with her, and she became the Devil's dam. We also read that Belphegor “came to earth to seek him out a dam.”

As women when they go wrong are for the most part worse than the other sex, the phrase at the head of this article means the Devil and something worse.

Devil and the Deep Sea

(Between the). Between Scylla and Charybdis; between two evils, each equally hazardous. The allusion seems to be to the herd of swine and the devils called Legion.

“In the matter of passing from one part of the vessel to another when she was rolling, we were indeed between the devil and the deep sea.” — Nineteenth Century, April, 1891, p.664.

Devil and Tom Walker

(The). An American proverb, used as a caution to usurers. Tom Walker was a poor, miserly man, born at Massachusetts in 1727, and it is said that he sold himself to the Devil for wealth. Be this as it may, Tom suddenly became very rich, and opened a counting—house at Boston during the money panic which prevailed in the time of Governor Belcher. By usury he grew richer and richer; but one day, as he was foreclosing a mortgage with a poor land—jobber, a black man on a black horse knocked at the office door. Tom went to open it, and was never seen again. Of course the good people of Boston searched his office, but all his coffers were found empty; and during the night his house caught fire and was burnt to the ground.

(Washington Irving: Tales of a Traveller.)

Devil catch the Hindmost

(The). In Scotland (? Salamanca) it is said when a class of students have made a certain progress in their mystic studies, they are obliged to run through a subterranean hall, and the last man is seized by the devil, and becomes his imp.

Devil in Dublin City

(The). The Scandinavian form of Dublin was Divel—in[a], and the Latin Dublinia. (See Notes and Queries, April 9th, 1881, p. 296, for another explanation.)

“Is just as true's the deil's in hell

Or Dublin city.”

Burns: Death and Dr. Hornbook.

Devil looking Over Lincoln

(The). Sir W. Scott in his Kenilworth has, “Like the Devil looking over Lincoln.” A correspondent of Notes and Queries, September 10th, 1892, says —

“The famous devil that used to overlook Lincoln College, in Oxford, was taken down (Wednesday, September 15th, 1731), having about two years since [previously] lost his head in a storm.” — Gentleman's Magazine, 1831, p. 402.

We have other similar phrases, as “The devil looking over Durham.”

Devil loves Holy Water

(As the). That is, not at all. The Roman Catholics teach that holy water drives away the Devil. The Latin proverb is, “Sicut sus amaricinum amat” (as swine love marjoram). Lucretius, vi. 974, says “amaricinum fugitat sus.”

Devil—may—care

(A). A reckless fellow.

Devil must be Striking

(The) (German). Said when it thunders. The old Norse Donar means Thor, equal to Jupiter, the god of thunder, and donner is the German for thunder or Devil, as may be seen in the expression, “The runaway goose is gone to the Devil” (donner).

Devil on the Neck

(A). An instrument of torture used by persecuting papists. It was an iron winch which forced a man's neck and legs together.

Devil rides on a Fiddlestick

(The). Much ado about nothing. Beaumont and Fletcher, Shakespeare, and others, use the phrase. “Fiddlesticks!” as an exclamation, means rubbish! nonsense! When the prince and his merry companions are at the Boar's Head, first Bardolph rushes in to warn them that the sheriff's officers are at hand, and anon enters the hostess to put her guests on their guard. But the prince says, “Here's a devil of a row to make about a trifle” (or “The devil rides on a fiddlestick") (1 Henry IV., ii. 2), and hiding some of his companions, he stoutly faces the sheriff's officers and browbeats them.

Devil Sick would be a Monk

(The). “Dæmon languebat, monachus bonus esse volebat; Sed cum convaluit, manet ut ante fuit.”

“When the Devil was sick, the devil a monk would be;

When the Devil got well, the devil a monk was he.”

Said of those persons who in times of sickness or danger make pious resolutions, but forget them when danger is past and health recovered.

Devil to Pay and no Pitch Hot

(The). The “devil” is a seam between the garboard—strake and the keel, and to “pay” is to cover with pitch. In former times, when vessels were often careened for repairs, it was difficult to calk and pay this seam before the tide turned. Hence the locution, the ship is careened, the devil is exposed, but there is no pitch hot ready, and the tide will turn before the work can be done. (French, payer, from paix, poix, pitch.)

The Devil to Pay is the name of a farce by Jobson and Nelly. Here's the very devil to pay. Is used in quite another sense, meaning: Here's a pretty kettle of fish. I'm in a pretty mess; this is confusion worse confounded.

PROVERBIAL PHRASES.

Cheating the devil. Mincing an oath; doing evil for gain, and giving part of the profits to the Church, etc. It

is by no means unusual in monkish traditions. Thus the “Devil's Bridge” is a single arch over a cataract. It is said that his Satanic Majesty had knocked down several bridges, but promised the abbot, Giraldus of Einsiedel, to let this one stand, provided the abbot would consign to him the first living thing that crossed it. When the bridge was finished, the abbot threw across it a loaf of bread, which a hungry dog ran after, and “the rocks re—echoed with peals of laughter to see the Devil thus defeated.” (Longfellow: Golden Legend, v.)

The bridge referred to by Longfellow is that over the Fall of the Reuss, in the canton of the Uri, Switzerland.

Rabelais says that a farmer once bargained with the Devil for each to have on alternate years what grew under and over the soil. The canny farmer sowed carrots and turnips when it was his turn to have the under—soil share, and wheat and barley the year following. (Pantagruel, book iv. chap. xlvi.)

Give the devil his due. Give even a bad man or one hated like the devil the credit he deserves. Gone to the devil. To ruin. The Devil and St. Dunstan was the sign of a public house, No. 2, Fleet Street, at one time much frequented by lawyers.

“Into the Devil Tavern three booted troopers strode.”

Pull devil, pull baker. Lie, cheat, and wrangle away, for one is as bad as the other. (In this proverb baker is not a proper name, but the trade.)

“Like Punch and the Deevil rugging about the Baker at the fair.” — Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality, chap.xxxviii.

Talk of the devil and he's sure to come. Said of a person who has been the subject of conversation, and who unexpectedly makes his appearance. An older proverb still is, “Talk of the Dule and he'll put out his horns;” but the modern euphemism is, “Talk of an angel and you'll see its wings.” If “from the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh,” their hearts must be full of the evil one who talk about him, and if the heart is full of the devil he cannot be far off.

“Forthwith the devil did appear,

For name him, and he's always near.”

Prior: Hans Carvel.

To hold a candle to the devil is to abet an evildoer out of fawning fear. The allusion is to the story of an old woman who set one wax taper before the image of St. Michael, and another before the Devil whom he was trampling under foot. Being reproved for paying such honour to Satan, she naïvely replied: “Ye see, your honour, it is quite uncertain which place I shall go to at last, and sure you will not blame a poor woman for securing a friend in each.”

To kindle a fire for the devil is to offer sacrifice, to do what is really sinful, under the delusion that you are doing God service.

To play the very devil with [the matter]. To so muddle and mar it as to spoil it utterly. When the devil is blind. Never. Referring to the utter absence of all disloyalty and evil.

“Ay, Tib, that will be [i.e. all will be true and loyal] when the deil is blind; and his e'en's no sair yet.” — Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering (Dandie Dinmont to Tib Mumps), chap.xxii.

Devil

(A), in legal parlance, is a leader's fag who gets up the facts of a brief, with the laws bearing on it, and arranges everything for the pleader in methodical order.

These juniors have surplus briefs handed to them by their seniors. A good fag is a good devil and is sure to get on.

The Attorney—General's devils are the Counsel of the Treasury, who not unfrequently get promoted to the bench.

A printer's devil. Formerly, the boy who took the printed sheets from the tympan of the press. Old Moxon says: “They do commonly so black and bedaub themselves that the workmen do jocosely call them devils.” The errand—boy is now so called. The black slave employed by Aldo Manuzio, Venetian printer, was thought to be an imp. Hence the following proclamation:

“I, Aldo Manuzio, printer to the Doge, have this day made public exposure of the printer's devil. All who think he is not flesh and blood may come and pinch him.' — Proclamation of Aldo Manuzio, 1490.

Robert the Devil, of Normandy. (See Robert Le Diable.)

The French Devil. Jean Bart, an intrepid French sailor, born at Dunkirk. (1650—1702.) Son of the Devil. Ezzelino, chief of the Gibelins, and Governor of Vicenza, was so called for his infamous cruelties. (1215—1259).

“Fierce Ezelin, that most inhuman lord,

Who shall be deemed by men the child of hell.” Rose: Orlando Furioso, iii. 32.

The White Devil of Wallachia. George Castriota was so called by the Turks. (1404—1467.)

Devil's Advocate

(The). In the Catholic Church when a name is suggested for canonisation, some person is appointed to oppose the proposition, and is expected to give reasons why it should not take place. This person is technically called Advocatus Diaboli. Having said his say, the conclave decides the question.

Devil's Apple

The mandrake.

Devil's Arrows

(Yorkshire). Three remarkable “Druid” stones near Boroughbridge, like Harold's Stones, and probably marking some boundary.

Devil's Bird

(The). The yellow bunting; is so called from its note, deil.

Devil's Bones

Dice, which are made of bones and lead to ruin.

Devil's Books

Playing cards. A Presbyterian phrase, used in reproof of the term King's Books, applied to a pack of cards, from the French livre des quatre rois (the book of the four kings). Also called the Devil's Bible.

Devil's Cabinet

(The). Belphego, the Devil's ambassador in France; Hutgin, in Italy; Belial, in Turkey; Tharung, in Spain; and Martinet, in Switzerland. His grand almoner is Dagon; chief of the eunuchs is Succor Benoth; banker is Asmodeus; theatrical manager is Kobal; master of ceremonies, Verdelet; court fool is Nybbas. (Victor Hugo: Toilers of the Sea.)

Devil's Candle

So the Arabs call the mandrake, from its shining appearance at night. (Richardson.)

“Those hellish fires that light

The mandrake's charnel leaves at night.”

T. Moore: Fire Worshippers.

Devil's Current

(The). Part of the current of the Bosphorus is so called, from its great rapidity.

Devil's Daughter's Portion (The). The saying is —

“Deal, Dover, and Harwich,

The devil gave with his daughter in marriage,”xs

because of the scandalous impositions practised in these seaports on sailors and occasional visitors. (Grose: Classical Dictionary, etc.)

Devil's Den

A cromlech in a valley, near Marlborough. It now consists of two large uprights and an impost. The third upright has fallen. Some of the farm labourers, a few years ago, fastened a team of horses to the impost, and tried, but without effect, to drag it down.

Devil's Dust

Old rags torn up by a machine called the “devil,” and made into shoddy by gum and pressure. Mr. Ferrand brought the subject before Parliament, March 4th, 1842. It is so called from the dishonesty and falsehood which it covers. (Latimer's Sermons.)

Devil's Dyke

(The). A ravine in the South Downs, Brighton. The legend is, that St. Cuthman, walking on the downs, plumed himself on having Christianised the surrounding country, and having built a nunnery where the dyke—house now stands. Presently the Devil appears and tells him all his labour is vain, for he would swamp the whole country before morning. St. Cuthman went to the nunnery and told the abbess to keep the sisters in prayer till after mid—night, and then illuminate the windows. The Devil came at sunset with mattock and spade, and began cutting a dyke into the sea, but was seized with rheumatic pains all over the body. He flung down his mattock and spade, and the cocks, mistaking the illuminated windows for sunrise, began to crow; whereupon the Devil fled in alarm, leaving his work not half done.

Devil's Four—Poster

(The). A hand at whist with four clubs. It is said that such a hand is never a winning one.

Devil's Frying—pan

(The). A Cornish tin—mine worked by the Romans.

Devil's Livery

(The). Black and yellow. Black for death, yellow for quarantine.

Devil's Luck

(The). Astounding good luck. Persons always lucky were thought at one time to have compounded with the Devil.

“You won't have to pay his annuity very long; you have the Devil's luck in bargains, always.” —

Dickens.

Devil's Mass

(The). Swearing at everybody and everything.

“Whin a bad egg is shut av the army, he says the devil's mass ... an' manes svearin' at ivrything from the commandher—in—chief down to the room—corp'ril.” — Soldiers Three, p. 95

Devil's Nostrils

(The). Two vast caverns separated by a huge pillar of natural rock in the mainland of the Zetland Islands. (See The Pirate, chap. xxii.)

Devil's Own (CONNAUGHT BOYS.) The 88th Foot. So called by General Picton from their bravery in the Peninsular War, 1809—1814.

Applied also to the Inns of Court Volunteers, the members of which are lawyers.

Devil's Paternoster

(To say the). To grumble; to rail at providence.

Devil's Snuff—box

(The). A puff—ball; a fungus full of dust; one of the genus Lycoperdon.

Devil's Tattoo

(The). Tapping on the table with one's finger a wearisome number of times; tapping on the floor with one's foot in a similar manner; repeating any sound with wearisome pertinacity, giving those who hear the “blue devils” or the “fidgets.”

Devil's Throat

(The). Cromer Bay. So called from its danger to navigation.

Devils

(in Dante's Divine Comedy):

Alichino (The allurer.)

Barbariccia. (The malicious.) Calcobrina. (The grace—scorner.) Caynazzo. (The snarler.) Ciriato Sannuto. (The tusked boar.) Dragnignazzo. (The fell dragon.) Farfarello. (The scandalmonger.) Grafficane. (The doggish.) Libicocco. (The ill—tempered.) Rubicante. (The red with rage.) Scarmiglione. (The baneful.)

The blue Devils. The fidgets or megrims.

Devonshire

according to English mythology, is a corruption of Debon's—share. This Debon was one of the heroes who came with Brute from Troy. One of the giants that he slew in the south coasts of England was Coulin, whom he chased to a vast pit eight leagues across. The monster trying to leap this pit, fell backwards, and lost his life in the chasm. When Brutus allotted out the island, this portion became Debon's—share.

“And eke that ample pit, yet far renowned

For the large leap which Debon did compell Coulin to make, being eight lugs of grownd, Into the which retourning back he fell ...

In mede of these great conquests by them got

Corineus had that province utmost west ... And Debon's share was that is Devonshire Spenser: Faërie Queene, book ii. canto x. 11, 12.

Devonshire Poet

O. Jones, a journeyman wool—comber, who lived at the close of the 18th century. Edward Capern, called “The rural Postman of Bideford" (born 1819), and John Gay, author of the Beggar's Opera, etc. (1688—1732), of Barnstaple (Devonshire).

Dew—beaters

The feet; shoes to resist the wet.

“Hold out your dew—beaters till I take off the darbies [iron shoes or fetters].” — Peveril of the Peak

Dew—bit (A). A snack before breakfast.

Dew—drink

A draught before breakfast. In harvest the men are allowed, in some counties, a drink of beer before they begin work.

Dexterity

means right—handed skill (Latin, dexter, the right hand). “Awkward” (q.v.) means left—handed; gauche is the French, and sinister the Latin for the left hand. Certainly the German left—handed marriages are sinister ones.

Dgellabæ'an

The Persian era. Dgella Eddin, son of Togrul Beg, appointed eight astronomers to reform the calendar. The era began A.D. 1075, and is followed to this day.

Dhuldul

(See Horse .)

Diable

(Le). Olivier Ledain, the tool of Louis XI., and once the king's barber. So called because he was as much feared as his Satanic Majesty, and even more disliked. (Hanged 1484.)

Robert le Diable. Meyerbeer's grand opera. (See Robert.)

Diadem

meant, originally, a fillet wound round the head. The diadem of Bacchus was a broad band, which might be unfolded so as to make a veil. Hieronymus, king of Syracuse (B.C. 216—215), wore a diadem. Constantine the Great (306—337) was the first of the Roman emperors who wore a diadem. After his time it was set with rows of pearls and precious stones. (Greek dia—deo, to bind entirely.)

Dialectics

Metaphysics; the art of disputation; that strictly logical discussion which leads to reliable results. The product or result is ideas, which, being classified, produce knowledge; but all knowledge being of the divine types, must conduce more or less to practical results and good morals. (Greek, dia—lego, to speak thoroughly.)

Kant used the word to signify the theory of fallacies, and Hegel for that concept which of necessity develops its opposite.

The following questions from John of Salisbury are fair specimens of the Middle—age subjects of discussion : —

(1) When a person buys a whole cloak, does the cowl belong to his purchase?

(2) When a hog is driven to market with a rope round its neck, does the man or the rope take him?

Diamond

A corruption of adamant. So called because the diamond, which cuts other substances, can be cut or polished with no substance but itself. (Greek, a damao, what cannot be subdued. Latin, adamas, gen. adamant—is; French, diamant.)

Diamond (3 syl.). Son of Agapë, a fairy. He was very strong, and fought either on foot or horse with a battle—axe. He was slain in single combat by Cambalo. (See TRIAMOND.) (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iv.)

A diamond of the first water. A man of the highest merit. The colour or lustre of a pearl or diamond is called its “water.” One of the “first water” is one of the best colour and most brilliant lustre. We say also, “A man of the first water.”

A rough diamond. An uncultivated genius; a person of excellent parts, but without society manners.

“As for Warrington, that rough diamond had not had the polish of a dancing—master, and he did not know how to waltz.” —Thackeray.

Diamond cut diamond. Cunning out—witting cunning; a hard bargain over—reached. A diamond is so hard that it can only be ground by diamond dust, or by rubbing one against another.

Diamond (Newton's favourite little dog). One winter's morning, while attending early service in Trinity College, Newton inadvertently left Diamond shut up in his room. On returning from chapel he found that the little fellow had upset a candle on his desk, by which several papers containing minutes of many years' experiments, were destroyed. On perceiving this irreparable loss, he exclaimed, “Oh, Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done!” (Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Life of Newton, p. 25, col.

2.)

Huygens, 1694, referring to this accident says: “Newtonum incidisse in phrenitin abhinc anno ac sex mensibus. An ex nimia studii assiduitate, an dolore infortunii, quod in incendio laboratorium chemicum et scripta quædam amiserat.”

Diamond Hammer

(A). A hammer or pick for “whetting” millstones. The diamond hammer is provided with several sharp—pointed teeth to give a uniform roughness to the surface of the stone. Also to a steel pick with diamond—shaped point at each extremity, to recut grooves in stone.

Diamond Jousts

(The). Jousts instituted by King Arthur, “who by that name had named them, since a diamond was the prize.” Ere he was king, he came by accident to a glen in Lyonnesse, where two brothers had met in combat. Each was slain; but one had worn a crown of diamonds, which Arthur picked up, and when he became king offered the nine diamonds as the prize of nine several jousts, “one every year, a joust for one.” Lancelot had won eight, and intended to present them all to the queen “when all were won.” When the knight laid them before the queen, Guinevere, in a fit of jealousy, flung them out of the palace window into the river which ran below. (Idylls of the King; Elaine).

Diamond Necklace

(The) (1785). A necklace presented, through Mme. de Lamotte, by Cardinal de Rohan (as he supposed) to Marie Antoinette. The cardinal, a profligate churchman, entertained a sort of love passion for the queen; and the Countess de Lamotte induced him to purchase for the queen, for £85,000, a diamond necklace, made for Mme. Dubarry. The cardinal handed the necklace to the countess, who sold it to an English jeweller and kept the money. When the time of payment arrived Boehmer, the jeweller, sent his bill in to the queen, who denied all knowledge of the matter. A trial ensued, which lasted nine months, and created immense scandal.

Diamond Sculls

(The), or “The Diamond Challenge Sculls” of the Henley Royal Regatta, are a pair of crossed silver sculls not quite a foot in length, surmounted by an imitation wreath of laurel, and having a pendant of diamonds. They lie in a box lined with velvet, which contains also the names of all the winners. The prize is rowed for every year, and the sculls pass from winner to winner; but each winner receives a silver cup, which becomes his own absolute property. Established 1844 by the Royal Regatta Committee.

Diamonds. (See Black Diamonds.)

Diana

(3 syl.). The temple of Diana at Ephesus, built by Dinochares, was set on fire by Herostratos, for the sake of perpetuating his name. The Ionians decreed that any one who mentioned his name should be put to death, but this very decree gave it immortality. The temple was discovered in 1872 by Mr. Wood.

Diana of Ephesus

This statue, we are told, fell from heaven. If so, it was an aerolite; but Minucius says he saw it, and that it was a wooden statue (second century, A.D.). Pliny, a contemporary of Minucius, tells us it was made of ebony. Probably the real “image” was a meteorite, and in the course of time a wooden or ebony image was substituted.

The palladium of Troy, the sacred shield of the Romans, the shrine of our Lady of Loretto, and other similar religious objects of veneration, were said to have been sent from heaven. The statute of Cybele (3 syl.) “fell from heaven”; and Elagabalas, of Syro—Phoenicia, was a great conical stone which fell from heaven.

Great is Diana of the Ephesians. Nothing like leather; self—interest blinds the eyes. Demetrios was a silversmith of Ephesus, who made gold and silver shrines for the temple of Diana. When Christianity was preached in the city, and there was danger of substituting the simplicity of the Gospel for the grandeur of idolatry, the silversmiths, headed by Demetrios, stirred the people to a riot, and they cried out with one voice for the space of two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” (Acts xix. 24—28.)

Dian's Worshippers

Midnight revellers. So called because they return home by moonlight. Dian means the moon.

Dianora

was the wife of Gilberto of Friuli, but was passionately beloved by Ansaldo. In order to get rid of his importunity, she told him she would never grant his suit and prove untrue till he made her garden at midwinter as full of flowers and odours as if it were midsummer. By the aid of a magician, Ansaldo accomplished this, and claimed his reward. Dianora went to meet him, and told him she had obeyed the

command of her husband in so doing. Ansaldo, not to be outdone in courtesy, released her; and Gilberto became the firm friend of Ansaldo from that day to the end of his life. (Boccaccio Decameron, day x. 5.) (See Dorigen.)

Diapason

Dryden says —

“From harmony, from heavenly harmony

The universal frame began;

From harmony to harmony

Thro' all the compass of the notes it ran,

The diapason closing full in man.”

Song for St. Cecilia's Day.

According to the Pythagorean system, the world is a piece of harmony, and man the full chord.

Diaper

A sort of cloth, a corruption of D'Ypres, where it is largely manufactured. Similarly we have calico from Calicut; nankeen from Nankin; worsted from Worsted, in Norfolk; and half a score other similar words. The French diapré, variegated, seems far more likely to be the source of this word, for diaper is cloth variegated with flowers, etc., like damask.

Diavolo

(Fra). Michele Pozza, an insurgent of Calabria (1760—1806). Scribe wrote a libretto on this hero for Auber.

Dibs

or Dibbs. Money.(Compare tips, gifts to schoolboys; and diobolus. Compare also dot with tot, jot, and yod.)

The huckle—bones of sheep used for gambling purposes are called dibbs; and Locke speaks of stones used for the same game, which he calls dibstones.

Dicers' Oaths

False as dicers' oaths. Worthless or untrustworthy, as when a gambler swears never to touch dice again. (Shakespeare: Hamlet, iii. 4.)

Dicilla

(in Orlando Furioso). One of Logistilla's handmaids, famous for her chastity.

Dick

That happened in the reign of Queen Dick — i.e. never; there never was a Queen Richard.

Dick's Hatband

(Richard Cromwell, 1626—1712.) (1) Dick's hatband, which was made of sand. His regal honours were “a rope of sand.” (2) As fine as Dick's hatband. The crown of England would be a very fine thing for anyone to get. (3) As queer as Dick's hatband. Few things have been more ridiculous than the exaltation and abdication of the Protector's son.

(4) As tight as Dick's hatband. The hatband of Richard Cromwell was the crown, which was too tight for him to wear with safety.

Dick

= Richard. The diminutive “Dicky” is also common.

“Jockey of Norfolk [Lord Howard], be not too bold,

For Dicky [or Dickon], thy master, is bought and sold.” Shakespeare: Richard III., v. 3. (Dickey or Dickon is Richard III.)

Dickens

(See Boz.)

Dickens is a perverted oath corrupted from “Nick.” Mrs. Page says —

“I cannot tell what the dickens his name is.” —

Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, iii. 2.

The three poets who express a conflagration are “Dickens! How—itt, Burns!”

Dickey

or Dicky. A donkey; anciently called a Dick—ass, now termed Jack—ass. It is a term of endearment, as we call a pet bird a dicky—bird. The ass is called Dick—y (little Richard), Cuddy (little Cuthbert), Neddy (little Edward), Jack—ass, Moke or Mike, etc.

Dickey. The rumble behind a carriage; also a leather apron, a child's bib, and a false shirt or front. All these are from the same root. (Dutch, dekken; German, decken; Anglo—Saxon, thecan; Latin, tego, to cover.)

Dicky

(A), in George III.'s time, meant a flannel petticoat. It was afterwards applied to what were called false shirts — i.e. a shirt front worn over a dirty shirt, or in lieu of a shirt. These half—shirts were first called Tommies.

“A hundred instances I soon could pick ye —

Without a cap we view the fair,

The bosom heaving also bare,

The hips ashamed, forsooth, to wear a dicky.” Peter Pindar: Lord Auckland's Triumph.

So again: —

“And sister Peg, and sister Joan,

With scarce a flannel dicky on ...”

Middlesex Election, letter iv.

(Hair, whalebone, or metal vestments, called dress—improvers, are hung on women's backs, as a “dicky” is hung on a coach behind.)

Dicky Sam

A native—born inhabitant of Liverpool, as Tim Bobbin is a native of Lancashire.

Dictator of Letters

François Marie Arouet de Voltaire, called the Great Pan. (1694—1778.)

Didactic Poetry

is poetry that teaches some moral lesson, as Pope's Essay on Man. (Greek, didasko, I teach.)

Diddle

(To). To cheat in a small way, as “I diddled him out of ...” Edgar Allan Poe has an article on the art of “Diddling.” Rhyming slang is very common. (See Chivy.) Fiddle and diddle rhyme. “Fiddle” is slang for a sharper, and “diddle” is the act of a sharper. The suggestive rhyme was

“Hi diddle diddle!

The cat and the fiddle.”

“A certain portion of the human race

Has certainly a taste for being diddled.”

Hood: A Black Job, stanza 1.

Diddler

(Jeremy). An artful swindler; a clever, seedy vagabond, borrowing money or obtaining credit by his wit and wits. From Kenny's farce called Raising the Wind.

Diderick

(See Dietrich .)

Dido It was Porson who said he could rhyme on any subject; and being asked to rhyme upon the three Latin gerunds, gave this couplet —

“When Dido found Æneas would not come,

She mourned in silence, and was Di—do dum(b).”

In the old Eton Latin grammar the three gerunds are called —di, —do, —dum. In modern school primers they are —dum, —di, —do.

When Dido saw Æneas needs must go,

She wept in silence, and was dum(b) Di—do.

E. C. B.

Dido was queen of Carthage, who fell in love with Æneas, driven by a storm to her shores. After abiding awhile at Carthage, he was compelled by Mercury to leave the hospitable queen. Dido, in grief, burnt herself to death on a funeral pile. (Virgil from Æneid, i. 494 to iii. 650.)

Die

The die is cast. The step is taken, and I cannot draw back. So said Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon.

“I have set my life upon the cast,

And I will stand the hazard of the die.”

Shakespeare: Richard III., v. 4.

Die

Whom the gods love die young. This is from Menander's fragments (Hon hoi theoi philousin apothneskei neos). Demosthenes has a similar apophthegm. Plautus has the line, “Quem Di diligunt adolescens moritur. ” (See Byron: Don Juan, canto iv. 12.) Those who die young are “taken out of the miseries of this sinful life" into a happy immortality.

Die—hards

The 57th Foot. Their colonel (Inglis) in the battle of Albuera (1811), addressing his men, said, “Die hard, my lads; die hard!” And they did die hard, for their banner was pierced with thirty bullets. Only one officer out of twenty—four survived, and only 168 men out of 584. This fine regiment is now called the West Middlesex; the East Middlesex (the Duke of Cambridge's own) is the old 77th.

Diego

(San). A corruption of Santiago (St. James), champion of the red cross, and patron saint of Spain.

Dies Alliensis

(See Alliensis .)

