A she-wolf, ... who in her leanness seemedFull of all wants, ... with such fearO’erwhelmed me ... that of the height all hope I lost.Dantê,Inferno, i. (1300).
A she-wolf, ... who in her leanness seemedFull of all wants, ... with such fearO’erwhelmed me ... that of the height all hope I lost.Dantê,Inferno, i. (1300).
A she-wolf, ... who in her leanness seemedFull of all wants, ... with such fearO’erwhelmed me ... that of the height all hope I lost.Dantê,Inferno, i. (1300).
A she-wolf, ... who in her leanness seemed
Full of all wants, ... with such fear
O’erwhelmed me ... that of the height all hope I lost.
Dantê,Inferno, i. (1300).
Wolf(To cry), to give a false alarm.
Yöw-wâng, emperor of China, was greatly enamoured of a courtezan named Pao-tse, whom he tried, by sundry expedients, to make laugh. At length he hit upon the following plan:--He caused the tocsins to be rung, the drums to be beaten, and the signal-fires to be lighted, as if some invader was at the gates. Pao-tse was delighted, and laughed immoderately to see the vassals and feudatory princes pouring into the city, and all the people in consternation. The emperor, pleased with the success of his trick, amused his favorite over and over again by repeating it. At length an enemy really did come, but when the alarm was given no one heeded it, and the emperor was slain (B.C.770).
Wolf duke of Gascony, one of Charlemagne’s paladins. He was the originator of the plan of tying wetted ropes round the temples of his prisoners, to make theireye-balls start from their sockets. It was he also who had men sewn up in freshly stripped bulls’ hides, and exposed to the sun till the hides, in shrinking, crushed their bones.--L’Epine,Croquemitaine, iii.
Wolf of France(She-), Isabellala Belle, wife of Edward II. She murdered her royal husband “by tearing out his bowels with her own hands.”
She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,Thou tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate.Gray,The Bard(1757).
She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,Thou tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate.Gray,The Bard(1757).
She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,Thou tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate.Gray,The Bard(1757).
She-wolf of France, with unrelenting fangs,
Thou tear’st the bowels of thy mangled mate.
Gray,The Bard(1757).
Wol´fort, usurper of the earldom of Flanders.--Beaumont and Fletcher,The Beggars’ Bush(1622).
Wolfort Webber, Old Knickerbocker, searcher for treasure buried by buccaneers.--Washington Irving,Tales of a Traveller.
Wolsey(Cardinal), introduced by Shakespeare in his historic play ofHenry VIII.(1601).
Woman Changed to a Man.Iphis, daughter of Lygdus and Telethusa, of Crete. The story is that the father gave orders if the child about to be born proved to be a girl, it was to be put to death; and that the mother, unwilling to lose her infant, brought it up as a boy. In due time the father betrothed his child to Ianthê, and the mother, in terror, prayed for help, when Isis, on the day of marriage, changed Iphis to a man.--Ovid,Metaph.ix. 12; xiv, 699.
Cæneus[Se.nuce], was born of the female sex, but Neptune changed her into a man. Ænēas, however, found her in the infernal regions restored to her original sex.
Tire´sias, was converted into a woman for killing one of two serpents he met in a wood and was restored to his original sex by killing the other serpent met again after seven years.
D’Eon de Beaumont, the Chevalier, was believed to be a woman.
Hermaphroditoswas of both sexes.
Woman killed with Kindness(A), a tragedy by Thos. Heywood (1600). The “woman” was Mrs. Frankford, who was unfaithful to her marriage vow. Her husband sent her to live on one of his estates, and made her a liberal allowance; she died, but on her death-bed her husband came to see her, and forgave her.
Woman made of Flowers.Gwydion, son of Don, “formed a woman out of flowers,” according to the Bard Taliesin. Arianrod had said that Llew Llaw Gyffes (i.e., “The Lion with the Steady Hand”), should never have a wife of the human race. So Math and Gwydion, two enchanters,
Took blossoms of oak, and blossoms of broom, and blossoms of meadow-sweet, and produced therefrom a maiden, the fairest and most graceful ever seen, and baptized her Blodeuwedd, and she became his bride.--The Mabinogion(“Math,” etc., twelfth century).
