“By the laws of justice and of the Church she was a queen, although she was never allowed to reign.... There was about her the brilliancy of courts and palaces, the enchantment of a love-story, the suffering of a victim of despotic power.”—Eugene Dìdier,Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte(1879).
“By the laws of justice and of the Church she was a queen, although she was never allowed to reign.... There was about her the brilliancy of courts and palaces, the enchantment of a love-story, the suffering of a victim of despotic power.”—Eugene Dìdier,Life and Letters of Madame Bonaparte(1879).
Patty, “the maid of the mill,” daughter of Fairfield, the miller. She was brought up by the mother of Lord Aimworth, and was promised by her father in marriage to Farmer Giles; but she refused to marry him, and became the bride of Lord Aimworth. Patty was very clever, very pretty, very ingenuous, and loved his lordship to adoration.—Bickerstaff,The Maid of the Mill(1765).
Pattypan(Mrs.), a widow who keeps lodgings, and makes love to Tim Tartlet, to whom she is ultimately engaged.
By all accounts, she is just as loving now as she was thirty years ago.—James Cobb,The First Floor, i. 2 (1756-1818).
By all accounts, she is just as loving now as she was thirty years ago.—James Cobb,The First Floor, i. 2 (1756-1818).
Patullo(Mrs.), waiting-woman to Lady Ashton.—Sir W. Scott,Bride of Lammermoor(time, William III.).
Pau-Puk-Keewis, a cunning mischief-maker, who taught the North American Indians the game of hazard, and stripped them, by his winnings, of all their possessions. In a mad freak Pau-Puk-Keewis entered the wigwam of Hiawatha and threw everything into confusion; so Hiawatha resolved to slay him. Pau-Puk-Keewis, taking to flight, prayed the beavers to make him a beaver ten times their own size. This they did; but when the other beavers made their escape, at the arrival of Hiawatha, Pau-Puk-Keewis was hindered from getting away by his great size; and Hiawatha slew him. His spirit, escaping, flew upwards, and prayed the storm-fools to make him a “brant” ten times their own size. This was done, and he was told never to look downwards, or he would lose his life. When Hiawatha arrived, the “brant” could not forbear looking at him; and immediately he fell to earth, and Hiawatha transformed him into an eagle.
Now in winter, when the snowflakesWhirl in eddies round the lodges,...“There,” they cry, “comes Pau-Puk-Keewis;He is dancing thro’ the village,He is gathering in his harvest.”Longfellow,Hiawatha, xvii. (1855).
Paul, the love-child of Margaret, who retired to Port Louis, in the Mauritius, to bury herself, and bring up her only child. Hither came Mde. de la Tour, a widow, and was confined of a daughter, whom she named Virginia. Between these neighbors a mutual friendship arose, and the two children became playmates. As they grew in years their fondness for each other developed into love. When Virginia was 15, her mother’s aunt adopted her, and begged she might be sent to France to finish her education. She was above two years in France; and as she refused to marry a count of the “aunt’s” providing, she was disinherited and sent back to her mother. When within a cable’s length of the island a hurricane dashed the ship to pieces, and the dead body of Virginia was thrown upon the shore. Paul drooped from grief, and within two months followed her to the grave.—Bernardin de St. Pierre,Paul et Virgine(1788).
In Cobb’s dramatic version, Paul’s mother (Margaret) is made a faithful domestic of Virginia’s parents. Virginia’s mother dies, and commits her infant daughter to the care of Dominique, a faithful old negro servant, and Paul and Virginia are brought up in the belief that they are brother and sister. When Virginia is 15 years old, her aunt, Leonora de Guzman, adopts her, and sends Don Antonio de Guardes to bring her to Spain and make her his bride. She is taken by force on board ship; but scarcely has the ship started, when a hurricane dashes it on rocks, and it is wrecked. Alhambra, a runaway slave whom Paul and Virginia had befriended, rescues Virginia, who is brought to shore and married to Paul; but Antonio is drowned (1756-1818).
Paul(Father), Paul Sarpi (1552-1628).
Paul(St.). The very sword which cut off the head of this apostle is preserved at the convent of La Lisla, near Tolēdo, in Spain. If any one doubts the fact he may, for a gratuity, see a “copper sword, twenty-five inches long and three and a half broad, on one side of which is the wordMUCRO(‘a sword’), and on the otherPAULUS...CAPITE.” Can anything be more convincing?
Paul(The Second St.).StRemi orRemigius, “The Great Apostle of the French.” He was made bishop of Rheims when only 22 years old. It wasStRemi who baptized Clovis, and told him that henceforth he must worship what he hitherto had hated, and abjure what he had hitherto adored (439-535).
***The cruse employed by St. Remi in the baptism of Clovis was used through the French monarchy in the anointing of all the kings.
Paul Pry, an idle, inquisitive, meddlesome fellow, who has no occupation of his own, and is forever poking his nose into other people’s affairs. He always comes in with the apology, “I hope I don’t intrude.”—John Poole,Paul Pry.
Thomas Hill, familiarly called “Tommy Hill,” was the original of this character, and also of “Gilbert Gurney,” by Theodore Hook. Planché says of Thomas Hill:
Hisspecialitéwas the accurate information he could impart on all the petty details of the domestic economy of his friends, the contents of their wardrobes, their pantries, the number of pots of preserves in their store-closets, and of the table-napkins in their linen-presses, the dates of their births and marriages, the amounts of their tradesmen’s bills, and whether paid weekly or quarterly. He had been on the press, and was connected with theMorning Chronicle. He used to drive Mathews crazy by ferreting out his whereabouts when he left London, and popping the information into some paper.—Recollections, i. 131-2.
Hisspecialitéwas the accurate information he could impart on all the petty details of the domestic economy of his friends, the contents of their wardrobes, their pantries, the number of pots of preserves in their store-closets, and of the table-napkins in their linen-presses, the dates of their births and marriages, the amounts of their tradesmen’s bills, and whether paid weekly or quarterly. He had been on the press, and was connected with theMorning Chronicle. He used to drive Mathews crazy by ferreting out his whereabouts when he left London, and popping the information into some paper.—Recollections, i. 131-2.
