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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

E. Cobham Brewer From The Edition Of 1894

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this letter represents a wriggling eel, and is called in Hebrew nun (a fish).

N

in Spanish, has sometimes a mark over it, thus— ñ. This mark is called a tilde, and alters the sense and pronunciation of a word. Thus, “pena” means punishment, but “peña,” a rock. (See Marks In Grammar .)

N

(One whose name is not given.) (See M or N.)

N

a numeral. Greek 50, but 50,000. N (Rom.) = 900, but = 900,000.

N

added to Greek words ending in a short vowel to lengthen it “by position,” and “1” added to French words beginning with a vowel, when they follow a word ending with a vowel (as si l'on for si on ), is called N or L “ephelcystic” (tagged—on); Greek, epi helko. (See Marks In Grammar .)

N. H

Bugs. The letters are the initials of Norfolk Howard, in allusion to a Mr. Bugg who, in 1863, changed his name to Norfolk Howard.

nth

or nth plus One, in University slang, means to the utmost degree. Thus, Cut to the nth means wholly unnoticed by a friend. The expression is taken from the index of a mathematical formula, where n stands for any number, and n + 1, one more than any number.

Nab The fairy which offers Orpheus for food in the infernal regions a roasted ant, a flea's thigh, butterflies' brains, some sucking mites, a rainbow—tart, and other delicacies of like nature, to be washed down with dewdrops, beer made from seven barleycorns, and the supernaculum of earth—born topers. (King: Orpheus and Eurydice.)

Nab

To seize without warning. A contraction of apprehend. (Norwegian, nappe, to catch at, nap, snatch; Swedish, nappa.) Our nap (to filch or steal) is a variety of the same word.

The keeper or catch of a latch or bolt is called the nab.

Nab—man

A sheriff's officer. (See Nab .)

“Old Dornton has sent the nabman after him at last.”— Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering (dramatised by Terry, ii. 3).

Nabo

or Nebo. One of the divinities of the Assyrians, supposed to be the moon. (See Isa. xlvi. 1.) Many of the kings of Babylon assumed the name.

Nabonassar is Nabo—n—assar, Asshur or Assyria. Nabochadanasor is Nabo—chadon (or adon)—[n]. assur, i.e. Nabo—king—of—Asshur or Assyria. Nabopolassar is Nabo—[son of] pul—Assyrian.

Nebochadnezzar is Nebo—chad (or adon i.e. Nabo or Nebo—king—of—Asshur. Belchazzar is Baal—ch'—azzar, i.e. Baal—chadon—n—assar, or Baal—king—of Asshur.

Nabob'

(generally called Nabob). Corruption of the Hindu word nawab, the plural of naib. An administrator of a province and commander of the Indian army under the Mogul Empire. These men acquired great wealth and lived in Eastern splendour, so that they gave rise to the phrase, “Rich as the nawâb,” corrupted into “Rich as a nabob. ” In England we apply the phrase to a merchant who has attained great wealth in the Indies, and has returned to live in his native country.

Nabonassar

or Nebo—adon—Assur. (Nebo, Prince of Assyria.) Founder of the Babylonian and Chaldæan kingdom, and first of the dynasty of Nabonassar.

Era of Nabonassar began Wednesday, February 26th, 747 B.C., the day of Nabonassar's accession. It was used by Ptolemy, and by the Babylonians, in all their astronomical calculations.

Naboth's Vineyard

The possession of another coveted by one able to possess himself of it. (1 Kings xxi. 1—10.)

“The little Manor House property had always been a Naboth's vineyard to his father.”— Good Words, 1887.

Nadab

in Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel, is meant for Lord Howard, of Esrick or Escriek, a profligate who laid claim to great piety. Nadab offered incense with strange fire, and was slain by the Lord (Lev. x. 2); and Lord Howard, while imprisoned in the Tower, is said to have mixed the consecrated wafer with a compound of roasted apples and sugar, called lamb's—wool.

“And canting Nadab let oblivion damn,

Who made new porridge of the paschal lamb.” Absalom and Achitophel, part i. 538—9.

Nadir

An Arabic word, signifying that point in the heavens which is directly opposite to the zenith.

From zenith down to nadir. From the highest point of elevation to the lowest depth. Nadir. A representation of the planetary system.

“We then lost (1091) a most beautiful table, fabricated of different metals ... Saturn was of copper, Jupiter of gold, Mars of iron, the Sun of latten, Mercury of amber, Venus of tin, and the Moon of silver ... It was the most celebrated nadir in all England.”— Ingulphus.

Nadir Shah

Kouli Khan, a Persian warrior. (1687—1747.)

Nag

A horse. This is an example of n of the article joined to the following noun, as in the word newt = an ewt. (Danish and Norwegian, og; Anglo—Saxon, eoh or eh; Latin, eq[uus]; Dutch, negge.) Taylor (1630) has naggon, as—

“Wert thou George with thy naggon,

That foughtest with the draggon.”

Shakespeare's naunt and nuncle are mine—aunt and mine—uncle.

Nag, Nagging

Constant fault—finding. (Anglo—Saxon, gnag—an, to gnaw, bite.) We call a slight but constant pain, like a tooth—ache, a nagging pain.

Nag's Head Consecration

On the passing of the first Act of Uniformity in Queen Elizabeth's reign, fourteen bishops vacated their sees, and all the other sees, except Llandaff, were at the time vacant. The question was how to obtain consecration so as to preserve the succession called “apostolic” unbroken, as Llandaff refused to officiate at Parker's consecration. In this dilemma (the story runs) Scory, a deposed bishop, was sent for, and officiated at the Nag's Head tavern, in Cheapside, thus transmitting the succession.

Such is the tale. Strype refutes the story, and so does Dr. Hook. We are told that it was not the consecration which took place at the Nag's Head, but only that those who took part in it dined there subsequently. We are furthermore told that the Bishops Barlow, Scory, Coverdale, and Hodgkins, all officiated at the consecration.

Naga

Serpents; the king of them is Sesha, the sacred serpent of Vishnu. (Hindu mythology.)

Naglfar

The giants' ship, in which they will embark on “the last day" to give battle to the gods. It is made of the nails of the dead. (Old Norse, nagl, a human nail, and fara, to make.) (Scandinavian mythology.) Piloted by Hrymer

Nahushtan

Trumpery bits of brass. (2 Kings xviii. 4.)

Naiads

Nymphs of lakes, fountains, rivers, and streams. (Classical mythology.) (See Fairy .)

Nail

Down on the nail, Pay down on the nail. In ready money. In Latin: “Super unguem; ” in French: “Sur Vongle;” as, “Boire la goutte sur Vongle ” (see Supernaculum), “Payer rubis sur Vongle, ” where rubis means red wine. The Latin ungulus (from unguis) means a “shot” or reckoning, hence ungulum dare, to pay one's reckoning.

“Quo quibus prisis, et cariagiis pleana flat solucio super unguem.”— An Indenture dated July 15th, 1326 (Scot's Act)

O'Keefe says: “In the centre of Limerick Exchange is a pillar with a circular plate of copper about three feet in diameter, called The Nail, on which the earnest of all stock—exchange bargains has to be paid.” Recollections.

A similar custom prevailed at Bristol, where were four pillars, called nails, in front of the Exchange for a similar purpose. In Liverpool Exchange there is a plate of copper called The Nail, on which bargains are settled.

Hung on the nail. Up the spout, put in pawn. The custom referred to is that of hanging each pawn on a nail, with a number attached, and giving the customer a duplicate thereof. Very similar to the custom of guarding hats, cloaks, walking—sticks, and umbrellas, in public exhibitions and assemblies.

To hit the nail on the head. To come to a right conclusion. In Latin, “Rem tenes. ” The Germans have the exact phrase, “Den Nagel auf den kopf treffen. “

Nail

(For want of a). “For want of a nail, the shoe is lost; for want of a shoe, the horse is lost; and for want of a horse, the rider is lost.” (Herbert Jacula Prudentum.)

Nail—money

Six crowns given to the “roy des harnoys” for affixing the arms of a knight to the pavilion.

Nail fixed in the Temple

(of Jupiter). On September 13th a nail was annually driven into the wall of the temple of Jupiter. This was originally done to tally the year, but subsequently it lapsed into a religious ceremony for warding off calamities from the city. Originally the nail was driven in the wall by the praetor maximus, subsequently by one of the consuls, and lastly by the dictator. (See Livy, vii. 3.).

Nail in One's Coffin

To drive a nail into one's coffin. To shorten life by anxiety, drink, etc. Topers call a dram “a nail in their coffin,” in jocular allusion to the teetotal axiom.

“Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt;

But every grin so merry draws one out.”

Peter Pindar (John Wolcot): Expostulatory Odes, Ode xv.

Nail One's Colours to the Mast

(To). To refuse to surrender. When the colours are nailed to the mast they cannot be lowered in proof of submission.

Nailed

Caught and secured in jail. (See Clou .)

I nailed him (or it.) I hooked him, I pinned him, meaning I secured him. Isaiah (xxii. 23) says, “I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place.” However, the idea may still be, I secured him by making him pay down the earnest on The Nail. (See Pay on the Nail, second clause.)

Nails driven into Cottage Walls

This was a Roman practice, under the notion that it kept off the plague. L. Manlius was named dictator (A.U.C. 390) “to drive the nail.”

Our cottagers still nail horseshoes to thresholds to ward off evil spirits. Mr. Coutts, the banker, had two rusty horse—shoes fastened on the highest step outside Holly Lodge.

Nails of the Cross

The nails with which our Lord was fastened to the cross were, in the Middle Ages, objects of great reverence. Sir John Maundeville says, “He had two in his hondes, and two in his feet; and of on of theise the emperour of Canstantynoble made a brydille to his hors, to bere him in bataylle; and throughe vertue thereof he overcam his enemyes” (c. vii.). Fifteen are shown as relics(See Iron Crown .)

Nain Rouge A Lutin or goblin of Normandy, kind to fishermen. There is another called Le petit homme rouge.

Naivete

(pron. nah'—eve—ty). Ingenuous simplicity; the artless innocence of one ignorant of the conventions of society. The term is also applied to poetry, painting, and sculpture. The word is formed from the Latin natus, natura, etc., meaning nature without art.

Naked Lady

Meadow saffron (Colchicum Autumnale). Called naked because, like the almond, peach, etc., the flowers come out before the leaves. It is poetically called “the leafless orphan of the year,” the flowers being orphaned or destitute of foliage. Some call it “Naked Boy,” and the “Naked Boy Courts” of London were places where meadow saffron was sold.

Naked Truth

The fable says that Truth and Falsehood went bathing; Falsehood came first out of the water, and dressed herself in Truth's garments. Truth, unwilling to take those of Falsehood, went naked.

Nakeer

Munkar and Nakeer. Two black angels of appalling aspect, the inquisitors of the dead. The Koran says that during the inquisition the soul is united to the body. If the scrutiny is satisfactory, the soul is gently drawn forth from the lips of the deceased, and the body is left to repose in peace; if not, the body is beaten about the head with iron clubs, and the soul is wrenched forth by racking torments.

Nala

a legendary king of India, whose love for Damayanti and subsequent misfortunes have supplied subjects for numerous poems. Dean Milman has translated into English the episode from the Mahâbhârata, and W. Yates the famous Sanskrit poem called Nalodaya.

Nama

A daughter of the race of man, who was beloved by the angel Zaraph. Her one wish was to love purely, intensely, and holily; but she fixed her love on a seraph, a creature, more than on her Creator; therefore, in punishment, she was condemned to abide on earth, “unchanged in heart and frame,” so long as the earth endureth; but when time is no more, both she and her angel lover will be admitted into those courts “where love never dies.” (Moore: Loves of the Angels, story iii.)

Namby Pamby Philips

Ambrose Philips (1671—1749). His nickname was bestowed upon him by Harry Carey, the dramatist, for his verses addressed to Lord Carteret's children, and was adopted by Pope. This was not John Philips, author of the Splendid Shilling. “Namby” is a baby way of pronouncing Ambrose, and

“Pamby” is a jingling reduplication.

Macaulay says: “This sort of verse has been called [Namby Pamby] after the name of its author.”

Name

“What's in a name? That which we call a rose,

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, ii. 2.

To take God's name in vain. To use it profanely, thoughtlessly, or irreverently.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”— Exod. xx. 7.

Name

Fairies are extremely averse to having their names known, indeed there seems to be a strange identity between personality and name. Thus we are forbidden to take God's “name in vain,” and when Jacob wrestled with the angel, he was anxious to know his opponent's name. (Compare the Greek onoma and the Latin anima.)

Name—son

Name—sake; also name—child, etc.

“God for ever bless your honour, I am your name—son, sure enough.”— Smollett: Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves.

Name the Day

Fix the day of marriage.

Names

To call a person names. To blackguard a person by calling him nicknames.

Names

of the Puritans.

Praise—God Barebones. A leather—seller in Fleet Street. If—Jesus—Christ—had—not—died—for—thee——thou—hadst—been—damned Barebones. His son; usually called Damned Dr. Barebones.

Nancy

The sailor's choice in Dibdin's exquisite song beginning, “'Twas post meridian half—past four.” At half—past four he parted by signal from his Nancy; at eight he bade her a long adieu; next morn a storm arose, and four sailors were washed overboard, “but love forbade the waves to snatch our tar from Nancy”; when the storm ceased an enemy appeared, but when the battle was hottest our gallant friend “put up a prayer and thought on Nancy.”

Miss Nancy. Mrs. Anna Oldfield, a celebrated actress, buried in Westminster Abbey. She died in 1730, and her remains lay in state, attended by two noblemen. She was buried in a very fine Brussels lace head—dress, a holland shift, with a tucker and double—ruffles of the same lace, new kid gloves, etc.

“Odious! In woollen? `Twould a saint provoke!'

Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.” Pope: Moral Essays.

Miss Nancy. An effeminate young man.

Nancy of the Vale

A village maiden who preferred Strephon to the gay lordlings who sought her. (Shenstone.)

Nankeen

So called from Nankin, in China. It is the natural colour of Nankin cotton.

Nanna

Wife of Balder. When the blind—god slew her husband, she threw herself upon his funeral pile and was burnt to death.

Nannie

to whom Burns has addressed several of his songs, was Miss Fleming, daughter of a farmer in the parish of Tarbolton, Ayrshire.

Nantes (1 syl.). Edict of Nantes. The decree of Henri IV. of France, published from Nantes in 1598, securing freedom of religion to all Protestants. Louis XIV. repealed this edict in 1685.

Nap

To go nap. To stake all the winnings on the cards in hand; hence, to risk all on one venture. Nap is a game of cards; so called from Napoleon III.

Nap

(A), a doze or short sleep, as “To take a nap,” is the Anglo—Saxon hnæppian or hnapp—ian (to take a nap; the nap of cloth is the Anglo—Saxon hnoppa.)

Naphtha

The drug used by Mede'a for anointing the wedding robe of Glauce, daughter of King Creon, whereby she was burnt to death on the morning of her marriage with Jason.

Napiers Bones

A method invented by Baron Napier, of Merchiston, for shortening the labour of trignometrical calculations. Certain figures are arranged on little slips of paper or ivory, and simply by shifting these slips the result required is obtained. They are called bones because the baron used bone or ivory rods instead of cardboard.

Napoleon III

Few men have had so many nicknames.

MAN OF DECEMBER, so called because his coup detat was December 2nd, and he was made emperor December 2nd, 1852.

MAN OF SEDAN, and, by a pun, M. Sedantaire. It was at Sedan he surrendered his sword to William I., King of Prussia (1870)

MAN OF SILENCE, from his great taciturnity

COMTE D'ARENENBERG, the name and title he assumed when he escaped from the fortress of Ham BADINGUET, the name of the mason who changed clothes with him when he escaped from Ham. The emperor's partisans were called Badingueux, those of the empress were Monti—joyeaux.

