Chapter 13

The fair Corinthian boastTimoleon, happy temper, mild and firm,Who wept the brother while the tyrant bled.Thomson,The Seasons(“Winter,” 1726).

The fair Corinthian boast

Timoleon, happy temper, mild and firm,

Who wept the brother while the tyrant bled.

Thomson,The Seasons(“Winter,” 1726).

Timon, the Man-hater, an Athenian, who lived in the time of the Peloponnesian war. Shakespeare has a drama so called (1609). The drama begins with the joyous life of Timon, and his hospitable extravagance; then launches into his pecuniary embarrassment, and the discovery that his “professed friends” will not help him; and ends with his flight into the woods, his misanthropy, and his death.

When he [Horace Walpole] talked misanthropy, he out-Timoned Timon.--Macaulay.

⁂ On one occasion, Timon said, “I have a fig tree in my garden, which I once intended to cut down; but I shall let it stand, that any one who likes may go and hang himself on it.”

Timon’s Banquet, nothing but cover and warm water. Being shunned by his friends in adversity, he pretended to have recovered his money, and invited his false friends to a banquet. The table was laden with covers, but when the contents were exposed, nothing was provided but lukewarm water. (SeeSchacabac.)--Shakespeare,Timon of Athens, act iii. sc. 6 (1609).

Timoth´eos, a musician, who charged double fees to all pupils who had learned music before.--Quintilian,De Institutione Oratoria, ii. 3.

Ponocrates made him forget all that he [Gargantua] had learned under other masters, as Timŏthĕus did to his disciples who had been taught music by others.--Rabelais,Gargantua, i. 23 (1533).

Timotheus placed on highAmid the tuneful quire,With flying fingers touched the lyre.Dryden,Alexander’s Feast(1697).

Timotheus placed on high

Amid the tuneful quire,

With flying fingers touched the lyre.

Dryden,Alexander’s Feast(1697).

Timothy(Old), ostler at John Menge’s inn, at Kirchoff.--Sir W. Scott,Anne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).

Timothy Quaint, the whimsical, but faithful steward of Governor Heartall; blunt, self-willed, but loving his master above all things, and true to his interests.--Cherry,The Soldier’s Daughter(1804).

Ti´murkan, the Tartar, and conqueror of China. After a usurpation of twenty years, he was slain in a rising of the people, by Zaphimri, “the orphan of China.”

My mind’s employed on other arts:To sling the well-stored quiverOver this arm, and wing the dartsAt the first reindeer sweeping down the vale,Or up the mountain, straining every nerve;To vault the neighing steed, and urge his course,Swifter than whirlwinds, through the ranks of war;--These are my passions, this my only science.Raised from a soldier to imperial sway,I still will reign in terror.Murphy,The Orphan of China, iv. 1.

My mind’s employed on other arts:

To sling the well-stored quiver

Over this arm, and wing the darts

At the first reindeer sweeping down the vale,

Or up the mountain, straining every nerve;

To vault the neighing steed, and urge his course,

Swifter than whirlwinds, through the ranks of war;--

These are my passions, this my only science.

Raised from a soldier to imperial sway,

I still will reign in terror.

Murphy,The Orphan of China, iv. 1.

Tinacrio, “the Sage,” father of Micomico´na, queen of Micom´icon, and husband of Queen Zaramilla. He foretold that after his death his daughter would be dethroned by the giant, Pandafilando, but that in Spain, she would find a champion in Don Quixote, who would restore her to the throne. This adventure comes to nothing, as Don Quixote is taken home in a cage, without entering upon it.--Cervantes,Don Quixote, I. iv. 3 (1605).

Tinclarian Doctor(The Great), William Mitchell, a whitesmith and tin-plate worker, of Edinburgh, who publishedTinkler’s Testament, dedicated to Queen Anne, and other similar works.

The reason why I call myself the Tinclarian doctor, is because I am a tinklar, and cures old pans and lantruns.--Introduction to Tinkler’s Testament.

⁂ Uniformity of spelling must not be looked for in the “doctor’s” book. We have “Tinklar,” “Tinkler,” and “Tinclarian.”

Tinderbox(Miss Jenny), a lady with a moderate fortune, who once had some pretensions to beauty. Her elder sister happened to marry a man of quality, and Jenny ever after resolved not to disgrace herself by marrying a tradesman. Having rejected many of her equals, she became at last the governess of her sister’s children, and had to undergo the drudgery of three servants, without receiving the wages of one.--Goldsmith,A Citizen of the World, xxviii. (1759).

Tinker(The ImmortalorThe Inspired), John Bunyan (1638-1688).

Tinsel(Lord), a type of that worst specimen of aristocracy, which ignores all merit but blue blood, and would rather patronize a horse-jockey than a curate, scholar, or poor gentleman. He would subscribe six guineas to the concerts of Signor Cantata, because Lady Dangle patronized him, but not one penny to “languages, arts, and sciences,” as such.--S. Knowles,The Hunchback(1831).

Tintag´elorTintagil, a strong and magnificent castle on the coast of Cornwall, said to have been the work of two giants. It was the birthplace of King Arthur, and subsequently the royal residence of King Mark. Dunlop asserts that vestiges of the castle still exist.

They found a naked child upon the sandsOf dark Tintagil, by the Cornish sea,And that was Arthur.Tennyson,Guinevere(1858).

