Chapter 9

Then the Lady of the Lake, that was always friendly unto King Arthur, understood by her subtle craft that he was like to have been destroyed; and so the Lady of the Lake, that hight Nineve, came into the forest to seek Sir Launcelot du Lake.—Sir T. Malory,History of Prince Arthur, ii. 57 (1470).

***This name occurs three times in theMorte d’Arthur—once as “Nimue,” once as “Nineve,” and once as “Ninive.” Probably “Nimue” (q.v.) is a clerical error.

Ninon de Lenclos, a beautiful Parisian, rich,spirituelle, and an atheist, who abandoned herself to epicurean indulgence, and preserved her charms to a very advanced age. Ninon de Lenclos renounced marriage, and had numberless lovers. Her house was the rendezvous of all the most illustrious persons of the period, as Molière, St. Evremont, Fontenelle, Voltaire, and so on (1615-1705).

Niobe[Ne´.oby], the beau-ideal of grief. After losing her twelve children, she was changed into a stone, which wept continually.

***The group of “Niobe and her Children” in Florence, discovered at Rome in 1583, is now arranged in theUffiziiGallery.

She followed my poor father’s body,Like Niobê, all tears.Shakespeare,Hamlet, act i. sc. 2 (1596).

Niobe of Nations(The). Rome is so called by Byron.—Childe Harold, iv. 79 (1817).

Nipper(Susan), generally called “Spitfire,” from her snappish disposition. She was the nurse of Florence Dombey, to whom she was much attached. Susan Nipper married Mr. Toots (after he had got over his infatuation for Florence).

Nippotate(4syl.), “a live lion stuffed with straw,” exhibited in a raree-show. This proved to be the body of a tame hedgehog exhibited by Old Harry, a notorious character in London at the beginning of the eighteenth century (died 1710).

Of monsters stranger than can be expressed,There’s Nippotatê lies amongst the rest.Sutton Nicholls.

Niquee[Ne´.kay], the sister of Anasterax, with whom she lived in incest. The fairy Zorphee was her godmother, and enchanted her, in order to break off this connection.—Vasco de Lobeira,Amadis de Gaul(thirteenth century).

Nisroch[Niz´.rok], “of principalities the prince.” A god of the Assyrians. In the book ofKingsthe Septuagint calls him “Meserach,” and inIsaiah“Nasarach.” Josephus calls him “Araskês.” One of the rebel angels in Milton’sParadise Lost. HeSays:

Sense of pleasure we may wellSpare out of life, perhaps, and not repine,But live content, which is the calmest life;But pain is perfect misery, the worstOf evils, and, excessive, overturnsAll patience.Milton,Paradise Lost, (1665).

Nit, one of the attendants of Queen Mab.

Hop, and Mop, and Drap so clear,Pip, and Trip, and Skip, that wereTo Mab their sovereign dear—Her special maids of honor.Fib, and Tib, and Pinck, and Pin,Tick, and Quick, and Jil, and Jin,Tit, and Nit, and Wap, and Win—The train that wait upon her.Drayton,Nymphidia(1563-1631).

Nitchs, daughter of Amases, king of Egypt. She was sent to Persia to become the wife of Cambyses.—Georg Ebers,An Egyptian Princess.

Nixon(Christal), agent to Mr. Edward Redgauntlet, the Jacobite.—Sir W. Scott,Redgauntlet(time, George III.).

Nixon(Martha), the old nurse of the earl of Oxford.—Sir W. Scott,Anne of Geierstein(time, Edward IV.).

No One(Cæsar or). Julius Cæsar said, “Aut Cæsar aut nullus.” And again, “I would sooner be first in a village than second at Rome.”

Milton makes Satan say, “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.”

Jonathan Wild used to say, “I’d rather stand on the top of a dunghill than at the bottom of a hill in paradise.”

Tennyson says, “All in all or not at all.”—Idylls(“Vivien”).

“Six thrice or three dice” (aces were calleddice, and did not count).

No Song no Supper, a musical drama by Prince Hoare, F.S.A. (1790). Crop, the farmer, has married a second wife called Dorothy, who has an amiable weakness for a rascally lawyer named Endless. During the absence of her husband, Dorothy provides a supper for Endless, consisting of roast lamb and a cake; but just as the lawyer sits down to it, Crop, with Margaretta, knocks at the door. Endless is concealed in a sack, and the supper is carried away. Presently Robin, the sweetheart of Margaretta, arrives, and Crop regrets there is nothing but bread and cheese to offer him. Margaretta now volunteers a song, the first verse of which tells Crop there is roast lamb in the house, which is accordingly produced; the second verse tells him there is a cake, which is produced also; and the third verse tells him that Endless is concealed in a sack. Had there been no song there would have been no supper, but the song produced the roast lamb and new cake.

Noah’s Wife, Wâïla (3syl.), who endeavored to persuade the people that her husband was distraught.

The wife of Noah [Wâïla] and the wife of Lot [Wâhela] were both unbelievers ... and deceived their husbands ... and it shall be said to them at the last day, “Enter ye into hell fire.”—Sale,Al Korân, lxvi.

Nobbs, the horse of “Dr. Dove of Doncaster.”—Southey,The Doctor(1834).

Noble(The), Charles III. of Navarre (1361, 1387-1425).

Soliman,Tchelibi, the Turk (died 1410).

***Khosrou or Chosroës I. was called “The Noble Soul” (*, 531-579).

Nodel, the lion, in the beast-epic calledReynard the Fox. Nodel, the lion, represents the regal element of Germany; Isengrin, the wolf, represents the baronial element; and Reynard, the fox, the Church element (1498).

Noel(Eusebe), schoolmaster of Bout du Monde. “His clothes are old and worn,and his manner vacant.”—E. Stirling,The Gold Mine, orMiller of Grenoble, act i. sc. 2 (1854).

