Ubaldo, one of the crusaders, mature in age. He had visited many regions, “from polar cold to Libya’s burning soil.” He and Charles, the Dane, went to bring back Rinaldo from the enchanted castle.--Tasso,Jerusalem Delivered(1575).

Ubaldo and Ricardo, two men sent by Honoria, queen of Hungary, to tempt the fidelity of Sophia, because the queen was in love with her husband, Mathias. Immediately Sophia understood the object of their visit, she had the two men confined in separate rooms, where they were made to earn their food by spinning.--Massinger,The Picture(1629).

Ube´da(Orbaneia of), a painter who drew a cock so preposterously that he was obliged to write under it “This is a cock,” in order that the spectator might know what was intended to be represented.--Cervantes,Don Quixote, II. i. 3 (1615).

Uberti(Farinata Degli), a noble Florentine, leader of the Ghibelline faction. Dantê represents him in hisInferno, as lying in a fiery tomb, yet open and not to be closed till the last judgment.

Uberto, Count d’Este, etc.--Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516).

Udaller, one who holds land by allodial tenure. Magnus Troil, in Sir W. Scott’sPirate, was a udaller.

Ude, the most learned of cooks, author ofLa Science de Gueule. He says,“Coquus nascitur non fit.”That “music, dancing, fencing, painting, and mechanics possess professors under 20 years of age, but pre-eminence in cooking is never attained under 30.” He waspremier artisteto Louis XVI., then to Lord Sefton, then to the duke of York, thenchef de cuisineat Crockford’s. It is said that he quitted the earl of Sefton, because one of his lordship’sguests added pepper to his soup. He was succeeded by Frascatelli.

⁂ Vatel, we are told, committed suicide (1677), during a banquet given by the Prince de Condé, because the lobsters for the turbot sauce did not arrive in time.

Udolpho(The Mysteries of), a romance by Mrs. Radcliffe (1790).

Ugo, natural son of Niccolo III. of Ferrara. His father had for his second wife Parisi´na Malatesta, between whom and Ugo a criminal attachment arose. When Niccolo was informed thereof, he had both brought to open trial, and both were condemned to suffer death by the common headsman.--Frizzi,History of Ferrara.

Ugoli´no, count of Gheradesca, a leader of the Guelphi in Pisa. He was raised to the highest honors, but the Archbishop Ruggie´ri incited the Pisans against him, his castle was attacked, two of his grandsons fell in the assault, and the count himself, with his two sons and two surviving grandsons, were imprisoned in the tower of the Gualandi, on the Piazza of the Anziani. Being locked in, the dungeon key was flung into the Arno, and all food was withheld from them. On the fourth day his son, Gaddo, died, and by the sixth day little Anselm, with the two grandchildren, “fell one by one.” Last of all the count died also (1288), and the dungeon was ever after called “The Tower of Famine.”

Dantê has introduced this story in hisInferno, and represents Ugolino as devouring most voraciously the head of Ruggieri, while frozen in the lake of ice.

Chaucer, in hisCanterbury Tales, makes the monk briefly tell this sad story, and calls the count “Hugeline of Pise.”

Oh, thou Pisa, shame!... What if fameReported that thy castles were betrayedBy Ugolino, yet no right hadst thouTo stretch his children on the rack ...Their tender years ... uncapable of guilt.Dantê,Hell, xxxiii. (1300).

Oh, thou Pisa, shame!... What if fameReported that thy castles were betrayed

Oh, thou Pisa, shame!... What if fame

Reported that thy castles were betrayed

By Ugolino, yet no right hadst thouTo stretch his children on the rack ...Their tender years ... uncapable of guilt.Dantê,Hell, xxxiii. (1300).

By Ugolino, yet no right hadst thou

To stretch his children on the rack ...

Their tender years ... uncapable of guilt.

Dantê,Hell, xxxiii. (1300).

Remember Ugolino condescendsTo eat the head of his arch-enemyThe moment after he politely endsHis tale.Byron,Don Juan, ii. 83 (1819).

Remember Ugolino condescends

To eat the head of his arch-enemy

The moment after he politely ends

His tale.

Byron,Don Juan, ii. 83 (1819).

Ulalume, the lost love, to the door of whose tomb the poet strays with “Psyche, his soul.”

And we pass to the end of the vista,But were stopped by the door of a tomb,--By the door of a legended tomb;And I said, “What is written, sweet sisterOn the door of this legended tomb?”She replied, “Ulalume! Ulalume!’Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!”Edgar Allan Poe,Poems(1850).

