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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

E. Cobham Brewer From The Edition Of 1894

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is the twentieth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. Tâw was the last letter of the Western Semitic and Hebrew alphabets, and probably represented a cross. The sound value of Semitic Taw, Greek alphabet T (Tau), Old Italic and Latin T has remained fairly constant, representing IPA /t/ in each of these; and it has also kept its original basic shape in all of these alphabets.

T in music, stands for Tutti (all), meaning all the instruments or voices are to join. It is the opposite of S for Solo.

—t— inserted with a double hyphen between a verb ending with a vowel and the pronouns elle, il, or on, is called “t ephelcystic,” as, aime—t—il, dire—t—on. (See N, Marks In Grammar.)

Marked with a T. Criminals convicted of felony, and admitted to the benefit of clergy, were branded on the brawn of the thumb with the letter T (thief). The law was abolished by 7 and 8 George IV., c. 27.

It fits to a T. Exactly. The allusion is to work that mechanics square with a T—rule, especially useful in making right angles, and in obtaining perpendiculars on paper or wood.

The saintly T's. Sin Tander, Sin Tantony, Sin Tawdry, Sin Tausin, Sin Tedmund, and Sin Telders; otherwise St. Andrew, St. Anthony, St. Audry, St. Austin [Augustine], St. Edmund, and St. Ethelred. Tooley is St. Olaf.

T.Y.C.

in the language of horseracing, means the Two—Year—Old Course scurries. Under six furlongs.

T—Rule

(A). A ruler shaped like a Greek T. (See above.)

Tab

An old Tab. An old maid; an old tabby or cat. So called because old maids usually make a cat their companion.

Tabard

The Tabard, in Southwark, is where Chaucer supposes his pilgrims to have assembled. The tabard was a jacket without sleeves, whole before, open on both sides, with a square collar, winged at the shoulder

like a cape, and worn by military nobles over their armour. It was generally emblazoned with heraldic devices. Heralds still wear a tabard.

“Item ... a chascun ung grand tabart

De cordelier, jusques aux pieds.”

Le Petit Testament de Maistre Franpois Villon.

Tabardar

A sizar of Queen's College, Oxford. So called because his gown has tabard sleeves— that is, loose sleeves, terminating a little below the elbow in a point.

Tabarin

He's a Tabarin — a merry Andrew. Tabarin was the fellow of Mondor, a famous vendor of quack medicines in the reign of Charles IX. By his antics and coarse wit he collected great crowds, and both he and his master grew rich. Tabarin bought a handsome château in Dauphiné, but the aristocracy out of jealousy murdered him.

Tabby

a cat, so called because the brindlings of the tabby were thought to resemble the waterings of the silk of the name. (French, tabis; Italian, etc., tabi; Persian, retabi, a rich figured silk.)

“Demurest of the tabby kind,

The pensive Selima reclined.” Gay.

Tabla Rasa

(Latin). A clean slate on which anything can be written.

“When a girl has been taught to keep her mind a tabla rasa till she comes to years of discretion, she will be more free to act on her own natural impulses.”— W. S. R.

Table

Apelles' table. A pictured table, representing the excellency of sobriety on one side, and the deformity of intemperance on the other.

Tables of Cebes. Cebes was a Theban philosopher, a disciple of Socrates, and one of the interlocutors of Plato's Phædo. His Tables or Tableau supposes him to be placed before a tableau or panorama representing the life of man, which the philosopher describes with great accuracy of judgment and splendour of sentiment. This tableau is sometimes appended to Epictetus.

Table of Pythagoras. The common multiplication table, carried up to ten. The table is parcelled off into a hundred little squares or cells. (See Tabulae.)

Knights of the Round Table. A military order instituted by Arthur, the “first king of the Britons,” A.D. 516. Some say they were twenty—four in number, some make the number as high as 150, and others reduce the number to twelve. They were all seated at a round table, that no one might claim a post of honour.

The Twelve Tables. The tables of the Roman laws engraved on brass, brought from Athens to Rome by the decemvirs.

Turning the tables. Rebutting a charge by bringing forth a counter—charge. Thus, if a husband accuses his wife of extravagance in dress, she “turns the tables upon him” by accusing him of extravagance in his, club. The Romans prided themselves on their tables made of citron wood from Mauritania, inlaid with ivory, and sold at a most extravagant price— some equal to a senator's income. When the gentlemen accused the ladies of extravagance, the ladies retorted by reminding the gentlemen of what they spent in tables. Pliny calls this taste of the Romans mensarum insania.

It is also used for “audi alteram partem,” and the allusion is then slightly modified— “We have considered the wife's extravagance; let us now look to the husband's.”

“We will now turn the tables, and show the hexameters in all their vigour.”— The Times.

Table d'Hote

[the host's table ]. An ordinary. In the Middle Ages, and even down to the reign of Louis XIV., the landlord's table was the only public dining—place known in Germany and France. The first restaurant was opened in Paris during the reign of the Grand Monarque, and was a great success.

Table Money

Money appropriated to the purposes of hospitality.

Table—Turning

The presumed art of turning tables without the application of mechanical force. Said by some to be the work of departed spirits, and by others to be due to a force akin to mesmerism. Jackson Davis (the Seer of Poughkeepsie), a cobbler, professed, in 1848, to hear “spirit voices in the air.” (See Spiritualism. )

Tableaux Vivants

(French, living pictures). Representations of statuary groups by living persons, invented by Madame Genlis while she had charge of the children of the Duc d'Orléans.

Tabooed

Devoted, Forbidden. This is a Polynesian term, and means consecrated or set apart. Like the Greek anathema, the Latin sacer, the French sacre, etc., the word has a double meaning— one to consecrate, and one to incur the penalty of violating the consecration. (See Tapu. )

Taborites

(3 syl.). A sect of Hussites in Bohemia. So called from the fortress Tabor, about fifty miles from Prague, from which Nicholas von Hussineez, one of the founders, expelled the Imperial army. They are now incorporated with the Bohemian Brethren.

Tabouret

The right of sitting in the presence of the queen. In the ancient French court certain ladies had the droit de tabouret (right of sitting on a tabouret in the presence of the queen). At first it was limited to princesses: but subsequently it was extended to all the chief ladies of the queen's household; and later still the wives of ambassadors, dukes, lord chancellor, and keeper of the seals, enjoyed the privilege. Gentlemen similarly privileged had the droit de fauteuil.

“Qui me resisterait

La marqurse a le tabouret.”

Beranger: Le Marquis de Carabas.

Tabulae Toletanae

The astronomical tables composed by order of Alphonso X. of Castile, in the middle of the thirteenth century, were so called because they were adapted to the city of Toledo.

“His Tables Tolletanes forth he brought,

Ful wel corrected, ne ther lakked nought.”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 11,585.

Tace

(2 syl.). Latin for candle. Silence is most discreet. Tace is Latin for “be silent,” and candle is symbolical of light. The phrase means “keep it dark,” do not throw light upon it. Fielding, in his Amelia (chap. x.), says,

“Tace, madam, is Latin for candle.” There is an historical allusion worth remembering. It was customary at one time to express disapprobation of a play or actor by throwing a candle on the stage, and when this was done the curtain was immediately drawn down. Oultor (vol. i. p. 6), in his History of the Theatres of London, gives us an instance of this which occurred January 25th, 1772, at Covent Garden theatre, when the piece before the public was An Hour Before Marriage. Someone threw a candle on the stage, and the curtain was dropped at once.

“There are some auld stories that cannot be ripped up again with entire safety to all concerned. Tace is Latin for candle.”— Sir W. Scott: Redgauntlet, chap. xi. (Sir Walter is rather fond of the phrase.)

“Mum, William, mum. Tace is Latin for candle.”— W.B. Yeats: Fairy Tales of the Irish Peasantry, p. 250.

N.B. We have several of these old phrases; one of the best is, “Brandy is Latin for goose” (q.v.).

Tachebrune

(2 syl.). The horse of Ogier le Dane. The word means “brown—spot.” (See Horse .)

Taenia Rationis

Show of argument. Argument which seems prima facie plausible and specious, but has no real depth or value.

“Mr. Spencer is again afflicted with his old complaint toe rationis, and takes big words for real things.”— Era Olla: Mr. Spencer's First Principles.

Tae'pings

Chinese rebels. The word means Universal Peace, and arose thus: Hung—sew—tseuen, a man of humble birth, and an unsuccessful candidate for a government office, was induced by some missionary tracts to renounce idolatry, and found the society of Taë—ping, which came into collision with the imperial authorities in 1850. Hung now gave out that he was the chosen instrument in God's hands to uproot idolatry and establish the dynasty of Universal Peace; he assumed the title of Taë—ping—wang (Prince of Universal Peace), and called his five chief officers princes. Nankin was made their capital in 1860, but Colonel Gordon (called Chinese Gordon) in 1864 quelled the insurrection, and overthrew the armies of Hung.

Taffata

or Taffety. A fabric made of silk; at one time it was watered; hence Taylor says, “No taffaty more changeable than they.” “Notre mot taffeta est formé, par onomatopée, du bruit que fait cette étoffe. “

(Francisque—Michel.)

The fabric has often changed its character. At one time it was silk and linen, at another silk and wool. In the eighteenth century it was lustrous silk, sometimes striped with gold.

Taffata phrases. Smooth sleek phrases, euphemisms. We also use the words fustian, stuff, silken, shoddy, buckram, velvet, satin, lutestring, etc., etc., to qualify phrases and literary compositions spoken or written.

“Taffata phrases, silken terms precise,

Three—piled hyperboles.”

Shakespeare: Love's Labour's Lost, v. 2.

Taffy

A Welshman. So called from David, a very common Welsh name. David, familiarly Davy, becomes in Welsh Taffid, Taffy.

Tag Rag, and Bobtail

The vulgus ignobilë. A “tag” is a doe in the second year of her age; a “rag,” a herd of deer at rutting time; “bobtail,” a fawn just weaned.

According to Halliwell, a sheep of the first year is called a tag. Tag is sometimes written shag.

“It will swallow us all up, ships and men, shag, rag, and bobtail.”— Rabelais: Pantagruel, iv. 33.

Taghairm

(2 syl.). A means employed by the Scotch in inquiring into futurity. A person wrapped up in the hide of a fresh—slain bullock was placed beside a waterfall, or at the foot of a precipice, and there left to meditate on the question propounded. Whatever his fancy suggested to him in this wild situation passed for the inspiration of his disembodied spirit.

“Last evening—tide

Brian an augury hath tried,

Of that kind which must not be

Unless in dread extremity,

The Taghairm called.”

Sir Walter Scott: Lady of the Lake, iv. 4.

Taherites

(3 syl.). A dynasty of five kings who reigned in Khorassan for fifty—two years (820—872). So called from the founder, Taher, general of the Calif's army.

Tail

Lion's tail. Lions, according to legend, wipe out their footsteps with their tail, that they may not be tracked.

Twisting the lion's tail. (See Twisting.) He has no more tail than a Manx cat. There is a breed of cats in the Isle of Man without tails.

Tails

The men of Kent are born with tails, as a punishment for the murder of Thomas á Becket. (Lambert: Peramb.) (See the Spectator, 173.)

“For Becket's sake, Kent always shall have tails.”

Andrew Marvel.

Tails. It is said that the Ghilane race, which number between 30,000 and 40,000, and dwell “far beyond the Sennaar,” have tails three or four inches long. Colonel du Corret tells us he carefully examined one of this race named Bellal, the slave of an emir in Mecca, whose house he frequented. (World of Wonders, p. 206.)

The Niam—niams of Africa are tailed, so we are told.

Tails

The Chinese men were made to shave their heads and wear a queue or tail by the Manchu Tartars, who, in the seventeenth century, subdued the country, and compelled the men to adopt the Manchu dress. The women were allowed to compress their feet as before, although the custom is not adopted by the Tartars.

“Anglicus a lergo caudam gerit” probably refers to the pigtails once worn.

Tailors

The three tailors of Tooley Street. Canning says that three tailors of Tooley Street, Southwark, addressed a petition of grievances to the House of Commons, beginning— “We, the people of England.” (See Vaughan .)

Nine tailors make a man. The present scope of this expression is that a tailor is so much more feeble than another man that it would take nine of them to make a man of average stature and strength. There is a tradition that an orphan lad, in 1742, applied to a fashionable London tailor for alms. There were nine journeymen in the establishment, each of whom contributed something to set the little orphan up with a fruit barrow. The little merchant in time became rich, and adopted for his motto, “Nine tailors made me a man,” or “Nine tailors make a man.” This certainly is not the origin of the expression, inasmuch as we find a similar one used by Taylor a century before that date, and referred to as of old standing, even then.

“Some foolish knave, I thinke, at first began

The slander that three taylers are one man.”

Taylor: Workes, iii. 73'(1630).

Another suggestion is this: At the death of a man the tolling bell is rung thrice three tolls; at the death of a woman it is rung only three—two tolls. Hence nine tolls indicate the death of a man. Halliwell gives telled = told, and a tolling—bell is a teller. In regard to “make,” it is the French faire, as On le faisait mort, i.e. some one gave out or made it known that he was dead.

“The fourme of the Trinitie was founded in manne. ... Adam our forefather, ... and Eve of Adam the secunde personne, and of them both was the third persone. At the death of a manne three bells schulde be ronge as his knyll, in worscheppe of the Trinitie— for a womanne, who is the secunde personne of the Trinitie, two belles schulde be rungen.”— An old English Homily for Trinity Sunday. (See Strutt: Manners and Customs, vol. iii. p. 176.)

Tailor's Sword

(A), or A Tailor's Dagger. A needle.

“The tailors cross—legged on their boards,

Needle—armed, hand—extended, prepared

To stab the black cloth with their swords [to make up mourning] The instant that death is declared.”

Peter Pindar: Great Cry and Little Wool, Epist. i.

Take a Back Seat

(To). To be set aside; to be deferred for the present. A parliamentary phrase.

“When there seemed to be a tendency ... to make the Irish question, in the cant of the day, `take a back seat,' Unionist indignation knew no bounds.”— The Daily Graphic, February 9th, 1893.

Take a Hair of the Dog that Bit You

After a debauch, take a little wine the next day. Take a cool draught of ale in the morning, after a night's excess. The advice was given literally in ancient times, “If a dog bites you, put a hair of the dog into the wound,” on the homoeopathic principle of “Similia similibus curantur” (like cures like).

Take in Tow

(To). Take under guidance. A man who takes a lad in tow acts as his guide and director. To tow a ship or barge is to guide and draw it along by tow—lines.

“Too proud for bards to take in tow my name.”

Peter Pindar: Future Laureate, Part ii.

Take Mourning

(To). Attending church the Sunday after a funeral. It is the custom, especially in the northern counties, for all the mourners, and sometimes the bearers also, to sit in a specific pew all together the Sunday after a funeral. It matters not what place of worship they usually attend— all unite in the “taking mourning.”

Take Tea with Him

(I), i.e. I floor my adversary by winning every rubber. If he beats me in billiards, he “has me on toast.” (Indian slang.)

Takin' the Beuk

A Scotch phrase for family worship.

Taking On

Said of a woman in hysterics; to fret; to grieve passionately, as, “Come, don't take on so!”

“Lance, who ... took upon himself the whole burden of Dame Debbitch's ... `taking on,' as such fits of passio hysterica are usually termed.”— Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxvi.

Taking a Sight Putting the right thumb to the nose and spreading the fingers out. This is done as much as to say, “Do you see any green in my eye?” “Tell that to the marines;” “Credat Judaeus, non ego.” Captain Marryat tells us that some “of the old coins of Denmark represent Thor with his thumb to his nose, and his four fingers extended in the air;” and Panurge (says Rabelais, Pantagruel, book ii. 19) “suddenly lifted his right hand, put his thumb to his nose, and spread his fingers straight out” to express incredulity.

“The sacristan he says no word that indicates a doubt,

But puts his thumb unto his nose, and spreads his fingers out.” Ingoldsby: Nell Cook.

Taking Time by the Forelock

Seize the present moment; “Carpe diem.” Time personified is represented with a lock of hair on his forehead but none on the rest of his head, to signify that time past cannot be used, but time present may be seized by the forelock.

Talbotype

(3 syl.). A photographic process invented in 1839 by Fox Talbot, who called it “the Calotype Process.” (See Daguerrotype .)

Tale

(1 syl.). A tally; a reckoning. In Exod. v. we have tale of bricks. A measure by number, not by weight.

An old wife's tale. Any maryellous legendary story. To tell tales out of school. To utter abroad affairs not meant for the public ear.

Tale of a Tub

(The). A ridiculous narrative or tale of fiction. The reference is to Dean Swift's tale so called.

Talent

meaning cleverness or “gift” of intelligence, is a word borrowed from Matt. xxv. 14—30.

Tales

(2 syl.). Persons in the court from whom the sheriff or his clerk makes selections to supply the place of jurors who have been empanelled, but are not in attendance. It is the first word of the Latin sentence which provides for this contingency. (Tales de circumstantibus.)

“To serve for jurymen or tales.”

Butler: Hudibras, part iii. 8.

To pray a tales. To pray that the number of jurymen may be completed. It sometimes happens that jurymen are challenged, or that less than twelve are in the court. When this is the case the jury can request that their complement be made up from persons in the court. Those who supplement the jury are called talesmen, and their names are set down in a book called a talesbook.

Talgol

(in Hudibras), famous for killing flies, was Jackson, `butcher of Newgate Street, who got his captain's commission at Naseby.

Talisman

A figure cut or engraved on metal or stone, under the influence of certain planets. In order to free any place of vermin, the figure of the obnoxious animal is made in wax or consecrated metal, in a planetary hour, and this is called the talisman. (Warburton.)

“He swore that you had robbed his house,

And stole his talismanic louse.”

S. Butler; Hudibras. part iii. 1.

Talisman. The Abraxas Stone is a most noted talisman. (See Abraxas.) In Arabia a talisman is still used, consisting of a piece of paper, on which are written the names of the Seven Sleepers and their dog, to protect a house from ghosts and demons. The talisman is supposed to be sympathetic, and to receive an influence from the planets, which it communicates to the wearer.

Talk

To talk over. To discuss, to debate, also to gain over by argument.

Talk Shop

(See Shop. )

Talkee Talkee

(A reduplication of talk with termination ee, borrowed in ridicule from some attempt of dark races to speak English.) A copius effusion of talk with no valuable result.

Talking Bird

A bird that spoke with a human voice, and could call all other birds to sing in concert. (The Sisters who Envied their Younger Sister; Arabian Nights.) (See Green Bird. )

Tall Men

Champions (a Welsh phrase), brave men

“You were good soldiers, and tall fellows.”— Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, ii. 2.

“The undaunted resolution and stubborn ferocity of Gwenwyn. had long made him beloved among the `Tall Men,' or champions of Wales.”— Sir W. Scott: The Betrothed, chap. i.

Talleyrand

anciently written Tailleran, is the sobriquet derived from the words “tailler les rangs,” “cut through the ranks.”

Tally

(A). The price paid for picking a bushel of hops. It varies (1891) from 1 1/2d. to 2 1/2d.

Tally

To correspond. The tally used in the Exchequer was a rod of wood, marked on one face with notches corresponding to the sum for which it was an acknowledgment. Two other sides contained the date, the name of the payer, and so on. The rod was then cleft in such a manner that each half contained one written side and half of every notch. One part was kept in the Exchequer, and the other was circulated. When payment was required the two parts were compared, and if they “tallied,” or made a tally, all was right, if not, there was some fraud, and payment was refused. Tallies were not finally abandoned in the Exchequer till 1834. (French, tailler, to cut.)

In 1834 orders were issued to destroy the tallies. There were two cartloads of them, which were set fire to at six o'clock in the morning, and the conflagration set on fire the Houses of Parliament, with their offices, and part of the Palace of Westminster.

To break one's tally (in Latin, “Confringere tesseram”). When public houses were unknown, a guest entertained for a night at a private house had a tally given him, the corresponding part being kept by the host. It was expected that the guest would return the favour if required to do so, and if he refused he “violated the rites of hospitality,” or confregisse tesseram. The “white stone” spoken of in the Book of the Revelation is a tessera which Christ gives to His disciples.

To live tally is to live unwed as man and wife. A tally—woman is a concubine, and a tally—man is the man who keeps a mistress. These expressions are quite common in Cheshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire. In mines a tin label is attached to each tub of coals, bearing the name of the man who sent it to the bank, that the weighman may credit it to the right person As the tallies of the miner and weighman agree, so the persons who agree to live together tally with each other's taste.

Tally—ho!

is the Norman hunting cry Taillis au! (To the coppice). The tally—ho was used when the stag was viewed in full career making for the coppice. We now cry “Tally—ho!” when the fox breaks cover. The French cry is “Taiaut!”

Tallyman

(A). A travelling draper who calls at private houses to sell wares on the tally system— that is, part payment on account, and other parts when the man calls again

Talmud (The). About 120 years after the destruction of the Temple, the rabbi Judah began to take down in writing the Jewish traditions; his book, called the Mishna, contains six parts (1) Agriculture and seed—sowing,

(2) Festivals, (3) Marriage; (4) Civil affairs, (5) Sacrifices; and (6) what is clean and what unclean. The book caused immense disputation, and two Babylonish rabbis replied to it, and wrote a commentary in sixty parts, called the Babyloman Talmud Gemára, (imperfect). This compilation has been greatly abridged by the omission of Nos. 5 and 6.

Talpot

or Talipot Tree. A gigantic palm. When the sheath of the flower bursts it makes a report like that of a cannon.

“They burst, like Zeilan's giant palm,

Whose buds fly open with a sound

That shakes the pigmy forest round.”

Moore. Fire Worshippers.

Zeilau is Portuguese for Ceylon.

Talus

Sir Artegal's iron man. Spenser, in his Faërie Queene, makes Talus run continually round the island of Crete to chastise offenders with an iron flail. He represents executive power— “swift as a swallow, and as lion strong.” In Greek mythology, Talos was a man of brass, the work of Hephaestos (Vulcan), who went round the island of Crete thrice a day. Whenever he saw a stranger draw near the island he made himself red—hot, and embraced the stranger to death.

Tam—o'—Shanter's Mare

Remember Tam—o'—Shanter's mare. You may pay too dear for your whistle, as Meg lost her tail, pulled off by Nannie of the “Cutty—sark.”

“Think, ye may buy the joys owre dear—

Remember Tam—o'—Shanter's mare”

Burns.

Tamarisk

from a Hebrew word meaning to cleanse, so called from its abstersive qualities. The Romans wreathed the brows of criminals with tamarisk. The Arabs make cakes called manna of the hardened juice extracted from this tree.

Tame Cat

(A). A harmless dangler after a married woman; a cavalier servant; a cicisbeo.

“He soon installed himself as a taine cat in the MacMungo mansion.”— Truth (Queer Story), October, 1885.

Tamerlane

(3 syl.). A corruption of Timour Lengh (Timour the Lame), one of the greatest warrior—kings that ever lived. Under him Persia became a province of Tartary. He modestly called himself Ameer (chief), instead of sultan or shah. (1380—1405.)

Taming of the Shrew

The plot was borrowed from a drama of the same title, published by S. Leacroft, of Charing Cross, under the title of Six Old Plays on which Shakespeare Founded his Comedies. The induction was borrowed from Heuterus' Rerum Burgumdarum (lib. iv.), a translation of which was published in 1607 by

E. Grimstone, and called Admirable and Memorable Histories. Dr. Percy thinks that the ballad of The Frolicksome Duke, or the Tinker's Good Fortune, published in the Pepys Collection, may have suggested the induction. (See Sly. )

Tammany

(St.). Tammany was of the Delaware nation in the seventeenth century, and became a chief, whose rule was wise and pacific. He was chosen by the American democrats as their tutelary saint. His day is May

1st. Cooper calls him Tammenund, but the correct word is Tamanend.

Tammany Ring

A cabal or powerful organisation of unprincipled officials, who enriched themselves by plundering the people. So called from Tammany Hall, the head—quarters of the high officials of the U.S., whose nefarious practices were exposed in 1871

Tammuz

(See Thammuz. )

Tancred

(in Jerusalem Delivered) shows a generous contempt of danger. Son of Eudes and Emma (sister of Robert Guiscard), Boemond or Bohemond was his cousin. Tancred was the greatest of all the Christian warriors except Rinaldo. His one fault was “woman's love,” and that woman Clorinda, a Pagan (bk. i.). He brought 800 horse from Tuscany and Campania to the allied Christian army. He slew Clorinda (not knowing her) in a night combat, and lamented her death with great lamentation (bk. xii.). Being wounded, he was nursed by Erminia, who was in love with him (bk. xix.).

Tandem

At length. A pun applied to two horses driven one before the other. This Latin is of a similar character to plenum sed (full butt).

Tandem D.O.M

Tandem Deo optimo maximo (Now at the end ascribe we praise to God, the best and greatest).

Tangie

The water sprite of the Orkneys; from Danish tang (sea—weed), with which it is covered. The tangie sometimes appears in a human form, and sometimes as a little apple—green horse.

Tanist

(A). One who held lands in Ireland under the Celtic law of tanistry. The chief of a sept. (Irish, tanaiste, heir apparent to a chief.)

“Whoever stood highest in the estimation of the class was nominated `Tanist,' or successor.”—

E. Lawless: Story of Ireland, chap. iii. p. 27.

Tanist Stone

A monolith erected by the Celts at a coronation. We read in the Book of Judges (ix. 6) of Abimelech, that a “pillar was erected in Shechem” when he was made king; and (2 Kings xi. 14) it is said that a pillar was raised when Joash was made king, “as the manner was.” the Lia Fail of Ireland was erected in Icolmkil for the coronation of Fergus Eric. This stone was removed to Scone, and became the coronation chair of Scotland. It was taken to Westminster by Edward I., and is the coronation chair of our sovereigns. (Celtic, Tanist, the heir—apparent.)

Tankard of October

(A). A tankard of the best and strongest ale brewed in October.

“He was in high favour with Sir Geoffrey, not merely on account of his sound orthodoxy and deep learning, but [also for] his excellent skill in playing at bowls, and his facetious conversation over a pipe and tankard of October.”— Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. iv

Tanner

Sixpence. (The Italian danaro, small change; Gipsy, tawno, little one. Similarly a thaler is called a dollar. )

Tanner. A proper name. (See Brewer.)

Tanner of Tamworth

Edward IV. was hunting in Drayton Basset when a tanner met him. The king asked him several questions, and the tanner, taking him for a highway robber, was very chary. At last they swopped horses, the tanner gave the king his gentle mare Brocke, which cost 4s., and the king gave the tanner his hunter, which soon threw him. Upon this the tanner paid dearly for changing back again. Edward now blew

his horn, and when his courtiers came up in obedience to the summons, the tanner, in great alarm, cried out, “I hope I shall be hanged tomorrow” (i.e. I expect), but the king gave him the manor of Plumpton Park, with 300 marks a year. (Percy Reliques, etc.)

Tannhauser

(3 syl.). A legendary hero of Germany, who wins the affections of Lisaura; but Lisaura, hearing that Sir Tannhäuser has set out for Venusberg to kiss the queen of love and beauty, destroys herself. After living some time in the cave—palace, Sir Tannhäuser obtains leave to visit the upper world, and goes to Pope Urban for absolution. “No,” said his holiness, “you can no more hope for mercy than this dry staff can be expected to bud again.” On this the knight returned to Venusberg. In a few days the papal staff actually did bud, and Urban sent for Sir Tannhauser, but the knight was nowhere to be found.

Tansy

A corruption of the Greek word athanasia, immortality, as thansa, tansy. So called because it is “a sort of everlasting flower.” (Hortus Anglicus, vol. ii. p. 366.)

Tantalise

To excite a hope and disappoint it. (See next article.)

Tantalos

(Latin, Tantalus), according to fable, is punished in the infernal regions by intolerable thirst. To make his punishment the more severe, he is plunged up to his chin in a river, but whenever he bends forward to slake his thirst the water flows from him.

“So bends tormented Tantalus to drink,

While from his lips the refluent waters shrink, Again the rising stream his bosom laves.

And thirst consumes him mid circumfluent waves.” Darwin: Loves of the Plants, 11 419.

Tantalus. Emblematical of a covetous man, who the more he has the more he craves. (See Covetous.) Tantalus. A parallel story exists among the Chipouyans, who inhabit the deserts which divide Canada from the United States. At death, they say, the soul is placed in a stone ferry—boat, till judgment has been passed on it. If the judgment is averse, the boat sinks in the stream, leaving the victim chin—deep in water, where he suffers endless thirst, and makes fruitless attempts to escape to the Islands of the Blessed. (Alexander Mackenzie Voyages in the Interior of America.) (1789, 1792, 1793.)

Tanthony

(St. Anthony). In Norwich are the churches called Sin Telder's (St. Ethelred's), Sin Tedmund's (St. Edmund's), Sin Tander's (St. Andrew's), and Sin Tausin's (St. Austin's ). (See Tawdry. )

Tantum Ergo

The most popular of the Eucharistic hymns sung in the Roman Catholic churches at Benediction with the Holy Sacrament. So called from the first two words of the last stanza but one of the hymn Pange Lingua.

Taou

The sect of Reason, founded in China by Laou—Tsze, a contemporary of Confucius. He was taken to heaven on a black buffalo. (B.C. 523.)

Tap the Admiral To suck liquor from a cask by a straw Hotten says it was first done with the rum—cask in which the body of Admiral Lord Nelson was brought to England, and when the cask arrived the admiral was found “high and dry.”

