Chapter 6

He [Don Quixote] spoke favorably of Morgante, who, though of gigantic race, was most gentle in his manners.—Cervantes,Don Quixote, I. i. 1 (1605).

MorgauseorMargawse, wife of King Lot. Their four sons were Gaw´ain, Agravain, Ga´heris, and Gareth (ch. 36); but Morgause had another son by Prince Arthur, named Mordred. Her son Gaheris, having caught his mother in adultery with Sir Lamorake, cut off her head.

Morgia´na, the female slave, first of Cassim, and then of Ali Baba, “crafty, cunning, and fruitful in inventions.” When the thief marked the door of her master’s house with white chalk in order to recognize it, Morgiana marked several other doors in the same manner; next day she observed a red mark on the door, and made a similar one on others, as before. A few nights afterwards, a merchant with thirty-eight oil-jars begged a night’s lodging; and as Morgiana wanted oil for a lamp, she went to get some from one of the leather jars. “Is it time?” asked a voice. “Not yet,” replied Morgiana, and going to the others, she discovered that a man was concealed in thirty-seven of the jars. From the last jar she took oil, which she made boiling hot, and with it killed the thirty-seven thieves. When the captain discovered that all his men were dead, he decamped without a moment’s delay. Soon afterwards, he settled in the city as a merchant, and got invited by Ali Baba to supper, but refused to eat salt. This excited the suspicion of Morgiana, who detected in the pretended merchant the captain of the forty thieves. She danced awhile for his amusement, playfully sported with his dagger, and suddenly plunged it into his heart. When Ali Baba knew who it was that she had slain, he not only gave the damsel her liberty, but also married her to his own son.—Arabian Nights(“Ali Baba, or the Forty Thieves”).

Morglay, the sword of Sir Bevis, of Hamptoun,i.e.Southampton, given to him by his wife, Josian, daughter of the king of Armenia.—Drayton,Polyolboin,ii. (1612).

You talk of Morglay, Excalibur [Arthur’s sword], and Durindana [Orlando’s sword], or so. Tut! I lend no credit to that is fabled of ’em.—Ben Jonson,Every Man in His Humor, iii. 1 (1598).

Morgue la Faye, aféewho watched over the birth of Ogier, the Dane, and after he had finished his earthly career, restored him to perpetual youth, and took him to live with her in everlasting love in the isle and castle of Av´alon.—Ogier, le Danois(a romance).

Mor´ice(GilorChĭld), the natural son of Lady Barnard, “brought forth in her father’s house wi’ mickle sin and shame.” One day, Gil Morice sent Willie to the baron’s hall, with a request that LadyBarnard would go at once to Greenwood to see the chĭld. Lord Barnard, fancying the “chĭld” to be some paramour, forbade his wife to leave the hall, and went himself to Greenwood, where he slew Gil Morice, and sent his head to Lady Barnard. On his return, the lady told her lord he had slain her son, and added, “Wi’ the same spear, oh, pierce my heart, and put me out o’ pain!” But the baron repented of his hasty deed, and cried, “I’ll lament for Gil Morice, as gin he were mine ain.”—Percy,Reliques, etc., III. i.

***This tale suggested to Home the plot of his tragedy calledDouglas.

Mor´land, inLend Me Five Shillings, by J. M. Morton (1838).

Morland(Henry), “the heir-at-law” of Baron Duberly. It was generally supposed that he had perished at sea; but he was cast on Cape Breton, and afterwards returned to England, and married Caroline Dormer, an orphan.—G. Colman,The Heir-at-Law(1797).

Mr. Beverley behaved like a father to me [B. Webster], and engaged me as a walking gentleman for his London theatre, where I made my first appearance as “Henry Morland,” inThe Heir-at-Law, which, to avoid legal proceedings, he calledThe Lord’s Warming-pan.—Peter Paterson.

Morley(Mrs.), the name under which Queen Anne corresponded with Mrs. Freeman (The Duchess of Marlborough).

Morna, daughter of Cormac, king of Ireland. She was in love with Câthba, youngest son of Torman. Duchômar, out of jealousy, slew his rival, and then asked Morna to be his bride. She replied, “Thou art dark to me, O, Duchômar, and cruel is thine arm to Morna.” She then begged him for his sword, and when “he gave it to her she thrust it into his heart.” Duchômar fell, and begged the maid to pull out the sword that he might die, but when she did so, he seized it from her and plunged it into her side. Whereupon Cuthullin said:

“Peace to the souls of the heroes! Their deeds were great in fight. Let them ride around me in clouds. Let them show their features in war. My soul shall then be firm in danger, mine arm like the thunder of heaven. But be thou on a moonbeam, O, Morna, near the window of my rest, when my thoughts are at peace, when the din of war is past.”—Ossian,Fingal, i.

Morna, wife of Compal, and mother of Fingal. Her father was Thaddu, and her brother Clessammor.—Ossian.