Paul Rushleigh, son of a wealthy manufacturer, and in love from boyhood with Faith Gartney. She can give him only sisterly affection in return, but her refusal makes a man of the boy. Ten years afterwards, as General Rushleigh, a noble, high-minded patriot, he meets Margaret Regis and marries her.—A. D. T. Whitney,Sights and Insights(1876).
Pauletti(the Lady Erminia), ward of Master George Heriot, the king’s goldsmith.—Sir W. Scott,The Fortunes of Nigel(time, James I.).
Pauli´na, the noble-spirited wife of Antig´onus, a Sicilian lord, and the kind friend of Queen Hermi´onê. When Hermionê gave birth in prison to a daughter, Paulina undertook to present it to King Leontês, hoping that his heart would be softened at the sight of his infant daughter; but he commanded the child to be cast out on a desert shore, and left there to perish. The child was drifted to the “coast” of Bohemia, and brought up by a shepherd, who called it Perdĭta. Florizel, the son of king Polixĕnês, fell in love with her, and fled with her to Sicily, to escape the vengeance of the angry king. The fugitives being introduced to Leontês, it was soon discovered that Perdita was the king’s daughter, and Polixenês consented to the union he had before forbidden. Paulina now invited Leontês and the rest to inspect a famous statue of Hermionê, and the statue turned out to be the living queen herself.—Shakespeare,The Winter’s Tale(1604).
Pauline, “The Beauty of Lyons,” daughter of M. Deschappelles, a Lyonese merchant; “as pretty as Venus, and as proud as Juno.” Pauline rejected the suits of Beauseant, Glavis and Claude Melnotte; and the three rejected lovers combined on vengeance. To this end, Claude, who was a gardener’s son, pretended to be the Prince Como, and Pauline married him, but was indignant when she discovered the trick which had been played upon her. Claude left her, and entered the French army, where in two years and a half he rose to the rank of colonel. Returning to Lyons, he found his father-in-law on the eve of bankruptcy, and Pauline about to be sold to Beauseant for money to satisfy the creditors. Being convinced that Pauline really loved him, Claude paid the money required, and claimed the lady as his loving and grateful wife.—Lord L. B. Lytton,The Lady of Lyons(1838).
Pauline(Mademoiselle) orMonna Paula, the attendant of Lady Erminia Pauletti, the goldsmith’s ward.—Sir W. Scott,The Fortunes of Nigel(time, James I.).
Pauline Pavlovna, heroine of T. B. Aldrich’s drama of that name (1890).
Pauli´nusof York, christened 10,000 men, besides women and their children in one single day in the Swale. (Altogether some 50,000 souls,i.e.104 every minute, 6,250 every hour, supposing he worked eight hours without stopping.)
When the Saxons first received the Christian faith,Paulinus of old York, the zealous bishop then,In Swale’s abundant stream christened ten thousand men,With women and their babes, a number more besides,Upon one happy day.Drayton,Polyolbion, xxviii. (1622).
Paulo, the cardinal and brother of Count Guido Franceschi´ni. He advised the count to repair his bankrupt fortune by marrying an heiress.—R. Browning,The Ring and the Book.
Paupiah, the Hindû steward of the British governor of Madras.—Sir W. Scott,The Surgeon’s Daughter(time, George II.).
Pausa´nias(The British), William Camden (1551-1623). Pausanias was a traveller and geographer in the 2d centuryA.D., who wrote an Itinerary of Greece. Camden wrote in Latin his “Brittania,” a survey of the British Isles.
Pauvre Jacques.When Marie Antoinette had her artificial Swiss village in the “Little Trianon,” a Swiss girl was brought over to heighten the illusion. She was observed to pine, and was heard to sigh out,pauvre Jacques! This little romance pleased the queen, who sent for Jacques, and gave the pair a wedding portion; while the Marchioness de Travanet wrote the song calledPauvre Jacques, which created at the time quite a sensation. The first and last verses run thus:
Pauvre Jacques, quand j’etais près de toi,Je ne sentais pas ma misère;Mais à présent que tu vis loin de moi,Je manque de tout sur la terre.
Poor Jack, while I was near to thee,Tho’ poor, my bliss was unalloyed;But now thou dwell’st so far from me,The world appears a lonesome void.
Pa´via(Battle of). Francis I. of France is said to have written to his mother these words, after the loss of this battle: “Madame, tout est perdu hors l’honneur;” but what he really wrote was: “Madame ... de toutes choses ne m’est demeuré pas que l’honneur et la vie.”
And with a noble siege revolted Pavia took.Drayton,Polyolbion, xviii. (1613).
Pavillon(Meinheer Hermann), the syndic at Liège [Le-aje].
Mother Mabel Pavillon, wife of Meinheer Hermann.
TrudchenorGertrude Pavillon, theirdaughter, betrothed to Hans Glover.—Sir W. Scott,Quentin Durward(time, Edward IV.).
Pawkins(Major), a huge, heavy man, “one of the most remarkable of the age.” He was a great politician and great patriot, but generally under a cloud, wholly owing to his distinguished genius for bold speculations, not to say “swindling schemes.” His creed was “to run a moist pen slick through everything, and start afresh.”—C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1844).
Pawnbrokers’ Balls.The gilded balls, the sign of pawnbrokers, are the pills on the shield of the Medici family. Its founder, Cosmo, named after Saint Cosmo, the patron of physicians, joined the guild of the doctors (Medici), as every Florentine enrolled himself in one of these charitable societies. The Medici family became great money-lenders, and their shield with the “balls” or “pills” was placed over the doors of their agents.
Paynim Harper(The), referred to by Tennyson in theLast Tournament, was Orpheus.
