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Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

E. Cobham Brewer From The Edition Of 1894

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D

This letter is the outline of a rude archway or door. It is called in Hebrew daleth (a door). In Egyptian hieroglyphics it is a man's hand.

D

or d, Indicating a penny or pence, is the initial letter of the Latin denarius a silver coin equal to 8 ¾d. during the commonwealth of Rome, but in the Middle Ages about equivalent to our penny. The word was used by the Romans for money in general.

D

stands for 500, which is half ¥, a form of m or M, which stands for mille.

D.O.M.

Deo Optimo Maximo. Datur omnibus mori (It is allotted to all to die).

D.T.

A contraction of delirium tremens.

“They get a look, after a touch of D.T., which nothing else that I know of can give them” — Indian Tale.

Da Capo

or D.C. From the beginning — that is, finish with a repetition of the first strain. A term in music. (Italian.)

Dab

Clever, skilled, as “a dab—hand at it”; a corrupt contraction of the Latin adeptus (an adept). “Dabster” is another form. Apt is a related word.

“An Eton stripling, training for the law.

A dunce at learning, but a dab at taw (marbles).” Anon: Logic; or, The Biter Bit “

Dab, Din

etc.

“Hab Dab and David Din

Ding the deil o'er Dabson's Linn.”

“Hab Dab” means Halbert Dobson;"David Din” means David Dun; and"Dabson's Linn,” or Dob's Linn, is a waterfall near the head of Moffat Water.

Dobson and Dun were two Cameronians who lived for security in a cave in the ravine. Here, as they said, they saw the devil in the form of a pack of dried hides, and after fighting the “foul fiend” for some time, they dinged him into the waterfall.

Dabaira

An idol of the savages of Panama', to whose honour slaves are burnt to death. (American mythology.)

Dabbat [the Beast]. The Beast of the Apocalypse, which the Mahometans say will appear with Antichrist, called by them daggial. (Rev. xix. 19; xx. 10.)

Dabble

To dabble in the funds; to dabble in politics — i.e. to do something in them in a small way. (Dutch, dabbelen, our dip and tap.)

Dabchick

The lesser grebe. Dab is a corruption of dap, the old participle of dip, and chick (any young or small fowl), literally the dipping or diving chick.

Dactyl

(Will). The “smallest of pedants.” (Steele: The Tatler.)

Dactyls

(The). Mythic beings to whom is ascribed the discovery of iron. Their number was originally three — the Smelter, the Hammer, and the Anvil; but was afterwards increased to five males and five females, whence their name Dactyls or Fingers.

Dad

or Daddy. Father. The person who acts as father at a wedding, a stage—manager. The superintendent of a casual ward is termed by the inmates “Old Daddy.” (A Night in a Work—house, by an Amateur Casual [J. Greenwood].)

In the Fortunes of Nigel, by Sir W. Scott, Steenie, Duke of Buckingham, calls King James “My dear dad and gossip.” (Welsh, tad; Irish, daid, father; Sanskrit, tada; Hindu, dada.)

Daddy Long—legs

A crane—fly; sometimes applied to the long—legged spiders called “harvestmen.”

Daedalos

A Greek who formed the Cretan labyrinth, and made for himself wings, by means of which he flew from Crete across the Archipelago. He is said to have invented the saw, the axe, the gimlet, etc.

Daffodil

(The), or “Lent Lily,” was once white; but Persephone, daughter of Demeter (Ceres), delighted to wander about the flowery meadows of Sicily. One spring—tide she tripped over the meadows, wreathed her head with wild lilies, and, throwing herself on the grass, fell asleep. The god of the Infernal Regions, called by the Romans Pluto, fell in love with the beautiful maid, and carried her off for his bride. His touch turned the white flowers to a golden yellow, and some of them fell in Acheron, where they grew luxuriantly; and ever since the flower has been planted on graves. Theophilus and Pliny tell us that the ghosts delight in the flower, called by them the Asphodel. It was once called the Affodil. (French, asphodéle; Latin, asphodilus; Greek, asphodilos.)

“Flour of daffodil is a cure for madness.” —

Med. MS.Lincoln Cathedral,

Dag

(day). Son of Natt or night. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Dagger

or Long Cross (†), used for reference to a note after the asterisk (*), is a Roman Catholic character, originally employed in church books, prayers of exorcism, at benedictions, and so on, to remind the priest where to make the sign of the cross. This sign is sometimes called an obelisk — that is, “a spit.” (Greek, obelos, a spit.) Dagger, in the City arms of London, commemorates Sir William Walworth's dagger, with which he slew Wat Tyler in 1381. Before this time the cognisance of the City was the sword of St. Paul.

“Brave Walworth, knight, lord mayor, that slew

Rebellious Tyler in his alarmes;

The king, therefore, did give him in lieu

The dagger to the city armes.”

Fourth year of Richard II.

Dagger Ale

is the ale of the Dagger, a celebrated ordinary in Holborn.

“My lawyer's clerk I lighted on last night

In Holborn, at the Dagger. '

Ben Jonson: The Alchemist, i. 1.

Dagger—scene in the House of Commons

Edmund Burke, during the French Revolution, tried a bit of bunkum by throwing down a dagger on the floor of the House, exclaiming as he did so, “There's French fraternity for you! Such is the weapon which French Jacobins would plunge into the heart of our beloved king.” Sheridan spoilt the dramatic effect, and set the House in a roar by his remark, “The gentleman, I see, has brought his knife with him, but where is his fork?” (See Coup De Theatre)

Daggers

To speak daggers, To look daggers. To speak or look so as to wound the sensibilities.

“I will speak daggers to her; but will use none.” — Shakespeare: Hamlet, iii. 2.

Daggers Drawn

(At). At great enmity, as if with daggers drawn and ready to rush on each other.

Daggle—tail

or Draggle—tail. A slovenly woman, the bottom of whose dress trails in the dirt. Dag (Saxon) means loose ends, mire or dirt; whence dag—locks, the soiled locks of a sheep's fleece, and dag—wool, refuse wool. (Compare TAG.)

Dagobert

King Dagobert and St. Eloi. There is a French song very popular with this title. St. Eloi tells the king his coat has a hole in it, and the king replies, “C'est vrai, le tien est bon; prête—le moi.” Next the saint

complains of the king's stockings, and Dagobert makes the same answer. Then of his wig and cloak, to which the same answer is returned. After seventeen complaints St. Eloi said, “My king, death is at hand, and it is time to confess,” when the king replied, “Why can't you confess, and die instead of me?”

Dagon

(Hebrew, dag On, the fish On). The idol of the Philistines; half woman and half fish. (See Atergata.)

“Dagon his name; sea—monster, upward man

And downward fish; yet had his temple high

Rear'd in Azotus dreaded through the coast

Of Palestine, in Gath and Ascalon,

And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, book i. 402.

Dagonet

(Sir). In the romance La Mort d' Arthure he is called the fool of King Arthur, and was knighted by the king himself.

“I remember at Mile—End Green, when I lay at Clement's Inn, I was then Sir Dagonet in Arthur's show.” — Henry IV., iii. 2. (Justice Shallow).

“Dagonet” is the pen—name of Mr. G. R. Sims.

Daguerreotype

(4 syl.). A photographic process. So named from M. Daguerre, who greatly improved it in 1839. (See Talbotype.)

Dagun

A god worshipped in Pegu. When Kiakiak destroyed the world, Dagun reconstructed it. (Indian mythology.)

Dahak

The Satan of Persia. According to Persian mythology, the ages of the world are divided into periods of 1,000 years. When the cycle of “chiliasms” (1,000—year periods) is complete, the reign of Ormuzd will begin, and men will be all good and all happy; but this event will be preceded by the loosing of Dahak, who will break his chain and fall upon the world, and bring on man the most dreadful calamities. Two prophets will appear to cheer the oppressed, and announce the advent of Ormuzd.

Dahlia

A flower. So called from Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist.

Dahomey

is not derived from Daho, the founder of the palace so called, but is a corruption of Danh—homen, “Danh's Belly.” The story is as follows: Ardrah divided his kingdom at death between his three sons, and Daho, one of the sons, received the northern portion. Being an enterprising and ambitious man, he coveted the country of his neighbour Danh, King of Gedavin, and first applied to him for a plot of land to build a house on. This being granted, Daho made other requests in quick succession, and Danh's patience being exhausted, he exclaimed, “Must I open my belly for you to build on?” On hearing this, Daho declared himself insulted, made war on Danh, and slew him. He then built his palace where Danh fell, and called it Danh—homen.

(Nineteenth Century, October, 1890, pp. 605—6.)

Daiboth

(3 syl.). A Japanese idol of colossal size. Each of her hands is full of hands. (Japanese mythology.)

Daikoku

(4 syl.). The god invoked specially by the artisans of Japan. He sits on a ball of rice, holding a hammer in his hand, with which he beats a sack; and every time he does so the sack becomes full of silver, rice, cloth, and other useful articles. (Japanese mythology.)