Mornay, the old seneschal, at Earl Herbert’s tower at Peronne.—Sir W. Scott,Quentin Durward(time, Edward IV.).

Morning Star of the Reformation, John Wycliffe (1324-1384).

MoroccoorMaroccus, the performing horse, generally called “Bankes’s Horse.” Among other exploits, we are told that “it went up to the top of St. Paul’s.” Both horse and man were burnt alive at Rome, by order of the pope, as magicians.—Don Zara del Fogo, 114 (1660).

***Among the entries at Stationers’ Hall is the following:—Nov. 14, 1595: A Ballad showing the Strange Qualities of a Young Nagg called Morocco.

In 1595 was published the pamphletMaroccus Extaticus, orBankes’s Horse in a Trance.

Morocco Men, agents of lottery assurances. In 1796, The great State lottery employed 7500 morocco men. Their business was to go from house to house amongthe customers of the assurances, or to attend in the back parlors of public-houses, where the customers came to meet them.

Morolt(Dennis), the old squire of Sir Raymond Berenger.—Sir W. Scott,The Betrothed(time, Henry II.).

Morose(2syl.), a miserly old hunks, who hates to hear any voice but his own. His nephew, Sir Dauphine, wants to wring out of him a third of his property, and proceeds thus: He gets a lad to personate “a silent woman,” and the phenomenon so delights the old man, that he consents to a marriage. No sooner is the ceremony over, than the boy-wife assumes the character of a virago of loud and ceaseless tongue. Morose, driven half-mad, promises to give his nephew a third of his income if he will take this intolerable plague off his hands. The trick being revealed, Morose retires into private life, and leaves his nephew master of the situation.—Ben Jonson,The Silent Woman(1609).

(“Wasp” inBartholomew Fair, “Corbaccio” inThe Fox, and “Ananias” inThe Alchemist.)

Moroug, the monkey mistaken for the devil. A woman of Cambalu died, and Moroug, wishing to personate her, slipped into her bed, and dressed himself in her night-clothes, while the body was carried to the cemetery. When the funeral party returned, and began the usual lamentations for the dead, pug stretched his night-capped head out of the bed, and began moaning and grimacing most hideously. All the mourners thought it was the devil, and scampered out as fast they could run. The priests assembled, and resolved to exorcise Satan; but pug, noting their terror, flew on the chief of the bonzes, and bit his nose and ears most viciously. All the others fled in disorder; and when pug had satisfied his humor, he escaped out of the window. After a while, the bonzes returned, with a goodly company well armed, when the chief bonze told them how he had fought with Satan, and prevailed against him. So he was canonized, and made a saint in the calendar for ever.—T. S. Gueulette,Chinese Tales(“The Ape Moroug,” 1723).

MorrelorMorell, a goat-herd, who invites Thomalin, a shepherd, to come to the higher grounds, and leave the low-lying lands. He tells Thomalin that many hills have been canonized, as St. Michael’s Mount, St. Bridget’s Bower in Kent, and so on; then there was Mount Sinah and Mount Parnass, where the Muses dwelt. Thomalin replies, “The lowlands are safer, and hills are not for shepherds.” He then illustrates his remark by the tale of shepherd Algrind, who sat, like Morrel, on a hill, when an eagle, taking his white head for a stone, let a shell-fish fall on it, and cracked his skull.—Spenser,Shepheardes Calendar, vii.

[Æschylus was killed by a tortoise dropped on his head by an eagle].

(This is an allegory of the high and low church parties. Morel is an anagram of Elmer or Aylmer, bishop of London, who “sat on a hill,” and was the leader of the high-church party. Algrind is Grindal, archbishop of Canterbury, head of the low-church party, who in 1578 was sequestrated for writing a letter to the queen on the subject of puritanism. Thomalin represents the puritans. This could not have been written before 1578, unless the reference to Algrind was added in some later edition).

Morris, a domestic of the earl of Derby.—Sir W. Scott,Peveril of the Peak(time, Charles II).

Morris(Mr.), the timid fellow-traveller of Frank Osbaldistone, who carried the portmanteau. Osbaldistone says, concerning him, “Of all the propensities which teach mankind to torment themselves, that of causeless fear is the most irritating, busy, painful, pitiable.”—Sir W. Scott,Rob Roy(time, George I.).

Morris(Peter), the pseudonym of John G. Lockhart, inPeter’s Letters to His Kinsfolk(1819).

Morris(Dinah). Beautiful gospeller, who marries Adam Bede, after the latter recovers from his infatuation for prettyHetty Sorrel. Hetty is seduced by the young squire, murders her baby, and is condemned to die for the crime. Dinah visits the doomed girl in prison, wins her to a confession and repentance, and accompanies her in the gallows-cart. They are at the scaffold when a reprieve arrives.—George Eliot,Adam Bede.