Swine, goats, asses, rams and geeseTroop’d round a Paynim harper once ...Then were swine, goats, asses, geeseThe wiser fools, seeing thy Paynim bardHad such a mastery of his mysteryThat he could harp his wife up out of hell.Tennyson,The Last Tournament(1859).
Peace(Prince of the), Don Manuel Godoy, born at Badajoz. So called because he concluded the “peace of Basle” between the French and Spanish nations in 1795 (1767-1851).
Peace(The Father of), Andrea Doria (1469-1560).
Peace(The Surest Way to). Fox, afterwards bishop of Hereford, said to Henry VIII.,The surest way to peace is a constant preparation for war. The Romans had the axiom,Si vis pacem, para bellum. It was said of Edgar, surnamed “the Peaceful,” king of England, that he preserved peace in those turbulent times “by being always prepared for war” (reigned 959-975.)
Peace Thirlmore, ambitious daughter of a scholarly recluse near New Haven. She marries a clever student, who becomes a sensational preacher, then farmer, then an army officer. His wife passes through many stages of belief and emotion, emerging at last into the sunshine.—W. M. Baker,His Majesty, Myself(1879).
Peace at any Price.Mézeray says of Louis XII., that he had such detestation of war that he rather chose to lose his duchy of Mĭlan than burden his subjects with a war-tax.—Histoire de France(1643).
Peace of Antal´cidas, the peace concluded by Antalcidas, the Spartan, and Artaxerxes (B.C.387).
Peace of God, a peace enforced by the clergy on the barons of Christendom, to prevent the perpetual feuds between baron and baron (1035).
Peach´um, a pimp, patron of a gang of thieves, and receiver of their stolen goods. His house is the resort of thieves, pickpockets, and villains of all sorts. He betrays his comrades when it is for his own benefit, and even procures the arrest of Captain Macheath.
Mrs. Peachum, wife of Peachum. She recommends her daughter Polly to be “somewhat nice in her deviations from virtue.”
Polly Peachum, daughter of Peachum. (SeePolly.)—J. Gay,The Beggar’s Opera(1727).
Pearl(Little), illegitimate child of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. A piquant, tricksy sprite, as naughty as she is bewitching—a creature of fire and air, more elfish than human, at once her mother’s torment and her treasure.—Nathaniel Hawthorne,The Scarlet Letter(1850).
Pearl.It is said that Cleopatra swallowed a pearl of more value than the whole of the banquet she had provided in honor of Antony. This she did when she drank to his health. The same sort of extravagant folly is told of Æsopus, son of Clodius Æsopus, the actor (Horace,Satire, ii. 3).
A similar act of vanity and folly is ascribed to Sir Thomas Gresham, when Queen Elizabeth dined at the City banquet, after her visit to the Royal Exchange.
Here £15,000 at one clap goesInstead of sugar; Gresham drinks the pearlUnto his queen and mistress.Thomas Heywood.
Pearson(Captain Gilbert), officer in attendance on Cromwell.—Sir W. Scott,Woodstock(time, Commonwealth).
Peasant-Bard(The), Robert Burns (1859-1796).
Peasant-Painter of Sweden, Hörberg. His chief paintings are altar-pieces.
The altar-piece painted by Hörberg.Longfellow,The Children of the Lord’s Supper.
Peasant Poet of Northamptonshire, John Clare (1793-1864).
Peasant of the Danube(The), Louis Legendre, a member of the French National Convention (1755-1797); called in FrenchLe Paysan du Danube, from his “éloquence sauvage.”
Peau de Chagrin, a story by Balzac. The hero becomes possessed of a magical wild ass’s skin, which yields him the means of gratifying every wish; but for every wish thus gratified, the skin shrank somewhat, and at last vanished, having been wished entirely away. Life is apeaud’ane,for every vital act diminishes its force, and when all its force is gone, life is gone (1834).
Peckhams(The),Silas Peckham, “a thorough Yankee, born on a windy part of the coast, and reared chiefly on salt-fish; keeps a young ladies’ school exactly as he would have kept a hundred head of cattle—for the simple, unadorned purpose of making just as much money in just as few years as can be safely done.”
Mrs. Peckham’sspecialty is “to look after the feathering, cackling, roosting, rising, and general behavior of these hundred chicks. An honest, ignorant woman, she could not have passed an examination in the youngest class.”—Oliver Wendell HolmesElsie Venner(1861).
Peck´sniff, “architect and land surveyor,” at Salisbury. He talks homilies even in drunkenness, prates about the beauty of charity, and duty of forgiveness, but is altogether a canting humbug, and is ultimately so reduced in position that he becomes a “drunken, begging, squalid, letter-writing man,” out at elbows, and almost shoeless. Pecksniff’s specialty is the “sleek, smiling abominations of hypocrisy.”
If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerabletouch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was Mr. Pecksniff, “the messenger of peace.”
If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerabletouch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was Mr. Pecksniff, “the messenger of peace.”
CharityandMercy Pecksniff, the two daughters of the “architect and land surveyor.” Charity is thin, ill-natured, and a shrew, eventually jilted by a weak young man, who really loves her sister. Mercy Pecksniff, usually called “Merry,” is pretty and true-hearted; though flippant and foolish as a girl, she becomes greatly toned down by the troubles of her married life.—C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1843).
Peculiar, negro slave, endowed with talent, ambitious of an opportunity to develop and use these, but hopeless of gaining it, until emancipated by the Civil War between the United States and the Southern Confederacy.—Epes Sargent,Peculiar.
Pedant, an old fellow set up to personate Vincentio in Shakespeare’s comedy calledThe Taming of the Shrew(1695).
Pèdre(Don), a Sicilian nobleman, who has a Greek slave of great beauty, named Isidore (3syl.). This slave is loved by Adraste (2syl.), a French gentleman, who gains access to the house under the guise of a portrait-painter. He next sends his slave,Zaïda,to complain to the Sicilian of ill-treatment, and Don Pèdre volunteers to intercede on her behalf. At this moment Adraste comes up, and demands that Zaïde be given up to deserved chastisement.Pedrèpleads for her, Adraste appears to be pacified, andPedrècalls for Zaïde to come forth. Isidore, in the veil of Zaïde, comes out, andPedrèsays, “There, take her home, and use her well.” “I will do so,” says Adraste, and leads off the Greek slave.—Molière,Le Sicilien ou L’Amour Peintre(1667).