They found a naked child upon the sands

Of dark Tintagil, by the Cornish sea,

And that was Arthur.

Tennyson,Guinevere(1858).

Tinto(Dick), a poor artist, son of a tailor in the village of Langdirdum. He is introduced as a lad in theBride of Lammermoor, i. This was in the reign of William III. He is again introduced inSt. Ronan’s Well, i., as touching up the sign-board of Meg Dods, in the reign of George III. As William III. died in 1702, and George III. began to reign in 1760, Master Dick must have been a patriarch when he worked for Mrs. Dods.--Sir W. Scott,Bride of Lammermoor(1819);St. Ronan’s Well(1823).

Meg Dods agreed with the celebrated Dick Tinto to repaint her father’s sign, which had become rather undecipherable. Dick accordingly gilded the bishop’s crook, and augmentedthe horrors of the devil’s aspect, until it became a terror to all the younger fry of the school-house.--St. Ronan’s Well, i.

Tintoretto, the historical painter, whose real name was Jacopo Robusti. He was calledIl Furiosofrom the extreme rapidity with which he painted (1512-1594).

Tintoretto of England(The), W. Dobson was called “The Tintoret of England” by Charles I. (1610-1646).

Tintoretto of Switzerland(The), John Huber (eighteenth century).

Tiphany, the mother of the three kings of Cologne. The word is manifestly a corruption of St. Epiphany, as Tibs is of St. Ubes, Taudry of St. Audry, Tooley [Street] of St. Olaf, Telder of St. Ethelred, and so on.

Scores of the saints have similarly manufactured names.

Ti´phys, pilot of the Argonauts; hence any pilot.

Many a Tiphys ocean’s depths explore,To open wondrous ways, untried before.Ariosto,Orlando Furioso, viii. (Hoole).

Many a Tiphys ocean’s depths explore,

To open wondrous ways, untried before.

Ariosto,Orlando Furioso, viii. (Hoole).

⁂ Another name for a pilot or guiding power is Palinūrus; so called from the steersman of Ænēas.

E’en Palinurus nodded at the helm.Pope,The Dunciad, iv. 614 (1742).

E’en Palinurus nodded at the helm.

Pope,The Dunciad, iv. 614 (1742).

Tippins(Lady), an old lady “with an immense, obtuse, drab, oblong face, like a face in a tablespoon; and a dyed ’long walk’ up the top of her head, as a convenient public approach to the bunch of false hair behind.” She delights “to patronize Mrs. Veneering,” and Mrs. Veneering is delighted to be patronized by her ladyship.

Lady Tippins is always attended by a lover or two, and she keeps a little list of her lovers, and is always booking a new lover, or striking out an old lover, or putting a lover in her black list, or promoting a lover to her blue list, or adding up her lovers, or otherwise posting her book, which she calls her Cupĭdon.--C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend, ii. (1864).

Tipple, in Dudley’sFlitch of Bacon, first introduced John Edwin into notice (1750-1790).

Edwin’s “Tipple,” in theFlitch of Bacon, was an exquisite treat.--Boaden.

Tippoo Saib(Prince), son of Hyder Ali, nawaub of Mysore.--Sir W. Scott,The Surgeon’s Daughter(time, George II.).

Tipsor “Examination Crams.” Recognized stock pieces of what is called “book work” in university examinations are:Fermat’sFermat’stheorem, the “Ludus Trojanus” in Virgil’sÆneid(bk. vi.), Agnesi’s “Witch,” the “Cissoid” of Diocles and the famous fragment of Solon, generally said to be by Euripidês.

In law examinations the stock pieces are theJustinianof Sandars; theDigest of Evidenceof Sir James Stephen; and theAncient Lawof Sir Henry Maine.

The following are recognized primers:--Hill’s Logic; Spencer’sFirst Principles; Maine’sAncient Law; Lessing’sLaocoon; Ritter and Preller’sFragmenta; Wheaton’sInternational Law.

Tip-tilted.Tennyson says that Lynette had “her slender nose tip-tilted like the petal of a flower.”--Tennyson,Gareth and Lynette(1858).

Tiptoe, footman to Random and Scruple. He had seen better days, but, being found out in certain dishonest transactions, had lost grade, and “Tiptoe, who once stood above the world,” came into aposition in which “all the world stood on Tiptoe.” He was a shrewd, lazy, knowing rascal, better adapted to dubious adventure, but always sighing for a snug berth in some wealthy, sober, old-fashioned, homely, county family, with good wages, liberal diet, and little work to do.--G. Colman,Ways and Means(1788).

Tiran´te the White, the hero and title of a romance of chivalry.

“Let me see that book,” said the curé; “we shall find in it a fund of amusement. Here we shall find that famous knight, Don Kyrie Elyson, of Montalban, and Thomas, his brother, with the Knight Fonseca, the battle which Detriantê fought with Alano, the stratagems of the Widow Tranquil, the amour of the empress with her squire, and the witticisms of Lady Brillianta. This is one of the most amusing books ever written.”--Cervantes,Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).

Tiresias, a Theban soothsayer, blind from boyhood. It is said that Athêna deprived him of sight, but gave him the power of understanding the language of birds, and a staff as good as eyesight to direct his way. Ovid says that Tiresias met two huge serpents in the wood and struck them with his staff, when he found himself turned into a woman, in which shape he remained for seven years. In the eighth year, meeting them again, he again struck them, and was changed back to a man. Dante places Tiresias in the Eighth Chasm of the Fourth Circle of the Lower Hell among the sorcerers, and other dealers in magic arts.