BOUSTRAPA is a compound of Bou[logne], Stra[sbourg], and Pa[ris], the places of his noted escapade. RANTIPOLE = harum—scarum. half—fool and half—madman.

VERHUEL. A patronymic, which cannot be here explained.

There are some very curious numerical coincidences connected with Napoleon III. and Eugénie. The last complete year of their reign was 1869. (In 1870 Napoleon was dethroned and exiled.)

Now, if to the year of coronation (1852), you add either the birth of Napoleon, or the birth of Eugénie, or the capitulation of Paris, or the date of marriage, the sum will always be 1869. For example.

1852 Coronation 1852 1852 1852

1809 Birth of Napoleon. 1826 Birth of Eugénie. 1853 Date of marriage. 1871 Capitulatin of Paris.

1869 1869 1869 1869

And if to the year of marriage (1853) these dates are added, they will give 1870, the fatal year.

Napping

To catch one napping. To find a person unprepared or off his guard. (Anglo—Saxon, hnappung, slumbering.)

Nappy Ale

Strong ale is so called because it makes one nappy, or because it contains a nap or frothy head.

Naraka

The hell of the Hindus. It has twenty—eight divisions, in some of which the victims are mangled by ravens and owls; in others they will be doomed to swallow cakes boiling hot, or walk over burning sands. Each division has its name: Rurava (fearful) is for liars and false witnesses; Rodha (obstruction) for those who plunder a town, kill a cow, or strangle a man; Sûkara (swine) for drunkards and stealers of gold; etc.

Narcissa in the Night Thoughts, was Elizabeth Lee, Dr. Young's step—daughter. In Night iii. the poet says she was clandestinely buried at Montpelier, because, being a Protestant, she was “denied the charity that dogs enjoy” (For Pope's Narcissa see Nancy .)

Narcissus

(The). This charming flower is named from the son of Cephisus. This beautiful youth saw his reflection in a fountain, and thought it the presiding nymph of the place. He tried to reach it, and jumped into the fountain, where he died. The nymphs came to take up the body that they might pay it funeral honours, but found only a flower, which they called Narcissus, after the name of the son of Cephisus. (Ovid's Metamorphoses, iii. 346, etc.)

Plutarch says the plant is called Narcissus from the Greek narke (numbness), and that it is properly narcosis, meaning the plant which produces numbness or palsy.

“Sweet Echo, sweetest nymph that livst unseen ...

Canst thou not tell me of a gentle pair.

That likest thy Narcissus are?”

Milton: Comus, 235, etc.

Echo fell in love with Narcissus.

Nardac

The highest title of honour in the realm of Lilliput. Gulliver received this distinction for carrying off the whole fleet of the Blefuscudians. (Swift: Gulliver's Travels; Voyage to Lilliput, v.)

Narrow House

or Home. A coffin; the grave. Gray calls the grave a “narrow cell.”

“Each in his narrow cell for ever laid,

The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep.”

Elegy.

Narrowdale Noon

(Till). To defer a matter till Narrowdale noon is to defer it indefinitely. “Christmas is coming.” Ans., “So is Narrowdale Noon.” Your ... was deferred or delayed, like Narrowdale Noon. Narrowdale is in Derbyshire. The Dovedale is a valley about three miles long, and nowhere more than a quarter of a mile broad. It is approached from the north by a “narrow dale,” in which dwell a few cotters, who never see the sun all the winter, and when its beams first pierce the dale in the spring it is only for a few minutes in the afternoon.

Narses

(2 syl.). A Roman general against the Goths; the terror of children. (473—568.) (See Bogie .)

“The name of Narses was the formidable sound with which the Assyrian mothers were accustomed to terrify their infants.”— Gibbon: Decline and Fall, etc., viii. 219.

Narwhal

Drinking—cups made of the bone of the narwhal used to be greatly valued, from the supposition that they counteracted the fatal effects of poison.

Naseby

(Northamptonshire) is the Saxon nafela (the navel). It is so called because it was considered the navel or centre of England. Similarly, Delphi was called the “navel of the earth,” and in this temple was a white stone kept bound with a red ribbon, to represent the navel and umbilical cord.

Nasi

The president of the Jewish Sanhedrim.

Naso

The “surname” of Ovid, the Roman poet, author of Metamorphoses. Naso means “nose,” hence Holofernes' pun: “And why Naso, but for smelling out the odoriferous flowers of fancy.” (Shakespeare:

Love's Labour's Lost, iv. 2.)

Nasser

The Arabian merchant whose fables are the delight of the Arabs. D'Herbelot tells us that when Mahomet read to them the history of the Old Testament, they cried out with one voice that Nasser's tales were the best; upon which Mahomet gave his malediction on Nasser, and all who read him.

Nastrond

[dead—man's region ]. The worst marsh in the infernal regions, where serpents pour forth venom incessantly from the high walls. Here the murderer and the perjured will be doomed to live for ever. (Old Norse, nà, a dead body, and strond, a strand.) (Scandinavian mythology.) (See Likstrond .)

Nathaniel

(Sir). A grotesque curate in Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost.

Nation of Gentlemen

So George IV. called the Scotch when, in 1822, he visited that country.

Nation of Shopkeepers

Napoleon was not the first to call the English “a nation of shopkeepers” in contempt.

National Anthem

Both the music and words were composed by Dr. Henry Carey in 1740. However, in Antwerp cathedral is a MS. copy of it which affirms that the words and music were by Dr. John Bull; adding that it was composed on the occasion of the discovery of Gunpowder Plot, to which the words “frustrate their knavish tricks” especially allude.

National Anthems

Of AUSTRIA. Haydn's Hymn to the Emperor.

BELGIAN. The Brabanconne.

DENMARK. Song of Danebrog [a flag with a white cross, which fell from heaven in the 13th century at the prayer of Waldemar II.].

ENGLAND. Rule Britannia, words by Thomson, music by Handel, and God Save the King. (See above. FRANCE. Ancient, the Chanson de Roland. Since the Revolution, the Marseillaise and the Chant du Départ. GERMANY. Arndt's Des Deutschen Vaterland: “Heil Dir im Siegeskranz.”

HUNGARY. The Rakoczy March.

ITALY. Daghela Avanti un Passo [i.e. Move a step onward], 1821. Garibaldi's warlike Hymn, and Godfredo Mameli's Italian Brethren, Italy has Awaked, composed by Mercantini.

RUSSIA. God Protect the Czar.

SCOTLAND. Several Jacobite songs, the most popular being The King shall Enjoy his own Again, When the King Comes o'er the Water, and Lilliburlero of 1688.

National Colours

Great Britain Red and blue.

America, U.S. Stars on blue, white with red stripes.

Austria Red, white, and red.

Bavaria Red

Denmark Red, with white cross.

France Blue, white, and red.

Netherlands Red, white, and blue.

Portugal Blue and white.

Prussia White.

Russia White, with blue cross.

Spain Red, yellow, and red.

Sweden Blue, with yellow cross.

Switzerland Red, with white cross.

National Convention

The assembly of deputies which assumed the government of France on the overthrow of the throne in 1792. It succeeded the National Assembly.

National Debt

Money borrowed by the Government, on the security of the taxes, which are pledged to the lenders for the payment of interest.

The National Debt in William III.'s reign was 15,730,439.

At the commencement of the American war,128,583,635. At the close thereof, 249,851,628.

At the close of the French war, 840,850,491.

Cancelled between 1817 and 1854, 85,538,790. Created by Crimean war, 68,623,199.

In 1866, 802,842,949.

In 1872 it was 792,740,000.

In 1875 it was 714,797,715.

In 1879 it was 702,430,594.

In 1892 it was 677,679,571.

In 1893 it was 671,042,842.

National Exhibition

So Douglas Jerrold called a public execution at the Old Bailey. These scandals were abolished in 1868. Executions now take place in the prison yard.

National Workshops

— The English name of “Ateliers nationaux,” established by the French provisional government in February, 1848, and which were abolished in three months, after a sanguinary contest.

Native

In feudal times, one born a serf. After the Conquest, the natives were the serfs of the Normans. Wat Tyler said to Richard II.:

“The firste peticion was that he scholde make alle men fre thro Ynglonde and quiete, so that there scholde not be eny native man after that time.”— Higden: Polychronicon, viii. 457.

Nativity

(The) means Christmas Day, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus.

The Cave of the Nativity is under the chancel of the “church of the Nativity.” In the recess, a few feet above the ground is a stone slab with a star cut in it, to mark the spot where the Saviour was born. Near it is a hollow scraped out of the rock, said to be the place where the infant Jesus was laid.

To cast a man's nativity is to construct a plan or map out of the position, etc., of the twelve houses which belong to him, and to explain the scheme.

Natty

Tidy, methodical, and neat. (Italian netto, French net, Welsh nith.)

Natty Bumppo

called “Leather Stocking.” He appears in five of Fenimore Cooper's novels: as the Deerslayer; the Pathfinder; the Hawk—eye (La Longue Carabine), in the Last of the Mohicans; Natty Bumppo, in the Pioncers; and the Trapper in the Prairie, in which he dies.

Natural

(A). A born idiot; one on whom education can make no impression. As nature made him, so he remains.

A natural child. One not born in lawful wedlock. The Romans called the children of concubines naturales children according to nature, and not according to law.

“Cui pater est populus, pater est sibi nullus omnes;

Cui pater est populus not habet ille patrem.”

Ovid.

Nature

In a state of nature. Nude or naked.

Naught

(not “nought”). Naught is Ne (negative), aught (anything). Saxon náht, which is ne áht (not anything).

“A headless man had a letter [o] to write.

He who read it [naught had lost his sight.

The dumb repeated it [naught word for word,

And deaf was the man who listened and heard [naught.” Dr Whewell.

Naught

meaning bad.

“The water is naught.”— 2 Kings, ii. 19.

Naughty Figs

(Jeremiah xxiv. 2). Worthless, vile (Anglo—Saxon náht, i.e. n negative, aht aught). We still say a “naughty boy,” a “naughty girl,” and a “naughty child.”

“One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe. ... The other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten.”

Navigation

Father of navigation. Don Henrique, Duke of Viseo, the greatest man that Portugal ever produced. (1394—1460.)

Father of British inland navigation. Francis Egerton, Duke of Bridgewater (1736—1803).

Navvy

A contraction of navigator. One employed to make railways.

“Canals were thought of as lines of inland navigation, and a tavern built by the side of a canal was called a `Navigation Inn.' Hence it happened that the men employed in excavating canals were called `navigators,' shortened into navvies.”— Spencer: Principles of Sociology, vol. i. appendix C, p. 834.

Nay—word

Pass—word. Slender in The Merry Wives of Windsor, says—

“We have a nay—word how to know each other I come to her in white and cry Mum, she cries Budget, and by that we know one another”— Shakespeare.

Nayres

(I syl.). The aristocratic class of India. (See Poleas .)

Nazaræans

or Nazarenes (3 syl.). A sect of Jewish Christians, who believed Christ to be the Messiah, that He was born of the Holy Ghost, and that He possessed a Divine nature; but they nevertheless conformed to the Mosaic rites and ceremonies. (See below.)

Nazarene

(3 syl.). A native of Nazareth; hence our Lord is so called (John xviii. 5, 7; Acts xxiv. 5).

Nazareth

Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? (John i. 46). A general insinuation against any family or place of ill repute. Can any great man come from such an insignificant village as Nazareth?

Nazarite

(3 syl.). One separated or set apart to the Lord by a vow. These Nazarites were to refrain from strong drinks, and to suffer their hair to grow. (Hebrew, nazar, to separate. Numb. vi. 1—21.)

Ne plus Ultra

(Latin). The perfection or most perfect state to which a thing can be brought. We have Ne—plus—ultra corkscrews, and a multitude of other things.

Ne Sutor

etc. Cobbler

A drink made of wine (sherry), sugar, lemon, and ice. It is sipped up through a straw. (See Cobbler's Punch )

“This wonderful invention, sir, ... is called cobbler,— Sherry cobbler, when you name it long; cobbler when you name it short.”— Dickens: Marten Chuzzlewit, xvii.

Cobbler

Let not the cobbler overstep his last (Ne sutor ultra crepidam ). Let no one presume to interfere in matters of which he is ignorant. The tale goes that a cobbler detected a fault in the shoe—latchet of one of Apelles' paintings, and the artist rectified the fault. The cobbler, thinking himself very wise, next ventured to criticise the legs; but Apelles answered, “Keep to your trade”— you understand about shoes, but not about anatomy.

Neæera

Any sweetheart or lady love. She is mentioned by Horace, Virgil, and Tibullus.

“To sport with Amaryllis in the shade,

Or with the tangles of Neæra's hair.”

Milton: Lycidas.

Neapolitan

A native of Naples; pertaining to Naples.

Near meaning mean, is rather a curious play on the word close (close—fisted). What is “close by” is near

Near Side

and Off Side. Left side and right side. “Near wheel" means that to the coachman's left hand; and

“near horse” (in a pair) means that to the left hand of the driver. In a four—in—hand the two horses on the left side of the coachman are the near wheeler and the near leader. Those on the right hand side of the coachman are “off horses.” This, which seems an anomaly, arose when the driver walked beside his team. The teamster always walks with his right arm nearest the horse, and therefore, in a pair of horses, the horse on the left side is nearer than the one on his right.

1 3

2 4

Thus, 2 is the near wheeler and 1 the near leader, 4 is the off wheeler and 3 the off leader.

Neat as a Bandbox

A band—box is a slight box for caps, hats, and other similar articles.

Neat as a Pin

or Neat as a New Pin. Very prim and tidy.

Neat as Wax

Certainly the waxen cells of bees are the perfection of neatness and good order.

Nebo

the god of science and literature, is said to have invented cuneiform writing. His temple was at Borsippa, but his worship was carried wherever Babylonian letters penetrated. Thus we had Mount Nebo in Moab, and the city of Nebo in Judea.

Nebraska

U.S. A word of Indian origin, meaning the “shallow river.”

Nebuchadnezzar

A correspondent of Notes and Queries (July 21, 1877) says that the compound Russian word Neboch—ad—ne—tzar means, “There is no god but the czar.” Of course this is not the meaning of the Babylonian proper name, but the coincidence is curious. The —ezzar of Nebuchadnezzar means Assyria, and appears in such words as Nabon—assar, Bel—ch—azzar, Nebo—pol—assar, Tiglath—Pil—eser, Esar—haden, and so on.

Nabonassar is Nebo—adan—Assur (Nebo prince of Assyria); Nebuchadnezzar is Nebo—chah—adun—Assar (Nebo, royal prince—of Assyria). Nebo was probably an Assyrian god, but it was no unusual thing for kings to assume the names of gods, as Bel—ch—azzar, where Bel = Baal (Baal king—of Assyria.) (See Nabo.)

Nebuchadnezzar

The prophet Daniel says that Nebuchadnezzar walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon and said, “Is not this great Babylon that I have built ... by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” And “the same hour ... he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws” (iv. 29—33).

Necessity

Make a virtue of necessity. (Shakespeare: Two Gentlemen of Verona, iv. 1.)

“Quintilian has laudem virtutis necessitati damus: St. Jerome (epistle 54 section 6), Fac de necessitate virtutem. In the Roman de la Rose, line 14058, we find S'il ne fait de necessite virtu, and Boccaccio has Si come savia fatta della necessita.

Necessity the tyrant's plea. (Milton: Paradise Lost, book iv. verse 393.)

Neck

“Oh that the Roman people had but one neck, that I might cut it off at a blow! ” The words of Caligula, the Roman emperor.

To break the neck of an enterprise. To begin it successfully, and overcome the first difficulties. Well begun is half done. The allusion is to killing fowls by breaking their necks.

Neck—verse

(Psalm li. 1). “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to They lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” This verse was so called because it was the trial—verse of those who claimed benefit of clergy; and if they could read it, the ordinary of Newgate said,

“Legit ut clericus, ” and the convict saved his neck, being only burnt in the hand and set at liberty.