Pedrillo, the tutor of Don Juan. After the shipwreck, the men in the boat, being wholly without provisions, cast lots to know which should be killed as food for the rest, and the lot fell on Pedrillo, but those who feasted on him most ravenously went mad.
His tutor, the licentiate Pedrillo,Who several languages did understand.Byron,Don Juan, ii. 25; see 76-79 (1819).
Pedro, “the pilgrim,” a noble gentleman servant to Alinda (daughter of Lord Alphonso).—Beaumont and Fletcher,The Pilgrim(1621).
Pedro(Don), prince of Aragon.—Shakespeare,Much Ado about Nothing(1600).
Pedro(Don), father of Leonora.—R. Jephson,Two Strings to your Bow(1792).
Pedro(Don), a Portuguese nobleman, father of Donna Violante.—Mrs. Centlivre,The Wonder(1714).
Pedro(Dr.), whose full name was Dr. Pedro Rezio de Aguero, court physician in the island of Barataria. He carried a whalebone rod in his hand, and whenever any dish of food was set before Sancho Panza, the governor, he touched it with his wand, that it might be instantly removed, as unfit for the governor to eat. Partridges were “forbidden by Hippoc´ratês,” olla podridas were “most pernicious,” rabbits were “a sharp-haired diet,” veal might not be touched, but “a few wafers, and a thin slice or two of quince,” might not be harmful.
The governor, being served with some beef hashed with onions, ... fell to with more avidity than if he had been set down to Milan godwits, Roman pheasants, Sorrento veal, Moron partridges, or green geese of Lavajos; and turning to Dr. Pedro, he said, “Look you, signor doctor, I want no danties, ... for I have always been used to beef, bacon, pork, turnips and onions.”—Cervantes,Don Quixote, II. iii. 10, 12 (1615).
The governor, being served with some beef hashed with onions, ... fell to with more avidity than if he had been set down to Milan godwits, Roman pheasants, Sorrento veal, Moron partridges, or green geese of Lavajos; and turning to Dr. Pedro, he said, “Look you, signor doctor, I want no danties, ... for I have always been used to beef, bacon, pork, turnips and onions.”—Cervantes,Don Quixote, II. iii. 10, 12 (1615).
Peebles(Peter), the pauper litigant. He is vain, litigious, hard-hearted, and credulous; a liar, a drunkard, and a pauper. His “ganging plea” is worthy of Hogarth.—Sir W. Scott,Redgauntlet(time, George III.).
Peecher(Miss), a schoolmistress, in the flat country where Kent and Surrey meet. “Small, shining, neat, methodical, and buxom was Miss Peecher; cherry-cheeked and tuneful of voice. A little pincushion, a little hussie, a little book, a little work-box, a little set of tables and weights and measures, and a little woman all in one. She could write a little essay on any subject exactly a slate long, and strictly according to rule. If Mr. Bradley Headstone had proposed marriage to her, she would certainly have replied ‘yes,’ for she loved him;” but Mr. Headstone did not love Miss Peecher—he loved Lizzie Hexam, and had no love to spare for any other woman.—C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend, ii. 1 (1864).
Peel-the-Causeway(Old), a smuggler. Sir W. Scott,Redgauntlet(time, George III.).
Peeler(Sir), any crop which greatly impoverishes the ground. Topeelis to impoverish soil, as “oats, rye, barley, and grey wheat,” but not peas (xxxiii. 51).
Wheat doth not well,Nor after Sir Peeler he loveth to dwell.T. Tusser,Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, xviii. 12 (1557).
Peelers, the constabulary of Ireland, appointed under the Peace Preservation Act of 1814, proposed by Sir Robert Peel. The name was subsequently given to the new police of England, who are also called “Bobbies” from Sir Robert Peel.
Peep-o’-Day Boys, Irish insurgents of 1784, who prowled about at day-break, searching for arms.
Peeping Tom of Coventry.Lady Godiva earnestly besought her husband (Leofric, earl of Mercia) to relieve the men of Coventry of their grievous oppressions. Leofric, annoyed at her importunity, told her he would do so when she had ridden on horseback, naked, through the town. The countess took him at his word, rode naked through the town, and Leofric was obliged to grant the men of Coventry a charter of freedom.—Dugdale.
Rapin says that the countess commanded all persons to keep within doors and away from windows during her ride. One man, named Tom of Coventry, took a peep of the lady on horseback, but it cost him his life.
***Tennyson, in hisGodiva, has reproduced this story.
Peerage of the Saints.In the preamble of the statutes instituting the Order of St. Michael, founded by Louis XI in 1469, the archangel is styled “my lord,” and created a knight. The apostles had been already ennobled and knighted. We read of “the Earl Peter,” “Count Paul,” “the Baron Stephen,” and so on. Thus, in the introduction of a sermon upon St. Stephen’s Day, we have these lines:
Entendes toutes a chest sermon,Et clair et lai tules environ;Contes vous vueille la pationDe St. Estieul le baron.
Peerce(1syl.), a generic name for afarmer or ploughman. Piers the plowman is the name assumed by Robert or William Langland, in a historico-satirical poem so called.
And yet, my priests, pray you to God for Peerce ...And if you have a “pater noster” spare,Then you shal pray for saylers.G. Gascoigne,The Steele Glas(died 1577).
Peery(Paul), landlord of the Ship, Dover.
Mrs. Peery, Paul’s wife.—G. Colman,Ways and Means(1788).
Peerybingle(John), a carrier, “lumbering, slow, and honest; heavy, but light of spirit; rough upon the surface, but gentle at the core; dull without, but quick within; stolid, but so good. O, Mother Nature, give thy children the true poetry of heart that hid itself in this poor carrier’s breast, and we can bear to have them talking prose all their life long!”