And we pass to the end of the vista,

But were stopped by the door of a tomb,--

By the door of a legended tomb;

And I said, “What is written, sweet sister

On the door of this legended tomb?”

She replied, “Ulalume! Ulalume!

’Tis the vault of thy lost Ulalume!”

Edgar Allan Poe,Poems(1850).

Ula´nia, queen of Islanda. She sent a golden shield to Charlemagne, to be given as a prize to his bravest knight, and whoever won it might claim the donor in marriage.--Ariosto,Orlando Furioso, xv. (1516).

Ulfin, the page of Gondibert’s grandsire, and the faithful Achātês of Gondibert’s father. He cured Gondibert by a cordial kept in his sword hilt.--Sir W. Davenant,Gondibert(died 1668).

Ulf, Celtic husband, who, surprising his wife with her lover, follows and slays him, then tells her what he has seen, and how avenged his injured honor, and kills her.--Charles de Kay,Hesperus and other Poems(1880).

Ulien’s Son, Rodomont.--Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516).

Ulin, an enchantress who had no power over those who remained faithful to Allah and their duty; but if any fell into error or sin she had full power to do as she liked, Thus, when Misnar (sultan of India) mistrusted the protection of Allah, she transformed him into a toad. When the Vizier Horam believed a false report, obviously untrue, she transformed him also into a toad. And when the Princess Hemjunah, to avoid a marriage projected by her father, ran away with a stranger, her indiscretion placed her in the power of the enchantress, who transformed her likewise into a toad. Ulin was ultimately killed by Misnar, sultan of Delhi, who felled her to the ground with a blow.--Sir C. Morell [J. Ridley],Tales of the Genii, vi., viii. (1751).

Ullin, Fingal’s aged bard, called “the sweet voice of resounding Cona.”

Ullin, the Irish name for Ulster.

He pursued the chase on Ullin, on the moss-covered top of Drumardo.--Ossian,Temora, ii.

Ullin’s Daughter(Lord), a young lady who eloped with the chief of Ulva’s Isle, and induced a boatman to row them over Lochgyle during a storm. The boat was capsized just as Lord Ullin and his retinue reached the shore. He saw the peril, he cried in agony, “Come back, come back! and I’ll forgive your Highland chief;” but it was too late, the “waters wild rolled o’er his child, and he was left lamenting.”--Campbell,Lord Ullin’s Daughter(a ballad).

Ulric, son of Werner (i.e., count of Siegendorf). With the help of Gabor, he saved the count of Stral´enheim from the Oder; but murdered him afterwards for the wrongs he had done his father and himself, especially in seeking to oust them from the princely inheritance of Siegendorf.--Byron,Werner(1822).

Ulri´ca, inCharles XII., by J. R. Planché (1826).

Ulrica, a girl of great beauty and noble determination of character, natural daughter of Ernest de Fridberg. Dressed in the clothes of Herman (the deaf and dumb jailer-lad), she gets access to the dungeon where her father is confined as a “prisoner of State,” and contrives his escape, but he is recaptured. Whereupon Christine (a young woman in the service of the Countess Marie) goes direct to Frederick II., and obtains his pardon.--E. Stirling,The Prisoner of State(1847).

Ulrica,aliasMartha, mother of Bertha, the betrothed of Hereward (3syl.).--Sir W. Scott,Count Robert of Paris(time, Rufus).

Ulrica, daughter of the late thane of Torquilstone;aliasDame Urfried, an old sibyl at Torquilstone Castle.--Sir W. Scott,Ivanhoe(time Richard I.).

Ulster(The kings of). The kings ofUlsterwere called O’Neil; those ofMunster, O’Brien; ofConnaught, O’Connor; ofLeinster, MacMorrough; and ofMeath, O’Melaghlin.

Ultimus Romano´rum, Horace Walpole (1717-1797).

Ulvfagre, the fierce Dane, who massacred the Culdees of Io´na, and having bound Aodh in iron, carried him to the church, demanding of him where he had concealed the church treasures. At that moment a mysterious gigantic figure in white appeared, and, taking Ulvfagre by the arm, led him to the statue of St. Columb, which instantly fell on him and killed him.

The tottering image was dashedDown from its lofty pedestal;On Ulvfagre’s helm it crashed.Helmet, and skull, and flesh, and brain,It crushed as millstones crush the grain.Campbell,Reullura.