“If a clerk had been taken

For stealing of bacon.

For burglary, murder, or rape.

If he could but rehearse

(Well prompt) his neck—verse,

He never could fail to escape.”

British Apollo (1710).

Neck—weed

A slang term for hemp, of which the hangman's rope is made.

Neck and Crop

Entirely. The crop is the gorge of a bird.

Neck and Heels

I bundled him out neck and heels. There was a certain punishment formerly in vogue which consisted in bringing the chin and knees of the culprit forcibly together, and then thrusting the victim into a cage.

Neck and Neck

Very near together in merit; very close competitors. A phrase used in horse races, when two or more horses run each other very closely.

Neck or Nothing

Desperate. A racing phrase; to win by a neck or to be nowhere— i.e. not counted at all because unworthy of notice.

Necked

A stiff—necked people. Obstinate and self—willed. In the Psalms we read, “Speak not with a stiff

neck” (lxxv. 5); and in Jeremiah xvii. 23, “They obeyed not, but made their necks stiff;” and Isaiah (xlviii. 4) says, “Thy neck is an iron sinew.” The allusion is to a wilful horse, ox, or ass, which will not answer to the reins.

Necklace

A necklace of coral or white bryony beads used to be worn round the necks of children to aid their teething. Necklaces of hyoscyamus or henbane—root have been recommended for the same purpose. In Italy coral beloques are worn as a charm against the “evil eye.”

The diamond necklace (1785). (See Diamond Necklace.)

The fatal necklace. Cadmos received on his wedding—day the present of a necklace, which proved fatal to everyone who possessed it. Some say that Vulcan, and others that Europa, gave the necklace to Cadmos Harmonia's necklace (q.v.) was a similar fatal gift. (See Fatal Gifts.)

Necromancy

means prophesying by calling up the dead, as the witch of Endor called up Samuel. (Greek, nekros, the dead; manteia, prophecy.)

Nectar

Wine conferring immortality, and drunk by the gods. The Koran tells us “the righteous shall be given to drink pure wine sealed with musk.” The food of the gods is Ambrosia. (Greek nektar.)

Neddy

(a man's name). A contraction and diminutive of Mine Edward—Mine Eddy, My N'Eddy. Teddy is the French tu, toi, form; and Neddy the nunation form. (Ed', Ted, Ned.)

Neddy. A donkey; a low cart used in Dublin; so called because its jolting keeps the riders eternally nodding.

“The `Set—down' was succeeded by the Noddy, so called from its oscillating motion backwards and forwards.”— Sketches of Ireland (1847).

Neddy. A dunce; a euphemism for “an ass.”

Need Makes the old Wife Trot

In German, “Die noth macht ein alte weib traben;” in Italian, “Bisogna fà trotterl a vecchia;” in French, “Besoim fait trotter la vicille;” the Scotch say, “Need gars naked men run.”

Needs must when the Devil Drives

The French say: “Il faut marcher quand le diable est aux trousses;” and the Italians say: “Bisogna andare, quando il diavolo è vella coda.” If I must, I must.

“He must needs go that the Devil drives.”

Shakespeare: All's Well That Ends Well, i. 3.

Needfire

Fire obtained by friction. It has been supposed to defeat sorcery, and cure diseases assigned to witchcraft. (Danish, gnide, to rub.)

Needful

(The). Ready money, cash. The one thing needful for this life.

Needham

You are on the high—road to Needham — to ruin or poverty. The pun is on the word need. Needham is in Suffolk. (See Land Of Nod.)

Needle

To hit the needle. Hit the right nail on the head, to make a perfect hit. A term in archery, equal to hitting the bull's—eye.

Eye of a needle. (See Eye.)

Negative Pregnant

(A). A denial which implies an affirmative, and is so interpreted. A law term.

Negro

Fuller says a negro is “God's image cut in ebony.”

Negro Offspring

White father and negro mother. Offspring, mulatto, mulatta.

White father and mulatta mother. Offspring, cuarteron, —rona. White father and cuarterona mother. Offspring, quintero, quintera. White father and quintera mother. Offspring, white.

Negroni

A princess, a friend of Lucrezia di Borgia, Duchess of Ferrara. She invited to a banquet the nobles who had insulted her friend, and killed them with poisoned wine. (Donizetti: Lucrezia di Borgia, an opera.)

Negus

So called from Colonel Francis Negus, who first concocted it, in the time of George I.

Nehallenia

The Flemish deity who presided over commerce and navigation.

Nehushtan

(2 Kings xviii. 4). Bits of brass, worthless fragments. When Hezekiah broke in pieces the brazen serpent, he called the broken pieces Nehushtan.

“Such matters to the agitators are Nehushtan.”— Nineteenth Century, December, 1892, p. 998.

Neiges d'Antan

(The). A thing of the past. Literally, “last year's snows.”

“Where are the snows of yester—year?” Rossetti.

“The whole has melted away like the neiges d'antan.”— Nineteenth Century, June, 1891, p. 893.

Neken

In Upper Egypt, sometime during the fourth millennium BCE, three great confederations formed around the cult centres of "the living gods," unified to create the first great Egyptian kingdom. Eventually, this federation would spread north and south to conquer the Two Lands of the Nile and become the 1st Dynasty.

In the south, a cult of Horus the Elder formed around Edfu and Neken and grew into its own state. Just north of Neken, in the bend of the great river, the living god was a goddess, Hathor, the consort of Horus. The Lady of the House of Heru sailed down the river each year to meet her mate, Horus the Elder, at the ancient mound of Behdet at Edfu and celebrate the sacred marriage.

Neksheb

The city of Transoxiana.

Nell's Point

in Barry Island. Famous for a well to which women resort on Holy Thursday, and having washed their eyes with the water of the well, each woman drops into it a pin.

Nem. Con Unanimously. A contraction of the Latin nemine contradicente (no one opposing).

Nem. Diss

Without a dissentient voice. (Latin, nemine dissentiente. )

Nemean Games

(The). One of the four great national festivals of Greece, celebrated at nemea, in Argolis, every alternate year, the first and third of each Olympiad. The victor's reward was at first a crown of olive—leaves, but subsequently a garland of ivy. Pindar has eleven odes in honour of victors at these games.

Nemean Lion

(The). The first of the labours of Hereules was to kill the Nemean lion (of Argolis), which kept the people in constant alarm. Its skin was so tough that his club made no impression on the beast, so Hercules caught it in his arms and squeezed it to death. He ever after wore the skin as a mantle.

“Ere Nemea's boast resigned his shaggy spoils.”

Nemesis

Retribution, or rather the righteous anger of God. A female Greek deity, whose mother was Night.

Nemo Me Impune Lacessit

No one injures me with impunity. The motto of the Order of the Thistle. It was first used on the coins of James VI. of Scotland (James I. of England). A strange motto for Puritans to adopt (Matt. xviii. 21, 22).

Neology

The Rationalistic interpretation of Scripture. The word is Greek, and means new—(theo)—logy. Those who accept this system are called Neologians.

Neoptolemos

or Pyrrhos. Son of Achilles; called Pyrrhos from his yellow hair, and Neoptolemos because he was a new soldier, or one that came late to the siege of Troy. According to Virgil, it was this young man that slew the aged Priam. On his return home he was murdered by Orestes, at Delphi.

Nepenthe

(3 syl.) or Nepenthes, a drug to drive away care and superinduce love. Polydamna, wife of Thonis (or Thone, 1 syl.), King of Egypt, gave nepenthe to Helen (daughter of Jove and Leda). Homer speaks of a magic potion called nepenthe, which made persons forget their woes. (Odyssey, iv. 228.)

“That nepenthes which the wife of Thone

In Egypt gave the Jove—born Helena.”

Milton: Comus, 695, 696.

The water of Ardenne had the opposite effect.

Neper's Bones

(See Napier .)

Nephelo—coccygia

A town in the clouds built by the cuckoos. It was built to cut off from the gods the incense offered by man, so as to compel them to come to terms. (Aristophanes: The Birds.)

“Without flying to Nephelo—coccygia we can meet with sharpers and bullies.”— Macaulay.

Nephew

(French neveu, Latin nepos). Both in Latin and in archaic English the word means a grandchild, or descendant. Hence, in 1 Tim. v. 4, we read— “If a woman have children or nephews [grandchildren].” Propertius has it, “Me inter seros laudabit Roma nepotes [posterity].”

Niece (Latin neptis also means a granddaughter or female descendant. (See Nepotism.)

Nepomuk

St. John Nepomuk, a native of Bohemia, was the almoner of Wenceslas IV., and refused to reveal to the emperor the confession of the empress. After having heroically endured torture, he was taken from the rack and cast into the Moldau. Nepomuk is the French né, born, and Pomuk, the village of his birth. A stone image of this saint stands on the Carl Brücke over the Moldau, in Prague. (1330—1383.)

Nepotism An unjust elevation of our own kinsmen to places of wealth and trust at our disposal. (Latin, nepos, a nephew or kinsman.)

Neptune

(2 syl.). The sea, In Roman mythology, the divine monarch of the ocean. (See Ben .)

A son of Neptune. A seaman or sailor.

Neptune's Horse

Hippocampos; it had but two legs, the hinder part of the body being that of a fish. (See Horse .)

Neptunian

or Neptunist. One who follows the opinion of Werner, in the belief that all the great rocks of the earth were once held in solution in water, and have been deposited as sediment. The Vulcanists or Plutonians ascribe them to the agency of fire.

Nereids

(2 syl.). Sea—nymphs, daughter of Nereus (2 syl.), fifty in number.

Nereids or Nereides (4 syl.). Seanymphs. Camoens, in his Lusiad, gives the names of three— Doto, Nyse, and Nerine; but he has spiritualised their office, and makes them the sea—guardians of the virtuous. They went before the fleet of Gama, and when the treacherous pilot supplied by Zaceeia, King of Mozambique, steered the ship of Vasco da Gama towards a sunken rock, these guardian nymphs pressed against the prow, lifting it from the water and turning it round. The pilot, looking to see the cause of this strange occurrence, beheld the rock which had nearly proved the ruin of the whole fleet (bk. ii.)

Nereus

(2 syl.) A sea—god, represented as a very old man, whose special dominion was the Ægean Sea.

Nerine

(3 syl.). One of the Nereids. (See Nyse .)

Nerissa

Portia's waiting—maid; clever, self—confident, and coquettish. (Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice.)

Nero

Emperor of Rome. Some say he set fire to Rome to see “how Troy would look when it was in flames;” others say he forbade the flames to be put out, and went to a high tower, where he sang verses to his lute

“Upon the Burning of Old Troy.”

A Nero. Any bloody—minded man, relentless tyrant, or evil—doer of extra—ordinary savagery.

Nero of the North

Christian II. of Denmark (1480, 1534—1558, 1559).

Nero's Friend

After Nero's fall, when his statues and monuments were torn down by order of the Senate, and every mark of dishonour was accorded to his memory, some unknown hand during the night went to his grave and strewed it with violets.

Nesr

An idol of the ancient Arabs. It was in the form of a vulture, and was worshipped by the tribe of Hemyer.

Nesrem

A statute some fifty cubits high, in the form of an old woman. It was hollow within for the sake of giving secret oracles. (Arabian mythology.)

Nessus

Shirt of Nessus. A source of misfortune from which there is no escape; a fatal present; anything that wounds the susceptibilities. Thus Renan has “the Nessus—shirt of ridicule.” Hercules ordered Nessus (the centaur) to carry his wife Dejanira across a river. The centaur ill—treated the woman, and Hercules shot him with a poisoned arrow. Nessus, in revenge, gave Dejanira his tunic, saying to whomsoever she gave it would love her exclusively. Dejanira gave it to her husband, who was devoured by poison as soon as he put it on; but, after enduring agony, the hero threw himself on a funeral pile, and was consumed. (See Harmonias Robe)

“While to my limbs th'en venomed mantle clings,

Drenched in the centaur's black, malignant gore.” West: Triumphs of the Gout (Lucian).

Nest

To feather one's nest. (See Feather .)

Nest—egg

(A). Some money laid by. The allusion is to the custom of placing an egg in a hen's nest to induce her to lay her eggs there. If a person has saved a little money, it serves as an inducement to him to increase his store.

Nestor

King of Pylos, in Greece; the oldest and most experienced of the chieftains who went to the siege of Troy A “Nestor” means the oldest and wisest man of a class or company. (Homer Iliad.)

Nestor of the chemical revolution. A term applied by Lavoister to Dr. Black. (1728—1799.) Nestor of Europe. Leopold, King of Belgium (1790, 1831—1865).

Nestorians

Followers of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople in the fifth century. He maintained that Christ had two distinct natures, and that Mary was the mother of His human nature, which was the mere shell or husk of the divine.

Nethinium

The hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of God, an office which the Gibeomtes were condemned to by Joshua (Joshua ix. 27). The word means given to God.

Nettle

Camden says the Romans brought over the seed of this plant, that they might have nettles to chafe their limbs with when they encountered the cold of Britain.

Nettles

It is ill work plucking nettles with bare hands, or belling the cat. It is ill work to interfere in matters which cannot but prove disagreeable or even worse. In French, “Attacher le grelot.”

Nettoyer

(French). “Nettoyer une personne, c est à díre luy gagner tout son argent.” (Oudin Curiositez Francoises.)

Our English phrase, “I cleaned him out,” is precisely tantamount to it.

Never

There are numerous locutions to express this idea; as—

At the coming of the Coqueligrues (Rabelais: Pantagruel). At the Latter Lammas. (See Lammas.)

On the Greek Calends (q.v.)

In the reign of Queen Dick. (See Dick.)

On St. Tib's'Eve. (See Tibs Eve.)

In a month of five Sundays. (In) la semaine des trois jeudis.

When two Fridays come together

When three Sundays come together

When Dover and Calais meet. (See Dover.)

When Dudnian and Ramehead meet. (See Dunman.) When the world grows honest.

When the Yellow River runs clear.

Never Say Die

Never despair; never give up.

Nevers

II Conte di Nevers, the husband of Valentina. Being asked by the Governor of the Lonvre to join in the massacre of the Protestants, he replied that his family contained a long list of warriors, but not one

assassin. He was one of the Catholics who fell in the dreadful slaughter (Meyerbeer Gli Ugonotti, an opera.)

New Brooms sweep Clean

New servants work hard; new masters keep a sharp look out. (In French, Il'n'est rien tel que balai neuf”)

New Christians

Certain Jews of Portugal, who yielded to compulsion and suffered themselves to be baptised, but in secret observed the Mosaic ceremonies. (Fifteenth century.)

New Jerusalem

The paradise of Christians, in allusion to Rev. xxi.

New Man

The regenerated man. In Scripture phrase the unregenerated state is called the old man (q.v.).

New Style

The reformed or Gregorian calendar, adopted in England in September, 1752.

New Testament

The oldest MSS. extant are:— (1) The Codex Sinaiticus , published at the expense of Alexander II. of Russia since the Crimean war. This codex contains nearly the whole of the Old and New Testaments, and was discovered in the convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, by Constantius Tischendorf. It is ascribed to the fourth century. (2) The Codex Vaticanus (B), in the Vatican Library. Written on vellum in Egypt about the fourth century. (3) The Codex Alexandrinus (A), belonging to the fifth century. It was presented to Charles I. in 1628 by Cyrillus Lucaris, Patriarch of Alexandria, and is preserved in the British Museum. It consists of four folio volumes on parchment, and contains the Old and New Testaments (except the first twenty—four chapters of St. Matthew) and the Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians.

New World

America; the Eastern Hemisphere is called the Old World.

New Year's Day

January 1st. The ancient Romans began their year in March; hence such words as September, October, November, December, meaning the 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th month, had a rational meaning. Since the introduction of the Christian era, Christmas Day, Lady Day, Easter Day, and March 1st have in turns been considered as New Year's Day; but since the reform of the calendar in the sixteenth century, January 1st has been accepted as New Year's Day, because it was the eighth day after the Nativity, when Jesus was circumcised (Luke ii. 21). (See New Style .)