Behold Tiresias, who changed his aspectWhen of male he was made female,Altogether transforming his members.And afterward he had again to strikeThe two involved serpents with his rodBefore he could resume his manly plumes.Dante,Inferno, xx. 40.

Behold Tiresias, who changed his aspect

When of male he was made female,

Altogether transforming his members.

And afterward he had again to strike

The two involved serpents with his rod

Before he could resume his manly plumes.

Dante,Inferno, xx. 40.

Meeting two mighty serpents in the green wood he struck their intertwined bodies with his staff, and, oh, wonderful! he found himself changed into a woman, and so remained for seven years. Again he sees them, in the eighth year. “And if,” he cried, “so powerful was the effect of my former blow, once more will I strike you!” And, the serpents struck with the same blows, his former shape returned, and his original nature.--Ovid,Metamorphoses, iii.

⁂ Milton, regretting his own blindness, compares himself to Tiresias, among others.

Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonidês [Homer],And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old.Paradise Lost, iii. 36 (1665).

Blind Thamyris and blind Mæonidês [Homer],

And Tiresias and Phineus prophets old.

Paradise Lost, iii. 36 (1665).

Tirlsneck(Jonnie), beadle of old St. Ronan’s.--Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).

Tirso de Moli´na, the pseudonym of Gabriel Tellez, a Spanish monk and dramatist. His comedy calledConvivando de Piedra(1626) was imitated by Molière in hisFestin de Pierre(1665), and has given birth to the whole host of comedies and operas on the subject of “Don Juan” (1570-1648).

Tiryn´thian Swain(The), Her´culês, called in LatinTirynthius Heros, because he generally resided at Tiryns, a town of Ar´golis, in Greece.

Upon his shield lay that Tirynthian swainSwelt’ring in fiery gore and poisonous flame,His wife’s sad gift venomed with bloody stain. [SeeNessus.]Phineas Fletcher,The Purple Island, vii. (1633).

Upon his shield lay that Tirynthian swain

Swelt’ring in fiery gore and poisonous flame,

His wife’s sad gift venomed with bloody stain. [SeeNessus.]

Phineas Fletcher,The Purple Island, vii. (1633).

Tisapher´nes(4syl.), “the thunderbolt of war.” He was in the army of Egypt, and was slain by Rinaldo.--Tasso,Jerusalem Delivered, xx. (1575).

⁂ This son of Mars must not be mistaken for Tissaphernês, the Persian satrap, who sided with the Spartans, in the Peloponnesianwar, and who treacherously volunteered to guide “the ten thousand” back to Greece.

Tisbi´na, wife of Iroldo. Prasildo, a Babylonish nobleman, fell in love with her, and threatened to kill himself. Tisbina, to divert him, tells him if he will perform certain exploits which she deemed impossible, she will return his love. These exploits he accomplishes, and Tisbina, with Iroldo, takes poison to avoid dishonor. Prasildo discovers that the draught they have taken is harmless, and tells them so; whereupon Iroldo quits the country, and Tisbina marries Prasildo. Bojardo,Orlando Innamorato(1495). (SeeDianora, andDorigen.)

Tisellin, the raven, in the beast-epic ofReynard the Fox(1498).

Tisiph´one(4syl.), one of the three Furies. Covered with a bloody robe, she sits day and night at hell-gate, armed with a whip. Tibullus says her head was coifed with serpents in lieu of hair.

The Desert Fairy, with her head covered with snakes, like Tisiphonê, mounted on a winged griffin.--Comtesse D’Aunoy,Fairy Tales(“The Yellow Dwarf,” 1682).

Ti´tan, the son of Hēlĭos, the child of Hyperi´on and Basil´ea, and grandson of Cœlum, or heaven. Virgil calls the sun “Titan,” and so does Ovid.

... primos crastĭnus ortusExtulerit Titan, radiisque retexerit orbem.Æneid, iv. 118, 119.

... primos crastĭnus ortus

Extulerit Titan, radiisque retexerit orbem.

Æneid, iv. 118, 119.

A maiden queen that shone at Titan’s ray.Spenser,Faëry Queen, i. 4 (1590).

A maiden queen that shone at Titan’s ray.

Spenser,Faëry Queen, i. 4 (1590).

Titans, giants, sons of Heaven and Earth. Their names were Ocēănos, Kœos, Krios, Hyperīon, Iapĕtos, and Kronos.

TheTitanĭdêswere Theia [Thi-a], Rhea, Themis, Mnemosynê, Phœbê, and Tethys.

Titan´ia, queen of the fairies, and wife of Obĕron. Oberon wanted her to give him for a page a little changeling, but Titania refused to part with him, and this led to a fairy quarrel. Oberon, in revenge, anointed the eyes of Titania, during sleep, with an extract of “Love in Idleness,” the effect of which was to make her fall in love with the first object she saw on waking. The first object Titania set eyes on happened to be a country bumpkin, whom Puck had dressed up with an ass’s head. While Titania was fondling this unamiable creature, Oberon came upon her, sprinkled on her an antidote, and Titania, thoroughly ashamed of herself, gave up the boy to her spouse; after which a reconciliation took place between the willful fairies.--Shakespeare,Midsummer Night’s Dream(1592).

