Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
E. Cobham Brewer From The Edition Of 1894
the twenty-first letter of the modern Latin alphabet.
U was originally a positional variant of the letter V, as J was of I, used only in lower-case writing and only medially, and representing both the vowels now written with U and the consonants now written with V. The use of the two forms to distinguish the consonants and vowels which they now represent was not standardised until modern times.
Ubeda
Orbaneia, painter of Ubeda, sometimes painted a cock so preposterously designed that he was obliged to write under it, “This is a cock.” (Cervantes: Don Quixote, pt. ii. bk. i. 3.)
Udal Tenure
The same as “allodial tenure,” the opposite of “feudal tenure.” Feudal tenure is the holding of a tenement of land under a feudal lord. Udal tenure is a sort of freehold, held by the right of long possession.
(Icelandic, othal, allodial.)
Ugly
means hag—like. Mr. Dyer derives it from ouph—lie, like an ough or goblin. The Welsh hagr, ugly, would rather point to hag—lie, like a hag; but we need only go to the Old English verb ugge, to feel an abhorrence of, to stand in fear of. (Icelandic, uggligr, uggr, horror.)
“For tha paynes are so felle and harde ...
That ilk man may ugge bothe yhowng and awlde.” Hampole, M.S. Bowes, p. 189.
Ugly
(See Pierre du Coignet.)
Ugly as Sin
“Sin is a creature of such hideous mien
That to be hated needs but to be seen.”
Pope.
Ugolino
Count of Pisa, deserted his party the Ghibellines, and with the hope of usurping supreme power in Pisa formed an alliance with Giovanni Visconti, the head of the Guelphic party, who promised to supply him secretly with soldiers from Sardinia. The plot was found out, and both were banished. Giovanni died, but the latter joined the Florentines, and forced the Pisans to restore his territories. In 1284 Genoa made war against Pisa, and Count Ugolino treacherously deserted the Pisans, causing their total overthrow. At length a conspiracy was formed against him, and in 1288 he was cast with his two sons and two grandsons into the tower of Gualandi, where they were all starved to death. Dante, in his Inferno, has given the sad tale an undying interest.
N.B. Count Ugolino was one of the noble family of Gheradesca, and should be styled Ugolino Count of Gheradesca.
Uhlan
(German). A horse—soldier chiefly employed in reconnoitering, skirmishing, and outpost duty.
Ukase
(2 syl.). A Russian term for an edict either proceeding from the senate or direct from the emperor. (Russian, ukaza, an edict.)
Ul—Erin
“The Guide of Ireland.” A star supposed to be the guardian of that island. (Ossian: Temora, iv.)
Ulania
Queen of Perduta or Islanda, sent a golden shield to Charlemagne, which he was to give to his bravest paladin. Whoever could win the shield from this paladin was to claim the hand of Ulania in marriage.
(Orlando Furioso, bk. xv.)
Ulema
In Turkey, either a member of the college or the college itself. The Ulema consists of the imaums, muftis, and cadis (ministers of religion, doctors of law, and administrators of justice). “Ulema” is the plural of ulim, a wise man.
“The Ulema is not an ecclesiastical body, except so far as law in Mahometan countries is based on the Koran.”— Creasy: Ottoman Turks, vi. 105.
Uller
The god of archery and the chase. No one could outstrip him in his snow—shoes. (Scandinavian mythology.)
Ullin Fingal's aged bard. (Ossian.)
Lord Ullin's Daughter. A ballad by Campbell. She eloped with the chief of Ulva's Isle, and, being pursued, induced a boatman to row them over Lochgyle during a storm. The boat was overwhelmed just as Lord Ullin and his retinue reached the lake. In an agony of distress, he now promised to forgive the fugitives, but it was too late: “the waters wild rolled o'er his child, and he was left lamenting.”
Ulric
Son of Count Siegendorf. He rescues Stralenheim from the Oder, but, being informed by his father that the man he had saved is the enemy of their house, he murders him. (Byron: Werner.)
St. Ulric. Much honoured by fishermen. He died 973 on ashes strewed in the form of a cross upon the floor.
Ulster
A long loose overcoat, worn by males and females, and originally made of frieze cloth in Ulster.
Ulster
The Red Hand of Ulster. (See under Hand , The open red hand.)
Ulster Badge
A sinister hand, erect, open, and couped at the wrist (gules ), sometimes borne in a canton, and sometimes on the escutcheon. (See under Hand as above.)
Ulster King of Arms
Chief heraldic officer of Ireland. Created by Edward VI. in 1552.