The civil and legal year began March 25th till after the alteration of the style, in 1752, when it was fixed, like the historic year, to January 1st. In Scotland the legal year was changed to January 1st as far back as 1600; the proclamation was made Nov. 27, 1599.

New Year's Gifts

The Greeks transmitted the custom to the Romans, and the Romans to the early Britons. The Roman presents were called strenae, whence the French term étrenne (a New, Year's gift). Our forefathers used to bribe the magistrates with gifts on New Year's Day— a custom abolished by law in 1290, but even down to the reign of James II. the monarchs received their tokens.

N.B. Nonius Marcellus says that Tatius, King of the Sabines, was presented with some branches of trees cut from the forest sacred to the goddess Strenia (strength, on New Year's Day, and from this happy omen established the custom.

News

The letters N E W S used to be prefixed to newspapers to show that they obtained information from the four quarters of the world, and the supposition that our word news is thence derived is at least ingenious; but the old—fashioned way of spelling the word, newes, is fatal to the conceit. The French nouvelles seems to be the real source. (See Notarica .)

“News is conveyed by letter, word, or mouth,

And comes to us from North, East, West, and South.” Witt's Recreations.

Newcastle

(Northumberland) was once called Moncaster, from the monks who settled there in Anglo—Saxon times; it was called Newcastle from the castle built there by Robert, son of the Conqueror, in 1080, to defend the neighbourhood from the Scots.

Newcastle (Staffordshire) is so called from the new castle built to supply the place of an older one which stood at Chesterton—under—Line, about two miles distant.

Carry coals to Newcastle. A work of supererogation, Newcastle being the great seat of coals. The Latins have “Aquam mari infundere” (“To pour water into the sea"); “Sidera caelo addere” (“To add stars to the sky"); “Noctuas Athenas” (“To carry owls to Athens,” which abounds in them).

Newcastle Programme

People's Charter (The)

The six points of the People's Charter, formulated in 1848, are:

Manhood Suffrage (now practically established).

Annual Parliaments.

Vote by Ballot (established).

Abolition of Property.

Qualification for Members of Parliament (the Qualification Test is abolished).

Equal Electoral Districts.

Newcome

(Colonel). A character in Thackeray's novel called The Newcomes.

Newcomes

Strangers newly arrived.

Newgate

Before this was set up, London had but three gates: Aldgate, Aldersgate, and Ludgate. The new one was added in the reign of Henry I.

Newgate. Nash, in his Pierce Penilesse. says that Newgate is “a common name for all prisons, as homo is a common name for a man or woman.”

Newgate Fashion

Two by two. Prisoners used to be conveyed to Newgate coupled together in twos.

“Must we all march?

Yes, two and two, Newgate fashion.”

Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., iii. 3.

Newgate Fringe

The hair worn under the chin, or between the chin and the neck. So called because it occupies the position of the rope when men are about to be hanged.

Newgate Knocker

(A). A lock of hair twisted into a curl, usually worn by costermongers and other persons of similar stations in life. So called because it resembles a knocker, and the wearers of it are too often inmates of Newgate. Newgate as a prison is abolished, but many phrases referring to the prison still remain.

Newland

An Abraham Newland. A bank—note, so called from Abraham Newland, one of the governors of the Bank of England in the early part of the nineteenth century, to whom the notes were made payable.

“Ive often heard say

Sham Abram you may.

But must not sham Abraham Newland.”

The Eaglet.

“Trees are notes issued from the bank of Nature, and as current as those payable to Abraham Newland.”— G. Colman: The Poor Gentleman, i. 2.

Newton

(Sir Isaac) discovered the prismatic colours of light. (1642—1727.)

“Nature and Nature's laws lay hid in night,

God said, `Let Newton be,' and all was light.” Pope.

The Newton of Harmony. Jean Philippe Rameau was so called from his work entitled a Dissertation on the Principles of Harmony. (1683—1764.)

Newtonian Philosophy

The astronomical system at present received, together with that of universal gravitation. So called after Sir Isaac Newton, who established the former and discovered the latter.

Next Door to

... Very nearly; as “next door to a fool.”

Next to Nothing

A very little. As, “It will cost next to nothing,” “He eats next to nothing.”

Nibelung

A mythical king of Norway, whose subjects are called Nibelungers and territory the Nibelungenland. There were two contemporary kings in this realm, against whom Siegfried. Prince of the Netherlands, fought. He slew the twelve giants who formed their paladins with 700 of their chiefs, and made their country tributary (Lay iii.). The word is from nebcl (darkness), and means the children of mist or darkness. (See Nibelungen—Lied .)

Nibelungen Hoard

A mythical mass of gold and precious stones, which Siegfried obtained from the Nibelungs, and gave to his wife Kriemhild as her marriage portion. It was guarded by Albric the dwarf. After the murder of Siegfried, his widow removed the hoard to Worms; here Hagan seized it, and buried it secretly beneath “the Rhine at Lochham,” intending at a future time to enjoy it, “but that was ne'er to be.” Kriemhild married Etzel with the view of avenging her wrongs. In time Günther, with Hagan and a host of Burgundians, went to visit King Etzel, and Kriemhild stirred up a great broil, at the end of which a most terrible slaughter ensued. (See Kriemhild .)

“ 'T was much as twelve huge waggons in four whole nights and days whole nights and days Could carry from the mountain down to the salt sea bay;

Though to and fro each waggon thrice journeyed every day.

“It was made up of nothing but precious stones and gold;

Were all the world bought from it, and down, the value told, Not a mark the less would there be left than erst there was I ween.” Nibelungen—Lied, xix.

Nibelungen—Lied

A famous German epic of the thirteenth century, probably a compilation of different lays. It is divided into two parts, one ending with the death of Siegfried, and the other with the death of Kriemhild, his widow. The first part contains the marriage of Günther, King of Burgundy, with Queen Brunhild; the marriage of Siegfried with Kriemhild, his death by Hagan, the removal of the “Nibelungen hoard” to Burgundy, and its seizure by Hagan, who buried it somewhere under the Rhine. This part contains nineteen lays, divided into 1,188 four—line stanzas. The second part contains the marriage of the widow Kriemhild with King Etzel, the visit of the Burgundians to the court of the Hunnish king, and the death of all the principal characters, including Hagan and Kriemhild. This part, sometimes called The Nibelungen—Nôt, from the last three words, contains twenty lays, divided into 1,271 four—line stanzas. The two parts contain thirty—nine lays, 2,459 stanzas, or 9,836 lines. The tale is based on a legend in the Völsunga Saga.

Nibelungen—Not

The second part of the famous German epic called the Nibelungen—Lied (q.v.).

Nibelungers

Whoever possessed the “Nibelungen hoard” (q.v.). Thus at one time certain people of Norway were so called, but when Siegfried possessed himself of the hoard he was called King of the Nibelungers; and at the death of Siegfried, when the hoard was removed to Burgundy, the Burgundians were so called. (See Nibelung .)

In all these Teutonic names ie = e, and ei = i.

Nic Frog

a Dutchman

Nice

The Council of Nice. The first oecumencial council of the Christian Church, held under Constantine the Great at Nice, or Nicæa, in Asia Minor, to condemn the Arian heresy (325). The seventh oecumenical council was also held at Nice (787).

Nice as Ninepence

A corruption of “Nice as nine—pins.” In the game of nine—pins, the “men” are set in three rows with the utmost exactitude or nicety. Nine—pence is an Irish shilling of 1561. (See Ninepence .)

Nicean Barks

or Nycean Barks. Edgar Poe, in his lyric To Helen, says—

“Helen, thy beauty is to me

Like those Nicean barks of yore,

That gently o'er a perfumed sea

The weary, way—worn wanderer bore

To his own native shore.”

The way—worn wanderer was Dionysos or Bacchus, after his renowned conquests. His native shore was the Western Horn, called the Amalthean Horn. And the Nicean barks were vessels sent from the island Nysa, to which in infancy Dionysos was conveyed to screen him from Rhea. The perfumed sea was the sea surrounding Nysa, a paradisal island.

Nicene Creed

(See Nice, Council Of .)

Niche

A niche in the Temple of Fame. The Temple of Fame was the Pantheon, converted (1791) into a receptacle for illustrious Frenchmen. A niche in the temple is a place for a monument recording your name and deeds.

Nicholas

(St.). The patron saint of boys, as St. Catherine is of girls. In Germany, a person assembles the children of a family or school on the 6th December (the eve of St. Nicholas), and distributes gilt nuts and sweetmeats; but if any naughty child is present, he receives the redoubtable punishment of the klaubauf. The

same as Santa Claus and the Dutch Kriss Kringle (q.v.). (See Santa Klaus .)

St. Nicholas. Patron saint of parish clerks. This is because he was the patron of scholars, who used to be called clerks.

St. Nicholas. Patron saint of sailors, because he allayed a storm on a voyage to the Holy Land. St. Nicholas. The patron saint of Russia.

St. Nicholas. The patron saint of Aberdeen.

St. Nicholas, in Christian art, is represented in episcopal robes, and has either three purses or golden balls, or three children, as his distinctive symbols. The three purses are in allusion to the three purses given by him to three sisters to enable them to marry. The three children allude to the legend that an Asiatic gentleman sent his three boys to school at Athens, but told them to call on St. Nicholas for his benediction; they stopped at Myra for the night, and the innkeeper, to secure their baggage, murdered them in bed, and put their mangled bodies into a pickling—tub with some pork, intending to sell the whole as such. St. Nicholas had a vision of the whole affair, and went to the inn, when the man confessed the crime, and St. Nicholas raised the murdered boys to life again. (See Hone's Everyday Book, vol. i. col. 1556; Maitre Wace, Metrical Life of St. Nicholas.

Clerks or Knights of St. Nicholas. Thieves; so called because St. Nicholas was their patron saint; not that he aided them in their wrong—doing, but because on one occasion he induced some thieves to restore their plunder. Probably St. Nicholas is simply a pun for Nick, and thieves may be called the devil's clerks or knights with much propriety.

“I think yonder come prancing down the hills from Kingston a couple of St. Nicholas's clerks.”— Rowley: Match at Midnight (1633).

Nick

in Scandinavian mythology, is a water—wraith or kelpie. There are nicks in sea, lake, river, and waterfall. Both Catholic and Protestant clergy have laboured to stir up an aversion to these beings. They are sometimes represented as half—child, half—horse, the hoofs being reversed, and sometimes as old men sitting on rocks wringing the water from their hair. This kelpie must not be confounded with the nix (q.v.).

Old Nick is the Scandinavian wraith under the form and fashion of an old man. Butler says the word is derived from Nicholas Machiavel, but this can be only a poetical satire, as the term existed many years before the birth of that Florentine.

“Nick Machiavel had ne'er a trick (Though he gives name to our old Nick)

But was below the least of these.”

Hudibras, iii.]

Old Nick. Grimm says the word Nick is Neken or Nikken, the evil spirit of the North. In Scandinavia there is scarcely a river without its Nikr or wraith. (See Nickar and Nicor. Anglo—Saxon nicor, a monster.)

He nicked it. Won, hit, accomplished it. A nick is a winning throw of dice. Hence Florio (p. 280) says “To tye or nicke a caste of dice.”

To nick the nick. To hit the exact moment. Tallies used to be called “nicksticks.” Hence, to make a record of anything is “to nick it down,” as publicans nick a score on a tally.

In the nick of time. Just at the right moment. The allusion is to tallies marked with nicks or notches. Shakespeare has, “ 'Tis now the prick of noon” (Romeo and Juliet, ii. 4), in allusion to the custom of pricking tallies with a pin, as they do at Cambridge University still. If a man enters chapel just before the doors close, he would be just in time to get nicked or pricked, and would be at the nick or prick of time.

Nicka—Nan Night

The night preceding Shrove Tuesday is so called in Cornwall, because boys play tricks and practical jokes on that night.

Nickar

or Hnickar. The name assumed by Odin when he impersonates the destroying principle. (Grimm: Deutsche Mythologic. )

Nickel Silver A mixed metal of copper, zinc, and nickel, containing more nickel than what is called “German silver.” From its hardness it is well adapted for electroplating. (German, nickel, which also means a strumpet.)

Nicker

One who nicks or hits a mark exactly. Certain night—larkers, whose game was to break windows with halfpence, assumed this name in the early part of the eighteenth century.

“His scattered pence the flying Nicker flings,

And with the copper shower the casement rings.” Gay: Trivia, iii

Nickleby

(Mrs.). An endless talker, always introducing something quite foreign to the matter in hand, and pluming herself on her penetration. (Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby.)

Nickname

“An eke name,” written A noke name. An additional name, an ag—nomen. The “eke” of a beehive is the piece added to the bottom to enlarge the hive. (See Now A Days.)

Nicknames

National Nicknames:

For an American of the United States, “Brother Jonathan” (q.v.). For a Dutchman, “Nic Frog” (q.v.), and “Mynheer Closh” (q.v.). For an Englishman, “John Bull.” (See Bull.)

For a Frenchman, “Crapaud” (q.v.), Johnny or Jean, Robert Macaire. For French Canadians, “Jean Baptiste.”

For French reformers, “Brissotins.”

For French peasantry, “Jacques Bonhomme.” For a Glaswegian, “Glasgow Keelie.”

For a German, “Cousin Michael” or “Michel” (q.v.).

For an Irishman, “Paddy.”

For a Liverpudlian, “Dicky Sam.”

For a Londoner, “A Cockney” (q.v.).

For a Russian, “A bear.”

For a Scot, “Sawney” (q.v.).

For a Swiss, “Colin Tampon” (q.v.).

For a Turk, “Infidel.”

Nickneven

A gigantic malignant hag of Scotch superstition. Dunbar has well described this spirit in his Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedy.

Nicodemused into Nothing that is, the prospects of one's life ruined by a silly name; according to the proverb, “Give a dog a bad name and hang him.” It is from Sterne's Tristram Shandy (vol. i. 19), on the evil influence of a silly name on the mind of the bearer of it.

“How many Caesars and Pompeys by mere inspiration of the names have been rendered worthy of them; and how many might have done well in the world had they not been Nicodemused into nothing.”

(This is, to call a man Nicodemus would be enough to sink a navy.)

Nicolaitans

The followers of Nicolaus (second century). They were Gnostics in doctrine and Epicureans in practice.

Nicolas

(See Nicholas .)

Nicor (A). A sea—devil, in Scandinavian mythology, who eats sailors.

“My brother saw a nicor in the Northern sea. It was three fathoms long, with the body of a

bison—bull, and the head of a cat, the beard of a man, and tusks an ell long, lying down on its breast. It was watching for the fishermen.”— Kingstey: Hypatia, chap. xii.

Nicotine

(3 syl.) is so named from Jean Nicot, Lord of Villemain, who purchased some tobacco at Lisbon in 1560, introduced it into France, and had the honour of fixing his name on the plant. Our word tobacco is from the Indian tabaco (the tube used by the Indians for inhaling the smoke).

Nidhogg

The monster serpent, hid in the pit Hvergelmer, which for ever gnaws at the roots of the mundane ashtree Yggdrasil'. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Niece

(See Nephew .)

Niflheim

(2 syl., mist—home). The region of endless cold and everlasting night, ruled over by Hela. It consists of nine worlds, to which are consigned those who die of disease or old age. This region existed “from the

beginning” in the North, and in the middle thereof was the well Hvergelmeer, from which flowed twelve rivers. (Old Norse, nifl, mist; and heim, home.) In the South was the world called Muspelheim (q.v.).

(Scandinavian mythology.) (See Hvergelmer Manheim .)

Night

The celebrated statue of Night, in Florence, is the chef d'oeuvre of Michael Angelo. In the gallery of the Luxembourg. Paris, is the famous picture of Night by Rubens; and at Versailles is the painting of Mignard.