Noggs(Newman), Ralph Nickleby’s clerk. A tall man of middle age, with two goggle eyes (one of which was fixed), a rubicund nose, acadavarousface, and a suit of clothes decidedly the worse for wear. He had the gift of distorting and cracking his finger-joints. This kind-hearted, dilapidated fellow “kept his hunter and hounds once,” but ran through his fortune. He discovered a plot of old Ralph, which he confided to the Cheeryble brothers, who frustrated it, and then provided for Newman.—C. Dickens,Nicholas Nickleby(1838).

Noko´mis, mother of Weno´nah, and grandmother of Hiawatha. Nokomis was the daughter of the Moon. While she was swinging one day, some of her companions, out of jealousy, cut the ropes, and she fell to earth in a meadow. The same night her first child, a daughter, was born, and was named Wenonah.

There among the ferns and mosses ...Fair Nokomis bore a daughter,And she called her name Wenonah.Longfellow,Hiawatha, iii. (1855).

Non Mi Ricordo, the usual answer of the Italian courier and other Italian witnesses when on examination at the trial of Queen Caroline (the wife of George IV.), in 1820.

“Lord Flint,” inSuch Things Are, by Mrs. Inchbald (1786), when asked a question he wished to evade, used to reply, “My people know, no doubt, but I cannot recollect.”

“Pierre Choppard,” inThe Courier of Lyons, by Edward Stirling (1852), when asked an ugly question, always answered “I’ll ask my wife, my memory’s so slippery.”

The North American society called the “Know Nothings,” founded in 1853, used to reply to every question about their order, “I know nothing about it.”

Nona´cris’ Stream, the river Styx, in Arcadia. Cassander says he has in a phial some of this “horrid spring,” one drop of which, mixed with wine, would act as a deadly poison. To this Polyperchon replies:

I know its power, for I have seen it tried.Pains of all sorts thro’ every nerve and arteryAt once it scatters,—burns at once and freezes—Till, by extremity of torture forced,The soul consents to leave her joyless home.N. Lee,Alexander the Great, iv. i (1678).

Nonentity(Dr.), a metaphysician, and thought by most people to be a profound scholar. He generally spreads himself before the fire, sucks his pipe, talks little, drinks much, and is reckoned very good company. You may know him by his long grey wig, and the blue handkerchief round his neck.

Dr. Nonentity, I am told, writes indexes to perfection, makes essays, and reviews any work with a single day’s warning.—Goldsmith,A Citizen of the World, xxix. (1759).

Norbert(Father), Pierre Parisot Norbert, the French missionary (1697-1769).

Norland(Lord), father of Lady Eleanor Irwin, and guardian of Lady Ramble (Miss Maria Wooburn). He disinherited his daughter for marrying against his will, and left her to starve, but subsequently relented, and relieved her wants and those of her young husband.—Inchbald,Every One has His Fault(1794).

Norma, a vestal who had been seduced,and discovers her paramour trying to seduce a sister vestal. In despair, she contemplates the murder of her base-born children.—Bellini,Norma(1831); libretto, by Romani.

Norman, forester of Sir William Ashton, lord-keeper of Scotland.—Sir W. Scott,Bride of Lammermoor(time, William III.).

Norman, a “sea-captain,” in love with Violet, the ward of Lady Arundel. It turns out that this Norman is her ladyship’s son by her first husband, and heir to the title and estates; but Lady Arundel, having married a second husband, had a son named Percy, whom she wished to make her heir. Norman’s father was murdered, and Norman, who was born three days afterwards, was brought up by Onslow, a village priest. At the age of 14 he went to sea, and became captain of a man-of-war. Ten years later he returned to Arundel, and though at first his mother ignored him, and Percy flouted him, his noble and generous conduct disarmed hostility, and he not only reconciled his half-brother, but won his mother’s affection, and married Violet, his heart’s “sweet sweeting.”—Lord Lytton,The Sea-Captain(1839).

Norm-nan-Ordor Norman of the Hammer, one of the eight sons of Torquil of the Oak.—Sir W. Scott,Fair Maid of Perth(time, Henry IV.).

Normandy(The Gem of), Emma, daughter of Richard I. (died 1052).

Norna of the Fitful Head, “The Reimkennar.” Her real name was, Ulla Troil, but after her seduction by Basil Mertoun (Vaughan), and the birth of a son named Clement Cleveland (the future pirate), she changed her name. Towards the end of the novel, Norna gradually recovered her senses. She was the aunt of Minna and Brenda Troil.—Sir W. Scott,The Pirate(time, William III.).

[One] cannot fail to trace in Norna—the victim of remorse and insanity, and the dupe of her own imposture, her mind too flooded with all the wild literature and extravagant superstitions of the north—something distinct from the Dumfriesshire gypsy, whose pretensions to supernatural powers are not beyond those of a Norwood prophetess.—The Pirate(introduction, 1821).

Norris, a family to whom Martin Chuzzlewit was introduced while he was in America. They were friends of Mr. Bevan, rabid abolitionists, and yet hankering after titles as the gilt of the gingerbread of life.—C. Dickens,Martin Chuzzlewit(1844).

Norris(Black), a dark, surly man, and a wrecker. He wanted to marry Marian, “the daughter” of Robert (also a wrecker); but Marian was betrothed to Edward, a young sailor. Robert, being taken up for murder, was condemned to death; but Norris told Marian he would save his life if she would promise to marry him. Marian consented, but was saved by the arrest of Black Norris for murder.—S. Knowles,The Daughter(1836).

North(Christopher), pseudonym of John Wilson, professor of moral philosophy, Edinburgh, editor ofBlackwood’s Magazine, in which appeared the “Noctes Ambrosianæ” (1805-1861).