Tap the Till

(To). To pilfer from a till

Tap—up Sunday

The Sunday preceding the fair held on the 2nd October, on St. Catherine's Hill, near Guildford, and so called because any person, with or without a licence, may open a “tap,” or sell beer on the hill for that one day.

Tapis

On the tapis. On the carpet; under consideration, now being ventilated. An English—French phrase, referring to the tapis or cloth with which the table of the council—chamber is covered, and on which are laid the motions before the House.

“My business comes now upon the tapis.”— Farquhar The Beaux Stratagem, iii. 3.

Tapisserie

Faire tapisserie. To play gooseberry—picker, to be mere chaperon for the sake of “propriety.” “Se dit des personnes qui assertent á un bal ou á quelque autre grande réunion sansy prendre part.”

“You accepted out of pure kindness faire tapisserie: Mrs. Arbuthnot, you are too amiable.”— Mrs. Edwardes: A Girton Girl, chap. xxvi.

Tappit—hen

(A). A huge pewter measuring—pot, containing at least three English quarts. Readers of Waverley will remember (in chap. xi.) the Baron Bradwardine's tappit—hen of claret from Bordeaux. To have a

tappit—hen under the belt is to have swallowed three quarts of claret. A hen and chickens means large and small drinking mugs or pewter pots. A tappit was served from the tap. (See Jeroboam. )

“Weel she loed a Hawick gill,

And leugh to see a tappit—hen.”

Tapster

says E. Adams (English Language), properly means a bar—maid; ”—ster” is the Anglo—Saxon feminine suffix —estre, which remains in spin—ster (a female spinner).

This is only a half—truth. After the thirteenth century, the suffix—ster was used for an agent of either sex. We have barrister, gamester, punster, etc., and Wickliffe uses songster for a male singer (See Dr. Morris Historic Outlines, p. 89.)

Tapu

among the South Sea Islanders, means “devoted” in a religious sense. Thus, a temple is tapu, and he who violates a temple is tapu. Not only so, but everyone and everything connected with what is tapu becomes tapu also. Thus, Captain Cook was tapu because some of his sailors took rails from a “temple” of the Hawaiians to supply themselves with fuel, and, being devoted, he was slain Our taboo is the same word.

Tarabolus

or Tantrabolus. We shall live till we die, like Tarabolus [or Tantrabolus ]. Tarabolus, Ali Pacha, was grand vizier in 1693, and was strangled in 1695 by order of Mustapha II.

We shall live till we die, like Tantrabolus, is said to be a Cornish proverb. There is a cognate saying, “Like Tantrabolus, who lived till he died.”

Tantarabobs means the devil. Noisily playful children are called Tantrabols.

Tarakee

the Brahmin, was the model of austere devotion. He lived 1,100 years, and spent each century in some astounding mortification.

1st century. He held up his arms and one foot towards heaven, fixing his eyes on the sun the whole time. 2nd century. He stood on tiptoe the whole time.

8th century. He stood on his head, with his feet towards the sky. 9th century. He rested wholly on the palm of one hand.

11th century. He hung from a tree with his head downwards.

“One century he lived wholly on water, another wholly on air, another steeped to the neck in earth, and for another century he was always enveloped in fire I don't know that the world has been benefited by such devotion.”— Maurice, History of Hindostan

Tarantism

The dancing mania, extremely contagious. It broke out in Germany in 1374, and in France in the Great Revolution, when it was called the Carmagnole. Clergymen, judges, men and women, even the aged, joined the mad dance in the open streets till they fell from exhaustion.

Tarantula

This word is derived from Taranto the city, or from Thara the river in Apulia, in the vicinity of which the venomous hairy spiders abound. (Kircher: De Arte Mag.)

Tarentella

or Tarantella. Tunes and dances in triplets, supposed to cure the dancing mania.

Tariff

A list in alphabetical order of the duties, drawbacks, bounties, etc., charged or allowed on exports and imports. The word is derived from Tarifa, a seaport of Spain about twenty miles from Gibraltar, where the Moors, during the supremacy in Spain, levied contributions according to a certain scale on vessels entering the Mediterranean Sea. (French, tarif; Spanish, tarifa.)

Tarpaulins

or Tars. Sailors, more frequently called Jack Tars. Tarpaulins are tarred cloths used commonly on board ship to keep articles from the sea—spray, etc.

The more correct spelling is tar—palling, from pall, Latin pallium, a cloak or cloth.

Tarpeian Rock

So called from Tarpeia, a vestal virgin, the daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel on the Capitoline Hill. Tarpeia agreed to open the gates to the Sabines if they would give her “what they wore on their arms” (meaning their bracelets). The Sabines, “keeping their promise to the ear,” crushed her to death with their shields, and she was buried in that part of the hill called the Tarpeian Rock. Subsequently, traitors were cast down this rock and so killed.

“Bear him to the rock Tarpeian, and from thence Into destruction cast him.”
Shakespeare: Coriolanus, iii.1

Tarred

All tarred with the same brush. All alike to blame, all sheep of the same flock. The allusion is to the custom of distinguishing the sheep of any given flock by a common mark with a brush dipped in tar.

Tarring and Feathering

The first record of this punishment is in 1189 (1 Rich. I.). A statute was made that any robber voyaging with the crusaders “shall be first shaved, then boiling pitch shall be poured upon his head, and a cushion of feathers shook over it.” The wretch was then to be put on shore at the very first place the ship came to. (Rymer Faedera, i 65.)

Tarrinzeau Field

The bowling—green of Southwark. So called because it belonged to the Barons Hastings, who were Barons Tarrinzeau and Mauchline.

Tartan Plaid

A plaid is a long shawl or scarf— some twelve yards of narrow cloth wrapped round the waist, or over the chest and one shoulder, and reaching to the knees. It may be chequered or not, but the English use of the word in such a compound a Scotch—plaids, meaning chequered cloth, is a blunder for Scotch tartans. The tartan is the chequered pattern, every clan having its own tartan. A tartanplaid is a Scotch scarf of a tartan or checked pattern.

Tartar

the deposit of wine, means “infernal stuff,” being derived from the word Tartaros (q.v.). Paracelsus says, “It is so called because it produces oil, water, tincture, and salt, which burn the patient as the fires of Tartarus burn.”

Tartaros

(Greek), Tartarus (Latin). That part of the infernal regions where the wicked are punished. (Classic mythology.)

The word “Hell” occurs seventeen times in the English version of the New Testament. In seven of these the original Greek is “Gehenna,” in nine “Hades,” and in one instance it is “Tartaros” (2 Peter ii. 4) It is a very great pity that the three words are translated alike, especially as Gehenna and Hades are not synonymous, nor should either be confounded with Tartarus. The Anglo—Saxon verb hél—an means to cover, hence hell = the grave or Hades.

Tartuffe

(2 syl.). The principal character of Moliére's comedy so called. The original was the Abbé de Roquette, a parasite of the Prince de Condé. It is said that the name is from the Italian tartuffoli (truffles), and was suggested to Moliére on seeing the sudden animation which lighted up the faces of certain monks when they heard that a seller of truffles awaited their orders. Bickerstaff's play, The Hypocrite, is an English version of Tartuffe.

Tassel—Gentle

The tiercel is the male of the goshawk. So called because it is a tierce or third less than the female. This is true of all birds of prey. The tiercel—gentle was the class of hawk appropriate to princes. (See Hawk. )

“O for a falconer's voice

To lure this tassel—gentle back again”

Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet, ii 2.

Tasselled Gentleman

A fop, a man dressed in fine clothes. A corruption of Tercel—gentle by a double blunder: (1) Tercel, erroneously supposed to be tassel, and to refer to the tags and tassels worn by men on their dress; and (2) gentle corrupted into gentlemen, according to the Irish exposition of the verse, “The gentle shall inherit the earth.”

Tatianists The disciples of Tatian, who, after the death of Justin Martyr, “formed a new scheme of religion; for he advanced the notion of certain invisible aeons, branded marriage with the name of fornication, and denied the salvation of Adam.” (Irenaeus. Adv. Hereses (ed. Grabe), pp. 105, 106, 262.)

Two Tatians are almost always confounded as one person in Church history, although there was at least a century between them. The older Tatian was a Platonic philosopher, born in Syria, and converted to Christianity by Justin the Martyr. He was the author of a Discourse to the Greeks, became a Gnostic, and founded the sect of the Tatianists. The other Tatian was a native of Mesopotamia, lived in the fourth century, and wrote in very bad Greek a book called Diatessaron, supposed to be based on four Gospels, but what four is quite conjectural.

Tatterdemalion

A ragamuffin.

Tattoo

A beat on the drum at night to recall the soldiers to their barracks. It sounded at nine in summer and eight in winter. (French, tapoter or tapotez tous.)

The devil's tattoo. Drumming with one's finger on the furniture, or with one's toe on the ground— a monotonous sound, which gives the listener the “blue devils.”

Tattoo

(To). To mark the skin, especially the face, with indelible pigments rubbed into small punctures. (Tahitan, tatu, from ta, mark.)

Tau

Marked with a tau, i.e. with a cross. Tertullian says, “Haee est litera Græcorum, nostra autem T, species crucis.” And Cyprian tells us that the sign of the cross on the forehead is the mark of salvation.

“This reward (Ezek. ix. 4) is for those whose foreheads are marked with Tau.”— Bp Andrews Sermons (Luke xvii. 32).

Taurus

[the Bull ] indicates to the Egyptians the time for ploughing the earth, which is done with oxen.

Mount Taurus, in Asia. In Judges xv. 3—19 we have an account of Samson and the jawbone, but probably Chamor (translated an ass) was the name of a hill or series of hills like Taurus, and should not have been translated. Similarly, Lehi (translated a jawbone) is probably a proper name also, and refers to a part of Chamor. If so, the meaning is, When he (Samson) came to Lehi, the summit of Mount Chamor, seeing a moist boulder, he broke it off and rolled it on his foes. Down it bounded, crushing “heaps upon heaps” of the Philistines. Where the boulder was broken off a spring of water jetted out, and with this water Samson quenched his thirst.

What is now called the Mountain of St. Patrick was previously called “Mount Eagle”— in Irish, Cruachan Aichle.

Tawdry

Showy, worthless finery; a corruption of St. Audrey. At the annual fair of St. Audrey, in the isle of Ely, showy lace called St. Audrey's lace was sold, and gave foundation to our word tawdry, which means anything gaudy, in bad taste, and of little value. (See Tanthony. )

“Tawdry. `Astrigmenta, timbriae, sen fasciolae, emptae nundinis S. Ethelredae.' ”— Henshawe.

“Come, you promised me a tawdry lace and a pair of sweet gloves.”— Winter's Tale, iv. 4.

Tawny

(The). Alexandre Bonvicino the historian, called Il Moretto. (1514—1564.)

Taylor

called The Water—Poet, who confesses he never learnt so much as the accidence. He wrote fourscore books, and afterwards opened an alehouse in Long Acre. (1580—1654.)

“Taylor, their better Charon, lends an oar,

Once swan of Thames, though now he sings no more.” Dunciad, iii.

Taylor's Institute

The Fitzwilliam Museum of Oxford. So called from Sir Robert Taylor, who made large bequests towards its erection. (1714—1788.)

Tchin

The military system adopted in the municipal and momestic regimen of Russia.

“Peter the Great established what is here [in Russia] the `tchin,' that is to say, he applied the military system to the general administration of the empire.”— De Custine: Russia, chap. vii.

Tchow Dynasty

The third imperial dynasty of China, which gave thirty—four kings, and lasted 866 years (B.C. 1122—256). It was so called from the seat of government.

Te Deum, etc.

is usually ascribed to St. Ambrose, but is probably of a much later date. It is said that St. Ambrose improvised this hymn while baptising St. Augustine. In allusion to this tradition, it is sometimes called “the Ambrosian Hymn.”

Te Deum (of ecclesiastical architecture) is a “theological series” of carved figures in niches: (1) of angels,

(2) of patriarchs and prophets, (3) of apostles and evangelists, (4) of saints and martyrs, (5) of founders. In the restored west front of Salisbury cathedral there is a “Te Deum,” but the whole 123 original figures have been reduced in number.

Te Igitur

One of the service—books of the Roman Catholic Church, used by bishops and other dignitaries. So called from the first words of the canon, “Te igitur, clementissime Pater.”

Oaths upon the Te Igitur. Oaths sworn on the Te Igitur service—book, regarded as especially solemn.

Teague

(A). An Irishman, about equal to Pat or Paddy. Sometimes we find the word Teague—lander. Teague is an Irish servant in Farquhar's Twin Rivals; in act iii. 2 we find the phrase “a downright Teague,” meaning a regular Irish character— blundering, witty, fond of whisky, and lazy. The name is also introduced in Shadwell's play, The Lancashire Witches, and Teague O'Divelly, the Irish Priest (1688).

“Was't Carwell, brother James, or Teague,

That made thee break the Triple League?”

Rochester: History of Insipids.

Teakettle Broth

consists of hot water, bread, and a small lump of butter, with pepper and salt. The French soup maigre.

Tean

or Teian Poet. Anacreon, who was born at Teos, in Ionia. (B.C. 563—478.)

Teanlay Night

The vigil of All Souls, or last evening of October, when bonfires were lighted and revels held for succouring souls in purgatory.

Tear

(to rhyme with “snare"). To tear Christ's body. To use imprecations. The common oaths of mediaeval times were by different parts of the Lord's body, hence the preachers used to talk of “tearing God's body by imprecations.”

“Her othes been so greet and so dammpnable

That it is grisly for to hiere hëm swere.

Our blisful Lordës body thay to—tere.”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 13,889.

Tear

(to rhyme with “fear"). Tear and larme. (Anglo — Saxon, taeher; Gothic, tagr; Greek, dakru; Latin, lacrim—a; French, lar'm.)

Tears of Eos. The dew—drops of the morning were so called by the Greeks. Eos was the mother of Memnon (q.v.), and wept for him every morning.

St. Lawrence's tears. Falling stars. St. Lawrence was roasted to death on a gridiron, and wept that others had not the same spirit to suffer for truth's sake as he had. (See Lawrence.)

Tear Handkerchief

(The). A handkerchief blessed by the priest and given, in the Tyrol, to a bride, to dry her tears. At death, this handkerchief is laid in her coffin over the face of the deceased.

Teaspoon

(A). 5,000. (See Spoon. )

Teazle

(Lady). A lively, innocent country maiden, married to Sir Peter, who is old enough to be her father. Planted in the hotbed of London gaiety, she formed a liaison with Joseph Surface, but, being saved from disgrace, repented and reformed. (Sheridan: School for Scandal.) (See Townly. )

Teazle

(Sir Peter). A man who had remained a bachelor till he had become old, when he married a girl from the country, who proved extravagant, fond of pleasure, selfish, and vain. Sir Peter was always gibing his wife for her inferior rank, teasing her about her manner of life, and yet secretly liking what she did, and feeling proud of her. (Sheridan: School for Scandal.)

Teck

(A). A detective. Every suspicious man is a “teck” in the eyes of a thief. Of course, the word is a contraction of [de]tec[tive].

Teeth

From the teeth outwards. Merely talk; without real significance.

“Much of the ... talk about General Gordon lately was only from the teeth outwards.”— The Daily News, 1886.

To set one's teeth on edge. (See Edge.) He has cut his eye—teeth. He is “up to snuff;” he has “his weather—eye open.” The eye—teeth are cut late— Months.

First set — 5 to 8, the four central inoisors. 7 ” 10 ” lateral incisors.

12 ” 16 ” anterior molars.

14 ” 20 ” the eye—teeth.

Years.

Second set — 5 to 6, the anterior molars. 7 ” 8 ” incisors.

9 ” 10 ” bicuspids.

11 ” 12 ” eye—teeth.

In spite of his teeth. In opposition to his settled purpose or resolution. Holinshed tells us of a Bristol Jew, who suffered a tooth to be drawn daily for seven days before he would submit to the extortion of King John. (See Jew's Eye.)

“In despite of the teeth of all the rhyme and reason.”—Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, v. 4.

To cast into one's teeth. To utter reproaches.

“All his faults observed,

Set in a note—book, learned, and conned by rote, To cast into my teeth.”

Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, iv. 3.

The skin of his teeth. (See Skin.)

Teeth. The people of Ceylon and Malabar used to worship the teeth of elephants and monkeys. The Siamese once offered to a Portuguese 700,000 ducats to redeem a monkey's tooth.

Wolf's tooth. An amulet worn by children to charm away fear.

Teeth are Drawn

(His). His power of doing mischief is taken from him. The phrase comes from the fable of The Lion in Love, who consented to have his teeth drawn and claws cut, in order that a fair damsel might marry him. When the teeth were drawn and claws cut off, the father of the maid fell on the lion and slew him.

Teeth of the Wind

(In the). With the wind dead against us, with the wind blowing in or against our teeth.

“To strive with all the tempest in my teeth.”

Pope.

Teetotal

Those who sign the abstinence pledge are entered with O. P. (old pledge) after their name. Those who pledge themselves to abstain wholly from alcoholic drinks have a T (total) after their name. Hence, T = total abstainer.

The tale about Dick Turner, a plasterer or fish—hawker at Preston, in Lancashire, who stammered forth, “Ill have nowt to do with the moderation botheration pledge; I'll be reet down t— total, that or nowt,” is not to be relied on.

It is said that Turner's tombstone contains this inscription: “Beneath this stone are deposited the remains of Richard Turner, author of the word Teetotal as applied to abstinence from all intoxicating liquors, who departed this life on the 27th day of October, 1846, aged 56 years.”

Teetotum

(A). A working—man's club in which all intoxicants are prohibited.

“You can generally depend upon getting your money's worth if you go to a teetotum.”— Stephen Remarx, chap. v.

Teian Muse

(The). Anacreon, a native of Teion, in Paphlagonia. (B.C. 563—478.)

Teinds

Tithes.

“Taking down from the window—seat that amusing folio (The Scottish Coke upon Littleton). he opened it, as if instinctively, at the tenth title of Book Second, `of Teinds or Tythes.' ”— Sir

W. Scott: The Antiquary, chap. xxxv.

N.B. Those entitled to tithes were called in Scotland “teind—masters.”

Telamones

Supporters. (Greek, Telamon.) Generally applied to figures of men used for supporters in architure (See Atlantes. )

Telegram Milking a telegram. A telegram is said to be “milked” when the message sent to a specific party is surreptitiously made use of by others.

“They receive their telegrams in cipher to avoid the risk of their being `milked' by rival journals,”— The Times, August 14th, 1869.

Telemachos

The only son of Ulysses and Penelope. After the fall of Troy he went, under the guidance of Mentor, in quest of his father. He is the hero of Fénelon's prose epic called Télémaque.

Tell

(William). The boldest of the Swiss mountaineers. The daughter of Leuthold having been insulted by an emissary of Albrecht Gessler, the enraged father killed the ruffian and fled. William Tell carried the assassin across the lake, and greatly incensed the tyrannical governor. The people rising in rebellion, Gessler put to death Melchtal, the patriarch of the district, and, placing the ducal cap of Austria on a pole, commanded the people to bow down before it in reverence. Tell refused to do so, whereupon Gessler imposed on him the task of shooting an apple from his little boy's head. Tell succeeded in this perilous trial of skill, but, letting fall a concealed arrow, was asked with what object he had secreted it. “To kill thee, O tyrant,” he replied, “if I had failed in the task imposed on me.” Gessler now ordered the bold mountaineer to be put in chains and carried across the lake to Küssnacht Castle “to be devoured alive by reptiles,” but, being rescued by the peasantry, he shot Gessler and liberated his country. (Rossini: Guglielmo Tell, an opera.)

Kissling's monument at Altorf (1892) has four reliefs on the pedestal: (1) Tell shooting the apple; (2) Tell's leap from the boat; (3) Gessler's death; and (4) Tell's death at Schachenbach.

William Tell. The story of William Tell is told of several other persons: (1) Egil, the brother of Wayland Smith. One day King Nidung commanded him to shoot an apple off the head of his son. Egil took two arrows from his quiver, the straightest and sharpest he could find. When asked by the king why he took two arrows, the god—archer replied, as the Swiss peasant to Gessler, “To shoot thee, tyrant, with the second if the first one fails.”

(2) Saxo Grammaticus tells nearly the same story respecting Toki, who killed Harald.

(3) Reginald Scot says, “Puncher shot a pennie on his son's head, and made ready another arrow to have slain the Duke Remgrave, who commanded it.” (1584.)

(4) Similar tales are told of Adam Bell, Clym of the Clough, William of Cloudeslie and Henry IV., Olaf and Eindridi, etc.

Tellers of the Exchequer

A corruption of talliers — i.e. tally—men, whose duty it was to compare the tallies, receive money payable into the Exchequer, give receipts, and pay what was due according to the tallies. Abolished in the reign of William IV. The functionary of a bank who receives and pays bills, orders, and so on, is still called a “teller.”

Temora

One of the principal poems of Ossian, in eight books, so called from the royal residence of the kings of Connaught. Cairbar had usurped the throne, having killed Cormac, a distant relative of Fingal; and Fingal raised an army to dethrone the usurper. The poem begins from this point with an invitation from Cairbar to Oscar, son of Ossian, to a banguet. Oscar accepted the invitation, but during the feast a quarrel was vamped up, in which Cairbar and Oscar fell by each other's spears. When Fingal arrived a battle ensued, in which Fillan, son of Fingal, the Achilles of the Caledonian army, and Cathmor, brother of Cairbar, the bravest of the Irish army, were both slain. Victory crowned the army of Fingal, and Ferad—Artho, the rightful heir, was restored to the throne of Connaught.

Temper

To make trim. The Italians say, temperare la lira, to tune the lyre: temperare una penna, to mend a pen; temperáre l'oriuôlo, to wind up the clock. In Latin, temperare calamum is “to mend a pen.” Metal well tempered is metal made trim or meet for its use, and if not so it is called ill—tempered. When Otway says,

“Woman, nature made thee to temper man,” he means to make him trim, to soften his nature, to mend him.

Templars or Knights Templars. Nine French knights bound themselves, at the beginning of the twelfth century, to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, and received the name of Templars, because their arms were kept in a building given to them for the purpose by the abbot of the convent called the Temple of Jerusalem. They used to call themselves the “Poor Soldiers of the Holy City.” Their habit was a long white mantle, to which subsequently was added a red cross on the left shoulder. Their famous war—cry was

“Bauseant,” from their banner, which was striped black and white, and charged with a red cross; the word Bauseant is old French for a black and white horse.

Seal of the Knights Templars (two knights riding on one horse). The first Master of the Order and his friend were so poor that they had but one horse between them, a circumstance commemorated by the seal of the order. The order afterwards became wealthy and powerful.

Temple

(London) was once the seat of the Knights Templars. (See above.)

Temple

The place under inspection, from the Latin verb tueor, to behold, to look at. It was the space marked out by the Roman augurs as the field of observation. When augurs made their observations they marked out a space within which the sign was to occur. Rather remarkable is it that the Greek theos and Latin deus are nouns from the verbs theaomai and tueor, meaning the “presence” in this space marked out by the augurs.

Temple

(A). A kind of stretcher, used by weavers for keeping Scotch carpeting at its proper breadth during weaving. The weaver's temple is a sort of wooden rule with teeth of a pothook form.

Temple Bar

called “the City Golgotha,” because the heads of traitors, etc., were exposed there. (Removed 1878.)

Temple of Solomon

Timbs, in his Notabilia, p. 192, tells us that the treasure provided by David for this building exceeded 900 millions sterling (!). The building was only about 150 feet long and 105 wide. Taking the whole revenue of the British empire at 100 millions sterling annually, the sum stated by Timbs would exhaust nine years of the whole British revenue. The kingdom of David was not larger than Wales, and by no means populous.

Temples

(Pagan) in many respects resembled Roman Catholic churches. There was first the vestibule, in which were the piscina with lustral water to sprinkle those who entered the edifice; then the nave (or naos), common to all comers; then the chancel (or adytum ) from which the general public was excluded. In some of the temples there was also an apsis, like our apse; and in some others there was a portico, which not unfrequently was entered by steps or “degrees”; and, like churches, the Greek and Roman temples were consecrated by the pontiff.

The most noted temples were that of Vulcan, in Egypt; of Jupiter Olympus, and of Apollo, in Delphos; of Diana, in Ephesus; the Capitol and the Pantheon of Rome; the Jewish temple built by Solomon, and that of Herod the Great.

Tempora Mutantur (See Mutantur. )

Ten

Gothic, tai—hun (two hands); Old German, ze—hen, whence zehn, zen.

Ten Commandments

(The). The following rhyme was written under the two tables of the commandments:—

“PRSVR Y PRFCT MN

VR KP THS PRCPTS TN.

The vowel E

Supplies the key.”

Ten Commandments

(The). Scratching the face with the ten fingers of an angry woman; or a blow with the two fists of an angry man, in which the “ten commandments are summarised into two.”

“Could I come near your beauty with my nails,

I'd set my ten commandments in your face.”

Shakespeare: 2 Henry VI., i. 3.

“ `I daur you to touch him,' spreading abroad her long and muscular fingers, garnished with claws, which a vulture might have envied. `Ill set my ten commandments on the face of the first loop that lays a finger on him.”— Sir W. Scott: Waverley, chap. xxx.

Tench

is from the Latin tinc—a, so called, says Aulus Gellius, because it is tincta (tinted).

Tend in the Eyes

Dutch, “Iemand naar de oogen te zien. ” The English equivalent is, “to wait on his nod” or beck.

“Her gentlewomen, like the Nereides,

So many mermaids, tended her i' the eyes.”

Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra, ii. 2.

Tendon

(See Achilles. )

Tenglio

A river in Lapland on whose banks roses grow.

“I was surprised to see upon the banks of this river roses of as lovely a red as any that are in our own gardens.”— M. de Maupertuis.

Teniers

Malplaquet, in France, famous for the victory of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene over the French under Marshal Villars on September 11, 1709.

“Her courage tried

On Teniers' dreadful field.”

Thomson: Autumn.

The Scottish Teniers. Sir David Wilkie (1785—1841).

Tenner

(A). A ten—pound note. A “fiver” is a five—pound note.

Tennis Ball of Fortune

Pertinax, the Roman emperor, was so called. He was first a seller of charcoal, then a schoolmaster, then a soldier, and lastly an emperor, but in three months he was dethroned and murdered.

Tennyson (Alfred). Bard of Arthurian Romance. His poems on the legends of King Arthur are— (1) The Coming of Arthur; (2) Geraint and Enid; (3) Merlin and Vivien; (4) Lancelot and Elaine; (5) The Holy Grail;

(6) Pelleas and Ettare; (7) Guinevere; (8) The Passing of Arthur. Also The Morte d' Arthur, Sir Galahad, The Lady of Shallott. (1810—1892.)

Tenpenny Nails

Very large nails, 1,000 of which would weigh 10 lbs. Four—penny nails are those which are much smaller, as 1,000 of them would weigh only 4 lbs.; two—penny nails, being half the size, 1,000 of them would weigh only 2 lbs. Then we come to the ounce nails, 1,000 weighing only 8, 12, or 16 ounces, the standard unit being always 1,000 nails. Penny is a corruption of pounder, pouner, puner, penny, as two—penny nails, four—penny nails, ten—penny nails, etc., according to the weight of 1,000 of them.

Tenson

A subdivision of the chanzos or poems of love and gallantry by the Troubadours. When the public jousts were over, the lady of the castle opened her “court of love,” in which the combatants contended with harp and song.

Tent

Father of such as dwell in tents. Jabal. (Genesis iv. 20.)

Tent

(Skidbladnir's) would cover a whole army, and yet fold up into a parcel not too big for the pocket. (Arabian Nights.)

Tenterden

Tenterden steeple was the cause of Goodwin Sands. The reason alleged is not obvious; an apparent non—sequitur. Mr. More, being sent with a commission into Kent to ascertain the cause of the Goodwin Sands, called together the oldest inhabitants to ask their opinion. A very old man said, “I believe Tenterden steeple is the cause.” This reason seemed ridiculous enough, but the fact is, the Bishop of Rochester applied the revenues for keeping clear the Sandwich haven to the building of Tenterden steeple. (See Goodwin Sands. )

Some say the stone collected for strengthening the wall was used for building the church tower.

Tenterhooks

I am on tenterhooks, or on tenterhooks of great expectation. My curiosity is on the full stretch, I am most curious or anxious to hear the issue. Cloth, after being woven, is stretched or “tentered” on hooks passed through the selvages. (Latin, tentus, stretched, hence “tent,” canvas stretched.)

“He was not kept an instant on the tenterhooks of impatience longer than the appointed moment.”— Sir W. Scott: Redgauntlet, chap. xvi.

Tenth Legion

(The), or the Submerged Tenth. The lowest of the proletariat class. A phrase much popularised in the last quarter of the nineteenth century by “General” Booth's book, In Darkest England. (See Submerged.)

Tenth Wave

It is said that every tenth wave is the biggest. (See Wave. )

“At length, tumbling from the Gallic coast, the victorious tenth wave shall ride, like the boar, over all the rest.”— Burke.

Tercel

The male hawk. So called because it is one—third smaller than the female. (French, tiers.)

Terence

The Terence of England, the mender of hearts, is the exquisite compliment which Goldsmith, in his Retaliation, pays to Richard Cumberland, author of The Jew, The West Indian, The Wheel of Fortune, etc. (1732—1811.)

Teresa (St.). The reformer of the Carmelites, canonised by Gregory XV. in 1621. (1515—1582.) (See Sancho Panza. )

Term Time

called, since 1873, LAW SESSIONS.