Dies Iræ

A famous madiæval hymn on the last judgment, probably the composition of Thomas of Celano, a native of Abruzzi, who died in 1255. Sir Walter Scott has introduced the former part of it into his Lay of the Last Minstrel.

“Dies iræ, dies illa,

Solvet sæclum in favilla,

Teste David cum Sibylla.”

On that day, that wrathful day,

David and the Sibyl say,

Heaven and earth shall melt away.

E. C. B.

Dies Non

A non—business day. A law phrase, meaning a day when the courts do not sit, as on Sundays; the Purification, in Hilary term; the Ascension, in Easter term; St. John the Baptist, in Trinity term; and All Saints, with All Souls, in Michaelmas term. A contracted form of “Dies non juridicus,” a non—judicial day.

Dies Sanguinis The 24th March, called Bellona's Day, when the Roman votaries of the war—goddess cut themselves and drank the sacrificial blood to propitiate the deity.

Dietrich

(2 syl.), of Berne or Verona, a name given by the German minnesängers (minstrels) to Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. One of the liegemen of King Etzel. In the terrible broil stirred up by Queen Kriemhild in the banquet—hall of the Hunnish king, after the slaughter of Sir Rudiger, his friend Dietrich interfered, and succeeded in taking prisoners the only two surviving Burgundians, kings Gunther and Hagan, whom he handed over to Kriemhild, praying that she would set them free, but the angry queen cut off both their heads with her own hands. (The Nibelungen—Lied.)

Dieu

Dieu et mon droit (God and my right). The parole of Richard I. at the battle of Gisors (1198), meaning that he was no vassal of France, but owed his royalty to God alone. As the French were signally beaten, the

battle—word was adopted as the royal motto of England.

Difference

Ophelia says to the queen. “You may wear your rue with a difference.” In heraldry differences or marks of cadency indicate the various branches of a family.

(1) The eldest son, during the lifetime of his father, bears a label (or lambel), i.e. a piece of silk, stuff, or linen, with three pendants, broader at the bottom than at the top.

(2) The second son bears a crescent.

(3) The third, a mullet (or star with five points).

(4) The fourth, a martlet.

(5) The fifth, an annulet.

(6) The sixth, a fleur—de—lis.

(7) The seventh, a rose.

(8) The eighth, a cross—moline.

(9) The ninth, a double quatre foil.

Ophelia says both she and the Queen are to wear rue, the one as the affianced of Hamlet, eldest son of the late king; the other as the wife of Claudius his brother, and the cadet branch. The latter was to have a

“difference,” to signify it was a cadet branch. “I [says Ophelia] shall wear the rue, but you [the Queen] must now wear it with a `difference.' “

Digest

(The). The collection of all the laws of Rome compiled by Tribonian and sixteen assistants, by order of Justinian. It amounted to 2,000 volumes, and was finished in three years (A.D. 533). (See Pandects.)

Diggings

Come to my diggings. To my rooms, residence, office, sanctum. A word imported from California and its gold diggings.

“My friend here wants to take diggings; and as you were complaining that you would get someone to go halves with you, I thought I had better bring you together.” — A. C. Doyle: A Study in Scarlet, chap. i.

Diggory

A barn labourer, taken on grand occasions for butler and footman to Mr. and Mrs. Hardcastle. He laughs and talks while serving, and is as gauche as possible. (Goldsmith. She Stoops to Conquer.)

Digit

The first nine numerals; so called from the habit of counting as far as ten on the fingers. (Latin, digitus, a finger.)

Dignitary

(A). A clergyman who holds preferment to which jurisdiction is annexed, as bishops, deans, archdeacons, canons, etc.

Dignus Vindice Nodus (Latin). A knot or difficulty worthy of such hands to untie. Literally, a knotty point worthy to be made a civil action. The person who brought a civil action was called in Roman law a vindex, and the action was called a vindicatio. If the rightful possessor was a matter of dispute, the question became a lis vindiciarum, and was referred to the praetor to determine. A knotty point referred to the praetor was a

“dignus vindice nodus. “

Dii Penates

(Latin). Household gods; now used for such articles of furniture or decoration as the lady of the house especially prizes.

Dilemma

The horns of a dilemma. “Lemma” means a thing taken for granted (Greek, lambano, to take). “Dilemma” is a double lemma, a two—edged sword which strikes both ways, or a bull which will toss you whichever horn you lay hold of. A young rhetorician said to an old sophist, “Teach me to plead, and I will pay you when I gain a cause.” The master sued for payment, and the scholar pleaded, “If I gain the cause I shall not pay you, because the judge will say I am not to pay, and if I lose my cause I shall not be required to pay, according to the terms of our agreement.” To this the master replied, “Not so; if you gain your cause you must pay me according to the terms of our agreement; and if you lose your cause the judge will condemn you to pay me.”

Dilettante

(Italian). An amateur of the fine arts, in opposition to a professor. Plural, dilettanti.

“These gentlemen are to be judged, not as dilettanti, but as professors.” — Athenæum.

Diligence

is that energy and industry which we show when we do what we like (Latin, diligo, I like); but indolence is that listless manner with which we do what thoroughly vexes us. (Latin, in, intensive; dolco, to grieve.)

Diligence

A four—wheeled stage—coach, drawn by four or more horses. Common in France before the introduction of railroads. The pun is well known.

Si vis placere magistro, utere diligentia (i.e. his diligence).

Dilly

(plural, Dillies). Stage—coaches. They first began to run in 1779. An abbreviation of the French word diligence (q.v.). “Derby dilly.”

Dim and Distant Future

(The). In November, 1885, Mr. W. E. Gladstone said that the disestablishment and disendowment of the Anglican Church were questions in “the dim and distant future.”

Dimanche

(Monsieur). A dun. The term is from Molière's Don Juan, and would be, in English, Mr. Sunday. The word damanche is a corruption and contraction of dies Domanica (the Lord's day).

Dimetæ

The ancient Latin name for the inhabitants of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire, and Cardiganshire.

Dimissory

A letter dimissory is a letter from the bishop of one diocese to some other bishop, giving leave for the bearer to be ordained by him. (Latin, di—matto, to send away.)

Dimity

A cloth said to be so called from Damietta, in Egypt, but really from the Greek di—mitos (double—thread). (See Samite.)

Dinah

(Aunt), in Sterne's Tristram Shandy. She leaves Mr. Walter Shandy £1,000, which he fancies will enable him to carry out all the wild schemes that enter into his head.

Dinde (1 syl.). The French for a turkey is poulet d'Inde (an Indian fowl). This is an error as the bird comes from America unless indeed the whole Western continent with all its contiguous islands be called by the name of West Indies. Our word “turkey” is no better if indeed it means a native of Turkey.

Dine

(To).

Qui dort dine. The seven sleepers and others required no food till they woke from their long sleep. The same may be said of all hibernating animals.

To dine with Democritos. To be cheated out of one's dinner. Democritos was the derider or philosopher who laughed at men's folly.

To dine with Sir Thomas Gresham. To go without one's dinner; to be dinnerless; Sir Thomas Gresham founded the Royal Exchange which was a favourite lounge for those who could not afford to provide themselves with a dinner.

To dine with Duke Humphrey. (See Humphrey.) To dine with Mahomet. To die and dine in paradise. To dine with the cross—legged knights. (See next column Dinnerless.)

Dine Out

(To). To be dinnerless to go without a dinner.

Ding

(A). A blow. To ding it in one's ears. To repeat a subject over and over again; to teach by repetition.

To ding. To strike. (Anglo—Saxon dencg [an] to knock strike beat.) Hence “ding—dong” as “They were at it ding—dong.”

“The butcher's axe like great Achilles' bat

Dings deadly downe ten—thousand—thousand flat.” Taylor: Works (1630).

Ding—dong

They went at it ding—dong. Fighting in good earnest. To ding is to beat or bruise (Saxon dencgan) dong is a responsive word. One gives a ding and the other a dong.

Din is the Anglo—Saxon dyn—ian to make a din; dinung a dinning noise.

Dingley Dell

The home of Mr. Wardle and his family, and the scene of Tupman's love adventure with Miss Rachel. (Dickens. Pickwick Papers. )

Dinner

(Waiting for). The “mauvais quart d'heure. “

Dinnerless

Their hosts are the cross—legged knights. That is, the stone effigies of the Round Church. In this church at one time lawyers met their clients, and here a host of vagabonds used to loiter about all day, under the hope of being hired as witnesses. Dining with the cross—legged knights meant much the same thing as dining with duke Humphrey (q.v.).

Dinos (See Horse .)

Dint

By dint of war; by dint of argument; by dint of hard work. Dint means a blow or striking (Anglo—Saxon, dynt) whence perseverance, power exerted, force; it also means the indentation made by a blow.

Diocletian

The Roman Emperor, noted for his fierce persecution of the Christians, 303. The Emperor Constantine, on the other hand, was the “nursing father” of the Church.

“To make the Church's glory shine

Should Diocletian reign not Constantine.” Crabbe: Borough.

Diocletian

was the king, and Erastus the prince, his son, in the Italian version of the Seven Wise Masters (q.v.).

Diogenes

(4 syl. g=j). The cynic philosopher is said to have lived in a tub.

“The whole world was not half so wide

To Alexander when he cried

Because he had but one to subdue

As was a paltry narrow tub to

Diogenes.” Butler Hudibras i. 3.

Diogenes. Romanus IV. emperor of the East (1067—1071).

Diomed's Horses

Dinos (dreadful) and Lampon (bright—eyed). (See Horse.)

Diomedean Swop

An exchange in which all the benefit is on one side. This proverbial expression is founded on an incident related by Homer in the Iliad. Glaucus recognises Diomed on the battle—field, and the friends change armour.

“For Diomed's brass arms, of mean device,

For which nine oxen paid (a vulgar price), He [Glaucus] gave his own, of gold divinely wrought, An hundred beeves the shining purchase bought.” Pope Iliad vi.

Diomedes

or Diomed. King of Ætolia, in Greece, brave and obedient to authority. He survived the siege of Troy; but on his return home found his wife living in adultery, and saved his life by living an exile in Italy. (Homer: Iliad.)

Dione

(3 syl.). Venus, who sprang from the froth of the sea, after the mutilated body of Uranus (the sky) had been thrown there by Saturn.

“So young Dione, nursed beneath the waves

And rocked by Nereids in their coral caves ... Lisped her sweet tones, and tried her tender smiles.” Darwin: Economy of Vegatation, ii.

Dionysius

(the younger) being banished a second time from Syracuse, retired to Corinth, where he turned schoolmaster for a living. Posterity called him a tyrant. Byron, in his Ode to Napoleon, alludes to these facts in the following lines —

“Corinth's pedagogue hath now

Transferred his byword to thy brow.”

That is, Napoleon is now called tyrant like Dionysius.

Dionysos

The Greek name of Bacchus (q.v.).

Father : Zeus (Jupiter).

Feasts of Bacchus in Rome, Bromalia or Brumalia, in March and September. Mother: Semele, daughter of Cadmus

Nurse: Brisa.

Owls were his aversion.

Panthers drew his chariot. Rams were the most general sacrifices offered to him. Wife: Ariadne.

The most famous statue of this god way by Praxiteles.

Attalus gave above £18,000 for a painting of the god by Aristides.

Diophantine Analysis

Finding commensurate values of squares, cubes, triangles etc. or the sum of a given number of squares which is itself a square; or a certain number of squares etc. which are in arithmetical progression. The following examples will give some idea of the theory:

1. To find two whole numbers, the sum of whose squares is a square;

2. To find three square numbers which are in arithmetical progression;

3. To find a number from which two given squares being severally subtracted, each of the remainders is a square.

Diophantus was an Alexandrian Greek (5th cent. A.D.)

Dioscuri

Castor and Pollux. (Greek, Dios kouros, young men of Zeus; dios is gen. of Zeus.)

The horses of the Dioscuri. Cyllaros and Harpagos. (See Horse.)

Diotrephes

One who loves to have the pre—eminence among others. (3 John 9.)

“Neither a desperate Judas, like the prelate Sharpe [archbishop of St. Andrew's who was murdered], that's gone to his place; nor a sanctuary—breaking Holofernes, like the

bloody—minded Claverhouse; nor an ambitious Diotrephes, like the lad [Lord] Evandale ... shall resist the arrows that are whetted and the bow that is bent against you.” — Sir W. Scott Old Mortality chap.xiv.

Dip

(A). A tallow—chandler, one who makes or sells candles or “dips.” These candles are made by dipping into melted tallow the cotton which forms the wick. (Anglo—Saxon dippan to dip.)

Diphthera

The skin of the goat Amalthe'a on which Jove wrote the destiny of man. Diphtheria is an infectious disease of the throat so called from its tendency to form a false membrane.

Diploma

literally means something folded (Greek). Diplomas used to be written on parchment, folded, and sealed. The word is applied to licences given to graduates to assume a degree, to clergymen, to physicians, agents, and so on.

Diplomacy

The tact, negotiations, privileges, etc. of a diplomatist, or one who carries a diploma to a foreign court to authorise him to represent the Government which sends him out.

Diplomatic Cold (A). An excuse to get over a disagreeable engagement. Mr. Healy M.P. (1885) said that Lord Hartington and Mr. Gladstone had “diplomatic colds,” when they pleaded indisposition as an excuse for not giving addresses at public meetings in which they were advertised to speak. The day after the meetings both gentlemen were “much better.”

Diplomatics

The science of palæography — that is, deciphering old charters, diplomas, titles; investigating their authenticity and genuineness, and so on. Papebröch, the Bollandist, originated the study in 1675; but Mabillon, another Bollandist, reduced it to a science in his work entitled De re Diplomatica, 1681. Toustain and Tassin further developed it in their treatise entitled Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique, 1750—1760.

Diptych

[diptik ]. A register folded into two leaves, opening like our books, and not like the ancient scrolls. The Romans kept in a book of this sort the names of their magistrates, and the Roman Catholics employed the word for the registers in which were written the names of those bishops, saints, and martyrs who were to be specially commemorated when oblations were made for the dead. (Greek, diptuchos, folded in two.)

“The Greeks executed small works of great elegance as may be seen in the diptychs or ivory covers to consular records or sacred volumes used in the church service.” — T. Flaxman Lectures on Sculpture iii. p. 98.

Dircæ'an Swan

Pindar; so called from Dirce, a fountain in the neighbourhood of Thebes, the poet's birthplace (B.C. 518—442).

Direct Tax

is one collected directly from the owner of property subject to the tax, as when the tax—gatherer goes direct to the owner of a house and demands five, ten, or twenty pounds, as it may be, for Government uses. Indirect taxes are taxes upon marketable commodities, such as tea and sugar, the tax on which is added to the article taxed, and is paid by the purchasers indirectly.

Directory

The French constitution of 1795, when the executive was vested in five persons called directors, one of whom retired every year. After a sickly existence of four years, it was quashed by Napoleon Bonaparte. An alphabetical list of the inhabitants, etc., of a given locality, as a “London Directory.”

Dirleton

Doubting with Dirleton, and resolving those doubts with Stewart. Doubting and answering those doubts, but doubting still. It applies to law, science, religion, morals, etc. Sir John Nisbett of Dirleton's Doubts on points of law, and Sir James Stewart's Doubts Resolved, are works of established reputation in Scotland, but the Doubts hold a higher place than the Solutions.

Dirlos

(Count). A Paladin, the beau—ideal of valour, generosity, and truth. The story says he was sent by Charlemagne into the East, where he conquered Aliarde, a great Moorish prince. On his return he found his young wife, who thought he was dead, betrothed to Celinos, another of Charlemagne's peers. The matter being set right, the king gave a grand banquet. Dirlos is D'Yrlos.

Dirt

is matter in the wrong place. (Lord Palmerston.) This is not true: a diamond or sovereign lost on a road is matter in a wrong place, but certainly is not dirt.

Throw plenty of dirt and some will be sure to stick. Scandal always leaves a trail behind. Dirt cheap. Very low—priced. Dirt is so cheap that persons pay others to take it away. To eat dirt is to put up with insults and mortification. An Eastern method of punishment.

“If dirt were trumps what a capital hand you would hold!” — Charles Lamb to Martin Burney.

Dirty Half—Hundred

The 50th Foot, so called from the men wiping their faces with their black cuffs. Now called “The Queen's Own.”

Dirty Lane

Now called Abingdon Street, Westminster.

Dirty Shirts

(The). The 101st Foot, which fought at Delhi in their shirt—sleeves (1857). Now called “The Royal Bengal Fusileers.”

Dis Pluto.

“Proserpine gathering flowers,

Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis

Was gathered.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, iv 270.

Disaster

is being under an evil star (Greek, dus—aster, evil star). An astrological word.

“The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” —Judges v. 20.

Disastrous Peace

(La Paix Malheureuse). It followed the battle of Gravelines (2 syl.), and was signed at Cateau — Cambresis. By this treaty Henri II. renounced all claim to Genoa, Naples, Milan, and Corsica (1559).

Disbar

(To). To deprive a barrister of his right to plead. The bar is the part barred off in courts of law and equity for barristers or pleaders.

Discard

To throw out of one's hands such cards as are useless.

Discharge Bible

(The), 1806. “I discharge [charge] thee before God.” (1 Tim. v. 21.)

Discipline

(A). A scourge used by Roman Catholics for penitential purposes.

“Before the cross and altar a lamp was still burning, and on the floor lay a small discipline or penitential scourge of small cord and wire, the lashes of which were stained with recent blood.” — Sir W Scott: The Talisman. chap. iv

Discord

means severance of hearts (Latin, discorda). It is the opposite of concord, the coming together of hearts. In music it means disagreement of sounds, as when a note is followed by another which is disagreeable to a musical ear. (See Apple.)

Discount

At a discount. Not in demand; little valued; less esteemed than formerly; less than their nominal value. (Latin dis—computo, to depreciate.)

Discuss

To discuss a bottle. To drink one with a friend. Same as “crush ” or “crack a bottle.” (Discuss is the Latin dis—quatio; French, casser. The Latin quassa're vasa is to break a drinking—vessel.)

“We all ... drew round the table, an austere silence prevailing, while we discussed our meal.”—

E. Brontë: Wuthering Heights, chap. ii.

Disease

meaning discomfort, want of ease, mal aise, as

“In the world ye shall have disease.” —Wyclif: John xvi. 33.

Dished

(l syl.). I was dished out of it. Cheated out of it; or rather, some one else contrived to obtain it. A contraction of disherit. The heir is dish't out of his inheritance when his father marries again and leaves his property to the widow and widow's family.

“Where's Brummel? Dished!”

Byron: Don Juan.

Dish—washer (A). A scullery—maid.

Dismal

Daniel Finch, second earl of Nottingham.

“No sooner was Dismal among the Whigs ... but Lady Char[lot]te is taken knitting in St.James's Chapel [i.e. Lady Charlotte Finch, his daughter].” — Examiner, April 20—24th, 1713, No.44.

Dismas

(St.). The penitent thief. [DYSMAS.]

Disney Professor

The Professor of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge. This chair was founded in 1851 by John Disney, Esq., of the Hyde, Ingatestone.

Disorder

says Franklin, “breakfasts with Plenty, dines with Poverty, sups with Misery, and sleeps with Death.”

Dispensation

The system which God chooses to dispense or establish between Himself and man. The dispensation of Adam was that between Adam and God; the dispensation of Abraham, and that of Moses, were those imparted to these holy men; the Gospel dispensation is that explained in the Gospels. (Latin, dis—penso, to spread forth, unroll, explain, reveal.)

A dispensation from the Pope. Permission to dispense with something enjoined; a licence to do what is forbidden, or to omit what is commanded by the law of the Church, as distinct from the moral law.

“A dispensation was obtained to enable Dr. Barrow to marry.” — Ward.

Dispute

(2 syl.) means, literally, to “lop down” (Latin, dis—puto ); debate means to “knock down” (French, débattre); discuss means to “shake down” (Latin, dis—quatio); object' is to “cast against” (Latin, ob—jacio); contend is to “pull against" (Latin, contendo); quarrel is to throw darts at each other (Welsh, cwarel, a dart); and wrangle is to strain by twisting (Swedish, vränga; Anglo—Saxon, wringan).

Dissolute

is one that runs loose, not restrained by laws or any other bonds. (Latin, dissolvo, like horses unharnessed.)

Distaff

A woman. Properly the staff from which the flax was drawn in spinning. The allusion is to the ancient custom of women, who spun from morning to night. (See Spinster.)

“The crown of France never fails to the distaff.” — Kersey.

To have tow on the distaff. To have work in hand. Froissart says, “Il aura en bref temps autres estoupes en sa quenouille. “

“He haddë more tow on his distaf

Than Gerveys knew.”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales. 3.772.

St. Distaff's Day. The 7th of January. So called because the Christmas festival terminated on Twelfth Day, and on the day following the women returned to their distaffs or daily occupations. It is also called Rock Day, a distaff being called a rock. “In old times they used to spin with rocks.” (Aubrey, Wilts.)

“Give St. Distaff all the right,

Then give Christmas sport good night,

And next morrow every one

To his own vocatiön.” (1657)

“What! shall a woman with a rock drive thee away?

Fye on thee, traitor' “

Digby: Mysteries, p.11.

Distaffina

To whom Bombastes Furioso makes love. (Thomas Barnes Rhodes: Bombastes Furioso.)

Distemper

means an undue mixture. In medicine a distemper arises from the redundancy of certain secretions or morbid humours. The distemper in dogs is an undue quantity of secretions manifested by a running from the eyes and nose. (Latin, dis—tempero, to mix amiss.)

Applied to painting, the word is from another source, the French détremper (to soak in water), because the paints, instead of being mixed with oil, are mixed with a vehicle (as yolk of eggs or glue) soluble in water.

Distinguished Member of the Humane Society

The name of this dog was Paul Pry. Landseer says, “Mr. Newman Smith was rather disappointed when his dog appeared in character rather than `the property of Newman Smith, Esq., of Croydon Lodge.' ” (Notes and Queries, March 21st, 1885, p. 225.)

Distraction

An excellent example of how greatly the meaning of words may change. To “distract” means now, to harass, to perplex; and “distraction” confusion of mind from a great multiplicity of duties; but in French to “distract” means to divert the mind, and “distraction" means recreation or amusement (Latin, dis—traho). (See Slave.)

Distrait

(French). Absent—minded.

Dithyrambic

The father of dithyrambic poetry. Arion of Lesbos.

Dittany

When Godfrey was wounded with an arrow, an “odoriferous panacy" distilled from dittany was applied to the wound, whereupon the arrow—head fell out, and the wound healed immediately. (Tasso. Jerusalem Delivered, book xi.)

Ditto

(See Do .)

Dittoes

(A suit of). Coat, waistcoat, and trousers all alike, or all ditto (the same).

Divan'

(Arabic and Persian, diwan) means a register kept on a white table exactly similar to our board. Among the Orientals the word is applied to a council—chamber or court of justice; but in England we mean a coffee—house where smoking is the chief attraction.

Divers Colours

[in garments ]. We are told, in 2 Sam. xiii. 18, that kings' daughters were arrayed in a garment of divers colours, and Dr. Shaw informs us that only virgins wore drawers of needle—work; so that when the mother of Sisera (Judges v. 30) says, “Have they not sped? Have they not divided the spoil? To Sisera a prey of divers colours, of divers colours of needlework?” she means — is not the king's daughter allotted to Sisera as a portion of his spoil? (See Coat Of Many Colours.)

Divert

To turn aside. Business is the regular walk or current of our life, but pleasure is a diversion or turning aside for a time from the straight line. What we call diversion is called in French distraction, drawing aside. (Latin, di—verto, to turn aside; dis—traho, to draw aside.)

Dives

(l syl.), Divs or Deevs. Demons of Persian mythology. According to the Koran, they are ferocious and gigantic spirits under the sovereignty of Eblis.

“At Lahore, in the Mogul's palace, are pictures of Dews and Dives with long horns, staring eyes,shaggy hair, great fangs, ugly paws, long tails, and such horrible deformity, that I wonder the poor women are not frightened.” — William Finch: Purchas' Pilgrims, vol. i.

Dives (2 syl.). The name popularly given to the rich man in our Lord's parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke xvi.). The Latin would be Dives et Lazarus.

Divide

(2 syl.). When the members in the House of Commons interrupt a speaker by crying out divide, they mean, bring the debate to an end and put the motion to the vote — i.e. let the ayes divide from the noes, one going into one room or lobby, and the others into another.

Divide and Govern Divide a nation into parties, or set your enemies at loggerheads, and you can have your own way. A maxim of Machiavelli, a noted political writer of Florence (1469—1527).

“Every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.” — Matthew xii. 25.

Divination

There are numerous species of divination referred to in the Bible. The Hebrew word is added in italics.

JUDICIAL ASTROLOGY (Meonen).

AUGURY (Menachesch).

WITCHCRAFT (Mecascheph).

ENCHANTMENT (Ithoberon).

CASTING LOTS (Indeoni).

BY INTERROGATING SPIRITS.

BY NECROMANCY (1 Sam. xxviii.12).

BY RHABDOMANCY (Hosea iv. 12).

BY TERAPHIM or household idols.

BY HEPATOSCOPY or inspecting the liver of animals. BY DREAMS and their interpretations.

Divination by fire, air, and water; thunder, lightning, and meteors; etc. The Urim and Thummin was a prophetic breastplate worn by the High Priest. (Consult: Gen. xxxvii. 5 — 11; xl. xll.; 1 Sam. xxviii. 12; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 6; Prov. xvi. 33; Ezek. xxi. 21; Hosea iii. 4, 5, etc.)

Divine

The divine right of kings. The notion that kings reign by divine right, quite independent of the people's will. This notion arose from the Old Testament Scriptures, where kings are called “God's anointed,” because they were God's vicars on earth, when the Jews changed their theocracy for a monarchy.

“The right divine of kings to govern wrong.”

Pope.

Divine

(The). Ferdinand de Herrera, a Spanish poet (1516—1595). Raphael, the painter, il Divino (1483—1520).

Luis Morales, Spanish painter, el Divino (1509—1586).

Divine Doctor

Jean de Ruysbroek, the mystic (1294—1381).

Divine Pagan

(The). Hypatia, who presided over the Neoplatonic School at Alexandria. She was infamously torn to pieces (A.D. 415) by a Christian mob, not without the concurrence of the Archbishop Cyril.

Divine Plant

(The). Vervain, called by the Romans Herba Sacra (q.v.).

Divine Speaker

(The). So Aristotle called Tyrtamos, who therefore adopted the name of Theophrastos (B.C. 370—287).

Divining Rod

A forked branch of hazel, suspended by the two prongs between the balls of the thumbs. The inclination of the rod indicates the presence of water—springs, precious metal, and anything else that simpletons will pay for. (See Dousterswivel.)

Divinity in Odd Numbers

Falstaff tells us (in the Merry Wives of Windsor, v. 1) that this divinity affects “nativity, chance, and death.” A Trinity is by no means confined to the Christian creed. The Brahmins

represent their god with three heads; the Greeks and Romans had three Graces, three Fates, three Furies, and a

three—fold Hecate. Jupiter had his three thunderbolts, Neptune his trident, and Pluto his three—headed dog. The Muses were three times three. Pythagoras says God is threefold — “the beginning, middle, and end of all things.” Then, again, there are five features, five parts to the body, five vowels, five lines in music, five acts to a play, etc.; seven strings to a harp, seven planets (anciently, at any rate), seven musical notes, etc.

Chance. There's luck in odd numbers “Numero Deus impre gaudet” (Virgil: `Eclogue viii. 75). The seventh son of a seventh son was always held notable. Baalam would have seven altars, and sacrificed on them seven bullocks and seven rams. Naaman was commanded to dip seven times in Jordan, and Elijah sent his servant seven times to look out for rain. Climacteric years are seven and nine with their multiples by odd numbers.

Death. The great climacteric year of life is 63 (i.e. 7 × 9), and Saturn presides over all climacteric years.

Divino Lodovico

Ariosto, author of Orlando Furioso, an epic poem in twenty—four books. (1474—1533.)