Mrs. [Mary] Peerybingle, called by her husband “Dot.” She was a little chubby, cheery, young wife, very fond of her husband, and very proud of her baby; a good housewife, who delighted in making the house snug and cozy for John, when he came home after his day’s work. She called him “a dear old darling of a dunce,” or “her little goosie.” She sheltered Edward Plummer in her cottage for a time, and got into trouble; but the marriage of Edward with May Fielding cleared up the mystery, and John loved his little Dot more fondly than ever.—C. Dickens,The Cricket on the Hearth(1845).
Peg.Drink to your peg.King Edgar ordered “that pegs should be fastened into drinking-horns at stated distances and whoever drank beyond his peg at one draught should be obnoxious to a severe punishment.”
I had lately a peg-tankard in my hand. It had on the inside a row of eight pins, one above another, from bottom to top. It held two quarts, so that there was a gill of liquor between peg and peg. Whoever drank short of his pin or beyond it, was obliged to drink to the next, and so on till the tankard was drained to the bottom.—Sharpe,History of the Kings of England.
I had lately a peg-tankard in my hand. It had on the inside a row of eight pins, one above another, from bottom to top. It held two quarts, so that there was a gill of liquor between peg and peg. Whoever drank short of his pin or beyond it, was obliged to drink to the next, and so on till the tankard was drained to the bottom.—Sharpe,History of the Kings of England.
Peg-a-Ramsey, the heroine of an old song. Percy says it was an indecent ballad. Shakespeare alludes to it in hisTwelfth Night, act ii. sc. 3 (1614).
James I. had been much struck with the beauty and embarrassment of the pretty Peg-a-Ramsey? as he called her.—Sir W. Scott.
James I. had been much struck with the beauty and embarrassment of the pretty Peg-a-Ramsey? as he called her.—Sir W. Scott.
Peg´asus, the winged horse of the Muses. It was caught by Bellerophon, who mounted thereon, and destroyed the Chimæra; but when he attempted to ascend to heaven, he was thrown from the horse, and Pegasus mounted alone to the skies, where it became the constellation of the same name.
To break Pegasus’s neck, to write halting poetry.
Some, free from rhyme or reason, rule or check,Break Priscian’s head, and Pegasus’s neck.Pope,The Dunciad, iii. 161 (1728).
***To “break Priscian’s head,” is to write ungrammatically. Priscian was a great grammarian of the fifth century.
Pegg(Catharine), one of the mistresses of Charles II. She was the daughter of Thomas Pegg, Esq., of Yeldersay, in Derbyshire.
Peggot´ty(Clara), servant of Mrs. Copperfield, and the faithful old nurse of David Copperfield. Her name “Clara” was tabooed, because it was the name of Mrs. Copperfield. Clara Peggotty married Barkis, the carrier.
Being very plump, whenever she made any little exertion after she was dressed, some of the buttons on the back of her gown flew off.—Ch. ii.
Being very plump, whenever she made any little exertion after she was dressed, some of the buttons on the back of her gown flew off.—Ch. ii.
Dan’el Peggotty, brother of David Copperfield’s nurse. Dan’el was a Yarmouth fisherman. His nephew, Ham Peggotty, and his brother-in-law’s child, “little Em’ly,” lived with him. Dan’el himself was a bachelor, and Mrs. Gummidge (widow of his late partner) kept house for him. Dan’el Peggotty was most tender-hearted, and loved little Em’ly with all his heart.
Ham Peggotty, nephew of Dan’el Peggotty, of Yarmouth, and son of Joe, Dan’el’s brother. Ham was in love with little Em’ly, daughter of Tom (Dan’s brother-in-law), but Steerforth stepped in between them, and stole Em’ly away. Ham Peggotty is represented as the very beau-ideal of an uneducated, simple-minded, honest, and warm-hearted fisherman. He was drowned in his attempt to rescue Steerforth from the sea.
Em’ly Peggotty, daughter of Dan’s brother-in-law, Tom. She was engaged to Ham Peggotty; but being fascinated with Steerforth, ran off with him. She was afterwards reclaimed, and emigrated to Australia with Dan’el and Mrs. Gummidge.—C. Dickens,David Copperfield(1849).
Peggy, grandchild of the old widow Maclure, a covenanter.—Sir W. Scott,Old Mortality(time, Charles II.).
Peggy, the laundry-maid of Colonel Mannering, at Woodburne.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).
Peggy(Shippen). A love-letter from Benedict Arnold to this young lady is extant in which after telling her that he has presumed to write to her papa and has requested his sanction to his addresses, Arnold goes on to protest.
“May I perish if I would give you one moment’s inquietude, to purchase the greatest possible felicity to myself. Whatever my fate may be, my most ardent wish is for your happiness, and my latest breath will be to implore the blessing of heaven on the idol and only wish of my soul.” September 26, 1778.
“May I perish if I would give you one moment’s inquietude, to purchase the greatest possible felicity to myself. Whatever my fate may be, my most ardent wish is for your happiness, and my latest breath will be to implore the blessing of heaven on the idol and only wish of my soul.” September 26, 1778.
Peggy[Thrift),the orphan daughter of Sir Thomas Thrift, of Hampshire, and the ward of Moody, who brings her up in seclusion in the country. When Moody is 50, and Peggy 19, the guardian tries to marry her, but “the country girl” outwits him, and marries Belville, a young man of more suitable age. Peggy calls her guardian “Bud.” She is very simple but sharp, ingenuous but crafty, lively and girlish.—The Country Girl(Garrick altered from Wycherly’sCountry Wife, 1675).
Peggy.Dream-wife about whom cluster the imaginations of the bachelor over the fire of green wood.
“Smoke always goes before blaze, and doubt before decision.”—Ik. Marvel (Donald G. Mitchell),Reveries of a Bachelor(1850).