Woman’s Wit, orLove’s Disguises, a drama by S. Knowles (1838). Hero Sutton loved Sir Valentine de Grey, but offended him by waltzing with Lord Athunree. To win him back she assumed the disguise of a Quakeress, called herself Ruth, and pretended to be Hero’s cousin. Sir Valentine fell in love with Ruth, and then found out that Ruth and Hero were one and the same person. The secondary plot is that of Helen and Walsingham, lovers. Walsingham thought Helen had played the wanton with Lord Athunree, and he abandoned her. Whereupon Helenassumed the garb of a young man named Eustace, became friends with Walsingham, said she was Helen’s brother; but in the brother he discovers Helen herself, and learnt that he had been wholly misled by appearances.
Women(The Nine Worthy): (1) Minerva, (2) Semiramis, (3) Tomyris, (4) Jael, (5) Debŏrah, (6) Judith, (7) Britomart, (8) Elizabeth or Isabella of Aragon, (9) Johanna of Naples.
By’r lady, maist story-man, I am well afraid thou hast done with thy talke. I had rather have herd something sayd of gentle and meeke women, for it is euill examples to let them understand of such studye manlye women as those have been which erewhile thou hast tolde of. They are quicke enow, I warrant you, noweadays, to take hart-a-grace, and dare make warre with their husbandes. I would not vor the price o’ my coate, that Jone, my wife had herd this yeare; she would haue carried away your tales of the nine worthy women a dele zoner than our minister’s tales anent Sarah, Rebekah, Ruth, and the ministering women, I warrant you.--John Ferne,Dialogue on Heraldry(“Columel’s reply to Torquatus”).
⁂ “Hart-a-grace,” a hart permitted by royal proclamation to run free and unharmed for ever, because it has been hunted by a king or queen.
Women of Abandoned Morals.
Barbaraof Cilley, second wife of the Emperor Sigismund, called “The Messalīna of Germany.”
Berri(Madame de), wife of the Duc de Berri (youngest grandson of Louis XIV.).
Catherine II.of Russia, called “The Modern Messalina” (1729-1796).
GiovannaorJeanof Naples. Her first love was James, count of March, who was beheaded. Her second was Camicioli, whom she put to death. Her next was Alfonso of Aragon. Her fourth was Louis d’Anjou, who died. Her fifth was René, the brother of Louis.
Isabelleof Bavaria, wife of Charles VI., and mistress of the duke of Burgundy.
Isabelleof France, wife of Edward II., and mistress of Mortimer.
Julia, daughter of the Emperor Augustus.
Marozia, the daughter of Theodora, and mother of Pope John XI. The infamous daughter of an infamous mother (ninthcentury.)century.)
Messali´na, the wife of Claudius, the Roman emperor.
Wonder(The), a comedy by Mrs. Centlivre; the second title beingA Woman Keeps a Secret(1714). The woman referred to is Violantê, and the secret she keeps is that Donna Isabella, the sister of Don Felix, has taken refuge under her roof. The danger she undergoes in keeping the secret is this: Her lover, Felix, who knows that Colonel Briton calls at the house, is jealous, and fancies that he calls to see Violantê. The reason why Donna Isabella has sought refuge with Violantê is to escape a marriage with a Dutch gentleman whom she dislikes. After a great deal of trouble and distress, the secret is unravelled, and the comedy ends with a double marriage, that of Violantê with Don Felix, and that of Isabella with Colonel Briton.
Wonder of the World(The).
Gerbert, a man of prodigious learning. When he was made pope, he took the name of Sylvester II. (930, 999-1003).
Otto III.of Germany, a pupil of Gerbert. What he did deserving to be calledMirabilia Mundinobody knows (980, 983-1002).
Frederick II.of Germany (1194, 1215-1250).