Michaelmas Sessions begin November 2nd, and end December 21st. Hilary Sessions begin January 11th, and end the Wednesday before Easter. Easter Sessions begin the Tuesday after Easter—week, and end the Friday before Whit Sunday. Trinity Sessions begin the Tuesday after Whit—sun—week, and end August 8th.

Term Time of our Universities

There are three terms at Cambridge in a year, and four at Oxford, but the two middle Oxford terms are two only in name, as they run on without a break. The three Cambridge terms are Lent, Easter, and Michaelmas. The four Oxford terms are Lent, Easter + Trinitv, and Michaelmas.

LENT—

Cambridge, begins January 13th, and ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Oxford, begins January 14th, and ends on the Saturday before Palm Sunday.

EASTER—

Cambridge, begins on the Friday of Easter—week, and ends Friday nearest June 20th. Oxford, begins on the Wednesday of Easter—week, and ends Friday before Whit—Sunday. The continuation, called “Trinity term,” runs on till the second Saturday of July.

MICHAELMAS—

Cambridge, begins October 1st, and ends December 16th. Oxford, begins October 10th, and ends December 17th.

Termagant

The author of Junnus says this was a Saxon idol, and derives the word from tyr magan (very mighty); but perhaps it is the Persian tir—magian (Magian lord or deity). The early Crusaders, not very nice in their distinctions, called all Pagans Saracens, and muddled together Magianism and Mahometanism in wonderful confusion, so that Termagant was called the god of the Saracens, or the co—partner of Mahound. Hence Ariosto makes Ferrau “blaspheme his Mahound and Termagant” (Orlando Furioso, xii. 59); and in the legend of Syr Guy the Soudan or Sultan is made to say—

“So helpë me, Mahòune, of might,

And Termagaunt, my God so bright.”

Termagant was at one time applied to men. Thus Massinger, in The Picture, says, “A hundred thousand Turks assailed him, every one a Termagant [Pagan].” At present the word is applied to a boisterous, brawling woman. Thus Arbuthnot says, “The eldest daughter was a termagant, an imperious profligate wretch.” The change of sex arose from the custom of representing Termagant on the stage in Eastern robes, like those worn in Europe by females.

“ `Twas time to counterfeit, or that hot termagant Scot [Douglas] bad paid me scot and lot too.”— Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV., v. 4.

Outdoing Termagant (Hamlet, iii. 2). In the old play the degree of rant was the measure of villainy. Termagant and Herod, being considered the beau—ideal of all that is bad, were represented as settling everything with club law, and bawling so as to split the ears of the groundlings. Bully Bottom, having ranted to his heart's content, says, “That is Ercles' vein, a tyrant's vein.” (See Herod.)

Terpsichore

(properly Terp—sik'—o—re, but often pronounced Terp'—si—core). The goddess of dancing. Terpsichorean, relating to dancing. Dancers are called “the votaries of Terpsichore.”

Terra Firma

Dry land, in opposition to water; the continents as distinguished from islands. The Venetians so called the mainland of Italy under their sway; as, the Duchy of Venice, Venetian Lombardy, the March of Treviso, the Duchy of Friuli, and Istria. The continental parts of America belonging to Spain were also called by the same term.

Terrestrial Sun

(That). Gold, which in alchemy was the metal corresponding to the sun, as silver did to the moon. (Sir Thomas Browne: Religio Medici, p. 149, 3.)

Terrible

(The). Ivan IV. [or II.] of Russia. (1529, 1533—1584.)

Terrier

is a dog that “takes the earth,” or unearths his prey. Dog Tray is merely an abbreviation of the same word. Terrier is also applied to the hole which foxes, badgers, rabbits, and so on, dig under ground to save

themselves from the hunters. The dog called a terrier creeps into these holes like a ferret to rout out the victim. (Latin, terra, the earth.) Also a land—roll or description of estates.

There are short—and long—haired terriers. (1) Short—haired: the black—and—tan, the schipperke, the bull—terrier, and the fox—terrier. (2) Long—haired: the Bedlington, the Dandy Dinmont, and the Irish, Scotch, and Yorkshire terrier.

Terry Alts

Insurgents of Clare, who appeared after the Union, and committed numerous outrages. These rebels were similar to “the Thrashers” of Connaught, “the Carders,” the followers of “Captain Rock" in 1822, and the Fenians (1869).

Tertium Quid

A third party which shall be nameless. The expression originated with Pythagoras, who, defining bipeds, said—

“Sunt bipes homo, et avis, et tertium quid.

“A man is a biped, so is a bird, and a third thing (which shall be nameless).”

Iamblichus says this third thing was Pythagoras himself. (Vita Pyth., cxxvii.) In chemistry, when two substances chemically unite, the new substance is called a tertium quid, as a neutral salt produced by the mixture of an acid and alkali.

Terza Rima

A poem in triplets, in which the second or middle line rhymes with the first and third lines of the succeeding triplets. In the beginning of the poem lines 1 and 3 rhyme independently, and the poem must end with the first line of a new triplet. Dante's Divine Comedy is in this metre, and Byron has adopted it in The Prophecy of Dante. The scheme is as follows.—

—1a

x2a feel (a new rhyme for 1b and 3b).

—3a

1b heal

x2b cries (a new rhyme for 1c and 4c).

3b steal

1c skies

2c place — (a new rhyme for 1d and 3d)

3c arise

1d race

x2d ( a new rhyme for 1e and 3e)

3d space

etc etc.

Tesserarian Art

The art of gambling. (Latin, tessera, a die.)

Tester

A sixpence. Called testone (teste, a head) because it was stamped on one side with the head of the reigning sovereign. Similarly, the head canopy of a bed is called its tester (Italian, testa; French, teste, tête). Copstick in Dutch means the same thing. Worth 12d. in the reign of Henry VIII., but 6d. in the reign of Elizabeth.

“Hold, there's a tester for thee.”— Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV., iii. 2.

Testers are gone to Oxford, to study at Brazenose. When Henry VIII, debased the silver testers, the alloy broke out in red pimples through the silver, giving the royal likeness in the coin a blotchy appearance; hence the punning proverb.

Tete—a—tete A confidential conversation.

Tete Bottee

[Booted Head ]. The nickname of Philippe des Comines.

“You, Sir Philip des comines, were at a hunting—match with the duke your master; and when he alighted after the chase, he required your services in drawing off his boots. Reading in your looks some natural resentment, he ordered you to sit down in turn, and rendered you the same office. ... but ... no sooner had he plucked one of your boots off than he brutally beat it about your head ... and his privileged fool Le Glorieux gave you the name of Tito Bottée.”— Sir W. Scott: Quentin Durward. chap. xxx.

Tete du Pont

The barbiean or watch—tower placed on the head of a drawbridge.

Tether

He has come to the end of his tether. He has outrun his fortune; he has exhausted all his resources. The reference is to a cable run out to the bitter end (see Bitter End ), or to the lines upon lines in whale fishing. If the whale runs out all the lines it gets away and is lost.

Horace calls the end of life “ultima linca rerum, ” the end of the goal, referring to the white chalk mark at the end of a racecourse.

Tethys

The sea, properly the wife of Oceanos.

“The golden sun above the watery bed

Of hoary Tethys raised his beamy head.”

Hoole's Ariosto, bk. viii.

Tetragrammaton

The four letters, meaning the four which compose the name of Deity. The ancient Jews never pronounced the word Jehovah composed of the four sacred letters JHVH. The word means “I am,” or “I

exist” (Exod. iii. 14); but Rabbi Bechai says the letters include the three times— past, present, and future. Pythagoras called Deity a Tetrad or Tetractys, meaning the “four sacred letters.”

The words in different languages: —

Arabic, ALLA.

Assyrian, ADAD.

Brahmins, JOSS.

Danish, GODH.

Dutch, GODT.

East Indian, ZEUL and ESAI.

Egyptian, ZEUT, AUMN, AMON.

French, DIEU.

German, GOTT.

Greek, ZEUS.

Hebrew, JHVH, ADON.

Irish, DICH.

Italian, IDIO.

Japanese, ZAIN.

Latin, DEUS.

Malayan, EESF.

Persian, SORU, SYRA.

Peruvian, LLAN.

Scandinarian, ODIN.

Spanish, DIOS.

Sredish, OODD, GOTH.

Syriac, ADAD.

Tahitan, ATUA.

Tartarian, TYAN.

Turkish, ADDI.

Vaudois, DIOU.

Wallachian, SEUE.

“Such was the sacred Tetragrammaton.

Things worthy silence must not be revealed.”

Dryden: Britannia Rediviva.

[We have the Egyptian , like the Greek .]

Tetrapla

The Bible, disposed by Origen under four columns, each of which contained a different Greek version. The versions were those of Aquila, Symmachus, Theodosian, and the Septaugint.

Teucer

Brother of Ajax the Greater, who went with the allied Greeks to the siege of Troy. On his return home, his father banished him the kingdom for not avenging on Ulysses the death of his brother. (Homer: Iliad.)

Teutons

Thuath—duiné (north men). Our word Dutch and the German Deutsch are variations of the same word, originally written Theodisk.

Teutonic Knights

An order which the Crusades gave birth to. Originally only Germans of noble birth were admissible to the order. (Abolished by Napoleon in 1800.)

Th

theta. The sign given in the verdict of the Areopagus of condemnation to death .

“Et potis es vitio nigrum praeflgere theta.”— Persius.

T meant absolution, and A = non liquet. In the Roman courts C meant condemnation, A absolution, and N L (non liquet) remanded.

Thais

(2 syl.). An Athenian courtesan who induced Alexander, when excited with wine, to set fire to the palace of the Persian kings at Persepolis.

“The king seized a flambeau with zeal to destroy;

Tha is led the way to light him to his prey,

And, like another Helen, flred another Troy.”

Dryden: Alexander's Feast.

Thalaba

The Destroyer, son of Hodeirah and Zeinab (Zenobia); hero of a poem by Southey, in twelve books.

Thales

The Seven Sages (of Greece) (c. 620 BCE–550 BCE) was primarily the title given by Greek tradition to seven men of note considered to be wise. The major questions are, who considered them to be wise, on what basis, and why the number seven.

Thalestris

Queen of the Amazons, who went with 300 women to meet Alexander the Great, under the hope of raising a race of Alexanders.

“This was no Thalestris from the fields, but a quiet domestic character from the fireside.”— C. Brontë's Shirley, chap. xxviii.

Thali'a

One of the muses, generally regarded as the patroness of comedy. She was supposed by some, also, to preside over husbandry and planting, and is represented leaning on a column holding a mask in her right hand, etc.

Thames

(1 syl.). The Latin Thamesis (the broad Isis, where isis is a mere variation of esk, ouse, uisg, etc., meaning water). The river Churn unites with the Thames at Cricklade, in Wiltshire, where it was at one time indifferently called the Thames, Isis, or Thamesis. Thus, in the Saxon Chronicle we are told the East Anglians

“overran all the land of Mercia till they came to Cricklade, where they forded the Thames.” In Camden's Britannia mention is made of Summerford, in Wiltshire, on the east bank of the “Isis” (cujus vocabulum Temis juxta vadum, qui appellatur Summerford). Canute also forded the Thames in 1016 in Wiltshire. Hence Thames is not a compound of the two rivers Thame and Isis at their junction, but of Thamesis. Tham is a variety of the Latin amnis, seen in such words as North—ampton, South—ampton, Tam—worth, etc. Pope perpetuates the notion that Thames = Thame and Isis in the lines—

“Around his throne the sea—born brothers stood;

Who swell with tributary urns his flood:—

First the famed authors of his ancient name,

The winding Isis and the fruitful Thame!

The Kennet swift, for silver eels renowned;

The Loddon slow, with verdant alders crowned; Cole, whose dark streams his flowery islands lave; And chalky Wey that rolls a milky wave;

The blue transparent Vaudalis appears;

The gulphy Lee his sedgy tresses rears;

And sullen Mole that hides his diving flood;

And silent Darent stained with Danish blood.” Pope: Windsor Forest.

He'll never set the Thames on fire. Hell never make any figure in the world; never plant his footsteps on the sands of time. The popular explanation is that the word Thames is a pun on the word temse, a coru—sieve; and that the parallel French locution He will never set the Seine on fire is a pun on seine, a drag—net; but these solutions are not tenable. There is a Latin saw, “Tiberim accendere nequaquam potest, ” which is probably the fons et origo of other parallel sayings. Then, long before our proverb, we had “To set the Rhine on fire” (Den Rhein anzünden), 1630, and Er hat den Rhein und das Meer angezündet, 1580.

“There are numerous similar phrases: as “He will never set the Liffey on fire;” to “set the Trent on fire;” to “set the Humber on fire;” etc. Of course it is possible to set water on fire, but the scope of the proverb lies the other way, and it may take its place beside such sayings as “If the sky falls we may catch larks.”

Thammuz

The Syrian and Phoenician name of Adonis. His death happened on the banks of the river Adonis, and in summer—time the waters always become reddened with the hunter's blood. (See Ezekiel viii. 14.)

“Thammuz came next behind,

Whose annual wound on Lebanon allured

The Syrian damsels to lament his fate

In amorous ditties all a summer's day,

While smooth Adonis from his native rock

Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood

Of Thammuz yearly wounded.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, bk, iii. 446—452.

Thamyris

A Thracian bard mentioned by Homer (Iliad, ii. 595). He challenged the Muses to a trial of skill, and, being overcome in the contest, was deprived by them of his sight and power of song. He is represented with a broken lyre in his hand.

“Blind Thamyris and blind Maeonides [Eomer],

And Tiresias and Phineus, prophets old.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, iii. 35—36.

“Tiresias” pronounce Ti'—re—sas, “Phineus” pronounce Finuce.

That

Seven “thats” may follow each other, and make sense.

“For be it known that we may safely write

Or say that `that that' that that man wrote was right; Nay, e'en that that that, that `that THAT' has followed, Through six repeats, the grammar's rule has hallowed; And that that that that that `that THAT' began Repeated seven times is right, deny't who can.”

“My lords, with humble submission that that I say is this: That that that `that that' that that gentleman has advanced is not that that he should have proved to your lordships.”— Spectator, No. 86.

That's the Ticket

That's the right thing to do; generally supposed to be a corruption of “That's the etiquette,” or proper mode of procedure, according to the programme; but the expanded phrase “That's the ticket for

soup” seems to allude to the custom of showing a ticket in order to obtain a basin of soup given in charity.

Thatch

A straw hat. A hat being called a tile, and the word being mistaken for a roof—tile, gave rise to several synonyms, such as roof, roofing, thatch, etc.

Thaumaturgus

A miracle—worker; applied to saints and others who are reputed to have performed miracles. (Greek, thauma ergon.)

Prince Alexander of IIohenlohe, whose power was looked upon as miraculous. Apollonius of Tyana, Cappadocia (A.D. 3—98). (See his Life, by Philostratus.) St. Bernard of Clairvaux, called “the Thaumaturgus of the West.” (1091—1153.) St. Francis d'Assisi, founder of the Franciscan order. (1182—1226.)

J. Joseph Gassner, of Bratz, in the Tyrol, who, looking on disease as a possession, exorcised the sick, and his cures were considered miraculous. (1727—1779.)

Gregory, Bishop of Neo—Casare'a, in Cappadocia, called emphatically “the Thaumaturgus,” from the numerous miracles he is reported to have performed. (212—270.)

St. Isidorus. (See his Life, by Damascius.) Jannes and Jambres, the magicians of Pharaoh who withstood Moses. Blaise Pascal. (1623—1662.)

Plotinus, and several other Alexandrine philosophers. (205—270.) (See the Life of Plotinus, by Porphyry.) Proclus. (412—415.) (See his Life, by Marinus.)

Simon Magus, of Samaria, called “the Great Power of God.” (Acts viii. 10.) Several of the Sophists. (See Lives of the Philosophers, by Eunapius.)

Sospitra possessed the omniscient power of seeing all that was done in every part of the globe. (Eunapius: OEdeseus.

Vincent de Paul, founder of the “Sisters of Charity.” (1576—1660.) Peter Schott has published a treatise on natural magic called Thaumaturgus Physicus. (See below.)

Thaumaturgus. Filumea is called Thaumaturga, a saint unknown till 1802, when a grave was discovered with this inscription on tiles: “LUMENA PAXTE CYMFI, which, being rearranged, makes Pax tecum Filumena. Filumena was at once accepted as a saint, and so many wonders were worked by “her” that she has been called La Thaumaturge de Dixneuvième Siècle.

Theagenes and Chariclea

The hero and heroine of an erotic romance in Greek by Heliodorus, Bishop of Trikka (fourth century).

Theban Bard

or Eagle. Pindar, born at Thebes. (B.C. 518—439.)

Theban Legion

The legion raised in the Thebaïs of Egypt, and composed of Christian soldiers, led by St. Maurice. This legion is sometimes called “the Thundering Legion” (q.v.).

Thebes (1 syl.), called The Hundred—Gated, was not Thebes of Boeotia, but of Thebaïs of Egypt, which extended over twenty—three miles of land. Homer says out of each gate the Thebans could send forth 200 war — chariots. (Egyptian, Taape or Taouab, city of the sun.)

“The world's great empress on the Egyptian plain,

That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states, And pours her heroes through a hundred gates, Two hundred horsemen and two hundred cars From each wide portal issuing to the wars.”

Pope: Iliad, 1.

Thecla

(St.), styled in Greek martyrologies the proto—martyress, as St. Stephen is the proto—martyr. All that is known of her is from a book called the Periods, or Acts of Paul and Theela, pronounced apocryphal by Pope Gelasius, and unhappily lost. According to the legend, Thecla was born of a noble family in Iconium, and was converted by the preaching of St. Paul.

Theist, Deist, Atheist, Agnostic

A theist believes there is a God who made and governs all creation; but does not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, nor in a divine revelation.

A deist believes there is a God who created all things, but does not believe in His superintendence and government. He thinks the Creator implanted in all things certain immutable laws, called the Laws of Nature, which act per se, as a watch acts without the supervision of its maker. Like the theist, he does not believe in the doctrine of the Trinity, nor in a divine revelation.

The atheist disbelieves even the existence of a God. He thinks matter is eternal, and what we call “creation” is the result of natural laws.

The agnostic believes only what is knowable. He rejects revelation and the doctrine of the Trinity as “past human understanding.” He is neither theist, deist, nor atheist, as all these are past understanding.

Thelusson Act

The 39th and 40th George III., cap. 98. An Act to prevent testators from leaving their property to accumulate for more than twenty—one years. So called because it was passed in reference to the last will and testament of the late Mr. Thelusson, in which he desired his property to be invested till it had accumulated to some nineteen millions sterling.

Thenot

An old shepherd who relates to Cuddy the fable of The Oak and the Briar, with the view of curing him of his vanity. (Spenser: Shepherd's Calendar.)

Theocritus

The Scottish Theocritus. Allan Ramsay, author of The Gentle Shepherd. (1685—1758.)

Theodomas

A famous trumpeter at the siege of Thebes.

“At every court ther cam loud menstralcye

That never trompëd Joab for to heere,

Ne he Theodomas yit half so cleere

At Thebës, when the citë was in doute.”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 9,592.

Theodora

(in Orlando Furioso), sister of Constantine, the Greek Emperor. Greatly enraged against Rogero, who slew her son, she vowed vengeance. Rogero, captured during sleep, being committed to her hands, she cast him into a foul dungeon, and fed him on the bread of affliction till Prince Leon released him.

Theodorick

One of the heroes of the Nibelung, a legend of the Sagas. This king of the Goths was also selected as the centre of a set of champions by the German minnesängers (minstrels), but he is called by these romancers Diderick of Bern (Verona).

Theon's Tooth

The bite of an illnatured or carping critic. “Dente Theonino circumrodi, ” to be nastily aspersed. (Horace: Epistles, i. 18, 82.) Theon was a carping grammarian of Rome.

Theosophy

(the society was founded in November, 1875). It means divine wisdom, the “wisdom religion,” the “hidden wisdom.” It is borrowed from Ammonius Saccas of the third century A.D. Theosophists tell us there has ever been a body of knowledge, touching the universe, known to certain sages, and communicated by them in doles, as the world was able to bear the secrets. Certainly Esdras supports this hypothesis. Of the two hundred books Jehovah said:—

“The first that thou hast written publish openly, that the worthy [esoterics] and the unworthy [exoterics] may read it; but keep the seventy last that thou mayst deliver them only to such as be wise among the people, for in them is wisdom and the stream of knowledge.”— 2 Esdras xiv. 45—47.

“At my first approach to the `Wisdom Religion.' I rather resented the necessity of having to master the profusion of technical terms which Madame Blavatsky very freely sprinkles about her Key to Theosophy, such as DAVACHAN, BUDDI, ATMA, MANAS, SAMADHI, etc.”— F. J. Gould.

Therapeu'tæ

The Therapeutæ of Philo were a branch of the Essenes. The word Essenes is Greek, and means “doctors” (essaioi), and Therapeutæ is merely a synonym of the same word.

Theresa

Daughter of the Count Palatine of Padolia, beloved by Mazeppa. The count, her father, was very indignant that a mere page should presume to fall in love with his daughter, and had Mazeppa bound to a wild horse and set adrift. As for Theresa, Mazeppa never knew her future history. Theresa was historically not the daughter, but the young wife, of the fiery count. (Byron: Mazeppa.)

Thermidorians

Those who took part in the coup d'état which effected the fall of Robespierre, with the desire of restoring the legitimate monarchy. So called because the Reign of Terror was brought to an end on the ninth Thermidor of the second Republican year (July 27th, 1794). Thermidor or “Hot Month” was from July 19th to August 18th. (Duval: Souvenirs Thermidoriens.)

Thersites

A deformed, scurrilous officer in the Greek army which went to the siege of Troy. He was always railing at the chiefs, and one day Achilles felled him to the earth with his first and killed him. (Homer: Iliad.)

“He squinted, halted, gibbous was behind,

And pinched before, and on his tapering head

Grew patches only of the flimsiest down.

... Him Greece had sent to Troy,

The miscreant, who shamed his country most.” Cowper's Translation, book ii.

A Thersites. A dastardly, malevolent, impudent railer against the powers that be. (See above.

Theseus

(2 syl.). Lord and governor of Athens, called by Chaucer Duke Theseus. He married Hippolita, and as he returned home with his bride, and Emily her sister, was accosted by a crowd of female suppliants, who complained of Creon, King of Thebes. The Duke forthwith set out for Thebes, slew Creon, and took the city by assault. Many captives fell into his hands, amongst whom were the two knights named Palamon and Arcite (q.v.). (Chaucer The Knight's Tale.)

The Christian Theseus. Roland the Paladin.

Thespians

Actors. (See below.)

Thespis, Thespian

Dramatic. Thespis was the father of Greek tragedy.

“The race of learned men,

... oft they snatch the pen,

As if inspired, and in a Thespian rage;

Then write.”

Thomson: Castle of Indolence, c. i. 52.

“Thespis, the first professor of our art,

At country wakes sang ballads from a cart.”

Dryden: Prologue to Sophonisba.

Thessalian Deceitful, fraudulent; hence = fraud or deceit. = double dealing, referring to the double—dealing of the Thessalians with their confederates, a notable instance of which occurred in the Peloponnesian War where, in the very midst of the battle, they turned sides, deserting the Athenians and going over to the Lacedæmonians. The Loerians had a similar bad repute, whence but of all people, the Spartans were most noted for treachery.

Thestylis

Any rustic maiden. In the Idylls of Theocritos, Thestylis is a young female slave.

“And then in baste her bower she leaves,

With Thestylis to bind the sheaves.”

Milton: L'Allegro.

Thick

Through thick and thin (Dryden). Through evil and through good report; through stoggy mud and stones only thinly covered with dust.

“Through perils both of wind and limb

She followed him through thick and thin.”

Butler: Hudibras.

“Thick and thin blocks” are pulley—blocks with two sheaves of different thickness, to accommodate different sizes of ropes.

Thick—skinned

Not sensitive; not irritated by rebukes and slanders. Thin—skinned, on the contrary, means impatient of reproof or censure; their skin is so thin it annoys them to be touched.

Thief

(See Autolycus, Cacus, etc.)

Thieves' Latin

Slang; dog, or dog's Latin; gibberish.

“What did actually reach his ears was disguised so completely by the use of cant words and the thieves' Latin, called slang, that he ... could make no sense of the conversation.”— Sir W. Scott: Redyauntlet, chap. xiii.

“He can vent Greek and Hebrew as fast as I can thieves' Latin.”— Sir W. Scott: Kenilworth, chap. xxix.

Thieves on the Cross

called Gesmas (the impenitent) and Desmas (afterwards “St. Desmas,” the penitent thief) in the ancient mysteries. Hence the following charm to scare away thieves:

“Impartibas meritis pendent tria corpora ramis:

Desmas et Gesmas, media est divina potestas; Alta petit Desmas, infelix, inflma, Gesmas:

Nos et res nostras conservet samma potestas,

Hos versus dicas, ne tu furto tua perdas.”

Thimble

Scotch, Thummle, originally “Thumb—bell,” because it was worn on the thumb, as sailors still wear their thimbles. It is a Dutch invention, introduced into England in 1695 by John Lofting, who opened a thimble manufactory at Islington.

Thimble—rig

A cheat. The cheating game so called is played thus: A pea is put on a table, and the conjurer places three or four thimbles over it in succession, and then sets the thimbles on the table. You are asked to

say under which thimble the pea is, but are sure to guess wrong, as the pea has been concealed under the man's nail.

Thin—skinned

(See above, Thick—Skinned. )

Thin Red Line

(The). The old 93rd Highlanders were so described at the battle of Balaclava by Dr. W. H. Russell, because they did not take the trouble to form into square. “Balaclava” is one of the honour names on their colours, and their regimental magazine is named The Thin Red Line.

Thin as a Whipping—post

As a lath; as a wafer. (See Similes. )

“I assure you that, for many weeks afterwards, I was as thin as a whipping—post.”— Kingston The Three Admirals, chap. vi.

“ `I wish we had something to eat,' said Tom. `I shall grow as thin as a whipping—post ... I suspect.' ”— Kingston: The Three Admirals, chap. xi.

Think about It

(I'll). A courteous refusal. When the sovereign declines to accept a bill, the words employed are Le roi (or la reine) s'avisera.

Thirteen Unlucky

The Turks so dislike the number that the word is almost expunged from their vocabulary. The Italians never use it in making up the numbers of their lotteries. In Paris no house bears the number, and persons, called Quartorziennes (q.v.), are reserved to make a fourteenth at dinner parties.

“Jamais on ne devrait

Se Mettre a table treize,

Mais douze c'est parfait.”

La Mascotte (an opera), i. 5.

Sitting down thirteen at dinner, in old Norse mythology, was deemed unlucky, because at a banquet in the Valhalla, Loki once intruded, making thirteen guests, and Baldur was slain.

In Christian countries the superstition was confirmed by the Last Supper of Christ and His twelve apostles, but the superstition itself is much anterior to Christianity.

Twelve at a dinner table, supposing one sits at the head of the table and one at the bottom, gives a party to these two, provided a couple is divided; but thirteen, like any other odd number, is a unicorn.

Thirteens

Throwing the thirteens about. A thirteen is an Irish shilling, which, prior to 1825, was worth 13 pence, and many years after that date, although reduced to the English standard, went by the name of

“thirteens.” When Members of Parliament were chaired after their election, it was by no means unusual to carry a bag or two of “thirteens,” and scatter the money amongst the crowd.

Thirteenpence—halfpenny

A hangman. So called because thirteenpence—halfpenny was at one time his wages for hanging a man. (See Hangman. )

Thirty

A man at thirty must be either a fool or a physician. (Tiberius.)

Thirty Tyrants

The thirty magistrates appointed by Sparta over Athens, at the termination of the Peloponnesian war. This “reign of terror,” after one year's continuance, was overthrown by Thrasybulos (B.C. 403).

The Thirty Tyrants of the Roman empire. So those military usurpers are called who endeavoured, in the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus (253—268), to make themselves independent princes. The number thirty must be taken with great latitude, as only nineteen are given, and their resemblance to the thirty tyrants of Athens is extremely fanciful. They were—

In the East. Illyricum.

(1) Cyriades. (11) Ingenuus.

(2) Macrianus. (12) Regillianus.

(3) Balista. (13) Aureolus.

(4) Odenathus. Promiscuous.

(5) Zenobia.

(14) Saturninus in

Pontus.

In the West.

(6) Posthumus.

(15)Trebellianus in

Isauria.

(7) Lollianus. (16) Piso in Thessaly.

(8) Victorinus and his mother Victoria. (17) Valens in

Achaia.

(9) Marius.

(18) AEmilianus in

Egypt.

(10) Tetricus. (19) Celsus in Africa.

Thirty Years' War A series of wars between the Catholics and Protestants of Germany in the seventeenth century. It began in Bohemia in 1618, and ended in 1648 with the “peace of Westphalia.”

Thisbe

A Babylonish maiden beloved by Piramus. They lived in contiguous houses, and as their parents would not let them marry, they contrived to converse together through a hole in the garden wall. On one occasion they agreed to meet at Ninus' tomb, and Thisbe, who was first at the spot, hearing a lion roar, ran away in a fright, dropping her garment on the way. The lion seized the garment and tore it. When Piramus arrived and saw the garment, he concluded that a lion had eaten Thisbe, and he stabbed himself. Thisbe returning to the tomb, saw Piramus dead, and killed herself also. This story is travestied in the Midsummer Night's Dream, by Shakespeare.