Ultima Thule
Thule or Tile is in classic sources a place, usually an island, in the far north, often Scandinavia. Ultima Thule in medieval geographers may also denote any distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world".
Ultimatum
(Latin). A final proposal, which, if not accepted, will be followed by hostile proceedings.
Ultimum Vale
(Latin). A finishing stroke, a final coup.
“Atropos, cutting off the thread of his life, gave an ultimum vale to my good fortune.”— The Seven champions of Christeudom, iii. 4.
Ultimus Romanorum
So Horace Walpole was preposterously called. (1717—1797.) (See Last Of The Romans .)
Carlyle so called Dr. Johnson, but he might, with greater propriety, be termed “the last of the Catos.” (1709—1784.)
Pope called Congreve “Ultimus Romanorum.” (1670—1729.) (See Last Of The Romans.)
Ultra Vires
Beyond their legitimate powers. Said of a company when exceeding the licence given to it by Act of Parliament. Thus if a company, which had obtained an Act of Parliament to construct a railway from London to Nottingham were to carry its rails to York, it would be acting ultra vires. If the Bank of England were to set up a mint on their premises, it would be acting ultra vires.
Ultramontane Party
The ultra—Popish party in the Church of Rome. Ultramontane opinions or tendencies are those which favour the high “Catholic" party. Ultramontane (“beyond the Alps") means Italy or the Papal States. The term was first used by the French, to distinguish those who look upon the Pope as the fountain of all power in the Church, in contradistinction to the Gallican school, which maintains the right of self—government by national churches. (See Tramontane .)
Ulysses
(3 syl.), King of Ithaca, a small rocky island of Greece. He is represented in Homer's Iliad as full of artifices, and, according to Virgil, hit upon the device of the wooden horse, by which Troy was ultimately taken. (The word means The Angry or Wrathful.)
After the fall of Troy, Ulysses was driven about by tempests for ten years before he reached home, and his adventures form the subject of Homer's other epic, called the Odyssey.
Ulysses. When Palamedes summoned Ulysses to the Trojan war, he found him in a field ploughing with a
team of strange animals, and sowing salt instead of barley. This he did to feign insanity, that he might be excused from the expedition. The incident is employed to show what meagre shifts are sometimes resorted to to shufile out of plain duties.
Ulysses
(The). Albert III., Margrave of Brandenburg. He was also called “The Achilles ” (q.v.). (1414—1486.)
The Ulysses of the Highlands. Sir Evan Cameron, lord of Lochiel, surnamed “The Black.” (Died 1719.) His son Donald was called “The Gentle Lochiel.”
Ulysses' Bow
Only Ulysses could draw his own bow, and he could shoot an arrow through twelve rings. By this sign Penelope recognised her husband after an absence of twenty years.
Ulysses' bow was prophetic. It belonged at one time to Eurytus of Echalia.
“This bow of mine sang to me of present war ... `I have heard but once of such a weapon ... the bow of Odysseus,' said the queen.”— H. Rider Haggard: The World's Desire, bk. ii. chap. i.
Uma
consort of Siva, famous for her defeat of the army of Chanda and Munda, two demons. She is represented as holding the head of Chanda in one of her four hands, and trampling on Munda. The heads of the army., strung into a necklace, adorn her body, and a girdle of the same surrounds her waist.
Umber
The paint so called was first made in Umbria, Italy.
Umble—pie
A pie made of umbles— i.e. the liver, kidneys, etc., of a deer. These “refuse” were the perquisites of the keeper, and umble—pie was a dish for servants and inferiors.
“The keeper hath the skin, head, umbles, chine, and shoulders.”— Holinshed: Chronicle, i. 204.
Umbra
Obsequious Umbra, in Garth's Dispensary, is Dr. Gould.
Umbrage
To take umbrage. To take offence. Umbrage means shade (Latin, umbra), a gloomy view.
Umbrella
Common in London in 1710. First used in Edinburgh by Dr. Spens. First used in Glasgow in 1780. Mentioned by Drayton in his Muscs Elizium (1630); but Drayton evidently refers to a sort of fan. Quarles's Emblems (1635) also uses the word to signify the Deity hidden in the manhood of Christ. “Nature is made th' umbrella of the Deity” (bk. iv. emblem 14). Drayton's lines are:
“And like umbrellas, with their feathers,
Shield you in all sorts of weathers.”
The Graphic tells us, “An umbrella is now being made in London for an African potentate which, when unfurled, will cover a space sufficient for twelve persons. The stick is ... fifteen feet long.”— March 18th, 1894, p. 270.