Wonderful Doctor, Roger Bacon (1214-1292).
Wood(Babes in the), a baby boy and girl left by a gentleman of Norfolk on his death-bed to the care of his brother. The boy was to have £300 a year on coming of age, and little Jane £500 as a wedding portion. The uncle promised to take care of the children, but scarcely had a year gone by when he hired two ruffians to make away with them. The hirelings took the children on horseback to Wayland Wood, where they were left to die of cold and hunger. The children would have been killed, but one of the fellows relented, expostulated with his companion, and finally slew him. The survivor compromised with his conscience by leaving the babes alive in the wood. Everything went ill with the uncle from that hour; his children died, his cattle died, his barns were set on fire, and he himself died in jail.
⁂ The prettiest version of this story is one set to a Welsh tune; but Percy has a version in hisReliques of Ancient English Poetry.
Woodcock(Adam), falconer of the Lady Mary at Avenel Castle. In the revels he takes the character of the “abbot of Unreason.”--Sir W. Scott,The Abbot(time, Elizabeth).
Woodcock(Justice), a gouty, rheumatic, crusty, old country gentleman, who invariably differed with his sister, Deb´orah, in everything. He was a bit of a Lothario in his young days, and still retained a somewhat licorous tooth. Justice Woodcock had one child, named Lucinda, a merry girl, full of frolic and fun.
Deborah Woodcock, sister of the justice; a starch, prudish old maid, who kept the house of her brother, and disagreed with him in everything.--Isaac Bickerstaff,Love in a Village(1762).
Woodcocks(The).John Woodcock, a rough, reckless colonist, who seems harsh to his motherless girl while she is a child, but subsequently betrays the depths of fatherly affection when she is persecuted by others.
Mary Woodcock, wild, wayward, passionate girl, in trouble from her youth up. She marries a gentle-hearted fellow, Hugh Parsons; is tried for slandering a neighbor, and, driven insane by ill-treatment, murders her baby, believing it to be a changeling. She is tried for witchcraft, and acquitted; for child-murder, and sentenced to death, but dies before the sentence is carried into execution. Her father says over her lifeless body:
“If I didn’t think the Lord would see just how she’s been abused and knocked round, and would allow for the way she was brung up, and would strike out all He’s got agin her, excepting that that didn’t come from bein’ meddled with and insulted and plagued, I should want to have her an’ me an’ everybody else I care anything about, blown into a thousand flinders, body and soul, and all the pieces lost.”--J. G. Holland,The Bay Path(1857).
Woodcourt(Allan), a medical man, who married Esther Summerson. His mother was a Welsh woman, apt to prose on the subject of Morgan-ap-Kerrig.--C. Dickens,Bleak House(1852).
Wooden Horse(The). Virgil tells us that Ulysses had a monster wooden horse, made by Epēos after the death of Hector, and gave out that it was an offering to the gods to secure a prosperous voyage back to Greece. By the advice of Sinon, the Trojans dragged the horse into Troy for a palladium; but at night the Greciansoldiers concealed therein were released by Sinon from their concealment, slew the Trojan guards, opened the city gates, and set fire to Troy. Arctīnos of Milētus, in his poem calledThe Destruction of Troy, furnished Virgil with the tale of “the Wooden Horse” and “the burning of Troy” (fl.B.C.776).
A remarkable parallel occurred in Saracenic history. Arrestan, in Syria, was taken in the seventh century by Abu Obeidah by a similar stratagem. He obtained leave of the governor to deposit in the citadel some old lumber which impeded his march. Twenty large boxes filled with men were carried into the castle. Abu marched off; and, while the Christians were returning thanks for the departure of the enemy, the soldiers removed the sliding bottoms of the boxes and made their way out, overpowered the sentries, surprised the great church, opened the city gates, and Abu, entering with his army, took the city without further opposition.--Ockley,History of the Saracens, i. 185 (1718).