Thistle

(The). The species called Silybum Marianum, we are told, owes the white markings on its leaves to the milk of the Virgin Mary, some of which fell thereon and left a white mark behind. (See Christian Traditions. )

Thistles are said to be a cure for stitch in the side, especially the species called “Our Lady's Thistle.” According to the Doctrine of Signatures, Nature has labelled every plant, and the prickles of the thistle tell us the plant is efficacious for prickles or stitches in the side. (See Turmeric.)

Thistle Beds

Withoos, a Dutch artist, is famous for his homely pictures where thistle—beds abound.

Thistle of Scotland

The Danes thought it cowardly to attack an enemy by night, but on one occasion deviated from their rule. On they crept, barefooted, noiselessly, and unobserved, when one of the men set his foot on a thistle, which made him cry out. The alarm was given, the Scotch fell upon the night—party, and defeated them with terrible slaughter. Ever since the thistle has been adopted as the insignia of Scotland, with the motto “Nemo me impune lacessit. ” This tradition reminds us of Brennus and the geese (See also Stars And Stripes. )

Thistle. The device of the Scotch monarchs was adopted by Queen Anne, hence the riddle in Pope's pastoral proposed by Daphnis to Strephon:

“Tell me, in what more happy fields

The thistle springs, to which the lily yields”

Pope: Spring

In the reign of Anne the Duke of Marlborough made the “lily” of France yield to the thistle of Queen Anne. The lines are a parody of Virgil's Eclogue, iii. 104—108.

Thomas

(St.). Patron saint of architects. The tradition is that Gondoforus, king of the Indies, gave him a large sum of money to build a palace. St. Thomas spent it on the poor, “thus erecting a superb palace in heaven.”

The symbol of St. Thomas is a builder's square, because he was the patron of masons and architects. Christians of St. Thomas. In the southern parts of Malabar there were some 200,000 persons who called themselves “Christians of St. Thomas” when Gama discovered India. They had been 1,300 years under the jurisdiction of the patriarch of Babylon, who appointed their materene (archbishop). When Gama arrived the head of the Malabar Christians was Jacob, who styled himself “Metropolitan of India and China.” In 1625 a stone was found near Siganfu with a cross on it, and containing a list of the materenes of India and China.

Sir Thomas. The dogmatical prating squire in Crabbe's Borough (letter x.).

Thomas—a—Kempis

Thomas Hammerlein of Kempen, an Augustinian, in the diocese of Cologne. (1380—1471.)

Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas Learmont, of Ercildoune, a Scotchman, in the reign of Alexander III., and contemporary with Wallace. He is also called Thomas of Ercildoune. Sir Walter Scott calls him the “Merlin of Scotland.” He was magician, prophet, and poet, and is to return again to earth at some future time when

Shrove Tuesday and Good Friday change places.

Care must be taken not to confound “Thomas the Rhymer” with Thomas Rymer, the historiographer and compiler of the Foedera.

Thomasing

In some rural districts the custom still prevails of “Thomasing”— that is, of collecting small sums of money or obtaining drink from the employers of labour on the 21st of December— “St. Thomas's Day.” December 21st is still noted in London as that day when every one of the Common Council has to be either elected or re—elected, and the electors are wholly without restriction except as to age and sex. The aldermen and their officers are not elected on St. Thomas's Day.

Thomists

Followers of Thomas Aquinas, who denied the doctrine of the immaculate conception maintained by Duns Scotus.

“Scotists and Thomists now in peace remain.” Pope: Essay on Criticism, 444.

Thomson

(James), author of The Seasons and Castle of Indolence, in 1729 brought out the tragedy of Sophonisba, in which occurs the silly line: “O Sophonisba, Sophonisba, O!” which a wag in the pit parodied into “O Jemmy Thomson, Jemmy Thomson, O!” (1700—1748.)

Thone

(1 syl.) or Thonis. Governor of a province of Egypt. His wife was Polydamnia. It is said by

post—Homeric poets that Paris took Helen to this province, and that Polydamnia gave her a drug named nepenthes to make her forget her sorrows, and fill her with joy.

“Not that nepenthes which the wife of Thone

In Egypt gave to love—lorn Helena

Is of such power to stir up joy as this. Milton: Comus, 695—697.

Thopas

(Sir). Native of Poperyng in Flanders; a capital sportsman, archer, wrestler, and runner. He resolved to marry no one but an “elf queen,” and set out for fairy—land. On his way he met the three—headed giant Olifaunt, who challenged him to single combat. Sir Thopas got permission to go back for his armour, and promised to meet him next day. Here mine host interrupts the narrative as “intolerable nonsense,” and the “rime” is left unfinished.

“An elf queen wo! I have, I wis,

For in this world no woman is

Worthy to be my mate.” Chaucer: Rime of Sir Thopas.

Thor

Son of Odin, and god of war.

His attendant was THIALFI, the swift runner. His belt was MEGINGJARDIR or MEGINJARD, which doubled his strength whenever he put it on. His goats were CRACK, GRIND, CRASH, and CHASE.

His hammer or mace was MJOLNIR.

His palace was BILSKIRNIR (Bright Space), where he received the warriors who had fallen in battle. His realm was THRUDVANG.

His wife was SIF (Love).

He is addressed as Asa Thor or Ring Thor (Winged Thor, i.e. Lightning). (Scandinavian mythology.) The word enters into many names of places, etc., as Thorsby in Cumberland, Thunderhill in Surrey, Thurso in Caithness, Toishorwald (i.e. “Hill of Thorin—the—wood") in Dumfriesshire, Thursday, etc.

Thorn

The Conference of Thorn met October, 1645, at Thorn, in Prussia, to remove the difficulties which separate Christians into sects. It was convoked by Ladislas IV. of Poland, but no good result followed the

conference.

Thorn in the Flesh

(A). Something to mortify; a skeleton in the cupboard. The allusion is to a custom `common amongst the ancient Pharisees, one class of which used to insert thorns in the borders of their gaberdines to prick their legs in walking and make them bleed. (See Pharisees .)

Thorns

Calvin (Admonitio de Reliquiis) gives a long list of places claiming to possess one or more of the thorns which composed the Saviour's crown. To his list may be added Glastonbury Abbey, where was also the spear of Longius or Longinus, and some of the Virgin's milk.

The thorns of Dauphiné will never prick unless they prick the first day. This proverb is applied to natural talent. If talent does not show itself early, it will never do so— the truth of which application is very doubtful indeed.

“Si l'espine non picque quand nai,

A pene que picque jamai.”

Proverb in Dauphine.

Thorps—men

Villagers. This very pretty Anglo—Saxon word is worth restoring. (Thorpe, Anglo—Saxon, a village.)

Thoth

The Hermes of Egyptian mythology. He is represented with the head of an ibis on a human body. He is the inventor of the arts and sciences, music and astronomy, speech and letters. The name means “Logos” or “the Word.”

Though Lost to Sight, to Memory Dear

A writer in Harper's Magazine tells us that the author of this line was Ruthven Jenkyns, and that the poem, which consists of two stanzas each of eight lines, begins each stanza with “Sweetheart, good—bye,” and ends with the line, “Though lost to sight, to memory dear.” The poem was published in the Greenwich Magazine for Marines in 1701 or 1702.

Thousand

Everyone knows that a dozen may be either twelve or thirteen, a score either twenty or twenty—one, a hundred either one hundred or one hundred and twenty, and a thousand either one thousand or one thousand two hundred. The higher numbers are the old Teutonic computations. Hickes tells us that the Norwegians and Icelandic people have two sorts of decad, the lesser and the greater called “Tolfræd.” The lesser thousand = 10 x 100, but the greater thousand = 12 x 100. The word tolf, equal to tolv, is our twelve.

(Institutiones Grammaticæ, p. 43.)

“Five score of men, money, or pins,

Six score of all other things.” Old Saw.

Thousand Years as One Day

(A). (1 Peter iii. 8.) Precisely the same is said of Brahma. “A day of Brahma is as a thousand revolutions of the Yoogs, and his might extendeth also to a thousand more.” (Kreeshna: Bhagavat Geeta.)

Thrall

A slave; bondage; wittily derived from drill, in allusion to the custom of drilling the ear of a slave in token of servitude, a custom common to the Jews. (Deut. xv. 17.) Our Saxon forefathers used to pierce at the

church—door the ears of their bond—slaves. (Anglo—Saxon, thrael, slave or bondman.)

Thread

The thread of destiny— i.e. that on which destiny depends. The Greeks and Romans imagined that a grave maiden called Clotho spun from her distaff the destiny of man, and as she spun one of her sisters worked out the events which were in store, and Atropos cut the thread at the point when death was to occur.

A St. Thomas's thread. The tale is that St. Thomas planted Christianity in China, and then returned to Malabar. Here he saw a huge beam of timber floating on the sea near the coast, and the king endeavouring, by the force of men and elephants, to haul it ashore, but it would not stir. St. Thomas desired leave to build a church with it, and, his request being granted, he dragged it easily ashore with a piece of packthread. (Faria y Sousa.)

Chief of the Triple Thread. Chief Brahmin. Osorius tells us that the Brahmins wore a symbolical Tessera of three threads, reaching from the right shoulder to the left. Faria says that the religion of the Brahmins proceeded from fishermen, who left the charge of the temples to their successors on the condition of their wearing some threads of their nets in remembrance of their vocation; but Osorius maintains that the triple thread symbolises the Trinity.

“Terna fila ab humero dextero in latus sinistrum gerunt, ut designent trinam in natura divina rationem.”

Threadneedle Street

A corruption of Thryddanen or Thryddenal Street, meaning third street from

“Chepesyde” to the great thoroughfare from London Bridge to “Bushop Gate” (consisting of New Fyshe Streate, Gracious Streate, and Bushop Gate Streate). (Anglo—Saxon, thrydda or thrydde, third.)

Another etymology is Thrig—needle (three—needle street), from the three needles which the Needlemaker's Company bore in their arms. It begins from the Mansion House, and therefore the Bank stands in it.

The Old Lady in Threadneedle Street. The directors of the Bank of England were so called by William Cobbett, because, like Mrs. Partington, they tried with their broom to sweep back the Atlantic waves of national progress.

“A silver curl—paper that I myself took off the shining locks of the ever—beautiful old lady of Threadneedle Street [a bank—note].”— Dickens: Dr. Marigold.

Three

Pythagoras calls three the perfect number, expressive of “beginning, middle, and end,” wherefore he makes it a symbol of Deity. The world was supposed to be under the rule of three gods, viz. Jupiter (heaven), Neptune (sea), and Pluto (Hades). Jove is represented with three—forked lightning, Neptune with a trident, and Pluto with a three—headed dog. The Fates are three, the Furies three, the Graces three, the Harpies three, the Sibylline books three; the fountain from which Hylas drew water was presided over by three nymphs, and the Muses were three times three; the pythoness sat on a tripod. Man is three—fold (body, soul, and spirit); the world is three—fold (earth, sea, and air); the enemies of man are three—fold (the world, the flesh, and the devil); the Christian graces are three—fold (Faith, Hope, and Charity); the kingdoms of Nature are threefold

(mineral, vegetable, and animal); the cardinal colours are three in number (red, yellow, and blue), etc. (See Nine , which is three times three.)

Even the Bible consists of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Apocrypha. Our laws have to pass the Commons,—Lords, and Crown.

Three Bishoprics

(The). So the French call the three cities of Lorraine, Metz, and Verdun, each of which was at one time under the lordship of a bishop. They were united to the kingdom of France by Henri II. in 1552. Since the Franco—German war they have been attached to Germany.

Three—Decker

(A). The pulpit, reading—desk, and clerk's desk arranged in a church, towering one above the other. Now an obsolete arrangement.

“In the midst of the church stands ... the offensive structure of pulpit, reading—desk, and clerk's desk: in fact, a regular old three—decker in full sail westward.”— The Christian Remembrancer. July, 1852, p. 92.

Three Chapters

(The). Three books, or parts of three books— one by Theodore of Mopsuestia, one by Theodore of Cyprus, and the third by Ibas, Bishop of Edessa. These books were of a Nestorian bias on the subject of the incarnation and two natures of Christ. The Church took up the controversy warmly, and the dispute continued during the reign of Justinian and the popedom of Vigilius. In 553 the Three Chapters were condemned at the general council of Constantinople.

Three Estates of the Realm

are the nobility, the clergy, and the commonalty. In the collect for Gunpowder Treason we thank God for “preserving (1st) the king, and (2nd) the three estates of the realm;” from which it is quite evident that the sovereign is not one of the three estates, as nine persons out of ten suppose. These three estates are represented in the two Houses of Parliament. (See Fourth Estate .)

Three Holes in the Wall

(The), to which Macaulay alluded in his speech, September 20th, 1831, are three holes or niches in a ruined mound in the borough of Old Sarum, which before the Reform sent two members to Parliament. Lord John Russell (March, 1831) referred to the same anomaly. (See Notes and Queries, March 14th, 1885, p. 213.)

Three Kings' Day

Epiphany or Twelfth Day, designed to commemorate the visit of the “three kings” or Wise Men of the East to the infant Jesus. (See under Kings .)

Three—pair Back

(Living up a). Living in a garret, which is got at by mounting to the third storey by a back staircase.

Three—quarters

or 3/4. Rhyming slang for the neck. This certainly is a most ingenious perversion. “Three—quarters of a peck ” rhymes with neck, so, in writing, an expert simply sets down 3/4. (See Chivy .)

Three R's

(The). (See under R.)

Three Sheets in the Wind

Unsteady from over—drinking, as a ship when its sheets are in the wind. The sail of a ship is fastened at one of the bottom corners by a rope called a “tack;” the other corner is left more or less free as the rope called a “sheet” is disposed; if quite free, the sheet is said to be “in the wind,” and the sail flaps and flutters without restraint. If all the three sails were so loosened, the ship would “reel and stagger like a drunken man.”

“Captain Cuttle looking, candle in hand, at Bunsby more attentively, perceived that he was three sheets in the wind, or, in plain words, drunk.”— Dickens; Dombey and Son.

Three—tailed Bashaw

(See Bashaw .)

Three Tuns

A fish ordinary in Billingsgate, famous as far back as the reign of Queen Anne.

Threshers

Members of the Catholic organisation instituted in 1806. One object was to resist the payment of tithes. Their threats and warnings were signed “Captain Thresher.”

Threshold

Properly the door—sill, but figuratively applied to the beginning of anything; as, the threshold of life (infancy), the threshold of an argument (the commencement), the threshold of the inquiry (the first part of the investigation). (Saxon, thoerscwald, door—wood; German, thürschwelle; Icelandic, throsulldur. From thür comes our door.)

Thrift—box

A money—box, in which thrifts or savings are put. (See Spendthrift .)

Throgmorton Street

(London). So named from Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, head of the ancient Warwickshire family, and chief banker of England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Through—stone

(A). A flat gravestone, a stone coffin or sarcophagus, also a bond stone which extends over the entire thickness of a wall. In architecture, called “Perpent” or “Perpend Stones” or “Throughs.” (French, Pierre parpainge.)

“Od! he is not stirring yet, mair than he were a through—stane.”— Sir W. Scott: The Monastery (Introduction).

Throw

To throw the helve after the hatchet. (See Helve .)

Throw

Throw lots of dirt, and some will stick. Find plenty of fault, and some of it will be believed. In Latin, Fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhærebit.

Throw Up the Sponge

(To). (See Sponge .)

Throw your Eye on

Give a glance at. In Latin, oculos [in aliquem] conjicere.

“Hubert, Hubert, throw thine eye

On you young boy.”

Shakespeare: King John. iii. 3.

Throwing an Old Shoe for Luck

(See under Shoe .)

“Now, for goode luck caste an old shoe after me.”— Haywood (1693—1756).

“Ay, with all my heart, there's an old shoe after you.”— The Parson's Wedding (Dodsley, vol.

ix. p. 499).

Thrums

Weaver's ends and fagends of carpet, used for common rugs. (The word is common to many languages, as Icelandic, thraum; German, trumm; Dutch, drom; Greek, thrumma; all meaning “fag—ends” or “fragments.”)

“Come, sisters, come, cut thread and thrum;

Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!”

Shakespeare: Midsummer Night's Dream. v. 1.

Thread and thrum. Everything, good and bad together.

Thrummy Cap

A sprite described in Northumberland fairy tales as a “queer—looking little auld man,” whose exploits are generally laid in the cellans of old castles.

Thug

[a cheat]. So a religious fraternity in India was called. Their patron goddess was Devi or Kali, wife of Siva. The Thugs lived by plunder, to obtain which they never halted at violence or even murder. In some provinces they were called “stranglers” (phansigars), in the Tamil tongue “noosers” (ari tulukar), in the Canarese “catgut thieves” (tanti kalleru). They banded together in gangs mounted on horseback, assuming the appearance of merchants; some two or more of these gangs concerted to meet as if by accident at a given town. They then ascertained what rich merchants were about to journey, and either joined the party or lay in wait for it. This being arranged, the victim was duly caught with a lasso, plundered, and strangled. (Hindu, thaga, deceive.)

Thuggee

(2 syl.). The system of secret assassination preached by Thugs; the practice of Thugs.

Thuig

or Tuig (Norse). The mounds raised by the old Scandinavians where their courts were held. The word is met with in Iceland, in the Shetlands, and elsewhere in Scotland.

Thule

(2 syl.). Called by Drayton Thuly. Pliny, Solinus, and Mela take it for Iceland. Pliny says, “It is an island in the Northern Ocean discovered by Pytheas, after sailing six days from the Orcades.” Others, like Camden, consider it to be Shetland, still called Thylens—el (isle of Thyle) by seamen, in which opinion they agree with Marinus, and the descriptions of Ptolemy and Tacitus. Bochart says it is a Syrian word, and that the Phoenician merchants who traded to the group called it Gezirat Thule (isles of darkness). Its certain etymology is unknown; it may possibly be the Gothic Tiule, meaning the “most remote land,” and connected with the Greek telos (the end).

“Where the Northern Ocean, in vast whirls,

Boils round the naked melancholy isles

Of farthest Thule.” Thomson: Autumn.

Ultima Thule. The end of the world; the last extremity. Thule was the most northern point known to the ancient Romans.

“Tibi serviat Ultnna Thule.” Virgil: Georgics, i. 30.

“Peshawar cantonment is the Ultima Thule of British India.”— Nineteenth Century. Oct., 1893, p. 533.

Thumb When a gladiator was vanquished it rested with the spectators to decide whether he should be slain or not. If they wished him to live, they shut up their thumbs in their fists (police compresso favor judicabatur); if to be slain, they turned out their thumbs. Adam, in his Roman Antiquities (p. 287), says, “If they wished him to be saved, they pressed down their thumbs; if to be slain, they turned up [held out] their thumbs.” (Pliny,

xxviii. 2; Juvenal, iii. 36; Horace: 1 Epist., xviii. 66.)

It is not correct to say, if they wished the man to live they held their thumbs downwards; if to be slain, they held their thumbs upwards. “Police compressio” means to hold their thumbs close.

“Where, influenced by the rabble's bloody will,

With thumbs bent back, they popularly kill.”

Dryden: Third Satire.

By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes. Another proverb says, “My little finger told me that.” When your ears turn hot and red, it is to indicate that someone is speaking about you. When a sudden fit of “shivering” occurs, it is because someone is treading on the place which is to form your grave. When the eye itches, it indicates the visit of a friend. When the palm itches, it shows that a present will shortly be received. When the bones ache, it prognosticates a coming storm. Plautus says, “Timeo quod rerum gesserim hic ita dorsus totils prurit.” (Miles Gloriosus.) All these and many similar superstitions rest on the notion that “coming events cast their shadows before,” because our “angel,” ever watchful, forewarns us that we may be prepared. Sudden pains and prickings are the warnings of evil on the road; sudden glows and pleasurable sensations are the couriers to tell us of joy close at hand. These superstitions are relics of demonology and witchcraft.

In ancient Rome the angurs took special notice of the palpitation of the heart, the flickering of the eye and the pricking of the thumb. In regard to the last, if the pricking was on the left hand it was considered a very bad sign, indicating mischief at hand.

Do you bite your thumb at me? Do you mean to insult me? The way of expressing defiance and contempt was by snapping the finger or putting the thumb in the mouth. Both these acts are termed a fico, whence our expressions “Not worth a fig,” “I don't care a fig for you.” Decker, describing St. Paul's Walk, speaks of the biting of thumbs to beget quarrels. (See Glove.)

“I see Contempt marching forth, giving mee the fico with his thombe in his mouth.”— Wits Miserie (1596).

“I will bite my thump at them; which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.”— Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, i. 1.

Every honest miller has a thumb of gold. Even an honest miller grows rich with what he prigs. Thus Chaucer says of his miller—

“Wel cowde he stele and tollen thries,

And yet he had a thomb of gold parde [was what is called an `honest miller'].” Canterbury Tales (Prologue, 565)

Rule of thumb. Rough measure Ladies often measure yard lengths by their thumb. Indeed the expression “sixteen nails make a yard” seems to point to the thumb—nail as a standard. Countrymen always measure by their thumb.

Tom Thumb. (See Tom.) Under one's thumb. Under the influence or power of the person named.

Thumb—nail Legacies

Legacies so small that they could be written on one's thumb—nail.

“`Tis said, some men may make their wills

On their thumb—nails, for aught they can bestow.” Peter Pindar: Lord B. and his Motions.

Thumbikins

or Thumbscrew. An instrument of torture largely used by the Inquisition. The torture was compressing the thumb between two bars of iron, made to approach each other by means of a screw. Principal Carstairs was the last person put to this torture in Britain; he suffered for half an hour at Holyrood, by order of the Scotch Privy Council, to wring from him a confession of the secrets of the Argyll and Monmouth parties.

Thunder

The giant who fell into the river and was killed, because Jack cut the ropes that suspended the draw—bridge, and when the giant ventured to cross it the bridge fell in. (Jack the Giant Killer.)

Thunder

(Sons of) [Boanerges]. James and John, the sons of Zebedee (Mark iii. 17). So called because they asked to be allowed to consume with lightning those who rejected the mission of Christ. (Luke ix. 54; Mark

iii. 17.)

Thunder and Lightning

or Tonnant. Stephen II. of Hungary (1100, 1114—1131).

Thunders of the Vatican

The anathemas and denunciations of the Pope, whose palace is the Vatican of Rome.

Properly speaking, the Vatican consists of the Papal palace, the court and garden of Belvedere, the library, and the museum, all on the right bank of the Tiber.

Thunderbolt of Italy

Gaston de Foix, nephew of Louis XII. (1489—1512.)

Thunderbolts

Jupiter was depicted by the ancients as a man seated on a throne, holding a sceptre in his left hand and thunderbolts in his right. Modern science has proved there are no such things as thunderstones, though many tons of bolides (2 syl.), aërolites (3 syl.), meteors, or shooting stars (of stony or metallic substance) fall annually to our earth. These “air—stones,” however, have no connection with thunder and lightning.

“Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts;

Dash him to pieces!”

Shakespeare: Julius Caesar, iv. 3.

Thunderer

(The). A name applied to The Times newspaper, in allusion to an article by Captain Ed. Sterling, beginning thus:—

“We thundered forth the other day an article on the subject of social and political reform.”— The Times.

Thundering Legion

Under cover of a thunderstorm which broke over them they successfully attacked the Marcomanni. (See Legion, Theban Legion .)

This is a mere legend of no historic value. The legion was so called at least a century before the reign of Aurelius; probably because it bore on its shields or ensigns a representation of Jupiter Tonans.

Thunstone

The successor of King Arthur. (Nursery Tale: Tom Thumb.)

Thursday

That is, Thor's day. In French, Jeudi— i.e. Jove's day.

Thursday

(See Black .)

When three Thursdays meet. Never (q.v.). In French, “Cela arrivera la semaine des trois jeudis.” Maundy Thursday. (See Maundy Thursday.)

Tiara A composite emblem. Its primary meaning is purity and chastity— the foundation being of fine linen. The gold band denotes supremacy. The first cap of dignity was adopted by Pope Damasus II. in 1048. The cap was surmounted with a high coronet in 1295 by Boniface VIII The second coronet was added in 1335 by Benedict XII., to indicate the prerogatives of spiritual and temporal power combined in the Papacy. The third coronet is indicative of the Trinity, but it is not known who first adopted it; some say Urban V., others John

XXII., John XXIII., or Benedict XII.

“The symbol of my threefold dignity, in heaven, upon earth, and in purgatory.”— Pope Pius

IX. (1871).

The triple crown most likely was in imitation of that of the Jewish high priest.

“On his head was a white turban, and over this a second striped with dark blue. On his forehead he wore a plate of gold, on which the name of Jehovah was inscribed. And, being at once high priest and prince, this was connected with a triple crown on the temples and back of the head.”— Eldad the Pilgrim, chap. x.

Tib

St. Tib's Eve. Never. A corruption of St. Ubes. There is no such saint in the calendar as St. Ubes, and therefore her eve falls on the “Greek Kalends” (q.v.), neither before Christmas Day nor after it.

Tib and Tom

Tib is the ace of trumps, and Tom is the knave of trumps in the game of Gleek.

“That gamester needs must overcome, That can play both Tib and Tom.” Randolph: Hermuphrodite, p. 640.

Tiber

called The Yellow Tiber, because it is discoloured with yellow mud.

“Verticlbus rapidis, et multa flavus arena.” Virgil: AEneid, vii. 31.

Tibullus

The French Tibullus. Evariste Désiré Desforges, Chevalier de Parny (1753—1814).

Tiburce

(3 syl.) or Tiburce (2 syl.). Brother of Valirian, converted by the teaching of St. Cecilia, his

sister—in—law, and baptised by Pope Urban. Being brought before Almachius the prefect, and commanded to worship the image of Jupiter, both the brothers refused, and were decapitated. (Chaucer: Secounde Nonnes Tale.)

“Al this thing sche unto Tiburce told (3 syl.),

And after this Tiburce, in good entente (2 syl.), With Valirian to Pope Urban wente.”

Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 12,276.

Tiburtius's Day

(St.). April 14th. The cuckoo sings from St. Tiburtius's Day (April 14th) to St. John's Day (June 24th).

This most certainly is not correct, as I have heard the cuckoo even in August: but without doubt July is the month of its migration generally.

The proverb says:

“July, prepares to fly: August, go he must.”

It is said that he migrates to Egypt.

Tick To go on tick — on ticket. In the seventeenth century, ticket was the ordinary term for the written acknowledgment of a debt, and one living on credit was said to be living on tick. Betting was then, and still is to a great extent, a matter of tick— i.e. entry of particulars in a betting—book. We have an Act of Parliament prohibiting the use of betting tickets: “Be it enacted, that if any person shall play at any of the said games ...

(otherwise than with and for ready money), or shall bet on the sides of such as shall play ... a sum of money exceeding 100 at any one time ... upon ticket or credit ... he shall,” etc. (16 Car. II. cap. 16.)

“If a servant usually buy for the master upon tick, and the servant buy some things without the master's order ... the master is liable.”— Chief Justice Holt (Blackstone, chap. xv. p. 468).

Ticket

That's the ticket or That's the ticket for soup. That's the right thing. The ticket to be shown in order to obtain something. Some think that the word “ticket” in this phrase is a corruption of etiquette.

What's the ticket? What is the arrangement?

“ `Well,' said Bob Cross, `what's the ticket, youngster? Are you to go aboard with us?”— Captain Murryat.

Ticket of Leave

(A). A warrant given to convicts to have their liberty on condition of good behaviour.

Tickle the Public

(To). When an actor introduces some gag to make the audience laugh, “ilchatouille le public.” One of the most noted chatouilleurs was Odry, a French actor.

Tide—rode

in seaman phrase, means that the vessel at anchor is swung about by the force of the tide. Metaphorically, a person is tide—rode when circumstances over which he has no control are against him, especially a sudden glut in the market. Tide—rode, ridden at anchor with the head to the tide; wind—rode, with the head to the wind.

Tide—waiters

Those who vote against their opinions. S. G. O. (the Rev. Lord Osborne), of the Times, calls the clergy in Convocation whose votes do not agree with their convictions “ecclesiastical tide—waiters.”

Tidy

means in tide, in season, in time. We retain the word in even—tide, spring—tide, and so on. Tusser has the phrase, “If the weather be fair and tidy,” meaning seasonable. Things done punctually and in their proper season are sure to be done orderly, and what is orderly done is neat and well arranged. Hence we get the notion of methodical, neat, well—arranged, associated with tidy. (Danish, tidig, seasonable, favourable.)

How are you getting on? Oh! pretty tidily — favourably (See above.) A tidy fortune. A nice little bit of money. Tidy means neat, and neat means comfortable.

Tied

Tied to your mother's apronstrings. Not yet out of nursery government; not free to act on your own responsibility. The allusion is to tying naughty young children to the mother's or nurse's apron.

Tied House

(A). A retail shop, stocked by a wholesale dealer, and managed by some other person not the owner of the stock. The wholesale dealer appoints the manager.

“There are tied houses in the drapery, grocery, dairy, boot and shoe, hardward, liquor, and book trades. Whiteley's, if rumour is to be trusted, is a tied house; and the majority of Italian restaurants in London begin by being tied to the Gattis.”— Liberty Review, 14th April, 1894,

p. 310, col. 1.

Tied—up

Married; tied up in the marriage—knot.

“When first the marriage—knot was tied

Between my wife and me.”

Walkingume's Arithmetic.

Tiffin

(Indian). Luncheon; refreshment. (Tiff, a draught of liquor.)