The tottering image was dashed

Down from its lofty pedestal;

On Ulvfagre’s helm it crashed.

Helmet, and skull, and flesh, and brain,

It crushed as millstones crush the grain.

Campbell,Reullura.

Ulysses, a corrupt form of Odusseus [O. dus´.suce], the king of Ithăca. He is one of the chief heroes in Homer’sIliad, and the chief hero of theOdyssey. Homer represents him as being craftily wise and full of devices. Virgil ascribes to him the invention of the Wooden Horse.

Ulysses was very unwilling to join the expedition to Troy, and pretended to be mad. Thus, when Palamēdês came to summon him to the war, he was plowing the sand of the seashore and sowing it with salt.

Ulysses’s bow.Only Ulysses could draw this bow, and he could shoot an arrow from it through twelve rings.

William the Conqueror had a bow which no arm but his own could bend.

Robin Hood’s bow could be bent by no hand but his own.

⁂ Statius says that no one but Kapăneus [Kap´.a.nuce] could poise his spear.

His cypress spear with steel encircled shone,Not to be poised but by his hand alone.Thebaid, v.

His cypress spear with steel encircled shone,

Not to be poised but by his hand alone.

Thebaid, v.

Ulysses’s Dog, Argus, which recognized his master after an absence of twelve years. (SeeTheron, King Roderick’s dog.)

Ulysses and Polyphemos.

Ulysses and his crew, having reached the island of Sicily, strayed into the cave of Polyphēmos, the giant Cyclops. Soon as the monster returned and saw the strangers, he seized two of them, and, having dashed out their brains, made his supper off them, “nor entrails left, nor yet their marrowy bones;” then stretched he his huge carcass on the floor, and went to sleep. Next morning he caught up two others, devoured them for his breakfast, then stalked forth into the open air, driving his flocks before him. At sun-down he returned, seized other two for his supper and after quaffing three bowls of wine, fell asleep. Then it was that Ulysses bored out the giant’s eye with a green olive stake heated in the fire. The monster roared with pain, and after searching in vain to seize some of his tormentors, removed the rock from the mouth of the cave to let out his goats and sheep. Ulysses and his companions escaped at the same time by attaching themselves to the bellies of the sheep, and made for their ship. Polyphemos hurled rocks at the vessel, and nearly succeeded in sinking it, but the fugitives made good their flight, and the blinded monster was left lamenting.--Homer,Odyssey, ix.

⁂ An extraordinary parallel to this tale is told in the third voyage of Sindbad, the sailor. Sindbad’s vessel was driven by a tempest to an island of pygmies, and advancing into the interior, the crew came to a “high palace,” into which they entered. At sundown came home the giant, “tall as a palm tree; and in the middle of his forehead was one eye, red and fiery as a burning coal.” Soon as he saw the intruders, he caught up the fattest of them and roasted him for his supper, then lay down to sleep, and “snored louder than thunder.” At daybreak he left the palace, but at night returned, and made his meal off another of the crew. This was repeated a third night, but while the monster slept, Sindbad, with a red-hot spit, scooped out his eye. “The pain he suffered made him groan hideously,” and he fumbled about the palace to catch some of his tormentors “on whom to glut his rage;” but not succeeding in this, he leftthe palace, “bellowing with pain.” Sindbad and the rest lost no time in making for the sea; but scarcely had they pushed off their rafts when the giant approached with many others, and hurled huge stones at the fugitives. Some of them even ventured into the sea up to their waists, and every raft was sunk except the one on which Sindbad and two of his companions made their escape.--Arabian Nights(“Sindbad, the Sailor,” third voyage).

Another similar tale occurs in the Basque legends, in which the giant’s name is Tartaro, and his eye was bored out with spits made red hot. As in the previous instances, some seamen had inadvertently wandered into the giant’s dwelling, and Tartaro had banqueted on three of them, when his eye was scooped out by the leader. This man, like Ulysses, made his escape by means of a ram, but, instead of clinging to the ram’s belly, he fastened round his neck the ram’s bell, and threw over his back a sheep-skin. When Tartaro laid his hand on the skin, the man left it behind and made good his escape.

That all these tales are borrowed from one source none can doubt. TheIliadof Homer had been translated into Syriac by Theophilus Edessenes, a Christian Maronite monk of Mount Libănus, during the caliphate of Hárun-ur-Ráshid (A.D.786-809).--SeeNotes and Queries, April 19, 1879.