The capture of Sark affords another parallel. Sark was in the hands of the French. A Netherlander, with one ship, asked permission to bury one of his crew in the chapel. The French consented, provided the crew came on shore wholly unarmed. This was agreed to, but the coffin was full of arms, and the crew soon equipped themselves, overpowered the French, and took the island.--Percy,Anecdotes, 249.
Swoln with hate and ire, their huge, unwieldy forceCame clustering like the Greeks out of the wooden horse.Drayton,Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Swoln with hate and ire, their huge, unwieldy forceCame clustering like the Greeks out of the wooden horse.Drayton,Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Swoln with hate and ire, their huge, unwieldy forceCame clustering like the Greeks out of the wooden horse.Drayton,Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Swoln with hate and ire, their huge, unwieldy force
Came clustering like the Greeks out of the wooden horse.
Drayton,Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Wooden Horse(The), Clavilēno, the wooden horse on which Don Quixote and Sancho Panza got astride to disenchant Antonomas´ia and her husband, who were shut up in the tomb of Queen Maguncia of Candaya.--Cervantes,Don Quixote, II. iii. 4, 5 (1615).
Anotherwooden horsewas the one given by an Indian to the shah of Persia as a New Year’s gift. It had two pegs; by turning one it rose into the air, and by turning the other it descended wherever the rider wished. Prince Firouz mounted the horse, and it carried him instantaneously to Bengal.--Arabian Nights(“The Enchanted Horse”).
Reynard says that King Crampart made for the daughter of King Marcadigês a wooden horse which would go a hundred miles an hour. His son, Clamadês, mounted it, and it flew out of the window of the king’s hall, to the terror of the young prince.--Alkman,Reynard the Fox(1498). (SeeCambuscan.)
Wooden Walls, ships made of wood. When Xerxes invaded Greece, the Greeks sent to ask the Delphic oracle for advice, and received the following answer (B.C.480):--
Pallas hath urged, and Zeus, the sire of all,Hath safety promised in a wooden wall;Seed-time and harvest, sires shall, weeping, tellHow thousands fought at Salamis, and fell.
Pallas hath urged, and Zeus, the sire of all,Hath safety promised in a wooden wall;Seed-time and harvest, sires shall, weeping, tellHow thousands fought at Salamis, and fell.
Pallas hath urged, and Zeus, the sire of all,Hath safety promised in a wooden wall;Seed-time and harvest, sires shall, weeping, tellHow thousands fought at Salamis, and fell.
Pallas hath urged, and Zeus, the sire of all,
Hath safety promised in a wooden wall;
Seed-time and harvest, sires shall, weeping, tell
How thousands fought at Salamis, and fell.
Woodman(The), an opera by Sir H. Bate Dudley (1771). Emily was the companion of Miss Wilford, and made with Miss Wilford’s brother “a mutual vow of inviolable affection;” but Wilford’s uncle and guardian, greatly disapproving of such an alliance, sent the young man to the Continent, and dismissed the young lady from his service. Emily went to live with Goodman Fairlop, the woodman, and there Wilford discovered her in an archerymatch. The engagement was renewed, and terminated in marriage. The woodman’s daughter, Dolly, married Matthew Medley, the factotum of Sir Walter Waring.
Woodstal(Henry), in the guard of Richard Cœur de Lion.--Sir W. Scott,The Talisman(time, Richard I.).
Woodstock, a novel by Sir W. Scott (1826). It was hastily put together, but is not unworthy of the name it bears.
Woodville(Harry), the treacherous friend of Penruddock, who ousted him of the wife to whom he was betrothed. He was wealthy, but reduced himself to destitution by gambling.
Mrs. Woodville(whose Christian name was Arabella), wife of Harry Woodville, but previously betrothed to Roderick Penruddock. When reduced to destitution Penruddock restored to her the settlement which her husband had lost in play.
Captain Henry Woodville, son of the above; a noble soldier, brave and high-minded, in love with Emily Tempest, but, in the ruined condition of the family, unable to marry her. Penruddock makes over to him all the deeds, bonds and obligations which his father had lost in gambling.--Cumberland,The Wheel of Fortune(1779).