Nightcap

(A). A glass of grog before going to bed. Supposed to promote sleep.

“The nightcap is generally a little whisky left in the decanter. To do it honour it is taken neat. Then all get up and wish `good—night.”'— Max O'Rell: Friend MacDonald, iii.

Nightingale

Tereus, King of Thrace, fetched Philomela to visit his wife; but when he reached the “solitudes of Heleas” he dishonoured her, and cut out her tongue that she might not reveal his conduct. Tereus told his wife that Philomela was dead, but Philomela made her story known by weaving it into a peplus, which she sent to her sister, the wife of Tereus, whose name was Procne. Procne, out of revenge, cut up her own son and served it to Tereus; but as soon as the king discovered it he pursued his wife, who fled to Philomela, her sister. To put an end to the sad tale, the gods changed all three into birds; Tereus (2 syl.) became the hawk, his wife the swallow, and Philomela the nightingale.

Arcadian nightingales. Asses. Cambridgeshire nightingales. Edible frogs. Liege and Dutch “nightingales” are edible.

Nightmare

(A). A sensation in sleep as if something heavy were sitting on our breast. (Anglo—Saxon, mara, an incubus.) This sensation is called in French cauchemar. Anciently it was not unfrequently called the night—hag, or the riding of the witch. Fuseli used to eat raw beef and pork chops for supper to produce nightmare, that he might draw his horrible creations. (See Mare's Nest .)

“I do believe that the witch we call Mara has been dealing with you.”— Sir Walter Scott: The Betrothed, chap. xv.

Nightmare of Europe. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769, 1804—1814, 1821).

Nihilists A radical society of the maddest proclivities, which started into existence in 1848, under the leadership of Herzen and Bakunin. Their professed object was to annihilate all laws of social community, and reform the world de novo. The following is their code:—

(1) Annihilate the idea of a God, or there can be no freedom. (2) Annihilate the idea of right, which is only might. (3) Annihilate civilisation, property, marriage, morality, and justice. (4) Let your own happiness be your only law

Nihilo

Ex nihilo nihil fit. From nothing comes nothing— i.e. every effect must have a cause. It was the dictum of Xenophanes, founder of the Eleatic school (sixth century), to prove the eternity of matter. We now apply the phrase as equivalent to “You cannot get blood from a stone.” You cannot expect clever work from one who has no brains.

When all is said, “deity” is an exception.

Nil Admirari

To be stolidly indifferent. Neither to wonder at anything, nor yet to admire anything.

Nil Desperandum

Never say die; never give up in despair.

Nile

The Egyptians used to say that the swelling of the Nile was caused by the tears of Isis. The feast of Isis was celebrated at the anniversary of the death of Osiris, when Isis was supposed to mourn for her husband.

The hero of the Nile. Horatio, Lord Nelson (1758—1805).

Nilica

or Sephalica. A plant in the blossoms of which the bees sleep.

Nimble as a Cat on a hot Bake—stone

In a great hurry to get away. The bake—stone in the north is a large stone on which bread and oat—cakes are baked.

Nimble as Ninepence

(See Ninepence .)

Nimbus

characterises authority and power, not sanctity. The colour indicates the character of the person so invested:— The nimbus of the Trinity is gold; of angels, apostles, and the Virgin Mary, either red or white; of ordinary saints, violet; of Judas, black, of Satan, some very dark colour. The form is generally a circle or half—circle, but that of Deity is often triangular

The nimbus was used by heathen nations long before painters introduced it into sacred pictures of saints, the Trinity, and the Virgin Mary Proserpine was represented with a nimbus; the Roman emperors were also decorated in the same manner, because they were divi.

Nimini Pimini

Affected simplicity. Lady Emily, in the Heiress, tells Miss Alscrip the way to acquire the paphian Mimp is to stand before a glass and keep pronouncing nimini pimini. “The lips cannot fail to take the right plie.” (General Burgoyne, iii. 2.)

This conceit has been borrowed by Charles Dickens in his Little Dorrit, where Mrs. General tells Amy Dorrit—

“Papa gives a pretty form to the lips. Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism. You will find it serviceable if you say to yourself on entering a room, Papa, potatoes, poultry, prunes, and prism, prunes and prism. “

Nimrod

“A mighty hunter before the Lord” (Gen. x. 9), which the Targum says means a “sinful hunting of the sons of men.” Pope says of him, he was “a mighty hunter, and his prey was man;” so also Milton interprets the phrase. (Paradise Lost, xii. 24, etc.)

The legend is that the tomb of Nimrod still exists in Damascus, and that no dew ever “falls” upon it, even though all its surroundings are saturated with it.

Nimrod. Any tyrant or devastating warrior.

Nimrod, in the Quarterly Review, is the nom—de—plume of Charles James Apperley, of Denbighshire, who was passionately fond of hunting. Mr. Pittman, the proprietor, kept for him a stud of hunters. His best productions are The Chase, the Turf, and the Road. (1777—1843.)

Nincompoop

A poor thing of a man. Said to be a corruption of the Latin non compos [mentis], but of this there is no evidence.

Nine

Nine, five, and three are mystical numbers— the diapason, diapente, and diatrion of the Greeks. Nine consists of a trinity of trinities. According to the Pythagorean numbers, man is a full chord, or eight notes, and deity comes next. Three, being the trinity, represents a perfect unity, twice three is the perfect dual, and thrice three is the perfect plural. This explains the use of nine as a mystical number, and also as an exhaustive plural, and consequently no definite number, but a simple representative of plural perfection. (See Diapason .)

(1) Nine indicating perfection or completion: —

Deucalion's ark, made by the advice of Prometheus, was tossed about for nine days, when it stranded on the top of Mount Parnassus.

Rigged to the nines or Dressed up to the nines. To perfection from head to foot. There are nine earths. Hela is goddess of the ninth. Milton speaks of “nine—enfolded spheres.” (Arcades.) There are nine worlds in Niflheim.

There are nine heavens. (See Heavens.)

Gods. Macaulay makes Porsena swear by the nine gods. (See Nine Gods.) There are nine orders of angels. (See Angels.)

There are the nine korrigan or fays of Armorica.

There were nine muses.

There were nine Gallieenæ or virgin priestesses of the ancient Gallic oracle. The serpents or Nagas of Southern Indian worship are nine in number.

There are nine worthies (q.v.); and nine worthies of London. (See Worthies.) There were nine rivers of hell, according to classic mythology. Milton says the gates of hell are “thrice

three—fold; three folds are brass, three iron, three of adamantine rock. They had nine folds, nine plates, and nine linings.” (Paradise Lost, ii. 645.)

Fallen angels. Milton—says, when they were cast out of heaven, “Nine days they fell.” (Paradise Lost, vi. 871.)

Vulcan, when kicked out of heaven, was nine days falling, and then lighted on the island Lemnos.

Nice as ninepence. (See Nice.) (2) Examples of the use of nine as an exhaustive plural: —

Nine tailors make a man does not mean the number nine in the ordinary acceptation, but simply the plural of tailor without relation to number. As a tailor is not so robust and powerful as the ordinary run of men, it requires more than one to match a man. (See Tailors.)

A nine days' wonder is a wonder that lasts more than a day; here nine equals “several,” A cat has nine lives— i.e. a cat is popularly supposed to be more tenacious of life than animals in general. Possession is nine points of the law— i.e. several points, or every advantage a person can have short of right. There are nine crowns recognised in heraldry. (See Crowns.)

A fee asked a Norman peasant to change babes with her, but the peasant replied, “No, not if your child were nine times fairer than my own.” (Fairy Mythology, p. 473.)

(3) Nine as a mystic number. Examples of its superstitious use:—

The Abracadabra was worn nine days, and then flung into a river. Cadency. There are nine marks of cadency.

Cat. The whip for punishing evildoers was a cat—o'—nine—tails, from the superstitious notion that a flogging by a “trinity of trinities” would be both more sacred and more efficacious.

Diamonds. (See “Diamond Jousts,” under the word Diamond.) Fairies. In order to see the fairies, a person is directed to put “nine grains of wheat on a four—leaved clover.” Hcl has dominion over nine worlds.

Hydra. The hydra had nine heads. (See Hydra.)

Leases used to be granted for 999 years, that is three times three—three—three. Even now they run for

ninety—nine years, the dual of a trinity of trinities. Some leases run to 9,999 years.

At the Lemuria, held by the Romans on the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May, persons haunted threw black beans over their heads, pronouncing nine times the words: “Avaunt, ye spectres from this house!” and the exorcism was complete. (See Ovid's Fasti.

Magpies. To see nine magpies is most unlucky. (See Magpie.) Odin's ring dropped eight other rings every ninth night. Ordeals. In the ordeal by fire, nine hot ploughshares were laid lengthwise at unequal distances. Peas. If a servant finds nine green peas in a peascod, she lays it on the lintel of the kitchen door, and the first man that enters in is to be her cavalier.

Seal. The people of Feroes say that the seal casts off its skin every ninth month, and assumes a human form to sport about the land. (Thiele, iii. 51.)

Styx encompassed the infernal regions in nine circles.

Toast. We drink a Three—times—three to those most highly honoured. Witches. The weird sisters in Macbeth sang, as they danced round the cauldron, “Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine, and thrice again to make up nine;” and then declared “the charm wound up.”

Wresting thread. Nine knots are made on black wool as a charm for a sprained ankle. (4) Promiscuous examples —

Niobe's children lay nine days in their blood before they were buried.

Nine buttons of official rank in China.

Nine of Diamonds (q.v.). The curse of Scotland. There are nine mandarins (q.v..

Planets. The nine are: (1) Mercury, (2) Venus, (3) Earth, (4) Mars, (5) the Planetoids, (6) Jupiter, (7) Saturn,

(8) Uranus, (9) Neptune.

According to the Ptolemaic system, there were seven planets, the Firmament or the Fixt, and the Crystalline. Above these nine came the Primum Mobile or First Moved, and the Empyrean or abode of Deity.

The followers of Jaina, a heterodox sect of the Hindus, believe all objects are classed under nine categories (See Jainas.)

Shakespeare speaks of the “ninth part of a hair.”

“Ill cavil on the ninth part of a hair.” 1 Hen IV, iii 1

Nine

To look nine ways. To squint.

Nine

The superlative of superlatives in Eastern estimation. It is by nines that Eastern presents are given when the donor wishes to extend his bounty to the highest pitch of munificence.

“He [Dakianos] caused himself to be preceded by nine superb camels. The first was loaded with 9 suits of gold adorned with jewels, the second bore 9 sabres, the hilts and scabbards of which were adorned with diamonds; upon the third camel were 9 suits of armour, the fourth had 9 suits of horse furniture; the fifth had 9 cases full of sapphires; the sixth had 9 cases full of rubies, the seventh, 9 cases full of emeralds, the eighth had 9 cases full of amethysts; and the ninth had 9 cases full of diamonds.”— Comte de Caylus Oriental Tales; Dakianos and the Seven Sleepers

Nine Crosses

Altar crosses, processional crosses, roods on lofts, reliquary crosses, consecration crosses, marking crosses, pectoral crosses, spire crosses, and crosses pendent over altars. (Pugin Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornaments.)

Nine Crowns

In heraldry nine crowns are recognised: The oriental, the triumphal or imperial, the diadem, the obsidional crown, the civic, the crown vallery, the mural crown, the naval, and the crown celestial.

The blockade crown

(corona obsidionalis), presented by the Romans to the general who liberated a beleaguered army. This was made of grass and wild flowers gathered from the spot.

A camp crown

was given by the Romans to him who first forced his way into the enemy's camp. It was made of gold, and decorated with palisades.

A civic crown

was presented to him who preserved the life of a civis or Roman citizen in battle. This crown was made of oak leaves, and bore the inscription, H.O.C.S. — i.e. hostem occidit, civem servavit (a foe he slew, a citizen saved).

A mural crown

was given by the Romans to that man who first scaled the wall of a besieged town. It was made of gold and decorated with battlements.

A naval crown

was by the Romans given to him who won a naval victory. It was made of gold, and decorated with the beaks of ships.

An olive crown

was by the Romans given to those who distinguished themselves in battle in some way not specially mentioned in other clauses.

An ovation crown (corona ovalis)

was by the Romans given to the general who vanquished pirates or any despised enemy. It was made of myrtle.

Nine Days' Wonder

(A). Something that causes a great sensation for a few days, and then passes into the limbo of things forgotten. In Bohn's Handbook of Proverbs we have “A wonder lasts nine days, and then the puppy's eyes are open,” alluding to cats and dogs, which are born blind. As much as to say, the eyes of the public are blind in astonishment for nine days, but then their eyes are open, and they see too much to wonder any longer.

“King: You'd think it strange if I should marry her.

Gloster: That would be ten days' wonder, at the least. King: That's day longer than a wonder lasts.” Shakespeare: 3 Henry VI., iii. 2.

Nine Gods

(The). (1) Of the Etruscans: Juno, Minerva, and Tinia (the three chief); the other six were Vulcan, Mars, and Saturn, Hercules, Summauus, and Vedius.

“Lars Porsena of Clusium

By the nine gods he swore

That the great house of Tarquin

Should suffer wrong no more.”

Macaulay: Lays of Ancient Rome (Horatius, i.).

(2) Of the Sabines (2 syl.). Hercules, Romulus, Esculapius, Bacchus, Æneas, Vesta, Santa, Fortuna, and Fides.

Nine Points of the Law

Success in a law—suit requires (1) a good deal of money; (2) a good deal of patience;

(3) a good cause; (4) a good lawyer; (5) a good counsel; (6) good witnesses; (7) a good jury; (8) a good judge; and (9) good luck.

Nine Spheres

(The). Milton, in his Arcades, speaks of the “celestial syrens' harmony that sit upon the nine enfolded spheres.” The nine spheres are those of the Moon, of Mercury, of Venus, of the Sun, of Mars, of Jupiter, of Saturn, of the Firmament, and of the Crystalline. Above these nine heavens or spheres come the Primum Mobile, and then the Heaven of the heavens, or abode of Deity and His angels.

The earth was supposed to be in the centre of this system.

Nine Worthies

Joshua, David, and Judas &Maccabaeus;; Hector, Alexander, and Julius &Caesar;; Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon.

“Nine worthies were they called, of different rites—

Three Jews, three pagans, and three Christian knights.” Dryden: The Flower and the Leaf.

Nine worthies (privy councillors to William III.):— Whigs Devonshire, Dorset, Mon—mouth, and Edward Russell. Tories: Caermarthen, Pembroke, Nottingham, Marlborough, and Lowther. Nine worthies of London. (See Worthies.)

Ninepence

Nimble as ninepence. Silver ninepences were common till the year 1696, when all unmilled coin was called in. These ninepences were very pliable or nimble, and, being bent, were given as love tokens, the usual formula of presentation being To my love, from my love. (See Nice As Ninepence .)

Ninian

(St.). The apostle of the Picts (fourth and fifth centuries).

Ninon de I'Enclos

noted for her beauty, wit, and gaiety. She had two natural sons, one of whom fell in love with her, and blew out his brains when he discovered the relationship. (1615—1706.)

Ninus

Son of Belus, husband of Semiramis, and the reputed builder of Nineveh.

Niobe

(3 syl.). The personification of female sorrow. According to Grecian fable, Niobe was the mother of twelve children, and taunted Latona because she had only two— namely, Apollo and Diana. Latona commanded her children to avenge the insult, and they caused all the sons and daughters of Niobe to die. Niobe was inconsolable, wept herself to death, and was changed into a stone, from which ran water, “Like Niobe, all tears” (Hamlet.)

The group of Niobe and her children, in Florence, was discovered at Rome in 1583, and was the work either of Scopas or Praxiteles.

The Niobe of nations. So Lord Byron styles Rome, the “lone mother of dead empires,” with “broken thrones and temples;” a “chaos of ruins;” a “desert where we steer stumbling o'er recollections.” (Childe Harold, canto iv. stanza 79.)