Pegler(Mrs.), mother of JosiahBoundderby,Esq., banker and mill-owner, called “The Bully of Humility.” The son allows the old woman £30 a year to keep out of sight.—C. Dickens.Hard Times(1854).
Peg Woffington, celebrated English actress,intriguante, but kind of heart. Sir Charles Vane is one of her lovers, but after the appearance of his simple-hearted wife upon the scene, the actress dismisses her admirer, and induces him to return to domestic life.—Charles Reade,Peg Woffington.
Pek´uah, the attendant of Princess Nekayah, of the “happy valley.” She accompanied the princess in her wanderings, but refused to enter the great pyramid, and, while the princess was exploring the chambers, was carried off by some Arabs. She was afterwards ransomed for 200 ounces of gold.—Dr. Johnson,Rasselas(1759).
Pelay´o(Prince), son of Favil´a, founder of the Spanish monarchy after the overthrow of Roderick, last of the Gothic kings. He united, in his own person, the royal lines of Spain and of the Goths.
In him the old Iberian blood,Of royal and remotest ancestryFrom undisputed source, flowed undefiled ...He, too, of Chindasuintho’s regal lineSole remnant now, drew after him the loveOf all true Goths.Southey,Roderick, etc., viii. (1814).
Pelham, the hero of a novel by Lord Lytton, entitledPelham, orThe Adventures of a Gentleman(1828).
Pelham(M.), one of the manyaliasesof Sir R. Phillips, under which he publishedThe Parent’s and Tutor’s First Catechism. In the preface he calls the writerauthoress. Some of his other names are Rev. David Blair, Rev. C. C. Clarke, Rev. J. Goldsmith.
Pel´ian Spear(The), the lance of Achillês which wounded and cured Te´lephos. So called from Peleus, the father of Achillês.
Such was the cure the Arcadian hero found—The Pelian spear that wounded, made him sound.Ovid,Remedy of Love.
Peli´des(3syl.), Achillês, son of Peleus (2syl.), chief of the Greek warriors at the siege of Troy.—Homer,Iliad.
When, like Pelidês, bold beyond control,Homer raised high to heaven the loud impetuous song.Beattie,The Minstrel(1773-4).
Pe´lion(“mud-sprung”), one of the frog chieftains.
A spear at Pelion, Troglodytês castThe missive spear within the bosom pastDeath’s sable shades the fainting frog surround,And life’s red tide runs ebbing from the wound.Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice, iii. (about 1712).
Pell(Solomon), an attorney in the Insolvent Debtors’ court. He has the very highest opinions of his own merits, and by his aid Tony Weller contrives to get his son Sam sent to the Fleet for debt, that he may be near Mr. Pickwick to protect and wait upon him.—C. Dickens,The Pickwick Papers(1836).
Pelleas(Sir), lord of many isles, and noted for his great muscular strength. He fell in love with Lady Ettard, but the lady did not return his love. Sir Gaw´ain promised to advocate his cause with the lady, but played him false. Sir Pelleas caught them in unseemly dalliance with each other, but forbore to kill them. By the power of enchantment, the lady was made to dote on Sir Pelleas; but the knight would have nothing to say to her, so she pined and died. After the Lady Ettard played him false, the Damsel of the Lake “rejoiced him, and they loved together during their whole lives.”—Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur, i. 79-82 (1470).
***Sir Pelleas must not be confounded withSir Pelles(q.v.).
Pellegrin, the pseudonym of de la Motte Fouqué (1777-1843).
Pelles(Sir), of Corbin Castle, “king of the foragn land and nigh cousin of Joseph of Arimathy.” He was father of Sir Eliazar, and of the Lady Elaine, who fell in love with Sir Launcelot, by whom she became the mother of Sir Galahad, “who achieved the quest of the Holy Graal.” This Elaine was not the “lily maid of Astolat.”
While Sir Launcelot was visiting King Pelles, a glimpse of the Holy Graal was vouchsafed them:
For when they went into the castle to take their repast ... there came a dove to the window, and in her bill was a little censer of gold, and there withall was such a savour as though all the spicery of the world had been there ... and a damsel, passing fair, bare a vessel of gold between her hands, and thereto the king kneeled devoutly and said his prayers.... “Oh, mercy!” said Sir Launcelot, “what may this mean?” ... “This,” said the king, “is the Holy Sancgreall which ye have seen.”—Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur, iii. 2 (1470).
For when they went into the castle to take their repast ... there came a dove to the window, and in her bill was a little censer of gold, and there withall was such a savour as though all the spicery of the world had been there ... and a damsel, passing fair, bare a vessel of gold between her hands, and thereto the king kneeled devoutly and said his prayers.... “Oh, mercy!” said Sir Launcelot, “what may this mean?” ... “This,” said the king, “is the Holy Sancgreall which ye have seen.”—Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur, iii. 2 (1470).
Pellinore(Sir), king of the isles and knight of the Round Table (pt. i. 57). He was a good man of power, was called “The Knight with the Stranger Beast,” and slew King Lot of Orkney, but was himself slain ten years afterwards by Sir Gawain, one of Lot’s sons (pt. i. 35). Sir Pellinore (3syl.) had, by the wife of Aries, the cowherd, a son named Sir Tor, who was the first knight of the Round Table created by King Arthur (pt. i. 47, 48); one daughter, Elein, by the Lady of Rule (pt. iii. 10); and three sons in lawful wedlock; Sir Aglouale (sometimes called Aglavale, probably a clerical error), Sir Lamorake Dornar (also called Sir Lamorake de Galis), and Sir Percivale de Gralis (pt. ii. 108). The widow succeeded to the throne (pt. iii. 10).—Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur(1470).
Milton calls the name “Pellenore” (2syl.).
Fair damsels, met in forests wideBy knights of Logres, or of Lyones,Lancelot, or Pelleas, or Pellenore.Milton.