Tite Barnacle(Mr.), head of the Circumlocution Office, and a very great man in his own opinion. The family had intermarried with the Stiltstalkings, and the Barnacles and Stiltstalkings found berths pretty readily in the national workshop, where brains and conceit were in inverse ratio. The young gents in the office usually spoke with an eye-glass in the eye, in this sort of style: “Oh, I say; look here! Can’t attend to you to-day, you know. But look here! I say; can’t you call to-morrow?” “No.” “Well, but I say; look here! Is this public business?--anything about--tonnage--or that sort of thing?” Having made his case understood, Mr. Clennam received the following instructions in these words;--

You must find out all about it. Then you’ll memorialize the department, according to the regular forms for leave to memorialize. If you get it, the memorial must be entered in that department, sent to be registered in this department, then sent back to that department, then sent to this department to be countersigned, andthen it will be brought regularly before that department. You’ll find out when the business passes through each of these stages by inquiring at both departments till they tell you.--C. Dickens,Little Dorrit, x (1857).

Tite Poulette, daughter (supposed) of a quadroon mother. “She lives a lonely, innocent life, in the midst of corruption, like the lilies in the marshes.... If she were in Holland to-day, not one of a hundred suitors would detect the hidden blemish of mixed blood.” When the young man, who thus describes her loves her, Lalli, her putative mother confesses: “I have robbedGodlong enough. Here are the sworn papers. Take her--she is as white as snow--so!... I never had a child. She is the Spaniard’s daughter.”--G. W. Cable,Old Creole Days(1879).

Titho´nus, a son of Laomedon, king of Troy. He was so handsome that Auro´ra became enamored of him, and persuaded Jupiter to make him immortal; but as she forgot to ask for eternal youth also, he became decrepit and ugly, and Aurora changed him into a cicada, or grasshopper. His name is a synonym for a very old man.

Weary of aged Tithon’s saffron-bed.Spenser,Faëry Queen, I. ii. 7 (1500).

Weary of aged Tithon’s saffron-bed.

Spenser,Faëry Queen, I. ii. 7 (1500).

... thinner than Tithōnus wasBefore he faded into air.Lord Lytton,Tales of Milētus, ii.

... thinner than Tithōnus was

Before he faded into air.

Lord Lytton,Tales of Milētus, ii.

Tithonus(The Consort of), the dawn.

Now the fair consort of Tithonus old,Arisen from her mate’s beloved arms,Looked palely o’er the eastern cliff.Dantê,Purgatory, ix. (1308).

Now the fair consort of Tithonus old,

Arisen from her mate’s beloved arms,

Looked palely o’er the eastern cliff.

Dantê,Purgatory, ix. (1308).

Tithor´ea, one of the two chief summits of Parnassus. It was dedicated to Bacchus, the other (Lycorēa), being dedicated to the Muses and Apollo.

Titian(Tiziano Vecellio), an Italian landscape painter, especially famous for his flesh-tints and female figures (1477-1576).

Titian(The French), Jacques Blanchard (1600-1638).

Titian(The Portuguese), Alonzo Sanchez Coello (1515-1590).

Titmarsh(Michael Angelo), a pseudonym used by Thackeray, in a number of his earlier writings. Like Michael Angelo, Thackeray had a broken nose.

Titmouse(Mr. Tittlebat), a vulgar, ignorant coxcomb, suddenly raised from the degree of a linen-draper’s shopman, to a man of fortune, with an income of £10,000 a year.--Warren,Ten Thousand a Year.

Tito Mele´ma, a Greek, who marries Romola.--George Eliot,Romola.

Titurel, the first king of Graal-burg. He has brought into subjection all his passions, has resisted all the seductions of the world, and is modest, chaste, pious, and devout. His daughter, Sigunê, is in love with Tschionatulander, who is slain.--Wolfram von Eschenbach,Titurel(thirteenth century).

⁂ Wolfram’sTiturelis a tedious expansion of a lay already in existence, and Albert of Scharfenberg produced aYoung Titurel, at one time thought the best romance of chivalry in existence, but it is pompous, stilted, erudite, and wearisome.

Titus, the son of Lucius Junius Brutus. He joined the faction of Tarquin, and was condemned to death by his father, who, having been the chief instrument in banishing the king and all his race, wascreated the first consul. The subject has been often dramatized. In English, by N. Lee (1678) and John Howard Payne (1820). In French, by Arnault, in 1792; and by Ponsard, in 1843. In Italian, by Alfieri,Bruto, etc. It was in Payne’s tragedy that Charles Kean made hisdébutin Glasgow, as “Titus,” his father playing “Brutus.”

Titus, “the delight of man,” the Roman emperor, son of Vespasian (40, 79-81).

Titus, the penitent thief, according to the legend. Dumăchus and Titus were two of a band of robbers, who attacked Joseph in his flight into Egypt. Titus said, “Let these good people go in peace;” but Dumachus replied, “First let them pay their ransom.” Whereupon Titus handed to his companion forty groats; and the infant Jesus said to him:

When thirty years shall have gone byI at Jerusalem shall die ...On the accursêd tree.Then on My right and My left side,These thieves shall both be crucified,And Titus thenceforth shall abideIn paradise with Me.Longfellow,The Golden Legend(1851).