Tiger

(A) properly means “a gentleman's attendant, and page a lady's attendant; but the distinction is quite obsolete, and any servant in livery who rides out with his master or mistress is so called; also a boy in buttons attendant on a lady, like a page; a parasite.

“ `yes,' she cried gaily over the banisters, “my flacre and my tiger are waiting.”— A Fellow of Trinity, chap. xv.

Tiger—kill

(A). An animal tied up by hunters in a jungle to be killed by a tiger. This is a lure to attract the tiger preparatory to a tiger—hunt.

Tigers

The car of Bacchus was drawn by tigers, and tigers are generally drawn by artists crouching at the feet of Bacchus. Solomon (Prov. xx. 1) says “Strong drink is raging” (like a tiger). In British India a tiger is called “Brother Stripes.”

Tigernach

Oldest of the Irish annalists. His annals were published in Dr. O'Connor's Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores Veteres, at the expense of the Duke of Buckingham (1814—1826).

Tight

Intoxicated.

Tigris

[the Arrow]. So called from the rapidity of its current. Hiddekel is “The Dekel,” or Diglath, a Semitic corruption of Tigra, Medo—Persic for arrow (Gen. ii. 14.)

“Flumini, a celeritate qua defluit Tigri nomen est; quia Persica lingua, tigrim sagittam appellant.”— Quintus Curtius.

Tike

A Yorkshire tike. A clownish rustic. In Scotland a dog is called a tyke (Icelandic, tik); hence, a snarling, obstinate fellow.

Tilbert

(Sir). The cat in the tale of Reynard the Fox. (See Tybalt .)

Tile

A hat. (Anglo—Saxon, tigel; Latin, tego, to cover.)

Tile Loose

He has a tile loose. He is not quite compos mentis; he is not all there.

Tile a Lodge

in Freemasonry, means to close the door, to prevent anyone uninitiated from entering. Of course, to tile a house means to finish building it, and to tile a lodge is to complete it.

Timber—toe

(A). A wooden leg, one with a wooden leg.

Time

Time and tide wait for no man.

“For the next inn he spurs a main.

In haste alights, and scuds away—

But time and tide for no man stay.”

Somerville: The Sweet—scented Miser.

Take [or Seize ] Time by the forelock (Thales of Miletus.). Time is represented as an old man, quite bald, with the exception of a single lock of hair on the forehead. Shakespeare calls him “that bald sexton, Time.” (King John, iii. 1.)

Time is, Time was, Time's past. Friar Bacon made a brazen head, and it was said if he heard his head speak he would succeed in his work in hand, if not he would fail. A man named Miles was set to watch the head, and while Bacon was sleeping the head uttered these words: “TIME IS;” and half an hour afterwards it said “TIME

WAS;” after the expiration of another half—hour it said “TIME'S PAST,” fell down, and was broken to pieces.

“Like Friar Bacon's brazen head, I've spoken;

Time is, time was, time's past.”

Byron: Don Juan. i. 217—8.

Time—bargain

(A), in Stock, is a speculation, not an investment. A time—bargain is made to buy or sell again as soon as possible and receive the difference realised. An investment is made for the sake of the interest given.

Time of Grace

The lawful season for venery, which began at Midsummer and lasted to Holyrood Day. The fox and wolf might be hunted from the Nativity to the Annunciation; the roebuck from Easter to Michaelmas:

the roe from Michaelmas to Candlemas; the hare from Michaelmas to Midsummer; and the boar from the Nativity to the Purification. (See Sporting Seasons .)

Time—honoured Lancaster

Old John of Gaunt. His father was Edward III., his son Henry IV., his nephew Richard II. of England; his second wife was Constance, daughter of Peter the Cruel of Castile and Leon, his only daughter married John of Castile and Leon; his sister Johanna married Alphonso, King of Castile. Shakespeare calls him “time—honoured” and “old;" honoured he certainly was, but was only fifty—nine at his death. Hesiod is called Old, meaning “long ago.”

Times

(The). A newspaper, founded by John Walter. In 1785 he established The Daily Universal Register, but in 1788 changed the name into The Times, or Daily Universal Register. (See Thunderer .)

Timoleon

The Corinthian who so hated tyranny that he murdered his own brother Timophanes when he attempted to make himself absolute in Corint.

“The fair Corinthian boast

Timoleon, happy temper, mild and firm,

Who wept the brother while the tyrant bied

Thomson; Winter

Timon of Athens

The misanthrope, Shakespeare's play so called. Lord Macaulay uses the expression to “out—Timon Timon”— i.e. to be more misanthropical than even Timon.

Tin

Money. A depreciating synonym for silver, called by alchemists “Jupiter.”

Tine—man

(The). The Earl of Douglas, who died 1424. (See Sir W. Scott: Tales of a Grandfather, chap.

xviii.)

Ting

The general assembly of the Northmen, which all capable of bearing arms were bound to attend on occasions requiring deliberation and action. The words Volksthing and Storthing are still in use.

“A shout filled all the Ting, a thousand swords

Clashed loud approval.”

Frithiof—Saga (The Parting).

Tinker

The man who tinks, or beats on a kettle to announce his trade. John Bunyan (1628—1688) was called The inspired Tinker.)

Tintagel

or Tintagil. A strong castle on the coast of Cornwall, the reputed birth—place of King Arthur.

“When Uthur in Tintagil passed away.”

Tennyson: The Coming of Arthur

Tintern Abbey

Wordsworth has a poem called Lines Composed a few Miles above Tintern Abbey, but these lines have nothing whatever to do with the famous ruin, not even once alluding to it.

Tintoretto

the historical painter. So called because his father was a dyer (tintore). His real name was Jacopo Robusti. He was nicknamed Il Furioso, from the rapidity of his productions. (1512—1594.)

Tip

Private information, secret warning. In horse—racing, it means such secret information as may guide the person tipped to make bets advantageously. A “straight tip” comes straight or direct from the owner or trainer

of the horse in question. A man will sometimes give the police the “tip,” or hint where a gang of confederates lie concealed, or where law—breakers may be found. Thus, houses of ill—fame and keepers of clandestine gaming houses in league with the police, receive the “tip" when spies are on them or legal danger is abroad.

“If he told the police, he felt assured that the `tip' would be given to the parties concerned, and his efforts would be frustrated.”— Mr, Stead's defence, November 2nd, 1885.

He gave me a tip — a present of money, a bride. (See Dibs.)

Tip of my Tongue

To have a thing on the tip of my tongue means to have it so pat that it comes without thought; also, to have a thing on the verge of one's memory, but not quite perfectly remembered. (In Latin, in labris natat.)

Tip One the Wink

(To). To make a signal to another by a wink. Here tip means “to give,” as tip in the previous example means “a gift.”

Tiphany

according to the calendar of saints, was the mother of the Three Kings of Cologne. (See Cologne .)

Tiphys

A pilot. He was the pilot of the Argonauts.

“Many a Tiphys ocean's depths explore,

To open wondrous ways untried before.”

Hoole's Ariosto, bk. viii.

Tipperary Rifle

(A). A shillelagh or stick made of blackthorn. At Ballybrophy station an itinerant vendor of walking—sticks pushed up close to their Royal Highnesses [the Prince and Princess of Wales] ... The Prince asked him what he wanted, and the man replied, “Nothing, your honour, but to ask your honour to accept a present of a Tipperary rifle,” and so saying he handed his Royal Highness a stout hawthorn. The Prince sent the man a sovereign, for which a gentleman offered him 25s. “No,” said the man, “I would not part with it for twenty—five gold guineas.” In a few minutes the man had sold all his sticks for princely prices. (April 25th, 1885.)

Tippling Act

(The), 24 Geo. II., chap. 40, which restricted the sale of spirituous liquors retailed on credit for less than 20s. at one time. In part repealed. A “tippler” originally meant a tavern—keeper or tapster, and the tavern was called a “tippling—house.” At Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1577, five persons were appointed “tipplers of Lincoln beer,” and no “other tippler [might] draw or sell beer” ... under penalties.

Tippling House

A contemptuous name for a tavern or public—house.

Tipstaff

A constable so called because he carried a staff tipped with a bull's horn. In the documents of Edward III. allusion is often made to his staff. (See Rymer's F&oclig;dera.)

Tiptoe of Expectation

(On the). All agog with curiosity. I am like one standing on tiptoe to see over the shoulders of a crowd.

Tirer une Dent

To draw a man's tooth, or extort money from him. The allusion is to the tale told by Holinshed of King John, who extorted 10,000 marks from a Jew living at Bristol by extracting a tooth daily till he consented to provide the money. For seven successive days a tooth was taken, and then the Jew gave in.

Tiresias

Blind as Tiresias. Tiresias the Theban by accident saw Athena bathing, and the goddess struck him with blindness by splashing water in his face. She afterwards repented doing so, and, as she could not restore

his sight, conferred on him the power of soothsaying, and gave him a staff with which he could walk as safely as if he had his sight. He found death at last by drinking from the well of Tilphosa.

“Juno the truth of what was said denied,

Tiresias, therefore, must the cause decide.”

Addison: Transformation of Tiresias.

Tiring Irons

Iron rings to be put on or taken off a ring as a puzzle. Light—foot calls them “tiring irons never to be untied.”

Tirled

He tirlëd at the pin. He twiddled or rattled with the latch before opening the door. Guillaume di Lorris, in his Romance of the Rose (thirteenth century), says, “When persons visit a friend they ought not to bounce all at once into the room, but should announce their approach by a slight cough, or few words spoken in the hall, or a slight shuffling of their feet, so as not to take their friends unawares.” The pin is the door—latch, and before a visitor entered a room it was, in Scotland, thought good manners to fumble at the latch to give notice of your intention to enter. (Tirl is the Anglo—Saxon Thwer—an, to turn, Dutch dwarlen, our twirl, etc., or Danish trille, German triller, Welsh treillio; our trill, to rattle or roll.)

“Right quick he mounted up the stair,

And tirled at the pin.”

Charlie is my Darling.

Tironian Sign

(The). The symbol (&) for “and” or the Latin et. Said to have been invented by Tullius Tiro, Cicero's freed—man. (See Marks In Grammar .)

Tiryns

An ancient city of Argolis in Greece, famous for its Cyclopean architecture. The “Gallery of Tiryns” is the oldest and noblest structure of the heroic ages. It is mentioned by Homer, and still exists.

Tirynthian Swain

Hercules is so called by Spenser, but he is more frequently styled the Tirynthian Hero, because he generally resided at Tiryns, a town of Argolis.

Tit

A horse.

“They scorned the coach, they scorned the rails,

Two spanking tits with streaming tails.”

The End of All Things.

“What spurres need now for an untamed titt.”

Barnefield: Affectionate Shepherd (1594).

Tit for Tat

J. Bellenden Ker says this is the Dutch “Dit vor dat “ (this for that), “Quid pro quo. ” Heywood uses the phrase “tat for tat,” perhaps the French phrase, “tant pour tant. “

Titan

The sun, so called by Ovid and Virgil.

“And fleckëd Darkness like a drunkard reels

From forth Day's path and Titan's flery wheels.” Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, ii. 3.

The Titans. The children of Heaven and Earth, who, instigated by their mother, deposed their father, and liberated from Tartaros their brothers the Hundred—handed giants, and the Cyclopes. (Classic mythology.

Titan's War with Jove

(The). The Titans set their brother Cronos on the throne of heaven: and Zeus [Zuce ] tried to dethrone him. The contest lasted ten years, when Zeus became the conqueror and hurled the Titans into hell.

This must not be confounded with the war of the giants, which was a revolt against Zeus, and was soon put down by the help of the other gods and the aid of Hercules. (See Giants.)

Titania

Wife of O'beron, king of the fairies. According to the belief in Shakespeare's age, fairies were the same as the classic nymphs, the attendants of Diana. The queen of the fairies was therefore Diana herself, called Titania by Ovid (Metamorphoses, iii. 173). (Keightley: Fairy Mythology.)

Tithonus A beautiful Trojan beloved by Aurora. He begged the goddess to grant him immortality, which request the goddess granted; but as he had forgotten to ask for youth and vigour he soon grew old, infirm, and ugly. When life became insupportable he prayed Aurora to remove him from the world; this, however, she could not do, but she changed him into a grasshopper. Synonym for “an old man.”

“An idle scene Tithonus acted

When to a grasshopper contracted.”

Prior: The Turtle and Sparrows.

“Thinner than Tithonus was

Before he faded into air.”

Tales of Miletus, ii.

Titi

(Prince). Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of George II. Seward, a contemporary, tells us that Prince Frederick was a great reader of French memoirs, and that he himself wrote memoirs of his contemporaries under the pseudonym of “Prince Titi.”

There was a political fairy tale by St. Hyacinathe (1684—1740) called the History of Prince Titi. Ralph also wrote a History of Prince Titi. These histories are manifestly covert reflections on George II. and his belongings.

Titian

[Tiziano Vecellio ]. An Italian landscape painter, celebrated for the fine effects of his clouds. (1477—1576.)

“Not Titian's pencil e'er could so array,

So fleece with clouds the pure ethereal space.” Thomson: Castle of Indolence, can to i.

The French Titian. Jacques Blanchard, the painter (1600—1638). The Titian of Portugal. Alonzo Sanchez Coello (1515—1590).

Titivate

(3 syl.). To tidy up; to dress up; to set in order. “Titi” is a variant of tidy; and “vate” is an affix, from the Latin vado (to go), meaning “to go and do something.”

Tittle Tattle

Tattle is prate. (Dutch tateren, Italian, tatta—mélla.) Tittle is little, same as tit in titmouse, little tit, tit—bit.

“Pish' Why do I spend my time in tittle—tattle?”

Otway: Cheats of Scapin, i. 1.

Titus

The penitent thief, called Desmas in the ancient mysteries. (See Dumachus. )

Titus the Roman Emperor

was called “the delight of men.” (40, 79—81.)

“Titus indeed gave one short evening gleam,

More cordral felt, as in the midst it spread

Of storm and horror; the delight of men.”

Thomson: Liberty, iii.

The Arch of Titus commemorates the capture of Jerusalem, A.D. 70.

Tityos A giant whose body covered nine acres of land. He tried to defile Latona, but Apollo cast him into Tartarus, where a vulture fed on his liver, which grew again as fast as it was devoured. (Greek fable.) (See Giants. )

Prometheus (3 syl.) was chained to Mount Caucasus, and had his liver gnawed by a vulture or eagle. (See also St. George, who delivered Sabra, chained to a rock.)

Tityre Tus

Dissolute young scape, graces, whose delight was to worry the watchmen, upset sedans, wrench knockers off doors, and be rude to pretty women, at the close of the seventeenth century. The name comes from the first line of Virgil's first Eclogue, “Titure tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi” (Tityre Tus loved to lurk in the dark night looking for mischief). “Tus” = tuze.

Tityrus

Any shepherd. So called in allusion to the name familiar from its use in Greek idyls and Virgil's first Eclogue. In the Shepherd's Calendar Spenser calls Chaucer by this name.

“Heroes and their feats

Fatigue me, never weary of the pipe

Of Tityrus, assembling as he sang

The rustic throng beneath his favourite beech.” Cowper.

Tizona

One of the favourite swords of the Cid, taken by him from King Bucar. His other favourite sword was Colada. Tizona was buried with him. (See Sword. )

Tizzy

(A). A sixpence. A variant of tester. In the reign of Henry VIII. a “testone” was a shilling, but only sixpence in the reign of Elizabeth. (French, teste, tête, the [monarch's] head.)

To

(l) (to rhyme with, do). To be compared to; comparable to. Thus, Sir Thomas Browne (Religio Medici), says: “There is no torture to the rack of a disease” (p. 69, 20); and again, “No reproach to the scandal of a story.” And Shakespeare says:—

“There is no woe to his correction,

Nor to his service no such joy on earth.'

Two Gentlemen of Verona, ii. 4.

To

Altogether; wholly.

“If the podech be burned to we says the byshope hath put his fote in the potte.”— Tyndate.

To—do

Here's a pretty to—do. Disturbance. The French affaire — i.e. à faire (to do).

To Rights

In apple—pie order. To put things to rights. To put every article in its proper place. In the United States of America the phrase is used to signify directly. (Latin, 'rectus, right.)

“I said I had never heard it, so she began to rights and told me the whole thing.”— Story of the Sleigh—ride.

To Wit

For example. (Anglo—Saxon, wit—an, to know.)

To

(2) (to rhyme with so, foe, etc.).

To En

(The). The One— that is, the Unity. This should be To hen properly.

To On (The). The reality.

To Pan

(The). The totality.

“So then he falls back upon force as the “ultimate of ultimates,” as the TO EN, the TO ON, and the TO PAN of creation.”— Fra. Ollae.

Toads

The device of Clovis was three toads (or botes, as they were called in Old French), but after his baptism the Arians greatly hated him, and assembled a large army under King Candat to put down the Christian king. While on his way to meet the heretics, he saw in the heavens his device miraculously changed into three lilies or on a banner azure. He had such a banner instantly made, and called it his liflambe. Even before his army came in sight of King Candat, the host of the heretic, lay dead, slain, like the army of Sennacherib, by a blast from the god of battles. (Raoul de Prèsles: Grans Croniques de France.)

“It is wytnessyd of Maister Robert Gagwyne that before thyse dayes all French kynges used to here in their armes iii Todys, but after this Clodoveus had recognised Cristes relygyon iii Floure de lys were sent to hym by diuyne power, sette in a shylde of azure, the whiche syns that been borne of all French kynges.”— Fabian's Chronicle.

The toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in its head. Fenton says: “There is to be found in the heads of old and great toads a stone they call borax or stelon, which being used as rings, give forewarning against venom (1569). These stones always bear a figure resembling a toad on their surface. Lupton says: “A toad—stone, called crepaudia, touching any part envenomed by the bite of a rat, wasp, spider, or other venomous beast, ceases the pain and swelling thereof.” In the Londes—borough Collection is a silver ring of the fifteenth century, in which one of these toad—stones is set. The stone was supposed to sweat and change colour when poison was in its proximity. Technically called the Batrachyte or Batrachos, an antidote of all sorts of poison.

Toads unknown in Ireland. It is said that St. Patrick cleared the island of all “varmint” by his malediction.

Toad—eater

At the final overthrow of the Moors, the Castilians made them their servants, and their active habits and officious manners greatly pleased the proud and lazy Spaniards, who called them mi todita (my factotum). Hence a cringing officious dependent, who will do all sorts of dirty work for you, is called a todita or toad—eater.

Pulteney's toad—eater. Henry Vane. So called by Walpole (1742).

Toady

(See Toad—Eater. )

Toast

A name given, to which guests are invited to drink in compliment. The name at one time was that of a lady. The word is taken from the toast which used at one time to be put into the tankard, and which still floats in the loving—cup, and also the cups called copus, bishop, and cardinal, at the Universities. Hence the lady named was the toast or savour of the wine— that which gave the draught piquancy and merit. The story goes that a certain beau, in the reign of Charles II., being at Bath, pledged a noted beauty in a glass of water taken from her bath; whereupon another roysterer cried out he would have nothing to do with the liquor, but would have the toast— i.e. the lady herself. (Rambler, No. 24.)

“Let the toast pass, drink to the lass.”— Sheridan: School for Scandal.

“Say, why are beauties praised and honoured most,

The wise man's passion and the vain man's toast.” Pope: Rape of the Lock, canto i.

Tobit

sleeping one night outside the wall of his courtyard, was blinded by sparrows “muting warm dung into his eyes.” His son Tobias was attacked on the Tigris by a fish, which leapt out of the water to assail him. Tobias married Sara, seven of whose betrothed lovers had been successively carried off by the evil spirit Asmodeus. Asmodeus was driven off by the angel Azarias, and, fleeing to the extremity of Egypt, was bound. Old Tobit was cured of his blindness by applying to his eyes the gall of the fish which had tried to devour his son. (Apocrypha: Book of Tobit.)

Toboso

Dulcinea del Toboso. Don Quixote's lady. Sancho Panza says she was “a stout—built sturdy wench, who could pitch the bar as well as any young fellow in the parish.” The knight had been in love with her when he was simply a gentleman of the name of Quixada. She was then called Aldonza Lorenzo (daughter of Lorenzo Corchuelo and Aldonza Nogales); but when the gentleman became a don, he changed the style of address of the village damsel into one more befitting his new rank. (Cervantes: Don Quixote, bk. i. chap. i.)

“ `Sir,' said Don Quixote, `she is not a descendant of the ancient Caii, Curtii, and Scipios of Rome; nor of the modern Colonas and Orsini, nor of the Rebillas and Villanovas of Valencia; neither is she a descendant of the Palafoxes, Newcas, Rocabertis, Corellas, Lunas, Alagones, Ureas, Fozes, and Gurreas of Aragon: neither does the Lady Dulcinea descend from the

Cerdas, Manriquez, Mendozas, and Guzmans of Castile; nor from the Alencastros, Pallas, and Menezës of Portugal; but she derives her origin from a family of Toboso, near Mancha' ” (bk.

ii. chap. v.).

In English the accent of Dulcinea is often on the second syllable, but in Spanish it is on the third.

“Ask you for whom my tears do flow so?

Why, for Dulcinea del Toboso.”

Don Quixote's Love—song.

Tobosian

The rampant Manchegan lion shall be united to the white Tobosian dove. Literally, Don Quixote de la Mancha shall marry Dulcinea del Toboso. Metaphorically, “None but the brave deserve the fair.”

Toby

(the dog), in Punchinello, wears a frill garnished with bells, to frighten away the devil from his master. This is a very old superstition. (See Passing Bell. )

The Chinese and other nations make a great noise at death to scare away evil spirits. “Keening” is probably based on the same superstition.

Toby

The high toby, the high—road, the low toby, the by—road. A highwayman is a “high tobyman;” a mere footpad is a “low tobyman.”

“So we can do a touch now ... as well as you grand gentlemen on the high toby.”— Boldrewood: Robbery under Arms, chap. xxvi.

Toddy

A favourite Scotch beverage compounded of spirits, hot water, and sugar. The word is a corruption of taudi, the Indian name for the saccharine juice of palm spathes. The Sanskrit is toldi or taldi, from tal (palm juice). (Rhind Vegetable Kingdom.)

Toes

The most dexterous man in the use of his toes in lieu of fingers was William Kingston, born without hands or arms. (See World of Wonders, pt. x.; Correspondence, p. 65.)

Tofana

An old woman of Naples immortalised by her invention of a tasteless and colourless poison, called by her the Manna of St. Nicola of Bari, but better known as Aqua Tofana. Above 600 persons fell victims to this insidious drug. Tofana died 1730.

Hieronyma Spara, generally called La Spara, a reputed witch, about a century previously, sold a similar elixir. The secret was revealed by the father confessors, after many years of concealment and a frightful number of deaths.

Tog

Togs, dress. (Latin, toga.) “Togged out in his best” is dressed in his best clothes. Toggery is finery.

Toga

The Romans were called togati or gens togata, because their chief outer dress was a toga.

Toga'd

or Togated Nation (The). Gens Togata, the Romans, who wore togas. The Greeks wore “palls,” and were called the gens palliata; the Gauls wore breeches, and were called gens braccata. (Toga, pallium, and braccae.)

Toledo

Famous for its swords. “The temper of Toledan blades is such that they are sometimes packed in boxes, curled up like the mainsprings of watches”!! Both Livy and Polybius refer to them.

Tolmen

(in French, Dolmen). An immense mass of stone placed on two or more vertical ones, so as to admit a passage between them. (Celtic, tol or dol, table; men, stone.)

The Constantine Tolmen, Cornwall, consists of a vast stone 33 feet long, 14 1/2 deep, and 18 1/2 across. This stone is calculated to weigh 750 tons, and is poised on the points of two natural rocks.

Tolosa

He has got the gold of Tolosa. (Latin proverb meaning “His ill—gotten wealth will do him no good.”) Caepio, in his march to Gallia Narbonensis, stole from Toulous (Tolosa) the gold and silver consecrated by the Cimbrian Druids to their gods. In the battle which ensued both Caepio and his brother consul were defeated by the Cimbrians and Teutons, and 112,000 Romans were left dead on the field. (B.C. 106.)

Tom

Between “Tom” and “Jack” there is a vast difference. “Jack” is the sharp, shrewd, active fellow, but Tom the honest dullard. Counterfeits are “Jack,” but Toms are simply bulky examples of the ordinary sort, as Tomtoes. No one would think of calling the thick—headed, ponderous male cat a Jack, nor the pert, dexterous, thieving daw a “Tom.” The former is instinctively called a Tom—cat, and the latter a Jack—daw. The subject of “Jack” has been already set forth. (See Jack. ) Let us now see how Tom is used:—

Tom o' Bedlam (q.v.). A mendicant who levies charity on the plea of insanity. Tom—cat. The male cat.

Tom Drum's entertainment. A very clumsy sort of horse—play. Tom Farthing. A born fool.

Tom Fool. A clumsy, witless fool, fond of stupid practical jokes, but very different from a “Jack Pudding,” who is a wit and bit of a conjurer.

Tom Long. A lazy, dilatory sluggard. Tom Lony. A simpleton.

Tom Noddy. A puffing, fuming, stupid creature, no more like a “Jack—a—dandy" than Bill Sikes to Sam Weller.

Tom Noodle. A mere nincompoop. Tom the Piper's son. A poor stupid thief who got well basted, and blubbered like a booby. Tom Thumb. A man cut short or stinted of his fair proportions. (For the Tom Thumb of nursery delight, see next page.

Tom Tidler. An occupant who finds it no easy matter to keep his own against sharper rivals. (See Tom Tidler's Ground.)

Tom Tiller. A hen—pecked husband.

Tom Tinker. The brawny, heavy blacksmith, with none of the wit and fun of a “Jack Tar,” who can tell a yarn to astonish all his native village.

Tom Tit. The “Tom Thumb” of birds.

Tom—Toe. The clumsy, bulky toe, “bulk without spirit vast.” Why the great toe? “For that being one o' the lowest, basest, poorest of this most wise rebellion, thou goest foremost.” (Shakespeare: Coriolanus, i. 1.)

Tom Tug. A waterman, who bears the same relation to a Jack Tar as a carthorse to an Arab. (See Tom Tug.) Great Tom of Lincoln. A bell weighing 5 tons 8 cwt.

Mighty Tom of Oxford. A bell weighing 7 tons 12 cwt. Old Tom. A heavy, strong, intoxicating sort of gin. Long Tom. A huge water—jug.

Tom Folio

Thomas Rawlinson, the bootlegbooksc. (1681—1725.)

Tom Fool's Colours

Red and yellow, or scarlet and yellow, the colours of the ancient motley.

Tom Foolery

The coarse, witless jokes of a Tom Fool. (See above.)

Tom Long

Waiting for Tom Long— i.e. a wearisome long time. The pun, of course, is on the word long.

Tom Raw

The griffin; applied at one time to a subaltern in India for a year and a day after his joining the army.

Tom Tailor

A tailor.

“ `We rend our hearts, and not our garments.”— `The better for yourselves, and the worse for Tom Taylor', said the baron.”— Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chap. xxv.

Tom Thumb

the nursery tale, is from the French Le Petit Poucet, by Charles Perrault (1630), but it is probably of Anglo—Saxon origin. There is in the Bodleian Library a ballad about Tom Thumb, “printed for John Wright in 1630.”

Tom Thumb. The son of a common ploughman and his wife, who was knighted by King Arthur, and was killed by the poisonous breath of a spider, in the reign of King Thunstone, the successor of Arthur. (Nursery tale.

Tom Tidler's Ground

The ground or tenement of a sluggard. The expression occurs in Dicken's Christmas story, 1861. Tidler is a contraction of “the idler" or t'idler. The game so called consists in this: Tom Tidler stands on a heap of stones, gravel, etc.; other boys rush on the heap crying, “Here I am on Tom Tidler's ground,” and Tom bestirs himself to keep the invaders off.

Tom Tug

A waterman. In allusion to the tug or boat so called, or to tugging at the oars.

Tom and Jerry

— i.e. Corinthian Tom and Jerry Hawthorn, the two chief characters in Pierce Egan's Life in London, illustrated by Cruikshank.

Tom, Dick, and Harry

A set of nobodies; persons of no note; persons unworthy notice. Jones, Brown, and Robinson are far other men: they are the vulgar rich, especially abroad, who give themselves airs, and look with scorn on all foreign ways which differ from their own.

Tom o' Bedlams

A race of mendicants. The Bethlem Hospital was made to accommodate six lunatics, but in 1644 the number admitted was forty—four, and applications were so numerous that many inmates were

dismissed halfcured. These “ticket—of—leave men” used to wander about as vagrants, chanting mad songs, and dressed in fantastic dresses, to excite pity. Under cover of these harmless “innocents,” a set of sturdy rogues appeared, called Abram men, who shammed lunacy, and committed great depredations.

“With a sigh like Tom o' Bedlam.”

Shakespeare: King Lear, i. 2.

Tomboy

A romping girl, formerly used for a harlot. (Saxon, tumbere, a dancer or romper; Danish, tumle, “to tumble about;” French, tomber; Spanish, tumbar; our tumble.) The word may either be tumbe—boy (one who romps like a boy), or a tumber (one who romps), the word boy being a corruption.

“A lady

So fair ... to be partner a

With tomboys.”

Shakespeare. Cymbelins, i. 6.

Halliwell gives the following quotation:—

“Herodias dougter that was a tumb—estre, and tumblete before [the king] and other grete lordes of the contré, he granted to geve hure whatevere she would bydde.”

Tomahawk

A war—hatchet. The word has slight variations in different Indian tribes, as tomehagen, tumnahagen, tamoihecan, etc. When peace was made between tribes in hostility, the tomahawks were buried with certain ceremonies; hence, to “bury the hatchet” means to make peace.