Morris-Dance, a comic representation of every grade of society. The characters were dressed partly in Spanish and partly in English costume. Thus, the huge sleeves were Spanish, but the laced stomacher English. Hobby-horse represented the king and all the knightly order; Maid Marian, the queen; the friar, the clergy generally; the fool, the court jester. The other characters represented a franklin or private gentleman, a churl or farmer, and the lower grades were represented by a clown. The Spanish costume is to show the origin of the dance.

A representation of a morris-dance may still be seen at Betley, in Staffordshire, in a window placed in the house of George Tollet, Esq., in about 1620.

Morrison(Hugh), a Lowland drover, the friend of Robin Oig.—Sir W. Scott,The Two Drovers(time, George III.).

Mortality(Old), a religious itinerant who frequented country churchyards and the graves of covenanters. He was first discovered in the burial ground at Gandercleugh, clearing the moss from thegraytombstones, renewing with his chisel the half-defaced inscriptions, and repairing the decorations of the tombs.—Sir W. Scott,Old Mortality(time, Charles II.).

***“Old Mortality” is said to be meant for Robert Patterson.

Morta´ra, the boy who died from being covered all over with gold-leaf by Leo XII., to adorn a pageant.

Mortcloke(Mr.), the undertaker at the funeral of Mrs. Margaret Bertram of Singleside.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).

Morte d’Arthur, a compilation of Arthurian tales, called on the title-pageThe History of Prince Arthur, compiled from the French by Sir Thomas Malory, and printed by William Caxton in 1470. It is divided into three parts. The first part contains the birth of King Arthur, the establishment of the Round Table, the romance of Balin and Balan, and the beautiful allegory of Gareth and Linet´. The second part is mainly the romance of Sir Tristram. The third part is the romance of Sir Launcelot, the quest of the Holy Graal, and the death of Arthur, Guenever, Tristram, Lamorake, and Launcelot.

***The difference of style in the thirdpart is very striking. The end of ch. 44, pt. i., is manifestly the close of a romance. The separate romances are not marked by any formal indication; but, in the modern editions, the whole is divided into chapters, and these are provided with brief abstracts of their contents.

This book was finished the ninth year of the reign of King Edward IV. by Sir Thomas Malory, knight. Thus endeth this noble and joyous book, entitledLa Morte d’Arthur, notwithstanding it treateth of the birth, life and acts of the said King Arthur, and of his noble knights of the Round Table ... and the achieving of the Holy Sancgreall, and in the end the dolorous death and departing out of the world of them all.—Concluding paragraph.

Morte d’Arthur, by Tennyson. The poet follows closely the story of the death of Arthur, as told by Malory. The king is borne off the field by Sir Bedivere. Arthur orders the knight to throw his sword Excalibur into the mere. Twice the knight disobeyed the command, intending to save the sword; but the dying king detected the fraud, and insisted on being obeyed. Sir Bedivere then cast the sword into the mere, and an arm, clothed in white samite, caught it by the hilt, brandished it three times, and drew it into the mere. Sir Bedivere then carried the dying king to a barge, in which were three queens, who conveyed him to the island-valley of Avil´ion, “where falls not hail, or rain, or any snow, nor ever wind blows loudly.” Here was he taken to be healed of his grievous wound; but whether he lived or died we are not told.

In his “Idylls of the King,” Tennyson has taken the stories as told by Malory, and has turned them into his own melodious verse; yet, while adhering to the substance of each tale, he has in minor matters taken such liberties as have been allowed to poets since the earliest times. Shakespeare, in his “Julius Cæsar,” makes a like use of Sir Thomas North’s translation of Plutarch; the speech of Mark Antony over the body of Cæsar, to cite the most striking instance among many, is almost a literal transcription of North’s version, but subjected to the laws of verse.

Mortemar(Alberick of), an exiled nobleman,aliasTheodorick, the hermit of Engaddi, the enthusiast.—Sir W. Scott,The Talisman(time, Richard I.).

Mor´timer(Mr.), executor of Lord Abberville, and uncle of Frances Tyrrell. “He sheathed a soft heart in a rough case.” Externally, Mr. Mortimer seemed unsympathetic, brusque and rugged; but in reality he was most benevolent, delicate and tender-hearted. “He did a thousand noble acts without the credit of a single one.” In fact, his tongue belied his heart, and his heart his tongue.—Cumberland,The Fashionable Lover(1780).