The Tatler, in No. 238 (October 17th, 1710), says:
“The young gentlemen belonging to the Custom House ... borrowed the umbrella from Wilk's coffee—house.”
So that umbrellas were kept on hire at that date.
Jonas Hanway (born 1712) used an umbrella in London to keep off the rain, and created a disturbance among the sedan porters and public coachmen. So that probably umbrellas were not commonly used in the streets at the time.
“The tucked—up semstress walks with hasty strides,
While streams ran down her oiled umbrella's sides.” Swift: A Eity Shower (1710).
“Or underneath thè umbrella's oily shed
Safe thro' the wet on clinking pattens tread.”
Gay: Trivia, bk. i. (1711).
Umbrella
as, under Gladstone's umbrella, means dominion, regimen, influence. The allusion is to the umbrella which, as an emblem of sovereignty, is carried over the Sultan of Morocco. In Travels of Ali Bey (Penny Magazine, December, 1835, vol. iv. 480), we are told, “The retinue of the sultan was composed of a troop of from fifteen to twenty men on horseback. About 100 steps behind them came the sultan, mounted on a mule, with an officer bearing his umbrella, who rode beside him on a mule. ... Nobody but the sultan himself [not even] his sons and brothers, dares to make use of it.”
“As a direct competitor for the throne— or, strictly speaking, for the shereeflan umbrella— he [Muley Abbas] could scarcely hope to escape.”— Nineteenth Century, August, 1892, p. 314.
In 1874 the sacred umbrella of King Koffee Kalcalli, of the Ashantees, was captured. It was placed in the South Kensington Museum.
U'na
(Truth, so called because truth is one). She starts with St. George on his adventure, and being driven by a storm into “Wandering Wood,” retires for the night to Hypocrisy's cell. St. George quits the cell, leaving Una behind. In her search for him she is caressed by a lion, who afterwards attends her. She next sleeps in the hut of Superstition, and next morning meets Hypocrisy dressed as St. George. As they journey together Sansloy meets them, exposes Hypocrisy, kills the lion, and carries off Una on his steed to a wild forest. Una fills the air with her shrieks, and is rescued by the fauns and satyrs, who attempt to worship her, but, being restrained, pay adoration to her ass. She is delivered from the satyrs and fauns by Sir Satyrane, and is told by Archimago that St. George is dead, but subsequently hears that he is the captive of Orgoglio. She goes to King Arthur for aid, and the king both slays Orgoglio and rescues the knight. Una, now takes St. George to the house of Holiness, where he is carefully nursed, and then leads him to Eden, where their union is consummated. (Spenser: Faërie Queene, bk. i.) (See Lion .)
Una Serranilla
[a little mountain song ], by Mendoza, Marquis of Santillana, godfather of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza. This song, of European celebrity, was composed on a little girl found by the marquis tending her father's flocks on the hills, and is called The Charming Milk—maiden of Sweet Finojosa.
Unaneled
(3 syl.). Unanointed; without extreme unction. (Saxon oell means “oil,” and an—oell to “anoint with oil.”)
“Unhouseled [without the last sacrament], disappointed, unaneled.”
Shakespeare: Hamlet, i. 5.
Uncas
the son of Chingachcook; called in French Le Cerf Agile (Deerfoot); introduced into three of Fenimore Cooper's novels— viz. The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, and The Pioncer.
Uncial Letters Letters an inch in size. From the fifth to the ninth century. (Latin uncia, an inch.)
Uncircumcised in Heart and Ears
(Acts vii. 51). Obstinately deaf and wilfully obdurate to the preaching of the apostle. Heathenish, and perversely so.
Uncle
Don't come the uncle over me. In Latin, “Ne sis patruus mihi ” (Horace: 2 Sat., iii. 88)— i.e. do not overdo your privilege of reproving or castigating me. The Latin notion of a patruus or uncle left guardian was that of a severe catigator and reprover. Similarly, their idea of a step—mother was a woman of stern, unsympathetic nature, who was unjust to her step—children, and was generally disliked.
“Metuentes patruae verbera linguae.”— Horace: 3 Odes. xii. 3.
Uncle
Gone to my uncle's. Uncle's is a pun on the Latin word uncus, a hook. Pawnbrokers employed a hook to lift articles pawned before spouts were adopted. “Gone to the uncus ” is exactly tantamount to the more modern phrase “Up the spout.” The pronoun was inserted to carry out the pun. In French, “C'esl chez ma tante. ” At the pawnbroker's.