Tomb of Our Lord

This spot is now covered by “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre.” A long marble slab is shown on the pavement as the tomb—stone. Where the Lord was anointed for His burial three large candlesticks stand covered with red velvet. The identity of the spot is doubtful.

Tommy Atkins

(A). A British soldier, as a Jack Tar is a British sailor. The term arose from the little pocket ledgers served out, at one time, to all British soldiers. In these manuals were to be entered the name, the age, the date of enlistment, the length of service, the wounds, the medals, and so on of each individual. The War Office sent with each little book a form for filling it in, and the hypothetical name selected, instead of John Doe and Richard Roe (selected by lawyers), or M. N. (selected by the Church), was “Tommy Atkins.”The books were instantly so called, and it did not require many days to transfer the name from the book to the soldier.

Tommy Dodd

The “odd” man who, in tossing up, either wins or loses according to agreement with his confederate. There is a music—hall song so called, in which Tommy Dodd is the “knowing one.”

Tommy Shop

Where wages are paid to workmen who are expected to lay out a part of the money for the good of the shop. Tommy means bread or a penny roll, or the food taken by a workman in his handkerchief; it also means goods in lieu of money. A Tom and Jerry shop is a low drinking—room.

To morrow never Comes

A reproof to those who defer till to—morrow what should be done to—day.

“ `I shall acquaint your mother, Miss May, with your pretty behaviour to—morrow.'— `I suppose you mean to—morrow come never,' answered Magnolia.”— Le Fanu: The House in the Churchyard, p. 118.

Tonans Delirium tonans. Loud talk, exaggeration, gasconade. Blackwood's Magazine (1869) introduced the expression in the following clause:—

“Irishmen are the victims of that terrible malady that is characterised by a sort of subacute raving, and may, for want of a better name, be called `delirium tonans.' “

Tongue of the Trump

(The). The spokesman or leader of a party. The trump means a Jew's harp, which is vocalised by the tongue.

“The tongue of the trump to them a'.”

Burns.

Tongues

The Italian is pleasant, but without sinews, as still fleeting water.

The French— delicate, but like an overnice woman, scarce daring to open her lips for fear of marriage her countenance.

Spanish— majestical, but fulsome, running too much on the letter o; and terrible, like the devil in a play. Dutch— manlike, but withal very harsh, as one ready at every word to pick a quarrel.

We (the English), in borrowing from them, give the strength of consonants to the Italian; the full sound of words to the French; the variety of terminations of the Spanish; and the mollifying of more vowels to the Dutch. Thus, like bees, we gather the honey of their good properties and leave the dregs to themselves.

(Camden.)

Tonna

(Mrs.), Charlotte Elizabeth, the author of Personal Recollections, (1792—1846.)

Tonsure

(2 syl.). The tonsure of St. Peter consists in shaving the crown and back of the head, so as to leave a ring or “crown” of hair.

The tonsure of James consists in shaving the entire front of the head. This is sometimes called “the tonsure of Simon the Magician,” and sometimes “the Scottish tonsure,” from its use in North Britain.

Tonsures

vary in size according to rank.

For clerics the tonsure should be I inch in diameter. (Gastaldus, ii. sect. i. chap. viii.) For those in minor orders it should be 1 1/2 inch, (Council of Palencia under Urban VI.) For a sub—deacon 1 3/4 inch. (Gastaldus, xi. sect. i. chap. viii.)

For a deacon 2 inches. (Gastaldus, xi. sect. i. chap. ix.)

For a priest 2 1/2 inches. (Council of Palencia.)

Tontine

(2 syl.). A legacy left among several persons in such a way that as anyone dies his share goes to the survivors, till the last survivor inherits all. So named from Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan, who introduced the system into France in 1653.

Tony Lumpkin

A young clownish bumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer, by Oliver Goldsmith.

Too Many for [Me]

or One too many for [me]. More than a match. “Il est trop fort pour moi.”

“The Irishman is cunning enough; but we shall be too many for him.”— Mrs. Edgeworth.

Tooba

or Touba [eternal happiness ]. The tree Touba, in Paradise, stands in the palace of Mahomet, (Sale: Preliminary Discourse to the Koran.)

Tool To tool a coach. To drive one; generally applied to a gentleman Jehu, who undertakes for his own amusement to drive a stage—coach. To tool is to use the tool as a workman; a coachman's tools are the reins and whip with which he tools his coach or makes his coach go.

Tooley Street

A corruption of St. Olaf— i.e. 'T—olaf, Tolay, Tooly. Similarly, Sise Lane is St. Osyth's Lane.

Toom Tabard

[empty jacket ]. A nickname given to John Baliol, because of his poor spirit, and sleeveless appointment to the throne of Scotland. The honour was an “empty jacket,” which he enjoyed a short time and then lost. He died discrowned in Normandy.

Tooth

Greek, odont'; Latin, dent'; Sanskrit, dant'; Gothic, tunth'; Anglo—Saxon, tóth, plural, téth. Golden tooth. (See Golden.)

Wolf's tooth. (See Teeth.) In spite of his teeth. (See Teeth.)

Tooth and Egg

A corruption of Tutanag, a Chinese word for spelter, the metal of which canisters are made, and tea—chests lined. It is a mixture of English lead and tin from Quintang.

Tooth and Nail

In right good earnest, like a rat or mouse biting and scratching to get at something.

Top

(See Sleep. )

Top—heavy

Liable to tip over because the centre of gravity is too high. Intoxicated.

Top Ropes

A display of the top—ropes. A show of gushing friendliness; great promise of help. The top—rope is the rope used in hauling the top—mast up or down.

“This display of the top—ropes was rather new to me, for time had blurred from my memory the `General's' rhapsodies.”— C. Thomson: Autobiography, p. 189.

Top—sawyer

A first—rate fellow. The sawyer that takes the upper stand is always the superior man, and gets higher wages.

Topham

Take him, Topham. Catch him if you can; lay hold of him, tipstaff. Topham was the Black Rod of the House of Commons in the reign of Charles II., very active in apprehending “suspects” during the supposed conspiracy revealed by Titus Oates. “Take him, Topham,” became a proverbial saying of the time, much the same as “Who stole the donkey?” “How are your poor feet?” and so on.

“Till `Take him, Topham' became a proverb, and a formidable one, in the mouth of the people.”— Sir Walter Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xx.

Tophet

A valley near Jerusalem, where children were made to “pass through the fire to Moloch.” Josiah threw dead bodies, ordure, and other unclean things there, to prevent all further application of the place to religious use. (2 Kings xxiii. 10, 11.) Here Sennacherib's army was destroyed. (Isaiah xxx. 31—33.) The valley was also called “Gehinnom” (valley of Hinnom), corrupted into Gehenna; and Rabbi Kimchi tells us that a perpetual fire was kept burning in it to consume the dead bodies, bones, filth, and ordure deposited there.

(Hebrew, toph, a drum. When children were offered to Moloch, their shrieks were drowned by beat of drum.)

Topic

This word has wholly changed its original meaning. It now signifies a subject for talk, a theme for discussion or to be written about; but originally “topics” were what we call commonplace books; the

“sentences” of Peter Lombard were theological topics. (Greek, topikos, from topos, a place.)

Topsy

A slave—girl, who impersonates the low moral development but real capacity for education of the negro race. Her reply to Aunt Opthelia, who questioned her as to her father and mother, is worthy Dickens.

After maintaining that she had neither father nor mother, her solution of her existence was “I 'spects I growed.” (Mrs. Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin.)

Topsy—turvy

Upside down. (Anglo—Saxon, top side turn—aweg.) As Shakespeare says, “Turn it topsy—turvy down.” (1 Henry IV., iv. 1.) (See Half—Seas Over. )

Toralva

The licentiate who was conveyed on a cane through the air, with his eyes shut. In the space of twelve hours he arrived at Rome, and lighted on the tower of Nona, whence, looking down, he witnessed the death of the constable de Bourbon. The next morning he arrived at Madrid, and related the whole affair. During his flight through the air the devil bade him open his eyes, and he found himself so near the moon that he could have touched it with his finger. (Cervantes: Don Quixote, pt. ii. bk. iii. chap. v.)

Torne'a

A lake, or rather a river of Sweden, which rises from a lake in Lapland, and runs into the Gulf of Bothnia, at the town called Torne'a or Tornë.

“Still pressing on beyond Tornea's lake.”

Thomson: Winter

Torquato

— i.e. Torquato Tasso, the poet. (1544—1595.) (See Alfonso. )

“And see how dearly earned Torquato's fame.”

Lord Byron: Childe Harold. iv. 36.

Torquemada

(Inquisitor—general of Spain, 1420—1498). A Dominican of excessive zeal, who multiplied confiscations, condemnations, and punishments to a frightful extent; and his hatred of the Jews and Moors was diabolical.

“General Strelnikoff was the greatest scoundrel who defiled the earth since Torquemada.”— Stepniak: The Explosion of the Winter Palace, February, 1880.

Torr's MSS.

in the library of the dean and chapter of York Minster. These voluminous records contain the clergy list of every parish in the diocese of York, and state not only the date of each vacancy, but the cause of each removal, whether by death, promotion, or otherwise.

Torralba

(Doctor), who resided some time in the court of Charles V. of Spain. He was tried by the Inquisition for sorcery, and confessed that the spirit Cequiel took him from Valladolid to Rome and back again in an hour and a half. (Pelicer.)

Torre

(Sir) (1 syl.). Brother of Elaine, and son of the lord of Astolat. A kind blunt heart, brusque in manners, and but little of a knight. (Tennyson Idyls of the King; Elaine.)

Torricelli

an Italian mathematician (1608—47), noted for his explanation of the rise of water in a common barometer. Galileo explained the phenomenon by the ipse dixit of “Nature abhors a vacuum.”

Torso

A statue which has lost its head and members, as the famous “torso of Hercules.” (Italian, torso.) The Torso Belvedere, the famous torso of Hercules, in the Vatican, was discovered in the fifteenth century. It is said that Michael Angelo greatly admired it.

Tortoise which Supports the Earth

(The) is Chukwa; the elephant (between the tortoise and the world) is Maha—pudma.

Torture (2 syl.). The most celebrated instruments of torture were the rack, called by the English “the Duke of Exeter's daughter,” the thumbikins, or thumbscrews, the boots, the princers, the manacles, and the scavenger's daughter (q.v.).

Tory

This word, says Defoe, is the Irish toruigh, used in the reig of Queen Elizabeth to signify a band of Catholic outlaws who haunted the bogs of Ireland. It is formed from the verb toruighim (to make sudden raids). Golius says— “TORY, silvestris, montana, avis, homo, et utrumque ullus haud ibi est ” (Whatever inhabits mountains and forests is a Tory). Lord Macaulay says— “The name was first given to those who refused to concur in excluding James from the throne.” He further says— “The bogs of Ireland afforded a refuge to Popish outlaws, called tories. ” Tory—hunting was a pastime which has even found place in our nursery rhymes— “I went to the wood and I killed a tory"

F. Crossley gives as the derivation, Taobh—righ (Celtic), “king's party.” H.T. Hore, in Notes and Queries, gives Tuath—righ, “partisans of the king.” G. Borrow gives Tar—a—ri, “Come, O king.”

In 1832, after the Reform Act, the Tory party began to call themselves “Conservatives,” and after Gladstone's Bill of Home Rule for Ireland, in 1886, the Whigs and Radicals who objected to the bill joined the Conservatives, and the two combined called themselves “Unionists.” In 1895 the Queen sent for Lord Salisbury, who formed a Unionist government.

Totem Pole

(A). A pole, elaborately carved, erected before the dwelling of certain American Indians. It is a sort of symbol, like a public—house sign or flagstaff.

“Imagine a huge log, forty or fifty feet high, set up flagstaff fashion in front or at the side of a low one—storied wooden house, and carved in its whole height into immense but grotesque representations of man, beast, and bird. ... [It is emblematic of] family pride, veneration of ancestors ... and legendary religion. Sometimes [the totem] is only a massive pole, with a bird or some weird animal at the top, ... the crest of the chief by whose house it stands. ...

Sometimes it was so broad at the base as to allow a doorway to be cut through it. Usually the whole pole was carved into grotesque figures one above the other, and the effect heightened

... by dabs of paint— blue, red, and green.”— Nineteenth Century, December, 1892, p. 993.

Totemism

Totem is the representation of a symbol by an animal, and totemism is the system or science of such symbolism. Thus, in Egyptian mythology, what is represented as a pig or hippopotamus by one tribe, is (for some totemic reason) represented as a crocodile by another.

“The apparent wealth of [Egyptian] mythology depends on the totemism of the inhabitants of the Nile Valley. ... Each district had its own special animal as the emblem of the tribe dwelling in that locality.”— Lockyer: Nineteenth Century, July 1892, p. 51.

Toto Coelo

Entirely. The allusion is to augurs who divided the heavens into four parts. Among the Greeks the left hand was unlucky, and the right lucky. When all four parts concurred a prediction was certified toto coelo. The Romans called the east Antica, the west Postica, the south Dextra, and the north Sinistra.

“Even when they are relaxing those general requirements ... the education differs toto coelo from instruction induced by the tests of an examining body.”— Nineteenth Century, January, 1893, p. 23.

Totus Teres atque Rotundus

Finished and completely rounded off.

Touch

In touch with him. En rapport; in sympathy. The allusion is to the touchstone, which shows by its colour what metal has touched it.

Touch To keep touch — faith, fidelity. The allusion is to “touching" gold and other metals on a touchstone to prove them. Shakespeare speaks of “friends of noble touch” (proof).

“And trust me on my truth,

If thou keep touch with me,

My dearest friend, as my own heart,

Thou shall right welcome be.”

George Barnwell (1730).

Touch At

(To). To go to a place without stopping at it.

“The next day we touched at Sidon.”— Acts xxvii. 3.

Touch Bottom

(To). To know the worst. A sea—phrase.

“It is much better for the ministry to touch bottom at once and know the whole truth, than to remain any longer in suspense.”— Newspaper paragraph, January, 1886.

Touch Up

(To). To touch a horse with a whip for greater speed. To touch up a picture, etc., is to give it a few touches to improve it.

Touch and Go

(A). A very narrow escape; a very brief encounter. A metaphor derived from driving when the wheel of one vehicle touches that of another passing vehicle without doing mischief. It was a touch, but neither vehicle was stopped, each went on its way.

Touchet

When Charles IX. introduced Henri of Navarre to Marie Touchet, he requested him to make an anagram on her name, and Henri thereupon wrote the following:— Je charme tout.

Touchstone

A dark, flinty schist, called by the ancients Lapis Lydius; called touchstone because gold is tried by it, thus: A series of needles are formed (1) of pure gold; (2) of 23 gold and 1 copper; (3) of 22 gold and 2 copper, and so on. The assayer selects one of these and rubs it on the touchstone, when it leaves a reddish mark in proportion to the quantity of copper alloy. Dr. Ure says: “In such small work as cannot be assayed ... the assayers; ... ascertain its quality by `touch.' They then compare the colour left behind, and form their judgment accordingly.”

The fable is, that Battus saw Mercury steal Apollo's oxen, and Mercury gave him a cow to secure his silence on the theft. Mercury, distrustful of the man, changed himself into a peasant, and offered Battus a cow and an ox if he would tell him the secret. Battus, caught in the trap, told the secret, and Mercury changed him into a touchstone. (Ovid: Metamorphoses, ii.)

“Gold is tried by the touchstone, and men by gold.”— Bacon.

Touchstone. A clown whose mouth is filled with quips and cranks and witty repartees. (Shakespeare: As You Like It.) The original one was Tarlton.

Touchy

Apt to take offence on slight provocation. Ne touchez pas, “Noli me tangere,” one not to be touched.

Tour

The Grand Tour. Through France, Switzerland, Italy, and home by Germany. Before railways were laid down, this tour was made by most of the young aristocratic families as the finish of their education. Those

who merely went to France or Germany were simply tourists.

Tour de Force

A feat of strength.

Tourlourou

Young unfledged soldiers of the line, who used to be called “Jean—Jean.”

“Les Tourlourous sont les nouveaux enroles, ceux qui n'ont pas encore de vieilles moustaches, et qui flanent sur les boulevards en regardant les images, les paillasses, et en cherchant des payses.”— Paul de Kock: Un Tourlourou, chap. xiii.

Tournament

or Tournay. A tilt of knights; the chief art of the game being so to manoeuvre or turn your horse as to avoid the adversary's blow. (French, tournoiement, verb, tournoyer. )

Tournament of the Drum. A comic romance in verse by Sir David Lindsay; a ludicrous mock tournament. Tournament of Tottenham. A comic romance, printed in Percy's Reliques. A number of clowns are introduced, practising warlike games, and making vows like knights of high degree. They ride tilt on

cart—horses, fight with plough—shares and flails, and wear for armour wooden bowls and saucepan—lids. It may be termed the “high life below stairs” of chivalry.

Tournemine

(3 syl.). That's Tournemine. Your wish was father to the thought. Tournemine was a Jesuit of the eighteenth century, of a very sanguine and dreamy temperament.

Tours

Geoffrey of Monmouth says: “In the party of Brutus was one Turones, his nephew, inferior to none in courage and strength, from whom Tours derived its name, being the place of his sepulture. Of course, this fable is wholly worthless historically. Tours is the city of the Turones, a people of Gallia Lugdunensis.

Tout

(pronounce towt). To ply or seek for customers. “A touter” is one who touts. (From Tooting, where persons on their way to the court held at Epsom were pestered by “touts.”

“A century or two ago, when the court took up Its quarters at Epsom ... [many of] the inhabitants used to station themselves at the point where the roads fork off the Epsom by Tooting and Merton, and `tout' the travellers to pass through Tooting. It become a common expression for carriage—folk to say, `The Toots are on its again.' ”— Walford: Greater London, vol. ii. p. 530.

Tout Ensemble

(French). The whole massed together; the general effect.

Tout est Perdu Hormis L'Honneur

is what Francois I. wrote to his mother after the battle of Pavia.

Tout le Monde

Everyone who is anyone.

Tower of Hunger

Gualandi. (See Ugolino. )

Tower of London

The architect of this remarkable building was Gundulphus, Bishop of Rochester, who also built or restored Rochester keep, in the time of William I. In the Tower lie buried Anne Boleyn and her brother; the guilty Catherine Howard, and Lady Rochford her associate; the venerable Lady Salisbury, and Cromwell the minister of Henry VIII.; the two Seymours, the admiral and protector of Edward VI.; the Duke of Norfolk and Earl of Sussex (Queen Elizabeth's reign); the Duke of Monmouth, son of Charles II.; the Earls of Balmerino and Kilmarnock, and Lord Lovat; Bishop Fisher and his illustrious friend More.

Towers of Silence

Towers in Persia and India, some sixty feet in height, on the top of which Parsees place the dead to be eaten by vultures. The bones are picked clean in the course of a day, and are then thrown into a

receptacle and covered with charcoal.

“A procession is then formed, the friends of the dead following the priests to the Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill.”— Col. Floyd—Jones.

The Parsees will not burn or bury their dead, because they consider a dead body impure, and they will not suffer themselves to defile any of the elements. They carry their dead on a bier to the Tower of Silence. At the entrance they look their last on the dead, and the corpse—bearers carry the dead body within the precincts and lay it down to be devoured by vultures which crowd the tower. (Nineteenth Century, Oct., 1893, p. 611.)

Town

(A) is the Anglo—Saxon tún, a plot of ground fenced round or enclosed by a hedge; a single dwelling; a number of dwelling—houses enclosed together forming a village or burgh.

“Our ancestors in time of war ... would cast a ditch, or make a strong hedge about their houses, and houses so environed ... got the name tunes annexed into them (as Cote—tun, now Cotton, the cote or house fenced in or tuned about; North—tun, now Norton ... South—tun, now Sutton). In troublous times whole `thorpes' were fenced in, and took the name of tunes

(towns) and then `stedes' (now cities), and `thorpes' (villages), and burghs (burrows) got the name of townes.”— Restitution, p. 232.

Town and Gown Row

(A), A collision, often leading to a fight, in the English universities between the students or gownsmen, and non—gownsmen— principally bargees and roughs. (See Philistines. )

Toyshop of Europe

(The). So Burke called Birmingham. Here “toy” does not refer to playthings for children, but small articles made of steel. “Light toys” in Birmingham mean mounts, small steel rings, sword hilts, and so on; while “heavy steel toys” mean champagne—nippers, sugar—cutters, nut—crackers, and all similar articles.

A whim or fancy is a toy. Halliwell quotes (MS. Harl. 4888), “For these causes ... she ran at random ... as the toy took her.”

It also means an anecdote or trifling story. Hence Latimer (1550) says, “And here I will tell you a merry toy.”

Tracing of a Fortress

(The). The outline of the fortification, that is, the directions in which the masses are laid out.

Tracts for the Times

Published at Oxford during the years 1833—1841, and hence called the Oxford Tracts. A. i.e. Rev. John Keble, M.A., author of the Christian Year, fellow of Oriel, and formerly Professor of Poetry at Oxford.

B. Rev. Isaac Williams, Fellow of Trinity; author of The Cathedral, and other Poems. C. Rev. E. B. Pusey. D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Canon of Christ Church. D. Rev. John Henry Newman, D.D., Fellow of Oriel, writers of the celebrated Tract No. 90, which was the last.

E. Rev. Thomas Keble. F. Sir John Provost, Bart. G. Rev. R. F. Wilson, of Oriel.

Tractarians

Those who concur in the religious views advocated by the Oxford Tracts.

Tracy

All the Tracys have the wind in their faces. Those who do wrong will always meet with punishment. William de Traci was the most active of the four knights who slew Thomas à Becket, and for this misdeed all who bore the name were saddled by the Church with this ban: “Wherever by sea or land they go, the wind in their face shall ever blow.” Fuller, with his usual naïveté, says, “So much the better in hot weather, as it will save the need of a fan.”

Trade (See Balance. )

Trade Mark

A mark adopted by a manufacturer to distinguish his productions from those made by other persons.

Trade Winds

Winds that trade or tread in one uniform track. In the northern hemisphere they blow from the north—east, and in the southern hemisphere from the south—east, about thirty degrees each side of the equator. In some places they blow six months in one direction, and six in the opposite. It is a mistake to derive the word from trade (commerce), under the notion that they are “good for trade.” (Anglo Saxon, tredde—wind, a treading wind— i.e. wind of a specific “beat” or tread; tredan, to tread.)

Trade follows the Flag

Colonies promote the trade of the mother country. The reference is to the custom of planting the flag of the mother country in every colony.

Tradesmen's Signs

removed by Act of Parliament, 1764. The London Paving Act, 6 Geo. III. 26, 17.

Traditions

(See Christian Traditions. )

Trafa Meat

Meat prohibited as food by Jews from some ritual defect. It was sold cheap to general butchers, but at one time the law forbade the sale. In 1285 Roger de Lakenham, of Norwich, was fined for selling

“Trafa meat.”

Tragedy

The goat—song (Greek, tragos—ode). The song that wins the goat as a prize. This is the explanation given by Horace ( De Arte Poetica, 220). (See Comedy. )

Tragedy. The first English tragedy of any merit was Gorboduc, written by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville. (See Ralph Roister Doister.

The Father of Tragedy. AEschylos the Athenian. (B.C. 525—426.) Thespis, the Richardson of Athens, who went about in a waggon with his strolling players, was the first to introduce dialogue in the choral odes, and is therefore not unfrequently called the “Father of Tragedy or the Drama.”

“Thespis was first who all besmeared with lee,

Began this pleasure for posterity.”

Dryden: Art of Poetry (Tragedy), c. iii.

Father of French Tragedy. Garnier (1534—1590).

Trail

The trail of the serpent is over them all. Sin has set his mark on all. (Thomas Moore: Paradise and the Peri.)

Traitors' Bridge A loyal heart may be landed under Traitors' Bridge. Traitor's Bridge, in the Tower, was the was by which persons charged with high treason entered that State prison.

Traitors' Gate

opens from the Tower of London to the Thames, and was the gate by which persons accused of treason entered their prison.

Trajan's Column

commemorates his victories over the Dacians. It was the work of Apollodorus. The column of the Place Vendôme, Paris, is a model of it.

Trajan's Wall

A line of fortifications stretching across the Dobrudscha from Czernavoda to the Black Sea.

Tram

(A). A car which runs on a tramway (q.v.). Trams in collieries were in use in the seventeenth century, but were not introduced into our streets till 1868.

Tramway

or Tram Rails. A railway for tram—carts or waggons, originally made of wooden rails. Iron rails were first laid down in 1738, but apparently were called “dram—roads” (Greek, dram—ein, to run). We are told there were waggons called drams (or trams). Benjamin Outram, in 1800, used stone rails at Little Eaton, Derbyshire; but the similarity between tram and Outram is a mere coincidence. Perhaps he was the cause of the word dram being changed to tram, but even this is doubtful. (See Rees' Cyclopaedia.)

“Trams are a kind of sledge on which coals are brought from the place where they are hewn to the shaft. A tram has four wheels, but a sledge is without wheels.”— Brand: History of Newcastle—upon—Tyne, vcl. ii. p. 681. n. (1789)

Tramecksan and Slamecksan

The high heels and low heels, the two great political factions of Lilliput. The high heels are the Tories, and the low heels the Radicals of the kingdom. “The animosity of these two factions runs so high that they will neither eat, nor drink, nor speak to each other.” The king was a low heel in politics, but the heir—apparent a high heel. (Swift: Gulliver's Travels; Voyage to Lilliput, chap. iv.)

Trammel

means to catch in a net. (French, tramail, trame, a woof; verb, tramer, to weave.)

Tramontane

(3 syl.). The north wind; so called by the Italians because to them it comes over the mountains. The Italians also apply the term to German, French, and other artists born north of the Alps. French lawyers, on the other hand, apply the word to Italian canonists, whom they consider too Romanistic. We in England generally call overstrained Roman Catholic notions “Ultramontane.”

Translator

(A). A cobbler, who translates or transmogrifies two pairs of worn—out shoes into one pair capable of being worn; a reformer, who tries to cobble the laws.

“The dull à la mode reformers or translators have pulled the church all to pieces and know not how to patch it up again.”— Mercurius Pragmaticus (March, 1647, No. 27).

Translator—General

So Fuller, in his Worthies, calls Philemon Holland, who translated a large number of the Greek and Latin classics. (1551—1636.)

Trap

A carriage, especially such as a phäeton, dog—cart, commercial sulky, and such like. It is not applied to a gentleman's close carriage. Contraction of trappings (whatever is “put on,” furniture for horses, decorations, etc.).

“The trap in question was a carriage which the Major had bought for six pounds sterling.”— Thackeray: Vanity Fair, chap. lx vii.

Traps. Luggage, as “Leave your traps at the station,” “I must look after my traps,” etc. (See above.

“The traps were packed up as quickly as possible and the party drove away.”— Daily Telegraph.

Trapani

The Count de Trapani was the ninth child of Mary Isabel and Ferdinand II. of the two Sicilies. He married the Archduchess Mary, daughter of Leopold II., Grand Duke of Tuscany.

N.B. Francis de Paul, usually called Louis—Emmanuel, Count of Trapani, was born in 1827.

Trapani. The Spaniards, in pitiless raillery of the Spanish marriages, called the trapos or dishclouts used by waiters in the cafés to wipe down the dirty tables trapani.

Trapper

in America, is one whose vocation is to set traps for wild animals for the sake of their furs.

The Trapper. (See Natty Bumppo.)

Trappists

A religious order, so called from La Trappe, an abbey of the Cistercian order, founded in the middle of the twelfth century.

Trasgo

Same as Duende (q.v.).

Travels in the Blue

A brown study; in cloudland.

“Finding him gone for `travels in the blue,' I respected his mood, and did not resent his long mutism.”— Remington Annual, 1880, p. 61.

Traveller's Licence

The long bow; exaggeration.

“If the captain has not taken `traveller's licence,' we have in Norway a most successful development of peasant proprietorship.”— W. Bowerman.

Traviata

An opera representing the progress of a courtesan. The libretto is borrowed from a French novel, called La Dame aux Camélias, by Alexandre Dumas, jun. It was dramatised for the French stage. The music of the opera is by Giuseppe Verdi.

Tre, Pol, Pen

“By their Tre, their Pol, and Pen,

Ye shall know the Cornish men.'

'

The extreme east of Cornwall is noted for Tre, the extreme west for Pol, the centre for Pen. On December 19th, 1891, the following residents are mentioned by the Launceston Weekly News as attending the funeral of a gentleman who lived at Tre—hummer House, Tresmere:— Residents from Trevell, Tresmarrow, Treglith, Trebarrow, Treludick, etc., with Treleaven the Mayor of Launceston.

Treacle

[tree—k'l ] properly means an antidote against the bite of wild beasts (Greek, theriaka [pharmaka], from ther a wild beast). The ancients gave the name to several sorts of anti`dotes, but ultimately it was applied chiefly to Venice treacle (thériaca androchi), a compound of some sixty—four drugs in honey.

Sir Thomas More speaks of “a most strong treacle (i.e. antidote) against these venomous heresies.” And in an old version of Jeremiah viii. 22, “balm” is translated treacle— “Is there no treacle at Gilead? Is there no phisitian there?”

Treading on One's Corns (See Corns .)

Treasures

These are my treasures; meaning the sick and poor. So said St. Lawrence when the Roman praetor commanded him to deliver up his treasures. He was then condemned to be roasted alive on a gridiron (258).