Mortimer(Sir Edward), a most benevolent man, oppressed with some secret sorrow. In fact, he knew himself to be a murderer. The case was this: Being in a county assembly, the uncle of Lady Helen insulted him, struck him down, and kicked him. Sir Edward rode home to send a challenge to the ruffian; but, meeting him on the road drunk, he murdered him, was tried for the crime, but was honorably acquitted. He wrote a statement of the case, and kept the papers connected with it in an iron chest. One day Wilford, his secretary, whose curiosity had been aroused, saw the chest unlocked, and was just about to take out the documents when Sir Edward entered, and threatened to shoot him; but he relented, made Wilford swear secrecy, and then told him the whole story. The young man, unable to liveunder the jealous eyes of Sir Edward, ran away; but Sir Edward dogged him, and at length arrested him on the charge of robbery. The charge broke down, Wilford was acquitted, Sir Edward confessed himself a murderer, and died.—G. Colman,The Iron Chest(1796).

Mortimer Lightwood, solicitor employed in the “Harmon murder” case. He was the great friend of Eugene Wrayburn, barrister-at-law, and it was the ambition of his life to imitate thenonchalanceand other eccentricities of his friend. At one time he was a great admirer of Bella Wilfer. Mr. Veneering called him “one of his oldest friends;” but Mortimer was never in the merchant’s house but once in his life, and resolved never to enter it again.—C. Dickens,Our Mutual Friend(1864).

Morten(Sir), a spectre who appears at King Olaf’s feast, in the guise of a one-eyed old man, and carouses with the guests until bed-time. When the morning breaks, he has departed, and no trace of him is to be found.

“King Olaf crossed himself and said—‘I know that Odin the Great is dead;Sure is the triumph of our Faith,This one-eyed stranger was his wraith.’Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang.”H. W. Longfellow,The Wraith of Odin.

Morton, a retainer of the earl of Northumberland.—Shakespeare, 2Henry IV.(1508).

Morton(Henry), a leader in the covenanters’ army with Balfour. While abroad, he is Major-general Melville. Henry Morton marries Miss Edith Bellenden.

Old Ralph Morton of Milnwood, uncle of Henry Morton.

Colonel Silas Morton of Milnwood, father of Henry Morton.—Sir W. Scott,Old Mortality(time, Charles II.).

Morton(The earl of), in the service of Mary queen of Scots, and a member of the privy council of Scotland.—Sir W. Scott,The MonasteryandThe Abbot(time, Elizabeth).

Morton(The Rev.Mr.)the Presbyterian pastor of Cairnvreckan village.—Sir W. Scott,Waverley(time, George II.).

Mortsheugh(Johnie), the old sexton of Wolf’s Hope village.—Sir W. Scott,The Bride of Lammermoor(time, William III.).

Morvi´dus, son of Danius by his concubine, Tangustĕla. In his reign, there “came from the Irish coasts a most cruel monster, which devoured the people continually, but as soon as Morvidus heard thereof, he ventured to encounter it alone. When all his darts were spent, the monster rushed upon him, and swallowed him up like a small fish.”—Geoffrey of Monmouth,British History, iii. 15 (1142).

Mosby, an unmitigated villain. He seduced Alicia, the wife of Arden of Feversham. Thrice he tried to murder Arden, but was baffled, and then frightened Alicia into conniving at a most villainous scheme of murder. Pretending friendship, Mosby hired two ruffians to murder Arden while he was playing a game of draughts. The villains, who were concealed in an adjacent room, were to rush on their victim when Mosby said, “Now I take you.” The whole gang was apprehended and executed.—Arden of Feversham(1592), altered by George Lillo (1739).

Mosca, the knavish confederate of Vol´pone (2syl.), the rich Venetian “fox.”—Ben Jonson,VolponeorThe Fox(1605).

If your mother, in hopes to ruin me, should consent to marry my pretended uncle, he might, like “Mosca” inThe Fox, stand upon terms.—W. Congreve,The Way of the World, ii. 1. (1700).

Mo´ses, the Jew money-lender in Sheridan’s comedy,The School for Scandal(1777).

Moses’ Clothes.TheKorânsays: “God cleared Moses from the scandal which was rumored against him” (ch. xxxiii.). The scandal was that his body was not properly formed, and therefore he would never bathe in the presence of others. One day, he went to bathe, and laid his clothes on a stone, but the stone ran away with them into the camp. Moses went after it as fast as he could run, but the Israelites saw his naked body, and perceived the untruthfulness of the common scandal.—Sale,Al Korân, xxxiii. notes.

Moses’ Horns.The Vulgate givesquod cornuta esset facies sua, for what our version has translated “he wist notthat the skin of his face shone.” The Hebrew word used means both a “horn” and an “irradiation.” Michael Angelo followed the Vulgate.

Moses’ Rod.

While Moses was living with Re’uël [Jethro], the Midianite, he noticed a staff in the garden, and he took it to be his walking-stick. This staff was Joseph’s, and Re’uel carried it away when he fled from Egypt. This same staff Adam carried with him out of Eden. Noah inherited it, and gave it to Shem. It passed into the hands of Abraham, and Abraham left it to Isaac; and when Jacob fled from his brother’s anger into Mesopotamia, he carried it in his hand, and gave it at death to his son Joseph.—The Talmud, vi.