When thirty years shall have gone by

I at Jerusalem shall die ...

On the accursêd tree.

Then on My right and My left side,

These thieves shall both be crucified,

And Titus thenceforth shall abide

In paradise with Me.

Longfellow,The Golden Legend(1851).

Tityre Tus(longu), the name assumed in the seventeenth century by a clique of young blades of the better class, whose delight was to break windows, upset sedan-chairs, molest quiet citizens, and rudely caress pretty women in the streets at night-time. These brawlers took successively many titular names, as Muns, Hectors, Scourers, afterwards Nickers, later still Hawcubites, and lastly Mohawks or Mohocks.

“Tityre tu-s” is meant for the plural of “Tityre tu,” in the first line of Virgil’s firstEclogue:“Tityre, tu patulæ recubans sub tegmine fagi,”and meant to imply that these blades were men of leisure and fortune, who “lay at ease under their patrimonial beech trees.”

Tit´yrus, in theShepheardes Calendar, by Spenser (ecl. ii. and vi.), is meant for Chaucer.

The gentle shepherd sate beside a spring ...That Colin hight, which well could pipe and sing,For he of Tityrus his song did learn.Spenser,The Shepheardes Calendar, xii. (1579).

The gentle shepherd sate beside a spring ...

That Colin hight, which well could pipe and sing,

For he of Tityrus his song did learn.

Spenser,The Shepheardes Calendar, xii. (1579).

Tityus, a giant, whose body covered nine acres of ground. In Tartărus, two vultures or serpents feed forever on his liver, which grows as fast as it is gnawed away.

Promētheus (3syl.) is said to have been fastened to Mount Caucasus, where two eagles fed on his liver, which never wasted.

Nor unobserved lay stretched upon the marleTityus, earth-born, whose body, long and large,Covered nine acres. There two vultures sat,Of appetite insatiate, and with beaksFor ravine bent, unintermitting goredHis liver. Powerless he to put to flightThe fierce devourers. To this penance judgedFor rape intended on Latona fair.Fenton’sHomer’s Odyssey, xi. (1716).

Nor unobserved lay stretched upon the marle

Tityus, earth-born, whose body, long and large,

Covered nine acres. There two vultures sat,

Of appetite insatiate, and with beaks

For ravine bent, unintermitting gored

His liver. Powerless he to put to flight

The fierce devourers. To this penance judged

For rape intended on Latona fair.

Fenton’sHomer’s Odyssey, xi. (1716).

Tizo´na, the Cid’s sword. It was buried with him, as Joyeuse (Charlemagne’s sword) was buried with Charlemagne, and Durindāna with Orlando.

Tlal´ala, surnamed “The Tiger,” one of the Aztĕcas. On one occasion, being taken captive, Madoc released him, but he continued the unrelenting foe of Madoc and his new colony, and was always foremost in working them evil. When at length the Aztecas, being overcome, migrated to Mexico, Tlalala refused to quit the spot of his father’s tomb, and threw himself on his own javelin.--Southey,Madoc(1805).

Toad-Eater(Pulteney’s). Henry Vane was so called in 1742, by Sir Robert Walpole. Two years later, Sarah Fielding, inDavid Simple, speaks of “toad-eater” as “quite a new word,” and she suggests that it is “a metaphor taken from a mountebank’s boy eating toads in order to show his master’s skill in expelling poison,” and “built on a supposition that people who are in a state of dependence are forced to do the most nauseous things to please and humor their patrons.”

Tobo´so(Dulcinĕa del), the lady chosen by Don Quixote for his particular paragon. 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 before he took to errantry. She was Aldonza Lorenzo, the daughter of Lorenzo Corchuelo and Aldonza Nogalês; but when Signior Quixāda assumed the dignity of knighthood, he changed the name and style of his lady into Dulcinea del Tobōso, which was more befitting his rank.--Cervantes,Don Quixote, I. i. 1 (1605).

Toby, waiter of the Spa hotel, St. Ronan’s, kept by Sandie Lawson.--Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).

Toby, a brown Rockingham-ware beer jug, with the likeness of Toby Filpot embossed on its sides, “a goodly jug of well-browned clay, fashioned into the form of an old gentleman, atop of whose bald head was a fine froth answering to his wig” (ch. iv.).

Gabriel lifted Toby to his mouth, and took a hearty draught.--C. Dickens,Master Humphrey’s Clock(“Barnaby Rudge,” xli., 1841).

Toby, Punch’s dog, in the puppet-show exhibition ofPunch and Judy.

In some versions of the great drama ofPunch, there is a small dog (a modern innovation), supposed to be the private property of that gentleman, and of the name of Toby--always Toby. This dog has been stolen in youth from another gentleman, and fraudulently sold to the confiding hero who, having no guile himself, has no suspicion that it lurks in others; but Toby, entertaining a grateful recollection of his old master, and scorning to attach himself to any new patron, not only refuses to smoke a pipe at the bidding of Punch but (to mark his old fidelity more strongly) seizes him by the nose, and wrings the same with violence, at which instance of canine attachment the spectators are always deeply affected.--C. Dickens.