Niord

The Scandinavian sea—god. He was not one of the &AEsir; Niörd's son was Frey (the fairy of the clouds), and his daughter was Freyja. His home was Noatun. Niörd was not a sea—god, like Neptune, but the Spirit of water and air. The Scandinavian Neptune was &AEgir;, whose wife was Skadi.

Nip (A). As a “nip of whisky,” a “nip of brandy,” “just a nip.” A nipperkin was a small measure. (Dutch, nippen, a sip.)

Nip in the Bud

Destroy before it has developed. “Nip sin in the bud;” Latin, “Obsta principiis,” “Venienti occurite morbo.” “Resist beginnings.”

Nip—cheese

or Nip—farthing. A miser, who nips or pinches closely his cheese and farthings. (Dutch, nippen.)

Nipperkin

(A). A small wine and beer measure. Now called a “nip.”

“His hawk—economy won't thank him for't

Which stops his petty nipperkin of port.”

Peter Pindar: Hair Powder.

Nirvana

Annihilation, or rather the final deliverance of the soul from transmigration (in Buddhism). Sanskrit, nir, out; vâna, blow. (See Gautama .)

Nishapoor

and Tous. Mountains in Khorassan where turquoises are found.

Nisi Prius

A Nisi Case, a cause to be tried in the assize courts. Sittings at Nisi Prius, sessions of Nisi Prius Courts, which never try criminal cases. Trial at Nisi, a trial before judges of assize. An action at one time could be tried only in the court where it was brought, but Magna Charta provided that certain cases, instead of being tried at Westminster in the superior courts, should be tried in their proper counties before judges of assize. The words “Nisi Prius" are two words on which the following clause attached to the writs entirely hinges:— “We command you to come before our justices at Westminster on the morrow of All Souls', NISI PRIUS justiciarii domini regis ad assisas capiendas venerint— i.e. unless previously the justices of our lord the king come to hold their assizes at (the court of your own assize town).”

Nisroch

An idol of the Ninevites represented in their sculptures with a hawk's head. The word means Great Eagle.

Nit

One of the attendants of Queen Mab.

Nitouche

(St.) or Mie Touche (Touch—me—not). A hypocrite, a demure—looking pharisee. The French say, Faire la Sainte Nitouche, to pretend to great sanctity, or look as if butter would not melt in your mouth.

“It is certainly difficult to believe hard things of a woman who looks like Ste. Nitouche in profile.”— J. O. Hobbes: Some Emotions and a Moral, chap. iii.

Nix

(mas.), Nixie (fem.). Kind busy—body. Little creatures not unlike the Scotch brownie and German kobold. They wear a red cap, and are ever ready to lend a helping hand to the industrious and thrifty (See Nick)

“Another tribe of water—fairies are the Nixes, who frequently assume the appearance of beautiful maidens.”— T. F. T. Dyer: Folk—lore of Plants, chap. vii. p. 90.

Nixon

Red—faced.

“Like a red—faced Nixon.”— Pickwick.

Nizam'

A title of sovereignty in Hyderabad (India), derived from Nizamul—mulk (regulator of the state), who obtained possession of the Deccan at the beginning of the 18th century. The name Caesar was by the Romans used precisely in the same manner, and has descended to the present hour in the form of Kaiser (of the German Empire).

Njord

God of the winds and waves. (Edda.)

No Man is a Hero to his own Valet

Montaigne (1533—1592) said: “Peu d'hommes ont esté admirés par leurs domestiques.” Mad. Cornuel (who died 1694) wrote to the same effect: “Il n'y a pas de grand homme pour son valet de chambre.”

“A prophet is not without honour save in ... his own house.”— Matt. xiii. 56.

No More Poles

Give over work. The cry in hop—gardens when the pickers are to cease working.

“When the sun set, the cry of `No more poles' resounded, and the work of the day was done.”— The Ludgate Monthly: Hops and Hop—pickers, November, 1891.

No—Popery Riots

Those of Edinburgh and Glasgow, February 5th, 1779. Those of London, occasioned by Lord George Gordon, in 1780.

Noah's Ark

(Genesis vi. 15) was about as big as a medium—sized church, that is, from 450 to 500 feet long, from 75 to 85 feet broad, and from 45 to 50 feet high, with one window in the roof. Toy arks represent it with rows of windows on each side, which is incorrect.

Noah's Ark

A white band spanning the sky like a rainbow; if east and west expect dry weather, if north and south expect wet.

Noah's Wife

[Noraida], according to legend, was unwilling to go into the ark, and the quarrel between the patriarch and his wife forms a very prominent feature of Noah's Flood, in the Chester and Townley Mysteries.

“Hastow nought herd, quod Nicholas, also

The sorwe of Noë with his felaschippe

That he had or he gat his wyf to schipe?”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 3:534.

Noakes

(John) or John o'Noakes. A fictitious name, formerly made use of by lawyers in actions of ejectment. His name was generally coupled with that of Tom Styles. Similarly, John Doe and Richard Roe were used. The Roman names were Titius and Seius (Juv. Sat. iv. 13). All these worthies are the hopeful sons of Mrs. Harris.

Nob

(The). The head. For lmob.

Nob of the First Water

(A). A mighty boss; a grand panjandrum (q.v.). First water refers to diamonds. (See Diamonds .)

Nobs and Snobs

Nobles and pseudo—nobles. (See Mob, Snob .)

Noble An ancient coin, so called on account of the superior excellency of its gold. Nobles were originally disposed of as a reward for good news, or important service done. Edward III. was the first who coined rose nobles (q.v.), and gave 100 of them to Gobin Agace of Picardy, for showing him a ford across the river Somme, when he wanted to join his army

The Noble. Charles III. of Navarre (1361—1425). Soliman Tchelibi, Turkish prince at Adrianople (died 1410)

Noble Soul

The surname given to Khosrû I., the greatest monarch of the Sassanian dynasty. (*, 531—579.)

Noblesse Oblige

(French). Noble birth imposes the obligation of highminded principles and noble actions.

Noctes Ambrosia'næ

While Lockhart was writing Valerius, he was in the habit of taking walks with Professor Wilson every morning, and of supping with Blackwood at Ambrose's, a small tavern in Edinburgh. One night Lockhart said, “What a pity there has not been a short—hand writer here to take down all the good things that have been said!” and next day he produced a paper from memory, and called it Noctes &Ambrosiana;. That was the first of the series. The part ascribed to Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, is purely supposititious.

Noctuas Athenas Ferre

To carry coals to Newcastle. Athens abounded with owls, and Minerva was therefore symbolised by an owl. To send owls to Athens would be wasteful and extravagant excess.

Nod

A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse. Whether you nod or whether you wink, if a horse is blind he knows it not; and a person who will not see takes no notice of hints and signs. The common use of the phrase, however, is the contrary meaning, viz. “I twig your meaning, though you speak of what you purpose; but mum's the word.”

“A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse; and there are certain understandings, in public as well as in private life, which it is better for all parties not to put into writing.”— The Nineteenth Century (July, 1893, p.6).

Nod

(The). To go to the land of Nod is to go to bed. There are many similar puns and more in French than in English. Of course, the reference is to Gen. iv. 16, “Cain went ... and dwelt in the land of Nod;” but where the land of Nod is or was nobody knows. In fact, “Nod” means a vagrant or vagabond, and when Cain was driven out he lived “a vagrant life,” with no fixed abode, till he built his “city.”

Noddy

A Tom Noddy is a very foolish or half—witted person, “a noodle.” The marine birds called Noddies are so silly that anyone can go up to them and knock them down with a stick. A donkey is called a Neddy Noddy. Minshew has a capital guess derivation, well fitted for a Dictionary of Fable. He says, “Noddy, a fool, so called because he nods his head when he ought to speak.” Just as well derive wise—man from why, because he wants to know the why of everything.

Nodel

The lion in the beast—epic called Reynard the Fox. Nodel represents the regal element of Germany; Isengrim, the wolf, represents the baronial element; and Reynard represents the church element.

Noel

Christmas day, or a Christmas carol. A contraction of nouvelles (tidings), written in old English, nowells.

“A child this day is born, A child of high renown, Most worthy of a sceptre, A sceptre and a crown. Nowells, nowells, nowells! Sing all we may, Because that Christ, the King. Was born this blessed day.” Old Carol.

Nokomis

Daughter of the Moon. Sporting one day with her maidens on a swing made of vine canes, a rival cut the swing, and Nokomis fell to earth, where she gave birth to a daughter named Wenonah.

Nolens Volens Whether willing or not. Two Latin participles meaning “being unwilling (or) willing.”

Noli me Tangere

Touch me not. The words Christ used to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection. It is the motto of the Order of the Thistle. A plant of the genus impatiens. The seed vessels consist of one cell in five divisions, and when the seed is ripe each of these, on being touched, suddenly folds itself into a spiral form and leaps from the stalk. (See Darwin Loves of the Plants, ii. 3.)

Noll

Old Noll. Oliver Cromwell was so called by the Royalists. Noll is a familiar contraction of Oliver— i.e. Ol,' with an initial liquid.

Nolle Prosequi

[Don't prosecute ] A petition from a plaintiff to stay a suit (See Non Pros .)

Nolo Episcopari

[I am unwilling to accept the office of bishop. ] A very general notion prevails that every bishop at consecration uses these words. Mr. Christian, in his notes to Blackstone, says, “The origin of these words and of this vulgar notion I have not been able to discover; the bishops certainly give no such refusal at present, and I am inclined to think they never did at any time in this country.” When the see of Bath and Wells was offered to Beveridge, he certainly exclaimed, “Nolo episcopari, ” but it was the private expression of his own heart, and not a form of words, in his case. Chamberlayne says in former times the person about to be elected bishop modestly refused the office twice, and if he did so a third time his refusal was accepted.

(Present State of England.)

Nom

“Nom de guerre ” is French for a “war name,” but really means an assumed name. It was customary at one time for everyone who entered the French army to assume a name, this was especially the case in the times of chivalry, when knights went by the device of their shields or some other distinctive character in their armour, as the “Red—cross Knight.”

“Nom de plume. ” English—French for the “pen name,” and meaning the name assumed by a writer who does not choose to give his own name to the public, as Peter Pindar, the nom de plume of Dr. John Wolcot; Peter Parley, of Mr. Goodrich, Currer Bell, of Charlotte Brontë; Cuthbert Bede, of the Rev. Edward Bradley, etc.

Nomads

Wanderers who live in tents, pastoral tribes without fixed residence. (Greek, nomades: from nomos, a pasture.)

Nominalists

A sect founded by Roscelin, Canon of Compiègne (1040—1120). He maintained that if the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, they cannot be three distinct persons, but must be simply three names of the same being; just as father, son, and husband are three distinct names of one and the same man under different conditions. Abélard, William Occam, Buridan, Hobbes, Locke, Bishop Berkeley, Condillac, and Dugald Stewart are the most celebrated disciples of Roscelin.

Non Angli sed Angeli, si forent Christiani

Words attributed to Gregory (the Great) in 573 when some British children reduced to slavery were shown him at Rome. Gregory was at the time about thirty—five years of age, and was both abbot and cardinaldeacon.

Non Bis in Idem

(Latin). Not twice for the same thing— i.e. no man can be tried a second time on the same charge.

Non—Com

(A). A non—commissioned officer in the army.

Non Compos Mentis

or Non Com. Not of sound mind; a lunatic, idiot, drunkard, or one who has lost memory and understanding by accident or disease.

Non Con

(See Nonconformist .)

Non Est A contraction of Non est inventus (not to be found). They are the words which the sheriff writes on a writ when the defendant is not to be found in his bailiwick.

Non mi Recordo

a shuffling way of saying “I don't choose to answer that question.” It was the usual answer of the Italian courier and other Italian witnesses when on examination at the trial of Queen Caroline, wife of George IV., in 1820.

“The Italian witnesses often created amusement, when under examination, by the frequent answer, `Non mi recordo. ' ”— Cassell's History of England, vol. vii. iv 16.

Non Plus

(“no more” can be said on the subject). When a man is come to a non—plus in an argument, it means that he is unable to deny or controvert what is advanced against him. “To non—plus” a person is to put him into such a fix.

Non Pros

for Non prosequi (not to prosecute). The judgment of Non pros. is one for costs, when the plaintiff stays a suit.

Non Sequitur

(A). A conclusion which does not follow from the premises stated.

“The name began with B and ended with G. Perhaps it was Waters.”— Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby, p. 198.

Nonce

For the nonce. A corruption of for then anes (for then once), meaning for this once. “An apron” for a naperon is an example of n transferred the other way. We have some halfdozen similar examples in the language, as “tother day”— i.e. the other or &that; other = the other. Nuncle used in King Lear, which was originally mineuncle. An arrant knave is a narrant knave. (See Nag .)

Nonconformists

The 2,000 clergymen who, in 1662, left the Church of England, rather than conform or submit to the conditions of the Act of Uniformity— i.e. “unfeigned assent to all and everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer.” The word is loosely used for Dissenters generally.

Nones

(1 syl.), in the Roman calendar.

On March the 7th, June, July,

October too, the NONES you spy;

Except in these, those Nones appear

On the 5th day of all the year.

If to the Nones you add an 8

Of every IDE you'll find the date.

E.C.B.

Nonjurors

Those clergymen who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new government after the Revolution. They were Archbishop Sancroft with eight other bishops, and four hundred clergymen, all of whom were ejected from their livings. (1691.)

Nonne Prestes Tale

A thrifty widow had a cock, “hight Chaunteclere,” who had his harem; but “damysel Pertilote” was his favourite, who perched beside him at night. Chaunteclere once dreamt that he saw a fox who “tried to make arrest on his body,” but Pertilote chided him for placing faith in dreams. Next day a fox came into the poultry—yard, but told Chaunteclere he merely came to hear him sing, for his voice was so ravishing he could not deny himself that pleasure. The cock, pleased with this flattery, shut his eyes and began to crow most lustily, when Dan Russell seized him by the throat and ran off with him. When they got to the wood, the cock said to the fox, “I should advise you to eat me, and that anon.” “It shall be done,” said the fox,

but as he loosed the cock's neck to speak the word, Chaunteclere flew from his back into a tree. Presently came a hue and cry after the fox, who escaped with difficulty, and Chaunteclere returned to the poultry—yard wiser and discreeter for his adventure. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales.)

This tale is taken from the old French “Roman de Renart. ' The same story forms also one of the fables of Marie of France, “Don Coc et Don Werpil. '

Nor

The giant, father of Night. He dwelt in Utgard. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Norfolk

The folk north of Kent, Essex, and Suffolk.

Norfolk—Howards

Bugs. A man named Bugg, in 1863, changed his name into Norfolk—Howard.

Norfolk Street

(Strand), with Arundel, Surrey, and Howard Streets, were the site of the house and grounds of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, then of the Lord High Admiral Seymour, and afterwards of the Howards, Earls of Arundel and Surrey, from whom it came into the possession of the Earl of Norfolk.

Norma

A vestal priestess who has been seduced. She discovers her paramour in an attempt to seduce her friend, also a vestal priestess, and in despair contemplates the murder of her baseborn children. The libretto is a melodrama by Romani, music by Bellini (1831.) (Norma, an opera.)

Normandy

The Poles are the vintagers in Normandy. The Norman vintage consists of apples beaten down by poles. The French say, “En Normandie l'on vendange avee la gaule, ” where gaule is a play on the word Gaul, but really means a pole.

The Gem of Normandy. Emma, daughter of Richard I. (* —1052.)

Norna

The well of Urda, where the gods sit in judgment, and near which is that “fair building” whence proceed the three maidens called Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda (Past, Present, and Future). (Scandinavian mythology.)