Pelob´ates(4syl.), one of the frog champions. The word means “mud-wader.” In the battle he flings a heap of mud against Psycarpax, the Hector of the mice, and half blinds him; but the warrior mouse heaves a stone “whose bulk would need ten degenerate mice of modern days to lift,” and the mass, falling on the “mud-wader,” breaks his leg.—Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice, iii. (about 1712).
Pel´ops’ Shoulder, ivory. The tale is that Demēter ate the shoulder of Pelops when it was served up by Tan´talos for food. The gods restored Pelops to life by putting the dismembered body into a caldron, but found that it lacked a shoulder; whereupon Demeter supplied him with an ivory shoulder, and all his descendants bore this distinctive mark.
N.B.—It will be remembered that Pythag´oras had agolden thigh.
Your forehead high,And smooth as Pelop’s shoulder.John Fletcher,The Faithful Shepherdess, ii. 1 (1610).
Pelos, father of Physigna´thos, king of the frogs. The word means “mud.”—Parnell,Battle of the Frogs and Mice(about 1712).
Pembroke(The earl of), uncle to Sir Aymer de Valence.—Sir W. Scott,Castle Dangerous(time, Henry I.).
Pembroke(the Rev. Mr.), chaplain at Waverley Honor.—Sir W. Scott,Waverley(time, George II.).
Pen, Philemon Holland, translator-general of the classics. Of him was the epigram written:
Holland, with his translations doth so fill us,He will not letSuetoniusbeTranquillus.
(The point of which is, of course, that the name of the Roman historian wasC. Suetonius Tranquillus.)
Many of these translations were written from beginning to end with one pen, and hence he himself wrote:
With one sole pen I writ this book,Made of a grey goose-quill;A pen it was when it I took,And a pen I leave it still.
Pendennis(Arthur), pseudonym of W. M. Thackeray inThe Newcomes(1854).
Pendennis, a novel by Thackeray (1849), in which much of his own history and experience is recorded with a novelist’s license.Pendennisstands in relation to Thackeray asDavid Copperfieldto Charles Dickens.
Arthur Pendennis, a young man of ardent feelings and lively intellect, but conceited and selfish. He has a keen sense of honor, and a capacity for loving, but altogether he is not an attractive character.
Laura Pendennis.This is one of the best of Thackeray’s characters.
Major Pendennis, a tuft-hunter, who fawns on his patrons for the sake of wedging himself into their society.—History of Pendennis, published originally in monthly parts, beginning in 1849.
Pendrag´on, probably a title meaning “chief leader in war.”Dragonis Welsh for a “leader in war,” andpcnfor “head” or “chief.” The title was given to Uther, brother of Constans, and father of Prince Arthur. Like the word “Pharaoh,” it is used as a proper name without the article.—Geoffrey of Monmouth,Chron., vi. (1142).
Once I read,That stout Pendragon in his litter, sick,Came to the field, and vanquished his foes.Shakespeare, 1Henry VI.act iii. sc. 2(1589)
Penel´ope’s Web, a work that never progresses. Penelopê, the wife of Ulysses, being importuned by several suitors during her husband’s long absence, made reply that she could not marry again, even if Ulysses were dead, till she had finished weaving a shroud for her aged father-in-law. Every night she pulled out what she had woven during the day, and thus the shroud made no progress towards completion.—Greek Mythology.
The French say of a work “never ending, still beginning,”c’est l’ouvrage de Pénélope.
Penelope Lapham, vivacious, but not pretty daughter of Silas Lapham. Her wit wins the love her sister’s beauty could not capture. Penelope’s unintentional conquest brings painful perplexity to herself, with anguish to her sister. Still she yields finally to Irene’s magnanimity and her suitor’s persuasions, and weds Tom Corey.—W. D. Howells,The Rise of Silas Lapham(1887).
Penel´ophon, the beggar loved by King Cophetua. Shakespeare calls the name Zenelophon inLove’s Labor’s Lost, act iv. sc. 1 (1594).—Percy,Reliques, I. ii. 6 (1765).
Penelva(The Exploits and Adventures of), part of the series calledLe Roman des Romans, pertaining to “Am´adis of Gaul.” This part was added by an anonymous Portuguese (fifteenth century).
Penfeather(Lady Penelope), the Lady Patroness at the Spa.—Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).
Pengwern(The Torch of), prince Gwenwyn of Powys-land.—Sir W. Scott,The Betrothed(time, Henry II.).
Pengwinion(Mr.), from Cornwall; a Jacobite conspirator with Mr. Redgauntlet.—Sir W. Scott,Redgauntlet(time, George III.).
Peninsular War(The), the war carried on by Sir Arthur Wellesley against Napoleon in Portugal and Spain (1808-1814).
Southey wrote aHistory of the Peninsular War(1822-32).
Penitents of Love(Fraternity of the), an institution established in Languedoc, in the thirteenth century, consisting of knights and esquires, dames and damsels, whose object was to prove the excess of their love by bearing, with invincible constancy, the extremes of heat and cold. They passed the greater part of the day abroad, wandering about from castle to castle, wherever they were summoned by the inviolable duties of love and gallantry; so that many of these devotees perished by the inclemency of the weather, and received the crown of martyrdom to their profession.—See Warton,History of English Poetry(1781).
Pen´lake(Richard), a cheerful man, both frank and free, but married to Rebecca, a terrible shrew. Rebecca knew if she once sat in St. Michael’s chair (on St. Michael’s Mount, in Cornwall), that she would rule her husband ever after; so she was very desirous of going to the mount. It so happened that Richard fell sick, and both vowed to give six marks to St. Michael if he recovered. Richard did recover, and they visited the shrine; but while Richard was making the offering, Rebecca ran to seat herself in St. Michael’s chair; but no sooner had she done so, than she fell from the chair, and was killed in the fall.—Southey,St. Michael’s Chair(a ballad, 1798).
Penniless(The), Maximilian I., emperor of Germany (1459, 1493-1519).
Penniman(Wolfert). Young captain of the Mayga inOutward Bound.—W. T. Adams (Oliver Optic).