Toby, in the periodical calledPunch, is represented as a grave, consequential, sullen, unsocial pug, perched on back volumes of the national Menippus, which he guards so stolidly that it would need a very bold heart to attempt to filch one. There is no reminiscence in this Toby, like that of his peep-show namesake, of any previous master, and no aversion to his present one. Punch himself is the very beau-ideal of good-natured satire and far-sighted shrewdness, while his dog (the very Diogĕnês of his tribe) would scorn his nature if he could be made to smile at anything.

⁂ The first cover of immortalPunchwas designed by A. S. Henning; the present one by Richard Doyle.

Toby(Uncle), a captain, who was wounded at the siege of Namur, and was obliged to retire from the service. He is the impersonation of kindness, benevolence, and simple-heartedness; his courage is undoubted, his gallantry delightful for its innocence and modesty. Nothing can exceed the grace of Uncle Toby’s love-passages with the Widow Wadman. It is said that Lieutenant Sterne (father of the novelist), was the prototype of Uncle Toby.--Sterne,Tristram Shandy(1759).

My Uncle Toby is one of the finest compliments ever paid to human nature. He is the most unoffending of God’s creatures, or, as the French would express it,un tel petit bonhomme. Of his bowling-green, his sieges, and his amours, who would say or think anything amiss?--Hazlitt.

Toby Veck, ticket-porter and jobman, nicknamed “Trotty” from his trotting pace. He was “a weak, small, spare man,” who loved to earn his money, and heard the chimes ring words in accordance with his fancy, hopes, and fears. After a dinner of tripe, he lived for a time in a sort of dream, and woke up on New Year’s day to dance at his daughter’s wedding.--C. Dickens,The Chimes(1844).

Todd(Laurie), a poor Scotch nailmaker, who emigrates to America, and, after some reverses of fortune, begins life again as a backwoodsman, and greatly prospers.--Galt,Laurie Todd.

Tod´gers(Mrs.), proprietress of a “commercial boarding-house;” weighed down with the overwhelming cares of sauces, gravy, and the wherewithal of providing for her lodgers. Mrs. Todgers had a soft heart for Mr. Pecksniff, widower, and being really kind-hearted, befriended poor Mercy Pecksniff in her miserable married life with her brutal husband, Jonas Chuzzlewit.--C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1844).

Tofa´na, of Palermo, a noted poisoner, who sold a tasteless, colorless poison, called theManna of St. Nicola of Bara, but better known asAqua Tofana. Above 600 persons fell victims to this fatal drug. She was discovered in 1659, and died 1730.

La Spara or Hieronyma Spara, about a century previously, sold an “elixir” equally fatal. The secret was ultimately revealed to her father confessor.

Tofts(Mistress), a famous singer towards the close of the eighteenth century. She was very fond of cats, and left a legacy to twenty of the tabby tribe.

Not Niobê mourned more for fourteen brats,Nor Mistress Tofts, to leave her twenty cats.Peter Pindar [Dr. Wolcot],Old Simon(1809).

Not Niobê mourned more for fourteen brats,

Nor Mistress Tofts, to leave her twenty cats.

Peter Pindar [Dr. Wolcot],Old Simon(1809).

Toinette, a confidential female servant of Argan, themalade imaginaire.“Adroite, soigneuse, diligente, et surtout fidèle,”but contractious, and always calling into action her master’s irritable temper. In order to cure him, she pretends to be a travelling physician of about 90 years of age, although she has not seen twenty-six summers; and in the capacity of a Galen, declares M. Argan is suffering from lungs, recommends that one arm should be cut off, and one eye taken out to strengthen the remaining one. She enters into a plot to open the eyes of Argan to the real affection of Angelique (his daughter), the false love of her stepmother, and to marry the former to Cléante, the man of her choice, in all which schemes she is fully successful.--Molière,Le Malade Imaginaire(1673).

Toison d’Or, chief herald of Burgundy.--Sir W. Scott,Quentin Durward, andAnne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).

Toki, the Danish William Tell. Saxo Grammaticus, a Danish writer of the twelfth century, tells us that Toki once boasted, in the hearing of Harald Bluetooth, that he could hit an apple with his arrow off a pole; and the Danish Gessler set him to try his skill by placing an apple on the head of the archer’s son (twelfth century).

Tolande of Anjou, a daughter of old King Réné of Provence, and sister of Margaret of Anjou (wife of Henry VI. of England).--Sir W. Scott,Anne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).

Tolbooth(The), the principal prison of Edinburgh.

The Tolbooth felt defrauded of his charmsIf Jeffrey died, except within her arms.Byron,English Bards and Scotch Reviewers(1809).

The Tolbooth felt defrauded of his charms

If Jeffrey died, except within her arms.

Byron,English Bards and Scotch Reviewers(1809).

Lord Byron refers to the “duel” between Francis Jeffrey, editor of theEdinburgh Review, and Thomas Moore, the poet, at Chalk Farm, in 1806. The duel was interrupted, and it was then found that neither of the pistols contained a bullet.

Can none remember the eventful day,That ever-glorious, almost fatal fray,When Little’s [Thomas Moore] leadless pistol met his eye,And Bow Street myrmidons stood laughing by?Ditto.

Can none remember the eventful day,

That ever-glorious, almost fatal fray,

When Little’s [Thomas Moore] leadless pistol met his eye,

And Bow Street myrmidons stood laughing by?

Ditto.

Tolme´tes(3syl.), Foolhardiness personified inThe Purple Island, fully described in canto viii. His companions were Arrogance, Brag, Carelessness, and Fear. (Greek,tolmêtês, “a foolhardy man.”)