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States dating from the War of 1812. Common folklore holds that his origins trace back to soldiers stationed in upstate New York, who would receive barrels of meat stamped with the initials U.S. The soldiers jokingly referred to it as the initials of the meat supplier, Uncle Samuel Wilson, of Troy, New York.
The 87th United States Congress adopted the following resolution on September 15, 1961: "Resolved by the Senate and the House of Representatives that the Congress salutes Uncle Sam Wilson of Troy, New York, as the progenitor of America's National symbol of Uncle Sam." A monument marks his birthplace in Arlington, Massachusetts.
Uncle Tom
A negro slave, noted for his fidelity, piety, and the faithful discharge of all his duties. Being sold, he has to submit to the most revolting cruelties. (Mrs. Beecher Stowe: Uncle Tom's Cabin.)
This tale was founded on the story of Josiah Henson (1787), told to Mrs. Stowe by Henson himself.
Unco
has two meanings: As an adjective it means unknown, strange, unusual; but as an adverb it means very— as unco good, unco glad, etc. The “unco guid” are the pinchbeck saints, too good by half.
“The race of the `unco guid' is not yet quite extinct in Scotland.”— A Daily Journal.
Uncumber
(St.), formerly called St. Wylgeforte. “Women changed her name” (says Sir Thomas More) “because they reken that for a pecke of otys she will not faile to uncumber them of their husbondys.” The tradition says that the saint was very beautiful, but, wishing to lead a single life, prayed that she might have a beard, after which she was no more cumbered with lovers. “For a peck of oats,” says Sir Thomas More, “she would provide a horse for an evil housebonde to ride to the Devill upon.”
“If a wife were weary of a husband, she offered oats at Poules ... to St. Uncumber.”— Michael Woode (1554).
Under—current
metaphorically means something at work which has an opposite tendency to what is visible or apparent. Thus in the Puritan supremacy there was a strong under—current of loyalty to the banished prince. Both in air and water there are frequently two currents, the upper one running in one direction, and the under one in another.
Under—spur—leather
An understapper; a subordinate; the leather strap which goes under the heel of the boot to assist in keeping the spur in the right place.
“Everett and Dangerfield ... were subordinate informers— a sort of under—spur—leathers, as the cant term went”— Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xli.
Under the Rose
[sub rosa ]. (See article Rose .)
Under Weigh The undertaking is already begun. A ship is said to be under weigh when it has drawn its anchors from their moorings, and started on its voyage.
Under which King, Bezonian?
Which horn of the dilemma is to be taken? (See Bezonian .)
Underwriter
An underwriter at Lloyds. One who insures a ship or its merchandise to a stated amount. So called because he writes his name under the policy.
Undine
(2 syl.). The water—nymph, who was created without a soul, like all others of her species. By marrying a mortal she obtained a soul, and with it all the pains and penalties of the human race. (La Motte Fouqué: Undine.)
Founded on a tale told by Paracelsus in his Treatise on Elemental Sprites. (See Fairy, Sylphs.)
Ungrateful Guest
(The). (See Guest .)
Unguem
Ad unguem. To the minutest point. To finish a statue ad unguem is to finish it so smoothly and perfectly that when the nail is run over the surface it can detect no imperfection.
Unhinged
I am quite unhinged. My nerves are shaken, my equilibrium of mind is disturbed; I am like a door which has lost one of its hinges.
Unhouselled
(3 syl.). Without having had the Eucharist in the hour of death. To housel is to administer the “sacrament” to the sick in danger of death. Housel is the Saxon husel (the Eucharist). Lye derives it from the Gothic hunsa (a victim).
U'nicorn
According to the legends of the Middle Ages, the unicorn could be caught only by placing a virgin in his haunts; upon seeing the virgin, the creature would lose its fierceness and lie quiet at her feet. This is said to be an allegory of Jesus Christ, who willingly became man and entered the Virgin's womb, when He was taken by the hunters of blood. The one horn symbolises the great Gospel doctrine—that Christ is one with God. (Guillaume, Clere de Normandie Trouvére.)
The unicorn has the legs of a buck, the tail of a lion, the head and body of a horse, and a single horn in the middle of its forehead. The horn is white at the base, black in the middle, and red at the tip. The body of the unicorn is white, the head red, and eyes blue. The oldest author that describes it is Ctesias (B.C. 400); Aristotle calls it the Wild Ass; Pliny, the Indian Ass; Lobo also describes it in his History of Abyssinia.
Unicorn. James I. substituted a unicorn, one of the supporters of the royal arms of Scotland, for the red dragon of Wales, introduced by Henry VII. Ariosto refers to the arms of Scotland thus:
“Yon lion placed two unicorns between
That rampant with a silver sword is seen.