Penny(Jock), a highwayman.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).
Penruddock(Roderick), a “philosopher,” or rather a recluse, who spent his time in reading. By nature gentle, kind-hearted, and generous, but soured by wrongs. Woodville, his trusted friend, although he knew that Arabella was betrothed to Roderick, induced her father to give his daughter to himself, the richer man; and Roderick’s life was blasted. Woodville had a son, who reduced himself to positive indigence by gambling. Sir George Penruddock was the chief creditor. Sir George dying, all his property came to his cousin, Roderick, who now had ample means to glut his revenge on his treacherous friend; but his heart softened. First, he settled all “the obligations, bonds, and mortgages, covering the whole Woodville property,” on Henry Woodville, that he might marry Emily Tempest; and next, he restored to Mrs. Woodville “her settlement, which in her husband’s desperate necessity, she had resigned to him;” lastly, he sold all his own estates, and retired again to a country cottage to his books and solitude.—Cumberland,The Wheel of Fortune(1779).
Pentap´oliff, “with the naked arm,” king of the Garaman´teans, who always went to battle with his right arm bare. Alifanfaron, emperor of Trap´oban, wished to marry his daughter, but, being refused, resolved to urge his suit by the sword. When Don Quixote saw two flocks of sheep coming along the road in opposite directions, he told Sancho Panza they were the armies of these two puissant monarchs met in array against each other.—Cervantes,Don Quixote, I. iii. 4 (1605).
Pentecôte Vivante(La), Cardinal Mezzofanti, who was the master of fifty or fifty-eight languages (1774-1849).
Penthe´a, sister of Ith´oclês, betrothed to Or´gilus by the consent of her father. At the death of her father, Ithoclês compelled her to marry Bass´anes, whom she hated, and she starved herself to death.—John Ford,The Broken Heart(1633).
Penthesile´a, queen of the Amazons, slain by Achilles. S. Butler calls the name “Penthes´ilê.”
And laid about in fight more busilyThan th’ Amazonian dame Penthesile.S. Butler,Hudibras.
Pen´theus(3syl.), a king of Thebes, who tried to abolish the orgies of Bacchus, but was driven mad by the offended god. In his madness he climbed into a tree to witness the rites, and being descried was torn to pieces by the Bacchantes.
As when wild Pentheus, grown mad with fear,Whole troops of hellish hags about him spies.Giles Fletcher,Christ’s Triumph over Death(1610).
Pentheus(2syl.), a king of Thebes, resisted the introduction of the worship of Dyoni´sos (Bacchus) into his kingdom, in consequence of which the Bacchantes pulled his palace to the ground, and Pentheus, driven from the throne, was torn to pieces on Mount Cithæron by his own mother and her two sisters.
He the fate [may sing]Of sober Pentheus.Akenside,Hymn to the Naiads(1767).
Pentweazel(Alderman), a rich city merchant of Blowbladder Street. He is wholly submissive to his wife, whom he always addresses as “Chuck.”
Mrs. Pentweazel, the alderman’s wife, very ignorant, very vain, and very conceitedly humble. She was a Griskin by birth, and “all her family by the mother’s side were famous for their eyes.” She had an aunt among the beauties of Windsor, “a perdigious fine woman. She had but one eye, but that was a piercer, and got her three husbands. We was called the gimlet family.” Mrs. Pentweazel says her first likeness was done after “Venus de Medicis, the sister of Mary de Medicis.”
Sukey Pentweazel, daughter of the alderman, recently married to Mr. Deputy Dripping, of Candlewick Yard.
Carel Pentweazel, a schoolboy, who had been under Dr. Jerks, near Doncaster, for two years and a quarter, and had learnt allAs in Præsentiby heart. The terms of this school were £10 a year for food, books, board, clothes and tuition.—Foote,Taste(1753).
People(Man of the), Charles James Fox (1749-1806).
Pepin(William), a White Friar and most famous preacher at the beginning of the sixteenth century. His sermons, in eight volumes quarto, formed the grand repertory of the preachers of those times.
Pepita, Spanish beauty of whom the poet sings:
I, who dwell over the wayWatch where Pepita is hid,Safe from the glare of the day,Like an eye under its lid;Over and over I say—Name like the song of a bird,Melody shut in a word—“Pepita!”Frank Dempster Sherman,Madrigals and Catches(1887).
Pepperpot(Sir Peter), a West Indian epicure, immensely rich, conceited and irritable.—Foote,The Patron(1764).
Peppers.(SeeWhite Horse of the Peppers.)
Peps(DrParker), a court physician who attended the first Mrs. Dombey on her death-bed. Dr. Peps always gave his patients (by mistake, of course), a title, to impress them with the idea that his practice was exclusively confined to the upper ten thousand.—C. Dickens,Dombey and Son(1846).
Perceforest(King), the hero of a prose romance “in Greek.” The MS. is said to have been found by Count William of Hainault in a cabinet at “Burtimer” Abbey, on the Humber; and in the same cabinet was deposited a crown, which the count sent to King Edward. The MS. was turned into Latin by St. Landelain, and thence into French under the title ofLa Tres Elegante Deliceux Melliflue et Tres Plaisante Hystoire du Tres Noble Roy Perceforest(printed at Paris in 1528).
(Of course, this pretended discovery is only an invention. An analysis of the romance is given in Dunlop’sHistory of fiction.)
He was called “Perceforest,” because he dared topierce, almost alone, an enchantedforest, where women and children were most evilly treated. Charles IX., of France, was especially fond of this romance.
Perch, messenger in the house of Mr. Dombey, merchant, whom he adored, and plainly showed by his manner to the great man: “You are the light of my eyes,” “You are the breath of my soul.”—C. Dickens,Dombey and Son(1846).
Perche Notary(A), a lawyer who sets people together by the ears, one who makes more quarrels than contracts. The French proverb is,Notaire du Perche, qui passe plus d’échalliers que de contrat.