Thus ran the rash Tolmetes, never viewingThe fearful fiends that duly him attended ...Much would he boldly do, but much more boldly vaunt.P. Fletcher,The Purple Island, viii. (1633).

Thus ran the rash Tolmetes, never viewing

The fearful fiends that duly him attended ...

Much would he boldly do, but much more boldly vaunt.

P. Fletcher,The Purple Island, viii. (1633).

Tom, “the Portugal dustman,” who joined the allied army against France in the war of the Spanish Succession.--Dr. Arbuthnot,History of John Bull(1712).

Tom, one of the servants of Mr. Peregrine Lovel, “with a good deal of surly honesty about him.” Tom is no sneak, and no tell-tale, but he refuses to abet Philip, the butler, in sponging on his master, and wasting his property in riotous living. When Lovel discovers the state of affairs, and clears out his household, he retains Tom, to whom he entrusts the cellar and the plate.--Rev. J. Townley,High Life Below Stairs(1750).

Tom Folio, Thomas Rawlinson, the bibliopolist (1681-1725).

Tom Jones(1syl.), a model of generosity, openness, and manly spirit, mixed with dissipation. Lord Byron calls him “an accomplished blackguard” (Don Juan, xiii. 110, 1824).--Fielding,Tom Jones(1749).

A hero with a flawed reputation, a hero sponging for a guinea, a hero who cannot pay his landlady, and is obliged to let his honor out to hire, is absurd, and the claim of Tom Jones to heroic rank is quite untenable.--Thackeray.

Tom Long, the hero of an old tale, entitledThe Merry Conceits of Tom Long, the Carrier, being many Pleasant Passages and Mad Pranks which he observed in his Travels. This tale was at one time amazingly popular.

Tom Scott, Daniel Quilp’s boy, Tower Hill. Although Quilp was a demon incarnate, yet “between the boy and the dwarf there existed a strange kind of mutual liking.” Tom was very fond of standing on his head, and on one occasion Quilp said to him, “Stand on your head again, and I’ll cut one of your feet off.”

The boy made no answer, but directly Quilp had shut himself in, stood on his head before the door, then walked on his hands to the back, and stood on his head there, then to the opposite side and repeated the performance.... Quilp, knowing his disposition, was lying in wait at a little distance, armed with a large piece of wood, which, being rough and jagged, and studded with broken nails, might possibly have hurt him, if ithad been thrown at him.--C. Dickens,The Old Curiosity Shop, v. (1840).

Tom Thumb, the name of a very diminutive little man in the court of King Arthur, killed by the poisonous breath of a spider, in the reign of King Thunstone, the successor of Arthur. In the Bodleian Library there is a ballad about Tom Thumb, which was printed in 1630. Richard Johnson wrote in prose,The History of Tom Thumbe, which was printed in 1621. In 1630, Charles Perrault published his tale calledLe Petit Poucet. Tom Thumb is introduced by Drayton in hisNymphidia(1563-1631).

“Tom” in this connection is the Swedishtomt(“a nix or dwarf”), as inTomptgubbe(“a brownie or kobold”); the final t is silent, and the tale is of Scandinavian origin.

Tom Thumb, a burlesque opera, altered by Kane O’Hara (author ofMidas), in 1778, from a dramatic piece by Fielding, the novelist (1730). Tom Thumb, having killed the giants, falls in love with Huncamunca, daughter of King Arthur. Lord Grizzle wishes to marry the princess, and when he hears that the “pygmy giant-queller” is preferred before him, his lordship turns traitor, invests the palace “at the head of his rebellious rout,” and is slain by Tom. Then follows the bitter end: A red cow swallows Tom, the queen, Dollallolla, kills Noodle, Frizaletta kills the queen, Huncamunca kills Frizaletta, Doodle kills Huncamunca, Plumantê kills Doodle, and the king, being left alone, stabs himself. Merlin now enters, commands the red cow to “return our England’s Hannibal,” after which the wise wizard restores all the slain ones to life again, and thus “jar ending,” each resolves to go home “and make a night on’t.”

Tom Tiddler’s Ground, a nook in a rustic by-road, where Mr. Mopes, the hermit, lived, and had succeeded in laying it waste. In the middle of the plot was a ruined hovel, without one patch of glass in the windows, and with no plank or beam that had not rotted or fallen away. There was a slough of water, a leafless tree or two, and plenty of filth. Rumor said that Tom Mopes had murdered his beautiful wife from jealousy, and had abandoned the world. Mr. Traveller tried to reason with him, and bring him back to social life, but the tinker replied, “When iron is thoroughly rotten you cannot botch it, do what you may.”--C. Dickens,A Christmas Number(1861).

Tom Tiler and His Wife, a transition play between a morality and a tragedy (1578).

Tom Tipple, a highwayman in Captain Macheath’s gang. Peachum calls him “a guzzling, soaking sot, always too drunk to stand himself or to make others stand. A cart,” he says, “is absolutely necessary for him.”--Gray,The Beggar’s Opera, i. (1727).

Tom Tram, the hero of a novel entitledThe Mad Pranks of Tom Tram, Son-in-Law to Mother Winter, whereunto is added His Merry Jests, Odd Conceits and Pleasant Tales(seventeenth century).