Ulysses of Brandenburg(The), Albert III., elector of Brandenburg, also called “The German Achillês” (1414-1486).

Ulysses of the Highlands(The), Sir Evan Cameron, lord of Lochiel [Lok.keel´], and surnamed “The Black” (died 1719).

⁂ It was the son of Sir Evan who was called “The Gentle Lochiel.”

Umbra(Obsequious), in Garth’s Dispensary, is meant for Dr. Gould (1699).

Umbriel´(2syl.), the tutelar angel of Thomas, the apostle, once a Sadducee, and always hard of conviction.--Klopstock,The Messiah, iii.(1748)(1748).

Umbriel[Um.breel´], a sprite whom Spleen supplies with a bagful of “sighs, sobs, and cross words,” and a vialful of “soft sorrows, melting grief, and flowing tears.” When the baron cuts off Belinda’s lock of hair, Umbriel breaks the vial over her, and Belinda instantly begins sighing and sobbing, chiding, weeping, and pouting.--Pope,Rape of the Lock(1712).

Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy spriteAs ever sullied the fair face of light,Down to the central earth, his proper scene,Repaired, to search the gloomy cave of Spleen.Canto iv. 13, etc.

Umbriel, a dusky, melancholy sprite

As ever sullied the fair face of light,

Down to the central earth, his proper scene,

Repaired, to search the gloomy cave of Spleen.

Canto iv. 13, etc.

U´na, truth; so called because truth is one. She goes, leading a lamb and riding on a white ass, to the court of Gloriana, to crave that one of her knights might undertake to slay the dragon which kept her father and mother prisoners. The adventure is accorded to the Red Cross Knight, and the two start forth together. A storm compels them to seek shelter in a forest, and when the storm abates they get into Wandering Wood, where they are induced by Archimago to sleep in his cell. A vision is sent to the knight, which causes him to quit the cell, and Una, not a little surprised at this discourtesy, goes in search of him. In her wanderings she is caressed by a lion, who becomes her attendant. After many adventures, she finds St. George, “The Red Cross Knight;” who is held captive by Ugoglio, pride. Prince Arthur slays Ugoglio and frees the knight, who is then taken by Una to thehouse of Holiness to prepare for his battle with the dragon, which he finally defeats after a terrific three-days contest.--Spenser,Faëry Queen, i. (1590).

Una, one of Flora M’Ivor’s attendants.--Sir W. Scott,Waverley(time, George II.).

Uncas, son of Chingachgook, surnamed “Deer-foot.” The courage, dignity, and loyalty of this young chieftain, combine with his personal graces to make him one of the most interesting creations of the novelist’s imagination. He dies in the effort to rescue the palefaced girl he loves, from the cruel Magua, and is buried by his tribe with all the honors due the bravest and purest of the tribe.

“Who that saw thee in battle, would believe that thou couldst die? Who before thee has ever shown Uttawa the way into the fight? Thy feet were like the wings of eagles; thine arm heavier than falling branches from the pine, and thy voice like the Manitou when he speaks in the clouds.”--James Fenimore Cooper,The Last of the Mohicans.

Unborn Doctor(The), of Moorfields. Not being born a doctor, he called himself “The Un-born Doctor.”

Uncle Larry, genial man of the world, kindly in thought, and sagacious in speech, who appears inThe Last Meeting,The Rival Ghostsand other tales by Brander Matthews.

Uncle Toby, a captain who had been wounded at the siege of Namur, and had been dismissed the service on half-pay. Most kind and benevolent, modest, and simple-minded, but brave and firm in his own opinions. His gallantry towards Widow Wadman, is exquisite for its modesty and chivalry. Uncle Toby retains his military tastes and camp habits to the last.--Sterne,The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman(1729).

But what shall I say to thee, thou quintessence of the milk of human kindness, ... thou master of the best of corporals, ... thou high and only final Christian gentleman, ... divine Uncle Toby?... He who created thee was the wisest man since the days of Shakespeare himself.--Leigh Hunt.

Uncle Tom, a negro slave, of unaffected piety, and most faithful in the discharge of all his duties. His master, a humane man, becomes embarrassed in his affairs, and sells him to a slave-dealer. After passing through various hands, and suffering intolerable cruelties, he dies.--Harriet Beecher Stowe,Uncle Tom’s Cabin(1852).