Is for the king of Scotland's banner known.” Hoole, iii.
Unicorn. According to a belief once popular, the unicorn by dipping its horn into a liquid could detect whether or not it contained poison. In the designs for gold and silver plate made for the Emperor Rudolph II. by Ottavio Strada is a cup on which a unicorn stands as if to essay the liquid.
Driving unicorn. Two wheelers and one leader. The leader is the one horn, (Latin, unum cornu, one horn.)
Unicorns
So whale—fishers call narwhals, from the long twisted tusks, often eight feet long.
Unigenitus
(Latin, The Only—Begotten). A Papal bull, so called from its opening sentence, “Ungenitus Dei Filius. ” It was issued in condemnation of Quesnel's Réflexions Morales, which favoured Jansenism; the bull was issued in 1713 by Clement XI., and was a damnatio in globo — i.e. a condemnation of the whole book without exception. Cardinal de Noailles, Archbishop of Paris, took the side of Quesnel, and those who supported the archbishop against the pope were termed “Appelants.” In 1730 the bull was condemned by the civil authorities of Paris, and the controversy died out.
Union Jack
The national banner of Great Britain and Ireland. It consists of three united crosses— that of St. George for England, the saltire of St. Andrew for Scotland, and the cross of St. Patrick for Ireland.
In the Union Jack the white edging of St. George's cross shows the white field. In the saltire the cross is reversed on each side, showing that the other half of the cross is covered over. The broad white band is the St. Andrew's cross; the narrow white edge is the white field of St. Patrick's cross.
In regard to the word “Jack,” some say it is Jacque (James), the name of the king who united the flags, but this is not correct. Jacque is a surcoat emblazoned with St. George's cross. James I. added St. Andrew's cross, and St. Patrick's cross was added in 1801. (Jaque, our “jacket.”)
Technically described thus:
“The Union Flag shall be azure, the Crosses saltire of St. Andrew and St. Patrick quarterly per saltire counter changed, argent and gules, the latter fimbriated of the second, surmounted by the Cross of St. George of the third, fimbriated as the saltire.”— By order of the Council.
“Jaque, de l'allemand jacke, espece de petite casaque militaire qu'on portait au moyen fâge surles armes et sur la cuirasse.”— Bouillet: Dictionnaire Universel.
Union Rose
(The). The York and Lancaster, the petals of which are white and red; the white representing the white rose of the House of York, and the red representing the red rose of the House of Lancaster.
Unionists
A Whig and Radical party opposed to Home Rule in Ireland. It began in 1886, and in 1895 joined the Conservative government.
Unitarians
in England, ascribe their foundation to John Biddle (1615—1662). Milton (?), Locke, Newton, Lardner, and many other men of historic note were Unitarians.
United Kingdom
The name adopted on January 1st, 1801, when Great Britain and Ireland were united.
United States
The thirty—six states of North America composing the Federal Republic. Each state is represented in the Federal Congress by two senators, and a number of representatives proportionate to the number of inhabitants. The nickname of a United States man is “a Brother Jonathan,” and of the people in the aggregate “Brother Jonathan” (q.v.). Declared their independence July 4th, 1776.
Unities
(See Aristotelian .)
Universal Doctor
Alain de Lille (114—1203).
U'niverse
(3 syl.). According to the Peripatetics, the universe consists of eleven spheres enclosed within each other like Chinese balls. The eleventh sphere is called the empyrean or heaven of the blessed. (See Heaven .)
U'niversity First applied to collegiate societies of learning in the twelfth century, because the universitas litcraman (entire range of literature) was taught in them— i.e. arts, theology, law, and physic, still called the “learned” sciences. Greek, Latin, grammar, rhetoric, and poetry are called humanity studies, or humaniores literce, meaning “lay” studies in contradistinction to divinity, which is the study of divine things. (See Cad .)
Unknown
The Great Unknown. Sir Walter Scott. So called because the Waverley Novels were at first published anonymously. It was James Ballantyne who first applied the term to the unknown novelist.
Unlicked
or Unlicked Cub. A loutish, unmannerly youth. According to tradition, the bear cub is misshapen and imperfect till its dam has licked it into form.
Unlucky Gifts
(See Fatal Gifts .)
Unmanned
(2 syl.). A man reduced to tears. It is a term in falconry applied to a hawk not yet subservient to man, metaphorically, having lost the spirit, etc., of a man.
Unmarried Men of Note
(See Wives .)
Unmentionables
Breeches.