Moses Slow of Speech.The tradition is this: One day, Pharaoh was carrying Moses in his arms, when the child plucked the royal beard so roughly that the king, in a passion, ordered him to be put to death. Queen Asia said to her husband, the child was only a babe, and was so young he could not discern between a ruby and a live coal. Pharaoh put it to the test, and the child clapped into his mouth the burning coal, thinking it something good to eat. Pharaoh’s anger was appeased, but the child burnt its tongue so severely that ever after it was “slow of speech.”—Shalshel,Hakkabala, 11.

Moses Slow of Speech.The account given in theTalmudis somewhat different. It is therein stated that Pharaoh was sitting one day with Moses on his lap, when the child took the crown from the king’s head and placed it on his own. The “wise men” of Egypt persuaded Pharaoh that this act was treasonable, and that the child should be put to death. Jithro [sic] the priest of Midian, said it was the act of a child who knew no better. “Let two plates,” said he, “be set before the child, one containing gold and the other live coals, and you will presently see that he will choose the coals in preference to the gold.” The advice of Jithro being followed, the boy Moses snatched at the coals, and putting one of them into his mouth, burnt his tongue so severely that ever after he was “heavy of speech.”—The Talmud, vi.

Moses Pennell.Waif rescued from a wrecked vessel, and adopted by old Captain Pennell and his wife. He is, in time, discovered to belong to a noble Cuban family.—Harriet Beecher Stowe,The Pearl of Orr’s Island.

Most Christian King(Le Roy Tres-Christien). The king of France is so called by others, either with or without his proper name; but he never styles himself so in any letter, grant, or rescript.

In St. Remigius or Remy’s Testament, King Clovis is calledChristianissimus Ludovicus.—Flodoard,Historia Remensis, i. 18 (A.D.940).

Motallab(Abd al), one of the four husbands of Zesbet, the mother of Mahomet. He was not to know her as a wife till he had seen Mahomet in his pre-existing state. Mahomet appeared to him as an old man, and told him he had chosen Zesbet, for her virtue and beauty, to be his mother.—Comte de Caylus,Oriental Tales(“History of Abd al Motallab,” 1743).

Mo´tar(“One doomedordevoted to sacrifice”). So Prince Assad was called, when he fell into the hands of the old fire-worshipper, and was destined by him to be sacrificed on the fiery mountain.—Arabian Nights(“Amgiad and Assad”).

Moth, page to Don Adriano de Arma´do, the fantastic Spaniard. He is cunning and versatile, facetious and playful.—Shakespeare,Love’s Labor’s Lost(1594).

Moth, one of the fairies.—Shakespeare,Midsummer Night’s Dream(1592).

Moths and Candles.The moths fell in love with the night-fly; and the night-fly, to get rid of their importunity, maliciously bade them to go and fetch fire for her adornment. The blind lovers flew to the first flame to obtain the love-token, and few escaped injury or death.—Kæmpfer,Account of Japan, vii. (1727).

Mother Ann, Ann Lee, the “spiritual mother” of the Shakers (1731-1784).

***Mother Ann is regarded by the Shakers as the female form, and Jesus as the male form, of the Messiah.

Mother Bunch, a celebrated ale-wife in Dekker’sSatiromaster(1602).

***In 1604 was publishedPasquil’s Jests, mixed with Mother Bunch’s Merriments. In 1760 was published, in two parts,Mother Bunch’s Closet Newly Broke Open, etc., by a “Lover of Mirth and Hater of Treason.”

Mother Bunch’sFairy Talesare known in every nursery.

Mother Carey’s Chickens.The fish-fags of Paris in the first Great Revolution were so called, because, like the “stormy petrel,” whenever they appeared in force in the streets of Paris, they always foreboded a tumult or political storm.

Mother Carey’s Goose, the great black petrel or gigantic fulmar of the Pacific Ocean.

Mother Douglas, a noted crimp, who lived at the north-east corner of Covent Garden. Her house was superbly furnished. She died 1761.

***Foote introduces her inThe Minor, as “Mrs. Cole” (1760); and Hogarth in his picture called “The March to Finchley.”

Mother Goose, in FrenchContes de Ma Mère l’Oye, by Charles Perrault (1697).

***There are ten stories in this book, seven of which are from thePentamerone.

Mother Goose, according to a new exploded story, was a native of Boston, and the author of the nursery rhymes that bear her name. She used to sing her rhymes to her grandson, and Thomas Fleet, her brother-in-law, published thefirst edition of these rhymes, entitledSongs for the Nursery, orMother Goose’s Melodies, in 1719.

***Dibdin wrote a pantomime entitledMother Goose.

Mother Hubbard, an old lady, whose whole time and attention were taken up by her dog, who was most willful; but the dame never lost her temper, or forgot her politeness. After running about all day to supply Master Doggie,

The dame made a curtsey, the dog made a bow;The dame said, “Your servant!” the dog said, “Bow, wow!”A Nursery Tale in Rhyme.