Division

The sign ÷ for division was invented by John Pell of Cambridge in 1668.

Divorcement

A writing, or bill of divorcement. “Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement” (Matt. v. 31). Adalet tells in the Nineteenth Century (July, 1892, p. 137):

“A woman [in Turkey] divorced from her husband is not treated with contumely ... and often marries again ... A man simply states to his wife that he has divorced her, on which she will go away; and the man, having repeated the same to the cadi, will receive an act of divorce written, which he will send to her. If it is the first or second time that this has occurred, he may take her back again without any formality ensuing, but, after a third divorce, she will be lost to him for ever. Seeing the ease with which this may be done, it is not surprising if men abuse the licence, and sometimes divorce their wives for [a very small] fault ... as a

badly—cooked dinner, or a button unsewed, knowing very well that if he repents of it he can have her back before evening. I know a lady who has been divorced from five husbands, and is now living with a sixth.”

Divus

in Latin, attached to a proper name, does not mean divine, but simply deceased or canonised; excellently translated in Notes and Queries (May 21st, 1892, p. 421), “of blessed memory.” Thus, Divus Augustus means Augustus of blessed memory, not divine Augustus. Of course, the noun “divus” opposite to a proper noun = a god, as in Horace, 3 Odes v. 2, “Praesens divus habebitur Augustus. ” While living, Augustus will be accounted a god. Virgil (Ecl. i. 6) says, “Deus nobis hæc otia fecit; ” the “deus” was Augustns.

Dixie Land

Nigger land. Mason and Dixon drew a line which was to be the northern limit of slavery. In the third quarter of the 19th century the southern part of this line was called Dixie or nigger land.

Dizzy

A nickname of Benjamin Disraeli (Lord Beaconsfield) (1805—1881).

Djinnestan'

The realm of the djinns or genii of Oriental mythology.

Do

A contraction of ditto, which is the Italian détto (said), Latin dictus.

How do you do? i.e. How do you fare? It should be, How do you du (Anglo—Saxon, dug—an = valere); in Latin, Quomodo vales.

Well to do. This, again, is not the transitive verb (facre) but the intransitive verb (valere), and means “well to fare.” (Anglo—Saxon. dug—an = valere.

To do him, i.e. cheat or trick a person out of something I have done the Jew, i.e. over—reached him. The same as outdo = excel.

Do (to rhyme with go). The first or tonic note of the solfeggio system of music.

Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, Italian; ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, French. The latter are borrowed from a hymn by Paulus Piaconus, addressed to St. John, which Guido, in the eleventh century, used in teaching singing:

“Ut queant laxis, Re —sonare fibris,

Mi —ra gestorum Fa —muli tuorum, Sol —ve pollutis La —biis reatum.” Sanctë Joannës.

Ut —tered be thy wondrous story, Re —prehensive though I be,

Me make mindful of thy glory, Fa —mous son of Zacharee;

Sol —ace to my spirit bring, La —bouring thy praise to sing. E.C.B.

(See WEIZIUS in Heortologio, p. 263.) Le Maire added si (seventeenth century). (See Aretinian Syllables.)

Do for

I'll do for him. Ruin him; literally, provide for him in a bad sense. “Taken in and done for,” is taken in and provided for; but, jocosely, it means “cheated and fleeced.”

Do up

(To). To set in order; to make tidy. “Dup the door.” (See Dup.)

Doab

(Indian). A tract of land between two rivers. (Pronounce du'—ab.)

Dobbin

A steady old horse, a child's horse. Dobby, a silly old man. Dobbies, house—elves similar to brownies. All these are one and the same word. The dobbies lived in the house, were very thin and shaggy, very kind to servants and children, and did many a little service when people had their hands full.

“Sober Dobbin lifts his clumsy heel.”

Bloomfield: Farmer's Boy. (Winter, stanza 9.)

Dobbins (Humphrey). The valet—de—chambre and factotum of Sir Robert Bramble, of Blackbury Hall, in the county of Kent. A blunt, rough—spoken old retainer, full of the milk of human kindness, and most devoted to his master. (G. Colman: The Poor Gentleman.

Dobby's Walk

The goblin's haunt or beat. Dobby is an archaic word for a goblin or brownie. (See Washington Irving's Bracebridge Hall, ii. 183—6.) Dobby also means an imbecile old man.

“The Dobby's walk was within the inhabited domains of the Hall.” — Sir W Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap.x.

Docetes

(3 syl.). An early heretical sect, which maintained that Jesus Christ was only God, and that His visible form was merely a phantom; that the crucifixion and resurrection were illusions. (The word is Greek, and means phantomists.)

Dock—Alfar

The dark Alfs whose abode is underground. They are in appearance blacker than pitch. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Dock—side Lumper

(A). One engaged in delivering and loading ships' cargoes.

“Judging of my histrionic powers by my outward man, he probably thought me more flt for a dock—side lumper than an actor.” — C. Thomson: Autobiography, p. 191.

Dock Warrant

(A). An order authorising the removal of goods warehoused in the dock.

Doctor A seventh son used to be so dubbed from the notion of his being intuitively skilled in the cure of agues, the king's evil, and other diseases.

“Plusieurs croyent qu'en France les septiennes garçons, nez de legitimes mariages (sans que la suitte des sept ait, esté interrompue par la naissance d'aucune fille) peuvent aussi guerir des fievres tierces, des fievres quartes, et mesme des ecrouelles,après avoir jeûne trois ou neuf jours avant que de toucher les malades.” — Jean Baptiste. Thiers: Traité des Superstitions, etc., i. p. 436.

Doctor

(The). The cook on board ship, who “doctors” the food. Any adulterated or doctored beverage; hence the mixture of milk, water, nutmeg, and a little rum, is called Doctor; the two former ingredients being

“doctored” by the two latter.

Doctor

(The). Brown sherry, so called because it is concocted from a harsh, thin wine, by the addition of old boiled mosto stock. Mosto is made by heating unfermented juice in earthen vessels, till it becomes as thick and sweet as treacle. This syrup being added to fresh “must” ferments, and the luscious produce is used for doctoring very inferior qualities of wine. (Shaw: On Wine.)

To doctor the wine. To drug it, or strengthen it with brandy. The fermentation of cheap wines is increased by fermentable sugar. As such wines fail in aroma, connoisseurs smell at their wine. To doctor wine is to make weak wine stronger, and “sick” wine more palatable.

Doctored Dice

Loaded dice.

To doctor the accounts. To falsify them. They are ill (so far as you are concerned) and you falsify them to make them look better. The allusion is to drugging wine, beer, etc., and to adulteration generally.

Dr. Diafoirus

in Molière's Malade Ìmaginaire. A man of fossilised ideas, who, like the monk, refused to change his time—honoured mumpsimus (q.v.), for the new—fangled sumpsimus. Dr. Diafoirus used to say, what was good enough for his forefathers was good enough for their posterity, and he had no patience with the modern fads about the rotundity of the earth, its motion round the sun, the circulation of the blood, and all such stuff.

Dr. Dove

The hero of Southey's Doctor.

Dr. Fell

I do not like thee, Dr. Fell. A correspondent of Notes and Queries says the author was Tom Brown, who wrote Dialogues of the Dead, and the person referred to was Dr. Fell, Dean of Christchurch

(1625—1686), who expelled him, but said he would remit the sentence if he translated the thirty—third Epigram of Martial:

“Non amo te, Zabidi, nec possum dicere quare;

Hoc tantum possum dicere, non amo te.”

“I do not like thee, Dr. Fell,

The reason why I cannot tell;

But this I know, I know full well,

I do not like thee, Dr. Fell.” T.Browm.

Doctor Mirabilis

Roger Bacon (1214—1292).

Doctor My—Book

Dr. John Abernethy, so called because he used to say to his patients, “Read my book ” — on Surgical Observations. (1765—1830.)

Dr. Rezio or Pedro Rezio of Aguero. The doctor of Barataria, who forbade Sancho Panza to taste any of the meats set before him. Roasted partridge was forbidden by Hippocrates; podrida was the most pernicious food in the world; rabbits are a sharp—haired diet; veal is prejudicial to health; but the governor might eat a “few wafers, and a thin slice or two of quince.” (Don Quixote, part ii. book iii. chap. 10.)

Dr. Sangrado

of Valladolid, a tall, meagre, pale man, of very solemn appearance, who weighed every word he uttered, and gave an emphasis to his sage dicta. “His reasoning was geometrical, and his opinions angular.” He said to the licentiate Sedillo, who was sick, “If you had drunk nothing else but pure water all your life, and eaten only such simple food as boiled apples, you would not now be tormented with gout.” He then took from him six porringers of blood to begin with; in three hours he repeated the operation; and again the next day, saying: “It is a gross error to suppose that blood is necessary for life.” With this depletion, the patient was to drink two or three pints of hot water every two hours. The result of this treatment was death “from obstinacy.” (Gil Blas, chap. ii.)

Doctor Slop

An enthusiast, who thinks the world hinges on getting Uncle Toby to understand the action of a new medical instrument. (Sterne: Tristram Shandy.)

A nickname given by William Hone to Sir John Stoddart, editor of the New Times. (1773—1856.)

Doctor Squintum

George Whitefield, so called by Foote in his farce entitled The Minor. (1714—1770.) Theodore Hook applied the same sobriquet to the Rev. Edward Irving, who had an obliquity of the eyes. (1792—1834.)

Doctor Syntax

A simple—minded, pious henpecked clergyman, very simpleminded, but of excellent taste and scholarship, who left home in search of the picturesque. His adventures are told in eight—syllable verse in The Tour of Dr. Syntax, by William Combe. (See Duke Combe.)

Dr. Syntax's horse. Grizzle, all skin and bone. (See Horse.)

Doctors

False dice, which are doctored, or made to turn up winning numbers.

“ `The whole autechamber is full, my lord — knights and squires, doctors and dicers.'

“ `The dicers with their doctors in their pockets,

I presume.' ” — Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap.

xxviii.

“Or chaired at White's, amidst the doctors sit.”

Dunciad, book i. 203.

Doctors

The three best doctors are Dr. Quiet, Dr. Diet, and Dr. Merryman.

“Si tibi deficiant medici, medici tibi fiant

Hæc tria: Mens—læta, Requies,Moderata—Diæta.”

Doctors' Commons

A locality near St. Paul's, where the ecelesiastical courts were formerly held, and wills preserved. To “common” means to dine together; a term still used at our universities. Doctors' Commons was so called because the doctors of civil law had to dine together four days in each term. This was called eating their terms.

Doctors Disagree

Who shall decide when doctors disagree. When authorities differ, the question sub judiee must be left undecided. (Pope: Moral Essays, epistle iii. line 1.)

Doctor's Stuff Medicine; stuff sent from the doctor.

Doctored Wine

(See To Doctor .)

Doctour of Phisikes Tale

in Chaucer, is the Roman story of Virginius, given by Livy. There is a version of this tale in the Roman de la Rose, vol. ii. p. 74; and another, by Gower, in his Confessio Amantis, book vii.

Doctrinists

or Doctrinaires. A political party which has existed in France since 1815. They maintain that true liberty is compatible with a monarchical Government; and are so called because they advocate what is only a doctrine or dream. M. Guizot was one of this party.

Dodge

(1 syl.). An artful device to evade, deceive, or bilk some one. (Anglo—Saxon, deogian, to conceal or colour.)

The religious dodge. Seeking alms by trading on religion.

The tidy dodge. To dress up a family clean and tidy so as to excite sympathy, and make passers—by suppose you have by misfortune fallen from a respectable state in society.

Dodge About

(To), in school phrase, is to skip about and not go straight on through a lesson. A boy learns a verb, and the master does not hear him conjugate it straight through, but dodges him about. Also in class not to call each in order, but to pick a boy here and there.

Dodger

A “knowing fellow.” One who knows all the tricks and ways of London life, and profits by such knowledge.

Dodger

The Artful Dodger. John Dawkins, a young thief, up to every artifice, and a perfect adept in villainy. A sobriquet given by Dickens to such a rascal, in his Oliver Twist, chap. viii.

Dodington

whom Thomson invokes in his Summer, was George Bubb Dodington, Lord Melcomb—Regis, a British statesman, who associated much with the wits of the time. Churchill and Pope ridiculed him, while Hogarth introduced him in his wig into his picture called the Orders of Periwigs.

Dodipoll

As wise as Dr. Dodipoll (or) Doddipole — i.e. not wise at all; a dunce. (Doddy in dodi—poll and doddy—pate is probably a variant of totty, small, puny. Doddy—poll, one of puny intellect.)

Dodman

or Doddiman. A snail. A word still common in Norfolk; but Fairfax, in his Bulk and Selvedge (1674), speaks of “a snayl or dodman.”

“Doddiman, doddiman, put out your horn,

Here comes a thief to steal your corn.”

Norfolk rhyme.

Dodona

A famous oracle in Epiros, and the most ancient of Greece. It was dedicated to Zeus (Jupiter), and situate in the village of Dodona.

The tale is, that Jupiter presented his daughter Thebe with two black pigeons which had the gift of human speech. Lemprière tells us that the Greek word peleiai (pigeons) means, in the dialect of the Eperots, old women; so that the two black doves with human voice were two black or African women. One went to Libya,

in Africa, and founded the oracle of Jupiter Ammon, the other went to Epirus and founded the oracle of Dodona. We are also told that plates of brass were suspended on the oak trees of Dodona, which being struck by thongs when the wind blew, gave various sounds from which the responses were concocted. It appears that this suggested to the Greeks the phrase Kalkos Dodones (brass of Dodona), meaning a babbler, or one who talks an infinite deal of nothing.

Dods

(Meg). The old landlady in Scott's novel called St. Ronan's Well. An excellent character, made up of consistent inconsistencies; a mosaic of oddities, all fitting together, and forming an admirable whole. She was so good a housewife that a cookery book of great repute bears her name.

Dodson and Fogg

The lawyers employed by the plaintiff in the famous case of “Bardell v. Pickwick,” in the Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens.

Doe

(1 syl.). John Doe and Richard Roe. Any plaintiff and defendant in an action of ejectment. They were sham names used at one time to save certain “niceties of law;” but the clumsy device was abolished in 1852. Any mere imaginary persons, or men of straw. John Doe, Richard Roe, John o' Noakes, and Tom Styles are the four' sons of “Mrs. Harris,” all bound apprentices to the legal profession.

Doeg

(2 syl.), in the satire of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is meant for Elkanah Settle, a poet who wrote satires upon Dryden, but was no match for his great rival. Doeg was Saul's herdsman, who had charge of his mules and asses. He told Saul that the priests of Nob had provided David with food; whereupon Saul sent him to put them to death, and eighty—five were ruthlessly massacred. (1 Sam. xxi. 7;

xxii. 18.)

“Doëg, though without knowing how or why,

Made still a blundering kind of melody ... Let him rail on; let his invective Muse

Have four—and—twenty letters to abuse,

Which if he jumbles to one line of sense,

Indict him of a capital offence.”

Absalom and Achitophel, part ii.

Doff

is do—off, as “Doff your hat.” So don is do—ou, as “Don your clothes.” Dup is do—up, as “Dup the door” (q.v. ).

“Doff thy harness, youth.

And tempt not yet the brushes of the war.” Shakespeare: Troilas and Cressida, v. 3.

Dog

This long article is subdivided into eleven parts: 1. Dogs of note.

2. Dogs of noted persons.

3. Dogs models of their species.

4. Dogs in phrases.

5. Dogs used metaphorically, etc.

6. Dogs in Scripture language.

7. Dogs in art.

8. Dogs in proverbs and fables

9. Dogs in superstitions.

10. Dogs the male of animals.

11. Dogs inferior plants.

(1) DOGS of Note:

Barry. The famous mastiff of Great St. Bernard's, in the early part of the present century instrumental in saving forty human beings. His most memorable achievement was rescuing a little boy whose mother had been destroyed by an avalanche. The dog carried the boy on his back to the hospice. The stuffed skin of this noble animal is kept in the museum of Berne.

Gelert (q.v.).

Tonton.

The dog which was enclosed in an acorn. Tray — i.e. Trag = runner, or else from the Spanish traér, to fetch. (2) DOGS of noted persons:

Actæon's fifty dogs. Alce(strength), Amarynthos (from Amarythia, in Eubaea ), Asbolos (soot—colour), Banos, Boreas, Canache(ringwood ), Chediætros, Cisseta, Coran (cropped, crop—eared), Cyllo (halt), Cyllopotes (zig—zag runner), Cyprios (the Cyprian ), Draco (the dragon), Dromas (the courser), Dromios (seize—'em), Echnobas, Eudromos (good—runner), Harpale(voracious), Harpiea (tear—'em),

Ichnobate(track—follower), Labros (furious), Lacæna (lioness), Lachne(glossy—coated), Lacon (Spartan), Ladon (from Ladon, in Arcadia), Lælaps (hurricane), Lampos (shining—one), Leucos (grey), Lycisca, Lyncea, Machimos (boxer), Melampe(black), Melanchete (black—coat), Melanea (black), Menelea, Molossos (from Molossos), Napa (begotten by a wolf), Nebrophonos (fawn—killer), Ocydroma (swift—runner), Oresitrophos

(mountain—bred), Oribasos (mountain—ranger), Pachytos (thick—skinned), Pamphagos (ravenous), Paemenis

(leader) Pterelas (winged), Stricta (spot), Theridamas (beast—tamer or subduer), Theron (savage—faced), Thoös (swift), Uranis (heavenly—one).

Several modern names of dogs are of Spanish origin, as Ponto (pointer), Tray (fetch), etc.

King Arthur's favourite hound. Cavall.

Aubry's dog. Aubry of Montdidier was murdered, in 1371, in the forest of Bondy. His dog, Dragon, showed a most unusual hatred to a man named Richard of Macaire, always suarling and ready to fly at his throat whenever he appeared. Suspicion was excited, and Richard of Macaire was condemned to a judicial combat with the dog. He was killed, and in his dying moments confessed the crime.

Belgrade, the camp—sutler's dog: Clumsy.

Browning's (Mrs.) little dog Flush, on which she wrote a poem.

Lord Byron's favourite dog. Boatswain, buried in the garden of Newstead Abbey. Catherine de Medici's favourite lapdog was named Phoebé.

Cathullin's hound was named Luath (q.v..

Douglas's hound was named Luffra or Lufra (q.v.). Elizabeth of Bohemia's dog was named Apollon.

Fingal's dog was named Bran.

“ `Mare Bran, is e a brathair' (If it be not Bran, it is Bran's brother) was the proverbial reply of Maccombich.” — Waverley, chap. xlv.

Frederick of Wales had a dog given him by Alexander Pope, and on the collar were these words —

“I am his Highness' dog at Kew;

Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?”

Géryon's dogs. Gargittios and Orthos. The latter was the brother of Cerberos, but had one head less. Hercules killed both these monsters.

Icarios's dog. Maera (the glistener). Icarios was slain by some drunken peasants, who buried the body under a tree. His daughter Erigone searching for her father, was directed to the spot by the howling of Maera, and when she discovered the body she hung herself for grief. Icarios became the constellation Boötes, Erigone the constellation Virgo, and Maera the star Procyon, which rises in July, a little before the Dog—star. (Greek, pro—kuon.

Kenneth's (Sir) famous hound was called Roswal. (Sir W. Scott: The Talisman.

Lamb's (Charles) dog was named Dash.

Landor's (Savage) dog was named Giallo. Landseer's greyhound was named Brutus. “The Invader of the Larder.” Llewellyn's greyhound was named Gelert' (q.v.).

Ludlam's dog. (See Lazy.)

Lurgan's (Lord) greyhound was named Master M'Grath, from an orphan boy who reared it. It won three Waterloo Cups, and was presented at Court by the express desire of Queen Victoria, the very year it died (1866—1871).

Neville's dog. It ran away whenever it was called. In the corresponding Italian proverb the dog is called that of the Vicar Arlotto. (See Chien.)

Mauthe dog. (See Mauthe.)

Sir Isaac Newton's, Diamond (q.v.).

Dog of, Montargis. The same as Aubry's dog. A picture of the combat was for many years preserved in the castle of Montargis. (See Aubry's Dog.)

Orion's dogs were Arctophonos (bearkiller), and Ptoophagos (Ptoon—glutton.) (Ptoon is in Boaotia.) Pope's dog was named Bounce.

Punch's dog is Toby.

Richard II.'s greyhound was named Mathe. It deserted the king and attached itself to Bolingbroke. Roderick the Goth's dog was named Theron.

Rupert's (Prince) dog, killed at Marston Moor, was named Boy. Scott's (Sir Walter) dogs: his favourite deerhound was named Maida; his jet—black greyhound was called Hamlet. He also had two Dandy Dinmont terriers.

Seven Sleepers (Dog of the). This famous dog, admitted by Mahomet to heaven, was named Katmir. The seven noble youths that fell asleep for 309 years had a dog, which accompanied them to the cavern in which they were walled up. It remained standing for the whole time, and neither moved from the spot, ate, drank, nor slept. (Sale's Koran, xviii., notes.)

Tristran's dog was named Leon or Lion.

Ulysses' dog, Argos, recognised him after his return from Troy, and died of joy. (3) DOGS, models of their species:

Argoss (a Russian terrier); Baroness Cardiff (a Newfoundland); Black Prince (a mastiff); Bow—wow (a schipperke); Corney (a bull—terrier); Countess of Warwick (a great Dane); Dan O'Connor (an Irish water—spaniel); Dude (a pug); Fascination (a black cocker—spaniel); Fritz (a French poodle); Judith (a bloodhound); Kilcree (a Scotch terrier); King Lud (a bulldog); King of the Heather (a dandie—dinmont); Mikado (a Japanese spaniel); Olga (a deerhound); Romeo (a King Charles spaniel); Royal Krueger (a beagle); Scottish Leader (a smooth—coated St.Bernard); Sensation (a pointer); Sir Bedivere (a rough—coated St. Bernard); Spinaway (a greyhound); Toledo Blade (an English setter); Woodmansterne Trefoil (a collie).

(4) DOG in phrases:

A dog in a doublet. A bold, resolute fellow. In Germany and Flanders the boldest dogs were employed for hunting the wild boar, and these dogs were dressed in a kind of buff doublet buttoned to their bodies. Rubens and Sneyders have represented several in their pictures. A false friend is called a dog in one's doublet.

Between dog and wolf. The hour of dusk. “Entre chien et loup. “ St. Roch and his dog. Two inseparables. “Toby and his dog.” One is never seen without the other. They lead a cat and dog life. Always quarrelling.

To lead the life of a dog. To live a wretched life, or a life of debauchery. (5) DOG, used metaphorically or symbolically:

The dog. Diogenes, the Cynic (B.C. 412—323). When Alexander went to see him, the young King of Maceaonia introduced himself with these words: “I am Alexander, surnamed the Great,” to which the philosopher replied: “And I am Diogenes, surnamed the Dog.” The Athenians raised to his memory a pillar of Parian marble, surmounted by a dog. (See Cynic.)

Dog of God. So the Laplanders call the bear. The Norwegians say it “has the strength of ten men and the wit of twelve.” They never presume to speak of it by its proper appellation, guouztija, lest it should revenge the

insult on their flocks and herds, but they call it Möddaaigja (the old man with a fur cloak).

A dead dog. Something utterly worthless. A phrase used two or three times in the Bible. (See (6).) A dirty dog. In the East the dog is still held in abhorrence, as the scavenger of the streets. “Him that dieth in the city shall the dogs eat” (1 Kings xiv. 11). The French say, Crotté comme un barbet (muddy or dirty as a poodle), whose hair, being very long, becomes filthy with mud and dirt. Generally speaking, “a dirty dog” is one morally filthy, and is applied to those who talk and act nastily. Mere skin dirt is quite another matter, and those who are so defiled we call dirty pigs.

A surly dog. A human being of a surly temper, like a surly dog. Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing? (2 Kings viii. 12, 13). Hazael means, “Am I such a brute as to set on fire the strongholds of Israel, slay the young men with the sword, and dash their children to the ground, as thou, Elijah, sayest I shall do when I am king?”

Sydney Smith being asked if it was true that he was about to sit to Landseer, the animal painter, for his portrait, replied, in the words of Hazael, “What! is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing?”

The Thracian dog. Zoilus.

“Like curs, our critics haunt the poet's feast,

And feed on scraps refused by every guest: From the old Thracian dog they learned the way To snarl in want, and grumble o'er their prey.” Pitt: To Mr. Spence.

Dogs of war. The horrors of war, especially famine, sword, and fire.

“And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,

With Até by his side, come hot from hell. Shall in these confines, with a monarch's voice, Cry `Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war.” Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, iii. 1.

(6) DOG (in Scripture language, whether dead or living, is a most degrading expression: “After whom is the King of Israel come out? After a dead dog?”(1 Sam. xxiv. 14.) “Beware of dogs” (Phil. iii. 2), i.e. sordid, noisy professors. Again, “Without are dogs” (Rev. xxii. 15), i.e. false teachers and sinners, who sin and return to their sins (2 Peter ii. 21).

There is no expression in the Bible of the fidelity, love, and watchful care of the dog, so highly honoured by ourselves.

(7) DOG in art.

Dog, in mediaeval art, symbolises fidelity.

A dog is represented as lying at the feet of St. Bernard, St. Benignus, and St. Wendelin; as licking the wounds of St. Roch; as carrying a lighted torch in representations of St. Dominic.

Dogs in monuments. The dog is placed at the feet of women in monuments to symbolise affection and fidelity, as a lion is placed at the feet of men to signify courage and magnanimity. Many of the Crusaders are represented with their feet on a dog, to show that they followed the standard of the Lord as faithfully as a dog follows the footsteps of his master.

(8) DOG in proverbs, fables, and proverbial phrases:

Barking dogs seldom bite. (See Barking.)

Dog don't eat dog. Ecclesia ecclesiam non decimat; government letters are not taxed; church lands pay no tithes to the church.

A black dog has walked over him. Said of a sullen person. Horace tells us that the sight of a black dog with its pups was an unlucky omen. (See Black Dog.)

A dog in the manger. A churlish fellow, who will not use what is wanted by another, nor yet let the other have it to use. The allusion is to the well—known fable of a dog that fixed his place in a manger, and would not

allow an ox to come near the hay.

Every dog has his day. In Latin, “Hodie mihi, cras tibi.” “Nunc mihi, nunc tibi, benigna” [fortuna]. In German, “Heute mir, morgen dir.” You may crow over me to—day, but my turn will come by—and—by. The Latin proverb, “Hodie mihi, ” etc., means, “I died to—day, your turn will come in time.” The other Latin proverb means, fortune visits every man once. She favours me now, but she will favour you in your turn.

“Thus every dog at last will have his day —

He who this morning smiled, at night may sorrow; The grub to—day's a butterfly to—morrow.”

Peter Pindar: Odes of Condolence.

Give a dog a bad name and hang him.

If you want to do anyone a wrong, throw dirt on him or rail against him.

Gone to the dogs. Gone to utter ruin; impoverished. He has not a dog to lick a dish. He has quite cleared out. He has taken away everything. He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find a stick. In Latin, “Qui vult caedere canem facile invenit fustem. ” If you want to abuse a person, you will easily find something to blame. Dean Swift says, “If you want to throw a stone, every lane will furnish one.”

“To him who wills, ways will not be wanting.” “Where there's a will there's a way.”

Hungry dogs will eat dirty pudding. Those really hungry are not particular about what they eat, and are by no means dainty. When Darius in his flight from Greece drank from a ditch defiled with dead carcases, he declared he had never drunk so pleasantly before.

It was the story of the dog and the shadow — i.e. of one who throws good money after bad; of one who gives certa pro incertis. The allusion is to the well—known fable.

“Illudit species, ac dentibus aëra mordit.”

(Down sank the meat in the stream for the flshes to hoard it.)

Love me love my dog. “Qui m'aime aime mon chien,” or “Qui aime Bertrand aime son chien. “ Old dogs will not learn new tricks. People in old age do not readily conform to new ways.

To call off the dogs. To break up a disagreeable conversation. In the chase, if the dogs are on the wrong track, the huntsman calls them off. (French, rompre les chiens.)