One day a lady from Campania called upon Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and after showing her jewels, requested in return to see those belonging to the famous mother—in—law of Africanus.Cornelia sent for her two sons, and said to the lady, “These are my jewels, in which alone I delight.”

Treasury of Sciences

Bokhara (Asia), the centre of learning. It has 103 colleges, with 10,000 students, besides a host of schools and 360 mosques.

Tree

The oldest in the world— (1) De Candolle considers the deciduous cypress of Chapultepec, in Mexico, one of the oldest trees in the world.

(2) The chestnut—trees on Mount Etna, and the Oriental plane—tree in the valley of Bujukdere, near Constantinople, are supposed to be of about the same age.

(3) The Rev. W. Tuckwell says the “oldest tree in the world is the Soma cypress of Lombardy. It was forty years old when Christ was born.”

Trees of a patriarchal age.

I. OAKS.

(1) Damorey's Oak, Dorsetshire, 2,000 years old. Blown down in 1703. (2) The great Oak of Saintes, in the department of Charente Inférieure, is from 1,800 to 2,000 years old. (3) The Winfarthing Oak, Norfolk, and the Bentley Oak were 700 years old at the time of the Conquest. (4) Cowthorpe Oak, near Wetherby, Yorkshire, according to Professor Burnet, is 1,600 years old.

(5) William the Conqueror's Oak, Windsor Great Park, is at least 1,200 years old.

(6) The Bull Oak, Wedgenock Park, and the Plestor Oak, Colborne were in existence at the time of the Conquest.

(7) The Oak of the Partisans, in the forest of Parey, St. Ouen, is above 650 years old. Wallace's Oak, at Ellersley, near Paisley, was probably fifty years older. Blown down in 1859.

(8) Owen Glendower's Oak, Shelton, near Shrewsbury, is so called because that chieftain witnessed from its branches the battle between Henry IV. and Harry Percy, in 1403. Other famous oaks are those called The Twelve Apostles and The Four Evangelists.

(9) In the Dukeries, Nottinghamshire, are some oaks of memorable age and renown: (a) In the Duke of Portland's Park is an oak called Robin Hood's Larder. It is only a shell, held together with strong iron braces.

The Parliament Oak, Clipston, Notts, is said to be above 1,000 years old. We are told that Edward I., hunting in Sherwood Forest, was informed of the Welsh revolt, and summoned a “parliament" of his barons under this oak, and it was agreed to make war of extermination on Wales. Others say it was under this tree that King John assembled his barons and decreed the execution of Prince Arthur. The Parliament Oak is split into two distinct trees, and though both the trunks are hollow, they are both covered with foliage and acorns atop during the season.

The Major Oak, in the park of Lord Manvers, is a veritable giant. In the hollow trunk fifteen persons of ordinary size may find standing room. At its base it measures 90 feet, and at 5 feet from the ground about 35 feet. Its head covers a circumference of 270 yards.

Another venerable oak (some say 1,500 years old) is Greendale Oak, about half a mile from Welbeck Abbey. It is a mere ruin supported by props and chains. It has a passage through the bole large enough to admit three horsemen a breast, and a coach—and—four has been driven through it.

The Seven Sisters Oak, in the same vicinity, is so called because the trunk was composed of seven stems. It

still stands, but in a very dilapidated state.

II. YEWS.

(1) Of Braburn, in Kent, according to De Candolle, is 3,000 years old. (2) The Scotch yew at Fortingal, in Perthshire, is between 2,500 and 3,000 years. (3) Of Darley churchyard, Derbyshire, about 2,050 years.

(4) Of Crowhurst, Surrey, about 1,400.

(5) The three at Fountains Abbey, in Yorkshire, at least 1,200 years. Beneath these trees the founders of the abbey held their council in 1132.

(6) The yew grove of Norbury Park, Surrey, was standing in the time of the Druids.

(7) The yew—trees at Kingsley Bottom, near Chichester, were standing when the sea—kings landed on the Sussex coast.

(8) The yew—tree of Harlington churchyard, Middlesex, is above 850 years old.

(9) That at Ankerwyke House, near Staines, was noted when Magna Charta was signed in 1215, and it was the trysting tree for Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn.

III. MISCELLANEOUS. (1) The eight olive—trees on the Mount of Olives were flourishing 800 years ago, when the Turks took Jerusalem.

(2) The lime—tree in the Grisons is upwards of 590 years old.

The spruce will reach to the age of 1,200 years.

The poet's tree. A tree grows over the tomb of Tan—Sein, a musician of incomparable skill at the court of Akbar, and it is said that whoever chews a leaf of this tree will have extraordinary melody of voice. (W. Hunter. )

“His voice was as sweet as if he had chewed the leaves of that enchanted tree which grows over the tomb of the musician Tan—Sein.”— Moore: Lalla Rookh.

The singing tree. Each leaf was a mouth, and every leaf joined in concert. (Arabian Nights.) He is altogether up the tree. Quite out of the swim, nowhere in the competition list.

Up a tree. In a difficulty, in a mess. It is said that Spurgeon used to practise his students in extempore preaching, and that one of his young men, on reaching the desk and opening the note containing his text, read the single word “Zacchæus” as his text. He thought a minute or two, and then delivered himself thus:—

“Zacchæus was a little man, so am I; Zacchæus was up a tree, so am I; Zacchæus made haste and came down, and so do I.”

Tree of Buddha

(The). The botree.

Tree of Knowledge

(The). Genesis ii. 9.

Tree of Liberty

A tree set up by the people, hung with flags and devices, and crowned with a cap of liberty. The Americans of the United States planted poplars and other trees during the war of independence, “as symbols of growing freedom.” The Jacobins in Paris planted their first tree of liberty in 1790. The symbols used in France to decorate their trees of liberty were tricoloured ribbons, circles to indicate unity, triangles to signify equality, and a cap of liberty. Trees of liberty were planted by the Italians in the revolution of 1848.

Tree of Life

Genesis ii. 9.

Trees

Trees burst into leaf —

Ash earliest May 13th, latest June 14th.

Beech ” April 19th, “ May 7th.

Damson ” March 28th, “ May 13th.

Horse—chestnut ” March 17th, “ April 19th.

Larch ” March 21st, “ April 14th.

Lime ” April 6th, “ May 2nd.

Mulberry ” May 12th, “ June 23rd.

Oak ” April 10th, “ May 26th.

Poplar ” March 6th, “ April 19th.

Spanish chestnut ” April 20th, “ May 20th.

Sycamore ” March 28th, “ April 23rd.

Trees of the Sun and Moon. Oracular trees growing “at the extremity of India;” mentioned in the Italian romance of Guerino Meschino.

Tregeagle

To roar like Tregeagle — very loudly. Tregeagle is the giant of Dosmary Pool, on Bodmin Downs (Cornwall), whose allotted task is to bale out the water with a limpet—shell. When the wintry blast howls over the downs, the people say it is the giant roaring. (See Giants .)

Tregetour

A conjurer or juggler. (From Old French, tresgiat = a juggling trick.) The performance of a conjurer was anciently termed his “minstrelsy;” thus we read of Janio the juggler— “Janio le tregettor, facienti ministralsiam suam coram rege ... 20s.” (Lib. Compul. Garderoboe, an. (4 Edw. II. fol. 86), MS. Cott. Nero chap. viii.)

Tremont'

Boston in Massachusetts was once so called, from the three hills on which the city stands.

Trench—the—Mer

The galley of Richard Coeur de Lion; so called from its “fieetness.” Those who sailed in it were called by the same name.

Trencher

A good trencher—man. A good eater. The trencher is the platter on which food is cut (French, trancher, to cut), by a figure of speech applied to food itself.

He that waits for another's trencher, eats many a late dinner. He who is dependent on others must wait, and wait, and wait, happy if after waiting he gets anything at all.

“Oh, how wretched

Is that poor man that hangs on princes favours! There is, betwixt that smile he would aspire to, That sweet aspect of princes, and their ruin,

More pangs and fears than wars or women have.” Shakespeare: Henry VIII., iii. 2.

Trencher Cap

The mortar—board cap worn at college; so called from the trenchered or split boards which form the top. Mortar—board is a perversion of the French mortier.

Trencher Friends

Persons who cultivate the friendship of others for the sake of sitting at their board, and the good things they can get.

Trencher Knight

A table knight, a suitor from cupboard love.

Trenchmore

A popular dance in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

“Nimble—heeled mariners ... capering ... sometimes a Morisco, or Trenchmore of forty miles long.”— Taylor the Water—Poet.

Tressure

(2 syl.). A border round a shield in heraldry. The origin of the tressure in the royal arms of Scotland is traced by heralds to the ninth century. They assert that Charlemagne granted it to King Achaius of Scotland in token of alliance, and as an assurance that “the lilies of France should be a defence to the lion of Scotland.” Chalmers insinuates that these two monarchs did not even know of each other's existence.

Treves

(1 syl.). The Holy Coat of Trèves. A relic preserved in the cathedral of Tréves. It is said to be the seamless coat of our Saviour, which the soldiers would not rend, and therefore cast lots for. (John xix. 23, 25.) The Empress Helena, it is said, discovered this coat in the fourth century.

Trevethy Stone

St. Clear, Cornwall. A cromlech. Trevédi, in British, means a place of graves.

Tria Juncta in Uno

The motto of the Order of the Bath.

Triads

Three subjects more or less connected formed into one continuous poem or subject: thus the Creation, Redemption, and Resurrection would form a triad. The conquest of England by the Romans, Saxons, and Normans would form a triad. Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Napoleon Bonaparte would form a triad. So would Law, Physic, and Divinity. The Welsh triads are collections of historic facts, mythological traditions, moral maxims, or rules of poetry disposed in groups of three.

Trials at Bar

Trials which occupy the attention of the four judges in the superior court, instead of at Nisi Prius. These trials are for very difficult causes, and before special juries. (See Wharton: Law Lexicon article “Bar.”)

Triamond

Son of Agape, a fairy; very daring and very strong. He fought on horseback, and employed both sword and shield. He married Canace. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, bk. iv.) (See Priamond .)

Triangles

Tied up at the triangles. A machine to which a soldier was at one time fastened when flogged.

“He was tied up at the triangles, and branded `D.' ”— Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap. vii.

Triangular Part of Man

(The). The body. Spenser says, “The divine part of man is circular, but the mortal part is triangular.” (Faërie Queene, book ii. 9.)

Tribune

Last of the Tribunes. Cola di Rienzi, who assumed the title of “Tribune of liberty, peace, and justice.” Rienzi is the hero of one of Lord Lytton's most vigorous works of fiction. (1313—1354.)

Tribune of the People

(A). A democratic leader.

“Delmar had often spoken of Alman, and of his power in the East End, and she had come to the conclusion that he was no ordinary man, this tribune of the people.”— T. Terrell: Lady Delmar, bk. ii. chap. viii.

Trice

I'll do it in a trice. The hour is divided into minutes, seconds, and trices or thirds. I'll do it in a minute, I'll do it in a second, I'll do it in a trice.

Trick An old dog learns no tricks. When persons are old they do not readily conform to new ways. The Latin proverb is “Senex psittacus negligit ferúlam;” the Greeks said, “Nekron iatreuein kai geronta nouthetein tauton esti;” the Germans say, “Ein alter hund ist nicht gut kundigen.”

Tricolour

Flags or ribbons with three colours, assumed by nations or insurgents as symbols of political liberty. The present European tricolour ensigns are, for—

Belgium, black, yellow, red, divided vertically. France, blue, white, red, divided vertically. (See below. Holland, red, white, blue, divided horizontally.

Italy, green, white, red, divided vertically.

Tricolour of France. The insurgents in the French Revolution chose the three colours of the city of Paris for their symbol. The three colours were first devised by mary Stuart, wife of Francois II. The white represented the royal house of France; the blue, Scotland; and the red, Switzerland, in compliment to the Swiss guards, whose livery it was. The heralds afterwards tinctured the shield of Paris with the three colours, thus expressed in heraldic language: “Paris portait de gueules, sur vaisscau d'argent, flottant sur des ondes de méme, le chef cousu de France” (a ship with white sails, on a red ground, with a blue chef). The usual tale is that the insurgents in 1789 had adopted for their flag the two colours, red and blue, but that Lafayette persuaded them to add the Bourbon white, to show that they bore no hostility to the king. The first flag of the Republicans was green. The tricolour was adopted July 11th, when the people were disgusted with the king for dismissing Necker.

“If you will wear a livery, let it at least be that of the city of Paris— blue and red.”— Dumas: Six Years Afterwards, chap. xv.

Triest'e

(2 syl.). Since 1816 it has borne the title of “the most loyal of towns.”

Trigon

The junction of three signs. The zodiac is partitioned into four trigons, named respectively after the four elements; the watery trigon includes Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces; the fiery, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius; the carthy, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricornus; and the airy, Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius.

Trilogy

A group of three tragedies. Everyone in Greece who took part in the poetic contest had to produce a trilogy and a satyric drama. We have only one specimen, and that is by Æschylos, embracing the Agamemnon, the Choephoræ, and the Eumenides.

Trimilki

The Anglo—Saxon name for the month of May, because in that month they began to milk their kine three times a day.

Trimmer

One who runs with the hare and holds with the hounds. George Savile, Marquis of Halifax, adopted the term in the reign of Charles II. to signify that he was neither an extreme Whig nor an extreme Tory. Dryden was called a trimmer, because he professed attachment to the king, but was the avowed enemy of the Duke of York.

Trinculo

A jester in Shakespeare's Tempest.

Trine

In astrology, a planet distant from another one—third of the circle is said to be in trine; one—fourth, it is in square; one—sixth or two signs, it is in sextile; but when one—half distant, it is said to be “opposite.”

“In sextile, square, and trine, and opposite

Of noxious efficacy.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, x. 659.

N.B. Planets distant from each other six signs or half a circle have opposite influences, and are therefore opposed to each other.

Trinity

Tertullian (160—240) introduced this word into Christian theology. The word triad is much older. Almost every mythology has a threefold deity. (See Three .)

American Indians. Otkon, Messou, and Atahuata.

Brahmins. Their “tri—murti” is a three—headed deity, representing Brahma (as creator), Vishnu (as preserver), and Siva (as destroyer).

Cells. Hu, Ceridwen, and Craiwy. Cherusci, A three—headed god called Triglat. Chinese have the trible goddess Pussa. Druids. Taulac, Fan, and Mollac. Egyptians. Osiris, Isis, and Horus. Elousinian Mysteries. Bacchus, Persophone (4 syl.), and Demeter. Goths. Woden, Frigga, and Thor.

Greece (ancient). Zeus (1 syl.), Aphrodite, and Apollo. Icsini of Britain. Got, Ertha, and Issus.

Memcans. Vitzputzli, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca. Perucians. Apomti, Chureonti, and Chemoth. Persians (ancient). Their “Triplasian deity” was Oromasdes, Mithras, and Arimanes. Phoenicious. Astaroth, Mileom, and Chemoth.

Romans (ancient). Jupiter (divine power), Minerva (divine Logos or wisdom), and Juno (called “amor et delicium Jovis").— Vossins: De Theologia Gentil, viii. 12. Their three chief deities were Jupiter, Neptnne, and Pluto.

Scandinavians. Odin (who gave the breath of life), Hænir (who gave sense and motion), and Lodur (who gave blood, colour, speech, sight, an hearing).

Tyrians. Belus, Venus, and Tamuz, etc.

Orpheus (2 syl.). His triad was Phanes, Uranos, and Kronos.

Plato. His triad was To Agathon (Goodness). Nous or Eternal Wisdom (architect of the World) (see Proverbs iii. 19), and Psyche (the mundane soul).

Pythagoras. His triad was the Monad or Unity, Nous or Wisdom, and Psyche

Trinobantes

(4 syl.). Inhabitants of Middlesex and Essex, referred to in Caesar's Gallic Wars. This word, converted into Trinovantes, gave rise to the myth that the people referred to came from Troy.

Trinoda Necessitas

The three contributions to which all lands were subject in Anglo—Saxon times, viz.— (1) Bryge—bot, for keeping bridges and high roads in repair; (2) Burg—bot, for Fyrd, for maintaining the military and keeping fortresses in repair; and (3) naval force of the kingdom.

Tripitaka

means the “triple basket,” a term applied to the three classes into which the canonical writings of the Buddha are divided— viz. the Soutras, the Vinaya, and the Abidharma. (See these words.)

Triple Alliance

A treaty entered into by England, Sweden, and Holland against Louis XIV. in 1668. It ended in the treaty of Aixla—Chapelle. (See next page.)

A treaty between England, France, and Holland against Charles XII. This league was called the Quadruple after Germany joined it. (1717.)

A third (1789) between Great Britain, Holland, and Russia, against Catherine of Russia in defence of Turkey.

A fourth in 1883, between Germany, Italy, and Austria, against France and Russia.

Tripos A Cambridge term, meaning the three honour classes into which the best men are disposed at the final examination, whether of Mathematics, Law, Theology, or Natural Science, etc. The word is often emphatically applied to the voluntary classical examination.

Trismogistus

[thrice greatest ]. Hermes, the Egyptian philosopher, or Thoth, councillor of Osiris, King of Egypt, to whom is attributed a host of inventions— amongst others the art of writing in hieroglyphics, the first code of Egyptian laws, harmony, astrology, the lute and lyre, magic, and all mysterious sciences.

Tristram

(Sir), Tristrem, Tristan, or Tristam. Son of Rouland Rise, Lord of Ermonie, and Blanche Fleur, sister of Marke, King of Cornwall. Having lost both his parents, he was brought up by his uncle. Tristram, being wounded in a duel, was cured by Ysolde, daughter of the Queen of Ireland, and on his return to Cornwall told his uncle of the beautiful princess. Marke sent to solicit her hand in marriage, and was accepted. Ysolde married the king, but was in love with the nephew, with whom she had guilty connection. Tristram being banished from Cornwall, went to Britany, and married Ysolt of the White Hand, daughter of the Duke of Brittany. Tristram then went on his adventures, and, being wounded, was informed that he could be cured only by Ysolde. A messenger is dispatched to Cornwall, and is ordered to hoist a white sail if Ysolde accompanies him back. The vessel came in sight with a white sail displayed; but Ysolt of the White Hand, out of jealousy, told her husband that the vessel had a black sail flying, and Tristram instantly expired. Sir Tristram was one of the knights of the Round Table. Gotfrit of Strasbourg, a German(minstrel) at the close of the twelfth century, composed a romance in verse, entitled Tristan et Isolde. It was continued by Ulrich of Turheim, by Henry of Freyberg, and others, to the extent of many thousand verses. The best edition is that of Breslau, two vols. 8vo, 1823. (See Ysolt, Hermite .)

Sir Tristram's horse. Passetreul.

Triton

Son of Neptune, represented as a fish with a human head. It is this sea—god that makes the roaring of the ocean by blowing through his shell.

“Hear old Triton blow his wreathëd horn [hear the sea roar]”. Wordsworth.

A Triton among the minnows. The sun among inferior lights. Luna inter minores ignes.

Triumph

A word formed from thriambos, the Dionysiac hymn.

“Some ... have assigned the origin of ... triumphal processions to the mythic pomps of Dionysus, after his conguests in the East, the very word triumph being ... the Dionysiac hymn.”— Pater: Marius the Epiourean, chap. xii.

Trivet

Right as a trivet. (See Right .)

Trivia

Goddess of streets and ways. Gay has a poem in three books so entitled.

“Thou, Trivia, aid my song.

Through spacious streets conduct thy bard along ...

To pave thy realm, and smooth the broken ways,

Earth from her womb a flinty tribute pays.”

Gay: Trivia, bk. i.

Trivial

strictly speaking, means “belonging to the beaten road.” (Latin, trivium, which is not tres vioe [three roads], but from the Greek tribo [to rub], meaning the worn or beaten path.) As what comes out of the road is common, so trivial means of little value. Trench connects this word with trivium (tres vioe or cross ways), and says the gossip carried on at these places gave rise to the present meaning of the word.

Trivium

The three elementary subjects of literary education up to the twelfth century— Grammar, Rhetoric, and Logic. (See Quadrivium .)

N.B. Theology was introduced in the twelfth century.

Troehilus

(The), says Barrow, “enters with impunity into the mouth of the crocodile. This is to pick from the teeth a leech which greatly torments the creature.

“Not half so bold

The puny bird that dares, with teasing hum.

Within the crocodile's stretched jaws to come.” Thomas Moore—Lalla Rookh, pt. i.

Troglodytes

(3 syl.). A people of Ethiopia, south—east of Egypt. Remains of their cave dwellings are still to be seen along the banks of the Nile. There were Troglodytes of Syria and Arabia also, according to Strabo. Pliny (v. 8) asserts that they fed on serpents. (Greek, trogle, a cave; duo, to get into.)

“King Francois, of eternal memory ... abhorred these hypocritical snake—eaters.”— Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel (Ep. Ded. iv.).

Troglodyte. A person who lives so secluded as not to know the current events of the day, is so

self—opinionated as to condemn everyone who sees not eye to eye with himself, and scorns everything that comes not within the scope of his own approval; a detractor; a critic. The Saturday Review introduced this use of the word. (See above.

Miners are sometimes facetiously called Troglodytes.

Troilus

(3 syl.). The prince of chivalry, one of the sons of Priam, killed by Achilles in the siege of Troy (Homer's Iliad). The loves of Troilus and Cressida, celebrated by Shakespeare and Chaucer, form no part of the old classic tale.

As true as Troilus. Troilus is meant by Shakespeare to be the type of constancy, and Cressid the type of female inconstancy. (See Cressida.)

“After all comparisons of truth ...

As true as Troilus shall crown up the verse,

And sanctify the numbers.”

Troilus and Cressida, iii. 2.

Troilus and Cressida

(Shakespeare). The story was originally written by Lollius, an old Lombard author, and since by Chaucer (Pope). Chaucer's poem is from Boccaccio's Filostrato.

Trois pour Cent

A cheap hat.

“Running with bare head about,

While the town is tempest—tost, `Prentice lads unheeded shout

That their three—per—cents, are lost.”

Désaugiers: Le Pilier du Café.

Trojan

He is a regular Trojan. A fine fellow, with good courage and plenty of spirit; what the French call a brave homme. The Trojans in Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Æneid are described as truthful, brave, patriotic, and confiding.

“There they say right, and like true Trojans.”

Butler: Hadibras, i. 1.

Trojan War

(The). The siege of Troy by the Greeks. After a siege of ten years the city was taken and burnt to the ground. The last year of the siege is the subject of Homer's Iliad; the burning of Troy and the flight of Æneas is a continuation by Virgil in his Æneid.

The Trojan War, by Henry of Veldig, (Waldeck), a minnesinger (twelfth century) is no translation of either Homer or Virgil, but a German adaptation of the old tale. By far the best part of this poetical romance is where Lavinia tells her tale of love to her mother.

Trolls

Dwarfs of Northern mythology, living in hills or mounds; they are represented as stumpy, misshapen, and humpbacked, inclined to thieving, and fond of carrying off children or substituting one of their own offspring for that of a human mother. They are called hill—people, and are especially averse to noise, from a recollection of the time when Thor used to be for ever flinging his hammer after them. (Icelandic, troll.)' (See Fairy .)

“Out then spake the tiny Troll,

No bigger than an emmet he.”

Danish ballad, Eline of Villenskov.

Trolly

A cart used in mines and on railways. A railway trolly is worked by the hand, which moves a treadle; a

coal—mine trolly used to be pushed by trolly—boys; ponies are now generally employed instead of boys.

(Welsh, trol, a cart; trolio, to roll or trundle, whence “to troll a catch”— i.e. to sing a catch or round.)

Trompee

Votre religion a cté trompee. You have been greatly imposed upon. Similarly, “Suprendre la religion de quelqu'un” is to deceive or impose upon one. Cardinal de Bonnechose used the former phrase in his letter to The Times respecting the Report of the OEcnumenical Council, and it puzzled the English journals, but was explained by M. Notterelle. (See The Times, January 1st, 1870.)

We use the word faith both for “credulity” and “religion”— e.g. “Your faith (credulity) has been imposed upon.” The “Catholic faith,” “Mahometan faith,” “Brahminical faith,” etc., virtually mean “religion.”

Troness, Tronis

or Trophy Money, or Trophy Tax. “A duty of fourpence [in the pound] paid annually by house—keepers or their landlords, for the drums, colours [trophies], etc., of the companies or regiments of militia.” (Dr. Scott's Bailey's Dictionary.)

Troopers

mean troopships, as “Indian troopers,” ships for the conveyance of troops to India, especially between February and October, when the annual reliefs of British forces in India are made. Similarly, whaler is a ship for whaling.

Troops of the Line

All numbered infantry or marching regiments, except the foot—guards.

Trophonios (Greek), Latin, Trophonius. He has visited the cave of Trophonius (Greek). Said of a melancholy man. The cave of Trophonius was one of the most celebrated oracles of Greece. The entrance was so narrow that he who went to consult the oracle had to lie on his back with his feet towards the cave, whereupon he was caught by some unseen force and violently pulled inside the cave. After remaining there a time, he was driven out in similar fashion, and looked most ghastly pale and terrified; hence the proverb.

Troubadours

(3 syl.). Minstrels of the south of France in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries; so called from the Provencal verb troubar (to invent). Our word poet signifies exactly the same thing, being the Greek for “create.” (See Trouvères .)

Trouble

means a moral whirlwind. (Latin, turbo, a whirlwind; Italian, tur&bgrave;are; French, troubler.) Disturb is from the same root. The idea pervades all such words as agitation, commotion, vexation, a tossing up and down, etc.

Trouillogan's Advice

Do and do not; yes and no. When Pantagruel asked the philosopher Trouillogan whether Panurge should marry or not, the philosopher replied “Yes.” “What say you?” asked the prince.

“What you have heard,” answered Trouillogan. “What have I heard,” said Pantagruel. “What I have spoken,” rejoined the sage. “Good,” said the prince; “but tell me plainly, shall Panurge marry or let it alone?”

“Neither,” answered the oracle. “How?” said the prince; “that cannot be.” “Then both,” said Trouillogan.

(Rabelais: Gargantua and Pantagruel, iii. 35.)

Trout

is the Latin troct—a, from the Greek troktes, the greedy fish (trogo, to eat). The trout is very voracious, and will devour any kind of animal food.

“[Roland] was ... engaged in a keen and animated discussion about Lochleven trout and sea trout, and river trout, and bull trout, and char which never rise to the fly, and par which some suppose [to be] infant sahnon, and herlings which frequent the Nith, and vendisses which are only found in the castle loch of Lochmaben.”— Sir W. Scott: The Abbot, chap. xxii.

Trouveres

(2 syl.) were the troubadours of the north of France, in the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries. So called from trouver, the Walloon verb meaning “to invent.” (See Troubadours .)

Trovatore

(Il) (4 syl.). Manrico, the son of Garzia, brother of the Comte di Luna. Verdi's opera so called is taken from the drama of Gargia Guttierez, which is laid in the fifteenth century. Trovatore means a troubadour.

Trows

Dwarfs of Orkney and Shetland mythology, similar to the Scandinavian Trolls. There are land—trows and sea—trows. “Trow tak' thee” is a phrase still used by the island women when angry with their children.

Troxartas

[bread—cater ]. King of the mice and father of Psycarpax, who was drowned.

“Fix their council ...

Where great Troxartas crowned in glory reigns ... Psycarpax' father, father now no more"'

Parnell: Battle of the Frogs and Mice, bk. i.

Troy—Novant

(London). This name gave rise to the tradition that Brute, a Trojan refugee, founded London and called it New Troy; but the word is British, and compounded of Tri—nouhant (inhabitants of the new town). Civitas Trinobantum, the city of the Trinobantes, which we might render “Newtownsmen.”

“For noble Britons sprong from Trojans bold,

And Troy—novant was built of old Troyes ashes cold.” spenser: Faerie Queene, iii. 9.

Troy—town

has no connection with the Homeric “Troy,” but means a maze, labyrinth, or bower. (Welsh troi, to turn; troedle, a trodden place [? street], whence the archaic trode, a path or track; Anglo—Saxon thraw—an, to twist or turn.) There are numerous Troys and Troy—towns in Great Britain and North America. The upper garden of Kensington Palace was called “the siege of Troy.”

A Troy—town is about equivalent to “Julian's Bower,” mentioned in Halliwell's Archaic Dictionary.

Troy Weight

means “London weight.” London used to be called Troy—novant. (See above.) The general notion that the word is from Troyes, a town of France, and that the weight was brought to Europe from Grand Cairo by crusaders, is wholly untenable, as the term Troy Weight was used in England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. Troy weight is old London weight, and Avoirdupois the weight brought over by the Normans. (See Avoirdupois .)

Truce of God

In 1040 the Church forbade the barons to make any attack on each other between sunset on Wednesday and sunrise on the following Monday, or upon any ecclesiastical fast or feast day. It also provided that no man was to molest a labourer working in the fields, or to lay hands on any implement of husbandry, on pain of excommunication. (See Peace Of God .)

Truces

Faithless and fatal truces.

The Emperor Antonius Caracalla destroyed the citizens of Alexandria, at one time, and at another cut off the attendants of Artabanus, King of Persia, under colour of marrying his daughter.

Jacob's children destroyed the Shechemites to avenge the rape of Dinah. Gallienus, the Roman Emperor, put to death the military men in Constantinople. Antonius, under colour of friendship, enticed Artavasdes of Armenia; then, binding him in heavy chains, put him to death.