Mother Hubberd, the supposed narrator of a tale calledThe Fox and the Ape, related to the poet Spenser to beguile the weary hours of sickness. Several persons told him tales, but

Amongst the rest a good old woman wasHight Mother Hubberd, who did far surpassThe rest in honest mirth that seemed her well;She, when her turn was come her tale to tell,Told of a strange adventure that betidedBetwixt a fox and ape by him misguided;The which, for that my sense it greatly pleased ...I’ll write it as she the same did say.Spenser.

Mother Hubberd’s Tale.A fox and an ape determined to travel about the world aschevaliers de l’industrie. First, Ape dressed as a broken-down soldier, and Fox as his servant. A farmer agreed to take them for his shepherds; but they devoured all his lambs and then decamped. They next “went in for holy orders.” Reynard contrived to get a living given him, and appointed the ape as his clerk; but they soon made the parish too hot to hold them, and again sheered off. They next tried their fortune at court; the ape set himself up as a foreigner of distinction with Fox for his groom. They played the part of rakes, but being found to be desperate rogues, had to flee with all despatch, and seek another field of action. As they journeyed on, they saw a lion sleeping, and Master Fox persuaded his companion to steal the crown, sceptre and royal robes. The ape, arrayed in these, assumed to be king, and Fox was his prime minister; but so ill did they govern, that Jupiter interfered, the lion was restored, and the ape was docked of his tail and had his ears cropt.

Since which, all apes but half their ears have left,And of their tails are utterly bereft.So Mother Hubberd her discourse did end.Spenser,Mother Hubberd’s Tale.

Mother Shipton, T. Evan Preece, of South Wales, a prophetess, whose predictions (generally in rhymes) were at one time in everybody’s mouth in South Wales, especially in Glamorganshire.

***She predicted the death of Wolsey, Lord Percy, and others. Her prophecies are still extant, and contain the announcement that “the end of the world shall come in eighteen hundred and eighty-one.”

Mother of the People(The), Marguerite of France,La Mère des Peuples, daughter of François I. (1523-1574).

Mould(Mr.), undertaker. His face had a queer attempt at melancholy, sadly at variance with a smirk of satisfaction which might be read between the lines. Though his calling was not a lively one, it did not depress his spirits, as in the bosom of his family he was the most cheery of men, and to him the “tap, tap” of coffin-making was as sweet and exhilarating as the tapping of a woodpecker.—C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1844).

Mouldy(Ralph), “a good-limbed fellow, young, strong, and of good friends.” Ralph was pricked for a recruit in Sir John Falstaff’s regiment. He promised Bardolph forty shillings “to stand his friend.” Sir John being told this, sent Mouldy home, and when Justice Shallow remonstrated, saying that Ralph “was the likeliest man of the lot,” Falstaff replied, “Will you tell me, Master Shallow, how to choose a man? Care I for the limb, the thews, the stature, bulk, and big assemblance of a man? Give me the spirit, Master Shallow.”—Shakespeare, 2Henry IV.act iii. sc. 2 (1598).

Moullahs, Mohammedan lawyers, from which are selected the judges.

Mountain(The), a name given in the French revolution to a faction which sat on the benches most elevated in the Hall of Assembly. The Girondins sat in the centre or lowest part of the hall, and were nicknamed the “plain.” The “mountain” for a long time was the dominant part; it utterly overthrew the “plain” on August 31, 1793, but was in turn overthrown at the fall of Robespierre (9 Thermidor ii. or July 27, 1794).

Mountain(The Old Man of the), the imaum Hassan ben Sabbah el Homari. The sheik Al Jebal was so called. He was the prince of the Assassins.

***In Rymer’sFœdera(vol. i.), Dr. Clarke, the editor, has added two letters of this sheik; but the doctor must be responsible for their genuineness.

Mountain Brutus(The), William Tell (1282-1350).

Mountain of Flowers, the site of the palace of Violenta, the mother fairy who brought up the young princess afterwards metamorphosed into “The White Cat.”—Comtesse D’Aunoy,Fairy Tales(“The White Cat,” 1682).

Mountain of Miseries.Jupiter gave permission for all men to bring their grievances to a certain plain, and to exchange them with any others that had been cast off. Fancy helped them; but though the heap was so enormous, not one singlevicewas to be found amongst the rubbish. Old women threw away their wrinkles, and young ones their mole-spots; some cast on the heap poverty; many their red noses and bad teeth; but no one his crimes. Now came the choice. A galley-slave picked up gout, poverty picked up sickness, care picked up pain, snub noses picked up long ones, and so on. Soon all were bewailing the change they had made; and Jupiter sent Patience to tell them they might, if they liked, resume their old grievances again. Every one gladly accepted the permission, and Patience helped them to take up their own bundle and bear it without murmuring.—Addison,The Spectator(1711, 1712, 1714).