Throw it to the dogs. Throw it away, it is useless and worthless. What! keep a dog and bark myself! Must I keep servants and myself do their work? You are like Neville's dog, which runs away when it is called. (See Chien.)

(9) DOG, DOGS, in Superstitions:

Dogs howl at death. A wide—spread superstition.

“In the rabbinical book it saith

The dogs howl when, with icy breath,

Great Sammaël, the angel of death,

Takes thro' the town his flight.”

Longfellow: Golden Legend, iii.

The hair of the dog that bit you. When a man has had a debauch, he is advised to take next morning “a hair of the same dog,” in allusion to an ancient notion that the burnt hair of a dog is an antidote to its bite.

(10) DOG, to express the male of animals, as dog—ape, dog—fox, dog—otter.

(11) DOG, applied to inferior plants: dog—brier, dog—berry, dog—cabbage, dog—daisy, dog—fennel,

dog—leek, dog—lichen, dog—mercury, dog—parsley, dog—violets (which have no perfume), dog—wheat. (See below, Dog—Grass, Dog—Rose.)

Dog and Duck A public—house sign, to announce that ducks were hunted by dogs within. The sport was to see the duck dive, and the dog after it. At Lambeth there was a famous pleasure—resort so called, on the spot where Bethlehem Hospital now stands.

Dog—cheap

A perversion of the old English god—chepe (a good bargain). French, bon marché (good—cheap or bargain).

“The sack ... would have bought me lights as good—cheap at the dearest chandler's in Europe.” — Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., iii. 3.

Dog—days

Days of great heat. The Romans called the six or eight hottest weeks of the summer caniculares dies. According to their theory, the dog—star or Sirius, rising with the sun, added to its heat, and the dog—days bore the combined heat of the dog—star and the sun. (July 3rd to August 11th.)

Dog—fall

(in wrestling), when both wrestlers fall together.

Dog—grass

(triticum repens). Grass eaten by dogs when they have lost their appetite; it acts as an emetic and purgative.

Dog—head

(in machinery). That which bites or holds the gun—flint.

Dog—headed Tribes

of India. Mentioned in the Italian romance of Guerino Meschino.

Dog—Latin

Pretended or mongrel Latin. An excellent example is Stevens' definition of a kitchen: As the law classically expresses it, a kitchen is

“camera necessaria pro usus cookare; cum saucepannis, stewpannis, scullero, dressero, coalholo,

stovis, smoak—jacko; pro roastandum, boilandum, fryandum, et plum—pudding—mixandum ...”

A Law Report (Daniel v. Dishclout).

Dog—leech

(A). A dog — doctor. Formerly applied to a medical practitioner; it expresses great contempt.

Dog—rose

Botanical name, Cynorrhodos — i.e. Greek Kuno—rodon, dog—rose; so called because it was supposed to cure the bite of a mad dog (Rosa Canina, wild brier).

“A morsu vero [i.e. of a mad dog] unicum remedium oraculo quodam nuper repertum, radix sylvestris rosæ. quæ cynorrhodos appellatur.” —

Pliny: Natural History, viii. 63; xxv. 6.

Dog—sick

Sick as a dog. We also say “Sick as a cat.” The Bible speaks of dogs “returning to their vomit again” (Prov. xxvi. 11; 2 Pet. ii. 22).

Dog—sleep

(A). A pretended sleep. Dogs seem to sleep with “one eye open.”

Dog—star

The brightest star in the firmament. (See Dog—Days .)

Dog—vane

(A). A cockade.

“Dog—vane is a term familiarly applied to a cockade.” — Smyth: Sailors' Word—book.

Dog—watch

A corruption of dodgewatch: two short watches, one from four to six, and the other from six to eight in the evening, introduced to dodge the routine, or prevent the same men always keeping watch at the same time. (See Watch.)

Dog—whipper

(A). A beadle who whips all dogs from the precincts of a church. At one time there was a church officer so called. Even so recently as 1856. Mr. John Pickard was appointed

“dog—whipper” in Exeter Cathedral, “in the room of Mr. Charles Reynolds, deceased.” (Exeter Gazette.)

Dog—whipping Day

October 18th (St. Luke's Day). It is said that a dog once swallowed the consecrated wafer in York Minster on this day.

Dogs

(a military term). The 17th Lancers or Duke of Cambridge's Own Lancers. The crest of this famous cavalry regiment is a Death's Head and Cross—bones, OR GLORY, whence the acrostic Death Or Glory

(D.O.G.).

The Spartan injunction, when the young soldier was presented with his shield, was, “With this, or On this,” which meant the same thing.

Dogs

in Stock—Exchange phraseology, means Newfoundland Telegraph shares — that is, Newfoundland dogs. (See Stock—Exchange Slang.)

Dogs

Islc of Dogs. When Greenwich was a place of royal residence, the kennel for the monarch's hounds was on the opposite side of the river, hence called the “Isle of Dogs.”

Dogs

(Green). Extinct like the Dodo. Brederode said to Count Louis, “I would the whole race of bishops and cardinals were extinct, like that of green dogs.” (Motley: Dutch Republic, part ii. 5.)

Dogs'—ears

The corners of leaves crumpled and folded down.

Dogs'—eared. Leaves so crumpled and turned up. The ears of many dogs turn down and seem quite limp.

Dogs'—meat

Food unfit for consumption by human beings.

Dogs'—meat and cats'—meat. Food cheap and nasty.

Dog's—nose

Gin and beer.

“ `Dog's—nose, which is, I believe, a mixture of gin and beer.'

“ `So it is,' said an old lady.” — Pickwick Papers.

Dogged

He dogged me, i.e. followed me about like a dog; shadowed me.

Dogged

(2 syl.). Sullen, snappish, like a dog.

Dogaressa

(g = j). The wife of a doge.

Dogberry

An ignorant, self—satisfied, overbearing, but good—natured night—constable in Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing.

Doge

(1 syl., g = j). The chief magistrate in Venice while it was a Republic. The first duke or doge was Anafesto Paoluccio, created 697. The chief magistrate of Genoa was called a doge down to 1797, when the Republican form of Government was abolished by the French. (Latin, dux, a “duke” or “leader.”

“For six hundred years ... her [Venice's] government was an elective monarchy, her ... doge possessing, in early times at least, as much independent authority as any other European sovereign.” —Ruskin: Stones of Venice, vol. i. chap. i.p. 3.

Doge. The ceremony of wedding the Adriatic was instituted in 1174 by Pope Alexander III., who gave the doge a gold ring from off his own finger in token of the victory achieved by the Venetian fleet at Istria over Frederick Barbarossa, in defence of the Pope's quarrel. When his Holiness gave the ring he desired the doge to throw a similar one into the sea every year on Ascension Day, in commemoration of the event. (See Bucentaur.)

Dirty dog. (See under DOG, No. 5.) This alludes more to the animal called a dog, but implies the idea of badness.

Dogget

Dogget's coat and badge. The first prize in the Thames rowing—match, given on the 1st of August every year. So called from Thomas Dogget, an actor of Drury Lane, who signalised the accession of George I. to the throne by giving a waterman's coat and badge to the winner of the race. The Fishmongers' Company add a guinea to the prize. The race is from the “Swan” at London Bridge to the “Swan” at Chelsea.

Doggerel

Inferior sort of verse in rhymes.

Dogma

(Greek). A religious doctrine formally stated. It now means a statement resting on the ipse dixit of the speaker. Dogmatic teaching used to mean the teaching of religious doctrines, but now dogmatic means overbearing and dictatorial. (Greek dogma, gen. dogmatos, a matter of opinion; verb dokeo, to think, whence dogmatizo.)

Dogmatic Facts

(1) The supreme authority of the Pope of Rome over all churches. (2) His right to decide arbitrarily all controversies.

(3) His right to convoke councils at will.

(4) His right to revise, repeal, or confirm decrees.

(5) His right to issue decrees bearing on discipline, morals and doctrine. (6) The Pope is the centre of communion, and separation from him is excommunication. (7) He has ultimate authority to appoint all bishops.

(8) He has power to depose any ecclesiastic.

(9) He has power to judge every question of doctrine, and pronounce infallibly what the Church shall or shall not accept.

Dogmatic School

of Medicine Founded by Hippocrates, and so called because it set out certain dogmas or theoretical principles which it made the basis of practice.

Dogmatic Theology

is that which treats of the dogmata (doctrines) of religion.

Doiley

(See Doyley .)

Doit

(1 syl.). Not a doit. The doit was a Scotch silver coin = one—third of a farthing. In England the doit was a base coin of small value prohibited by 3 Henry V. c.1.

“When they will not give a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see a dead Indian.” — Shakespeare: The Tempest, ii.2.

Dolabra

A Roman axe.

Dolabra fossoria. The pickaxe used by miners and excavators. Dolabra pontificalis. The priest's hatchet for slaughtering animals.

Dolce far Niente

(Italian). Delightful idleness. Pliny has “Jucundum tamen nihil agere ” (Ep. viii. 9).

Doldrums

(The). The name given to that region of the ocean near the equator noted for calms, squalls, and baffling winds, between the N.E. and S.E. tradewinds.

“But from the bluff—head, where I watched to—day.

I saw her in the doldrums.”

Byron: The Island, canto ii. stanza 21.

In the doldrums. In the dumps.

Dole

lamentation, from the Latin doleo, to grieve.

“He [the dwarf] found the dead bodies, wherefore he made great dole" — S. Lanier: King Arthur, book i. chap. xiv.

Dole

a portion allotted, is the Anglo Saxon dál, a portion.

“Heaven has in store a precious dole.”

Keble: Christian Year (4th Sunday after Trinity).

Happy man be his dole. May his share or lot be that of a happy or fortunate man.

“Wherein, happy man be his dole, I trust that I

Shall not speed worst, and that very quickly.” Damon and Pythias, i. 177.

Dole—fish

The share of fish allotted to each one of a company of fishermen in a catch. Dole = the part dealt to anyone. (Anglo—Saxon, dál or dæl, from the verb dael—an, to divide into parta.)

Doll Money

A lady of Duxford left a sum of money to be given away annually in the parish, and to be called Doll Money. Doll is a corruption of dole, Saxon dál (a share distributed).

Dollar

Marked thus $, either scutum or 8, a dollar being a “piece of eight” [reals]. The two lines indicate a contraction, as in lb.

The word is a variant of thaler (Low German, dahler; Danish, daler, and means “a valley,” our dale. The counts of Schlick, at the close of the fifteenth century, extracted from the mines at Joachim's thal (Joachim's valley) silver which they coined into ounce—pieces. These pieces, called Joachim's—thalers, gained such high repute that they became a standard coin. Other coins being made like them were called thalers only. The American dollar equals 100 cents, in English money a little more than four shillings.

Dolly Murrey

A character in Crabbe's Borough, who died playing cards.

“ `A vole! a vole!' she cried. `tis fairly won.

This said she, gently, with a single sigh,

Died as one taught and practised how to die.” Crabbc: Borough.

Dolly Shop

A shop where rags and refuse are bought and sold. So called from the black doll suspended over it as a sign. Dolly shops are, in reality, no better than unlicensed pawnshops. A black doll used to be the sign hung out to denote the sale of silks and muslins which were fabricated by Indians.

Dolmen

A name given in France to what we term “cromlechs.” These ancient remains are often called by the rural population devils' tables, fairies' tables, and so on. (Celtic, stone tables.) It consists of a slab resting on unhewn upright stones. Plural dolmens (dol, a table; men, a stone).

“The Indian dolmens ... may be said to be identical with those of Western Europe.” — J. Lubbock: Prehistoric Times, chap.v. p. 129.

Dolopatos

A French metrical version of Sandabar's Parables, written by Hebers or Herbers or Prince Philippe, afterwards called Philippe le Hardi. Dolopatos is the Sicilian king, and Virgil the tutor of his son Lucinien. (See Seven Wise Masters.)

Dolorous Dettie

(The). John Skelton wrote an elegy on Henry Percy, fourth Earl of Northumberland, who fell a victim to the avarice of Henry VII. (1489). This elegy he entitled thus: “Upon the Dolorous Dettie and Much Lamentable Chaunce of the Most Honorable Earl of Northumberland.”

Dolphin

Called a sea—goose (oie de mer) from the form of its snout, termed in French bec d'oie (a goose's beak). The dolphin is noted for its changes of colour when taken out of the water.

“Parting day

Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues

With a new colour as it gasps away,

The last still loveliest.”

Byron: Childe Harold, canto iv. stanza 29.

Dolphin

(The), in mediæval art, symbolises social love.

Dom

A title applied in the Middle Ages to the Pope, and at a somewhat later period to other Church dignitaries. It is now restricted to priests and choir monks among the Benedictines, and some few other monastic orders, as Dom Mabillon, Dom Calmet. The Spanish don, Portuguese dom, German von, and French de, are pretty well equivalent to it. (Latin, dominus.)

Dombey

(Florence). A motherless child, hungering and thirsting to be loved, but regarded with frigid indifference by her father, who thinks that sons alone are worthy of his regard. (Dickens: Dombey and Son.)

Mr. Dombey. A self—sufficient, purse—proud, frigid merchant, who feels satisfied there is but one Dombey in the world, and that is himself. (Dickens: Dombey and Son.)

Dom—Daniel

The abode of evil spirits, gnomes, and enchanters, somewhere “under the roots of the ocean,” but not far from Babylon. (Continuation of the Arabian Tales.)

“In the Domdaniel caverns

Under the roots of the ocean.” Southey

Domesday Book

consists of two volumes, one a large folio, and the other a quarto, the material of each being vellum. It was formerly kept in the Exchequer, under three different locks and keys, but is now kept in the Record Office. The date of the survey is 1086.

Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham are not included in the survey, though parts of Westmoreland and Cumberland are taken.

The value of all estates is given, firstly, as in the time of the Confessor: secondly, when bestowed by the Conqueror; and, thirdly, at the time of the survey. It is also called The King's Book, and The Winchester Roll because it was kept there. Printed in facsimile in 1783 and 1816.

Stow says the book was so called because it was deposited in a part of Winchester Cathedral called Domus—dei, and that the word is a contraction of Domus—dei book; more likely it is connected with the previous surveys made by the Saxon kings, and called dom—bocs (libri judiciales), because every case of dispute was decided by an appeal to these registers.

“Then seyde Gamelyn to the Justice ...

Thou hast given domes that bin evil dight, I will sitten in thy sete, and dressen him aright.” Chaucer: Canterbury Tales (The Cookes Tale).

Domestic

England's domestic poet. William Cowper, author of The Task. (1731—1800.)

Domestic Poultry

in Dryden's Hind and Panther, means the Roman Catholic clergy. So called from an establishment of priests in the private chapel at Whitehall. The nuns are termed “sister partlet with her hooded head.”

Domiciliary Visit

(A). An official visit to search the house.

Dominic

(St.) (1170—1221.) A Spanish priest who founded the Inquisition, and the order called the Dominicans or Preaching Friars. He was called by the Pope “Inquisitor — General,” and was canonised by Gregory IX.

Some say the Inquisition existed in 1184, when Dominic was under fourteen years of age. He is represented with a sparrow at his side, and a dog carrying in its mouth a burning torch. The devil, it is said, appeared to the saint in the form of a sparrow, and the dog refers to a dream which his mother had during pregnancy. She dreamt that she had given birth to a dog, spotted with black and white spots, which lighted the world with a burning torch.

He is also represented sometimes with a city in his hand and a star either on his forehead or on his breast; sometimes also with a sword in his hand and a pile of books burning beside him, to denote his severity with heretics.

Dominical Letters

The letters which denote the Sundays or dies dominica. The first seven letters of the alphabet are employed; so that if A stands for the first Sunday in the year, the other six letters will stand for the other days of the week, and the octave Sunday will come round to A again. In this case A will be the Sunday or Dominical Letter for the whole year.

Dominicans

Preaching friars founded by Dominic de Guzman, at Toulouse, in 1215. Formerly called in England Black Friars, from their black dress, and in France Jacobins, because their mother—establishment in Paris was in the Rue St. Jacques.

Dominie Sampson

A village schoolmaster and scholar, poor as a church mouse, and modest an a girl. He cites Latin like a porcus literarum, and exclaims “Prodigious!” (Scott: Guy Mannering.) (See Stilling.)

Dominions

One of the orders of angels, symbolished in Christian art by an ensign.

Domino

(A). A hood worn by canons; a mask.

“Ce nom, qu'on donnait autrefois, par allusion a quelque passage de la liturgie, au camail dont les prêtres se couvrent la tête et les épaules pendant l'hiver, ne designe aujourdhui qu'un habit de déguisement pour les bals masqués.” — Bouillet: Dictionnaire des Sciences, etc.

Dominoes

(3 syl.). The teeth; also called ivories. Dominoes are made of ivory.

Domisellus

The son of a king, prince, knight, or lord before he has entered on the order of knighthood. Also an attendant on some abbot or nobleman. The person domiciled in your house. Hence the king's body—guards were called his damoiseaux or damsels.

Froissart styles Richard II. le jeune damoisel Richart. Similarly Louis VII. (Le Jeune) was called the royal damsel.

“Damoisel ou Damoiseau designait autrefois les fils de chevaliers, de barons, et toutes les jeunes gentilshommes qui n'etaient pas encore chevaliers. On le donnait aussi aux fils des rois qui n'etaient pas encore en etat de porter les armes.” — Bouillet: Dict.Universel.

Domisellus and domisella are diminutives of dominus, a lord. In old French we find damoiseau and damoiselle. The word Ma—demoiselle is ma domisella or damoiselle.

Don

is do—on, as “Don your bonnet.” (See Doff, Dup .)

“Then up he rose, and donned his clothes,

And dupp'd the chamber door.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, iv. 5.

Don

A man of mark, an aristocrat. At the universities the masters, fellows, and noblemen are termed dons. (Spanish.)

Don Giovanni

Mozart's best opera. (See Don Juan .)

Don Juan

A native of Seville, son of Don José and Donna Inez, a blue—stocking. When Juan was sixteen years old he got into trouble with Donna Julia, and was sent by his mother, then a widow, on his travels. His

adventures form the story of the poem, which is incomplete. (Byron: Don Juan.)

A Don Juan. A libertine of the aristocratic class. The original of this character was Don Juan Tenorio of Seville, who lived in the fourteenth century. The traditions concerning him have been dramatised by Triso de Molina; thence passed into Italy and France. Glück has a musical ballet of Don Juan, and Mozart has immortalised the character in his opera of Don Giovanni (1787).

Don Quixote

(2 syl.). A gaunt country gentleman of La Mancha, gentle and dignified, affectionate and

simple—minded, but so crazed by reading books of knight—errantry that he believes himself called upon to redress the wrongs of the whole world, and actually goes forth to avenge the oppressed and run a tilt with their oppressors. The word Quixote means The cuish—armed. (See Quixotic.)

A Don Quixote. A dreamy, unpractical man, with a “bee in his bonnet.”

Donation of Pepin

(The). When Pepin conquered Ataulf the ex—archate of Ravenna fell into his hands. Pepin gave both the ex—archate and the Republic of Rome to the Pope, and this munificent gift is the famous

“Donation” on which rested the whole fabric of the temporal power of the Popes of Rome (A.D. 755).

Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy, dispossessed the Pope of his temporal dominions, and added the Papal States to the united kingdom of Italy (1870).

Donatists

Followers of Donatus, a Numidian bishop who opposed Cecilianus. Their chief dogma is that the outward church is nothing, “for the letter killeth, it is the spirit that giveth life.” (Founded 314.)

Doncaster

Sigebert, monk of Gemblours, in 1100, derived this word from Thong—ceaster, the “Castle of the thong,” and says that Hengist and Horsa purchased of the British king as much land as he could encompass with a leather thong. The thong was cut into strips, and encompassed the land occupied by the city of Doncaster.

This is the old tale of Dido and the hide, and so is the Russian Yakutsks. (See Bursa.) Of course it means the “City on the river Don.” (Celtic, Don, that which spreads.)

Dondasch'

An Oriental giant contemporary with Seth, to whose service he was attached. He needed no weapons, as he could destroy anything by the mere force of his arms.

Done Brown

He was done brown. Completely bamboozled or made a fool of. This is a variety of the many expressions of a similar meaning connected with cooking, such as “I gave him a roasting,” “I cooked his goose,” “I cut him into mince—meat,” “I put him into a pretty stew,” “I settled his hash,” “He was dished up,” “He was well dressed" [drubbed], “He was served out,” etc. (See Cooking.)

Done For

or Regularly done for. Utterly ruined. This “for” is the adverb=thoroughly, very common as a prefix.

Done Up

Thoroughly tired and wearied out. Up means ended, completed, as the “game is up” (over, finished), and adverbially it means “completely,” hence to be “done up” is to be exhausted completely.

Donegild

(3 syl.). The wicked mother of Alla, King of Northumberland. Hating Cunstance because she was a Christian, she put her on a raft with her infant son, and turned her adrift. When Alla returned from Scotland and discovered this cruelty of his mother, he put her to death. (Chaucer: Man of Lawes Tale.)

The tradition of St. Mungo resembles the Man of Lawes Tale in many respects.

Donkey

An ass. It was made to rhyme with “monkey,” but is never now so pronounced. The word means a little tawny or dun—coloured animal.

Donkey. The cross of the donkey's back is popularly attributed to the honour conferred on the beast by our Lord, who rode on an ass in “His triumphant entry” into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. (See Christian

Traditions.)

The donkey means one thing and the driver another. Different people see from different standpoints, their own interest in every case directing their judgment. The allusion is to a fable in Phædrus, where a

donkey—driver exhorts his donkey to flee, as the enemy is at hand. The donkey asks if the enemy will load him with double pack—saddles. “No,” says the man. “Then,” replies the donkey, “what care I whether you are my master or someone else?”

To ride the black donkey. To be pigheaded, obstinate like a donkey. Black is added, not so much to designate the colour, as to express what is bad.

Two more, and up goes the donkey — i.e. two pennies more, and the donkey shall be balanced on the top of the pole or ladder. It is said to a braggart, and means — what you have said is wonderful, but if we admit it without gainsaying we shall soon be treated with something still more astounding.

Who ate the donkey? When the French were in their flight from Spain, after the battle of Vittoria, some stragglers entered a village and demanded rations. The villagers killed a donkey, and served it to their hated foes. Next day they continued their flight, and were waylaid by the villagers, who assaulted them most murderously, jeering them as they did so with the shout, “Who ate the donkey?”

Who stole the donkey? This was for many years a jeer against policemen. When the force was first established a donkey was stolen, but the police failed to discover the thief, and this failure gave rise to the laugh against them.

Who stole the donkey? Answer: “The man with the white hat.” It was said, in the middle of the nineteenth century, that white hats were made of the skins of donkeys, and that many donkeys were stolen and sold to hatters.

Donkey Engine

(A). A small engine of from two to four horse—power.

Dony

Florimel's dwarf. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iii. canto 5.)

Donzel

(Italian). A squire or young man of good birth.

“He is esquire to a knight—errant, donzel to the damsels.”— Butler: Characters.

Doolin

of Mayence. The hero of a French romance of chivalry, and the father of Ogier the Dane.

Doolin's Sword. Merveilleuse (wonderful). (See Sword.)

Doom

The crack of doom. The signal for the final judgment.

Doom Book

(dom—boc) is the book of dooms or judgments compiled by King Alfred. (See Domesday Book.)

Doom—rings

or Circles of Judgment. An Icelandic term for circles of stones resembling Stonehenge and Avebury.

Doomsday Sedgwick

William Sedgwick, a fanatical prophet and preacher during the Commonwealth. He pretended to have had it revealed to him in a vision that doomsday was at hand; and, going to the house of Sir Francis Russell, in Cambridgeshire, he called upon a party of gentlemen playing at bowls to leave off and prepare for the approaching dissolution.

Doomstead

The horse of the Scandinavian Nornes or Fates. (See Horse .)

Door

(Greek, thura; Anglo—Saxon, dora.)

The door must be either shut or open. It must be one way or the other. This is from a French comedy called Le Grondeur, where the master scolds his servant for leaving the door open. The servant says that he was scolded the last time for shutting it, and adds: “Do you wish it shut?” — “No.” — “Do you wish it open?” —

“No.” — “Why,” says the man, “it must be either shut or open.” He laid the charge at my door. He accused me of doing it. Next door to it. As, if not so, it was next door to it, i.e. very like it, next—door neighbour to it. Sin lieth at the door (Gen. iv. 7). The blame of sin lies at the door of the wrong—doer, and he must take the consequences.

Door Nail

(See Dead .) Scrooge's partner is “dead as a door—nail.” (Dickens. Christmas Carol, chap. i.)

Door—opener

(The). So Crates, the Theban, was called, because every morning he used to go round Athens and rebuke the people for their late rising.

Door—tree

(A) The wooden bar of a door to secure it at night from intruders. Also a door—post.

Doors

[house ]. As, come indoors, go indoors. So Virgil: “Tum foribus divæ ... [Dido]... resedit. ” (Then Dido seated herself in the house or temple of the goddess.) (Æneid, i. 505.)

Out of doors. Outside the house; in the open air.

Doorm

An earl called “the Bull,” who tried to make Enid his handmaid; but, when she would neither eat, drink, nor array herself in bravery at his bidding, “he smote her on the cheek;” whereupon her lord and husband, Count Geraint, starting up, slew the “russet—bearded earl” in his own hall. (Tennyson Idylls of the King; Enid.)

Dora

The first wife of David Copperfield; she was a child—wife, but no help—meet. She could do nothing of practical use, but looked on her husband with idolatrous love. Tennyson has a poem entitled Dora.

Dorado

(El). (See El Dorado .)

Dorax

A Portuguese renegade, in Dryden's Don Sebastian — by far the best of all his characters.

Dorcas Society

A society for supplying the poor with clothing. So called from Dorcas, mentioned in Acts ix.

39.

Dorchester As big as a Dorchester butt. Very corpulent, like the butts of Dorchester. Of Toby Filpot it is said:

“His breath—doors of life on a sudden were shut,

And he died full as big as a Dorchester butt.”

O'Keefe: Poor Soldier.

Doric

The oldest, strongest, and simplest of the Grecian orders of architecture. So called from Doris, in Greece, or the Dorians who employed it. The Greek Doric is simpler than the Roman imitation. The former stands on the pavement without fillet or other ornament and the flutes are not scalloped. The Roman column is placed on a plinth, has fillets, and the flutings, both top and bottom, are scalloped.

Doric Dialect

The dialect spoken by the natives of Doris, in Greece. It was broad and hard. Hence, any broad dialect.

Doric Land

Greece, Doris being a part of Greece.

“Through all the bounds

Of Doric laud.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, book 1. 510.

Doric Reed

Pastoral poetry. Everything Doric was very plain, but cheerful, chaste, and solid. The Dorians were the pastoral people of Greece, and their dialect was that of the country rustics. Our own Bloomfield and Robert Burns are examples of British Doric.

“The Dorie reed once more

Well pleased. I tune.”

Thomson Autumn. 3—4.

Doricourt

A sort of Tremaine of the eighteenth century, who, having over—refined his taste by the “grand tour,” considers English beauties insipid. He falls in love with Letitia Hardy at a masquerade, after feeling aversion to her in her assumed character of a hoyden. (Mrs. Cowley The Belle's Stratagem.)

Dorigen

A lady of high family, who married Arviragus out of pity for his love and meekness. She was greatly beloved by Aurelius, to whom she had been long known. Aurelius, during the absence of Arviragus, tried to win the heart of the young wife; but Dorigen made answer that she would never listen to him till the rocks that beset the coast of Britain are removed “and there n'is no stone yseen.” Aurelius, by the aid of a young magician of Orleans, caused all the rocks to disappear, and claimed his reward. Dorigen was very sad, but her husband insisted that she should keep her word, and she went to meet Aurelius. When Aurelius saw how sad she was, and heard what Arviragus had counselled, he said he would rather die than injure so true a wife and noble a gentleman. So she returned to her husband happy and untainted. (See Dianora.) (Chaucer: Franklines Tale.