⁂ The original of this character was the negro slave subsequently ordained and called “the Rev. J. Henson.” He was in London, 1876, 1877, took part in several religious services, and was even presented to her majesty, Queen Victoria.

Undine[Oon-deen], a water-sylph, who was in early childhood changed for the young child of a fisherman living on a peninsula, near an enchanted forest. One day Sir Huldbrand took shelter in the fisherman’s hut, fell in love with Undine, and married her. Being thus united to a man, the sylph received a soul. Not long after the wedding Sir Huldbrand returned homeward, but stopped awhile in the city, which lay on the other side of the forest, and met there Bertalda, a beautiful but haughty lady, whom they invited to go with them to their home, the Castle Ringstettin. For a time, the knight was troubled with visions, but Undine had the mouth of a well closed up, and thus prevented the water-sprites from getting into the castle. In time the knight neglected his wife, and became attached to Bertalda, who was in reality the changeling. Oneday, sailing on the Danube, the knight rebuked Undine in his anger, and immediately she was snatched away by sister sylphs to her water home. Not long after the knight proposed to Bertalda, and the wedding day arrived. Bertalda requested her maid to bring her some water from the well; so the cover was removed, Undine rose from the upheaving water, went to the chamber of Sir Huldbrand, kissed him, and he died. They buried him, and a silver stream bubbled round his grave; it was Undine who thus embraced him, true in life, and faithful in death.--De la Motte Fouqué,Undine(1807).

⁂ This romance is founded on a tale by Theophrastus Paracelsus, in hisTreatise on Elemental Sprites.

Ungrateful Guest(The), a soldier in the army of Philip of Macĕdon, who had been hospitably entertained by a villager. Being asked by the king what he could give him in reward of his services, the fellow requested he might have the farm and cottage of his late host. Philip, disgusted at such baseness, had him branded with the words,The Ungrateful Guest.

Unique(The), Jean Paul Richter, whose romances are quite unique, and belong to no school (1763-1825).

Universal Doctor, Alain de Lille (1114-1203).

⁂ Sometimes Thomas Aquinas is also calledDoctor Universālis(1224-1274).

Unknown(The Great), Sir Walter Scott, who published the Waverley novels anonymously (1771-1832).

Unlearned Parliament(The). The parliament convened by Henry IV., at Coventry, in Warwickshire (1404), was so called because lawyers were excluded from it.

Unlucky Possessions, the gold of Nibelungen and the gold of Tolosa, Graysteel, Harmonia’s necklace, Sherborne, in Dorsetshire, etc.

Unready(The), Ethelred II. (*, 978-1016).

⁂ “Unready” does not mean “never ready or prepared,” but lackingrede,i.e., “wisdom, judgment or kingcraft.”

Unreason(The abbot of), orFather Howleglas, one of the masquers at Kennaquhair.--Sir W. Scott,The Abbot(time, Elizabeth).

Unwashed(The Great), the common people. It was Burke who first applied this term to the artizan class.

Upholsterer(The), a farce by Murphy (1758). Abraham Quidnunc, upholsterer, in St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, being crazed with politics, so neglects his business for the affairs of Europe that he becomes a bankrupt; but, at this crisis, his son, John, who had married the widow of a rich planter, returns from the West Indies, pays off his father’s debts, and places him in a position where he may indulge his love for politics without hampering himself with business.

Ura´nia, sister of Astrophel (Sir Philip Sidney), is the countess of Pembroke.

Urania, sister unto Astrophel,In whose brave mind, as in a golden coffer,All heavenly gifts and riches lockèd are,More rich than pearls of Ind.Spenser,Colin Clout’s Come Home Again(1595).

Urania, sister unto Astrophel,

In whose brave mind, as in a golden coffer,

All heavenly gifts and riches lockèd are,

More rich than pearls of Ind.

Spenser,Colin Clout’s Come Home Again(1595).

Urania, daughter of the king of Sicily, who fell in love with Sir Guy (eldest son of St. George, the patron saint of England).--R. Johnson,The Seven Champions, etc., iii. 2 (1617).

Ura´nian Venus,i.e., “Celestial Venus,” the patroness of chaste and pure love.

Venuspandêmosorpopularisis the Venus of the animal passion called “love.”

Venusetairaoramīcais the Venus of criminal sensuality.

The seal was Cupid bent above a scroll,And o’er his head Uranian Venus hungAnd raised the blinding bandage from his eyes.Tennyson,The Princess, i. (1830).