Woodville(Lord), a friend of General Brown. It was Lord Woodville’s house that was haunted by the “lady in the Sacque.”--Sir W. Scott,The Tapestered Chamber(time, George III.).
Woolen.It was Mrs. Oldfield, the actress, who revolted at the idea of being shrouded in woolen. She insisted on being arrayed in chintz trimmed with Brussels lace, and on being well rouged to hide the pallor of death. Pope calls her “Narcissa.”
“Odious! In woolen! ’Twould a saint provoke!”Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels laceWrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face;One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead!And, Betty, give this cheek a little red.”Pope,Moral Essays, i. (1731).
“Odious! In woolen! ’Twould a saint provoke!”Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels laceWrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face;One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead!And, Betty, give this cheek a little red.”Pope,Moral Essays, i. (1731).
“Odious! In woolen! ’Twould a saint provoke!”Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels laceWrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face;One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead!And, Betty, give this cheek a little red.”Pope,Moral Essays, i. (1731).
“Odious! In woolen! ’Twould a saint provoke!”
Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.
“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels lace
Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face;
One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead!
And, Betty, give this cheek a little red.”
Pope,Moral Essays, i. (1731).
Wopsle(Mr.), parish clerk. He had a Roman nose, a large, shining, bald forehead, and a deep voice, of which he was very proud. “If the Church had been thrown open,”i.e., free to competition, Mr. Wopsle would have chosen the pulpit. As it was, he only punished the “Amens” and gave out the psalms; but his face always indicated the inward thought of “Look at this and look at that,” meaning the gent in the reading-desk. He turned actor in a small metropolitan theatre.--C. Dickens,Great Expectations(1860).
Work(Endless), Penelopê’s web; Vortigern’s Tower; washing the blackamoor white; etc.
Work-room(My).
“Yet the world is thy field, thy garden,On earth art Thou still at home.When thou bendest hither thy hallowing eye,My narrow work-room seems vast and high,Its dingy ceiling, a rainbow dome--Stand ever thus at my wide swung door,And toil will be toil nomore.”more.”Lucy Larcom,Poetical Works(1885).
“Yet the world is thy field, thy garden,On earth art Thou still at home.When thou bendest hither thy hallowing eye,My narrow work-room seems vast and high,Its dingy ceiling, a rainbow dome--Stand ever thus at my wide swung door,And toil will be toil nomore.”more.”Lucy Larcom,Poetical Works(1885).
“Yet the world is thy field, thy garden,On earth art Thou still at home.When thou bendest hither thy hallowing eye,My narrow work-room seems vast and high,Its dingy ceiling, a rainbow dome--Stand ever thus at my wide swung door,And toil will be toil nomore.”more.”Lucy Larcom,Poetical Works(1885).
“Yet the world is thy field, thy garden,
On earth art Thou still at home.
When thou bendest hither thy hallowing eye,
My narrow work-room seems vast and high,
Its dingy ceiling, a rainbow dome--
Stand ever thus at my wide swung door,
And toil will be toil nomore.”more.”
Lucy Larcom,Poetical Works(1885).
World(End of the). This ought to have occurred, according to Cardinal Nicolas de Cusa, in 1704. He demonstrates it thus: The Deluge happened in the thirty-fourth jubilee of fifty years from the Creation (A.M.1700), and thereforethe end of the world should properly occur on the thirty-fourthjubileejubileeof the Christian era, orA.D.1704. The four grace years are added to compensate for the blunder of chronologists respecting the first year of grace.
The most popular dates of modern times for the end of the world, or what is practically the same thing, the Millennium, are the following:--1757, Swedenborg; 1836, Johann Albrecht Bengel,Erklärte Offenbarung; 1843, William Miller, of America; 1866, Dr. John Cumming; 1881, Mother Shipton.