Norna of the Fitful Head

A character in Sir Walter Scott's Pirate, to illustrate that singular kind of insanity which is ingenious in self—imposition, as those who fancy a lunatic asylum their own palace, the employés thereof their retinue, and the porridge provided a banquet fit for the gods. Norna's real name was Ulla Troil, but after her amour with Basil Mertoun (Vaughan), and the birth of a son, named Clement Cleveland, she changed her name out of shame. Towards the end of the novel she gradually recovered her right mind.

Nornir

or Norns. The three fates of Scandinavian mythology, Past, Present, and Future. They spin the events of human life sitting under the ash—tree Yggdrasil (Igg'—dra—sil').

Besides these three Norns, every human creature has a personal Norn or Fate. The home of the Norns is called in Scandinavian mythology “Doomstead.”

Norrisian Professor

A Professor of Divinity in Cambridge University. This professorship was founded in 1760 by John Norris, Esq., of Whitton in Norfolk. The four divinity professors are Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, Regius Professor of Divinity, Norrisian Professor, and Hulsean Professor.

Norroy

North—roy or king. The third king—of—arms is so called, because his office is on the north side of the river Trent; that of the south side is called Clarencieux (q.v.).

Norte

Violent northern gales, which visit the Gulf of Mexico from September to March. In March they attain their maximum force, and then immediately cease. (Spanish, nórte, the north.)

North

(Christopher). A nom—de—plume of Professor Wilson, of Gloucester Place, Edinburgh, one of the chief contributors of Blackwood's Magazine.

North

He's too far north for me. Too canny, too cunning to be taken in; very hard in making a bargain. The inhabitants of Yorkshire are supposed to be very canny, especially in driving a bargain.

North—east Passage

(The). A way to India from Europe round the north extremit of Asia. It had been often attempted even in the 16th century Hence Beaumont and Fletcher.

“That everlasting cassock, that has worn

As many servants out as the North—east Passage Has consumed sailors.”

The Tamer Tamed, ii.2

North Side of the Altar

(The). The side on which the Gospel is read. The north is the dark part of the earth, and the Gospel is the light of the world which shineth in darkness— “illuminare his qui in tenebris et in umbrâ mortis sedent. ” Facing the altar from the body of the church, the north side is on your left.

North Side of a Churchyard

The poor have a great objection to be buried on the north side of a churchyard. They seem to think only evil—doers should be there interred. Probably the chief reason is the want of sun. On the north side of Glasgow cathedral is shown the hangman's burial place.

There is, however, an ecclesiastical reason:— The east is God's side, where His throne is set; the west, man's side, the Galilee of the Gentiles; the south, the side of the “spirits made just” and angels, where the sun shines in his strength; the north, the devil's side, where Satan and his legion lurk to catch the unwary. Some churches have still a “devil's door” in the north wall, which is opened at baptisms and communions to let the devil out.

“As men die, so shall they arise, if in faith in the Lord, towards the south ... and shall arise in glory; if in unbelief ... towards the north, then are they past all hope.”— Coverdale Praying for the Dead.

Northamptonshire Poet

John Clare, son of a farmer at Helpstone. (1793—1864.)

Northern Bear Russia.

Northern Gate of the Sun

The sign of Cancer, or summer solstice; so called because it marks the northern tropic.

Northern Lights

The Aurora Boreä'lis, ascribed by the northern savages to the merriment of the ghosts. (See Aurora .)

Northern Wagoner

(The). Ursa Major, called “Charles's wain,” or wagon. The constellation contains seven large stars. “King Charles's Wain” is absurd. “Charles' Wain” is a blunder for the “Churls' or Peasants' Wain.”

“By this the northern wagoner has set

His sevenfold team behind the stedfast star [the pole—star]” Spenser: Faërie Queene, i.2.

Norval

An aged peasant and his son in Home's tragedy of Douglas.

Norway

(Maid of). Margaret, infant queen of Scotland. She was the daughter of Eric II., King of Norway, and Margaret, daughter of Alexander III. of Scotland. She never actually reigned, as she died on her passage to Scotland in 1290.

Nose

Bleeding of the nose Sign of love.

“ `Did my nose ever bleed when I was in your company?' and, poor wretch, just as she spake this to show her true heart, her nose fell a—bleeding.”— Boulster: Lectures, p. 130.

Bleeding of the nose. Grose says if it bleeds one drop only it forebodes sickness, if three drops the omen is still worse, but Melton, in his Astrologaster, says, “If a man's nose bleeds one drop at the left nostril it is a sign of good luck, and vice versâ. “

Led by the nose. Isaiah xxxvii. 29 says, “Because thy rage against Me is come up into Mine cars, therefore will I put My hook in thy nose ... and will turn thee back. ...” Horses, asses, etc., led by bit and bridle, are led

by the nose. Hence Iago says of Othello, he was “led by the nose as asses are” (i.3). But buffaloes, camels, and bears are actually led by a ring inserted into their nostrils.

Golden nose. Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer. Having lost his nose in a duel with Passberg, he adopted a golden one, which he attached to his face by a cement which he carried about with him.

“That eminent man who had a golden nose, Tycho Brahe.”— Marryat: Jutland and the Danish Isles, p. 305

General Zelislaus, having lost his right hand in battle, had a golden one given him by Boleslaus III.

To count noses. To count the numbers of a division. It is a horse—dealer's term, who counts horses by the nose, for the sake of convenience. Thus the Times, comparing the House of Commons to Tattersall's, says,

“Such is the counting of noses upon a question which lies at the basis of our constitution.”

To out off your nose to spite your face, or ... to be revenged on your face. To act out of pique in such a way as to injure yourself: as to run a way from home, to marry out of pique, to throw up a good situation in a fit of ill temper, etc., or any similar folly.

To keep one's nose to the grin'—stone. To keep one hard at work. Tools, such as scythes, chisels, etc., are constantly sharpened on a stone or with a grin'—stone. The nose of a stair is the edge, and “nose” in numerous phrases stands for the person's self. In French nez is so used in some phrases.

“From this ... he kept Bill's nose to the grinding—stone.”— W. B. Yeats: Fairy Tales of the Irish Peasantry, p. 237.

Paying through the nose. Grimm says that Odin had a poll—tax which was called in Sweden a nose—tax; it was a penny per nose or poll. (Deutsche Rechts Alterthumer.) (See Nose Tax, Rhino.) To snap one's nose aff. To speak snappishly. “Ready to snap one's nose off.” To “pull (or wring) the nose,” tirer or arracher le nez is to affront by an act of indignity; to snap one's nose is to affront by speech. Fighting dogs snap at each other's noses.

To wipe [one's] nose. To affront a person; to give one a blow on the nose. Similarly, to wipe a person's eye; to fetch one a wipe over the knuckles, etc., connected with the Anglo—Saxon verb hweop—an, to whip, to strike (our whip).

“She was so nose—wipt, slighted, and disdained,”— Nares' Glossary, p. 619.

“To wipe off a score,” “to wipe a person down,” meaning to cajole or pacify, from the Anglo—Saxon wipian, to wipe, cleanse. Hence to fleece one out of his money. Quite another verb to that given above.

To take pepper in the nose. To take offence.

“A man is testy, and anger wrinkles his nose such a man takes pepper in the nose.”— Optick Glasse of Humors (1639).

To turn up one's nose. To express contempt. When a person sneers he turns up the nose by curling the upper lip.

Under your [very] nose. This is French also: “Au nez ct à la barbe de quelqu'un ' (“Just before your face"). Nose = face in numerous locutions, both in French and English; as, “Montrer son nez;” “Régarder quelqu'un sous le nez;” “Mettre le nez a la fenêtre,” etc.

Nose—bag

(A). A visitor to a house of refreshment who brings his own victuals and calls for a glass of water or lemonade. The reference is to carrying the feed of a horse in a nose—bag to save expense.

Nose Literature

“Knows he, that never took a pinch,

Nosey, the pleasure thence that flows?

Knows he the titillating joy

Which my nose knows?

O nose, I am as proud of thee

As any mountain of its snows;

I gaze on thee, and feel that pride

A Roman knows.”

F. C. H[usenbeth], translated from the Fiench of O. Basselin.

Chapter on Noses, in Tristram Shandy, by L. Sterne. On the Dignity, Gravity, and Authority of Noses, by Taglicozzi or Tagliacozzo (1597). De Virginitate (sec. 77) A chapter in Kornmann.

The Noses of Adam and Eve, by Mlle. Bourignon. Pious Meditations on the Nose of the Virgin Mary, by J. Petit. Review of Noses (Louis Brevitatis), by Théphile Raynaud. Sormon on Noses (La Diceriade' Nasi), by Annibal Caro (1584).

Nose Tax (The). In the ninth century the Danes imposed on Irish houses a poll tax, historically called the

“Nose Tax,” because those who neglected to pay the ounce of gold were punished by having their nose slit.

Nose of Wax

(A). Mutable and accommodating (faith). A waxen nose may be twisted any way.

“Sed addunt etiam simile quoddam non aptissimum; Eas esse quoddammodo nasum cereum, posse fingi, flectique in omnes modos, et omnium institutio inservire.”— Juelli Apologia, Ecc. Angl., sec. 6.

Nose Out of Joint

To put one's nose out of joint is to supplant a person in another's good graces. To put another person's nose where yours is now. There is a good French locution, “Lui couper l'herbe sous le picd. ' (In Latin, “Aliquem de jure suo dejicere. ' Sometimes it means to humiliate a conceited person.

“Fearing now least this wench which is brought over hither should put your nose out the joynt, comining betweene home and you.”— Terence in English (1614).

Nosey

The Duke of Wellington was lovingly so called by the soldiery. His “commander's nose” was a very distinguishing feature of the Iron Duke.

Nosnot—Bocai

[Bo—ky ]. Prince of Purgatory. Purgatory is the “realm of Nosnot—Bocai.”

“Sir, I last night received command

To see you out of Fairy land,

Into the realm of Nosnot—Bocai;

But let not fear or sulphur choak—ye,

For he's a fiend of sense and wit.”

King: Orpheus and Eurydice.

Nostradamus

(Michael). An astrologer who published an annual “Almanack,” very similar in character to that of “Francis Moore,” and a Recueil of Prophecies, in four—line stanzas, extending over seven centuries. (1503—1566.)

The Nostradamus of Portugal. Goncalo Annes Bandarra, a poet—cobbler, whose lucubrations were stopped by the Inquisition. (Died 1556.)

As good a prophet as Nostradamus— i.e. so obscure that none can make out your meaning. Nostradamus was a provincial astrologer of the sixteenth century, who has left a number of prophecies in verse, but what they mean no one has yet been able to discover (French proverb.

Nostrum

means Our own. It is applied to a quack medicine, the ingredients of which are supposed to be a secret of the compounders. (Latin.)

Not

in riding and driving.

“Up a hill hurry not,

Down a hill flurry not,

On level ground spare him not.”

On a Milestone in Yorkshire (near Richmond).

Not at Home

Scipio Nasica was intimate with the poet Ennius. One day, calling on the poet, the servant said, “Ennius is not at home,” but Nasica could see him plainly in the house. Well, he simply walked away without a word. A few days later Ennius returned the visit, and Nasica called out, “Not at home.” Ennius instantly recognised the voice, and remonstrated. “You are a nice fellow” (said Nasica), “why, I believed your slave, and you won't believe me.”

This tale is often attributed to Dean Swift, but, of authentic, it was a borrowed not.

Not Worth a Rap

(See Rap .)

Not Worth a Rush (See Rush .)

Not Worth a Straw

(See Straw .)

Not Worth Your Salt

Not worth your wages. The Romans served out rations of salt and other necessaries to their soldiers and civil servants. These rations were called by the general name of salt (sal), and when money was substituted for these rations, the stipend went by the name of sal—arium.

Notables

(in French history). An assembly of nobles or notable men, selected by the king, of the House of Valois, to form a parliament. They were convened in 1626 by Richeheu, and not again till 1787 (a hundred and sixty years afterwards), when Louis XVI. called them together with the view of relieving the nation of some of its pecuniary embarrassments. The last time they ever assembled was November 6th 1788.

Notarica

A. E. I. O. U. Austria's Empire Is Over all Universal. (See A. E. I. O. U.) Æra. A ER. A— i.e. Anno ERat Augusti. (See Æra.)

Cabal. Clifford, Ashley, Buckingham, Arlington, Lauderdale. (See Cabal.) Clio. Chelsea, London, Islington, Office. (See Clio.)

Hempe “When hempe is spun England is done.” Henry, Edward, Mary, Philip, Elizabeth. (See Hempe.) Hip! hip! hurrah! Hierosolyma Est Perdita. (See Hip.)

Ichthus. Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter. (See Ichthus.)

I. T. N. O. T. G. A. O. T. U. (It—not—ga—otu)— i.e. In The Name Of The Great Architect Of The Universe. A Freemason's notarica.

Kole. King's Own Light Infantry (the 51st Foot). Limp. Louis, Iames, Mary, Prince. (See Limp.) Maccabees. Mi Camokah, Baelim Jehovah. (See Maccabzeus.) News. North, East, West, South. (See News.)

Smectymnuus. Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thomas Young, Matthew Newcomen, Unilliam Spurstow. (See Smec.)

Tory. True Old Royal Yeoman. The following palindrome may be added: E.T.L.N.L.T.E. Eat to live, Never live to eat. In Latin thus: E.U.V.N.V.U.R. Edas ut vivas, ne vivas ut edas.

Whig. W e H ope I n G od. Wise. W ales, I reland, S cotland, E ngland— i.e. Wales, Ireland, and Scotland added to England.

Notary Public

A law officer whose duty it is to attest deeds, to make authentic copies of documents, to make protests of bills, and to act as a legal witness of any formal act of public concern.

Notation

or Notes. (See Do.)

Notch

Out of all notch. Out of all bounds. The allusion is to the practice of fitting timber: the piece which is to receive the other is notched upon; the one to fit into the notch is said to be notched down.

Note of Hand

(A). A promise to pay made in writing and duly signed.

Nothing

“A tune played by the picture of nobody.” (Shakespeare: Tempest, iii. 2.)

Notoriety

Depraved taste for notoriety:—

Cleombrotos, who leaped into the sea. (See Cleombrotos.) Empedocles, who leaped into Etna. (See Empedocles.)

Herostratos, who set fire to the temple of Diana. (See Diana.)

William Lloyd, who broke in pieces the Portland vase. (1845.)

Jonathan Martin, who set fire to York Minister. (1829.)

Nottingham

(Saxon, Snotingaham, place of caves). So called from the caverns in the soft sandstone rock. Montecute took King Edward III. through these subterranean passages to the hill castle, where he found the

“gentle Mortimer” and Isabella, the dowager—queen. The former was slain, and the latter imprisoned. The passage is still called “Mortimer's Hole.”

Nottingham poet. Philip James Bailey, author of Festus. Born at Bashford—in—the—Burgh, Nottingham. (1816.)

Nottingham Lambs

The roughs of Nottingham.

Nourmahal'

Sultana. The word means Light of the Harcm. She was afterwards called Nourjehan (Light of the World). In Lalla Rookh, the tale called The Light of the Harem is this: Nourmahal was estranged for a time from the love of Selim, son of Acbar' By the advice of Namouna, she prepares a love—spell, and appears as a

lute—player at a banquet given by “the imperial Selim.” At the close of the feast she tries the power of song, and the young sultan exclaims, “If Nour mahal had sung those strains I could forgive her all;” whereupon the sultana threw off her mask, Selim “caught her to his heart,” and, as Nourmahal rested her head on Selim's arm, “she whispers him, with laughing eyes, `Remember, love, the Feast of Roses.' ” (Thomas Moore.)

Nous

(1 syl.). Genius, natural acumen, quick perception, ready wit. The Platonists used the word for mind, or the first cause. (Greek, nous, contraction of noos Pronounce nouce. )

Nous Avons Change Tout Cela

A facetious reproof to a dogmatic prig who wants to lay down the law upon everything, and talks contemptuously of old customs, old authors, old artists, and old everything. The phrase is taken from Moliére's Médecin Malgré Lui, act ii. sc. vi. (1666.)