Dorimant

Drawn from the Earl of Rochester; a witty, aristocratic libertine, in Etherege's Man of Mode.

Dorinda

in the verses of the Earl of Dorset, is Catherine Sedley, Countess of Dorchester, mistress of James

II.

Dormer Window

The window of an attic standing out from the slope of the roof. (O. French, dormeor =a sleeping room formerly fitted with windows of this kind.)

“Thatched were the roofs, with dormer windows.”

Longfellow: Evangeline, part i. stanza 1.

Dornock

Stout figured linen for tablecloths; so called from a town in Scotland, where it was originally made.

Dorothea

(St.), represented with a rose—branch in her hand, a wreath of roses on her head, and roses with fruit by her side; sometimes with an angel carrying a basket with three apples and three roses. The legend is that Theophilus, the judge's secretary, scoffingly said to her, as she was going to execution, “Send me some fruit and roses, Dorothea, when you get to Paradise.” Immediately after her execution, while Theophilus was at dinner with a party of companions, a young angel brought to him a basket of apples and roses, saying,

“From Dorothea, in Paradise,” and vanished. Theophilus, of course, was a convert from that moment.

Dorset

Once the seat of a British tribe, calling themselves Dwr—trigs (water—dwellers). The Romans colonised the settlement, and Latinised Dwr—trigs into Duro—triges. Lastly came the Saxons, and translated the original words into their own tongue, dor—sætta (water—dwellers).

Dorsetian Downs

The Downs of Dorsetshire.

“Spread the pure Dorsetian downs in boundless prospect.”

Thomson: Autumn.

Dositheans

A religious sect which sprang up in the first century; so called because they believed that Dositheus had a divine mission superior to that of prophets and apostles.

Doson

A promise—maker and a promise—breaker. Antigonos, grandson of Demetrios the besieger, was so called.

Doss

A hassock stuffed with straw; a bed — properly, a straw bed; whence the cant word for a lodging—house is a dossingken. Dossel is an old word for a bundle of hay or straw, and dosser for a straw basket. These words were common in Elizabeth's reign. The French dossier means a “bundle.”

Doss—house

(A). A cheap lodging—house where the poorer classes sleep on bundles of straw. (See above.) In the New Review (Aug., 1894) there is an article entitled “In a Woman's Doss—house,” which throws much light on the condition of the poor in London.

Dosser

One who sleeps in a low or cheap hired dormitory. The verb doss = to sleep.

Do—the—Boys' Hall

A school where boys were taken in and done for by a Mr. Squeers, a puffing, ignorant,

over—bearing brute, who starved them and taught them nothing. (Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby.)

It is said that Mr. Squeers is a caricature of Mr. Shaw, a Yorkshire schoolmaster; but Mr. Shaw was a kind—hearted man, and his boys were well fed, happy, and not ill—taught. Like Squeers he had only one eye, and like Squeers he had a daughter. It is said that his school was ruined by Dickens's caricature.

Dot and go One

(A). An infant just beginning to toddle; one who limps in walking; a person who has one leg longer than the other.

Dotterel

or Dottrel. A doting old fool; an old man easily cajoled. The bird thus called, a species of plover, is said to be so fond of imitation that any one who excites its curiosity by strange antics may catch it.

To dor the dotterel. Dor is an archaic word meaning to trick or cheat. Whence the phrase to “dor the dotterel” means to cheat the simpleton.

Douay Bible The English translation of the Bible sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church. The Old Testament was published by the English college at Douay, in France, in 1609; but the New Testament was published at Rheims in 1582. The English college at Douay was founded by William Allen (afterwards cardinal) in 1568. The Douay Bible translates such words as repentance by the word penance, etc., and the whole contains notes by Roman Catholic divines.

Double

(To). To pass or sail round, as “to double the cape.” The cape (or point) is twice between the ship and the land. (French, doubler; Latin, duoplico.)

“What capes he doubled, and what continent,

The gulfs and straits that strangely he had past.” Dryden: Ideas, stanza 1.

Double Dealing

Professing one thing and doing another inconsistent with that promise.

“[She] was quite above all double—dealing. She had no mental reservation.” — Maria Edgeworth.

Double Dutch

Gibberish, jargon, or a foreign tongue not understood by the hearer. Dutch is a synonym for foreign; and double is simply excessive, in a twofold degree.

Double—edged Sword

Literally, a sword which cuts either way; metaphorically, an argument which makes both for and against the person employing it, or which has a double meaning.

“ `Your Delphic sword,' the panther then replied, `Is double—edged, and cuts on either side.' “ Dryden: Hind and Panther, part iii. 191—2.

Double Entendre

(English—French for Un mot a double entente, or à deux ententes). Words which secretly express a rude or coarse covert meaning, generally of a licentious character. “Entendre” is the infinitive mood of a verb, and is never used as a noun.

Double First

(A). In the first class both of the classical and mathematical final examination in the Oxford University; or of the classical and mathematical triposes of the University of Cambridge.

Double—headed Eagle

(The). The German eagle has its head turned to our left hand, and the Roman eagle to our right hand. When Charlemagne was made “Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire,” he joined the two heads together, one looking east and the other west.

Double—tongued

One who makes contrary declarations on the same subject at different times; deceitful.

“Be grave, not double—tongued.” — 1 Tim. iii.8.

Double up

(To). To fold together. “To double up the fist” is to fold the fingers together so as to make the hand into a fist.

I doubled him up. I struck him in the wind, so as to make him double up with pain, or so as to leave him “all of a heap.”

Double X

(See XX.)

Double or Quits

The winner stakes his stake, and the loser promises to pay twice the stake if he loses again; but if he wins the second throw he pays nothing, and neither player loses or wins anything. This is often done when the stake is 3d., and the parties have no copper: if the loser loses again, he pays 6d.; if not, the winner does not claim his 3d.

Doubles

or Double—walkers. Those aerial duplicates of men or women who represent them so minutely as to deceive those who know them. We apply the word to such persons as the Dromio brothers, the Corsican brothers, and the brothers Antipholus. The “head centre Stephens” is said to have had a double, who was perpetually leading astray those set to hunt him down.

Doubting Castle

The castle of the giant Despair, in which Christian and Hopeful were incarcerated, but from which they escaped by means of the key called “Promise.” (Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progress.)

Douceur'

(French.) A gratuity for service rendered or promised.

Douglas

The tutelary saint of the house of Douglas is St. Bridget. According to tradition, a Scottish king in 770, whose ranks had been broken by the fierce onset of the Lord of the Isles saw, the tide of battle turned in his favour by an unknown chief. After the battle the king asked who was the “Du—glass” chieftain, his deliverer, and received for answer Sholto Du—glass (Behold the dark—grey man you inquired for). The king then rewarded him with the Clydesdale valley for his services.

“ `Let him not cross or thwart me.' said the page; `for I will not yield him an inch of way, had he in his body the soul of every Douglas that has lived since the time of the Dark Gray Man.' ” — Scott: The Abbot, chap. xxviii.

Black Douglas, introduced by Sir Walter Scott in Castle Dangerous, is James, eighth Lord Douglas, who twice took Douglas Castle from the English by stratagem. The first time he partly burnt it, and the second time he utterly razed it to the ground. The castle, says Godscroft, was nicknamed the hazardous or dangerous, because every one who attempted to keep it from the “gud schyr James” was in constant jeopardy by his wiles.

“The Good Sir James, the dreadful blacke Douglas'

That in his dayes so wise and worthie was,

Wha here and on the infidels of Spain,

Such honour, praise, and triumphs did obtain.” Gordon.

The person generally called “Black Douglas” is William Douglas, lord of Nithsdale, who died in 1390. It was of this Douglas that Sir W. Scott said —

“The name of this indefatigable chief has become so formidable, that women used, in the northern counties, to still their froward children by threatening them with the Black Douglas.” — History of Scotland, chap. xi.

Douglas Tragedy

(The). A ballad in Scott's Border Minstrelsy. Lord William steals away Lady Margaret Douglas, but is pursued by her father and two brothers. Being overtaken, a fight ensues, in which the father and his two sons are sore wounded. Lord William, wounded, creeps to his mother's house, and there dies; the

lady before sunrise next morning dies also.

Douse the Glim

Put out the light; also knock out a man's eye. To douse is to lower in haste, as “Douse the top—sail” Glim, gleam, glimmer, are variants of the same word.

“ `And so you would turn honest, Captain Goffe, agrazing, would ye,' said an old

weather—beaten pirate who had but one eye; `what though he ... made my eye dowse the glim

... he is an honest man' ...” — The Pirate, chap. xxxiii.

Dousterswivel

A German swindler, who obtains money under the promise of finding buried wealth by a divining rod. (Scott: Antiquary.)

Dout

A contraction of do—out, as don is of do—on, doff of do—off, and dup of do—up. In Devonshire and other southern counties they still say Dout the candle and Dout the fire. In some counties extinguishers are called douters.

“The dram of base

Doth all the noble substance dout.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 4.

Dove

— i.e. the diver—bird; perhaps so called from its habit of ducking the head. So also columba (the Latin for dove) is the Greek kolumbis (a diver).

Dove

(The). The dove, in Christian art, symbolises the Holy Ghost. In church windows the seven rays proceeding from the dove signify the seven gifts of the Holy Ghost. It also symbolises the human soul, and as such is represented coming out of the mouth of saints at death.

A dove with six wings is emblematic of the Church of Christ. The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost are: (1) counsel, (2) the fear of the Lord, (3) fortitude, (4) piety, (5) understanding, (6) wisdom, and (7) knowledge.

Doves or pigeons not eaten as food in Russia. (See Christian Traditions.) Doves or pigeons. The clergy of the Church of England are allegorised under this term in Dryden's Hind and Panther, part iii. 947, 998—1002.

“A sort of doves were housed too near the hall ... [i.e. the private chapel at Whitehall]

Our pampered pigeons, with malignant eyes,

Beheld these inmates [the Roman Catholic clergy].

Tho' hard their fare, at evening and at morn,

A cruse of water and an ear of corn,

Yet still they grudged that modicum.”

Soiled doves. Women of the demi—monde.

Doves' Dung

In 2 Kings vi. 25, during the siege of Samaria, “there was a great famine ... and ... an ass's head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove's dung [hariyonim ] for five pieces of silver.” This “hariyonim” was a plant called chickpea, a common article of food still sold to pilgrims on their way to Mecca.

“In Damascus there are many tradesmen whose sole occupation is preparing [hariyonim] for sale. They have always been esteemed as provision meet for a lengthy journey, and are a

necessary part of the outfit of all who travel in the remote parts of Syria and Asia Minor.”— Bible Flowers, p. 71.

Dover

(A). A réchauffé or cooked food done over again. In the professional slang of English cooks a resurrection dish is still called a dover (do over again).

Dover

When Dover and Calais meet — i.e. never.

A jack of Dover. A “jack” is a small drinking vessel made of waxed leather, and a “jack of Dover” is a bottle of wine made up of fragments of opened bottles. It is customary to pour the refuse into a bottle, cork it up, and sell it as a fresh bottle. This is called dovering, a corruption of do—over, because the cork is done over with wax or resin.

“Many a jack of Dover hast thou sold.”

Chaucer: Coke's Prologue.

Dovers

(Stock Exchange term). The South—Eastern railway shares. The line runs to Dover. (See Claras; Stock Exchange Slang.)

Dovercot

or Dovercourt. A confused gabble; a Babel. According to legend, Dover Court church, in Essex, once possessed a cross that spoke; and Foxe says the crowd to the church was so great “that no man could shut the door.” The confusion of this daily throng gave rise to the term.

“And now the rood of Dovercot did speak,

Confirming his opinions to be true.”

Collier of Croydon.

Dovetail

Metaphorically, to fit on or fit in nicely; to correspond. It is a word in carpentry, and means the fitting one board into another by a tenon in the shape of a dove's tail, or wedge reversed.

Dowgate Ward

(London). Some derive it from Dour (water), it being next to the Thames, at the foot of the hill; others say it is “Down—gate,” the gate of the down, dune, or hill, as Brighton Downs (hills),

South—downs, etc.

Dowlas

(Mr.). A generic name for a linendraper, who sells dowlas, a coarse linen cloth, so called from Doulens in Picardy, where it is manufactured.

Dowling

(Captain). A character in Crabbe's Borough; a great drunkard, who died in his cups.

“ `Come, fill my glass.' He took it and he went” (i.e. died). Letter xvi.

Down

He is quite down in the mouth. Out of spirits; disheartened. When persons are very sad and

low—spirited, the corners of the mouth are drawn down. “Down in the jib” is a nautical phrase of the same meaning.

Down in the Dumps

Low—spirited.

Down on Him

(To be). I was down on him in a minute. I pounced on him directly; I detected his trick immediately. Also to treat harshly. The allusion is to birds of prey.

Down on his Luck

In ill—luck.

“ `I guess, stranger, you'll find me an ex—president down on his luck.' ” — A. Egmont Hake: Paris Originals (Professors of Languages).

Down to the Ground

That suits me down to the ground. Entirely.

Down — hearted

Without spirit; the heart prostrated.

Down Town

I am going down town, i.e. to the business part of the town.

Down the country properly means down the slope of the land, or as the rivers run. We say “I am going up to town” when we mean out of the country into the chief city.

Down—trod

Despised, as one trodden under foot.

“I will lift

The down—trod Mortimer as high i' the air As this ungrateful king.”

Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., i. 3.

Downfall

(A). A heavy shower of rain; a loss of social position.

Downing Professor

The Professor of the Laws of England in the University of Cambridge. This chair was founded in 1800 by Sir George Downing, Bart.

Downing Street

(London). Named after Sir George Downing, who died 1684. He was elected M.P. for Morpeth in 1661.

Downpour

(A). A very heavy shower of rain. “A regular downpour.”

Downright

Thoroughly, as “downright honest,” “downright mad”; outspoken; utter, as a “downright shame.” The word means from top to bottom, throughout.

Downright Dunstable

Very blunt, plain speaking. The present town of Dunstable is at the foot of the Chiltern Hills, in Bedfordshire. There was somewhere about the same site a Roman station called Magionium or Magintum, utterly destroyed by the Danes, and afterwards overgrown by trees. Henry I. founded the present town, and built there a palace and priory.

“If this is not plain speaking, there is no such place as downright Dunstable.” — Sir W. Scott:Redgauntlet, chap. xvii.

Downstairs

Stairs leading from a higher to a lower floor; on the lowest floor, as “I am downstairs.”

Downy

(The). Bed. Gone to the downy, gone to bed. Bed being stuffed with down.

Downy Cove

(A). A knowing fellow, up to every dodge. On the “lucus a non lucendo ” principle, contraries are often substituted in slang and facetious phrases. (See Lucus A Non Lucendo .)

Dowsabell

Daughter of Cassamen, a knight of Arden, who fell in love with a shepherd. The two make love with Arcadian simplicity, and vow eternal fidelity.

“With that she bent her snow—white knee,

Down by the shepherd kneeléd she,

And him she sweetly kist.

With that the shepherd whooped for joy

Quoth he, `There's never shepherd boy

That ever was so blist.' “

Drayton: Dowsabell (a ballad).

Dowse on the Chops

(A). A ding or blow on the face. “A dowse on the blubber—chops of my friend the baronet” means a setting down, a snubbing.

Doxy

A baby; a plaything; a paramour. In the West of England babies are called doxies.

Doyleys

Now means a small cloth used to cover dessert plates; but originally it had a much wider meaning. Thus Dryden speaks of “doyley petticoats;” and Steele, in No. 102 of the Tatler, speaks of his “doiley suit.” The Doyleys were linen—drapers, No. 346, east corner of Upper Wellington Street, Strand, from the time of Queen Anne to the year 1850.

Dozen

(See Baker's Dozen .)

D. P or Dom. Proc. The House of Lords. (Latin, Domus Procerum.)

Drac

A sort of fairy in human form, whose abode is the caverns of rivers. Sometimes these dracs will float like golden cups along a stream to entice women and children bathing, and when they attempt to catch the prize drag them under water. (South of France mythology. )

Fare le drac, same as “Faire le diable.” Irish, “Play the Puck;” English, “Play the deuce.”

“Belomen qu'yeu fare le Drac

Se jamay trebi dins un sac

Cinc ô siés milante pistolos

Espessos como de redolos.”

Goudelin: Castle en L'Ayre.

Drachenfels

(Dragon—rocks). So called from the legendary dragon killed there by Siegfried, the hero of the Nibelungen—Lied.

“The castled crag of Drachenfels

Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, Whose breast of waters broadly swells

Between the banks which bear the vine.”

Byron: Childe Harold, iii. 55.

Draconian Code One very severe. Draco was an Athenian law—maker. As every violation of a law was made in this code a capital offence, Demades the orator said “that Draco's code was written in human blood.”

Draft

The Druids borrowed money on promises of repayment after death (Patricius). Purchas tells us of some priests of Pekin, who barter with the people in bills of exchange, to be paid in heaven a hundredfold.

Draft on Aldgate

(A), or A draft on Aldgate pump. A worthless note of hand; a fraudulent draft or money order. The pun is between draft or draught of drink, and draft a money order on a bank.

Drag in, Neck and Crop

or To drag in, head and shoulders. To introduce a subject or remark abruptly. (See A Propos De Bottes.)

Draggle—tail

A slut; a woman who allows her petticoats to trail in the dirt. The word should be “daggle—tail” (q.v.), from the Scotch dag (dew on the grass), daggle (wet with the grassdew), like the Latin collutulo irroro.

Dragoman

(plural, Dragomans). A ciceronë; a guide or interpreter to foreigners. (Arabic targuman, an interpreter; whence targum.)

“My dragoman had me completely in his power, and I resolved to become independent of all interpreters.” — Baker: Albert Nyanza, chap. i. p. 3.

Dragon

The Greek word drakon comes from a verb meaning “to see,” to “look at,” and more remotely “to watch” and “to flash.”

The animal called a dragon is a winged crocodile with a serpent's tail; whence the words serpent and dragon are sometimes interchangeable.

From the meaning a watcher we get the notion of one that watches; and from the meaning “to flash,” we connect the word with meteors.

“Swift, swift, ye dragons of the night: — that dawning

May bare the raven's eye.”

Shakespeare: Cymbeline, ii. 2.

Dragon. This word is used by ecclesiastics of the Middle Ages as the symbol of sin in general and paganism in particular. The metaphor is derived from Rev. xii. 9, where Satan is termed “the great dragon.” In Ps. xci. 13 it is said that the saints “shall trample the dragon under their feet.” In the story of the Fall, Satan appeared to Eve in the semblance of a serpent, and the promise was made that in the fulness of time the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head.

Another source of dragon legends is the Celtic use of the word for “a chief.” Hence pen—dragon (summus rex), a sort of dictator, created in times of danger. Those knights who slew a chief in battle slew a dragon, and the military title soon got confounded with the fabulous monster. Dragon, meaning “quicksighted,” is a very suitable word for a general.

Some great inundations have also been termed serpents or dragons. Hence Apollo (the sun) is said to have destroyed the serpent Python (i.e. dried up the overflow). Similarly, St. Romanus delivered the city of Rouen from a dragon, named Gargouille (waterspout), which lived in the river Seine.

From the idea of watching, we have a dragon placed in the garden of the Hesperldes; and a duenna is poetically called a dragon:

“In England the garden of beauty is kept

By a dragon of prudery placed within call; But so oft the unamiable dragon hath slept, That the garden's but carelessly watched after all.”

T. Moore: Irish Melodies, No. 2 (“We may roam through this world,” etc.).

A spiteful, violent, tyrannical woman is called a dragoness.

The blind dragon, the third party who plays propriety in flirtations.

“This state of affairs was hailed with undisguised thankfulness by the rector, whose feeling for harmony had been rudely jarred by the necessity of his acting the blind dragon” — J.

O.Hobbes: Some Emotions and a Moral, chap. iv.

Dragon in Christian art symbolises Satan or sin. In the pictures of St. Michael and St. Margaret it typifies their conquest over sin. Similarly, when represented at the feet of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The conquest of St. George and St. Silvester over a dragon means their triumph over paganism. In the pictures of St. Martha it means the inundation of the Rhone, spreading pestilence and death; similarly, St. Romanus delivered Rouen from the inundation of the Seine, and Apollo's conquest of the python means the same thing. St. John the Evangelist is sometimes represented holding a chalice, from which a winged dragon is issuing.

Ladies guarded by dragons. The walls of feudal castles ran winding round the building, and the ladies were kept in the securest part. As adventurers had to scale the walls to gain access to the ladies, the authors of romance said they overcame the serpent—like defence, or the dragon that guarded them. Sometimes there were two walls, and then the bold invader overcame two dragons in his attempt to liberate the captive damsel. (See Enchanted Castles.)

A flying dragon. A meteor.

The Chinese dragon. In China, the drawing of a five—clawed dragon is not only introduced into pictures, but is also embroidered on state dresses and royal robes. This representation is regarded as an amulet.

The Green Dragon. A public—house sign in compliment to St. George. The Red Dragon. A public—house sign in compliment to Henry VII., who adopted this device for his standard at Bosworth Field. It was the ensign of Cadwallader, the last of the British kings, from whom the Tudors descended.

Dragon Slayers

(1) St. Philip the Apostle is said to have destroyed a huge dragon at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. (2) St. Martha killed the terrible dragon called Tarasque at Aix (la Chapelle).

(3) St. Florent killed a dragon which haunted the Loire.

(4) St. Cado, St. Maudet, and St. Paul did similar feats in Brittany.

(5) St. Keyne of Cornwall slew a dragon.

(6) St. Michael, St. George, St. Margaret, Pope Sylvester, St. Samson (Archbishop of Dol), Donatus (fourth century), St. Clement of Metz, and many others, killed dragons.

(7) St. Romain of Rouen destroyed the huge dragon called La Gargouille, which ravaged the Seine.

Dragon of Wantley

(i.e. Warncliff, in Yorkshire). A monster slain by More, of More Hall, who procured a suit of armour studded with spikes; and, proceeding to the well where the dragon had his lair, kicked it in the mouth, where alone it was vulnerable. Dr. Percy says this dragon was an overgrown, rascally attorney, who cheated some children of their estate, but was made to disgorge by a gentleman named More, who went against him, “armed with the spikes of the law,” after which the dragon attorney died of vexation. (Reliques.)

Dragon's Hill

(Berkshire) is where the legend says St. George killed the dragon. A bare place is shown on the hill, where nothing will grow, and there the blood of the dragon ran out.

In Saxon annals we are told that Cedric, founder of the West Saxon kingdom, slew there Naud, the pendragon, with 5,000 men. This Naud is called Natan—leod, a corruption of Naudan ludh (Naud, the people's refuge).

Dragon's Teeth

Subjects of civil strife; whatever rouses citizens to rise in arms. The allusion is to the dragon that guarded the well of A'res. Cadmus slew it, and sowed some of the teeth, from which sprang up the men called Spartans, who all killed each other except five, who were the ancestors of the Thebans. Those teeth which Cadmus did not sow came to the possession of Æe'tes, King of Colchis; and one of the tasks he enjoined Jason was to sow these teeth and slay the armed warriors that rose therefrom.

“Citizens rising from the soil, richly sown with dragon's teeth, for the rights of their several states.” — The Times.

To sow dragons' teeth. To foment contentions; to stir up strife or war. The reference is to the classical story of Jason or that of Cadmus, both of whom sowed the teeth of a dragon which he had slain, and from these teeth sprang up armies of fighting men, who attacked each other in fierce fight. Of course, the figure means that quarrels often arise out of a contention supposed to have been allayed (or slain). The Philistines sowed dragons' teeth when they took Samson, bound him, and put out his eyes. The ancient Britons sowed dragons' teeth when they massacred the Danes on St. Bryce's Day.

Dragonades (3 syl.). A series of religious persecutions by Louis XIV., which drove many thousand Protestants out of France. Their object was to root out “heresy;” and a bishop, with certain ecclesiastics, was sent to see if the heretics would recant; if not, they were left to the tender mercies of the dragoons who followed these “ministers of peace and goodwill to man.”

“France was drifting toward the fatal atrocities of the dragonade.” — F. Parkman: The Old Regime, chap. ix. p.167.

Dragoons

So called because they used to be armed with dragons, i.e. short muskets, which spouted out fire like the fabulous beast so named. The head of a dragon was wrought on the muzzle of these muskets.

Drake

means the “duck—king.” The old English word end means a duck, and end—ric becomes 'dric, drake. Similarly the German tauber—rich is a male dove, and ganse—rich, a male goose, or gander.

Drama

Father of the French drama. Etienne Jodelle (1532—1573). Father of the Greek drama. Thespis (sixth century B.C.) Father of the Spanish drama. Lopë de Vega (1562—1635).

Drama of Exile

(A). A poem by Elizabeth Barret Browning (1844). The exile is Eve, driven out of Paradise into the wilderness. Lucifer, Gabriel, and Christ are introduced into the poem, as well as Adam and Eve.

Dramatic Unities

(The three). One catastrophe, one locality, one day. These are Aristotle's rules for tragedy, and the French plays strictly follow them.

The French have added a fourth, one style. Hence comedy must not be mixed with tragedy. Addison's Cato is a good example. Unity of style is called the Unity of Uniformity. Shakespeare disregards all these canons.

Dramatis Personæ

The characters of a drama, novel, or actual transaction.

“The dramatis personæ were nobles, country gentlemen, justices of the quorum, and custodes rotulorum [keepers of the rolls].” — The Times.

Drap

One of Queen Mab's maids of honour. (Drayton.)

Drapier's Letters

A series of letters written by Dean Swift to the people of Ireland, advising them not to take the copper money coined by William Wood, by patent granted by George I. These letters crushed the infamous job, and the patent was cancelled.

Dean Swift signed himself M. B. Drapier in these letters.

Drat 'em!

A variant of Od rotem! The first word is a minced form of the word God, as in “Od's blood!” “Od zounds!”=God's wounds, “Od's bodikins,” etc. See Odd's. A correspondent in Notes and Queries suggests

“[May] God out—root them!” but we have the words drattle and throttle (to choke) which would better account for the a and the o, and which are also imprecations.

Draught of Thor

(The). The ebb of the sea. When Asa Thor visited Jötunheim he was set to drain a bowl of liquor. He took three draughts, but only succeeded in slightly reducing the quantity. On leaving Jötunheim, the king, Giant Skrymir, told him he need not be ashamed of himself, and showed him the sea at low ebb, saying that he had drunk all the rest in his three draughts. We are told it was a quarter of a mile of sea—water that he drank.

Draupnir

Odin's magic ring, from which every ninth night dropped eight rings equal in size and beauty to itself.

Draw To draw amiss. To follow scent in the wrong direction. Fox—hunting term, where to draw means to follow scent.

To draw a furrow. To plough or draw a plough through a field so as to make a furrow. To draw a person out. To entice a person to speak on any subject, often with the intention of ridiculing his utterances.

Draw it Mild

(To). We talk of remarks being highly flavoured, of strong language, of piquant remarks, of spicy words; so that to “draw it mild" refers to liquor; let it be mild, not too highly—flavoured, not too spicy and strong.

Draw the Long Bow

(To). To exaggerate. Some wonderful tales are told of Robin Hood and other foresters practised in the long bow. (See BOW.)

Drawback

Something to set against the profits or advantages of a concern. In commerce, it is duty charged on goods paid back again when the goods are exported.

“It is only on goods into which dutiable commodities have entered in large proportion and obvious ways that drawbacks are allowed.” — H. George: Protection or Free Trade: chap ix.

p.92

Drawcansir

A burlesque tyrant in The Rehearsal, by G. Villiers, Duke of Buckingham (1672). He kills every one, “sparing neither friend nor foe.” The name stands for a blustering braggart, and the farce is said to have been a satire on Dryden's inflated tragedies. (See Bayes, Bobadil.)

“[He] frights his mistress, snubs up kings, baffles armies,and does what he will, without regard to numbers, good sense, or justice.” — Bayes: The Rehearsal.

Drawing—room

A room to which ladies withdraw or retire after dinner. Also a levée where ladies are presented to the sovereign.