All your wits that fleer and sham,Down from Don Quixote to Tom Tram.Prior.

All your wits that fleer and sham,

Down from Don Quixote to Tom Tram.

Prior.

Tom-a-Thrum, a sprite which figures in the fairy tales of the Middle Ages; a “queer-looking little auld man,” whose chief exploits were in the vaults and cellars of old castles. John Skelton, speaking of the clergy, says:

Alas! for very shame, some cannot declyne their name;Some cannot scarsly rede, And yet will not dredeFor to kepe a cure.... As wyse as Tom-a-Thrum.Colyn Clout(time, Henry VIII.).

Alas! for very shame, some cannot declyne their name;

Some cannot scarsly rede, And yet will not drede

For to kepe a cure.... As wyse as Tom-a-Thrum.

Colyn Clout(time, Henry VIII.).

Tom o’ Bedlam, a ticket-of-leave madman from Bethlehem Hospital, or one discharged as incurable.

Tom of Ten Thousand, Thomas Thynne; so called from his great wealth. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but why, the then dean has not thought fit to leave on record.

Tom the Piper, one of the characters in the ancient morris-dance, represented with a tabor, tabor-stick and pipe. He carried a sword and shield, to denote his rank as a “squire minstrel.” His shoes were brown; his hose red and “gimp-thighed;” his hat or cap, red, turned up with yellow, and adorned with a feather; his doublet blue, the sleeves being turned up with yellow; and he wore a yellow cape over his shoulders. (SeeMorris-Dance.)

Tom Turner(Mrs.), unsophisticated country dame, whose head is turned by the feigned devotion of a man to whom “flirting is a part of daily existence.” “Mrs. Tom” dresses flashily, in imitation of the butterflies of fashion whom she meets in her new career as a woman of the world, affects airs and graces foreign to her nature, and plays the fool generally until shocked into her senses by a letter from her quiet, commonplace husband, telling her that he “has gone away and that she will not see him again.” She follows him, entreats forgiveness, returns to home and plain living, and, as a characteristic penance, wears her gaudy costumes out as everyday gowns. There were thirty of them at first. “I’ve worn them all almost out. When I get to the end of them I’ll have my own things again.”--H. C. Bunner,Mrs. Tom’s Spree(1891).

Tomahourich(Muhme Janet of), an old sibyl, aunt of Robin Oig M’Combich, the Highland drover.--Sir W. Scott,The Two Drovers(time, George III.).

Tom´alin, a valiant fairy knight, kinsman of King Obĕron. Tomălin is not the same as “Tom Thumb,” as we are generally but erroneously told, for in the “mighty combat” Tomalin backed Pigwiggen, while Tom Thum or Thumb, seconded King Oberon. This fairy battle was brought about by the jealousy of Oberon, who considered the attentions of Pigwiggen to Queen Mab were “far too nice.”--M. Drayton,Nymphidia(1563-1631).

Tomb(Knight of the), James, earl of Douglas in disguise.

His armor was ingeniously painted so as to represent a skeleton; the ribs being constituted by the corselet and its back-piece. The shield represented an owl with its wings spread--a device which was repeated upon the helmet, which appeared to be completely covered by an image of the same bird of ill omen. But that which was particularly calculated to excite surprise in the spectator was the great height and thinness of the figure.--Sir W. Scott,Castle Dangerous, xiv. (time, Henry I.).

Tomboy(Priscilla), a self-willed, hoydenish, ill-educated romp, of strong animal spirits, and wholly unconventional. She is a West Indian, left under the guardianship of Barnacle, and sent to London for her education. Miss Priscilla Tomboy lives with Barnacle’s brother, old [Nicholas] Cockney, a grocer, where she plays boy-and-girl love with young Walter Cockney, which consists chiefly in pettish quarrels and personal insolence.Subsequently she runs off with Captain Sightly, but the captain behaves well by presenting himself next day to the guardian, and obtaining his consent to marriage.--The Romp(altered from Bickerstaff’sLove in the City).

Tomès[Tō-may], one of the five physicians called in by Sganarelle to consult on the malady of his daughter, Lucinde (2syl.). Being told that a coachman he was attending was dead and buried, the doctor asserted it to be quite impossible, as the coachman had been ill only six days, and Hippocrătês had positively stated that the disorder would not come to its height till the fourteenth day. The five doctors meet in consultation, talk of the town gossip, their medical experience, their visits, anything, in short, except the patient. At length the father enters to inquire what decision they had come to. One says Lucinde must have an emetic, M. Tomès says she must be blooded; one says an emetic will be her death, the other that bleeding will infallibly kill her.

M. Tomès,Si vous ne faites saigner tout à l’heure votre fille, c’est une personne morte.

M. Desfonandrès,Si vous la faites saigner, elle ne sera pas en vie dans un quart-d’-heure.

And they quit the house in great anger (act. ii. 4).--Molière,L’Amour Médecin(1665).

Tomkins(Joseph), secret emissary of Cromwell. He was formerly Philip Hazeldine,aliasMaster Fibbet, secretary to Colonel Desborough (one of the parliamentary commissioners).--Sir W. Scott,Woodstock(time, Commonwealth).

Tom´yris, queen of the Massagētæ. She defeated Cyrus, who had invaded her kingdom, and, having slain him, threw his head into a vessel filled with human blood, saying, “It was blood you thirsted for; now take your fill!”

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