“Corinthians and exquisites from Bond Street, sporting an eye—glass, ... waiting—men in laced coats and plush unmentionables of yellow, green, blue, red, and all the primary colours.”— Rev. N.S. Wheauton: Journal (1830).
Unready
(The). Ethelred II.— i.e. lacking rede (counsel). (*, 978—1016.)
Unrighteous
[Adokimos ]. St. Christopher's name before baptism. It was changed to Christ—bearer because he carried over a stream a little child, who (according to tradition) proved to be Jesus Christ.
Unwashed
(2 syl.). It was Burke who first called the mob “the great unwashed,” but the term “unwashed” had been applied to them before, for Gay uses it.
“The king of late drew forth his sword (Thank God, `twas not in wrath),
And made, of many a squire and lord,
An unwashed knight of Bath.”
A Ballad on Quadrille.
Up
The House is up. The business of the day is ended, and the members may rise up from their seats and go home.
A.B. is up. A.B. is on his legs, in for a speech. “Up, Guards, and at them!” Creasy, in his Fifteen Decisive Battles, states that the Duke of Wellington gave this order in the final charge at the battle of Waterloo. It has been utterly denied by recent writers, but it is the fashion to deny or discredit all cherished traditions. I, for one, wish the tradition were true, because, like Nelson's mot at Trafalgar, it gives a memorable interest to the charge; but alas! we are informed that it was not the Guards, but the 52nd light infantry which broke the column of the French Imperial Guard in the final charge, and “honour to whom honour is due.”
Up a Tree
Shelved; nowhere; done for. A 'possum up a gum—tree. (See under Tree .)
Up the Spout
In pawn. (See Spout .)
Up to Snuff
(See Snuff .)
Up to the Hub
Hub is an archaic word for the nave of a wheel, the hilt of a weapon, or the mark aimed at in quoits. If a cart sinks in the mud up to the hub, it can sink no lower; if a man is thrust through with a sword up to the hub, the entire sword has passed through him; and if a quoit strikes the hub, it is not possible to do better. Hence the phrase means fully, entirely, as far as possible. It is not American, but archaic English. (See Hub .)
“I shouldn't commune with nobody that didn't believe in election up to the hub.”— Mrs. Stowe: Dred, vol. i. p. 311.
Up to the Mark
In good condition of health; well skilled in proposed work. “Not up to the mark” means a cup too low, or not sufficiently skilled.
Up—turning of his Glass
He felt that the hour for the up—turning of his glass was at hand. He knew that the sand of life was nearly run out, and that death was about to turn his hour—glass upside down.
Upas—tree
or Poison—tree of Macassar. Applied to anything baneful or of evil influence. The tradition is that a putrid stream rises from the tree which grows in the island of Java, and that whatever the vapour touches dies. This fable is chiefly due to Foersch, a Dutch physician, who published his narrative in 1783. “Not a tree,” he says, “nor blade of grass is to be found in the valley or surrounding mountains. Not a beast or bird, reptile or living thing, lives in the vicinity.” He adds that on “one occasion 1,600 refugees encamped within fourteen miles of it, and all but 300 died within two months.” This fable Darwin has perpetuated in his Loves of the Plants. Bennett has shown that the Dutchman's account is a mere traveller's tale, for the tree while growing is quite innocuous, though the juice may be used for poison; the whole neighbourhood is most richly covered with vegetation: men can fearlessly walk under the tree, and birds roost on its branches. A upas tree grows in Kew Gardens, and flourishes amidst other hot—house plants.
“On the blasted heath
Fell Upas sits, the hydra—tree of death.”
Darwin: Loves of the Plants, iii. 233.
Upper Crust
The lions or crack men of the day. The phrase was first used in Sam Slick. The upper crust was at one time the part of the loaf placed before the most honoured guests. Thus, in Wynkyn de Worde's Boke of Keruinge (carving) we have these directions: “Then take a lofe in your lyfte hande, and pare ye lofe rounde
about; then cut the ouer—cruste to your souerayne ...” Furnwall, in Manners and Meales, etc., says the same
thing— “Kutt the vpper cruste for your souer—ayne.”
“I want you to see Peel, Stanley, Graham, Shiel, Russell, Macaulay, old Joe, and so on. They are all upper crust here.”
Upper Storey
The head. “Ill—furnished in the upper storey;” a head without brains.
Upper Ten Thousand
or The Upper Ten. The aristocracy. The term was first used by N.P. Willis, in speaking of the fashionables of New York, who at that time were not more than ten thousand in number.
Uproar
is not compounded of up and roar, but is the German auf—ruhren (to stir up).