Drawing the Cork

Giving one a bloody nose. (See Claret. )

Drawing the King's

(or Queen's) Picture. Coining false money.

Drawing the Nail

i.e. absolving oneself of a vow. In Cheshire, two or more persons would agree to do something, or to abstain from something, say drinking beer; and they would go into a wood, and register their vow by driving a nail into a tree, swearing to keep their vow as long as that nail remained in the tree. If they repented of their vow, some or all of the party went and drew out the nail, whereupon the vow was cancelled.

Drawlatches

Thieves, robbers, wasters, and roberdsmen (5 Edward III. c. 14). About equal to door—openers and shop—lifters.

Drawn

Hanged, drawn, and quartered, or Drawn, hanged, and quartered. The question turns on the meaning of drawn. The evidence seems to be that traitors were drawn to the place of execution, then hanged, then

“drawn” or disembowelled, and then quartered. Thus the sentence on Sir William Wallace was that he should be drawn (detrahatur) from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower, etc., then hanged (suspendatur), then disembowelled or drawn (devaletur), then beheaded and quartered (decolletur et decapitetur). (See Notes and Queries, August 15th, 1891.)

If by “drawn” is meant conveyed to the place of execution, the phrase should be “Drawn, hanged, and quartered;” but if the word is used as a synonym of disembowelled, the phrase should be “Hanged, drawn, and quartered.”

“Lord Ellenborough used to say to those condemned. `You are drawn on hurdles to the place of execution, where you are to be hanged, but not till you are dead; for, while still living, your body is to be taken down, your bowels torn out and burnt before your face; your head is then cut off, and your body divided into four quarters.” — Gentleman's Magazine, 1803, part i. pp. 177,275.

Drawn Battle A battle in which the troops on both sides are drawn off, neither combatants claiming the victory.

Dreadnought

The Seaman's Hospital Society; a floating hospital.

Dream Authorship

It is said that Coleridge wrote his Kubla Khan, a poem, in a dream. Coleridge may have dreamt these lines, but without doubt Purchas's Pilgrimage haunted his dreams, for the resemblance is indubitable.

Dreamer

The Immortal Dreamer. John Bunyan (1628—1688).

Dreng

A servant boy, similar to the French garçon and Latin puer. A Danish word, which occurs in Domesday Book.

Dress your Jacket

(or hide). I'll dress your jacket for you. I'll give you a beating. I'll give you a dressing, or a good dressing. To dress a horse is to curry it, rub it, and comb it. To dress ore is to break it up, crush it, and powder it in the stamping mill. The original idea of dressing is preserved, but the method employed in dressing horses, ore, etc., is the prevailing idea in the phrases referred to.

Dresser

A kitchen dresser, the French dressoir, a sideboard, verb dresser, to raise, set up.

“The pewter plates on the dresser.”

Longfellow: Evangeline, i. 2.

Drink

Anacharsis said: “The first cup for thirst, the second for pleasure, the third for intemperance, and the rest for madness.”

Drink Deep

Drink a deep draught. The allusion is to the peg tankards. Those who drank deep, drank to the lower pegs. (See Peg.)

“We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.”

—Shakespeare: Hamlet. i. 2.

Drinke and Welcome

One of the numerous publications of John Taylor, the Water Poet (1637). The subject is thus set forth. “The famous Historie of the most parts of Drinks in use now in the Kingdomes of G. Britaine and Ireland; with an especiall declaration of

the potency, vertue, and operation of our English Ale. With a description of all sorts of Waters, from the Ocean—sea to the Teares of a Woman. As also the causes of all sorts of weather, faire or foule, sleet, raine, haile, frost, snow, fogges, mists, vapours, clouds, stormes, windes, thunder, and lightning. Compiled first in High Dutch Tongue by the painefull and industrious Huldricke van Speagle, a grammatical brewer of Lubeck, and now most learnedly enlarged, amplified, and translated into English verse and prose, by John Taylor, the Water Poet.”

Drink like a Fish

(To). To drink abundantly. Many fish swim with their mouths open.

Drinking Healths

was a Roman custom. Thus, in Plautus, we read of a man drinking to his mistress with these words: “Bene vos, bene nos, bene te, bene me, bene nostrum etiam Stephanium ” (Here's to you, here's to us all, here's to thee, here's to me, here's to our dear — ). (Stich. v. 4.) Persius (v. l, 20) has a similar verse

“Bene mihi; bene vobis, bene amicæ nostræ ” (Here's to myself, here's to you, and here's to I shan't say who). Martial, Ovid, Horace, etc., refer to the same custom.

The ancient Greeks drank healths. Thus, when Theramenes was condemned by the Thirty Tyrants to drink

hemlock, he said “Hoc pulcro Critiæ ' — the man who condemned him to death. The ancient Saxons followed the same habit, and Geoffrey of Monmouth says that Hengist invited King Vortigern to a banquet to see his new levies. After the meats were removed, Rowena, the beautiful daughter of Hengist, entered with a golden cup full of wine, and, making obeisance, said, “Lauerd kining, wacht heil '

(Lord King, your health). The king then drank and replied, “Drinc heil ' (Here's to you). (Geoffrey of Monmouth, book vi. 12.) Robert de Brunne refers to this custom:

“This is ther custom and hev gest

When they are at the ale or fest;

Ilk man that levis gware him drink

Salle say `Wosseille' to him drink,

He that biddis sall say `Wassaile,'

The tother salle say again `Drinkaille.'

That says `Woisseille' drinks of the cup,

Kiss and his felaw he gives it up.”

Robert de Brunne.

In drinking healths we hold our hands up towards the person toasted and say, “Your health . .” The Greeks handed the cup to the person toasted and said, “This to thee,” “Græci in epulis poculum alicui tradituri, eum nominare solent.” Our holding out the wine—glass is a relic of this Greek custom.

Drinking Song

The oldest in the language is in the second act of Gammer Gurton's Needle, by John Still, called The Jolly Bishop. It begins

“I cannot eat but little meat.

My stomach is not good.”

Drinking at Freeman's Quay

that is, drinking gratis. At one time, all porters and carmen calling at Freeman's Quay, near London Bridge, had a pot of beer given them gratis.

Drive

(Anglo—Saxon drif—an.)

To drive a good bargain. To exact more than is quite equable.

“Heaven would no bargain for its blessings drive.”Dryden: Astræa Redux, i 137.

To drive a roaring trade. To be doing a brisk business. The allusion is to a coachman who drives so fast that his horses pant and roar for breath.

To drive the swine through the hanks of yarn. To spoil what has been painfully done, to squander thrift. In Scotland, the yarn wrought in the winter (called the gude—wife's thrift) is laid down by the burn—side to bleach, and is peculiarly exposed to damage from passing animals. Sometimes a herd of pigs driven along the road will run over the hanks, and sometimes they will stray over them from some neighbouring farm—yard and do a vast amount of harm.

Drive at

(To). What are you driving at? What do you want to prove? What do you want me to infer? We say the “wind drove against the sails,” i.e. rushed or moved violently against them. Falstaff tells us of “four rogues in buckram [who] let drive at him,” where at means against or towards. “What are you driving at?” is, against or towards what object are you driving or moving?

Drive Off

To defer, to procrastinate. The idea is, running away or drawing off from something that ought to be done, with the promise of coming to it at a future time.

Driveller An idiot, an imbecile, whose saliva drivels out of his mouth.

“And Swift expires a driveller and a show.”

Drivelling Dotage

In weak old age saliva drops unconsciously from the mouth.

“This exhibition of drivelling dotage was attended with many other incoherent expressions.” — J. P. Kennedy The Swallow Barn, chap. xivii. p. 463.

Driver of Europe

(Le Cocher de l'Europe). So the Empress of Russia used to call the Duc de Choiseul, minister of Louis XV., because he had spies all over Europe, and thus ruled its political cabals.

Drivers

in the Irish uprising about 1843, were persons engaged by landlords to drive all the live stock of defaulting tenants and lodge them in a pound [like that at Carrickmacross]. They were resisted by the Molly Maguires.

Drives fat Oxen

(Who). Brook, in his Gustavus Vasa, says: “Who rules o'er freemen should himself be free,” which Dr. Johnson parodied thus: “Who drives fat oxen should himself be fat.” (Boswell's Life, year 1784.)

Driving for Rent

in Ireland, was a summary way of recovering rent by driving cattle to a pound, and keeping them till the rent was paid, or selling them by auction.

“It was determined that I and the bailiffs should go out in a body and `drive for rent.' ” — Trench: Realities of Irish Life, chap. v.

Driving Pigs

He is driving pigs, or driving pigs to market — i.e. snoring like pigs, whose grunt resembles the snore of a sleeper.

Droit d'Aubaine

In France the king was entitled, at the death of foreign residents (except Swiss and Scots), to all their movable estates; the law was only abolished in 1819. Aubain means “alien,” and droit d'aubaine the

“right over an alien's property.”

“Had I died that night of an indigestion, the whole world could not have suspended the effects of the droits d'aubaine: my shirts and black pair of breeches, portmauteau and all, must have gone to the king of France.” — Sterne: Sentimental Journey (Introduction).

Drôle

“C'est un drôle, ” or “C'est un drôle d'homme “ (he is a rum customer). “Un joyeux drôle ” means a boon companion. “Une drôle de chose ” means a queer thing; something one can make neither head nor tail of.

Dromio

The brothers Dromio. Two brothers exactly alike, who serve two brothers exactly alike, and the mistakes of masters and men form the fun of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, based on the Menæchmi of Plautus.

Drone

(l syl.). The largest tube of a bagpipe; so called because it sounds only one continuous note. (German, drohne, verb, drohnen, to groan or drone.)

A drone. An idle person who lives on the means of another, as drones on the honey collected by bees; a sluggard. (Anglo—Saxon dræn, a male bee.)

Drop To take a drop. A euphemism for taking what the drinker chooses to call by that term. It may be anything from a sip to a Dutchman's draught.

A drop of the cratur. In Ireland means a drink of whisky, or “creature—comfort.” To take a drop too much. To be intoxicated. If it is the “last feather which breaks the camel's back,” it is the drop too much which produces intoxication.

To take one's drops. To drink spirits in private.

Drop

(To). To drop an acquaintance is quietly to cease visiting and inviting an acquaintance. The opposite of picking up or taking up an acquaintance.

Drop in

(To). To make a casual call, not invited; to pay an informal visit. The allusion is to fruit and other things falling down suddenly, unexpectedly, or accidentally. It is the intransitive verb, not the transitive, which means to “let fall.”

Drop off

(To). “Friends drop off,” fall away gradually. “To drop off to sleep,” to fall asleep (especially in weariness or sickness).

Drop Serene

(gutta serena). An old name for amaurosis. It was at one time thought that a transparent, watery humour, distilling on the optic nerve, would produce blindness without changing the appearance of the eye.

“So thick a `drop serene' hath quenched these orbs.”Milton: Paradise Lost, iii. 25.

Drown the Miller

(To). To put too much water into grog or tea. The idea is that the supply of water is so great that even the miller, who uses a water wheel, is drowned with it.

Drowned Rat

As wet as a drowned rat — i.e. soaking wet. Drowned rats certainly look deplorably wet, but so also do drowned mice, drowned cats, and drowned dogs, etc.

Drowned in a Butt of Malmsey

George, Duke of Clarence, being allowed to choose by what death he would die, chose drowning in malmsey wine (1477). See the continuation of Monstrelet, 196; Fulgosus, ix. 12; Martin du Bellais's Memoirs (year 1514).

Admitting this legend to be an historic fact, it is not unique: Michael Harslob, of Berlin, wished to meet death in a similar way in 1571, if we may credit the inscription on his tomb: —

“In cyatho vini pleno cum musca periret,

Sic, ait Oeneus, sponte perire velim.” '

“When in a cup of wine a fly was drowned.

So, said Vinarius, may my days be crowned.”

Drowning Men

Drowning men catch at straws. Persons in desperate circumstances cling in hope to trifles wholly inadequate to rescue or even help them.

Drows

or Trows. A sort of fairy race, residing in hills and caverus. They are curious artificers in iron and precious metals. (Zetland superstition.)

“I hung about thy neck that gifted chain, which all in our isles know was wrought by no earthly artist, but by the Drows in the secret recesses of their caverns.” — Scott: The Pirate, chap.x.

Drub, Drubbing

To flog, a flogging. Compare Greek tribo, to rub, bruise; Anglo—Saxon, drepan, to beat.

Drug It is a mere drug in the market. Something not called for, which no one will buy. French drogue = rubbish, as Ce n'est que de la drogue; hence droguet (drugget), inferior carpet—cloth made of rubbish or inferior wool, etc.

Druid

A chief priest (Celtic, der, superior; wydd, priest or instructor). In Taliesin we read, Bûm gwydd yngwarth an (at length I became a priest or wydd). It was after this period that the wydds were divided into two classes, the Der—wydds and the Go—wydds (Druids and Ovidds). Every chief had his druid, and every chief druid was allowed a guard of thirty men (Strabo). The order was very wealthy. (Not derived from the Greek drus, an oak.)

Patricius tells us that the Druids were wont to borrow money to be repaid in the life to come. His words are, “Druidæ pecuniam mutuo accipiebant in posteriore vita reddituri.”

`Like money the Druids borrowed,

In t'other world to be restoréd.”

Butler: Hudibras, part iii. canto 1,

Drum

A crowded evening party, a contraction of “drawing—room" (dr'—'oom). Cominges, the French ambassador, writing to Louis XIV., calls these assemblies drerums and driwromes. (See Rout, Hurricane.)

“The Comte de Broglie . . . goes sometimes to the drerums,and sometimes to the driwrome of the Princess of Wales.” —Nineteenth Century: Comte de Cominges; Sept., 1891, p.461.

“It is impossible to live in a drum.” — Lady M. W.Montagu.

John Drum's entertainment. Turning an unwelcome guest out of doors. The allusion is to drumming a soldier out of a regiment.

Drum Ecclesiastic

The pulpit cushion, often vigorously thumped by what are termed “rousing preachers.”

“When Gospel trumpeter, surrounded

With long—eared rout, to battle sounded;

And pulpit, drum ecclesiastic,

Was beat with fist instead of a stick.”

Butler: Hudibras, part i. canto 1.

Drum—head Court—martial

One held in haste; like a court—martial summoned on the field round the big drum to deal summarily with an offender.

Drummers

So commercial travellers are called in America, because their vocation is to drum up recruits or customers.

Drummond Light

The limelight. So named from Captain Thomas Drummond, R.E.

“Wisdom thinks, and makes a solar Drummond Light of a point of dull lime.” — Geikie: Entering on Life (Reading, p.211).

Drumsticks

Legs. The leg of a cooked fowl is called a drumstick.

Drunk (Anglo—Saxon drinc—an.)

Drunk as a fiddler. The reference is to the fiddler at wakes, fairs, and on board ship, who used to be paid in liquor for playing to rustic dancers.

Drunk as a lord. Before the great temperance movement set in, in the latter half of the nineteenth century, those who could afford to drink thought it quite comme il faut to drink two, three, or even more bottles of port wine for dinner, and few dinners ended without placing the guests under the table in a hopeless state of intoxication. The temperate habits of the last quarter of the nineteenth century renders this phrase now almost unintelligible.

Drunk as blazes. “Blazes” of course means the devil.

Drunk as Chloe. Chloe, or rather Cloe (2 syl.), is the cobbler's wife of Linden Grove, to whom Prior, the poet, was attached. She was notorious for her drinking habits.

Drunk as David's sow. (See Davy's Sow.)

Drunkard's Cloak

(A). A tub with holes for the arms to pass through. At one time used for drunkards and scolds by way of punishment.

Drunken Deddington

One dead drunk. The proper name is a play on the word dead.

Drunkenness

The seven degrees: (1) Ape drunk; (2) Lion drunk; (3) Swine drunk; (4) Sheep drunk; (5) Martin drunk; (6) Goat drunk; (7) Fox drunk. (Nash.)

Drunkenness

It is said that if children eat owl's eggs they will never be addicted to strong drinks.

“Tous les oiseaux lui [i.e. to Bacchus]étaient agréable, excepté la chouette dont les oeufs avaient la vertu de rendre les enfans qui les mangeaient ennemis du vin.” — Noel: Dictionnaire de la Fable, vol. i. p.206.

Drupner

[the dripper ]. A gold ring given to Odin; every ninth night other rings dropped from it of equal value to itself. (The Edda.)

Drury Lane

(London) takes its name from the habitation of the great Drury family. Sir William Drury, K.G., was a most able commander in the Irish wars. Drury House stood on the site of the present Olympic theatre.

Druses

(2 syl.). A people of Syria governed by emirs. Their faith is a mixture of the Pentateuch, the Gospel, the Koran, and Sufism. They offer up their devotions both in mosques and churches, worship the images of saints, and yet observe the fast of Ramadan. Their language is pure Arabic. (Hakem, the incarnate spirit, was assisted by Darasi in propounding his religion to these Syrians; and the word Druse is said to be derived from Darasi, shortened onto D'rasi.)

Dry

Thirsty. Hence to drink is to “wet your whistle” (i.e. throat); and malt liquor is called “heavy wet.” (Anglo—Saxon dryg, dry.)

Dry Blow

(A). A blow which does not bring blood.

Dry Goods

(in merchandise), such as cloths, stuffs, silks, laces, and drapery in general, as opposed to groceries.

Dry Lodgings

Sleeping accommodation without board. Gentlemen who take their meals at clubs live in dry lodgings.

“Dry Lodginge of seven weeks, £0 4s. 1d.” — Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality (Intr. Rob. Patterson deb. to Margaret Chrystale).

Dry—nurse

When a superior officer does not know his duty, and is instructed in it by an inferior officer, he is said to be dry—nursed. The inferior nurses the superior, as a dry—nurse rears an infant.

Dry Rot

The spontaneous rot of timber or wall—paper, not unfrequently produced by certain fungi attaching themselves thereto. It is called dry rot because the wood is not purposely exposed to wet, although, without doubt, damp from defective ventilation is largely present, and the greenness of wood employed contributes greatly to the decay.

Dry Sea (A). A sandy desert. The camel is the ship of the desert. We read of the Persian sea of sand.

“The see that men slepen the gravely see, that is alle gravelle and sond with outen only drope of watre.” — Mandeville:Travels.

Dry Shave

(A). A shave without soaping the face; to scrape the face with a piece of iron hoop; to scratch the face; to box it and bruise it. Sometimes it means to beat and bruise generally; ill usage.

“The fellow will get a dry shave.”

Peter Pindar: Great Cry and Little Wool, Ep 1. “I'll shave her, like a punished soldier, dry.” Peter Pindar: The Lousiad, canto ii.

Dry Style

(of writing). Without pathos, without light and shade; dull level, and unamusing.

Dry Wine

Opposed to sweet or fruity wine. In sweet wine some of the sugar is not yet decomposed; in dry wine all the sugar has been converted into alcohol. The doctoring of wine to improve its quality is called dosage.

“Upon the nature and amount of the dosage,the character of the wine (whether it be dry or sweet, light or strong) very much depends.” — Vizetelly: Facts about Champagne, chap. v.

p.59.

Dryads

Nymphs of the trees. (Greek, drus, any forest tree.) They were supposed to live in the trees and die when the trees died. Eurydice, the wife of Orpheus (2 syl.) the poet, was a dryad.

Dryasdust

(Rev. Dr.). A heavy, plodding author, very prosy, very dull, and very learned; an antiquary. Sir Walter Scott employs the name to bring out the prefatory matter of some of his novels.

“The Prussian Dryasdust . . . excels all other `Dryasdusts' yet known.” — Carlyle.

Dualism

A system of philosophy which refers all things that exist to two ultimate principles. It is eminently a Persian doctrine. The Orphic poets made the ultimate principles of all things to be Water and Night, or Time and Necessity. In theology the Manichean doctrine is dualistic. In modern philosophy it is opposed to monism (q.v.), and insists that the creator and creation, mind and body, are distinct entities. That creation is not deity, and that mind is not an offspring of matter. (See Monism.)

Dub

To make a knight by giving him a blow. Dr. Tusler says, “The ancient method or knighting was by a box on the ear, implying that it would be the last he would receive, as he would henceforth be free to maintain his own honour.” The present ceremony is to tap the shoulder with a sword. (Anglo—Saxon, dubban, to strike with a blow.)

Dub Up!

Pay down the money. A dub is an Anglo—Indian coin, hence “down with your dubs,” money down. A “doubloon” is a double pistole.

Dublin

(the Irish dubh—linn, the “black pool"). The chief part of the city stands on land reclaimed from the river Liffey or the sea.

True as the Deil is in Dublin city. (Burns: Death and Dr. Hornbook.) Probably Burns refers to the Scandinavian name Divelin, which suggested first Divel and then Devil or Deil.

Dubs

in “marbles” is a contraction of double or doublets. Thus, if a player knocks two marbles out of the ring, he cries dubs, before the adversary cries “no dubs,” and claims them both.

Ducat A piece of money; so called from the legend on the early Sicilian pieces: Sit tibi, Christe, datus, quem tu regis, istë ducatus (May this duchy [ducat—us ] which you rule be devoted to you, O Christ).

Duchesne

(2 syl.). Le père Duchésne. Jacques Réné Hébert, chief of the Cordelier Club in the French Revolution, the members of which were called Hébertists. He was called “Father Duchésne,” from the name of his vile journal. (1755—1794.)

Duchess

The wife or widow of a duke; but an old woman is often jocosely termed an old duchess or a regular old duchess. The longevity of the peers and peeresses is certainly very striking.

Duck

A lame duck. A stock—jobber who will not, or cannot, pay his losses. He has to “waddle out of the alley like a lame duck.”

Like a dying duck in a thunderstorm. Quite chop—fallen.

To get a duck. A contraction of duck's egg or 0, in cricket. A player who gets no run off his bat is marked down 0.

Duck Lane

A row for old and second—hand books which stood formerly near Smithfield, but has given way to city improvements. It might be called the Holywell Street of Queen Anne's reign.

“Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain

Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck Lane.” Pope: Essay on Criticism.

Duck's Egg

Broke his duck's egg. Took his first school prize. In cricket a “duck's egg” or 0 in a score is broken by a run.

“What a proud and happy day it was to Lucy when little Herbert, in public—school parlance, `broke his duck's egg — otherwise, took his first prize.” — A Fellow of Trinity, chap.i.

Duck's—foot Lane

[City.] A corruption of Duke's Foot Lane; so called from the Dukes of Suffolk, whose manor—house was there.

Ducks and Drakes

The ricocheting or rebounding of a stone thrown from the hand to skim along the surface of a pond or river.

To make ducks and drakes of one's money. To throw it away as stones with which “ducks and drakes” are made on water. The allusion is to the sport of throwing stones to skim over water for the sake of seeing them ricocheting or rebounding.

“What figured slates are best to make

On watery surface duck and drake.”

Butler: Hudibras, ii. 3.

“Mr. Locke Harper found out, a month after his marriage,that somebody had made ducks and drakes of his wife's money.” —Dinah M. Craik: Agatha's Husband, chap. xxiii.

Duckie

Diminutive of “duck,” a term of endearment = darling or beloved one. (Norwegian and Danish, dukke, a doll, a baby.)

Ducking

(A). A drenching. (German, ducken, to dive under water.)

Duckweed A weed which floats on the surface of stagnant water and forms a harbour for insects which ducks feed on. Its Latin name is “Lemna;” Greek, limne (a stagnant pool).

Dude

A masher. One who renders himself conspicuous by affectation of dress, manners, and speech. The word was first familiarised in London in 1881, and is a revival of the old word dudes (clothes). We have several derivations, as dudder, one who sells dress—pieces; duddery, a rag—shop; duddle, to wrap up warmly (Halliwell), etc. It is not of American origin.

“I should just as soon expect to see Mercutio smoke a cigarette, as to find him ambling about the stage with the mincing manners of a dude.” — Jefferson: Century Magazine, January,1890,

p. 383.

Dudeism

(3 syl.). The tomfoolery of a dude (2 syl.).

Dudgeon

(The). The handle of a dagger, at one time made of box—wood root, called “dudgeon—wood;” a dagger with such a handle. Shakespeare does not say, “and on the blade o' the dudgeon gouts of blood,” but “on the blade and dudgeon . . ,” both blade and handle.

Dudman and Ramhead

When Dudman and Ramhead meet. Never. Dudman and Ramhead (now spelt Ramehead) are two forelands on the Cornish coast, about twenty miles asunder. (See Never.)

“Make yourself scarce! depart! vanish! or we'll have you summoned before the mayor of Halgaver, and that before Dudman and Ramhead meet.” — Scott: Kenilworth, iv.

Duds

Old clothes, tattered garments (Gaelic, dud, a rag; Dutch, tod; Italian, tozzi). A dudder or dudsman is a scarecrow, or man of straw dressed in cast off garments to fray birds; also a pedlar who sells duds or gown—pieces. (Compare the Greek duo, to put on [clothes]; Latin, in—duo, to clothe.)

Dudu

A pensive maiden of seventeen, “who never thought about herself at all.” (Byron: Don Juan, vi. vii.)

Duende

(3 syl.). A Spanish goblin or house—spirit. Calderon has a comedy called La Dama Duenda. (See Fairy.)

Duenna

[Lady ]. The female of don. The Spanish don is derived from the Latin dominus =a lord, a master. A duenna is the chief lady—in—waiting on the Queen of Spain; but in common parlance it means a lady who is half companion and half governess, in charge of the younger female members of a nobleman's or gentleman's family in Portugal or Spain.

“There is no duenna so rigidly prudent and inexorably decorous as a superannuated coquette.”— W. Irving: Sketch—Book (Spectre Bridegroom).

Duergar

(2 syl.). Dwarfs who dwell in rocks and hills; noted for their strength, subtilty, magical powers, and skill in metallurgy. They are the personification of the subterranean powers of nature. According to the

Gotho—German myth, the duergar were first maggots in Ymir's flesh, but afterwards assumed the likeness of men. The first duergar was Modsogner, the next Dyrin. N.B. — The Giant Ymir is Chaos. (See Heldenbuch.)

Duessa

(Double—mind or False—faith). Daughter of Falsehood and Shame, who assumes divers disguises to beguile the Red Cross Knight. At one time she takes the name of Fidessa, and entices the knight into the Palace of Pride (Lucifera). The knight having left the palace, is overtaken by Duessa, and drinks of an enchanted fountain, which paralyses him, in which state he is taken captive by the giant Orgoglio. Prince Arthur slays the giant and rescues the knight; Duessa, being stripped of her gorgeous disguise, is found to be a hideous hag, and flees into the wilderness for concealment. She appears again in book ii. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, book i. 2—7; v. 9.)

Dufarge

Jacques and Madame Dufarge are the presiding genii of the Faubourg St. Antoine, and chief instigators of many of the crimes committed by the Red Republicans in Dickens's Tale of Two Cities.

Duffer (A) now means a person easily bamboozled, one of slow wit; but originally it meant one who cheated or bamboozled. To duff =to cheat. Persons who sell inferior goods as “great bargains,” under the pretence of their being smuggled, are duffers; so are hawkers generally. At the close of the eighteenth century passers of bad money were so called. Now the word is applied to persons taken in, and by artists to inferior pictures.

“Robinson a thorough duffer is.”

Alexander Smith: Summer Idyll.

Duglas

the scene of four Arthurian battles. It is a river which falls into the Ribble. Mr. Whittaker says, “six cwt. of horse—shoes were taken up from a space of ground near the spot during the formation of a canal.”

Duke

The Great Duke. The Duke of Wellington, called “the Iron Duke.” (1769—1852.)

Duke Coombe

William Coombe, author of Dr. Syntax, The Devil upon Two Sticks, etc., who in the days of his prosperity was noted for the splendour of his dress, the profusion of his table, and the magnificence of his deportment. Having spent all his money he turned author, but passed the last fifteen years of his life in the King's Bench. (1743—1823.)

Duke Ernest

(See Ernest. )

Duke Humphrey

(See Humphrey. )

Duke Street

(Strand), so named from George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham.