It was very generally believed in France, Germany, etc., that the end of the world would happen in the thousandth year after Christ; and therefore much of the land was left uncultivated, and a general famine ensued. Luckily, it was not agreed whether the thousand years should date from the birth or the death of Christ, or the desolation would have been much greater. Many charters begin with these words,As the world is now drawing to its close. Kings and nobles gave up their state: Robert of France, son of Hugh Capet, entered the monastery of St. Denis; and at Limoges, princes, nobles, and knights proclaimed “God’s Truce,” and solemnly bound themselves to abstain from feuds, to keep the peace towards each other, and to help the oppressed.--Hallam,The Middle Ages(1818).
Another hypothesis is this: As one day with God equals a thousand years (Psalmxc. 4), and God labored in creation six days, therefore the world is to labor 6000 years, and then to rest. According to this theory, the end of the world ought to occurA.M.6000, orA.D.1996 (supposing the world to have been created 4004 years before the birth of Christ). This hypothesis, which is widely accepted, is quite safe for another century at least.
Worldly Wiseman(Mr.), one who tries to persuade Christian that it is very bad policy to continue his journey towards the Celestial City. Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).
Worms(Language of). Melampos the prophet was acquainted with the language of worms, and when thrown into a dungeon, heard the worms communicating to each other that the roof overhead would fall in, for the beams were eaten through. He imparted this intelligence to his jailers, and was removed to another dungeon. At night the roof did fall, and the king, amazed at this foreknowledge, released Melampos, and gave him the oxen of Iphiklos.
Worse than a Crime.Talleyrand said of the murder of the Duc d’Enghien by Napoleon I. “It was worse than a crime, it was a blunder.”
Worthies(The Nine). ThreeGentiles: Hector, Alexander, Julius Cæsar; threeJews: Joshua, David, Judas Maccabæus; threeChristians: Arthur, Charlemagne, Godfrey of Bouillon.
Worthies of London.(The Nine).
1.Sir William Walworth, fishmonger, who stabbed Wat Tyler, the rebel. For this service King Richard II. gave him the “cap of maintenance” and a “dagger” for the arms of London (Lord Mayor, 1374, 1380).
2.Sir Henry PritchardorPicard, vintner, who feasted Edward III., the Black Prince, John, king of Austria, the king of Cyprus, and David of Scotland, with 5000 guests, in 1356, the year of his mayoralty.
3.Sir William Sevenoke, grocer. “A foundling, found under seven oaks.” Hefought with the dauphin, and built twenty almshouses, etc. (Lord Mayor, 1418).
4.Sir Thomas White, merchant tailor, who, during the mayoralty in 1553, kept London faithful to Queen Mary during Wyatt’s rebellion. Sir Thomas White was the son of a poor clothier, and began trade as a tailor with £100. He was the founder of St. John’s College, Oxford, on the spot where two elms grew from one root.
5.Sir John Bonham, mercer, commander of the army which overcame Solyman the Great, who knighted him on the field after the victory, and gave him chains of gold, etc.
6.Sir Christopher Croker, vintner, the first to enter Bordeaux, when it was besieged. Companion and friend of Edward the Black Prince.
7.Sir John Hawkwood, tailor, knighted by the Black Prince. He is immortalized in Italian history asGiovanni Acuti Cavaliero. He died in Padua.
8.Sir Hugh Caverley, silk-weaver, famous for ridding Poland of a monstrous bear. He died in France.
9.Sir Henry Maleverer, grocer, generally called “Henry of Cornhill,” a crusader in the reign of Henry IV., and guardian of “Jacob’s Well.”--R. Johnson,The Nine Worthies of London(1592).
Worthington(Lieutenant), “the poor gentleman;” a disabled officer and a widower, very poor, “but more proud than poor, and more honest than proud.” He was for thirty years in the king’s army, but was discharged on half-pay, being disabled at Gibraltar by a shell which crushed his arm. His wife was shot in his arms when his daughter was but three years old. The lieutenant put his name to a bill for £500; but his friend dying before he had effected his insurance Worthington became responsible for the entire sum, and if Sir Robert Bramble had not most generously paid the bill the poor lieutenant would have been thrown into jail.