Upsee—Dutch
A heavy Dutch beer; Upsee Freese a Friesland strong ale; Upsee English, a strong English ale. Upsee Dutch also means tipsy, stupid with drink.
“I do not like the dulness of your eye,
It hath a heavy cast; `tis upsee—Dutch,
And says you are a lumpish whoremaster.”
Ben Jonson: The Alchemist, iv. 4.
“Yet whoop, Barnaby! off with thy liquor,
Drink upsees out, and a flg for the vicar.”
Sir Walter Scott: Lady of the Lake, vi. 5.
“Teach me how to take the German upsy freeze, the Danish rouser, the Switzer's stoop of Rhenish.”— Dekker: Gull's Hornbook (1609).
Upset Price
The price at which goods sold by auction are first offered for competition. If no advance is made they fall to the person who made the upset price. Our “reserved bid” is virtually the same thing.
Urbi et Orbi
[To Rome and the rest of the world ]. A form used in the publication of Papal bulls.
Urd
[The Past ]. Guardian of the sacred fount called Urda, where the gods sit in judgment. (Scandinavian mythology.)
Urda
or Urdan Fount (The). The sacred fount of light and heat, situated over the Rainbow Bridge, Bifrost. (Scandinavian mythology.)
Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda
The three Nornir (Past, Present, and Future) who dwell in a beautiful hall below the ash—tree Yggdrasil'. Their employment is to engrave on a shield the destiny of man. (Scandinavian mythology.)
Urd (Past) takes the threads from Verdandi (Present), and Verdandi takes them from Skuld (Future). “What is that which was to—morrow and will be yesterday? ” Verdandi stands between Skuld (to—morrow) and Urd (yesterday).
Urgan
A mortal born and christened, but stolen by the king of the fairies and brought up in elf—land. He was sent to Lord Richard, the husband of Alice Brand, to lay on him the “curse of the sleepless eye" for killing his wife's brother Ethert. When Lord Richard saw the hideous dwarf he crossed himself, but the elf said, “I fear not sign made with a bloody hand.” Then forward stepped Alice and made the sign, and the dwarf said if any woman would sign his brow thrice with a cross he should recover his mortal form. Alice signed him thrice,
and the elf became “the fairest knight in all Scotland, in whom she recognised her brother Ethert.” (Sir Walter Scott: Alice Brand, Lady of the Lake, iv. 12.)
Urganda la Desconecida
An enchantress or sort of Mede'a in the romances belonging to the Amadis and Paimerin series, in the Spanish school of romance.
Urgel
One of Charlemagne's paladins, famous for his “giant strength.”
Uriah
Letter of Uriah. (2 Sam. xi. 15.) (See Letter ...)
Uriel
“Regent of the Sun,” and “sharpest—sighted spirit of all in heaven.” (Milton: Paradise Lost, iii. 690.) Longfellow, in the Golden Legend, makes Raphael the angel of the Sun, and Uriel the minister of Mars. (See Raphael.)
“I am the minister of Mars.
The strongest star among the stars.
My songs of power prelude
The march and battle of man's life.
And for the suffering and the strife
I give him fortitude.”
The Miracle Ploy, iii.
U'rim
in Garth's Dispensary, is Dr. Atterbury.
“Urim was civil, and not void of sense,
Red humour and courteous confidence.
Constant at feasts, and each decorum knew,
And soon as the dessert appeared, withdrew.” Canto i.
Urim and Thummim
consisted of three stones, which were deposited in the double lining of the high priest's breastplate. One stone represented Yes, one No, and one No answer is to be given. When any question was brought to the high priest to be decided by “Urim,” the priest put his hand into the “pouch” and drew out one of the stones, and according to the stone drawn out the question was decided. (Lev. viii. S; 1 Sam. xxviii. 6.)
Ursa Major
Calisto, daughter of Lycaon, was violated by Jupiter, and Juno changed her into a bear. Jupiter placed her among the stars that she might be more under his protection. Homer calls it Arktos the bear, and Hamaxa the waggon. The Romans called it Ursa the bear, and Septemtriones the seven ploughing oxen; whence “Septentrionalis” came to signify the north. The common names in Europe for the seven bright stars are “the plough,” “the waggon,” “Charles's wain,” “the Great Bear,” etc.
Boswell's father used to call Dr. Johnson Ursa Major. (See Bear.)
Ursa Minor
Also called Cynosura, or “Dog's tail,” from its circular sweep. The pole star is a in the tail. (See Cynosure .)