Dairi (3 syl.). The royal residence in Japan; the court of the mikado, used by metonomy for the sovereign or chief pontiff himself.

Dairy

A corrupt form of “dey—ery,” Middle English deierie and deyyerye, from deye, a dairymaid.

“The dey or farm—woman entered with her pitchers, to deliver the milk for the family.” — Scott: Fair Maid of Perth, chap. xxxii.

Dais

The raised floor at the head of a dining—room, designed for guests of distinction (French, dais, a canopy). So called because it used to be decorated with a canopy. The proverb “Sous le dais” means “in the midst of grandeur.”

Daisies

Slang for boots. Explained under CHIVY.

Daisy

Ophelia gives the queen a daisy to signify “that her light and fickle love ought not to expect constancy in her husband.” So the daisy is explained by Greene to mean a Quip for an upstart courtier. (Anglo—Saxon dages eage, day's eye.)

The word is Day's eye, and the flower is so called because it closes its pinky lashes and goes to sleep when the sun sets, but in the morning it expands its petals to the light. (See Violet.)

“That well by reason men calle it maie.

The daisie, or else the eie of the daie.”

Chaucer

Daisy

(Solomon). Parish clerk of Chigwell. He had little, round, black, shiny eyes like beads; wore rusty black breeches, a rusty black coat, and a long—flapped waistcoat with queer little buttons. Solomon Daisy, with Phil Parkes, the ranger of Epping Forest, Tom Cobb, the chandler and post—office keeper, and John Willet, mine host, formed a quadrilateral or village club, which used to meet night after night at the Maypole, on the borders of the forest. Daisy's famous tale was the murder of Mr. Reuben Haredale, and the conviction that the murderer would be found out on the 19th of March, the anniversary of the murder. (Dickens: Barnaby Rudge, chap. i., etc.)

Daisy—cutter

(A). In cricket, a ball that is bowled all along the ground.

Daisy—roots

like dwarf—elder berries, are said to stunt the growth; hence the fairy Milkah fed her royal

foster—child on this food, that his standard might not exceed that of a pigmy. This superstition arose from the notion that everything had the property of bestowing its own speciality on others. (See Fern Seed.)

“She robbed dwarf—elders of their fragrant fruit,

And fed him early with the daisy root,

Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran, And formed the beauteous miniature of man.”

Tickell: Kensington Gardens.

Dalai—Lama

[grand lama]. Chief of the two Tartar priests — a sort of incarnate deity. The other lama is called the “Tesho—lama.”

Daldah

Mahomet's favourite white mule.

Dalgarno

(Lord). A heartless profligate in Scott's Fortunes of Nigel.

Dalgetty (Dugald). Jeffrey calls him “a compound of Captain Fluellen and Bobadil,” but this is scarcely just. Without doubt, he has all the pedantry and conceit of the former, and all the vulgar assurance of the latter; but, unlike Bobadil, he is a man of real courage, and wholly trustworthy to those who pay him for the service of his sword, which, like a thrifty mercenary, he lets out to the highest bidder. (Scott: Legend of Montrose.)

“Neither Schiller, Strads, Thuanus, Monroe, nor Dugald Dalgetty makes any mention of it.” — Carlyle.

Dalkey

(King of). A kind of “Mayor of Garrat” (q.v.) at Kingstown, in Ireland. A full description is given of this mock mayor, etc., in a book entitled Ireland Ninety Years Ago.

Dalle

(French), écu de six francs (5s.). Money generally.

“Quiconque parleroit de paix ... payeroit à la bourse de l'Union certaine quantitée de dales, pour l'entretenement des docteurs.” — Satyre Menippee, 1824, p.163.

Dalmatica

or Dalmatic. A robe, open in front, reaching to the knees; worn at one time by deacons over the alb or stole, when the Eucharist was administered. It is in imitation of the regal vest of Dalmatia, and was imported into Rome by the Emperor Commodus. A similar robe was worn by kings, in the Middle Ages, at coronations and other great solemnities, to remind them of their duty of bountifulness to the poor. The right sleeve was plain and full, but the left was fringed and tasselled. Deacons had broader sleeves than

sub—deacons, to indicate their duty to larger generosity; for a similar reason the sleeves of a bishop are larger than those of a priest. The two stripes before and behind were to show that the wearer should exercise his charity to all.

Dam

An Indian copper coin, the fortieth part of a rupee. Hence the expression “Not worth a dam”; similarly “not worth a farthing,” “not worth a rap” (q.v.); “not worth a sou,” “not worth a stiver,” etc.

Damage

What's the damage? What have I to pay? how much is the bill? The allusion is to the law assessing damages in remuneration to the plaintiff.

Damask Linen

So called from Damascus, where it was originally manufactured.

Damaskeening

Producing upon steel a blue tinge and ornamental figures, sometimes inlaid with gold and silver, as in Damascus blades; so called from Damascus, which was celebrated in the Middle Ages for this class of ornamental art.

Dambe'a

or Dembe'a. A lake in Gojam, Abyssinia, the source of the Blue Nile. Captain Speke traced the White Nile to Lake Victoria N'yanza, which, no doubt, is fed by the Mountains of the Moon.

“He [the Nile] thro' the Incid lake

Of fair Dambea rolls his infant stream.”

Thomson: Summer, 807—8.

Dame du Lac

A fay, named Vivienne, who plunged with the infant Lancelot into a lake. This lake was a kind of mirage, concealing the demesnes of the lady “en la marche de la petite Bretaigne.” (See Vivienne.)

“En ce lieu ... avoit la dame moult de belles maisons et moult riches; et au plain dessoubs elle avoit une gente petite rivière.”

Damiens' Bed of Steel

R. F. Damiens, in 1757, attempted the life of Louis XV. He was taken to the Conciergerie; an iron bed, which likewise served as a chair, was prepared for him, and to this he was fastened with chains. He was then tortured, and ultimately torn to pieces by wild horses. (Smollet: History of England, v. 12, p. 39.)

“The uplifted axe, the agonising wheel,

Luke's iron crown, and Damiens' bed of steel.”

Goldsmith: The Traveller (1768).

Damn with Faint Praise

To praise with such a voice and in such measured terms as to show plainly secret disapproval.

“Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer,

And, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer.”

Pope: Epistle to Arbuthnot.

Damocles' Sword

Evil foreboded or dreaded. Damocles, the sycophant of Dionysius the elder, of Syracuse, was invited by the tyrant to try the felicity he so much envied. Accordingly he was set down to a sumptuous banquet, but overhead was a sword suspended by a hair. Damocles was afraid to stir, and the banquet was a tantalising torment to him. (Cicero.)

“These fears hang like Damocles' sword over every feast,and make enjoyment impossible.” — Chambers's Cyclopædia.

Damon and Musidora

Two lovers in Thomson's Summer. One day Damon caught Musidora bathing, and his delicacy so won upon her that she promised to be his bride.

Damon and Pythias

Inseparable friends. They were two Syracusian youths. Damon, being condemned to death by Dionysius the tyrant, obtained leave to go home to arrange his affairs if Pythias became his security. Damon being delayed, Pythias was led to execution, but his friend arrived in time to save him. Dionysius was so struck with this honourable friendship that he pardoned both of them.

Damper

(A). A snap before dinner, which damps or takes off the edge, of appetite. “That's a damper” also means a wet—blanket influence, a rebuff which damps or cools one's courage.

Also a large thin cake of flour and water baked in hot ashes. The mute of a stringed instrument to deaden the sound is also called a “damper.”

Damsel

(See Domisellus. )

Damson

A corruption of Damascéne, a fruit from Damascus.

Damyan

(3 syl.). A “silke squyer,” whose illicit love was accepted by May, the youthful bride of January, a Lombard knight, sixty years old. (Chaucer: The Marchaundes Tale.)

Dan

A title of honour, common with the old poets, as Dan Phoebus, Dan Cupid, Dan Neptune, Dan Chaucer, etc. (Spanish, don.)

“Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled,

On Fame's eternal beadroll worthy to be filed.” Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iv. canto ii. 32.

From Dan to Beersheba. From one end of the kingdom to the other; all over the world; everywhere. The phrase is Scriptural, Dan being the most northern and Beersheba the most southern city of the Holy Land. We have a similar expression, “From John o' Groats to the Land's End.”

Dan Tucker

Out o' de way, old Dan Tucker. The first Governor of Bermuda was Mr. Moore, who was succeeded by Captain Daniel Tucker. These islands were colonised from Virginia.

Danace

(3 syl.). A coin placed by the Greeks in the mouth of the dead to pay their passage across the ferry of the Lower World.

Danae

An Argive princess whom Zeus (Jupiter) seduced under the form of a shower of gold, while she was confined in an inaccessible tower. She thus became the mother of Perseus (2 syl.).

Danaides

(4 syl.). Daughters of Danaos (King of Argos). They were fifty in number, and married the fifty sons of Ægyptos. They all but one murdered their husbands on their wedding—night, and were punished in the infernal regions by having to draw water everlastingly in sieves from a deep well.