The seal was Cupid bent above a scroll,

And o’er his head Uranian Venus hung

And raised the blinding bandage from his eyes.

Tennyson,The Princess, i. (1830).

Urban(Sylvānus), the hypothetical editor ofThe Gentleman’s Magazine.

Urbané, hero of a religious story bearing the title ofUrbané and His Friends, by Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1863).

Urchin, a hedgehog, a mischievous little fellow, a dwarf, an imp.

We’ll dress like urchins.Shakespeare,Merry Wives of Windsor, act iv. sc. 4 (1596).

We’ll dress like urchins.

Shakespeare,Merry Wives of Windsor, act iv. sc. 4 (1596).

Ureus, the Egyptian snake, crowned with a mitre, and typical of heaven.

Urfried(Dame), an old sibyl at Torquilstone Castle;aliasUlrica, daughter of the late thane of Torquilstone.--Sir W. Scott,Ivanhoe(time, Richard I.).

Urgan, a human child stolen by the king of the fairies, and brought up in elf-land. He was sent to lay on Lord Richard the “curse of the sleepless eye,” for killing his wife’s brother. Then said the dwarf to Alice Brand (the wife of Lord Richard), “if any woman will sign mybrow thrice with a cross, I shall resume my proper form.” Alice signed him thrice, and Urgan became at once “the fairest knight in all Scotland,” and Alice recognized in him her own brother, Ethert.--Sir W. Scott,Lady of the Lake, iv. 12 (1810).

Urganda, a potent fairy in theAmădis de Gauland other romances of the Carlovingian cycle.

This Urganda seemed to be aware of her own importance.--Smollett.

Ur´gel, one of Charlemagne’s paladins, famous for his enormous strength.

U´riel(3syl.), orIsrafil, the angel who is to sound the resurrection trumpet.--Al Korân.

Uriel, one of the seven great spirits, whose station was in the sun. The word means “God’s light” (see2 Esdrasiv., v., x. 28).

The archangel Uriel, one of the sevenWho, in God’s presence, nearest to his throne,Stand ready at command.Milton,Paradise Lost, iii. 648, etc. (1665).

The archangel Uriel, one of the seven

Who, in God’s presence, nearest to his throne,

Stand ready at command.

Milton,Paradise Lost, iii. 648, etc. (1665).

⁂ Longfellow calls him “the minister of Mars,” and says that he inspires man with “fortitude to bear the brunt and suffering of life.”--The Golden Legend, iii. (1851).

U´rien, the foster-father of Prince Madoc. He followed the prince to his settlement in North America, south of the Missouri (twelfth century).--Southey,Madoc(1805)(1805).

Urim, inGarth’s Dispensary, is designed for Dr. Atterbury.

Urim was civil and not void of sense,Had humor and courteous confidence, ...Constant at feasts, and each decorum knew,And soon as the dessert appeared, withdrew.The Dispensary, i. (1699).

Urim was civil and not void of sense,

Had humor and courteous confidence, ...

Constant at feasts, and each decorum knew,

And soon as the dessert appeared, withdrew.

The Dispensary, i. (1699).

Urra´ca, sister of Sancho II. of Castile, and queen of Zamōra.--Poema del Cid Campeador(1128).

Urre(Sir), one of the knights of the Round Table. Being wounded, the king and his chief knights tried on him the effect of “handling the wounds” (i.e., touching them to heal them), but failed. At last, Sir Launcelot was invited to try, and as he touched the wounds they severally healed.--Arthurian Romance.

Urrie(Sir John), a parliamentary leader.--Sir W. Scott,Legend of Montrose(time, Charles I.).

Ursa Major, Calisto, daughter of Lycāon, violated by Jupiter, and converted by Juno into a bear; whereupon the king of gods and man placed her in the Zodiac as a constellation. The Great Bear is also called “Hellicê.”

Ursa Major.Dr. Johnson was so called by Boswell’s father (1709-1784).

My father’s opinion of Dr. Johnson may be conjectured from the name he afterwards gave him, which was “Ursa Major;” but it is not true, as has been reported, that it was in consequence of my saying that he was a constellation of genius and literature.--Boswell (1791).

Ursel(Zedekias), the imprisoned rival of the Emperor Alexius Comnēnus of Greece.--Sir W. Scott,Count Robert of Paris(time, Rufus).