“Géronte. Il n'y a qu' seule chose qui m'a choqué; c'est l'endroit du foie et du caeur. Il me semble que vous les placez autrement qu'ils ne sont; que le caeur est du côte gauche, et le foie du côte droit

Sganarellc. Oui; cela éoit autrefois ainsi; mais nous avons changétout cela, et nous faisons maintenant la méecine d'une méhode toute nouvelle.

Géronte. C'est ce que je ne savois pas, et je vous demande pardon de inon ignorance.”

Novatians

Followers of Novatianus, a presbyter of Rome in the third century, who would never allow anyone who had lapsed to be readmitted into the church.

November 17

(See Queen's Day .)

Novum Organum

The great work of Lord Bacon.

Now—a—days

A corruption of In—our—days, I' nour days. (See Apron, Nag, Nickname, Nugget, etc.)

Now—now

Old Anthony Now—now. An itinerant fiddler, meant for Anthony Munday, the dramatist who wrote City Pageants. (Chettle: Kindhart's Dream, 1592.)

No wheres

(2 syl.). (See Medamothi. )

Noyades

(2 syl.). A means of execution adopted by Carrier at Nantes, in the first French Revolution, and called Carrier's Vertical Deportation. Some 150 persons being stowed in the hold of a vessel in the Loine, the vessel was scuttled, and the victims drowned. Nero, at the suggestion of Anicetus, drowned his mother in this same manner. (French, noyer, to drown.)

Nucta

or miraculous drop which falls in Egypt on St. John's day (June), is supposed to have the effect of stopping the plague. Thomas Moore refers to it in his Paradise and the Peri.

Nude

Rabelais wittily says that a person without clothing is dressed in “grey and cold” of a comical cut, being “nothing before, nothing behind, and sleeves of the same.” King Shrovetide, monarch of Sneak Island, was so arrayed. (Rabelais: Gargantua, iv. 29.)

The nude statues of Paris are said to be draped in “cerulean blue.”

Nugget of Gold

Nugget, a diminutive of nug or nog, as logget is of log. “A nog of sugar” (Scotch) is a lump, and a “nugget of gold” is a small lump. So a “log of wood” is a billet (Latin, lignum ), and “loggets” (Norfolk) are sticks of toffy cut up into small lumps.

A correspondent in Notes and Queries says nog is a wooden ball used in the game of shinney. Nig, in Essex, means a “piece;” and a noggin of bread means a hunch.

Nulla Linea

(See Line. )

Nulli Secundus Club

The Cold—stream Guards.

Numa

The second king of Rome, who reduced the infant state to order by wise laws.

Numancia

A tragedy by Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, but never published in his lifetime.

Number Nip

The gnome king of the Giant Mountains. (Musaeus: Popular Tales.)

“She was like one of those portly dowagers in Number Nip's society of metamorphose and turnips.”— Le Fanu: The House in the Churchyard, p. 132.

Number One

Oneself.

To take care of number one, is to look after oneself, to seek one's own interest; to be selfish.

Number of the Beast

“It is the number of a man, and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Rev.

xiii. 18). This number has been applied to divers persons previously assumed to be Antichrist; as Apostates, Benedictos, Diocletian, Evanthas, Julian (the Apostate), Lampetis, Lateinos, Luther, Mahomet, Mysterium, Napoleon I., Niketes, Paul V., Silvester II., Trajan, and several others. Also to certain phrases supposed to be descriptive of the Man of Sin, as Vicar—General of God, Arnoume (I renounce), Kakos Odegos (bad guide), Abinu Kadescha Papa (our holy father the pope), e.g. —

M a o m e t i s

40, 1, 70, 40, 5, 300, 10, 200 = 666 L

a

t

e

i

n

o s

30, 1, 300, 5,

10, 50, 70, 200 = 666 L

u

th

r

a

n

o s

30, 400, 9, 100, 1, 50, 70, 6 = 666

The Nile is emblematic of the year.

N e i l

p s

50, 5, 10, 30, 7, 200 = 365

Numbers

(from 1 to 13), theological symbols:— (1) The Unity of God.

(2) The hypostatic union of Christ, both God and man. (3) The Trinity.

(4) The number of the Evangelists.

(5) The wounds of the Redecmer: two in the hands, two in the feet, one in the side. (6) The creative week.

(7) The gifts of the Holy Ghost (Rev i. 12). Seven times Christ spoke on the cross. (8) The number of the beatitudes (Matt. v. 3—11).

(9) The nine orders of angels (q.v.).

(10) The number of the Commandments.

(11) The number of the apostles who remained faithful.

(12) The original college.

(13) The final number after the conversion of Paul.

Numbers

Army of soldiers. Regiment, etc.

Assembly of people.

Batch or Caste of bread. Bench of bishops, magistrates, etc. Bevy of roes, quails, larks, pheasants, ladies, etc. Board of directors.

Brood of chickens, etc.

Catch of fish taken in nets, etc. Clump of trees.

Cluster of grapes, nuts, stars, etc Collection of pictures, curiosities, etc. Company of soldiers. Congregation of people at church, etc. Covey of game birds.

Crew of sailors.

Crowd of people. Drove of horses, ponies, beasts, etc Drum, a crush of company. Federation. A trade union.

Fell of hair.

Fleet of ships.

Flight of bees, birds, stairs, etc. Flock of birds, sheep geese, etc. Forest of trees.

Galaxy of beauties.

Gang of slaves, prisoners, thieves, etc. Haul of fish caught in a net.

Head of cattle.

Herd of bucks, deer, harts, seals, swine, etc. Hive of bees.

Host of men.

House of senators. Legion of “foul fiends.” Library of books. Litter of pigs, whelps, etc. Menagerie of wild beasts. Mob of roughs, wild cattle, etc. Multitude of men. In law, more than ten. Muster of peacocks.

Mute of hounds.

Nest of rabbits, ants, etc.; shelves, etc. Nursery of trees, shrubs, etc.

Pack of hounds, playing cards, grouse, etc. Panel of jurymen.

Pencil of rays, etc.

Pile of books, wood stacked, etc. Posse (a sheriff's). Posse (2 syl.). Pride of lions.

Rabble of men ill—bred and ill—clad. Regiment (A) of soldiers.

Rookery of rooks and seals, also of unhealthy houses. Rouleau of money.

School of whales, etc.

Set of china, or articles assorted. Shoal of mackerel.

Shock of hair, corn, etc.

Skein of ducks, thread, worsted. Skulk of foxes.

Society (A). Persons associated for some mutual object. Stack of corn, hay, wood (piled together).

String of horses.

Stud of mares.

Suit of clothes.

Suite of rooms.

Swarm of bees, locusts, etc. Take of fish.

Team of oxen, horses, etc. Tribe of goats.

Numbers

Odd Numbers. “Numero Deus impare gaudet” (Virgil: Eclogues, viii. 75). Three indicates the “beginning, middle, and end.” The Godhead has three persons; so in classic mythology Hecate had threefold power; Jove's symbol was a triple thunderbolt, Neptune's a sea—trident, Pluto's a three—headed dog; the Fates were three, the Furies three, the Graces three, the Horae three; the Muses three—times—three. There are seven notes, nine planets, nine orders of angels, seven days a week, thirteen lunar months, or 365 days a year, etc., five senses, five fingers on the hand and toes on the foot, five vowels five continents, etc. etc. A volume might

be filled with illustrations of the saying that “the gods delight in odd numbers.” (See Odd, Nine. )

Numbers

To consult the Book of Numbers is to call for a division of the House, or to put a question to the vote. (Parliamentary wit.)

Numbers

Pythagoras looked on numbers as influential principles. 1 is Unity, and represents Deity, which has no parts.

2 is Diversity, and therefore disorder. The principle of strife and all evil. 3 is Perfect Harmony, or the union of unity and diversity.

4 is Perfection. It is the first square (2 2 = 4).

5 is the prevailing number in Nature and Art.

6 is Justice (Perfect Harmony being 3, which multiplied by Trinity = 6). 7 is the climacteric number in all diseases. Called the Medical Number (2 syl.). 2. The Romans dedicated the second month to Pluto, and the second day of the month to the Manes. They believed it to be the most fatal number of all.

4 and 6 are omitted, not being prime numbers; 4 is the multiple of 2, and 6 is the multiple of 3.

Numerals

All our numerals and ordinals up to a million (with one exception) are Anglo—Saxon. The one exception is the word Second, which is French. The Anglo—Saxon word was other, as First, Other, Third, etc. Million is the Latin millio (—onis).

There are some other odd exceptions in the language: Spring, summer, and winter are native words, but autumn is Latin. The days of the week are native words, but the names of the months are Latin. We have daeg, monath, gear; but minute is Latin, and hour is Latin through the French.

Numerals (Greek). (See Episemon.)

Numero

Homme de numero — that is “un homme fin en affaires. “ M. Walckenaer says it is a shop phrase, meaning that he knows all the numbers of the different goods, or all the private marks indicative of price and quality.

“Il n'etoit lors, de Paris jusqu a Rome,

Galant qui sut si bien le namero.”

La Fontaine: Richard Minutoto.

Numidicus

Quintus Caecilius Metellus, commander against Jugurtha, of Numidia, about 100 B.C.

Nunation

Adding N to an initial vowel, as Nol for Ol[iver], Nell for Ell[en], Ned for Ed[ward].

Nunc Dimittis

The canticle of Simeon is so called, from the first two words in the Latin version (Luke ii. 29—32).

Nunc Stans

The everlasting Now.

“It exists in the nunc stans of the schoolmen— the eternal Now that, represented the consciousness of the Supreme Being in mediaeval thought.”— Nineteenth Century, December, 1892, p. 953.

Nuncupative Will

A will or testament made by word of mouth. As a general rule, no will is valid unless reduced to writing and signed; but soldiers and sailors may simply declare their wish by word of mouth. (Latin, nuncupo, to declare.)

Nunky pays for all

To stand Sam. To be made to pay the reckoning. This is an Americanism, and arose from the letters U.S. on the knapsacks of the soldiers. The government of Uncle Sam has to pay, or “stand Sam” for all.

Nuremberg Eggs

Watches. Watches were invented at Nuremberg about 1500, and were egg—shaped.

Nurr and Spell

or Knor and Spill. A game resembling trapball, and played with a wooden ball called a nurr or knor. The ball is released by means of a spring from a little brass cup at the end of a tongue of steel called a spell or spill. After the player has touched the spring, the ball flies into the air, and is struck with a bat. In scoring, the distances are reckoned by the score feet, previously marked off by a Gunter's chain. The game is played frequently in the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Nurse an Omnibus

(To) is to try and run it off the road. This is done by sending a rival omnibus close at its heels, or, if necessary, one before and one behind it, to pick up the passengers. As a nurse follows a child about regardless of its caprices, so these four—wheel nurses follow their rival.

Nurseries

In the language of horse—racing, handicaps for two—year—old horses. These horses can be run only with horses of their own age, after the 1st September; and before the 1st July must not run more than six furlongs in length.

Nursery Tales

Well—known ones:—

ARABIAN NIGHTS: Aladdin's Lamp, The Forty Thieves, Sinbad the Sailor, and hundreds more. CARROLL (Lewis): Alice in Wonderland, Hunting the Snark, etc.

D'AULNOY (Mme.): King of the Peacocks, The Blue Bird, and many others. FOUQUE. De la Motte: Undine.

GOLDSMITH (Oliver): Goody Twoshoes. 1765.

GRIMM: Goblin Tales.

JOHNSON (Richard): The Seven Champions of Christendom.

KNATCHBULL—HUGESSEN (Lord Brabourne): Stories for Children, etc. LE SAGE: The Devil on Two Sticks.

PERRAULT, Charles (A Frenchman): Blue Board, Little Red Riding Hood, Puss in Boots, Riquet with the

Tuft, Sleeping Beauty, etc.

RIDLEY (James): Tales of the Genii.

SCANDINAVIAN: Jack—and the Beanstalk, Jack the Giant—killer, and some others. SOUTHEY: The Three Bears.

STRAPAROLA (an Italian): Fortunatus

SWIFT (Dean): Gulliver's Travels.

VILLENEUVE (Mme): Beauty and the Beast

It is said that the old nursery rhyme about an old woman tossed in a blanket was written as a satire against the French expedition of Henry V., and the cobwebs to be swept from the sky were the points of contention between the King of England and the King of France.

Nut

A hard nut to crack. A difficult question to answer; a hard problem to solve. (Anglo—Saxon, hnut, a nut.) He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell. The gods give nothing to man without great labour, or

“Nil sine magno vita labore dedit mortalibus.” “Qui nucleum essc vult, frangit nucem” (Plautus). In French, “Il faut casser le noyau pour en avoir l'amande.” It was Heraclies who said, “Expect nothing without toil.”

If you would reap, you also must plough

For bread must be earned by the sweat of the brow. E.C.B.

Nuts of May

Here we go gathering nuts of May. A corruption of knots or springs of May. We still speak of “love—knots,” and a bunch of flowers is called a “knot.”

Nuts

Heads; so called from their resemblance to nuts. Probably “crack,” applied to heads, is part of the same figure of speech.

“To go off their nuts about ladies,

As dies for young fellars as fights.”

Sims: Dagonet Ballads (Polly).

It is time to lay our nuts aside (Latin, Relinquere nuces). To leave off our follies, to relinquish boyish pursuits. The allusion is to an old Roman marriage ceremony, in which the bridegroom, as he led his bride home, scattered nuts to the crowd, as if to symbolise to them that he gave up his boyish sports.

That's nuts to him. A great pleasure, a fine treat. Nuts, among the Romans, made a standing dish at dessert; they were also common toys for children; hence, to put away childish things is, in Latin, to put your nuts away.

Nut—brown Maid

Henry, Lord Clifford, first Earl of Cumberland, and Lady Margaret Percy, his wife, are the originals of this ballad. Lord Clifford had a miserly father and ill—natured step—mother, so he left home and became the head of a band of robbers. The ballad was written in 1502, and says that the “Not—browne Mayd” was wooed and won by a knight who gave out that he was a banished man. After describing the hardships she would have to undergo if she married him, and finding her love true to the test, he revealed himself to be an earl's son, with large hereditary estates in Westmoreland. (Percy: Reliques, series ii.)

Nutcrack Night

All Hallows' Eve, when it is customary in some places to crack nuts in large quantities.

Nutcrackers

The 3rd Foot; so called because at Albuera they cracked the heads of the Polish Lancers, then opened and retreated, but in a few minutes came again into the field and did most excellent service. Now called “The East Kent.”

Nutshell

The Iliad in a nutshell. Pliny tells us that Cicero asserts that the whole Iliad was written on a piece of parchment which might be put into a nutshell. Lalanne describes, in his Curiosités Bibliographiques, an edition of Rochefoucault's Maxims, published by Didot in 1829, on pages one inch square, each page

containing 26 lines, and each line 44 letters. Charles Toppan, of New York, engraved on a plate one—eighth of an inch square 12,000 letters. The Iliad contains 501,930 letters, and would therefore occupy 42 such plates engraved on both sides. Huet has proved by experiment that a parchment 27 by 21 centimetres would contain the entire Iliad, and such a parchment would go into a common—sized nut; but Mr. Toppan's engraving would get the whole Iliad into half that size. George P. Marsh says, in his Lectures, he has seen the entire Arabic Koran in a parchment roll four inches wide and half an inch in diameter. (See Iliad. )

To lie in a nutshell. To be explained in a few words; to be capable of easy solution.

Nym

(Corporal). One of Falstaff's followers, and an arrant rogue. Nim is to steal. (Merry Wives of Windsor.)

Nyse

(2 syl.). One of the Nereids (q.v.).

“The lovely Nysë and Neri'në spring,

With all the vehemence and speed of wing.”

Camoens: Lusiad, bk. ii.