This is an allegory. The followers of Danaos taught the Argives to dig wells, and irrigate their fields in the Egyptian manner. As the soil of Argos was very dry and porous, it was like a sieve.

The names of the fifty Danaïdes and their respective husbands are as follows:

Actaea wife of

Periphas.

Adianta wife of Daïphron.

Adyta wife of Menalces.

Agave wife of Lycos.

Amymone wife of Encelados.

Anaxibia wife of Archelaos.

Antodica wife of Clytos.

Asteria wife of Choetos.

Autholea wife of Cisseus.

Automata wife of Architelos.

Autonoe wife of Eurylochos.

Brycea wife of Chthonios.

Callidice wife of Pandion.

Celeno wife of Hyxobios.

Chrysippe wife of Chrysippos.

Chrysothemis wife of Asteris.

Cleodora wife of Lixos.

Cleopatra wife of Agenor.

Clio wife of Asterias.

Critomedia wife of Antipaphos.

Damone wife of Amyntor.

Dioxippe wife of Ægyptos.

Electra wife of Peristhenes.

Erato wife of Bromios.

Eupheno wife of Hyperbios.

Eurydice wife of Dryas.

Evippe wife of Imbros.

Glauca wife of Alcis.

Glaucippa wife of Potamon.

Gorga wife of Hyppothooa.

Gorgophon wife of Proteus.

Helcita wife of Cassos.

Hippodami'a wife of Ister.

Hippodica wife of Idras.

Hippomeduse wife of Alcmenon.

Hyperippa wife of Hippocoristes.

Hypermnestra wife of * Lynceus.

Iphimedusa wife of Euchenor.

Mnestra wife of Egios.

Ocypete wife of Lampos.

Oime wife of Arbelos.

Pharte wife of Eurydamas.

Pilarga wife of Idmon.

Pirene wife of Agaptolemos.

Podarca wife of Œneus.

Rhoda wife of Hippolytos.

Rhodia wife of Chalcedon.

Sthenela wife of Sthenelos.

Stygna wife of Polyctor.

Theano wife of Phanthes.

Lynceus (2 syl.), the one saved by his wife, is marked with an asterisk (*).

Danaos

According to the Roman de Rose, Denmark means the country of Danaos, who settled here with a colony after the siege of Troy, as Brutus is said by the same sort of name—legend to have settled in Britain. Saxo—Germanicus, with equal absurdity, makes Dan, the son of Humble, the first king, to account for the name of the country.

Danaw

The Danube (German).

“To pass

Rhone or the Danaw.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, book i. 353.

Dance The Spanish danza was a grave and stately court dance. Those of the seventeenth century were called the Turdion, Pabana, Madama Orleans, Piedelgiba'o, El Rey Don Alonzo, and El Caballero. Most of the names are taken from the ballad—music to which they were danced.

The light dances were called Baylë (q.v.).

Dance

(Pyrrhic). (See Pyrrhic ).

St. Vitus's Dance.

(See Vitus).

Dance of Death

A series of woodcuts, said to be by Hans Holbein (1538), representing Death dancing after all sorts of persons, beginning with Adam and Eve. He is beside the judge on his bench, the priest in the pulpit, the nun in her cell, the doctor in his study, the bride and the beggar, the king and the infant; but is

“swallowed up at last.”

This is often called the Dance Macabre, from a German who wrote verses on the subject. On the north side of Old St. Paul's was a cloister, on the walls of which was painted, at the cost of John Carpenter, town clerk of London (15th century), a “Dance of Death,” or “Death leading all the estate, with speeches of Death, and answers, by John Lydgate” (Stow). The Death—Dance in the Dominican Convent of Basle was retouched by Holbein.

PHRASES.

I'll lead you a pretty dance, i.e. I'll bother or put you to trouble. The French say, Donner le bal à quelqu'un. The reference is to the complicated dances of former times, when all followed the leader.

To dance attendance. To wait obsequiously, to be at the beck and call of another. The allusion is to the ancient custom of weddings, where the bride on the wedding—night had to dance with every guest, and play the amiable, though greatly annoyed.

“Then must the poore bryde kepe foote with a dauncer, and refuse none, how scabbed, foule, droncken, rude, and shameless soever he be.” — Christen: State of Matrimony, 1543.

“I had thought

They had parted so much honestly among them (At least, good manners) as not thus to suffer A man of his place, and so near our favour,

To dance attendance on their lordships' pleasures.” Shakespeare: Henry VIII., v. 2.

To dance upon nothing.

To be hanged.

Dances

(National Dances): Bohemian: the redowa. English: the hornpipe and lancers. French: the contredanse (country dance), cotillon, and quadrille. German: the gallopade and waltz. Irish: the jig. Neapolitan: the tarantella. Polish: the mazurka and krakovieck, Russian: the cossac. Scotch: the reel. Spanish: the bolero and fandango. When Handel was asked to point out the peculiar taste of the different nations of Europe in dancing, he ascribed the minuet to the French, the saraband to the Spaniard, the arietta to the Italian, and the hornpipe and the morris—dance to the English.

Dances

(Religious Dances):

Astronomical dances, invented by the Egyptians, designed (like our orreries) to represent the movements of the heavenly bodies.

The Bacchic' dances were of three sorts: grave (like our minuet), gay (like our gavotte), and mixed (like our minuet and gavotte combined).

The dance Champètre, invented by Pan, quick and lively. The dancers (in the open air) wore wreaths of oak and garlands of flowers.

Children's dances, in Lacedemonia, in honour of Diana. The children were nude; and their movements were grave, modest, and graceful.

Corybantic dances, in honour of Bacchus, accompanied with timbrels, fifes, flutes, and a tumultuous noise produced by the clashing of swords and spears against brazen bucklers.

Funereal dances, in Athens, slow, solemn dances in which the priests took part. The performers wore long white robes, and carried cypress slips in their hands.

Hymeneal dances were lively and joyous. The dancers being crowned with flowers. Of the Lapithæ, invented by Pirithöus. These were exhibited after some famous victory, and were designed to imitate the combats of the Centaurs and Lapithæ. These dances were both difficult and dangerous.

May—day dances at Rome. At daybreak lads and lasses went out to gather “May” and other flowers for themselves and their elders; and the day was spent in dances and festivities.

Military dances. The oldest of all dances, executed with swords, javelins, and bucklers. Said to be invented by Minerva to celebrate the victory of the gods over the Titans.

Nuptial dances. A Roman pantomimic performance resembling the dances of our harlequin and columbine. Sacred dances (among the Jews). David danced in certain religious processions (2 Sam. vi. 14). The people sang and danced before the golden calf (Exod. xxxii. 19). And in the book of Psalms (cl. 4) we read, “Let [the people] praise [the Lord] with timbrel and dance. Miriam, the sister of Moses, after the passage of the Red Sea, was followed by all the women with timbrels and dances (Exod. xv. 20).

Salic dances, instituted by Numa Pompilius in honour of Mars. They were executed by twelve priests selected from the highest of the nobility, and the dances were performed in the temple while sacrifices were being made and hymns sung to the god.

The Dancing Dervishes celebrate their religious rites with dances, which consist chiefly of spinning round and round a little allotted space, not in couples, but each one alone.

In ancient times the Gauls, the Germans, the Spaniards, and the English too had their sacred dances. In fact, in all religious ceremonies the dance was an essential part of divine worship. In India dancing is a part of religious worship in which the priests join.

See Danse.

Dancing—water

(The), which beautifies ladies, makes them young again, and enriches them. It fell in a cascade in the Burning Forest, and could only be reached by an underground passage. Prince Chery fetched a bottle of this water for his beloved Fair—star, but was aided by a dove. (Fairy Tales, by the Comtesse

d'Aulnoy.)

Dandelion

A flower. The word is a corruption of the French dent de lion (lion's tooth), Also called Leontodon (lion—tooth, Greek), from a supposed resemblance between its leaves and the teeth of lions.

Dander

Is your dander up or riz? Is your angry passion up? This is generally considered to be an Americanism; but Halliwell gives, in his Archaic Dictionary, both dander (anger) and dandy (distracted), the former common to several counties, and the latter peculiar to Somersetshire.

Dandie Dinmont A jovial, true—hearted store—farmer, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering. Also a hardy hairy short—legged terrier.

“From this dog descended Davidson of Hyndlee's breed, the original Dandie—Dinmont.” T. Brown: Our Dogs, p.104.

Dandin

(French). A ninny, a snob. From Molière's comedy of George Dandin.

Dandin

(George). A French cit, who marries a sprig of nobility, and lives with his wife's parents. Madame appeals on all occasions to her father and mother, who, of course, take her part against her husband. Poor George is in a sad plight, and is for ever lamenting his fate with the expression, Vous l'avez voulu, George Dandin (`Tis your own fault, George Dandin). George Dandin stands for anyone who marries above his sphere, and is pecked by his wife and mother—in—law. The word means “a ninny.” (Molière's comedy so called.)