Duke and Duchess

in Don Quixote, who play so many tricks on the Knight of the Woeful Countenance, were Don Carlos de Borja, Count of Ficallo, who married Donnia Maria of Aragon, Duchess of Villahermosa, in whose right the count had extensive estates on the banks of the Ebro; among others he had a country seat called Buenavia, which was the place Cervantes referred to.

Duke of Exeter's Daughter

(The). A rack in the Tower of London, so called from a minister of Henry VI., who sought to introduce it into England.

Duke or Darling

Heads or tails; pitch and toss. When the scandals about the Duke of York and Mrs. Clarke were the common talk of the town, the street boys, instead of crying Heads or tails, used to say Duke or Darling. (Lord Colchester: Diary, 1861.)

Duke's

A fashionable theatre in the reign of Charles II. It was situate in Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. It was named from its great patron, James, Duke of York, afterwards James II. The modern Duke's theatre.

Duke's Walk

To meet one in the Duke's Walk. An invitation to fight a duel. In the vicinity of Holyrood House is a place called the Duke's Walk, from being the favourite promenade of the Duke of York, afterwards James

II., during his residence in Scotland. This walk was the common rendezvous for settling affairs of honour, as the site of the British Museum was in England.

“If a gentleman shall ask me the same question, I shall regard the incivility as equivalent to an invitation to meet him in the Duke's Walk.” — Scott: Bride of Lammermoor, chap.xxxiv.

Dukeries

A district in Nottinghamshire, so called from the number of ducal residences in the vicinity, including Welbeck Abbey, Thoresby, Clumber, Worksop, Kiveton Hall, etc.

Dulcarnon The horns of a dilemma. (or Syllogismum cornutum); at my wits' and; a puzzling question. Dulcarnein is the Arabic dhulkarnein (double—horned, having two horns). Hence the 47th proposition of the First Book of Buclid is called the Dulcarnon, as the 5th is the pons asinorum. Alexander the Great is called Iscander Dulcarnein, and the Macedonian æra the æra of Dulcarnein. Chaucer uses the word in Troylus and Cryseyde, book iii. 126, 127.

The horns of the 47th proposition are the two squares which contain the right angle.

To be in Dulcarnon. To be in a quandary, or on the horns of a dilemma. To send one to Dulcarnon. To daze with puzzles.

Dulce Domum

The holiday song of Winchester school. Mr. Brandon says it was composed by a boy of St. Mary's College, Winchester, who was confined for misconduct during the Whitsun holidays, “as report says, tied to a pillar.” On the evening preceding the Whitsun holidays, “the master, scholars, and choristers of the above college walk in procession round the `pillar,' chanting the six stanzas of the song.” In the March number of the Gentleman's Magazine, 1796, a translation, signed “J.R.,” was given of the song; and Dr. Milner thinks the original is not more than a century old. It is rather remarkable that the author has made “domum” a neuter noun. (See Adeste Fideles.)

CHORUS:

“Domum, domum, dulce domum!

Domum, domum, dulce domum;

Dulce, dulce dulce domum!

Dulce domum resonemus.”

Home, home, joyous home!

Home, home, joyous home!

Joyous, joyous, joyous home!

Hurrah for joyous home! E.C.B.

Dulce est Desipere in Loco

It is delightful to play the fool occasionally; it is nice to throw aside one's dignity and relax at the proper time. (Horace: 4 Odes, xii. 28.)

Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria Mori

(Latin). It is sweet and becoming to die on our country's behalf, or to die for one's country.

Dulcimer

(Italian dolcimello), according to Bishop (Musical Dictionary, p. 45), is “a triangular chest strung with wires, which are struck with a little rod held in each hand;” but the word “symphonia,” translated dulcimer in Daniel iii. 5, was a species of bagpipe. Fürst deduces it from the Hebrew smpn (a pipe).

“The sound of cornet, flute, harp, sackbut psaltery, [symphony] or dulcimer, and all kinds of music.” — Dan. iii. 5.

Dulcinea

A lady—love. Taken from Don Quixote's amie du coeur. Her real name was Aldonza Lorenzo, but the knight dubbed her Dulcinea del Toboso.

“I must ever have some Dulcinea in my head — it harmonises the soul.” — Sterne.

Dulcinists

Heretics who followed the teaching of Dulcin, who lived in the fourteenth century. He said that God reigned from the beginning to the coming of Messiah; and that Christ reigned from His ascension to the fourteenth century, when He gave up His dominion to the Holy Ghost. Dulcin was burnt by order of Pope Clement IV.

Duli'a An inferior degree of worship or veneration, such as that paid by Roman Catholics to saints and angels; Hyper—dulia is a superior sort of veneration reserved for the Virgin; but that worship which is paid to God alone is called latri'a. “Dulia” means that sort of veneration which slaves pay to their lords (Greek, doulos, a slave); “Latria” means that sort of veneration which mortals pay to the gods (Greek, latreu'o, to worship the gods).

Dull as a Fro

A frow or fro is a kind of wedge for splitting wood. It is not a sharp—edged instrument like a chisel, but a blunt or dull one.

Dull as Ditch—water

Uninteresting; ditch—water is stagnant and has no go in it.

Dulness

King of dulness. Colley Cibber, poet laureate after Eusden.

“ `God save king Cibber!' mounts in every note . . .

So when Jove's block descended from on high . . . Loud thunder to the bottom shook the bog,

And the hoarse nation croaked, `God save king Log!'“ Pope: Dunciad, book i.

Dum Sola

(Latin). While single or unmarried.

Dum Spiro, Spero

While I live, I hope; or, While there's life, there's hope. Hope while you live, for who would care to cope

With life's three foes, unpanoplied with hope?

Hope against hope, while fed with vital breath.

Hope be your anchor in the hour of death

E.C.B.

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

(Latin). While we live, let us enjoy life. The motto of Dr. Doddridge's coat of arms, which he converted into the subjoined epigram —

“ `Live, while you live,' the epicure would say, `And seize the pleasures of the present day.'

`Live, while you live,' the sacred preacher cries, `And give to God each moment as it flies.' Lord, in my views let each united be;

I live in pleasure, when I live to thee.”

Dumachus

The impenitent thief, called Dysmus in the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. In Longfellow's Golden Legend Dumachus and Titus were two of a band of robbers who attacked Joseph in his flight into Egypt. Titus said, “Let these good people go in peace,” but Dumachus replied, “First let them pay for their release.” Upon this Titus gave his fellow—robber forty groats, and the infant Jesus said —

“When thirty years shall have gone by,

I at Jerusalem shall die . . .

On the accursëd tree.

Then on my right and my left side,

These thieves shall both be crucified;

And Titus thenceforth shall abide

In Paradise with me.”

The Miracle Play, iii.

Dumb—barge

(A). A barge without sails, used for a pier, and not for conveying merchandise up and down a river.

Dumb—bell Nebula

(The). A still condensing mass; so called from being of the shape of a dumb—bell.

Dumb—bells

A corruption of Dumpels or Dumples, the same word as Dumplings, and meaning heavy (weights). (German and Danish, dumm heavy, dull, insipid; dumpling, a heavy, insipid pudding; dumps, heavy, stupid moroseness.) (See Dump.)

Dumb—bells

In New College, Oxford, there still is an apparatus for developing the muscles similar to that which sets church—bells in motion. It consists of a fly—wheel with a weight attached, and the gymnast is carried by it up and down to bring his muscles into play. The present apparatus was substituted for it, and answers a similar purpose, though the name is greatly obscured.

Dumb—bidding

A sale by auction effected thus: The owner fixes an upset—price on an article, writes it on a slip of paper, and covers the slip up. The article is then offered to the bidders, and withdrawn unless some bid reaches the upset price.

Dumb—cow

(To). To brow—beat; to cow. (Anglo—Indian.)

Dumb Crambo

(See Crambo .)

Dumb Dog

(A). One who remains silent when he ought to speak.

Dumb Ox of Cologne

(The). Thomas Aquinas (1224—1274), known afterwards as “the Angelic Doctor” or “Angel of the Schools.” Albertus Magnus, the tutor of the “dumb ox,” said of him: “The dumb ox will one day fill the world with his lowing.” He was born at Naples, but was a student in the monastery of Cologne.

Dumb—waiter

A piece of dining—room furniture, fitted with shelves, to hold glasses, dishes, and plate. So called because it answers all the purposes of a waiter, and is not possessed of an insolent tongue; a lift for carrying food from a kitchen to the dining—room, etc.

Dummy

In three—handed whist the exposed hand is called dummy.

Dummies

(2 syl.). Empty bottles or drawers in a druggist's shop; wooden heads in a hairdresser's shop; lay figures in a tailor's shop; persons on the stage who appear before the lights, but have nothing to say. These all are dumb, actually or figuratively.

Dump

A Brazilian copper coin, worth about 2 1/2d.; also a round flat lump of lead used on board ship for playing quoits and chuck—penny. Hence dumpy or dumpty (squat or small). An egg is called a

humpty—dumpty in the nursery verses beginning with “Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,” etc.

“Death saw two players playing cards,

But the game was not worth a dump.”

Hood: Death's Ramble, stanza 14.

Dumps

To be in the dumps. Out of spirits; in the “sullens.” According to etymological fable, it is derived from Dumops, King of Egypt, who built a pyramid and died of melancholy. Gay's Third Pastoral is Wednesday, or the Dumps. (German, dumm, stupid, dull.)

“Why, how now, daughter Katharine? in your dumps?” — Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew,

ii. 1.

Dun

One who importunes for payment of a bill (Anglo—Saxon, dunan, to din or clamour). The tradition is that it refers to Joe Dun, a famous bailiff of Lincoln in the reign of Henry VII. The British Apollo says he was so active and dexterous in collecting bad debts that when anyone became “slow to pay” the neighbours used to say to the creditors, “Dun him” (send Dun after him).

“An Universitie dunne ... is an inferior creditor of some ten shillings or downewards, contracted for horse—hire, or perchance drinke, too weake to be put in suite.” — Bishop Earle: Microcosmographia (1601—1695).

Squire Dun. The hangman between Richard Brandin and Jack Ketch.

“And presently a halter got,

Made of the best strong hempen teer;

And, ere a cat could lick his ear,

Had tied him up with as much art,

As Dun himself could do for's heart.”

Cotton: Virgil Travestied, book iv.

Dun Cow

The dun cow of Dunsmore heath was a savage beast slain by Sir Guy, Earl of Warwick. A huge tusk, probably that of an elephant, is still shown at Harwich Castle as one of the horns of the dun—cow. (See Guy.)

The fable is that this cow belonged to a giant, and was kept on Mitchell Fold (middle fold), Shropshire. Its milk was inexhaustible; but one day an old woman who had filled her pail, wanted to fill her sieve also. This so enraged the cow, that she broke loose from the fold and wandered to Dunsmore heath, where she was slain by Guy of Warwick.

Isaac Taylor, in his Words and Places (p. 269), says the dun cow is a corruption of the Dena Gau or Danish settlement in the neighbourhood of Warwick. Gau, in German, means region, country. If this explanation is correct, the great achievement of Guy was a victory over the Danes, and taking from them their settlement near Warwick.

Dun in the Mire

To draw Dun out of the mire. To lend a helping hand to one in distress. The allusion is to an English game, explained by Mr. Gifford in his edition of Ben Jonson, vii. 283. A log of wood is brought into a room. The log, called Dun, is supposed to have fallen into the mire, and the players are to pull him out. Every player does all he can to obstruct the others, and as often as possible the log is made to fall on someone's toes. Constant allusion is made to this game.

“Sires, what? Dun is in the mire.” — Chaucer: Prologue to Maunciples Tale.

“If thou art dun we'll draw thee from the mire.”

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, i. 4.

“Well done, my masters, lend's your hands;

Draw Dun out of the ditch,

Draw, pull, helpe all. So, so; well done.”

Duchesse of Suffolke (1631).

Dunce

A dolt; a stupid person. The word is taken from Duns Scotus, the learned schoolman and great supporter of the immaculate conception. His followers were called Dunsers. Tyndal says, when they saw that their hair—splitting divinity was giving way to modern theology, “the old barking curs raged in every pulpit” against the classics and new notions, so that the name indicated an opponent to progress, to learning, and hence a dunce.

“He knew what's what, and that's as high

As metaphysic wit can fly ...

A second Thomas, or at once

To name them all, another Dunse.”

Butler: Hudibras, i. 1.

Dunce. (See Abderitan, Arcadian, Boeotian.)

Dunciad

The dunce—epic, a satire by Alexander Pope. Eusden, the poet laureate, being dead, the goddess of Dulness elects Colley Cibber to be his successor. The installation is celebrated by games, the most important being the proposal to read, without sleeping, two voluminous works — one in verse and the other in prose; as everyone falls asleep, the games come to an end. King Cibber is now taken to the temple of Dulness, and is lulled to sleep on the lap of the goddess; and, during his slumber, sees in a vision the past, present, and future triumphs of the empire. Finally, the goddess, having destroyed order and science, establishes her kingdom on a firm basis; and, having given directions to her several agents to prevent thought and keep people to foolish and trifling pursuits, Night and Chaos are restored, and the poem ends. (See Dennis.)

Dunderhead

A blockhead, or, rather, a muddle—headed person. Dunder, is the less or dregs of wine, etc., more correctly, the overflow of fermented liquors (yeast). (Spanish, re—dundar, to overflow or froth over.)

“The use of Dunder in the making of rum answers the purpose of yeast in the fermentation of flour.” — Edwards: West Indies.

Dundreary

(Lord) (3syl.). The impersonation of a good—natured, indolent, blundering, empty—headed swell. The chief character in Tom Taylor's dramatic piece called Our American Cousin. Mr. Sothern created the character of Lord Dundreary by the power of his conception and the genius of his acting. (See Brother Sam.)

Dungaree

A coarse blue cloth worn by sailors; coarse and vulgar. Dungaree is the Wapping of Bombay.

Dunghill!

Coward! Villain!This is a cockpit phrase; all cocks, except gamecocks, being called dunghills.

“Out, dunghill! darst thou brave a nobleman?”

Shakespeare: King John, iv 3.

That is, Dare you, a dunghill cock, brave a thoroughbred gamecock?

Dunghill

Thou hast it, ad dunghill, at thy fingers' ends. To this Holofernes replies: “Oh, I smell false Latin; `dunghill' for `unguem.' ” (Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost, v. I.)

Dunkers

(See Tunkers. )

Dunmow

To eat Dunmow bacon. To live in conjugal amity, without even wishing the marriage knot to be less firmly tied. The allusion is to the institution of Robert Fitzwalter. Between 1244 and 1772 eight claimants have been admitted to eat the flitch. Their names merit immortality.

1445. Richard Wright, labourer, Bauburgh, near Norwich.

1467 Steven Samuel, of Little Ayston, Essex.

1510. Thomas Ley, fuller, Coggeshall, Essex.

1701. William and Jane Parsley, butcher, Much—Easton, Essex. Same year, John and Ann Reynolds, Hatfield Regis.

1751. Thomas Shakeshaft, wool—comber, Weathersfield, Essex.

1763. Names unknown ! !

1772. John and Susan Gilder, Tarling, Essex.

The attempt to revive this “premium for humbug” is a mere “get—up" for the benefit of the town.

“Ah, madam: cease to be mistaken;

Few married fowl peck Dunmow bacon.”

Prior: Turtle and Sparrow, 233.

Dunmow Flitch

The oath administered was in the doggerel subjoined:

“You shall swear, by the custom of our confession

That you never made any nuptial transgression Since you were married man and wife,

By household brawls or contentious strife:

Or, since the parish clerk said `Amen.'

Wished yourselves unmarried again;

Or, in a twelvemonth and a day,

Repented not in thought any way.

If to these terms, without all fear,

Of your own accord you will freely swear, A gammon of bacon you shall receive,

And bear it hence with our good leave.

For this is our custom at Dunmow well known — The sport is ours, but the bacon your own.”

Duns Scotus

A schoolman, called Duns from Dunce in Berwickshire. (1265 — 1308.) Not John Scotus, Erigena, the schoolman, who died A.D. 875.

Dunstable

Bailey, as if he actually believed it, gives the etymology of this word Dun's stable; adding Duns or “Dunus was a robber in the reign of Henry I., who made it dangerous for travellers to pass that way.” (Dunes or duns tavell, our table — i.e. the table—land or flat of the hills.)

Downright Dunstable. (See Downright.) Plain as the road to Dunstable, or, as Shakespeare says, “Plain as way to parish church.” The road leading to Dunstable is the confluence of many leading to London, but the play is on the word dunce.

Dunstan

(St.). Patron saint of goldsmiths, being himself a noted worker in gold. He is represented generally in pontifical robes, but carrying a pair of pincers in his right hand. The pontificals refer to his office as Archbishop of Canterbury, and the pincers to the legend of his holding the Devil by the nose till he promised never to tempt him again.

St. Dunstan and the devil. Dunstan was a painter, jeweller, and blacksmith. Being expelled from court, he built a cell near Glastonbury church, and there he worked at his handicrafts. It was in this cell that tradition says the Devil had a gossip with the saint through the lattice window. Dunstan went on talking till his tongs were red hot, when he turned round suddenly and caught his Satanic Majesty by the nose.

One can trace in this legend the notion that all knowledge belonged to the Black Art; that the “saints” are always more than conquerors over the spirits of evil; and the singular cunning which our forefathers so delighted to honour.

Duodecimo

A book whose sheets are folded into twelve leaves each. This word, which differs from both the Italian and French, is from the Latin duodecim (twelve). It is now called twelvemo, from the contraction 12mo. The term is still applied to books that are the same size as the old duodecimo, irrespective of the number of leaves into which the sheet is folded.

A man in duodecimo is a dwarf.(See Decimo.)

Duomo

(The). The cathedral.

“The supreme executive of Florence suspended Savonarola from preaching in the Duomo.” — Symonds: Renuissance in Italy.

Dup is do up. Thus Ophelia says, in one of her snatches, he “dupt the chamber door,” i.e. did up or pushed up the latch, in order to open the door, that he might “let in the maid” (Hamlet, iv. 1). A portcullis and some other doors were lifted up or dupped.

“Iche weene the porters are drunk. Will they not dup the gate to—day.” — Edwards: Damon and Pithias (1571).

Dupes

(See Day of The Dupes )

Durandana

or Durindana. Orlando's sword, given him by his cousin Malagigi. It once belonged to Hector, and was made by the fairies. It could cleave the Pyrenees at a blow. N. B. — In French romance Orlando is called Roland, Malagigi Mangis, and the sword durandal or durindal (See Sword.)

“Nor plaited shield, nor tempered casque defends,

Where Durindana's trenchant edge descends.” Hoole: Orlando Furioso, book v

Durandarte

A knight who fell at Roncesvalles, cousin to Montesinos. The tale says he loved Belerma, whom he served seven years, at the expiration of which time he was slain. In his last breath he told Montesinos to take his heart and give it to Belerma. He is described by Lewis as

“Sweet in manners, fair in favour,

Mild in temper, fierce in fight.”

Durante

Durante bene placito (Latin). During pleasure.

Durante minore ætate (Latin). During minority. Durante viduitate (Latin). During widowhood. Durante vita (Latin). For life.

Durbar

(Indian word). A levée.

“Durbars which might rival in splendour of colour and jewelled bravery the glories of the court of Byzantium.” — McCarthy: England under Gladstone, chap. iv. p. 60.

Durden

(Dame). A notable housewife. Dame Durden, of the famous English song, kept five serving girls to carry the milking pails, and also kept five serving men to use the spade and flail. The five men loved the five maids.

“ 'Twas Moll and Bet, and Doll and Kate, and

Dorothy Draggletail;

And John and Dick, and Joe and Jack, and

Humphrey with his flail.”Anon.

Dürer

(Albert), of Nürnberg, called by his countrymen “the prince of artists,” and by many the “Chaucer of painting.” (1471—1528.)

Dürer's portraits of Charlemagne and other emperors are unrivalled; but Lucas Kranach's (1472—1553) portraits of Luther and other reformers are said to run them very close in merit.

Duresley

You are a man of Duresley, i.e. a great liar and cheat. Duresley is a market—town in Gloucestershire, famous for its broadcloth manufactory. Now called Dursley. (See Fuller: Worthies. ) The

word “cabbage,” connected with tailors, seems to confirm the notion that our forefathers had no very high opinion of their honesty.

Durham Book

By Eadfrid, Bishop of Lindisfarne, who died in 721, one of the most splendid examples of illumination in the world.

Durham Mustard

So called from the residence of Mrs. Clements, who first conceived the idea of grinding mustard in a mill, instead of pounding it in a mortar. George I. stamped it with his approval, hence the pots labelled “Durham mustard” bear the royal initials in a medallion.

Dus

or Deuce. The chief god of the Brigan'tës, one of whose altars, bearing an inscription, was discovered at Gretland. (Camden: Britannia.)

Dusiens

The name given by the Gauls to those demons that produce nightmares.

“Dæmones quos `duscios' Galli nuncupant”—

St. Augustine: De Civitate Dei, chap. xxiii.

Dust

Money; so called because it is made of gold—dust. It is said that Dean Swift took for the text of a charity sermon, “He who giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord.” Having thrice repeated his text, he added, “Now, brethren, if you like the security, down with your dust.” That ended his sermon.

Dust. The wild Irish peasantry believe that dust is raised on roads by fairies on a journey, and raise their hats to it, saying, “God speed you, gentlemen.” The Arabs think the whirlwind and waterspout are caused by evil jinns.

I'll dust your jacket for you. Give you a good beating. The allusion is to dusting carpets, etc., by beating them with a stick.

To raise a dust, To kick up a dust. To make a commotion or disturbance. To throw dust in one's eyes. To mislead. The allusion is to a Mahometan practice of casting dust into the air for the sake of “confounding” the enemies of the faith. This was done by Mahomet on two or three occasions, as in the battle of Honein; and the Koran refers to it when it says, “Neither didst thou, O Mahomet, cast dust into their eyes; but it was God who confounded them.” But the following incident will suffice: One day the Koreishites surrounded the house of Mahomet, resolved to murder him. They peeped through the crevice of his chamber—door, and saw him lying asleep. Just at this moment his son—in—law Ali opened the door silently and threw into the air a handful of dust. Immediately the conspirators were confounded. They mistook Ali for Mahomet, and Mahomet for Ali; allowed the prophet to walk through their midst uninjured, and laid hands on Ali. No sooner was Mahomet safe, than their eyes were opened, and they saw their mistake.

“When the English king pursued the Imaum who had stolen the daughter of Allah, Allah threw dust in his eyes to check his pursuit.” — Legend at Gori (respecting the beauty of the Georgians).

Dustman has arrived

(The), or “The sandman is about.” It is bedtime, for the children rub their eyes, as if dust or sand was in them.

Dusty

Well, it is none so dusty, or Not so dusty. I don't call it bad; rather smart. Here dusty is the opposite of neat, and neat = spruce. “None so dusty” or “Not so dusty” means therefore, Not so unspruce, or rather smart.

Dusty—foot

(See Pie Poudre .)

Dutch

The Dutch have taken Holland. A quiz when anyone tells what is well known as a piece of wonderful news. Similar to Queen Bess (or Queen Anne) is dead; the Ark rested on Mount Ararat; etc.

Dutch Auction

An “auction ” in which the bidders decrease their bids till they come to the minimum price. Dutch gold is no gold at all; Dutch courage is no real courage; Dutch concert is no music at all, but mere hubbub; and Dutch auction is no auction, or increase of bids, but quite the contrary.

Dutch Clocks

i.e. German clocks, chiefly made in the Black Forest. As many as 180,000 are exported annually from Friburg. (German, Deutsch, German.)

“A woman, that is like a German clock.

Still a—repairing, ever out of frame,

And never going aright.”

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost, iii.1.

Dutch Comfort

`Tis a comfort it was no worse. The comfort derivable from the consideration that how bad soever the evil which has befallen you, a worse evil is at least conceivable.

Dutch Concert

A great noise and uproar, like that made by a party of Dutchmen in sundry stages of intoxication, some singing, others quarrelling, speechifying, wrangling, and so on.

Dutch Courage

The courage excited by drink; pot valour.

“In the Dutch wars (in the time of Charles II.), ...the captain of the Hollander man—of—war, when about to engage with our ships, usually set ... a hogshead of brandy abroach before the mast, and bid the men drink ... and our men felt the force of the brandy to their cost.” — Notes and Queries (Oct. 15, 1892, p. 304).

Dutch Gleek

Tippling. Gleek is a game, and the phrase means the game loved by Dutchmen is drinking.

“Nor could be partaker of any of the good cheer except it were the liquid part of it, which they call `Dutch Gleek.' ” — Gayton.

Dutch Gold

Deutsche or German gold. An alloy of copper and zinc, invented by Prince Rupert of Bavaria.

Dutch Nightingales

Frogs. Similarly, Cambridgeshire nightingales; Liège nightingales, etc.

Dutch School

of painting is a sort of “pre—Raphaelite” exactness of detail without selection. It is, in fact, photographing exactly what appears before the artist, as faithfully as his art will allow. The subjects are generally the lower classes of social life, as pothouse scenes, drunken orgies, street groups, Dutch boors, etc., with landscapes and still—life. The greatest of the Dutch masters are: for portraits, Rembrandt, Bol, Flinck, Hals, and Vanderhelst; for conversation pieces, Gerhard Douw, Terburg, Metzu, Mieris, and Netscher; for low life, Ostade, Brower, and Jan Steen; for landscapes, Ruysdael, Hobbema, Cuyp, Vanderneer, Berchem, and A. Both; for battle scenes, Wouvermans

and Huchtenburg; for marine pieces, Vandevelde and Bakhuizen; for still—life and flowers, Kalf, A. Van Utrecht, Van Huysum, and De Heem.

Dutch Toys

chiefly made in Meiningen, part of the duchy of Coburg—Gotha. (Dutch, i.e. Deutsch, German.)

Dutch Uncle

I will talk to you like a Dutch uncle. Will reprove you smartly. Uncle is the Latin notion of patruus, “an uncle,” “severe guardian,” or “stern castigator.” Hence Horace, 3 Od. xii. 3, “Metuentes patruæ verbera linguæ ” (dreading the castigations of an uncle's tongue); and 2 Sat. iii. 88, “Ne sis patruus mihi “

(Don't come the uncle over me).

Dutchman

I'm a Dutchman if I do. A strong refusal. During the rivalry between England and Holland, the word Dutch was synonymous with all that was false and hateful, and when a man said, “I would rather be a Dutchman than do what you ask me,” he used the strongest term of refusal that words could express.

If not, I'm a Dutchman, means, I will do it or I will call myself a Dutchman. Well, I'm a Dutchman! An exclamation of strong incredulity.

Duty

means what is due or owing, a debt which should be paid. Thus obedience is the debt of citizens to rulers for protection, and service is the debt of persons employed for wages received.

“Strictly considered, all duty is owed originally to God only; but ... duties to God may be distributed ... into duties towards self, towards manhood, and towards God.” — Gregory: Christian Ethics, part ii. division i. p. 172.

Duumvirs

(3 syl.) or Duumviri. Certain Roman officers who were appointed in pairs, like our London sheriffs. The chief were the two officers who had charge of the Sibylline books, the two who had the supervision of the municipal cities, and the two who were charged with naval matters.

Dwarf

(The). Richard Gibson, painter (1615—1690), a page of the backstairs in the court of Charles I. He married Anne Shepherd, a dwarf also, and the King honoured the wedding with his presence. Each measured three feet ten inches.

“Design or chance makes others wive,

But Nature did this match contrive.”

Waller.

The Black Dwarf. A fairy of the most malignant character; a genuine northern Duergar, and once held by the dalesmen of the border as the author of all the mischief that befell their flocks and herds. Sir Walter Scott has

a novel so called, in which the “black dwarf” is introduced under the aliases of Sir Edward Mauley; Elshander, the recluse; Cannie Elshie; and the Wise Wight of Mucklestane Moor.