Truchuela

A very small trout with which Don Quixote was regaled at the road—side inn where he was dubbed knight. (Cervante: Don Quixote, bk. i. chap. ii.)

True Blue

— that is, “Coventry blue,” noted for its fast dye. An epithet applied to a person of inflexible honesty and fidelity.

True—lovers' Knot

is the Danish trolovelses knort, “a betrothment bond,” not a compound of true and lover. Thus in the Icelandic Gospel the phrase, “a virgin espoused to a man,” is, er trulofad var cinum mannë.

“Three times a true—love's knot I tie secure;

Firm be the knot, firm may his love endure.”

Gay's Pastorals: The Spell.

True as Touch

The reference is to gold tested by the touchstone (q.v.).

“If thou lovest me too much

It will not prove as true as touch.”

Love me Little, Love me Long (1570).

True Thomas and the Queen of Elfland

An old romance in verse by Thomas the Rhymer.

True Thomas. Thomas the Rhymer was so called from his prophecies, the most noted of which was the prediction of the death of Alexander III. of Scotland, made to the Earl of March in the Castle of Dunbar the day before it occurred. It is recorded in the Scotichronicon of Fordun. (1430.) (See Rhymer.)

Truepenny Hamlet says to the Ghost, “Art thou there, Truepenny?” Then to his comrades, “You hear this fellow in the cellarage?” (i. 5). And again, “Well said, old mole; canst work?” Truepenny means carth—borer or mole (Greek, trupanon, trupao, to bore or perforate), an excellent word to apply to a ghost “boring through the cellarage” to get to the place of purgatory before cock—crow. Miners use the word for a run of metal or metallic earth, which indicates the presence and direction of a lode.

Trulli

Female spirits noted for their kindness to men. (Randle Holms: Academy of Armory.)

Trump

To trump up. To devise or make up falsely; to concoct.

Trump Card

The French carte de triomphe (card of triumph).

Trumpet

To trumpet one's good deeds. The allusion is to the Pharisaic sect called the Almsgivers, who had a trumpet sounded before them, ostensibly to summon the poor together, but in reality to publish abroad their abnegation and benevolence.

You sound your own trumpet. The allusion is to heralds, who used to announce with a flourish of trumpets the knights who entered a list.

Trumpeter

Your trumpeter is dead — i.e. you are obliged to sound your own praises because no one will do it for you.

Trumpets

(Feast of). A Jewish festival, held on the first two days of Tisri, the beginning of the ecclesiastical year.

Trundle

A military earthwork above Goodwood. The area is about two furlongs. It has a double vallum. The situations of the portæ are still to be traced in the east, west, and north. The fortifications of the ancient Britons being circular, it is probable that the Trundle is British. The fortified encampments of the Romans were square; examples may be seen at the Broyle, near Chichester, and on Ditching Hill.

Truss his Points

(To). To tie the points of hose. The points were the cords pointed with metal, like

shoe—laces, attached to doublets and hose; being very numerous, some second person was required to “truss” them or fasten them properly.

“I hear the gull [Sir Piercie] clamorous for someone to truss his points. He will find himself fortunate if he lights on anyone here who can do him the office of groom of the chamber.”— Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chap. xvi.

Trusts

The combinations called rings or corners in the commercial world. The chief merchants of an article (say sugar, salt, or flour) combine to fix the selling price of a given article and thus secure enormous profits. These enterprises are technically called “trusts,” because each of the merchants is on trust not to undersell the others, but to remain faithful to the terms agreed on.

Truth

Pilate said, “What is truth?” This was the great question of the Platonists. Plato said we could know truth if we could sublimate our minds to their original purity. Arcesilaos said that man's understanding is not capable of knowing what truth is. Carneades maintained that not only our understanding could not comprehend it, but even our senses are wholly inadequate to help us in the investigation. Gorgias the Sophist said, “What is right but what we prove to be right? and what is truth but what we believe to be truth?”

Truth in a Well

This expression is attributed both to Cleanthes and to Democritos the derider.

“Naturam accusa, quæ in profundo veritatem (ut ait Democritus) peuitus abstruserit.”— Cicero: Academics, i. 10.

Tryanon

Daughter of the fairy king who lived on the island of Oléron. “She was as white as lily in May,” and married Sir Launfal, King Arthur's steward, whom she carried off to “Oliroun her jolif isle,” and, as the romance says—

“Since saw him in this land no man,

Ne no more of him tell I n'can

For soothë without lie.”

Thomas Chestre: Sir Launfal (15th century).

Trygon

A poisonous fish. It is said that Telegonos, son of Ulysses by Circe, coming to Ithaca to see his father was denied admission by the servants; whereupon a quarrel ensued, and his father, coming out to see what was the matter, was accidentally struck with his son's arrow, pointed with the bone of a trygon, and died.

“The lord of Ithaca.

Struck by the poisonous trygon's bone, expired.” West: Triumphs of the Gout (Lucian).

Tsin Dynasty

The fourth Imperial Dynasty of China, founded by Tchaosiang—wâng, prince of Tsin, who conquered the “fighting kings” (q.v.). He built the Wall of China (B.C. 211).

Tsong Dynasty

The nineteenth Imperial Dynasty of China, founded by Tchao—quang—yn, the guardian and chief minister of Yông—tee. He was a descendant of Tchuang—tsong, the Tartar general, and on taking the yellow robe assumed the name of Taë—tsou (great ancestor). This dynasty, which lasted 300 years, was one of the most famous in Chinese annals. (960—1276.)

Tu Autem

Come to the last clause. In the long Latin grace at St. John's College, Cambridge, the last clause used to be “Tu autem miscrere mei, Domine, Amen.” It was not unusual, when a scholar read slowly, for the senior Fellow to whisper “Tu autem” — i.e. Skip all the rest and give us only the last sentence.

Tu l'as Voulu, George Dandin

(`Tis your own fault, George Dandin). You brought this upon yourself; as you have made your bed so you must lie on it. (See Dandin .)

Tu Quoque

The tu quoque style of argument. Personal invectives; argument of personal application; ad hominem.

“We miss in this work his usual tu quoque style.”— Public Opinion.

Tu—ral—lu

the refrain of comic songs, is a corruption of the Italian turluru, and the French turlureau or turelure. “Loure” is an old French word for a bagpipe, and “toure loure” means a refrain on the bagpipe. The refrain of a French song published in 1697 is—

“Toure loure, lourirette

Lironfa, toure lourira.”

Saite du Théátre Italien, iii. p. 453.

Tub

A tale of a tub. A cock—and—bull story; a rigmarole, nonsensical romance. The Tale of a Tub is a religious satire by Dean Swift.

Throw a tub to the whale. To create a diversion in order to avoid a real danger; to bamboozle or mislead an enemy. In whaling, when a ship is threatened by a whole school of whales, it is usual to throw a tub into the sea to divert their attention, and to make off as fast as possible.

A tub of naked children. Emblematical of St. Nicholas, in allusion to two boys murdered and placed in a pickling tub by a landlord, but raised to life again by this saint. (See Nicholas.)

Tub, Tubbing

Tubs, in rowing slang, are gig pairs of college boat clubs, who practice for the term's races. They are pulled on one side when a pair—oar boat in uniform makes its appearance. Tubbing is taking out pairs under the supervision of a coach to train men for taking part in the races.

Tub—woman

(A). A drawer of beer at a country public—house.

“The common people had always a tradition that the queen's [Anne] grandmother ... had been a washerwoman, or, as Cardinal York asserted, a tub—woman— that is, a drawer of beer at a country publichouse.”— Howell: History of England; Anne, p. 171.

Tuba

[ happiness ]. A tree of Paradise, of gigantic proportions, whose branches stretch out to those who wish to gather their produce; not only all luscious fruits, but even the flesh of birds already cooked, green garments, and even horses ready saddled and bridled. From the root of this tree spring the rivers of Paradise, flowing with milk and honey, wine and water, and from the banks of which may be picked up inestimable gems.

Tuck

A long narrow sword. (Gaelic, tuca ,] Welsh twca, Italian stocco, German stock, French estoc.) In Hamlet the word is erroneously printed “stuck,” in Malone's edition.

“If he by chance escape your venomous tue

Our purpose may hold there.” Act iv. 9

A good tuck in or tuck out. A good feed. To tuck is to full, a tucker is a fuller. Hence, to cram. The fold of a dress to allow for growth is called a tuck, and a little frill on the top thereof is called a tucker. (Anglo—Saxon, tuc—ian.

I'll tuck him up. Stab him, do for him. Tuck is a small dirk used by artillerymen. (See above.

Tucker

Food. “A tuck in,” a cram of food. (See above.)

“ `No,' said Palliser, `we've no food.' `By Jove!' said the other, `Ill search creation for tucker

to—night. Give me your gun.' ”— Watson: The Web of the Spider, chap. xii.

Tuffet

(A). A small tuft or clump. Strange that this word, so universally known, has never been introduced into our dictionaries, to the best of my knowledge.

“Little Miss Muffet

Sat on a tuffet

Eating her curds and whey ...”

Nursery Rhymes.

Tuft

A nobleman or fellow commoner. So called at Oxford because he wears a gold tuft or tassel on his college cap.

Tuft—hunter

A nobleman's toady; one who tries to curry favour with the wealthy and great for the sake of feeding on the crumbs which fall from the rich man's table. A University term. (See above.)

Tug

A name by which collegers are known at Eton. Either from tog (the gown worn in distinction to Oppidans), or from “tough mutton. “

“A name in college handed down

From mutton tough or ancient gown.”

The World, February 17, 1893 (p. 31).

Tug of War

(The), a rural sport, in which a number of men or boys, divided into two bands, lay hold of a strong rope and pull against each other till one side has tugged the other over the dividing line.

Tuileries

(Paris) [tile—kilns ]. The palace was on the site of some old tile—kilns. (See Sablonnière .)

Tulcan Bishops

Certain Scotch bishops appointed by James I., with the distinct understanding that they were to hand over a fixed portion of the revenue to the patron. A tulcan is a stuffed calfskin, placed under a cow that withholds her milk. The cow, thinking the “tulcan” to be her calf, readily yields her milk to the milk—pail.

Tulip

The turban plant; Persian, thoulyb (thoulyban, a turban), by which name the flower is called in Persia. My tulip. A term of endearment to animals, as “Gee up, my tulip!” or “Kim up, my tulip!” Perhaps a pun suggested by the word tool. A donkey is a costermonger's tool.

Tulip Mania

A reckless mania for the purchase of tulip—bulbs in the seventeenth century. Beckmann says it rose to its greatest height in the years 1634—1637. A root of the species called Viceroy sold for 250; Semper Augustus, more than double that sum. The tulips were grown in Holland, but the mania which spread over Europe was a mere stock—jobbing speculation.

Tumbledown Dick

Anything that will not stand firmly. Dick is Richard, the Protector's son, who was but a tottering wall at best.

Tun

Any vessel, even a goblet or cup. (Anglo—Saxon tunne.)

“Tun, such a cup as jugglers use to show divers tricks by.”— Minshou: Spanish Dictionary.

Tunding

A thrashing with ashen sticks given to a school—fellow by one of the monitors or “praefects” of Winchester school, for breach of discipline. (Latin tundo, to beat or bruise.)

Tune the Old Cow Died of

(The). Advice instead of relief; remonstrance instead of help. As St. James says

(ii. 15, 16), “If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say to them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” Your words are the tune the old cow died of. The reference is to the well—known song—

“There was an old man, and he had an old cow,

But he had no fodder to give her,

So he took up his fiddle and played her the tune— `Consider, good cow, consider,

This isn't the time for the grass to grow.

Consider, good cow, consider.' “

Tuneful Nine

The nine Muses: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history ), Erato (elegy and lyric poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia (sacred song), Terpsichore (dancing), Thali'a (comedy), Urania (astronomy).

Tuning Goose

The entertainment given in Yorkshire when the corn at harvest was all safely stacked.

Tunisian

The adjective form of Tunis.

Tunkers

A politico—religious sect of Ohio. They came from a small German village on the Eder. They believe all will be saved; are Quakers in plainness of dress and speech; and will neither fight, nor go to law. Both sexes are equally eligible for any office. Celibacy is the highest honour, but not imperative. They are also called Tumblers, and incorrectly Dunkers. Tunker means “to dip a morsel into gravy,” “a sop into wine,” and as they are Baptists this term has been given them; but they call themselves “the harmless people.” (W. Hepworth Dixon: New America, ii. 18.)

Turcaret

One who has become rich by hook or by crook, and, having nothing else to display, makes a great display of his wealth. A chevalier in Le Sage's comedy of the same name.

Tureen'

A deep pan for holding soup. (French, terrine, a pan made of terre, earth.)

Turf

(The). The racecourse; the profession of horse—racing, which is done on turf or grass. One who lives by the turf, or whose means of living is derived from running horses or betting on races.

“All men are equal on the turf and under it.”— Lord George Bentinck.

Turk

Slave, villain. A term of reproach used by the Greeks of Constantinople.

You young Turk, a playful reprimand to a young mischievous child.

Turk Gregory

Gregory VII., called Hildebrand, a furious Churchman, who surmounted every obstacle to deprive the emperor of his right of investiture of bishops. He was exceedingly disliked by the early reformers.

“Turk Gregory never did such deeds in arms as I have done this day.”— 1 Henry IV., v. 3.

Turkey

The bird with a red wattle. A native of America, at one time supposed to have come from Turkey.

Turkish Spy

was written by John Paul Marana, an Italian, who had been imprisoned for conspiracy. After his release he retired to Monaco, where he wrote the History of the Plot. Subsequently he removed to Paris, and produced his Turkish Spy, in which he gives the history of the last age.

Turlupin

a punster or farceur, with turlupinade, and the verb turlupiner. It was usual in the 17th century for

play—writers in Italy and France to change their names. Thus Le Grand called himself Belleville in tragedy, and Turlupin in farce; Hugues Guéret took the name of Fléchelles; and Jean Baptiste Poquelin called himself Moliere, but there was a Molière before him who wrote plays.

Turmeric

like berberry, being yellow, was supposed to cure the yellow jaundice. According to the doctrine of signatures, Nature labels every plant with a mark to show what it is good for. Red plants are good for fever, white ones for rigor. Hence the red rose is supposed to cure haemorrhage. (See Thistles .)

Turncoat

As the dominions of the duke of Saxony were bounded in part by France, one of the early dukes hit upon the device of a coat blue one side, and white the other. When he wished to be thought in the French interest he wore the white outside; otherwise the outside colour was blue. Whence a Saxon was nicknamed Emmanuel Turncoat. (Scots' Magazine, October, 1747.)

Without going to history, we have a very palpable etymon in the French tourne—côte (turn—side). (See Coat.)

Turning the Tables (See under Tables .)

Turnip—Garden

(The). So called by the Jacobites. George II. was called the “Turnip—hougher” [hoer], and his hiring of troops was spoken of as “selling the turnips,” or “trying to sell his roots.” Hanover at the time was eminently a pastoral country.

Turnip Townsend

The brother—in—law of Sir Robert Walpole, who, after his retirement from office in 1731, devoted himself to the improvement of agriculture.

Turnspit Dog

One who has all the work but none of the profit; he turns the spit but eats not of the roast. The allusion is to the dog used formerly to turn the spit in roasting. Topsel says, “They go into a wheel, which they turn round about with the weight of their bodies, so dilligently ... that no drudge ... can do the feate more cunningly.” (1697.)

Turpin

Archbishop of Rheims. A mythological contemporary of Charlemagne. His chronicle is supposed to be written at Vienne, in Dauphiny, whence it is addressed to Leoprandus, Dean of

Aquisgranensis(Aix—la—Chapelle). It was not really written till the end of the eleventh century, and the probable author was a canon of Barcelona.

The romance turns on the expedition of Charlemagne to Spain in 777, to defend one of his allies from the aggressions of some neighbouring prince. Having conquered Navarre and Aragon, he returned to France. The chronicle says he invested Pampeluna for three months without being able to take it; he then tried what prayer could do, and the walls fell down of their own accord, like those of Jericho. Those Saracens who consented to become Christians were spared; the rest were put to the sword. Charlemagne then visited the sarcophagus of James, and Turpin baptised most of the neighbourhood. The king crossed the Pyrenees, but the rear commanded by Roland was attacked by 50,000 Saracens, and none escaped.

Turtle Doves

Rhyming slang for a pair of gloves. (See Chivy .)

Tussle

A struggle, a skirmish. A corruption of tousle (German, zausen, to pull); hence a dog is named Towser (pull 'em down). In the Winter's Tale (iv. 4.), Autolyeus says to the Shepherd, “I toze from thee thy business” (pump or draw out of thee). In Measure for Measure, Escalus says to the Duke, “We'll touze thee joint by joint” (v. 1.).

Tut

A word used in Lincolnshire for a phantom, as the Spittal Hill Tut. Tom Tut will get you is a threat to frighten children. Tut—gotten is panic—struck. Our tush is derived from the word tut.

Tutivillus

The demon who collects all the words skipped over or mutilated by priests in the performance of the services. These literary scraps or shreds he deposits in that pit which is said to be paved with “good intentions” never brought to effect. (Piers Plowman, p. 547; Townley Mysteries, pp. 310, 319; etc.).

Twa Dogs

of Robert Burns, perhaps suggested by the Spanish Colloguio de Dos Perros, by Cervantes.

Twangdillo

the fiddler, lost one leg and one eye by a stroke of lightning on the banks of the Ister.

“Yet still the merry bard without regret

Bears his own ills, and with his sounding shell And comic phiz relleves his dropping friends. He tickles every string, to every note

He bends his pliant neck, his single eye

Twinkles with joy, his active stump bears time.”

Somerville: Hobbinol.

Tweeds

Checked cloths for trousers, etc. The origin of this name is supposed to have been a blunder for

“tweels,” somewhat blotted and badly written in 1829. The Scotch manufacturer sent a consignment of these goods to James Locke, of London, who misread the word, and as they were made on the banks of the Tweed, the name was appropriated and accordingly adopted.

However, the Anglo—Saxon twaed (duplex), which gave rise to tweddlin (cloth that is tweeled), and twedden sheets, is more likely to have given rise to the word. In fact, tweels and tweddles both mean cloth in which the woof crosses the warp vertically.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

“Some say compared to Bononcini

That mynbeer Handel's but a ninny;

Others aver that he to Handel

Is scarcely $$$ to hold a candle.

Strange all this difference should be 'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”

J. Byrom.

This refers to the feud between the Bononcinists and Handelists. The Duke of Marlborough and most of the nobility took Bononcini by the hand; but the Prince of Wales, with Pope and Arbuthnot, was for Handel. (See Gluckists.)

Twelfth

(The), the 12th of August. The first day of grouse—shooting.

Twelfth Cake

The drawing for king and queen is a relíc of the Roman Saturnalia. At the close of this festival the Roman children drew lots with beans to see who would be king. Twelfth Day is twelve days after Christmas, or the Epiphany.

Twelfth Night

(Shakespeare). The serious plot is taken from Belleforest's Histories Tragiques. The comic parts are of Shakespeare's own invention. (See Befana .)

Twelve

Each English archer carries twelve Scotchmen under his girdle. This was a common saying at one time, because the English were unerring archers, and each archer carried in his belt twelve arrows (Sir Walter Scott: Tales of a Grandfather, vii.).

The Twelve. All the prelates of the Roman Catholic Church. Of course the Twelve Apostles.

“The Pope identifies himself with the `Master' and addresses those 700 prelates as the `Twelve.' ”— The Times, December 11, 1869.

Twelve Tables

The earliest code of Roman law, compiled by the Decemviri, and cut on twelve bronze tables or tablets (Livy, iii. 57; Diodorus, xii. 56.)

Twickenham

The Bard of Twickenham. Alexander Pope, who lived there for thirty years. (1688—1744.)

Twig

I twig you; do you twig my meaning? I catch your meaning; I understand. (Irish, twigim, I notice.)

Twinkling

(See Bed—Post .)

Twins

One of the signs of the constellation (May 21st to June 21st).

“When now no more the alternate twins are fired,

Short is the doubtful empire of the night.”

Thomson: Summer.

Twist

(Oliver). A boy born in a workhouse, starved and ill—treated; but always gentle, amiable, and pureminded. Dickens's novel so called.

Twisting the Lion's Tail

Seeing how far the “Britishers” will bear provocation. “To give the lion's tail another twist” is to tax the British forbearance a little further. No doubt the kingdom is averse to war with civilised nations, and will put up with a deal rather than apply to the arbitration of arms. Even victory may be bought too dearly. Such provocation may provoke a growl, but there will the matter end.

Twitcher

Jemmy Twitcher. A name given to John, Lord Sandwich (1718—1792), noted for his liaison with Miss Ray, who was shot by the Rev. “Captain” Hackman out of jealousy. His lordship's shambling gait is memorialised in the Heroic Epistle.

“See Jemmy Twitcher shambles— stop, stop thief!”

Twitten

A narrow alley.

Two

The evil principle of Pythagoras. Accordingly the second day of the second month of the year was sacred to Pluto, and was esteemed unlucky.

Two an unlucky number in our dynasties. Witness Ethelred II. the Unready, forced to abdicate; Harold II., slain at Hastings; William II., shot in New Forest; Henry II., who had to fight for his crown, etc.; Edward II., murdered at Berkeley Castle; Richard II., deposed; Charles II., driven into exile; James II., forced to abdicate; George II. was worsted at Fontenoy and Law—feld, his reign was troubled by civil war, and disgraced by General Braddock and Admiral Byng.

It does not seem much more lucky abroad: Charles II. of France, after a most unhappy reign, died of poison; Charles II. of Navarre was called The Bad; Charles II. of Spain ended his dynasty, and left his kingdom a wreck; Charles II. of Anjou (le Boiteux) passed almost the whole of his life in captivity; Charles II. of Savoy reigned only nine months, and died at the age of eight.

Francois II. of France was peculiarly unhappy, and after reigning less than two years, sickened and died; Nepoleon II. never reigned at all, and Nepoleon III., really the second emperor, was á most disastrous prince;

Franz II. of Germany lost all his Rhine possessions, and in 1806 had to renounce his title of emperor. Friedrich II., Emperor of Germany, was first anathematised, then excommunicated, then dethroned, and lastly poisoned.

Jean II. of France, being conquered at Poitiers, was brought captive to England by the Black Prince; Juan II. of Aragon had to contend for his crown with his own son Carlos.

It was Felipe II. of Spain who sent against England the “Invincible Armada”; it was Francesco II. of the Two Sicilies who was driven from his throne by Garibaldi; it was Romulus II. in whom terminated the empire of the West; Peter II. of Russia died at the age of fifteen, and he was a disgrace to the name of Menschikoff; Pietro II. de Medicis was forced to abdicate, and died of shipwreck; James II. of Scotland was shot by a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh; James II. of Majorca, after losing his dominions, was murdered. Alexander

II. of Scotland had his kingdom laid under an interdict; Alexander II., the Pope, had to contend against Honorius II., the anti—pope; Alexis II., Emperor of the East, was placed under the ward of his father and mother, who so disgusted the nation by their cruelty that the boy was first dethroned and then strangled; Andronicus II., Emperor of Greece, was dethroned; Henri II. of France made the disastrous peace called La Paix Malheureuse, and was killed by Montgomery in a tournament; etc. etc (See Jane and John.)

Two Eyes of Greece

Athens and Sparta.

Two Fridays

When two Fridays come together. Never (q.v.).

Two Gentlemen of Verona

The story of Proteus and Julia was borrowed from the pastoral romance of Diana, by George of Montemayor, a Spaniard, translated into English by Bartholomew Younge in 1598. The love adventure of Julia resembles that of Viola, in Twelfth Night.

Two Strings to his Bow

(He has). He is provided against contingencies; if one business or adventure should fail, he has another in reserve; two sweethearts; two devices, etc.

Latin: “Duabus anchoris nititur” (i.e. “He is doubly moored"), or “Duabus anchoris sis fultus.” Greek: “E.”

French: “Il a deux cordes a son arc.” Italian: “Navigar per piu venti.”

Two of a Trade never agree

The French say, Fin contre fin n'est bon à faire doublure— i.e. Two materials of the same nature never unite well together.

“Een a beggar sees with woe

A beggar to the house—door go.”

Greek: “Kai ptohos ptoho phthonei.” (Hesiod. Latin: “Etiam mendicus mendico invidit.” “Figulus figulo invidet, faber fabro” (“Potter envies potter, and smith smith").

Twopenny Dam

(A). A dám was an Indian coin and weight. Originally a gold mohur contained sixteen dáms; a punchee was = the quarter of a dam, and a bárahgáni = half a punchee. Putting this in a tabular form, it would be thus:—

2 bárahgánis = 1 punchee.

4 punchees = 1 dam (worth in its diminished value about 2 pence).

16 dams = 1 gold mohur.

Tybalt

A Capulet; a “fiery” young noble. (Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.) It is the name given to the cat in the story of Reynard the Fox. Hence Mercutio says, “Tybalt, you rat—catcher, will you walk?” (iii. 1); and again, when Tybalt asks, “What wouldst thou have with me?”

Mercutio answers, “Good king of cats! nothing but one of your nine lives” (iii. 1).

Tyburn

is Twa—burne, the “two rivulets;” so called because two small rivers met in this locality.

Tyburn's triple tree. A gallows, which consists of two uprights and a beam resting on them. Previous to 1783 Tyburn was the chief place of execution in London, and a gallows was permanently erected there. In the reign of Henry VIII. the average number of persons executed annually in England was 2,000. The present number is under twelve.

Kings of Tyburn. Public executioners. (See Hangmen.)

Tyburn Ticket

Under a statute of William III. prosecutors who had secured a capital conviction against a criminal were exempted from all parish and ward offices within the parish in which the felony had been committed. Such persons obtained a Tyburn Ticket, which was duly enrolled and might be sold. The Stamford Mercury (March 27th, 1818) announces the sale of one of these tickets for 280. The Act was repealed by 58 Geo. III., c. 70.

Tyburnia

(London). Portman and Grosvenor Squares district, described by Thackeray as “the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia, the most respectable district of the habitable globe.”

T'Year

— i.e. to—year; as, to—day, to—night, to—morrow. (Anglo—Saxon, to—doege, to—geare.)

Tyke

(See Tike .)

Tyler Insurrection

Wat Tyler's insurrection. An insurrection headed by Wat Tyler and Jack Straw, in consequence of a poll—tax of three groats to defray the expenses of a war with France. (1381.)

Tylwyth Teg

[the Fair Family ], A sort of Kobold family, but not of diminutive size. They lived in the lako near Brecknock. (Davies: Mythology, etc., of the British Druids.)

Type

Piea (large type), litera picata, the great black letter at the beginning of some new order in the liturgy. Brevier' (small type), used in printing the breviary.

Primer, now called “long primer,” (small type), used in printing small prayer—books called primers.

A fount of types. A complete assortment contains 1,117,000 pieces of type.

a 8,500 h 6,400 o 8,000 v 1,200

b 1,600 i 8,000 p 1,700 w 2,000

c 3,000 j 400 q 500 x 400

d 4,100 k 800 r 6,200 y 2,000

e 12,000 l 4,000 s 8,000 z 200

f 2,500 m 3,000 t 9,000 ,4,500 ;800

g 1,700 n 8,000 u 3,400 .2,000 ;600

Typhoeus

A giant with a hundred heads, fearful eyes, and a most terrible voice. He was the father of the Harpies. Zeus [Zucc ] killed him with a thunderbolt, and he lies buried under Mount Etna. (Hesiod: Theogony.) (See Giants .)

Typhon

Son of Typhoeus, the giant with a hundred heads. He was so tall that he touched the skies with his head. His offspring were Gorgon, Geryon, Cerberus, and the hydra of Lerne. Like Ins father, he lies buried under Etna. (Homer: Hymns.) (See Giants .)

Typhoon' The evil genius of Egyptian mythology; also a furious whirling wind in the Chinese seas. (Typhoon or typhon, the whirling wind, is really the Chinese t'ai—fun [the great wind].)

“Beneath the radiant line that girts the globe,

The circling Typhon, whirled from point to point. Exhausting all the rage of all the sky,

And dire Eenephia, reign.”

Thomson: Summer.

Tyr

Son of Odin, and younger brother of Thor. The wolf Fenrir bit off his hand. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Tyrant

did not originally mean a despot, but an absolute prince, and especially one who made himself absolute in a free state. Napoleon III. would have been so called by the ancient Greeks. Many of the Greek tyrants were pattern rulers, as Pisistratos and Pericles, of Athens; Periander, of Corinth; Dionysios the Younger, Gelon, and his brother Hiero, of Syracuse; Polycrates, of Samos; Phidion, of Argos, etc. etc. (Greek, turannos, an absolute king, like the Czar of Russia.)

Tyrant of the Chersonese. Miltiade was so called, and yet was he, as Byron says, “Freedom's best and bravest friend.” (See Thirty Tyrants.)

A tyrant's vein. A ranting, bullying manner. In the old moralities the tyrants were made to rant, and the loudness of their rant was proportionate to the villainy of their dispositions. Hence to out—Herod Herod is to rant more loudly than Herod; to o'erdo Termagant is to rant more loudly than Termagant. (See Pilate, Voice.)

Tyre

in Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel, means Holland; Egypt means France.

“I mourn, my countrymen, your lost estate ...

Now all your liberties a spoil are made.

Egypt and Tyrus intercept your trade.”

Part i. 700—707.

Tyrtæus

The Spanish Tyrtæus. Manuel José Quintana, whose odes otimulated the Spaniards to vindicate their liberty at the outbreak of the War of Independence. (1772—1857.)