St. Ursula and the eleven thousand virgin martyrs. Ursula was a British princess, and, as the legend says, was going to France with her virgin train, but was driven by adverse winds to Cologne, where she and her 11,000 companions were martyred by the Huns. This extravagant legend is said to have originated in the discovery of an inscription to Ursula et Undecimilla Virgines, “the virgins Ursula and Undecimilla;” but by translating the latter name, the inscription reads “Ursula and her 11,000 virgins.” Visitors to Cologne are shown piles of skulls and human bones heaped in the wall, faced with glass, which the verger asserts are the relics of the 11,000 martyred virgins. (See Virgins.)
Used Up Worn out, tired out, utterly fatigued, or exhausted. Used up alludes to articles used up. Worn out alludes to dresses and articles worn out by use. Exhausted alludes to wells, water, etc., dried up. Tired out means tired utterly.
“Being out night after night, she got kinder used up.”— Sam Slick: Human Nature, p. 192.
Usher
means a porter. (Old French, muisher, a door; whence huissier, an usher; Latin, ostiarius.) One who stands at the door to usher visitors into the presence. (Scotch, Wishart.)
Usquebaugh
(3 syl.). Whisky (Irish, uisge—beatha, water of life). Similar to the Latin aqua vita, and the French cau de vie.
Ut
Saxon out, as Utoxeter, in Staffordshire; Utrecht, in Holland; “outer camp town”; the “out passage,” so called by Clotaire because it was the grand passage over or out of the Rhine before that river changed its bed. Utmost is out or outer—most. (See Utgard .)
“Strain at [ut. “out"] a gnat, and swallow a camel.”— Matt. xxiii. 24.
Ut Queat Laxis
etc. This hymn was composed in 770. Dr. Busby, in his Musical Dictionary, says it is ascribed to John the Baptist, but has omitted to inform us by whom. (See Do.)
U'ta
Queen of Burgundy, mother of Kriemhild and Gunther. (The Nibelungen—Lied.)
U'ter
Pendragon (chief) of the Britons; by an adulterous amour with Igerna (wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall) he became the father of Arthur, who succeeded him as king of the Silures.
U'terine
(3 syl.). A uterine brother or sister. One born of the same mother but not of the same father. (Latin, uterus, the womb.)
Utgard
(Old Norse, outer ward). The circle of rocks that hemmed in the ocean which was supposed to encompass the world. The giants dwelt among the rocks. (Scandinavian mythology.)
Utgard—Lok
The demon of the infernal regions. (Scandinavian mythology. )
U'ti Possidetis
(Latin, as you at present possess them). The belligerents are to retain possession of all the places taken by them before the treaty commenced.
U'ticensis
Cato the Younger was so called from U'tica, the place of his death.
Utilitarians
A word first used by John Stuart Mill; but Jeremy Bentham employed the word “Utility” to signify the doctrine which makes “the happiness of man” the one and only measure of right and wrong.
“Oh, happiness, our being's end and aim ...
For which we bear to live, or dare to die,”
Pope: Essay on Man, Epistle iv.
Utopia
properly means nowhere (Greek, ou topos). It is the imaginary island of Sir Thomas More, where everything is perfectthe laws, the morals, the politics, etc. In this romance the evils of existing laws, etc., are
shown by contrast. (1516.) (See Weissnichtwo .)
Utopia, the kingdom of Grangousier. When Pantagruel' sailed thither from France and had got into the main ocean, he doubled the Cape of Good Hope and made for the shores of Melinda. “Parting from Medamoth, he sailed with a northerly wind, passed Medam, Gelasem, and the Fairy Isles; and keeping Uti to the left and Uden to the right, ran into the port of Utopia, distant about three and a half leagues from the city of the Amaurots.” (Medamoth, from no place; Medam, nowhere; Gelasem, hidden land; Uti, nothing at all; Uden, nothing; Utopia, no place, distant three and a half leagues from Amauros, the vanishing point— all Greek.)
(See Queubus.)
Utopian
An impracticable scheme for the improvement of society. Any scheme of profit or pleasure which is not practicable. (See Utopia .)
U'traquists
[Both—kinders ]. The followers of Huss were so called, because they insisted that both the elements should be administered to all communicants in the Eucharist. (Latin, utraque specie, in both kinds.)
Utter and Inner Barristers
An utter or outer barrister means (in some cases at least) a full—fledged barrister, one licensed to practise. An inner barrister means a student. (See Nineteenth Century, No. 1892, p. 775, note.)
Uzziel
The angel next in command to Gabriel. The word means “Strength of God.” Uzziel is commanded by Gabriel to “coast the south with strictest watch.” (Milton: Paradise Lost, iv. 782.)