Ur´sula, mother of Elsie, and wife of Gottlieb [Got.leeb], a cottage farmer, of Bavaria.--Hartmann von der Aue,PoorHenry(twelfth century); LongfellowGolden Legend(1851).

Ursula, a gentlewoman, attending on Hero.--Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing(1600).

Ursula, a silly old duenna, vain of her saraband dancing; though not fair yet fat and fully forty. Don Diego leaves Leonora under her charge, but Leander soon finds that a little flattery and a few gold pieces will put the dragon to sleep, and leave him free of the garden of his Hesperidês.--I. Bickerstaff,The Padlock(1768).

Ursula(Sister), a disguise assumed at St. Bride’s, by the Lady Margaret de Hautlieu.--Sir W. Scott,Castle Dangerous(time, Henry I.).

Ursula(Saint), daughter of Dianotus, king of Cornwall (brother and successor of Caradoc, king of Cornwall). She was asked in marriage by Conan [Meriadoc] of Armorica, or Little Britain. Going to France with her maidens, the princess was driven by adverse winds to Cologne, where she and “her 11,000 virgins” were martyred by the Huns and Picts (October 21, 237). Visitors to Cologne are still shown piles of skulls and bones heaped in the wall, faced with glass, which the verger asserts to be the relics of the martyred virgins; but, like Iphis, they must have changed their sex since death for most undoubtedly many of the bones are those of men and boys.--See Geoffrey,British History, v. 15, 16.

A calendar in the Freisingen Codex notices them as “SS. XI. M. VIRGINUM”i.e., “eleven holy virgin martyrs;” but, by making the “M” into a Roman figure equal 1000, we have XIM=11,000; so iiic=300.

Ursula is the Swabianursulorhörsel(“the moon”), and, if this solution is accepted, then the “virgins who bore her company” are the stars. Ursul is the Scandinavian Hulda.

Those who assert the legend to be based on a fact, have supplied the following names as the most noted of the virgins, and, as there are but eleven given, it favors the Freisingen Codex:--(1) Ursula, (2) Sencia or Sentia, (3) Gregoria, (4) Pinnosa, (5) Mardia, (6) Saula, (7) Brittola, (8) Saturnina, (9) Rabacia, Sabatia, or Sambatia, (10) Saturia or Saturnia, and (11) Palladia.

In 1837 was celebrated with great splendor the sixteenth centenary “jubilee of their passion.”

Bright Ursula the third, who undertook to guideThe eleven thousand maids to Little Britain sent,By seas and bloody men devoured as they went;Of which we find these four have been for saints preferred.And with their leader still do live encalendered:St. Agnes, Cor´dula, Odillia, Florence, whichWith wondrous sumptuous shrines those ages did enrichAt Cullen.Drayton,Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).

Bright Ursula the third, who undertook to guide

The eleven thousand maids to Little Britain sent,

By seas and bloody men devoured as they went;

Of which we find these four have been for saints preferred.

And with their leader still do live encalendered:

St. Agnes, Cor´dula, Odillia, Florence, which

With wondrous sumptuous shrines those ages did enrich

At Cullen.

Drayton,Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).

Ursus, humane, tender-hearted pessimist, posing as a misogynist and philanthropist. His favorite comrade is the tame wolf,Homo.--Victor Hugo,L’Homme qui rit.

Use of Pests.David once said he could not image why a wise deity should have created such things as spiders, idiots, and mosquitoes; but his life showed they were all useful to him at any rate. Thus, when he fled from Saul, a spider spun its web at the mouth of the cave, and Saul, feeling assured that the fugitive could nothave entered the cave without breaking the web, passed on without further search. Again, when he was taken captive before the king of Gath, he feigned idiocy, and the king dismissed him, for he could not believe such a driveller could be the great champion who had slain Goliath. Once more, when he entered into the tent of Saul, as he was crawling along, Abner, in his sleep, tossed his legs over him. David could not stir, but a mosquito happened to bite the leg of the sleeper, and, Abner shifting it, enabled David to effect his escape.--The Talmud. (SeeVirgil’s Gnat.)

Used Up, an English version ofL’Homme Blasé, of Felix Auguste Duvert, in conjunction with Auguste Théodore de Lauzanne. Charles Mathews made this dramatic trifle popular in England.--Boucicault,Used Up(1845).

Useless Parliament(The), the first parliament held in the reign of Charles I. (June 18, 1625). It was adjourned to Oxford in August, and dissolved twelve days afterwards.