Perrin Dandin.

A sort of Lynch judge in Rabelais, who seated himself on the trunk of the first tree he came to, and there decided the causes submitted to him.

Dandiprat

orDandëprat, according to Camden, is a small coin issued in the reign of Henry VII. Applied to a little fellow, it is about equal to our modern expression, a little “twopenny—ha'penny” fellow.

Dando

(A). One who frequents hotels, eating—houses, and other such places, satisfies his appetite, and decamps without payment.

Dandy

A coxcomb; a fop. The feminine of “dandy” is either dandilly or dandizett. Egan says the word was first used in 1813, but examples of the word occur at least one hundred years before that date. (French, dandin, a ninny, a vain, conceited fellow.)

Dandyism

The manners, etc., of a dandy; like a dandy.

Dane's Skin

(A). A freckled skin. Red hair and a freckled skin are the traditional characteristics of Danish blood.

Dangle

A theatrical amateur in Sheridan's Critic. It was designed for Thomas Vaughan, a playwright.

Daniel Lambert

weighed 739 lbs. In 1841 eleven young men stood within his waistcoat buttoned. (1770—1809.)

Danism

Lending money on usury. (Greek, daneisma, a loan.)

Dannebrog

or Danebrog. The old flag of Denmark. The tradition is that Waldemar II. of Denmark saw in the heavens a fiery cross which betokened his victory over the Esthonians (1219). This story is very similar to that of Constantine (q.v.), and of St. Andrew's Cross. (See Andrew, St.)

The order of Danebrog. The second of the Danish orders. Brog means “cloth” or banner.

Dannocks

Hedging — gloves. A corruption of Tournay, where they were originally manufactured.

Danse

La danse commence la—bas, fighting has broken out yondër.

“Mon Caporal, there is great news: La danse commence la—bas.” — Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap. xxv.

A la danse. On the march.

“The regiment was ordered out a la danse There was fresh war in the interior.” — Ouida: Under Two Flags, chap.xxv. (See Dance.)

Dansker

A Dane. Denmark used to be called Danskë. Hence Polonius says to Reynaldo, “Inquire me first what Danskers are in Paris.” (Hamlet, ii. l.)

Dante and Beatrice

— i.e. Beatrice Portinari, who was only eight years old when the poet first saw her. His abiding love for her was chaste as snow and pure as it was tender. Beatrice married a nobleman named Simone de Bardi, and died young, in 1290. Dante married Gemma, of the powerful house of Donati. In the Divina Commedia the poet is conducted first by Virgil (who represents human reason) through hell and purgatory; then by the spirit of Beatrice (who represents the wisdom of faith); and finally by St. Bernard (who represents the wisdom from on high).

Dantesque

(2 syl.). Dante—like — that is, a minute life—like representation of the infernal horrors, whether by words, as in the poet, or in visible form, as in Doré's illustrations of the Inferno.

Daphnaida

An elegy on Douglas Howard, daughter and heiress of Lord Howard. (Spenser, 1591.)

Daphne

Daughter of a river—god, loved by Apollo. She fled from the amorous god, and escaped by being changed into a laurel, thenceforth the favourite tree of the sun—god.

“Nay, lady, sit. If I but wave this wand,

Your nerves are all chain'd up in alabaster, And you a statue, or, as Daphnë was,

Root—bound, that fled Apollo.”

Milton:Comus, 678—681.

Daphnis

A Sicilian shepherd who invented pastoral poetry.

Daphnis. The lover of Chloe in the exquisite Greek pastoral romance of Longos, in the fourth century. Daphnis was the model of Allan Ramsay's Gentle Shepherd, and the tale is the basis of St. Pierre's Paul and Virginia.

Dapper

A little, nimble, spruce young clerk in Ben Jonson's Alchemist.

Dapple

The name of Sancho Panza's donkey in Cervantes' romance of Don Quixote. Bailey derives dapple from the Teutonic dapper (streaked or spotted like a pippin). A dapple—grey horse is one of a light grey shaded with a deeper hue; a dapple—bay is a light bay spotted with bay of a deeper colour. (Icelandic, depill, a spot.)

Darbies

(2 syl.). Handcuffs. This is derived from “Darby and Joan,” because originally two prisoners were linked together as Darby and Joan.

“Hark ye! Jem Clink will fetch you the darbies.” — Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak.

Johnny Darbies, policemen, is a perversion' of the French gensdarmes, in conjunction with the above.

Darby and Joan

A loving, old—fashioned, virtuous couple. The names belong to a ballad written by Henry Woodfall, and the characters are those of John Darby, of Bartholomew Close, who died 1730, and his wife, “As chaste as a picture cut in alabaster. You might sooner move a Scythian rock than shoot fire into her bosom.” Woodfall served his apprenticeship to John Darby.

“Perhaps some day or other we may be Darby and Joan.” — Lord Lytton.

The French equivalent is C'est St. Roch et son chien.

Darbyites

(3 syl.). The Plymouth Brethren are so called on the Continent from Mr. Darby, a barrister, who abandoned himself to the work, and was for years the “organ” of the sect.

Darics

(or) Stateres Darici. Celebrated Persian coins. So called from Darius. They bear on one side the head of the king, and on the other a chariot drawn by mules. Their value is about twenty—five shillings.

Dariolet, Dariolette

(French). An intriguant, a confidant, a go—between, a pander. Originally a dariole meant a little sweetmeat or cake rayed with little bands of paste.

“Dariolette, employé comme un des nombreux synonymes de soubrette, a eu d'abord la mission particuliére de designer les suivantes de roman.”— Roland de Villarceaux.

“Mdlle. Vitry, confidente de Mdlle, de Guise, était la dariolette.” — Tallemant, vol. i. p. 125.

Darius

A classic way of spelling Darawesh (king), a Persian title of royalty. Gushtasp or Kishtasp assumed the title of darawesh on ascending the throne, and is the person generally called Darius the Great.

Darius. Seven princes of Persia agreed that he should be king whose horse neighed first; as the horse of Darius was the first to neigh, Darius was proclaimed king.

Darius, conquered by Alexander, was Dara, surnamed kuchek (the younger). When Alexander succeeded to the throne, Dara sent to him for the tribute of golden eggs, but the Macedonian returned for answer, “The bird which laid them is flown to the other world, where Dara must seek them.” The Persian king then sent him a bat and ball, in ridicule of his youth; but Alexander told the messengers, with the bat he would beat the ball of power from their master's hand. Lastly, Dara sent him a bitter melon, as emblem of the grief in store for him; but the Macedonian declared that he would make the Shah eat his own fruit.

Dark

To keep dark. To lie perdu; to lurk in concealment. (Ang. Sax. deorc.)

“We'd get away to some of the far—out stations ... where we could keep in the dark.” — Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms, xvi.

Keep it in the dark. Keep it a dead secret; don't enlighten anyone about the matter.

Dark Ages

The era between the death of Charlemagne and the close of the Carlovingian dynasty.

Dark Continent

(The). Africa, the land of the dark race or darkies.

Dark Horse

(A). A racing term for a horse of good pretensions, but of which nothing is positively known by the general public. Its merits are kept dark from betters and book—makers.

“At last a Liberal candidate has entered the field at Croydon. The Conservatives have kept their candidate back, as a dark horse.” — Newspaper paragraph, January, 1886.

Darkest Hour is that before the Dawn

(The). When Fortune's wheel is lowest, it must turn up again. When things have come to their worst, they must mend. In Latin, Post nubila, Phoebus.

Darky

A negro.

Darley Arabians A breed of English racers, from an Arab stallion introduced by Mr. Darley. This stallion was the sire of the Flying Childers, and great—grandsire of Eclipse.

Daron, Daronne

(French). The sobriquet given, at the present day, by workmen to shopkeepers and cobblers.

“Il étoit maitre de tout, jusqu'à manier l'argent de la daronne.” — Histoire de Guillaume, cocher.

Daronne

The confidant of Elisenne, mother of Amadis, and wife of Perion des Gaules. (Amadis de Gaule.)

Dart

(See Abaris .)

Darwinian Theory

Charles Darwin, grandson of the poet, published in 1859 a work entitled Origin of Species, to prove that the numerous species now existing on the earth sprang originally from one or at most a few primal forms; and that the present diversity is due to special development and natural selection. Those plants and creatures which are best suited to the conditions of their existence survive and become fruitful; certain organs called into play by peculiar conditions of life grow with their growth, and strengthen with their strength, till they become so much a part and parcel of their frames as to be transmitted to their offspring. The conditions of life being very diverse, cause a great diversity of organic development, and, of course, every such diversity which has become radical is the parent of a new species. (See Evolution.)

Dash

in printer's copy. One dash under a word in MS. means that the part so dashed must be printed in italics; two dashes means small capitals; three dashes, large capitals.

Cut a dash. (See Cut.)

Dash my Wig. Dash my Buttons

Dash is a euphemism for a common oath; and wig, buttons, etc., are relics of a common fashion at one time adopted in comedies and by “mashers” of swearing without using profane language.