North(Lord), one of the judges in the State trial of Geoffrey Peveril, Julian, and the dwarf, for being concerned in the popish plot.—Sir W. Scott,Peveril of the Peak(time, CharlesII).

North Britain(The), a radical periodical, conducted by John Wilkes. The celebrated number of this serial was No. 45, in which the ministers are charged “with putting a lie in the king’s mouth.”

Northamptonshire Poet(The), John Clare (1793-1864).

Northern Harlot(The), Elizabeth Petrowna, empress of Russia; also called “The Infamous” (1709-1761).

Northern Wagoner, a group of seven stars called variously Charles’s Wain, or Wagon,i.e.churl’s wain; Ursa Major, The Great Bear, and The Dipper. Four make the wagon, or the dipper, three form the shaft, or the handle. Two are called Pointers because they point to the Pole-star.

By this the northern wagoner has setHis sevenfold team behind the steadfast starThat was in ocean waves yet never wet,But firm is fixed, and sendeth light from farTo all that on the wide deep wandering are.Spenser,Faëry Queen, I. ii. 1 (1590).

Norval(Old), a shepherd, who brings up Lady Randolph’s son (Douglas) as his own. He was hidden at birth in a basket, because Sir Malcolm (her father) hated Douglas, whom she had privately married. The child being found by old Norval, was brought up as his own, but the old man discovered that the foundling was “Sir Malcolm’s heir and Douglas’s son.” When 18 years old, the foster-son saved the life of Lord Randolph. Lady Randolph took great interest in the young man, and when old Norval told her his tale, she instantly perceived that the young hero was in fact her own son.

Young Norval, the infant exposed and brought up by the old shepherd as his own son. He turned out to be Sir Malcolm’s heir. His mother was Lady Randolph, and his father Lord Douglas, her first husband. Young Norval, having saved the life of Lord Randolph, was given by him a commission in the army. Glenalvon, the heir-presumptive of Lord Randolph, hated the new favorite, and persuaded his lordship that the young man was too familiar with Lady Randolph. Being waylaid, Norval was attacked, slew Glenalvon, but was in turn slain by Lord Randolph. After the death of Norval, Lord Randolph discovered that he had killed the son of his wife by a former marriage. The mother, in her distraction, threw herself headlong from a lofty precipice, and Lord Randolph went to the war then raging between Denmark and Scotland.—JHome,Douglas(1757).

(This was a favorite character with John Kemble, 1757-1823.)

Norway(The Fair Maid of), Margaret, granddaughter of Alexander III. of Scotland. She died (1290) of sea-sickness on her passage from Norway to Scotland. Her father was Eric II., king of Norway, and her mother was Margaret, only daughter of Alexander III.

Nose(Golden), Tycho Brahê, the Danish astronomer. Having lost his nose in a duel with one Passberg, he adopted a golden one, and attached it to his face by a cement which he carried about with him.

Nosebag(Mrs.), wife of a lieutenant in the dragoons. She is the inquisitive travelling companion of Waverley when he travels by stage to London.—Sir W. Scott,Waverley(time, George II.).

Nosey(Play up!) This exclamation was common in our theatres in the days of Macklin, etc. M. Nozay was the leader of the orchestra in Covent Garden Theatre.

***Some persons affirm that “Old Nosey” was Cervetto, the violoncello player at Drury Lane (1753), and say that he was so called from his long nose.

Napoleon III., was nicknamedGrosbec(“Nosey”).

Nosnot-Bocai[Bo´.ky], prince of purgatory.

Sir, I last night received commandTo see you out of Fairy-land.Into the realm of Nosnot-Bocai.King,Orpheus and Eurydice.

Nostrada´mus(Michael), an astrologer of the sixteenth century, who published an annualAlmanacand aRecueil of Prophecies, in verse (1503-1566).

Nostrada´mus of Portugal, Gonçalo Annês Bandarra, a poet-cobbler, whose career was stopped, in 1556, by the Inquisition.

Nottingham(The countess of), a quondam sweetheart of the earl of Essex, and his worst enemy, when she heard that he had married the countess of Rutland. The queen sent her to the Tower to ask Essex if he had no petition to make, and the earl requested her to take back a ring, which the queen had given him as a pledge of mercy in time of need. As the countess out of jealousy forbore to deliver it, the earl was executed.—Henry Jones,The Earl of Essex(1745).

Nottingham Lambs, (The), the Nottingham roughs.

Nottingham Poet(The), Philip James Bailey, the author ofFestus, etc. (1816- ).

No´tus, the south wind;Aferis the south-west wind.

Notus and Afer, black with thundrous clouds.Milton,Paradise Lost, (1665).

Noukhail, the angel of day and night.

The day and night are trusted to my care. I hold the day in my right hand and the night in my left; and I maintain the just equilibrium between them, for if either were to overbalance the other, the universe would either be consumed by the heat of the sun, or would perish with the cold of darkness.—Comte de Caylus,Oriental Tales(“History of Abdal Motallab,” 1743).

Nouman(Sidi), an Arab who married Amīnê, a very beautiful woman, who ate her rice with a bodkin. Sidi, wishing to know how his wife could support life and health without more food than she partook of in his presence, watched her narrowly, and discovered that she was a ghoul, who went by stealth every night and feasted on the fresh-buried dead. When Sidi made this discovery, Aminê changed him into a dog. After he was restored to his normal shape, he changed Aminê into a mare, which every day he rode almost to death.—Arabian Nights(“History of Sidi Nouman”).

Your majesty knows that ghouls of either sex are demons which wander about the fields. They commonly inhabit ruinous buildings, whence they issue suddenly on unwary travellers, whom they kill and devour. If they fail to meet with travellers, they go by night into burying grounds, and dig up dead bodies, on which they feed.—“History of Sidi Nouman.”