Emily Worthington, the lieutenant’s daughter; a lovely, artless, affectionate girl, with sympathy for every one, and a most amiable disposition. Sir Charles Cropland tried to buy her, but she rejected his proposals with scorn, and fell in love with Frederick Bramble, to whom she was given in marriage.--C. Colman,The Poor Gentleman(1802).
Worthy, in love with Melinda, who coquets with him for twelve months, and then marries him.--G. Farquhar,The Recruiting Officer(1705).
Worthy(Lord), the suitor of Lady Reveller, who was fond of play. She became weary of gambling, and was united in marriage to Lord Worthy.--Mrs. Centlivre,The Basset Table(1706).
Wouvermans(The English), Abraham Cooper. One of his best pieces is “The Battle of Bosworth Field.”
Richard Cooper is called “The British Poussin.”
Wrangle(Mr. Caleb), a hen-pecked young husband, of oily tongue and plausible manners, but smarting under the nagging tongue and willful ways of his fashionable wife.
Mrs. Wrangle, his wife, the daughter of Sir Miles Mowbray. She was for ever snubbing her young husband, wrangling with him, morning, noon, and night, and telling him most provokingly “to keep his temper.” This couple lead a cat-and-dog life: he was sullen, she quick tempered;he jealous, she open and incautious.--Cumberland,First Love(1796).
Wrath’s Hole(The), Cornwall. Bolster, a gigantic wrath, wanted St. Agnes to be his mistress. She told him she would comply when he filled a small hole, which she pointed out to him, with his blood. The wrath agreed, not knowing that the hole opened into the sea; and thus the saint cunningly bled the wrath to death, and then pushed him over the cliff. The hole is called “The Wrath’s hole” to this day, and the stones about it are colored with blood-red streaks all over.--Polwhele,History of Cornwall, i. 176 (1813).
Wray(Enoch), “the village patriarch,” blind, poor, and 100 years old; but reverenced for his meekness, resignation, wisdom, piety, and experience.--Crabbe,The Village Patriarch(1783).
Wrayburn(Eugene), barrister-at-law; an indolent, idle, moody, whimsical young man, who loves Lizzie Hexam. After he is nearly killed by Bradley Headstone, he reforms, and marries Lizzie, who saved his life.--C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend(1864).
Wren(Jenny), whose real name was Fanny Cleaver, a doll’s dressmaker, and the friend of Lizzie Hexam, who at one time lodged with her. Jenny was a little, deformed girl, with a sharp, shrewd face, and beautiful golden hair. She supported herself and her drunken father, whom she reproved as a mother might reprove a child. “Oh,” she cried to him, pointing her little finger, “you bad, old boy! Oh, you naughty, wicked creature! What do you mean by it?”--C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend(1864).
Wrong(All in the), a comedy by A. Murphy (1761). The principal characters are Sir John and Lady Restless, Sir William Bellmont and his son, George, Beverley and his sister, Clarissa, Blandford and his daughter, Belinda. Sir John and Lady Restless were wrong in suspecting each other of infidelity, but this misunderstanding made their lives wretched. Beverley was deeply in love with Belinda, and was wrong in his jealousy of her, but Belinda was also wrong in not vindicating herself. She knew that she was innocent, and felt that Beverley ought to trust her, but she gave herself and him needless torment by permitting a misconception to remain which she might have most easily removed. The old men were also wrong: Blandford in promising his daughter in marriage to Sir William Bellmont’s son, seeing she loved Beverley; and Sir William, in accepting the promise, seeing his son was plighted to Clarissa. A still further complication of wrong occurs. Sir John wrongs Beverley in believing him to be intriguing with his wife; and Lady Restless wrongs Belinda in supposing that she coquets with her husband; both were pure mistakes, all were in the wrong, but all in the end were set right.