Date

Not quite up to date. Said of books somewhat in arrears of the most recent information.

Daughter

Greek, thugater, contracted into thugter; Dutch, dogter; German, tochter; Persian, dochtar; Sanskrit, duhiter; Saxon, dohter; etc.

Daughter of Peneus

(The). The bay—tree is so called because it grows in greatest perfection on the banks of the river Peneus (3 syl.).

Daughter of the Horseleech

One very exigeant; one for ever sponging on another. (Prov. xxx. 15.)

“Such and many such like were the morning attendants of the Duke of Buckingham — all genuine descendants of the daughter of the horse—leech, whose cry is `Give, give.”' — Sir W. Scott: Peveril of the Peak, chap. xxviii.

Dauphin

The heir of the French crown under the Valois and Bourbon dynasties. Guy VIII., Count of Vienne, was the first so styled, because he wore a dolphin as his cognisance. The title descended in the family till 1349, when Humbert II., de la tour de Pisa, sold his seigneurie, called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI. (de Valois), on condition that the heir of France assumed the title of le dauphin. The first French prince so called was Jean, who succeeded Philippe; and the last was the Duc d'Angoulême, son of Charles IX., who renounced the title in 1830.

Grand Dauphin. Louis, Duc de Bourgogne, eldest son of Louis XIV., for whose use was published the Latin classics entitled Ad Usum Delphini. (1661—1711.)

Second or Little Dauphin. Louis, son of the Grand Dauphin. (1682—1712.)

Davenport

A kind of small writing—desk with drawers each side, named after the maker.

Davenport

(The Brothers), from America. Two impostors, who professed that spirits would untie them when bound with cords, and even that spirits played all sorts of instruments in a dark cabinet. The imposition was exposed in 1865.

David

in Dryden's satire called Absalom and Achitophel, represents Charles II.; Absalom, his beautiful but rebellious son, represents the Duke of Monmouth; Achitophel, the traitorous counsellor, is the Earl of Shaftesbury; Barzillaï, the faithful old man who provided the kind sustenance, was the Duke of Ormond; Hushaï, who defeated the counsel of Achitophel, was Hyde, Duke of Rochester; Zadok the priest was Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury; Shimeï, who cursed the king in his flight, was Bethel, the lord mayor; etc. etc. (2 Sam. xvii.—xix.)

“Once more the godlike David was restored,

And willing nations knew their lawful lord.” Dryden: Absatom and Achitophel, part i.

David (St.) or Dewid, was son of Xantus, Prince of Cereticu, now called Cardiganshire; he was brought up a priest, became an ascetic in the Isle of Wight, preached to the Britons, confuted Pelagius, and was preferred to the see of Caerleon, since called St. David's. He died 544. (See Taffy.)

St. David's (Wales) was originally called Menevia (i.e. main aw, narrow water or frith). Here St. David received his early education, and when Dyvrig, Archbishop of Caerleon, resigned to him his see, St. David removed the archiepiscopal residence to Menevia, which was henceforth called by his name.

David and Jonathan

Inseparable friends. Similar examples of friendship were Pylades and Orestes (q.v.); Damon and Pythias (q.v.); etc.

“I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant hast thou been to me. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” — 2 Sam. i. 26.

Davideis

An epic poem in four books, describing the troubles of King David. (Abraham Cowley [1618—1667].)

There is another sacred poem so called, by Thomas Elwood (1712).

Davus

Davus sum, non Œdipus (I am a plain, simple fellow, and no solver of riddles, like Œdipus). The words are from Terence's Andria, i. 2, 23.

Non te credas Davum ludere. Don't imagine you are deluding Davus. “Do you see any white in my eye?” I am not such a fool as you think me to be.

Davy

I'll take my davy of it. I'll take my “affidavit” it is true.

Davy (Snuffy). David Wilson. (See Sir Walter Scott, The Antiquary, chap. iii. and note.)

Davy Jones's Locker

He's gone to Davy Jones's locker, i.e. he is dead. Jones is a corruption of Jonah, the prophet, who was thrown into the sea. Locker, in seaman's phrase, means any receptacle for private stores; and duffy is a ghost or spirit among the West Indian negroes. So the whole phrase is, “He is gone to the place of safe keeping, where duffy Jonah was sent to.”

“This same Davy Jones, according to the mythology of sailors, is the fiend that presides over all the evil spirits of the deep, and is seen in various shapes ... warning the devoted wretch of death and woe.” — Smollett: Peregrine Pickle, xiii.

Davy's Sow

Drunk as Davy's sow. Grose says: One David Lloyd, a Welshman, who kept an ale—house at Hereford, had a sow with six legs, which was an object of great curiosity. One day David's wife, having indulged too freely, lay down in the sty to sleep, and a company coming to see the sow, David led them to the sty, saying, as usual, “There is a sow for you! Did you ever see the like?” One of the visitors replied, “Well, it is the drunkenest sow I ever beheld.” Whence the woman was ever after called “Davy's sow.” (Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. )

Dawson

(Bully). A noted London sharper, who swaggered and led a most abandoned life about Blackfriars, in the reign of Charles II. (See Jemmy Dawson.)

“Bully Dawson kicked by half the town, and half the town kicked by Bully Dawson.” — Charles Lamb.

Day

When it begins. (1) With sun—set: The Jews in their “sacred year,” and the Church — hence the eve of feast—days; the ancient Britons “non dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant, “ says Tacitus — hence “se'n—night” and “fortnight;” the Athenians, Chinese, Mahometans, etc., Italians, Austrians, and Bohemians.

(2) With sun—rise: The Babylonians, Syrians, Persians, and modern Greeks. (3) With noon: The ancient Egyptians and modern astronomers. (4) With midnight: The English, French, Dutch, Germans, Spanish, Portuguese, Americans, etc.

A day after the fair. Too late; the fair you came to see is over.

Day in, day out. “ All day long. Sewing as she did, day in, day out.” —
W. R. Wilkins: The Honest Soul.

Every dog has its day. (See under DOG.)

I have had my day. My prime of life is over; I have been a man of light and leading, but am now “out of the swim.“

“Old Joe, sir ... was a bit of a favourite ... once; but he has had his day.” — Dickens.

I have lost a day (Perdidi diem) was the exclamation of Titus, the Roman emperor, when on one occasion he could call to mind nothing done during the past day for the benefit of his subjects.

To—day a man, to—morrow a mouse. In French, “Aujourd'hui roi, demain rien. ” Fortune is so fickle that one day we may be at the top of the wheel, and the next day at the bottom.

Day of the Barricades

(See Barricades.)

Day of the Dupes

in French history, was November 11th, 1630, when Marie de Medicis and Gaston Duc d'Orléans extorted from Louis XIII. a promise that he would dismiss his Minister, the Cardinal Richelieu. The cardinal went in all speed to Versailles, the king repented, and Richelieu became more powerful than ever.

Marie de Medicis and Gaston were the dupes who had to pay dearly for their short triumph.

Day—dream

A dream of the imagination when the eyes are awake.

Daylight

in drinking bumpers, means that the wine—glass is not full to the brim; between the wine and the rim of the wine—glass light may be seen. Toast—masters used to cry out, “Gentlemen, no daylights nor heeltaps” — the heeltap being a little wine left at the bottom of the glass. The glass must be filled to the brim, and every drop of it must be drunk.

Daylights

The eyes, which let daylight into the sensorium.

To darken one's daylights. To give one such a blow on the eyes with the fist as to prevent seeing. (Pugilistic slang.)

Days set apart as Sabbaths

Sunday by Christians; Monday by the Greeks; Tuesday by the Persians; Wednesday by the Assyrians; Thursday by the Egyptians; Friday by the Turks; Saturday by the Jews.

Christians worship God on Sunday.

Grecian zealots hallow Monday,

Tuesday Persians spend in prayer,

Assyrians Wednesday revere,

Egyptians Thursday, Friday Turks,

On Saturday no Hebrew works. E. C. B.

Daysman

An umpire, judge, or intercessor. The word is dais—man (a man who sits on the daïs); a sort of lit de justice. Hence Piers Ploughman —

“And at the day of doom

At the height Deys sit.”

Dayspring

The dawn: the commencement of the Messiah's reign.

“The dayspring from on high hath visited us.” — Luke i.78.

Daystar

(The). The morning star. Hence the emblem of hope or better prospects.

“Again o'er the vine—covered regions of France,

See the day—star of Liberty rise.”

Wilson: Noctes (Jan., 1831, vol. iv. p. 231).

De Bonne Grace

(French). Willingly; with good grace.

De Die in Diem

From day to day continuously, till the business is completed.

“The Ministry have elected to go on de die in diem.” — Newspaper paragraph, December, 1885.

De Facto

Actually, in reality; in opposition to de jure, lawfully or rightfully. Thus John was de facto king, but Arthur was so de jure.

De Haut en Bas

Superciliously.