Dwarf Alberich

(in the Nibelungen Lied) is the guardian of the famous “hoard” won by Siegfried from the Nibelungs. The dwarf is twice vanquished by the hero, who gets possession of his Tarn—kappë (cloak of invisibility). (See Elberich.)

Dwarf Peter

(das Peter Manchen). An allegorical romance by Ludwig Tieck. The dwarf is a castle spectre that advises and aids the family; but all his advice turns out evil, and all his aid productive of trouble. The dwarf represents that corrupt part of human nature called by St. Paul the “law in our members which wars against the law of our minds, and brings us into captivity to the law of sin.”

Dwarfs

(under the three feet in height).

ANDROMEDA, 2 ft. 4 in. One of Julia's free maids. (See below, gonopas.) ARISTRATOS, the poet, was so small that Athenæos says, “no one could see him.” BEBE, or Nicholas Ferry, 2 ft. 9 in. A native of France (1714—1737). He had a brother and sister, both dwarfs. BORUWLASKI (Count Joseph), 2 ft. 4 in. at the age of twenty. (1739—1837).

BUCKINGER (Matthew), a German, born 1674. He was born without hands, legs, or feet. Facsimiles of his writing are amongst the Harleian MSS.

CHE—MAH (a Chinese), 2 ft. 1 in., weight 52 lbs. Exhibited in London in 1880. COLOBRI (Prince) of Sleswig, 2 ft. 1 in., weight 25 lbs. at the age of 25 (1851). CONOPAS, 2 ft. 4 in. One of the dwarfs of Julia, niece of Augustus. (See above, ANDROMEDA.)) COPPERNIN, the dwarf of the Princess of Wales, mother of George III. The last court dwarf in England. CRACH'AMI' (Caroline). Born at Palermo; 1 ft. 8 in. at death. (1814—24.) Exhibited in Bond Street, London, 1824.

DECKER or DUCKER (John), 2 ft. 6 in. An Englishman (1610). FAIRY QUEEN (The), 1 ft. 4 in., weight 4 lbs, Exhibited in Regent Street, London, 1850. Her feet were less than two inches.

GIBSON (Richard), a good portrait painter. His wife's maiden name was Anne Shepherd. Each measured 3 ft. 10 in. Waller sang their praises. (In the reign of Charles I.)

HUDSON (Sir Jeffrey). Born at Oakham, Rutlandshire; 1 ft. 6 in. at the age of thirty (1619—78). J ARVIS (John), 2 ft. Page of honour to Queen Mary (1508—56).

LOLKES (Wybrand), 2 ft. 3 in., weight 57 lbs. Exhibited at Astley's in 1790. LUCIUS, 2 ft., weight 17 lbs. The dwarf of the Emperor Augustus.

MARINE (Lizzie), 2 ft. 9 in., weight 45 lbs.

MIDGETS, THE. Lucia Zarate, the eldest sister, 1 ft. 8 in., weight 4 3/4 lbs at the age of eighteen. Her sister was a little taller. Exhibited in London, 1881.

MILLER (Miss), of Virginia, 2 ft. 2 in.

MITE (General), 1 ft. 9 in. (weight 9 lbs.) at the age of seventeen. Exhibited in London, 1881. PAAP (Simon). A Dutch dwarf, 2 ft. 4 in., weight 27 lbs.

PHILETAS, a poet, contemporary with Hippocratês. So thin “that he wore leaden shoes lest the wind should blow him away.” (Died B.C. 280.)

SAWYER (A. L.), 2 ft. 6 1/2 in., weight 39 lbs. Editor in 1883, etc., of the Democrat, a paper of considerable repute in Florida.

STOBERIN (C. H.), of Nuremberg, 2 ft. 11 in at the age of twenty. STOCKER (Nannette), 2 ft. 9 in. Exhibited in London in 1815.

STRASSE DAVIT Family. Man, 1 ft. 8 in.; woman, 1 ft. 6 in.; child, at age of seventeen, only 6 in. Embalmed in the chemical library of Rastadt.

T ERESIA (Madame). A Corsican, 2 ft. 10 in., weight 27 lbs. Exhibited in London 1773. TOM THUMB (General), whose name was Charles S. Stratton, born at Bridgeport in Connecticut, U.S., 2 ft. 1 in., weight 25 lbs, at the age of twenty—five. (1838—83.) Exhibited first in London in 1844. In 1863 he married

Betsy Bump (Lavina Warren).

TOM THUMB, a Dutch dwarf, 2 ft. 4 in, at the age of eighteen. WANMER (Lucy,) 2 ft. 6 in., weight 45 lbs. Exhibited in London, 1801, at the age of forty—five. WARREN (Lavina), married to General Tom Thumb in 1863, was also a dwarf, and in 1885 she married another dwarf, Count Primo Magri, who was 2 ft. 8 in.

WORMBERG (John), 2 ft. 7 in at the age of thirty—eight (Hanoverian period). XIT was the dwarf of Edward VI.

ZARATE (Lucia), 1 ft. 3 in. An excellent linguist of Shigaken Osara (b. 1851). Nicephorus Galistus tells us of an Egyptian dwarf not bigger than a partridge. The names of several infants are known whose heads have not exceeded in size an ordinary billiard ball. The son of D. C. Miller, of Candelaria, born October 27th, 1882, weighed only 8 3/3 oz. A silver dollar would entirely hide its face, and its mouth was too small to admit an ordinary lead pencil.

The head of the son of Mrs. Charles Tracy, of Kingsbridge, N.Y., was not bigger than a horse—chestnut, and the mouth would hardly grasp a goose—quill. The mother's wedding ring would slip easily up its legs and thighs.

The head of Mr. Marion Poe's child was not so big as a billiard ball, and the mother's ring would slip up the arm as high as the shoulder. Mr. Poe stands over six feet in height.

I have a list of several other babies of similar dimensions.

Dwile

or Dwyel. A house—flannel for cleaning floors, common in Norfolk, and called in the piece “dwyeling.” (Dutch, dweil, a clout or swab.)

Dwt

is D—wt., i.e. denarius—weight (penny—weight). (See Cwt.)

Dyed Beards

The dyeing of beards is mentioned by Strabo, and Bottom the Weaver satirises the custom when he undertakes to play Pyramus, and asks, “what beard were I best to play it in?”

“I will discharge it in either your straw—colour beard, your orange—tawny beard, your

purple—in—grain beard, or your French—crown—colour beard (your perfect yellow).” — Shakespeare: Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 2.

The French couronne = twenty—five francs, was a gold piece, and therefore the French—crown colour was a golden yellow; but the word French—crown also means baldness brought on by licentiousness. Hence the retort “some of your `French—crowns' have no hair at all.”

Dyeing Scarlet

Drinking deep. Drinking dyes the face scarlet.

“They call drinking deep, dyeing scarlet.” —

Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV ii. 4.

Dying Sayings

(real or traditional):

ADAMS (President): “Independence for ever.” ADAMS (John Q. ): “It is the last of earth. I am content.” ADDISON: “See how a Christian dies,” or “See in what peace a Christian can die.” (See Berry.) ALBERT (Prince Consort): “I have such sweet thoughts.”

ALEXANDER I. (of Russia): “Que vous devez être fatiguée” (to his wife Elizabeth). ALEXANDER II. (of Russia): “I am sweeping through the gates, washed in the blood of the Lamb.” ALEXANDER III. (of Russia): “This box was presented to me by the Emperor [sic of Prussia”

ALFIERI: “Clasp my hand, dear friend, I am dying.”

ANAXAG'ORAS (the philosopher, who maintained himself by keeping a school, being asked if he wished for anything, replied): “Give the boys a holiday.”

ANGELO (Michael): “My soul I resign to God, my body to the earth, my worldly goods to my next akin.” ANNE BOLEYN (on the scaffold): “It [my neck] is very small, very small.”

ANTOINETTE. (See below, MARIE.)

ANTONY (of Padua): “I see my God. He calls me to Him.” ARCHIME'DES (being ordered by a Roman soldier to follow him, replied): “Wait till I have finished my problem.” (See Lavoisier.)

ARRIA: “My Pætus, it is not painful.”

AUGUSTUS (having asked how he had played his part, and being, of course, commended, said): “Vos plaudite.”

BACON (Francis): “My name and memory I leave to men's charitable speeches, to foreign nations and to the next age.”

BAILLEY: “Yes! it is very cold.” (This he said on his way to the guillotine, when one said to him, “Why, how you shake.”)

BEAUFORT (Cardinal Henry): “I pray you all pray for me.”

BEAUMONT (Cardinal): “What! is there no escaping death?” BECKET (Thomas a): “I confide my soul and the cause of the Church to God, to the Virgin Mary, to the patron saints of the Church, and to St. Dennis.” (This was said as he went to the altar in Canterbury Cathedral, where he was assasinated.)

BEDR (The Venerable): “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.” BEETHOVEN (who was deaf): “I shall hear in heaven.”

BERRY (Madame de): “Is not this dying with courage and true greatness?” (See Addison.) BOILEAU: “It is a great consolation to a poet on the point of death that he has never written a line injurious to good morals.”

BRONTË (father of the authoresses): “While there is life there is will.” (Like Louis XVIII., Vespasian, Siward, and others, he died standing.)

BROUGHTON (Bishop): “Let the earth he filled with His glory.” BURNS: “Don't let the awkward squad fire over my grave.”

BYRON: “I must sleep now.”

CAESAR (Julius): “Et tu, Brute?” (This he said to Brutus, his most intimate friend, when he stabbed him.) CAMERON (Colonel James ): “Scots, follow me!” (He was killed at Bull—Run, 21st July, 1861.)

CASTLEREAGH: “Bankhead, let me fall into your arms. It is all over.” (Said to Dr. Bankhead.) CATESBY (one of the conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot): “Stand by me, Tom, and we will die together.” CHARLEMAGNE: “Lord, into Thy hand I commend my spirit.” (See Columbus and Tasso.)

CHARLES I. (of England, just before he laid his head on the block, said to Juxon, Archbishop of Canterbury): “Remember.”

CHARLES II. (of England): “Don't forget poor Nell,” or “Don't let poor Nell starve” (meaning Nell Gwynne) CHARLES V.: “Ah! Jesus.”

CHARLES VIII. (of France): “I hope never again to commit a mortal sin, nor even a venial one, if I can help it.” (With these words in his mouth, says Cominges, he gave up the ghost.)

CHARLES IX. (of France, in whose reign occurred the Bartholomew slaughter): “Nurse, nurse, what murder! what blood! Oh! I have done wrong: God pardon me.”

CHARLOTTE (The Princess): “You make me drunk. Pray leave me quiet. I feel it affects my head.” CHESTERFIELD (Lord): “Give Dayrolles a chair.”

CHRIST (Jesus): “It is finished!” (John xix. 30.)

CHRYSOSTOM: “Glory to God for all things. Amen.” CICERO (to his assassins): “Strike!”

COLIGNY': “Honour these grey hairs, young man.” (Said to the German who assassinated him.) COLUMBUS: “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” (See Charlemagne and Tasso.)

CONDE (Duc d'Enghien): “I die for my king and for France.” (Shot by order of Napoleon I. in 1804.) COPERNICUS: “Now, O Lord, set thy servant free.” (See Luke ii. 29.)

CORDAY (Charlotte): “One man have I slain to save a hundred thousand.” CRANMER (Archbishop of Canterbury): “That unworthy hand! That unworthy hand!” (This he said, according to a popular tradition as he held in the flames his right hand which had signed his apostasy.)

CROMBE (John): “O Hobbema, Hobbema, how I do love thee!” CROMWELL: “My design is to make what haste I can to be gone.” CUVIER: (to the nurse who was applying leeches). “Nurse, it was I who discovered that leeches have red blood.”

DANTON (to the executioner): “Be sure you show the mob my head. It will be a long time ere they see its

like.”

DEMONAX (the philosopher): “You may go home, the show is over” (Lucian). (See Rabelais.) DERBY (Earl of): “Douglas, I would give all my lands to save thee.”

DICKENS (said in reply to his sister—in—law, who urged him to lie down): “Yes, on the ground.” DIDEROT: “The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.”

DIOGENES (requested that his body should be buried, and when his friends said that his body would be torn to pieces be replied): “Quid mihi nocebunt ferarum dentes nihil sentienti.”

DOUGLAS (Earl): “Fight on, my merry men.”

EDWARDS (Jonathan): “Trust in God, and you need not fear.” ELDON (Lord): “It matters not where I am going whether the weather be cold or hot.” ELIZABETH (Queen): “All my possessions for a moment of time.”

ELIZABETH (sister of Louis XVI., on her way to the guillotine, when her kerchief fell from her neck): “I pray you, gentlemen, in the name of modesty, suffer me to cover my bosom.”

ELPHEGE (Archbishop of Canterbury): “You urge me in vain. I am not the man to provide Christian flesh for Pagan teeth, by robbing my flock to enrich their enemy.”

EPAMINONDAS (wounded; on being told that the Thebans were victorious): “Then I die happy.” (See Wolfe.) ETTY: “Wonderful! Wonderful this death!”

EULER: “I am dying.”

FARR (M.D.): “Lord, receive my spirit.”

FELTON (John): “I am the man” (i.e. who shot the Duke of Buckingham). FONTENELLE: “I suffer nothing, but I feel a sort of difficulty of living longer.” FRANKLIN: “A dying man can do nothing easily.”

FREDERICK V. (of Denmark): “There is not a drop of blood on my hands.” (See Pericles.) GAINSBOROUGH: “We are all going to heaven, and Vandyke is of the company.” (See Crome.) GARRICK: “Oh, dear!”

GASTON DE FOIX (called “Phoebus” for his beauty): “I am a dead man! Lord, have mercy upon me!” GEORGE IV.: “Watty, what is this? It is death, my boy. They have deceived me.” (Said to his page, Sir Wathen Waller.)

GIBBON: “Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!”

GOETHE: “More light.”

GOLDSMITH: “No, it is not.” (Said in reply to Dr. Turton, who asked him if his mind was at ease.) GRANT (General): “I want nobody distressed on my account.”

GREGORY VII.: “I have loved justice and hated iniquity, therefore I die in exile.” (He had embroiled himself with Heinrich IV., the Kaiser, and had retired to Salerno.)

GREY (Lady Jane): “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” (See Charlemagne.) GROTIUS: “Be serious.”

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS: “My God!”

HALLER: “My friend, the pulse has ceased to beat.” (This was said to his medical attendant.) HANNIBAL: “Let us now relieve the Romans of their fears by the death of a feeble old man.” HARRISON (W.H.): “I wish you to understand the true principles of government. I wish them carried out, and ask nothing more.”

HAYDN died singing “God preserve the emperor!”

HAZLITT: “I have led a happy life.”

HENRY II. (of England). “Now let the world go as it will; I care for nothing more.” (This he said when he was told that his favourite son John was one of those who were conspiring against him. (Shakespeare makes Macbeth say.

“I 'gin to be a weary of the sun,

And wish th' estate o' the world were now undone.”

) HENRY III. “I am Harry of Winchester.” (These can hardly be called his dying words, but only the last recorded. They were spoken on the field of battle when a man was about to slay him. The battle of Evesham was fought August 4th, 1265, but Henry III, died November 16th, 1272.)

HENRY VII.: “We heartily desire our executors to consider how behoofful it is to be prayed for.” HENRY VIII.: “All is lost! Monks, monks, monks!”

HENRY (Prince): “Tie a rope round my body, pull me out of bed, and lay me in ashes, that I may die with repentant prayers to an offended God.”

HERBERT (George): “Now, Lord, receive my soul.”

HOBBES: “Now I am about to take my last voyage — a great leap in the dark.” HOFER (Andreas): “I will not kneel. Fire!” (Spoken to the soldiers commissioned to shoot him.) HOOD: “Dying, dying.”

HOOPER: “Lord, receive my spirit.”

HUMBOLDT: “How grand these rays! They seem to beckon earth to heaven.” HUNTER (Dr. William): “If I had strength to hold a pen, I would write down how easy and pleasant a thing it is to die.”

IRVING (Edward): “If I die, I die unto the Lord. Amen.”

JACKSON (surnamed “Stonewall"): “Send Hill to the front.” JAMES V. (of Scotland): “It [the crown of Scotland] came with a lass and will go with a lass.” (This he said when told that the queen had given birth to a daughter — the future Mary Queen of Scots.)

JEFFERSON (of America): “I resign my spirit to God, my daughter to my country.” JEROME (of Prague): “Thou knowest, Lord, that I have loved the truth.”

JESUS (See Christ).

JOAN OF ARC: “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Blessed be God.” JOHNSON (Dr. ): “God bless you, my dear” (to Miss Morris). JOSEPHINE (the divorced wife of Napoleon I.) “L'ile d'Elbe! Napoleon!” JULIAN (called the “Apostate"): “Vicisti, O Galileë.”

KEATS: “I feel the flowers growing over me.”

KEN (Bishop): “God's will be done.”

KNOX: “Now it is come.”

LAMB (Charles): “My bed—fellows are cramp and cough — we three all in one bed.” LAMBERT (the Martyr): “None but Christ! None but Christ!” (This he said as he was pitched into the flames.) LAVOISIER, being condemned to die, asked for a respite of two weeks that he might complete some experiments in which he was engaged. He was told that the Republic was in no need of experiments. (See above, ARCHIMEDES.)

LAWRENCE (St.) Said to have been broiled alive on a gridiron, A.D. 258.

“This side enough is toasted, so turn me, tyrant, eat,

And see whether raw or roasted I make the better meat.” <Foxe: Book of Martyrs.

LAWRENCE (Com. James): “Don't give up the ship.” (Mortally wounded on the Chesapeake.) LEICESTER (Earl of): “By the arm of St. James, it is time to die.”

LEOPOLD I. (the Kaiser): “Let me die to the sound of sweet music.” (See Mirabeau.) LISLE (Sir George): “Ay! but I have been nearer to you, my friends, many a time, and you have missed me.” LOCKE (John): “Oh! the depth of the riches of the goodness and knowledge of God. Cease now.” (This was said to Lady Masham, who was reading to him some of the Psalms.)

LOUIS I.: “Huz! huz!” (Bouquet says, “He turned his face to the wall, twice cried huz! huz! [out; out!] and then died.)

LOUIS IX.: “I will enter now into the house of the Lord.”

LOUIS XI.: “Notre dame d'Embrun, ma bonne maltresse, aidez moi.” LOUIS XIV.: “Why weep you? Did you think I should live for ever? I thought dying had been harder.”

LOUIS XVI. (on the scaffold): “Frenchmen, I die guiltless of the crimes imputed to me. Pray God my blood fall not on France!”

LOUIS XVIII.: “A king should die standing.” (See Vespasian and Siward.) MADISON (James): “I always talk better lying down.”

MAHOMET or MOHAMMED: “O Allah! be it so! Henceforth among the glorious host of Paradise.” MALESHERBES (to the priest): “Hold your tongue! your wretched chatter disgusts me.”

MARAT (stabbed in his bath by Charlotte Corday): “Help! help me, my dear!” (To his housekeeper.) MARGARET (of Scotland, wife of Louis XI. of France): “Fi de la vie! qu'on ne m'en parle plus.”

MARIE ANTOINETTE: “Farewell, my children, for ever. I am going to your father.” MARTIN (St.): “What dost thou here, thou cruel beast?” (Said to the devil). (St. Sulpicius: Epistle to Bassula. ) MARTINUZZI (Cardinal), the Wolsey of Hungary. He was assassinated uttering the words, “Jesu, Maria!”

MARY (Queen of England): “You will find the word Calais written on my heart.” MASANIELLO: “Ungrateful traitors!” (To his assassins.)

MATHEWS (Charles): “I am ready.”

MAXIMILLIAN (Emperor of Mexico): “Poor Carlotta!” (Referring to his wife.) MELANCTHON (in reply to the question, “Do you want anything?”): “Nothing but heaven.” MIRABEAU: “Let me fall asleep to the sound of delicious music.” (See Leopold.)

MONICA (St.): “In peace I will sleep with Him and take my rest.” (St. Augustin: Confessions.) MOODY (the actor):

“Reason thus with life:

If I do lose thee, I do lose a thing

That none but fools would keep.”

(The same is said of Paterson, an actor in the Norwich Company.) MOORE (Hannah): “Patty, Joy.”

MOORE (Sir John): “I hope my country will do me justice.”

MORE (Sir Thomas): “For my coming down, let me shift for myself.” MOZART: “You spoke of a refreshment, Emilie; take my last notes, and let me hear once more my solace and delight.”

MURAT (King of Naples): “Soldiers, save my face; aim at my heart. Farewell.” (Said to the men appointed to shoot him.)

NAPOLEON I.: “Mon Dieu! La nation Francaise. Tête d'armée!” NAPOLEON III.: “Were you at Sedan?” (To Dr Conneau.)

NELSON: “I thank God I have done my duty. Kiss me, Hardy.” NERO: “Qualis artifex perio.”

PALMER (the actor): “There is another and a better world.” (This he said on the stage. It is a line in the part he was performing — The Stranger.)

PASCAL: “My God, forsake me not.”

PER'ICLES (of Athens): “I have never caused any citizen to put on mourning on my account.” (See FREDERICK V.)

PITT (William): “Alas, my country!”

PIZARRO: “Jesu!”

POMPADOUR (Mdme. de): “Stay a little longer, M. le Curé, and we will go together.” PONLATOWSKI (after the bridge over the Pliesse was blown up): “Gentlemen, it behoves us now to die with honour.”

POPE: “Friendship itself is but a part of virtue.”

RABELAIS: “Let down the curtain, the farce is over.” (See Demonax.) RALEIGH: “It matters little how the head lies.” (Said on the scaffold where he was beheaded.) RENAN: “We perish, we disappear, but the march of time goes on for ever.”

RICHARD I. (of England): “Youth, I forgive thee!” (This was said to Bertrand de Gourdon, who shot him with

an arrow at Chalus.) Then to his attendants he added, “Take off his chains, give him 100 shillings, and let him go.”

RICHARD III. (of England): “Treason! treason!” (At Bosworth, where his best men deserted him and joined the army of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII.)

ROBESPIERRE (taunted with the death of Danton): “Cowards! Why did you not defend him?” (This must have been before his jaw was broken by the shot of the gendarme the day before he was guillotined.)

ROCHEJAQUELEIN (the Vendean hero): “We go to meet the foe. If I advance, follow me; if I retreat, slay me; if I fall, avenge me.”

ROLAND (Madame): “O liberty! What crimes are committed in thy name!” SALADIN: “When I am buried, carry my winding—sheet on the point of a spear, and say these words: Behold the spoils which Saladin carries with him! Of all his victories, realms, and riches, nothing remains to him but this.” (See Severus.)

SAND (George): “Laissez la verdure.” (That is, leave the plot green, and do not cover the grave with bricks or stone.)

SCARRON: “Ah, my children, you cannot cry for me so much as I have made you laugh.” SCHILLER: “Many things are growing plain and clear to my understanding.”

SCOTT (Sir Walter): “God bless you all. I feel myself again.” (To his family.) SERVE'TUS (at the stake): “Christ, Son of the eternal God, have mercy upon me.” (Calvin insisted on his saying, “the eternal Son of God,” but he would not, and was burnt to death.)

SEVE'RUS: “I have been everything, and everything is nothing. A little urn will contain all that remains of one for whom the whole world was too little.” (See Saladin.)

SEYMOUR (Jane): “No, my head never committed any treason; but, if you want it, you can take it.” (As Jane Seymour died within a fortnight of the birth of her son Edward — the cause of unbounded delight to the king — I cannot believe that this traditionary speech is correct.)

SHARPE (Archbishop): “I shall be happy.”

SHERIDAN: “I am absolutely undone.”

SIDNEY (Algernon): “I know that my Redeemer liveth. I die for the good old cause.” (He was condemned to death by Judge Jeffries as an accomplice in the Rye House plot.)

SIDNEY (Sir Philip): “I would not change my joy for the empire of the world.” SIWARD (the Dane): “Lift me up that I may die standing, not lying down like a cow.” (See Louis XVIII, and Vespasian.)

SOCRATES: “Crito, we owe a cock to Æsculapios.”

STAEL (Madame de): “I have loved God, my father, and liberty.” STEPHEN (the first Christian martyr): “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” SWEDENBORG: “What o'clock is it?” (After being told, he added). “Thank you, and God bless you.” TALMA: “The worst is, I cannot see.” (But his last word was) “Voltaire.”

TASSO: “Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.” (See Charlemagne, and Columbus.) TAYLOR (General Zachary): “I have tried to do my duty, and am not afraid to die. I am ready.” TENTERDEN (Lord Chief Justice): “Gentlemen of the jury, you may retire.”

THERAMENES (the Athenian, condemned by Critias to drink hemlock, said as he drank the poison): “This to the fair Critias.”

THIEF (The Penitent): “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom.” THURLOW (Lord): “I'll be shot if I don't believe I'm dying.”

TYLER (Wat): “Because they are all under my command, they are sworn to do what I bid them.” VANE (Sir Harry): “It is a bad cause which cannot bear the words of a dying man.”

VESPASIAN: “A king should die standing” (See Louis XVIII. and Siward); but his last words were, “Ut puto, deus fio” (referring to the fact that he was the first of the Roman emperors who died a natural death, if, indeed, Augustus was poisoned, as many suppose).

VICARS (Hedley): “Cover my face.”

VOLTAIRE: “Do let me die in peace.”

WASHINGTON: “It is well. I die hard, but am not afraid to go.”

WESLEY: “The best of all is, God is with us.”

WILBERFORCE (His father said to him, “So He giveth His beloved sleep”; to which Wilberforce replied): “Yes, and sweet indeed is the rest which Christ giveth.” (Saying this, he never spoke again.)

WILLIAM I.: “To my Lady, the Holy Mary, I commend myself; that she, by her prayers, may reconcile her beloved Son to me.”

WILLIAM II.: “Shoot, Walter, in the devil's name!” (Walter Tyrrell did shoot, but killed the king.) WILLIAM III.: “Can this last long?” (To his physician. He suffered from a broken collarbone.)

WILLIAM (of Nassau): “O God, have mercy upon me, and upon this poor nation.” (This was just before he was shot by Balthasar Gerard.)

WILSON (the ornithologist): “Bury me where the birds will sing over my grave.” WOLFE (General): “What! do they run already? Then I die happy.” (See Epaminondas.) WOLSEY (Cardinal): “Had I but served my God with half the zeal that I have served my king, He would not have left me in my grey hairs.”

WORDSWORTH: “God bless you! Is that you, Dora?”

WYATT (Thomas): “What I then said [about the treason of Princess Elizabeth] I unsay now; and what I now say is the truth.” (This was said to the priest who waited on him on the scaffold.)

ZISKA (John): “Make my skin into drum—heads for the Bohemian cause.” Many of these sayings, like all other history, belong to the region of Phrase and Fable, but the collection is interesting and fairly exhaustive.

Dymphna

The tutelar saint of those stricken in spirit. She was a native of Britain, and a woman of high rank. It is said that she was murdered, at Geel, in Belgium, by her own father, because she resisted his incestuous passion. Geel, or Gheel, has long been a famous colony for the insane, who are sent thither from all parts of Europe, and are boarded with the peasantry.

Dynamite

(3 syl.). An explosive compound consisting of some absorbent (as infusorial earth) saturated with nitroglycerine. (Greek, dunamis, power.)

Dynamite Saturday

January 24th, 1885, when great damage was done to the Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London by explosions of dynamite. The Law—Courts and some other public buildings were to have been attacked by the dynamiters, but happily were well guarded. (See Clan—Na—Gael.)

Dyot Street

Bloomsbury Square, London; now called George Street, St. Giles. Made familiar by a well—known song in Bombastes Furioso:

“My lodging is in heather lane,

A parlour that's next to the sky ...”

Rhodes.

Dyser

The deities who conduct the souls of the deceased to the palace of Odin. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Dyvour

The debtor's badge in Scotland (French, devoir, to own). Bankrupts were compelled to wear an upper garment, half yellow and half brown, with a parti — coloured cap. This law was abolished in the reign of William IV.

Dyzemas Day

Tithe day. (Portuguese, dizimas, tithes; Law Latin, decimæ.)