Usher(The House of), a doomed family, the last scions of which are twins--a brother and sister. The brother is the victim of melancholia, the sister seems to die and is buried prematurely. She bursts the coffin and appears in the door of her brother’s room. “For a moment she remained trembling and reeling to and fro upon the threshold--then, with a low, moaning cry, fell heavily inward upon the person of her brother, and, in her violent and now final death agonies, bore him to the floor a corpse, and a victim to the terrors he had anticipated.”--Edgar Allan Poe,Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque(1840).

UsnachorUsna. Conor, king of Ulster put to death by treachery, the three sons of Usnach. This led to the desolating war against Ulster, which terminated in the total destruction of Eman. This is one of the three tragic stories of the ancient Irish. The other two areThe Death of the Children of TouranandThe Death of the Children of Lir.

Avenging and bright falls the swift sword of ErinOn him who the brave sons of Usna betrayed!...By the red cloud that hung over Conor’s dark dwellingWhen Ulad’s three champions lay sleeping in gore ...We swear to avenge them.T. Moore,Irish Melodiesiv. (“Avenging and Bright ...” 1814).

Avenging and bright falls the swift sword of Erin

On him who the brave sons of Usna betrayed!...

By the red cloud that hung over Conor’s dark dwelling

When Ulad’s three champions lay sleeping in gore ...

We swear to avenge them.

T. Moore,Irish Melodiesiv. (“Avenging and Bright ...” 1814).

Uta, queen of Burgundy, mother of Kriemhild and Günther.--The Nibelungen Lied(twelfth century).

Utha, the “white-bosomed daughter of Herman.” She dwelt “by Thano’s stream,” and was beloved by Frothal. When Fingal was about to slay Frothal, she interposed and saved his life.--Ossian,Carric-Thura.

Uthal, son of Larthmor, petty king of Berrathon (a Scandinavian island). He dethroned his father, and, being very handsome, was beloved by Nina-Tho´ma (daughter of a neighboring prince), who eloped with him. Uthal proved inconstant, and, confining Nina-Thoma in a desert island, fixed his affections on another. In the mean time Ossian and Toscar arrived at Berrothan. A fight ensued, in which Uthal was slain in single combat, and Larthmor restored to his throne. Nina-Thoma was also released, but all her ill treatment could not lessen her deep love, and when she heard of the death ofUthal she languished and died.--Ossian,Berrathon.

UtherorUter, pendragon or war-chief of the Britons. He married Igerna, widow of Gorloïs, and was by her the father of Arthur and Anne. This Arthur was the famous hero who instituted the knights of the Round Table.--Geoffrey,History of Britain, viii. 20 (1142).

Uthorno, a bay of Denmark, into which Fingal was driven by stress of weather. It was near the residence of Starno, king of Lochlin (Denmark).--Ossian,Cath-Loda, i.

Uto´pia, a political romance by Sir Thomas More.

The word means “nowhere” (Greek,ou-topos). It is an imaginary island, where everything is perfect--the laws, the politics, the morals, the institutions, etc. The author, by contrast, shows the evils of existing laws. Carlyle, in hisSartor Resartus, has a place called “Weissnichtwo” [Vice-neckt-vo, “I know not where”]. The Scotch “Kennaquhair” means the same thing (1524).

Adoam describes to Telemachus the country of Bétique (in Spain) as a Utopia.--Fénelon,Télémaque, viii.

Utopia, the kingdom of Grangousier. “Parting from Me´damoth, Pantag´ruel sailed with a northerly wind, and passed Me´dam, Gel´asem, and the Fairy Isles; then keeping Uti to the left, and Uden to the right, he ran into the port of Utopia, distant about 3½ leagues from the city of the Amaurots.”

⁂ Parting fromMedamoth(“from no place”), he passedMedam(“nowhere”),Gelasem(“hidden land”), etc.; keeping to the leftUti(“nothing at all”) and to the rightUden(“nothing”), he entered the port ofUtopia(“no place”), distant 3½ leagues fromAmauros(“the vanishing point”).--SeeMaps for the Blind, published by Nemo and Co., of Weissnichtwo.

(These maps were engraved by Outis and Son, and are very rare.)

Uzziel[Uz´.zeel], the next in command to Gabriel. The word means “God’s strength.”--Milton,Paradise Lost, iv. 782 (1665).

Back to Index Next