“She used to treat him a little de haut en bas.” — C.Reade.

But Du haut en bas. From top to bottom.

De Jure

(Latin). By right, rightfully, lawfully, according to the law of the land. Thus a legal axiom says: “De jure Judices, de facto Juratores, respondent” (Judges look to the law, juries to the facts).

De Lunatico Inquirendo

(Latin). A writ issued to inquire into the state of a person's mind, whether it is sound or not. If not of sound mind, the person is called non compos, and is committed to proper guardians.

De Mortuis Nil Nisi Bonum

Of the dead speak kindly or not at all.

De Nihilo Nihil Fit

(Latin). You cannot make anything out of nothing.

De Novo

(Latin). Afresh; over again from the beginning.

De Profundis

[Out of the depths]. The 130th Psalm is so called from the first two words in the Latin version. It is sung by Roman Catholics when the dead are committed to the grave.

De Rigueur

Strictly speaking, quite comme il faut, in the height of fashion.

De Trop

(French). Supererogatory, more than enough. Rien de trop, let nothing be in excess. Preserve in all things the golden mean. Also “one too many,” in the way; when a person's presence is not wished for, that person is de trop.

Dead

Dead as a door—nail. The door—nail is the plate or knob on which the knocker or hammer strikes. As this nail is knocked on the head several times a day, it cannot be supposed to have much life left in it.

“Come thou and thy five men, and if I do not leave you all as dead as a door—nail, I pray God I may never eat grass more.” —Shakespeare: 2 Henry VI., iv. 10. (Jack Cade.)

“Falstaff. What! is the old king dead?

Pistol. As nail in door.” Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV., v. 3.

Dead as a herring. (See Herring.)

Dead

He is dead. “Gone to the world of light.” “Joined the majority.”

The wind is dead against us. Directly opposed to our direction. Instead of making the ship more lively, its tendency is quite the contrary. It makes a “dead set” at our progress.

Dead

Let the dead bury the dead. Let bygones be bygones. Don't rake up old and dead grievances.

“Let me entreat you to let the dead bury the dead, to cast behind you every recollection of bygone evils, and to cherish, to love,to sustain one another through all the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times that are to come.” — Gladstone: Home Rule Bill (February 13th, 1893).

Dead Drunk

So intoxicated as to be wholly powerless.

“Pythagoras has finely observed that a man is not to be considered dead drunk till he lies on the floor and stretches out his arms and legs to prevent his going lower.” — S.Warren.

Dead—eye

in nautical phrase, is a block of wood with three holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to reeve through, without sheaves, and with a groove round it for an iron strap. (Dana: Seaman's Manual, p. 92.) The holes are eyes, but they are dead eyes.

Dead—flat

(A), in ship architecture, one of the bends amidship. (Dana.)

Dead Freight That part of a cargo which does not belong to the freight. Dead freight is not counted in the freight, and when the cargo is delivered is not to be reckoned.

Dead Hand

(A). A first—rate. One that would dead—beat. (See Mortmain.)

“First—rate work it was too; he was always a dead hand at splitting.” — Boldrewood: Robbery Under Arms, xv.

Dead—heads

in theatrical language, means those admitted by orders without payment. They count for nothing. In the United States, persons who receive something of value for which the taxpayer has to pay. In nautical language, a log floating so low in the water that only a small part of it is visible.

Dead Heat

A race to be run again between two horses that have “tied.” A heat is that part of a race run without stopping. One, two, or more heats make a race. A dead heat is a heat which goes for nothing.

Dead Horse

Flogging a dead horse. Attempting to revive a question already settled. John Bright used the phrase in the House of Commons.

Working for a dead horse. Working for wages already paid.

Dead Languages

Languages no longer spoken.

Dead Letter

A written document of no value; a law no longer acted upon. Also a letter which lies buried in the post—office because the address is incorrect, or the person addressed cannot be found.

Dead—letter Office

(The). A department in the post—office where unclaimed letters are kept. (See above.)

Dead Lift

I am at a dead lift. In a strait or difficulty where I greatly need help; a hopeless exigency. A dead lift is the lifting of a dead or inactive body, which must be done by sheer force.

Dead Lights

Strong wooden shutters to close the cabin windows of a ship; they deaden or kill the daylight.

To ship the dead lights. To draw the shutter over the cabin window; to keep out the sea when a gale is expected.

Dead Lock

A lock which has no spring catch. Metaphorically, a state of things so entangled that there seems to be no practical solution.

“Things are at a dead—lock.” — The Times.

Dead Men

Empty bottles. Down among the dead men let me lie. Let me get so intoxicated as to slip from my chair, and lie under the table with the empty bottles. The expression is a witticism on the word spirit. Spirit means life, and also alcohol (the spirit of full bottles); when the spirit is out the man is dead, and when the bottle is empty its spirit is departed. Also, a loaf of bread smuggled into the basket for the private use of the person who carries the bread out is called a “dead man.”

Dead Men's Shoes

Waiting for dead men's shoes. Looking out for legacies; looking to stand in the place of some moneyed man when he is dead and buried.

Dead Pan

(The). A poem founded on the tradition that at the crucifixion a cry swept across the ocean in the hearing of many, “Great Pan is Dead,” and that at the same time the responses of the oracles ceased for ever. Elizabeth Barrett Browning has a poem so called (1844).

Dead Reckoning A calculation of the ship's place without any observation of the heavenly bodies. A guess made by consulting the log, the time, the direction, the wind, and so on. Such a calculation may suffice for many practical purposes, but must not be fully relied on.

Dead Ropes

Those which are fixed or do not run on blocks; so called because they have no activity or life in them.

Dead Sea

So the Romans called the “Salt Sea.” Josephus says that the vale of Siddim was changed into the Dead Sea at the destruction of Sodom (Antiq. i. 8, 3, etc.). The water is of a dull green colour. Few fish are found therein, but it is not true that birds which venture near its vapours fall down dead. The shores are almost barren, but hyenas and other wild beasts lurk there. Called the “Salt Sea" because of its saltness. The percentage of salt in the ocean generally is about three or four, but of the Salt Sea it is twenty—six or more.

Dead—Sea Fruit

Fair to the eye, but nauseous to the taste; full of promise, but without reality. (See Apples Of Sodom.)

Dead Set

He made a dead set at her. A pointed or decided determination to bring matters to a crisis. The allusion is to a setter dog that has discovered game, and makes a dead set at it.

To be at a dead set is to be set fast, so as not to be able to move. The allusion is to machinery.
To make a dead set upon someone is to attack him resolutely, to set upon him; the allusion being to dogs, bulls, etc., set on each other to fight.

Dead Shares

In theatrical sharing companies three or more supernumerary shares are so called. The manager has one or more of these shares for his expenses; a star will have another; and sometimes a share, or part of a share, is given to an actor who has brought down the house, or made a hit.

Dead Water

The eddy—water closing in with the ship's stern, as she passes through the water. It shifts its place, but is like taking money from one pocket and putting it into another.

Dead Weight

The weight of something without life; a burden that does nothing towards easing its own weight; a person who encumbers us and renders no assistance. (See Dead Lift.)

Dead Wind

(A). A wind directly opposed to a ship's course; a wind dead ahead.

Dead Wood

in shipbuilding. Blocks of timber laid on the ship's keel. This is no part of the ship, but it serves to make the keel more rigid.

Dead Works

in theology. Such works as do not earn salvation, or even assist in obtaining it. For such a purpose their value is nil. (Heb. ix. 14.)

Deaf

Deaf as an adder. (See below, Deaf adder.)

Deaf as a post. Quite deaf; or so inattentive as not to hear what is said. One might as well speak to a gate—post or log of wood.

Deaf as a white cat. It is said that white cats are deaf and stupid. None so deaf as those who won't hear. The French have the same locution: “Il n'y a de pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre.”

Deaf Adder

“The deaf adder stoppeth her ears, and will not hearken to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely” (Psalm lviii. 4, 5). Captain Bruce says, “If a viper enters the house, the charmer is sent for, who entices the serpent, and puts it into a bag. I have seen poisonous vipers twist round the bodies of these

psylli in all directions, without having their fangs extracted.” According to tradition, the asp stops its ears when the charmer utters his incantation, by applying one ear to the ground and twisting its tail into the other. In the United States the copperhead is so called.

Deal

A portion. “A tenth deal of flour.” (Exodus xxix. 40.) (German, theil; Anglo—Saxon, dael verb, daelan, to share; Irish, dail; English, dole.)

To deal the cards

is to give each his dole or portion.

Deal—fish

So called because of some fancied resemblance to a deal—board, from its length and thinness.

Dean

(the Latin Decanus). The chief over ten prebends or canons.

The Dean (Il Piovano) . Arlotto, the Italian humorist. (1395—1483.) Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick. (1667—1745.)

Deans

(Effie), in Scott's Heart of Midlothian, is Helen Walker. She is abandoned by her lover, Geordie Robertson [Staunton], and condemned for child—murder.