Nouredeen, son of Khacan (vizier of Zinebi, king of Balsora). He got possession of the “beautiful Persian” purchased for the king. At his father’s death he soon squandered away his patrimony in the wildest extravagance, and fled with his beautiful slave to Bagdad. Here he encountered Haroun-al-Raschid in disguise, and so pleased the caliph, that he was placed in the number of those courtiersmost intimate with his majesty, who also bestowed on him so plentiful a fortune, that he lived with the “beautiful Persian” in affluence all the rest of his life.—Arabian Nights(“Nouredeen and the Beautiful Persian”).

Nour´eddin´ Ali, younger son of the vizier of Egypt. “He was possessed of as much merit as can fall to the lot of man.” Having quarrelled with his elder brother, he travelled to Baso´ra, where he married the vizier’s daughter, and succeeded his father-in-law in office. A son was born to him in due time, and on the very same day the wife of his elder brother had a daughter. Noureddin died when his son was barely twenty, and unmarried.—Arabian Nights(“Noureddin Ali,” etc.).

Nourgehan’s Bracelet.Nourgehan, emperor of the Moguls, had a bracelet which had the property of discovering poison, even at a considerable distance. When poison was anywhere near the wearer, the stones of the bracelet seemed agitated, and the agitation increased as the poison approached them.—Comte de Caylus,Oriental Tales(“The Four Talismans,” 1743).

Nour´jahad, a sleeper, like Rip Van Winkle, Epimen´idês, etc. (SeeSleepers.)

Nourjeham(“light of the world”). So the Sultana Nourmahal was subsequently called.—T. Moore,Lalla Rookh(“The Light of the Haram,” 1817).

Nourmahal´(The sultana),i.e.“Light of the Haram,” afterwards calledNourjeham(“light of the world”). She was for a season estranged from the sultan, till he gave a grand banquet, at which she appeared in disguise as a lute-player and singer. The sultan was so enchanted with her performance, that he exclaimed, “If Nourmahal had so played and sung, I could forgive her all;” whereupon the sultana threw off her mask, and Selim “caught her to his heart.”—T. Moore,Lalla Rookh(“The Light of the Haram,” 1817).

Nouron´ihar, daughter of the Emir Fakreddin; a laughing, beautiful girl, full of fun and pretty mischief, dotingly fond of Gulchenrouz, her cousin, a boy of 13. She married the Caliph Vathek, with whom she descended into the abyss of Eblis, whence she never after returned to the light of day.

The trick she played Bababalouk was this: Vathek, the caliph, was on a visit to Fakreddin, the emir´, and Bababalouk, his chief eunuch, intruded into the bathroom, where Nouronihar and her damsels were bathing. Nouronihar induced the old eunuch to rest himself on the swing, when the girls set it going with all their might. The cords broke, the eunuch fell into the bath, and the girls made off with their lamps, and left the meddlesome old fool to flounder about till morning, when assistance came, but not before he was half dead.—W. Beckford,Vathek(1784).

Nouroun´nihar, niece of a sultan of India, who had three sons, all in love with her. The sultan said he would give her to him who, in twelve months, gave him the most valuable present. The three princes met in a certain inn at the expiration of the time, when one prince looked through a tube, which showed Nourounnihar at the point of death; another of the brothers transported all three instantaneously on a magic carpet to the princess’s chamber; and the third brother gave her an apple to smell of which effected an instant cure. It was impossible to decide which of these presents was the most valuable; so the sultan said he should have her who shot an arrow to the greatest distance. The eldest (Houssian) shot first; Ali overshot the arrow of his eldest brother; but that of the youngest brother (Ahmed) could nowhere be found. So the award was given to Ahmed.—Arabian Nights(“Ahmed and Pari-Banou”).

Novel(Father of the English). Henry Fielding is so called by Sir W. Scott (1707-1754).

Noven´siles(4syl.), the nine Sabine gods, viz.: Herculês, Romulus, Esculapius, Bacchus, Ænēas, Vesta, Santa, Fortuna and Fidês or Faith. (SeeNine Godsof the Etruscans.)

Novit(Mr. Nichil), the lawyer of the old laird of Dumbiedikes.—Sir W. Scott,Heart of Midlothian(time, George II.).

Novius, the usurer, famous for the loudness of his voice.

... at hic si plaustra ducentaConcurrantque foro tria funera magna sonabitCornua quod vincatque tubas.Horace,Satires, i. 6.

These people seem to be of the race of Novius, that Roman banker, whose voice exceeded the noise of carmen.—Lesage,Gil Blas, vii. 13 (1735).

Now-now(Old Anthony), an itinerant fiddler. The character is a skit on Anthony Munday, the dramatist.—Chettle,Kindheart’s Dream(1592).

Nuath(2syl.), father of Lathmon andOith´ona(q.v.).—Ossian,Oithona.

Nubbles(Mrs.), a poor widow woman, who was much given to going to Little Bethel.

ChristopherorKit Nubbles, her son, the servant in attendance on little Nell, whom he adored. After the death of little Nell, Kit married Barbara, a fellow-servant.—C. Dickens,The Old Curiosity Shop(1840).

Nugent Dubourg, twin brother of Oscar Dubourg, somewhat conceited, who patronizes his brother, and would like to marry his brother’s betrothed, Lucilla Finch, blind and an heiress. Her sight is restored by an operation, and Nugent places himself where her eyes will first fall upon him, instead of on his disfigured brother. Beginning with this, he personates Oscar until Lucilla again loses her sight. He then yields her to his brother, joins an Arctic exploring expedition, and perishes in the Polar regions.—Wilkie Collins,Poor Miss Finch.

Numa Roumestan, French deputy from the South of France. Audacious, gay and unprincipled, he possesses all the qualities that render him “the joy of the street, the sorrow of the home.”—Alphonse Daudet,Numa Roumestan.