Wronghead(Sir Francis), of Bumper Hall, and M.P. for Guzzledown; a country squire, who comes to town for the season, with his wife, son, and eldest daughter. Sir Francis attends the House, but gives his vote on the wrong side; and he spends his money on the hope of obtaining a place under Government. His wife spends about £100 a day on objects of no use. His son is on the point of marrying the “cast mistress” of a swindler, and his daughter of marrying a forger; but Manly interferes to prevent these fatal steps, and Sir Francis returns home to prevent utter ruin.
Lady Wronghead, wife of Sir Francis; a country dame, who comes to London, where she squanders money on worthless objects, and expects to get into “society.” Happily, she is persuaded by Manly to return home before the affairs of her husband are wholly desperate.
Squire Richard[Wronghead], eldest son of Sir Francis, a country bumpkin.
Miss Jenny[Wronghead], eldest daughter of Sir Francis; a silly girl, who thinks it would be a fine thing to be called a “countess,” and therefore becomes the dupe of one Basset, a swindler, who calls himself a “count.”--Vanbrugh and Cibber,The Provoked Husband(1726).
Wyat.Henry Wyat was imprisoned by Richard III., and when almost starved a cat appeared at the window-grating and dropped a dove into his hand. This occurred day after day, and Wyat induced the warder to cook for him the doves thus wonderfully obtained.
Elijah, the Tishbite, while he lay hidden at the brook Cherith, was fed by ravens, who brought “bread and flesh” every morning and evening.--1 Kingsxvii. 6.
Wylie(Andrew), ex-clerk of bailie Nicol Jarvie.--Sir W. Scott,Rob Roy(time, George I.).
Wylie(Joe), mate of theProserpine, hired by Arthur Wardlaw to scuttle that vessel, that the insurance-money may be used to conceal the fact of Wardlaw’s defalcations.--Charles Reade,Foul Play.
Wynebgwrthucher, the shield of King Arthur.--The Mabinogion(“Kilhwch and Olwen,” twelfth century).
Wynkyn de Worde, the second printer in London (from 1491-1534). The first was Caxton (from 1476-1491). Wynkyn de Worde assisted Caxton in the new art of printing.
Wynken.
Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night,Sailed off in a wooden shoe--Sailed on a river of misty lightInto a sea of dew.“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”The old moon asked the three.“We have come to fish for the herring-fishThat live in this beautiful sea,Nets of silver and gold have we,”Said Wynken, Blynken and Nod.Eugene Field,A Little Book of Western Verse, (1889).
Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night,Sailed off in a wooden shoe--Sailed on a river of misty lightInto a sea of dew.“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”The old moon asked the three.“We have come to fish for the herring-fishThat live in this beautiful sea,Nets of silver and gold have we,”Said Wynken, Blynken and Nod.Eugene Field,A Little Book of Western Verse, (1889).
Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night,Sailed off in a wooden shoe--Sailed on a river of misty lightInto a sea of dew.“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”The old moon asked the three.“We have come to fish for the herring-fishThat live in this beautiful sea,Nets of silver and gold have we,”Said Wynken, Blynken and Nod.Eugene Field,A Little Book of Western Verse, (1889).
Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night,
Sailed off in a wooden shoe--
Sailed on a river of misty light
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring-fish
That live in this beautiful sea,
Nets of silver and gold have we,”
Said Wynken, Blynken and Nod.
Eugene Field,A Little Book of Western Verse, (1889).
Wyo´ming, in Pennsylvania, purchased by an American company from the Delaware Indians. It was settled by an American colony, but being subject to constant attacks from the savages the colony armed in self-defence. In 1778 most of the able-bodied men were called to join the army of Washington, and in the summer of that year an army of British and Indian allies, led by Colonel Butler, attacked the settlement, massacred the inhabitants, and burnt their houses to the ground.
⁂ Campbell has made this the subject of a poem entitledGertrude of Wyoming, but he pronounces the name Wy´oming, and makes Brant, instead of Butler, the leader of the attack.
Wyvill(William de), a steward of the field at the tournament.--Sir W. Scott,Ivanhoe(time, Richard I.).