Jeanie Deans. Half—sister of Effie Deans, who walks all the way to London to plead for her sister. She is a model of good sense, strong affection, and disinterested heroism. (See Walker.)

“We follow Pilgrim through his progress with an interest not inferior to that, with which we follow Elizabeth from Siberia to Moscow, and Jeanie Deans from Edinburgh to London.” — Lord Macaulay.

Dear

Oh, dear me! Regarded, but without evidence, as a corruption of the Italian O Dio mio!

Dear Bought and Far Brought

or Dear bought and far felt. A gentle reproof for some extravagant purchase of luxury.

Dearest

Most hateful, as dearest foe. The word dear, meaning “beloved,” is the Saxon deor (dear, rare); but dear, “hateful,” is the Anglo—Saxon derian (to hurt), Scotch dere (to annoy).

“Would I had met my dearest foe in heaven,

Or ever I had seen that day, Horatio.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, i.2.

Death

according to Milton, is twin—keeper with Sin, of Hell—gate.

“The other shape (if shape it might be called that shape had none Distinguishable in member, joint, or limb;

Or substance might be called that shadow seemed;) ...

The likeness of a kingly crown had on.”

Milton: Paradise Lost, ii. 666 — 673.

Death. (See Black Death.)

Death stands, like Mercuries, in every way. (See Mercury.)

Till death us do part. (See Depart.) Angel of Death. (See Abou—Jahia, Azrael.) At death's door. On the point of death; very dangerously ill. In at the death. Present when the fox was caught and killed.

Death and Doctor Hornbook

Doctor Hornbook was John Wilson the apothecary, whom the poet met at the Torbolton Masonic Lodge. (Burns.)

Death from Strange Causes

Æ'schylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his bald head from the claws of an eagle in the air. (Valerius Maximus, ix. 12, and Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Agathocles (4 syl.), tyrant of Sicily, was killed by a toothpick at the age of ninety—five. Anacreon was choked by a grapestone. (Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Bassus (Quintus Lucanus) died from the prick of a needle in his left thumb.

Chalchas, the soothsayer, died of laughter at the thought of having outlived the predicted hour of his death.

Charles VIII., of France, conducting his queen into a tennis—court, struck his head against the lintel, and it caused his death.

Fabius, the Roman praetor, was choked by a single goat—hair in the milk which he was drinking. (Pliny: History, vii. 7.)

Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, died from the blow of a cricket—ball.

Gallus (Cornelius), the praetor, and Titus Haterius, a knight, each died while kissing the hand of his wife.

Gabrielle (La belle), the mistress of Henri IV., died from eating an orange.

Itadach died of thirst in the harvest—field because (in observance of the rule of St. Patrick) he refused to drink a drop of anything.

Lepidus (Quintus Æm'ilius), going out of his house, struck his great toe against the threshold and expired. Louis VI. met with his death from a pig running under his horse and causing it to stumble.

Margutte died of laughter on seeing a monkey trying to pull on a pair of boots. Otway, the poet, in a starving condition, had a guinea given him, on which he bought a loaf of bread, and died while swallowing the first mouthful.

Pamphilius (Cneius Babius), a man of praetorian rank, died while asking a boy what o'clock it was. Philomenes (4 syl.) died of laughter at seeing an ass eating the figs provided for his own dessert. (Valerius Maximus.)

Placut (Phillipot) dropped down dead while in the act of paying a bill.

(Bacaberry the Elder.) Quenelault, a Norman physician, of Montpellier, died from a slight wound made in his hand in extracting a splinter.

Saufeius (Appius) was choked to death supping up the white of an under—boiled egg. (Pliny. History, vii.33.)

Torquatus (Aulus Manlius), a gentleman of consular rank, died in the act of taking a cheesecake at dinner. Valla (Lucius Tuscius), the physician, died in the act of taking a draught of medicine.

William III. died from his horse stumbling over a mole—hill.

Zeuxis, the great painter, died of laughter at sight of a hag which he had just depicted. It will be observed that four of the list died of laughter. No doubt the reader will be able to add other examples.

Death in the Pot

During a dearth in Gilgal, there was made for the sons of the prophets a pottage of wild herbs, some of which were poisonous. When the sons of the prophets tasted the pottage, they cried out, “There is death in the pot.” Then Elisha put into it some meal, and its poisonous qualities were counteracted. (2 Kings iv. 40.)

Death under Shield

Death in battle.

“Her imagination had been familiarised with wild and bloody events ... and had been trained up to consider an honourable `death under shield' (as that in a field of battle was termed) a desirable termination to the life of a warrior.” — Sir W. Scott:The Betrothed, chap. 6.

Death—bell

A tinkling in the ears, supposed by the Scotch peasantry to announce the death of a friend.

“O lady, `tis dark, an' I heard the death—bell,

An' I darena gae yonder for gowd nor fee.” James Hogg: Mountain Bard.

Death—meal

(A). A funeral banquet.

“Death—meals, as they were termed, were spread in honour of the deceased.” — Sir W. Scott: The Betrothed, chap.7.

Death—watch

Any species of Anobium, a genus of wood—boring beetles that make a clicking sound, once supposed to presage death.

Death's Head

Bawds and procuresses used to wear a ring bearing the impression of a death's head in the time of Queen Elizabeth. Allusions not uncommon in plays of the period.

“Sell some of my cloaths to buy thee a death's—head, and put [it] upon thy middle finger. Your least considering bawds do so much.” — Messenger: Old Laws, iv. 1.

Death's Head on a Mopstick

A thin, sickly person, a mere anatomy, is so called. When practical jokes were more common it was by no means unusual to mount on a mopstick a turnip with holes for eyes, and a candle inside, to scare travellers at night time.

Deaths—man

An executioner; a person who kills another brutally but lawfully.

“Great Hector's deaths—man.”

Heywood: Iron Age.

Debateable Land

A tract of land between the Esk and Sark, claimed by both England and Scotland, and for a long time the subject of dispute. This tract of land was the hotbed of thieves and vagabonds.

Debon

One of the heroes who accompanied Brute to Britain. According to British fable, Devonshire is the county or share of Debon. (See Devonshire.)

Debonair'

[Le Débonnaire ]. Louis I. of France, sometimes called in English The Meek, son and succassor of Charlemagne; a man of courteous manners, cheerful temper, but effeminate and deficient in moral energy.

(778, 814—840.)

Debris

The débris of an army. The remnants of a routed army. Débris means the fragments of a worn—down rock. It is a geological term (débriser, to break down).

Debt of Nature

To pay the debt of Nature. To die. Life is a loan, not a gift, and the debt is paid off by death.

“The slender debt to Nature's quickly paid.”

Quarles: Emblems.

Decameron A volume of tales related in ten days (Greek, deka, hemera), as the Decameron of Boccaccio, which contains one hundred tales related in ten days.

Decamp

He decamped in the middle of the night. Left without paying his debts. A military term from the Latin de—campus (from the field); French, décamper, to march away.

Decaniller

To be off, to decamp, to escape. A curious instance of argot. Canille is old French for chenille, a pupa, imago, or chrysalis. These afterwards become winged insects and take their flight. So a visitor says in France, “Il faut me sauver, ” or “Il faut decaniller. ” I must be off.

December

(Latin, the tenth month.) So it was when the year began in March with the vernal equinox; but since January and February have been inserted before it, the term is quite incorrect.

Deception

“Doubtless the pleasure is as great

Of being cheated as to cheat:

As lookers—on feel most delight

That least perceive a juggler's sleight,

And still the less they understand,

The more they admire his sleight of hand.” Butler: Hudibras, part ii. 3.

Decide

(2 syl.) means “to knock out.” Several things being set before a person, he eliminates all but one, which he selects as his choice. A decided man is one who quickly eliminates every idea but the one he intends to adhere to.

Decimo

A man in decimo — i.e. a hobby—de—hoy. Jonson uses the phrase in decimo—sexto.

Deck

A pack of cards, or that part of the pack which is left after the hands have been dealt.

“But whilst he thought to steal the single`ten,'

The `king' was slyly fingered from the deck.” Shakespeare: 3 Henry VI., v. 1.

To sweep the deck. To clear off all the stakes. (See above.) To deck is to decorate or adorn. (Anglo—Saxon, decan; Dutch, dekken, to cover.)

“I thought thy bride—bed to have decked, sweet maid,

And not have strewed thy grave.”

Shakespeare: Hamlet, v. 1.

Clear the decks — i.e. get out of the way; your room is better than your company; I am going to be busy. A sea term. Decks are cleared before action.

Decking Churches

Isaiah (lx. 13) says: “The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee; the fir—tree, the

pine—tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary.” The “glory of Lebanon” is the

cedar—tree. These are not the evergreens mainly used in church decorations. At Christmas the holly is chiefly used, though those mentioned by Isaiah abound.

Decollete

[da—coal—ta ]. Nothing even décolleté should be uttered before ladies — i.e. bearing the least semblance to a double entendre. Décolleté is the French for a “dress cut low about the bosom.”