Number Nip, the name of the gnome king of the Giant Mountains.—Musæus,Popular Tales(1782).

***Musæus was a German, uncle of Kotzebue (died 1788).

Nuncanou(Aurore and Clotilde). Beautiful Creoles, mother and daughter, in George W. Cable’s novel,The Grandissimes.

Nun’s Tale(The), the tale of the cock and the fox. One day, dan Russell, the fox, came into the poultry-yard, and told Master Chanticlere, he could not resist the pleasure of hearing him sing, for his voice was so divinely ravishing. The cock,pleased with this flattery, shut his eyes, and began to crow most lustily; whereupon dan Russell seized him by the throat, and ran off with him. When they got to the wood, the cock said to the fox, “I would recommend you to eat me at once, I think I can hear your pursuers.” “I am going to do so,” said the fox; but when he opened his mouth to reply, off flew the cock into a tree, and while the fox was deliberating how he might regain his prey, up came the farmer and his men with scythes, flails, and pitchforks, with which they despatched the fox without mercy.—Chaucer,Canterbury Tales(1388).

***This fable is one of those by Marie, of France, calledDon Coc and Don Werpil.

Nun’s Tale(The Second). This is the tale about Maxime and the martyrs, Valerian and Tiburcê. The prefect ordered Maxime (2syl.) to put Valerian and Tiburcê to death, because they refused to worship the image of Jupiter; but Maxime showed kindness to the two Christians, took them home, became converted, and was baptized. When Valerian and Tiburcê were put to death, Maxime declared that he saw angels come and carry them up to heaven, whereupon the prefect caused him to be beaten to death with whips of lead.—Chaucer,Canterbury Tales(1388).

***This tale is very similar to that of St. Cecilia, in theLegenda Aurea. See alsoActsxvi. 25-34.

Nupkins, mayor of Ipswich, a man who has a most excellent opinion of himself, but who, in all magisterial matters, really depends almost entirely on Jinks, his half-starved clerk.—C. Dickens,The Pickwick Papers(1836).

Nurse(Rebecca). Accused of witchcraft and acquitted by the court. “And suddenly, after all the afflicted out of court made a hideous outcry ... one of the judges expressed himself not satisfied, another, as he was going off the bench, said they would have her indicted anew.”

At the second trial she was condemned, and she was executed with the rest.

“The testimonials of her Christian behavior, both in the course of her life and at her death, and her extraordinary care in educating her children, and setting them a good example, etc., under the hands of so many, are so numerous that for brevity they are here omitted.”—Robert Calef,More Wonders of the Invisible World(1700).

Nut-Brown Maid(The), the maid wooed by the “banished man.” The “banished man” describes to her the hardships she would have to undergo if she married him; but finding that she accounted these hardships as nothing compared with his love, he revealed himself to be an earl’s son, with large hereditary estates in Westmoreland, and married her.—Percy,Reliques, II.

This ballad is based on the legendary history of Lord Henry Clifford, called “The Shepherd Lord.” It was modernized by Prior, who called his version of the storyHenry and Emma. The oldest form of the ballad extant is contained in Arnolde’sChronicle(1502).

Nydia.Greek flower-girl, blind and friendless. Glaucus is kind to, and protects her, finally purchases her of her brutal master. She loves him passionately and hopelessly, saves his life and that of his betrothed at the destruction of Pompeii; embarks with them in a skiff bound for a safer harbor, and while all are asleep, springs overboard and drowns herself.—E. L. Bulwer,Last Days of Pompeii(1834).

Nym, corporal in the army under Captain Sir John Falstaff, introduced inThe Merry Wives of Windsorand inHenry V., but not inHenry IV.It seems that Lieutenant Peto had died, and given a step to the officers under him. Thus, Ensign Pistol becomes lieutenant, Corporal Bardolph becomes ensign, and Nym takes the place of Bardolph. He is an arrant rogue, and both he and Bardolph are hanged(Henry V.). The word means to “pilfer.”

It would be difficult to give any other reply save that of Corporal Nym—it was the author’s humor or caprice.—Sir W. Scott.

Nymphid´ia, a mock-heroic by Drayton. The fairy Pigwiggen is so gallant to Queen Mab as to arouse the jealousy of King Oberon. One day, coming home and finding his queen absent, Oberon vows vengeance on the gallant, and sends Puck to ascertain the whereabouts of Mab and Pigwiggen. In the mean time, Nymphidia gives the queen warning, and the queen, with all her maids of honor, creep into a hollow nut for concealment. Puck, coming up, sets foot in the enchanted circle which Nymphidia had charmed, and, after stumbling about for a time, tumbles into a ditch. Pigwiggen, seconded by Tomalin, encounters Oberon, seconded by Tom Thum, and the fight is “both fast and furious.” Queen Mab, in alarm, craves the interference of Proserpine, who first envelopes the combatants in a thick smoke, which compels them to desist, and then gives them a draught “to assuage their thirst.” The draught was from the river Lethê; and immediately the combatants had tasted it, they forgot not only the cause of the quarrel, but even that they had quarrelled at all.—M. Drayton,Nymphidia(1593).

Nysa, daughter of Silēno and Mys´is, and sister of Daphnê. Justice Mi´das is in love with her; but she loves Apollo, her father’s guest.—Kane O’Hara,Midas(1764).

Nysê, Doto, and Neri´nê, the three nereids who went before the fleet of Vasco da Gama. When the treacherous pilot steered the ship of Vasco towards a sunken rock, these three sea-nymphs lifted up the prow and turned it round.—Camoens,Lusiad, ii. (1569).

O(Our Lady of).The Virgin Mary is so called in some old Roman rituals, from the ejaculation at the beginning of the seven anthems preceding theMagnificat, as: “O, when will the day arrive...?” “O, when shall I see...?” “O, when...?” and so on.