Mourning.In Colman’sHeir-at-Law(1796), every character is in mourning: the Dowlases as relatives of the deceased Lord Duberly; Henry Morland as heir of Lord Duberly; Steadfast as the chief friend of the family; Dr. Pangloss as a clergyman; Caroline Dormer for her father recently buried; Zekiel and Cicely Homespun for the same reason; Kenrick for his deceased master.—James Smith,Memoirs(1840).

Mourning Bride(The), a drama by W. Congreve (1697). “The mourning bride” is Alme´ria, daughter of Manuel, king of Grana´da, and her husband was Alphonso,prince of Valentia. On the day of their espousals they were shipwrecked, and each thought the other had perished; but they met together in the court of Granada, where Alphonso was taken captive under the assumed name of Osmyn. Osmyn, having effected his escape, marched to Granada, at the head of an army, found the king dead, and “the mourning bride” became his joyful wife.

Mouse-Tower(The), on the Rhine. It was here that Bishop Hatto was devoured by mice. (SeeHatto.)

***Mauthis a toll or custom house, and the mauth or toll-house for collecting duty on corn being very unpopular, gave rise to the tradition.

Moussa, Moses.

Mowbray(Mr. John), lord of the manor of St. Ronan’s.

Clara Mowbray, sister of John Mowbray. She was betrothed to Frank Tyrrel, but married Valentine Bulmer.—Sir W. Scott,St. Ronan’s Well(time, George III.).

Mowbray(Sir Miles), a dogmatical, self-willed old man, who fancied he could read character, and had a natural instinct for doing the right thing; but he would have been much wiser if he had paid more heed to the proverb, “Mind your own business and not another’s.”

Frederick Mowbray, his eldest son, a young man of fine principle, and greatly liked. His “first love” was Clara Middleton, who, being poor, married the rich Lord Ruby. His lordship soon died, leaving all his substance to his widow, who bestowed it, with herself, on Frederick Mowbray, her first and only love.

David Mowbray, younger brother of Frederick. He was in the navy, and was a fine, open-hearted, frank and honest British tar.

Lydia Mowbray, sister of Frederick and David, and the wife of Mr. Wrangle.—R. Cumberland,First Love(1796).

Mow´cher(Miss), a benevolent little dwarf, patronized by Steerforth. She is full of humor and comic vulgarity. Her chief occupation is that of hair-dressing.—C. Dickens,David Copperfield(1849).

Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who wooed and won a beautiful bride, but at dawn melted in the sun. The bride hunted for him night and day, but never saw him more.—Indian Legend.

Mowis, the bridegroom of snow, who won and wedded a maiden,But, when the morning came, arose and passed from the wigwam,Fading and melting away, and dissolving into the sunshine,Till she beheld him no more, tho’ she followed far into the forest.Longfellow,Evangeline, ii. 4 (1849).

Moxon(Mr.), clergyman at Agawam (Mass.). Sincere in his bigotry, pitiable in the superstition that darkens his life, honestly persuaded that he and his are the victims of witchcraft, and that duty forces him to punish those who have afflicted the Lord’s saints.—Josiah Gilbert Holland,The Bay Path(1857).

Mozaide(2syl.), the Moor who befriended Vasco de Gama when he first landed on the Indian continent.

The Moor attends Mozaide, whose zealous careTo Gama’s eyes revealed each treacherous snare.Camoens,Lusiad, ix. (1569).

Mozart(The English), Sir Henry Bishop (1780-1855).

Mozart(The Italian), Cherubini, of Florence (1760-1842).

Much, the miller’s son, the bailiff or “acater” of Robin Hood. (SeeMidge.)

Robyn stode in Bernysdale,And lened hym to a tree;And by hym stode Lytell Johan,A good yeman was he;And also dyde good Scathelock,And Much, the miller’s sone.Ritson,Robin Hood Ballads, i. 1 (1594).

Much, the miller’s son, in the morris-dance. His feat was to bang, with an inflated bladder, the heads of gaping spectators. He represented the fool or jester.

Much Ado about Nothing, a comedy by Shakespeare (1600). Hero, the daughter of Leonato, is engaged to be married to Claudio of Aragon; but Don John, out of hatred to his brother, Leonato, determines to mar the happiness of the lovers. Accordingly, he bribes the waiting-maid of Hero to dress in her mistress’s clothes, and to talk with his man by night from the chamber balcony. The villain tells Claudio that Hero has made an assignation with him, and invites him to witness it. Claudio is fully persuaded that the woman he sees is Hero, and when next day she presents herself at the altar, he rejects her with scorn. The priest feels assured there is some mistake, so he takes Hero apart, and gives out that she is dead. Then Don John takes to flight, the waiting-woman confesses, Claudio repents, and, by way of amendment (as Hero is dead) promises to marry her cousin, but this cousin turns out to be Hero herself.