Oakly(Major), brother to Mr. Oakly, and uncle to Charles. He assists his brother in curing his “jealous wife.”

Mr. Oakly, husband of the “jealous wife.” A very amiable man, but deficient in that strength of mind which is needed to cure the idiosyncrasy of his wife; so he obtains the assistance of his brother, the major.

Mrs. Oakly, “the jealous wife” of Mr. Oakly. A woman of such suspicious temper, that every remark of her husband is distorted into a proof of his infidelity. She watches him like a tiger, and makes both her own and her husband’s life utterly wretched.

Charles Oakly, nephew of the major. A fine, noble-spirited young fellow, who would never stand by and see a woman insulted; but a desperate debauchee and drunkard. He aspires to the love of Harriot Russet, whose influence over him is sufficiently powerful to reclaim him.—George Colman,The Jealous Wife(1761).

Oates(Dr. Titus), the champion of the popish plot.

Forth came the notorious Dr. Oates, rustling in the full silken canonicals of priesthood, for ... he affected no small dignity of exterior decoration and deportment.... His exterior was portentous. A fleece of white periwig showed a most uncouth visage, of great length, having the mouth ... placed in the very centre of the countenance, and exhibiting to the astonished spectator as much chin below as there was nose and brow above it. His pronunciation was after a conceited fashion of his own, in which he accented the vowels in a manner altogether peculiar to himself.—Sir W. Scott,Peveril of the Peak(time, Charles II.).

Oaths.

John Perrot, a natural son of Henry VIII., was the first to employ the profane oath ofGod’s Wounds, which QueenElizabethadopted, but the ladies of her court minced and softened it intozoundsandzouterkins.

WilliamtheConquerorswore bythe Splendor of God.

William Rufus, bySt. Luke’s face.

KingJohn, byGod’s Tooth.

Henry VIII., byGod’s Wounds.

Charles II., byOds fish[God’s Flesh].

Louis XI.of France, byGod’s Easter.

Charles VIII.of France, byGod’s Light.

Louis XII., byThe Devil take me (Diable m’emporte).

The ChevalierBayardbyGod’s Holyday.

Francois I.used for asseveration,On the word of a gentleman.

Henry III.of England, when he confirmed “Magna Charta,” used the expression,On the word of a gentleman, a king and a knight.

Earl ofAngus(reign of Queen Mary), when incensed, used to say,By the might of God, but at other times his oath wasBy St. Bride of Douglas.—Godscroft, 275.

St. WinfredorBoni´faceused to swear bySt. Peter’s tomb.

In the reign of Charles II. fancy oaths were the fashion. (For specimens, seeFoppington.)

The most common oath of the ancient Romans wasBy Herculês! for men; andBy Castor! for women;By Pollux! for both.

Viri perHerculem, mulieres perCastorem, utrique perPollucemjurare soliti.—Gellius,NoctesAtticœ,ii. 6.

Obad´don, the angel of death. This is not the same angel as Abbad´ona, one of the fallen angels, and once the friend of Ab´diel (bk. vi.).

My name is Ephod Obaddon or Sevenfold Revenge. I am an angel of destruction. It was I who destroyed the first-born of Egypt. It was I who slew the army of Sennacherib.—Klopstock,The Messiah, xiii. (1771).

Obadi´ah, “the foolish fat scullion” in Sterne’s novel ofTristram Shandy(1759).

Obadiah, clerk to Justice Day. A nincompoop, fond of drinking, but with just a shade more brains than Abel Day, who is “a thorough ass” (act i. 1).—T. Knight,The Honest Thieves(died 1820).

This farce is a mereréchaufféofThe Committee(1670), a comedy by the Hon. Sir R. Howard, the names and much of the conversation being identical. Colonel Blunt is called in the farce “Captain Manly.”

Obadiah Prim, a canting, knavish hypocrite; one of the four guardians ofAnne Lovely, the heiress. Colonel Feignwell personates Simon Pure, and obtains the Quaker’s consent to his marriage with Anne Lovely.—Mrs. Centlivre,A Bold Stroke for a Wife(1717).

Obermann, the impersonation of high moral worth without talent, and the tortures endured by the consciousness of this defect.—Etienne Pivert de Sen´ancour,Obermann(1804).

Oberon, king of the fairies, quarrelled with his wife, Titania, about a “changeling” which Obĕron wanted for a page, but Titania refused to give up. Oberon, in revenge, anointed her eyes in sleep with the extract of “Love in Idleness,” the effect of which was to make the sleeper in love with the first object beheld on waking. Titania happened to see a country bumpkin, whom Puck had dressed up with an ass’s head. Oberon came upon her while she was fondling the clown, sprinkled on her an antidote, and she was so ashamed of her folly that she readily consented to give up the boy to her spouse for his page.—Shakespeare,Midsummer Night’s Dream(1592).

Oberon, the Fay, king of Mommur, a humpty dwarf, three feet high, of angelic face. He told Sir Huon that the lady of the Hidden Isle (Cephalonia) married Neptanēbus, king of Egypt, by whom she had a son named Alexander “the Great.” Seven hundred years later she had another son, Oberon, by Julius Cæsar, who stopped in Cephalonia on his way to Thessaly. At the birth of Oberon the fairies bestowed their gifts on him. One was insight into men’s thoughts, and another was the power of transporting himself instantaneously to any place. At death he made Huon his successor, and was borne to paradise.—Huon de Bordeaux(a romance).

Oberthal(Count), lord of Dordrecht, near the Meuse. When Bertha, one of his vassals, asked permission to marry John of Leyden, the count withheld his consent, as he designed to make Bertha his mistress. This drove John into rebellion, and he joined the anabaptists. The count was taken prisoner by Gio´na, a discarded servant, but was liberated by John. When John was crowned prophet-king the count entered the banquet-hall to arrest him, and perished with him in the flames of the burning palace.—Meyerbeer,Le Prophète(opera, 1849).

Obi.Among the negroes of the West Indies “Obi” is the name of a magical power, supposed to affect men with all the curses of an “evil eye.”

Obi-Woman(An), an African sorceress, a worshipper of Mumbo Jumbo.

Obi´dah, a young man who meets with various adventures and misfortunes allegorical of human life.—Dr. Johnson,The Rambler(1750-2).

Obid´icut, the fiend of lust, and one of the five which possessed “poor Tom.”—Shakespeare,King Lear, act iv. sc. 1 (1605).

O’Brallaghan(Sir Callaghan), “a wild Irish soldier in the Prussian army. His military humor makes one fancy he was not only born in a siege, but that Bellōna had been his nurse, Mars his schoolmaster and the Furies his playfellows.” He is the successful suitor of Charlotte Goodchild.—Macklin,Love-à-la-mode(1759).

O’Brien, the Irish lieutenant underCaptain Savage.—Captain Marryat,Peter Simple(1833).

Observant Friars, those friars who observe the rule of St. Francis; to abjure books, land, house and chapel, to live on alms, dress in rags, feed on scraps and sleep anywhere.

Obstinate, an inhabitant of the City of Destruction, who advised Christian to return to his family, and not run on a wild-goose chase.—Bunyan,Pilgrim’s Progress, i. (1678).

Occasion, the mother of Furor; an ugly, wrinkled old hag, lame of one foot. Her head was bald behind, but in front she had a few hoary locks. Sir Guyon seized her, gagged her and bound her.—Spenser,Faëry Queen, ii. 4 (1590).

Ochiltree(Old Edie), a king’s bedesman or blue-gown. Edie is a garrulous, kind-hearted, wandering beggar, who assures Mr. Lovel that the supposed ruin of a Roman camp is no such thing. The old bedesman delighted “to daunder down the burnsides and green shaws.” He is a well-drawn character.—Sir W. Scott,The Antiquary(time, George III.).

Ocnus(The Rope of), profitless labor. Ocnus is represented as twisting with unwearied diligence a rope, which an ass eats as fast as it is made. The allegory signifies that Ocnus worked hard to earn money, which his wife spent by her extravagance.

Octave(2syl.), the son of Argante (2syl.). During the absence of his father, Octave fell in love with Hyacinthe, daughter of Géronte, and married her, supposing her to be the daughter of Signor Pandolphe, of Tarentum. His father wanted him to marry the daughter of his friend Géronte, but Octave would not listen to it. It turned out, however, that the daughter of Pandolphe and the daughter of Géronte were one and the same person, for Géronte had assumed the name of Pandolphe while he lived in Tarentum, and his wife and daughter stayed behind after the father went to live at Naples.—Molière,Les Fourberies de Scapin(1671).

***In the English version, calledThe Cheats of Scapin, by Thomas Otway, Octave is called “Octavian,” Argante is called “Thrifty,” Hyacinthe is called “Clara,” and Géronte is “Gripe.”

Octavian, the lover of Floranthê. He goes mad because he imagines Floranthê loves another; but Roque, a blunt, kind-hearted old man, assures him that Doña Floranthê is true to him, and induces him to return home.—Colman, the younger,The Mountaineers(1793).

Octavian, the English form of “Octave” (2syl.), in Otway’sCheats of Scapin. (SeeOctave.)

Octa´vio, the supposed husband of Jacintha. This Jacintha was at one time contracted to Don Henrique, but Violante (4syl.), passed for Don Henrique’s wife.—Beaumont and Fletcher,The Spanish Curate(1622).

Octavio, the betrothed of Donna Clara.—Jephson,Two Strings to your Bow(1792).

Octer, a sea-captain in the reign of King Alfred, who traversed the Norwegian mountains, and sailed to the Dwina in the north of Russia.

The Saxon swaying all, in Alfred’s powerful reign,Our English Octer put a fleet to sea again.Drayton,Polyolbion, xix. (1622).

O’Cutter(Captain), a ridiculous Irish captain, befriended by Lady Freelove and Lord Trinket. He speaks with a great brogue, and interlards his speech with sea terms.—George Colman,The Jealous Wife(1761).

Oc´ypus, son of Podalirius and Astasia, noted for his strength, agility and beauty. Ocypus used to jeer at the gout, and the goddess of that disease caused him to suffer from it for ever.—Lucian.

Odalisque, in Turkey, one of the female slaves in the sultan’s harem (odalik, Arabic, “a chamber companion,”oda, “a chamber”).

He went forth with the lovely odalisques.Byron,Don Juan, vi. 29 (1824).

Ode(Prince of the), Pierre de Ronsard (1534-1585).

Odoar, the venerable abbot of St. Felix, who sheltered King Roderick after his dethronement.—Southey,Roderick, Last of the Goths, iv. (1814).

***Southey sometimes makes the word Odoar´ [O´.dor], and sometimes O´doar (3syl.),e.g.:

Odoar´, the venerable abbot sat (2syl.)....Odoar´ and Urban eyed him while he spake....The Lady Adosinda O´doar cried (3syl.)....Tell him in O´doar’s name the hour has come!

O’Doh´erty(Sir Morgan), a pseudonym of W. Maginn, LL.D., inBlackwood’s Magazine(1819-1842).

O’Donohue’s White Horses.The boatmen of Killarney, so call those waves which, on a windy day, come crested with foam. The spirit of O’Donohue is supposed to glide over the lake of Killarney every May-day on his favorite white horse, to the sound of unearthly music.