***A similar tale is told by Ariosto in hisOrlando Furioso, v. (1516).

Another occurs in theFaëry Queen, by Spenser, bk. ii. 4, 38, etc. (1590).

George Turbervil’sGeneura(1576) is still more like Shakespeare’s tale. Belleforest and Bandello have also similar tales (seeHist., xviii.).

Mucklebacket(Saunders), the old fisherman at Musselcrag.

Old Elspeth Mucklebacket, mother of Saunders, and formerly servant to Lady Glenallan.

Maggie Mucklebacket, wife of Saunders.

Steenie Mucklebacket, eldest son of Saunders. He is drowned.

Little Jennie Mucklebacket, Saunders’s child.—Sir W. Scott,The Antiquary(time, George III.).

Mucklethrift(Bailie), ironmonger and brazier of Kippletringan, in Scotland.—Sir W. Scott,Guy Mannering(time, George II.).

Mucklewrath(Habukkuk), a fanatic preacher.—Sir W. Scott,Old Mortality(time, Charles II.).

Mucklewrath(John), smith at Cairnvreckan village.

Dame Mucklewrath, wife of John. A terrible virago.—Sir W. Scott,Waverley(time, George II.).

Muckworm(Sir Penurious), the miserly old uncle and guardian of Arbella. He wants her to marry Squire Sapskull, a raw Yorkshire tike; but she loves Gaylove, a young barrister, and, of course, Muckworm is outwitted.—Carey,The Honest Yorkshireman(1736).

Mudarra, son of Gonçolo Bustos de Salas de Lara, who murdered his uncle Rodri´go, while hunting, to avenge the death of his seven half-brothers. The tale is, that Rodrigo Velasquez invited his seven nephews to a feast, when a fray took place in which a Moor was slain; the aunt, who was a Moorish lady, demanded vengeance, whereupon the seven boys were allured into a ravine and cruellymurdered. Mudarra was the son of the same father as “the seven sons of Lara,” but not of the same mother.—Romance of the Eleventh Century.

Muddle, the carpenter under Captain Savage and Lieutenant O’Brien.—Captain Marryat,Peter Simple(1833).

Muddlewick(Triptolemus), inCharles XII., an historical drama by J. R. Planché (1826).

Mudjekee´wis, the father of Hiawatha, and subsequently potentate of the winds. He gave all the winds but one to his children to rule; the one he reserved was the west wind, which he himself ruled over. The dominion of the winds was given to Mudjekeewis, because he slew the great bear called the Mishê-Mokwa.

Thus was slain the Mishê-Mokwa ...“Honor be to Mudjekeewis!Henceforth he shall be the west wind.And hereafter, e’en for ever,Shall he hold supreme dominion,Over all the winds of heaven.”Longfellow,Hiawatha, ii. (1855).

Mug(Matthew), a caricature of the duke of Newcastle.—S. Foote,The Mayor of Garratt(1763).

Mugello, the giant slain by Averardo de Medici, a commander under Charlemagne. This giant wielded a mace from which hung three balls, which the Medici adopted as their device.

***They have been adopted by pawnbrokers as a symbol of their trade.

Muggins(Dr.), a sapient physician, who had the art “to suit his physic to his patients’ taste;” so when King Artaxaminous felt a little seedy after a night’s debauch, the doctor prescribed to his majesty “to take a morning whet.”—W. B. Rhodes,Bombastes Furioso(1790).

Muhldenau, the minister of Mariendorpt, and father of Meeta and Adolpha. When Adolpha was an infant, she was lost in the siege of Magdeburg; and Muhldenau, having reason to suppose that the child was not killed went to Prague in search of her. Here Muhldenau was seized as a spy, and condemned to death. Meeta, hearing of his capture, walked to Prague to beg him off, and was introduced to the governor’s supposed daughter, who, in reality, was Meeta’s sister, Adolpha. Rupert Roselheim, who was betrothed to Meeta, stormed the prison and released Muhldenau.—S. Knowles,The Maid of Mariendorpt(1838).

Mulatto, a half-caste. Strictly speaking,Zambois the issue of an Indian and a Negress;Mulatto, of a White man and a Negress;Terzeron, of a White man and a Mulatto woman;Quadroon, of a Terzeron and a White.

Mul´ciber, Vulcan, who was blacksmith, architect, and god of fire.

In Ausonian landMen called him Mulciber; and how he fellFrom heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry JoveSheer o’er the crystal battlements; from mornTo noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,A Summer’s day; and with the setting sunDropt from the Zenith like a falling star,On Lemnos, the Ægean isle.Milton,Paradise Lost, 739, etc. (1665).

Muley Bugentuf, king of Morocco, a blood-and-thunder hero. He is the chief character of a tragedy of the same name, by Thomas de la Fuenta.

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