Odori´co, a Biscayan, to whom Zerbi´no commits Isabella. He proves a traitor, and tries to defile her, but is interrupted in his base endeavor. Almonio defies him to single combat, and he is delivered bound to Zerbino, who condemns him, in punishment, to attend on Gabrina for twelve months, as her squire. He accepts the charge, but hangs Gabrina on an elm, and is himself hung by Almonio to the same tree.—Ariosto,Orlando Furioso(1516).

Odors for Food.Plutarch, Pliny, and divers other ancients tell us of a nation in India that lived only upon pleasing odors. Democ´ritos lived for several days together on the mere effluvia of hot bread.—Dr. John Wilkins (1614-1672).

O’Dowd(Cornelius), the pseudonym of Charles James Lever, inBlackwood’s Magazine(1809-1872).

Odyssey.Homer’s epic, recording the adventures of Odysseus (Ulysses) in his voyage home from Troy.

Book I. The poem opens in the island of Calypso, with a complaint against Neptune and Calypso for preventing the return of Odysseus (3syl.) to Ithaca.

II. Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, starts in search of his father, accompanied by Pallas, in the guise of Mentor.

III. Goes to Pylos, to consult old Nestor, and

IV. Is sent by him to Sparta; where he is told by Menelāus that Odysseus is detained in the island of Calypso.

V. In the mean time, Odysseus leaves the island, and, being shipwrecked, is cast on the shore of Phæācia.

VI. Where Nausicāa, the king’s daughter, finds him asleep, and

VII. Takes him to the court of her father, Alcinöos, who

VIII. Entertains him hospitably.

IX. At a banquet, Odysseus relates his adventures since he started from Troy. Tells about the Lotus-eaters and the Cyclops, with his adventures in the cave of Polyphēmos. He tells how

X. The wind-god gave him the winds in a bag. In the island of Circê, he says, his crew were changed to swine, but Mercury gave him a herb called Mōly, which disenchanted them.

XI. He tells the king how he descended into Hadês;

XII. Gives an account of the syrens; of Scylla and Charybdis; and of his being cast on the island of Calypso.

XIII. Alcinoos gives Odysseus a ship which conveys him to Ithăca, where he assumes the disguise of a beggar,

XIV. And is lodged in the house of Eumœos, a faithful old domestic.

XV. Telemachus, having returned to Ithaca, is lodged in the same house,

XVI. And becomes known to his father.

XVII. Odysseus goes to his palace, is recognized by his dog, Argos; but

XVIII. The beggar Iros insults him, and Odysseus breaks his jaw-bone.

XIX. While bathing, the returned monarch is recognized by a scar on his leg;

XX. And when he enters his palace, becomes an eye-witness to the disorders of the court, and to the way in which

XXI. Penelopê is pestered by suitors. To excuse herself, Penelopê tells her suitors he only shall be her husband who can bend Odysseus’s bow. None can do so but the stranger, who bends it with ease. Concealment is no longer possible or desirable;

XXII. He falls on the suitors hip and thigh;

XXIII. Is recognized by his wife.

XXIV. Visits his old father, Laertês; and the poem ends.

Œa´grian Harpist(The), Orpheus, son of Œa´gros and Cal´liōpê.

... can no lesseTame the fierce walkers of the wilderness,Than that Œagrian harpist, for whose layTigers with hunger pined and left their prey.Wm. Browne,Brittania’s Pastorals, v. (1613).

Œ´dipos(in LatinŒdipus), son of Laïus and Jocasta. The most mournful tale of classic story.

***This tale has furnished the subject matter of several tragedies. In Greek we haveŒdipus TyrannusandŒdipus at Colōnus, bySopho´oclês.In French,Œdipe, by Corneille (1659);Œdipe, by Voltaire (1718);Œdipe chez Admète, by J. F. Ducis (1778);Œdipe RoiandŒdipe à Colone, by Chénier; etc. In English,Œdipus, by Dryden and Lee.

Œno´ne(3syl.), a nymph of Mount Ida, who had the gift of prophecy, and told her husband, Paris, that his voyage to Greece would involve him and his country (Troy) in ruin. When the dead body of old Priam’s son was laid at her feet, she stabbed herself.

Hither came at noonMournful Œnōnê, wandering forlornOf Paris, once her playmate on the hills [Ida]Tennyson,Œnone.

***Kalkbrenner, in 1804, made this the subject of an opera.

Œno´pian, father of Mer´opê, to whom the giant Orīon made advances. Œnopian, unwilling to give his daughter to him, put out the giant’s eyes in a drunken fit.

Orion ...Reeled as of yore beside the sea,When blinded by Œnopian.Longfellow,The Occultation of Orion.

Œte´an Knight(The). Her´culês is socalled, because he burnt himself to death on Mount Œta or Œtæa, in Thessaly.

So also did that great Œtean knightFor his love’s sake his lion’s skin undight.Spenser,Faëry Queen, v. 8 (1596).

Offa, king of Mercia, was the son of Thingferth, and the eleventh in descent from Woden. Thus: Woden (1) his son Wihtlæg, (2) his son Wærmund, (3) Offa I., (4) Angeltheow, (5) Eomær, (6) Icel, (7) Pybba, (8) Osmod, (9) Enwulf, (10) Thingferth, (11) Offa, whose son was Egfert, who died within a year of his father. His daughter, Eadburga, married Bertric, king of the West Saxons; and after the death of her husband, she went to the court of King Charlemagne. Offa reigned thirty-nine years (755-794).

O’Flaherty(Dennis), called “Major O’Flaherty.” A soldier, says he, is “no livery for a knave,” and Ireland is “not the country of dishonor.” The major pays court to old Lady Rusport, but when he detects her dishonest purposes in bribing her lawyer to make away with Sir Oliver’s will, and cheating Charles Dudley of his fortune, he not only abandons his suit, but exposes her dishonesty.—Cumberland,The West Indian(1771).

Og, king of Basan. Thus saith the rabbis:

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