Decoration Day May 30th; set apart in the United States for decorating the graves of those who fell in the “War of the Union" (1861—5).

Decoy Duck

A bait or lure; a duck taught to allure others into a net, and employed for this purpose.

Decrepit

Unable to make a noise. It refers rather to the mute voice and silent footstep of old age than to its broken strength. (Latin, de—crepo.)

Decuman Gate

The gate where the 10th cohorts of the legions were posted. It was opposite the Praetorian gate, and farthest from the enemy. (Latin, decem, ten.)

Dedalian

Intricate; variegated. So called from Dædalos who made the Cretan labyrinth.

Dedlock

(Sir Leicester). An honourable and truthful gentleman, but of such fossilised ideas that no “tongue of man” could shake his prejudices. (Charles Dickens: Bleak House.)

Dee

— i.e. D for a detective. Look sharp! the dees are about.

Dee

(Dr. John). A man of vast knowledge, whose library, museum, and mathematical instruments were valued at pound £2,000. On one occasion the populace broke into his house and destroyed the greater part of his valuable collection, under the notion that Dee held intercourse with the devil. He ultimately died a pauper, at the advanced age of eighty—one, and was buried at Mortlake. He professed to be able to raise the dead, and had a magic mirror, afterwards in Horace Walpole's collection at Strawberry Hill (1527—1608).

Dee's speculum or mirror, in which persons were told they could see their friends in distant lands and how they were occupied. It is a piece of solid pink—tinted glass about the size of an orange. It is now in the British Museum.

Dee Mills

If you had the rent of Dee Mills, you would spend it all. Dee Mills, in Cheshire, used to yield a very large annual rent. (Cheshire proverb.)

“There was a jolly miller

Lived on the river Dee;

He worked and sung from morn to night;— No lark so blithe as he;

And this the burden of his song

For ever used to be —

I care for nobody, no, not I

If nobody cares for me.' “

Bickerstaff: Love in a Village (1762).

Deer

Supposed by poets to shed tears. The drops, however, which fall from their eyes are not tears, but an oily secretion from the so—called tear—pits.

“A poor sequestered stag ...

Did come to languish ... and the big round tears Coursed one another down his innocent nose In piteous chase.”

Shakespeare: As You Like It, ii. 2.

Small deer. Any small animal; and used metaphorically for any collection of trifles or trifling matters.

“But mice and rats, and such small deer,

Have been Tom's food for seven long year.” Shakespeare: Lear, iii.4.

Deerslayer

The hero of a novel so called, by F. Cooper. He is the beau—ideal of a man without cultivation — honourable in sentiment, truthful, and brave as a lion; pure of heart, and without reproach in conduct. The character appears, under different names, in five novels — The Deerslayer, The Pathfinder, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pioneers, and The Prairie. (See Natty Bumpo.)

Dees

(The). (See above Dee .)

Deev—Binder

Tamnuras, King of Persia, who defeated the Deev king and the fierce Demrush, but was slain by Houndkonz, another powerful Deev.

Default

Judgment by default is when the defendant does not appear in court on the day appointed. The judge gives sentence in favour of the plaintiff, not because the plaintiff is right, but from the default of the defendant.

Defeat

“What though the field be lost? all is not lost.” (Milton: Paradise Lost, i, line 105—6.) “All is lost but honour” (Tout est perdu, madame, fors l'honneur) is what François I. is said to have written to his mother, after the Battle of Pavia in 1525.

Defeat

There is a somewhat strange connection between de—feat and de—feature. Defeat is the French de—fait, un—made or un—done, Latin, de—factus (defectus, our “defect"); and feature is the Norman faiture, Latin factura, the make—up, frame, or form. Hence old writers have used the word “defeat” to mean disfigure or spoil the form.

“Defeat thy favour [face] with an usurped beard.” —Shakespeare: Othello, i. 3.

Defender of the Faith

A title given by Pope Leo X. to Henry VIII. of England, in 1521, for a Latin treatise On the Seven Sacraments. Many previous kings, and even subjects, had been termed “defenders of the Catholic faith,” “defenders of the Church,” and so on, but no one had borne it as a title. The sovereign of Spain is entitled Catholic, and of France Most Christian.

“God bless the king! I mean the `faith's defender! '

God bless — no harm in blessing the Pretender. But who Pretender is, or who is king—

God bless us all! that's quite another thing.”

John Byron: Shorthand Writer.

Richard II., in a writ to the sheriffs, uses these words: “Ecclesia cujus nos defensor sumus,” and Henry VII., in the Black Book, is called “Defender of the Faith;” but the pope gave the title to Henry VIII., and from that time to this it has been perpetuated. (See Graceless Florin.)

Deficit

(Madame). Marie Antoinette. So called because she was always demanding money of her ministers, and never had any. According to the Revolutionary song:

“La Boulangère a des ecus

Qui ne lui content guère.”

(See Baker.)

Degenerate (4 syl.) is to be worse than the parent stock. (Latin, de genus.)

Dei Gratia

By God's grace. Introduced into English charters in 1106; as much as to say, “dei non hominum gratia,” by divine right and not man's appointment. The archbishops of Canterbury from 676 to 1170 assumed the same style.

From the time of Offa, King of Mercia (A.D. 780), we find occasionally the same or some similar assumption as, Dei dono, Christo donante, etc. The Archbishop of Canterbury is now divina providentia.

Dei Gratia omitted on a florin. (See Graceless Florin.)

Dei Judicium

(Latin). The judgment of God; so the judgment by ordeals was called, because it was supposed that God would deal rightly with the appellants.

Deianira

Wife of Hercules, and the inadvertent cause of his death. Nessos told her that anyone to whom she gave a shirt steeped in his blood, would love her with undying love; she gave it to her husband, and it caused him such agony that he burnt himself to death on a funeral pile. Deianira killed herself for grief.

Deiphobus

(4 syl.). One of the sons of Priam, and, next to Hector, the bravest and boldest of all the Trojans. On the death of his brother Paris, he married Helen; but Helen betrayed him to her first husband, Menelaos, who slew him. (Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Æncid. )

Deities

Air: Ariel, Elves (singular, Elf). Caves or Caverns: Hill—people (Hög—folk, hög = height). Corn: Ceres (2 syl.) (Greek, Demeter).

Domestic Life: Vesta.

Eloquence: Mercury (Greek, Hermes). Evening: Vesper.

Fates (The): Three in number (Greek, Parcæ, Moiræ, 2 syl., Keres). Fire: Vulcan (Greek, Hephaistos, 3 syl.), Vesta, Mulciber. Fairies: (q.v.).

Furies: Three in number (Greek, Eumenides, 4 syl., Erinnyes) Gardens: Priapus, Vertumnus with his wife Pomona. Graces (The): Three in number (Greek, Charites).

Hills: Trolls. There are also Wood Trolls and Water Trolls. (See below Mountains.) Home Spirits (q.v.): Penates (3 syl.), Lares (2 syl.).

Hunting: Diana (Greek, Artemis). Infernal Regions: Pluto, with his wife Proserpine, 3 syl. (Greek, Aides and Persephone). Justice: Themis, Astræa, Nemesis.

Love: Cupid (Greek, Eros). Marriage: Hymen. Medicine: Æsculapius. Mines: Trolls.

Morning: Aurora (Greek, Eos). Mountains: Oreads or Oreades (4 syl.), from the Greek, oros a mountain; Trolls. Ocean (The): Oceanides.

Poetry and Music: Apollo, the nine Muses. Rainbow (The): Iris.

Riches: Plutus. Shakespeare speaks of “Plutus' mine,” (Julius Caesar, iv. 3). Rivers and Streams: Fluviales, 4 syl. (Greek, Potameides, 5 syl.).

Sea (The): Neptune (Greek, Poseidon, 3 syl.), his son Triton, Necks, Mermaids, Nereids (3 syl.). (See Sea.) Shepherds and their Flocks: Pan, the Satyrs.

Springs, Lakes, Brooks, etc.: Nereides or Naiads (2 syl.). Time: Saturn (Greek, Chronos).

War: Mars (Greek, Ares), Bellona, Thor. Water—nymphs: Naiads (2 syl.), Undine (2 syl.). Winds (The): Æolus.

Wine: Bacchus (Greek, Dionysos).

Wisdom: Minerva (Greek, Pallas, Athene or Pallas—Athene). Woods: Dryads (A Hama—Dryad presides over some particular tree), Wood—Trolls. Youth: Hebe

Of course this is not meant for a complete list of heathen and pagan deities. Such a list would require a volume.

Dejeuner a la Fourchette

(French). Breakfast with forks; a cold collation; a breakfast in the middle of the day, with meat and wine; a lunch.

Delaware

U.S. America, was granted by charter in 1701 to Lord De la Ware, who first explored the bay into which the river empties itself.

Delectable Mountains

(The), in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, are a range of mountains from which the “Celestial City” may be seen. They are in Immanuel's land, and are covered with sheep, for which Immanuel had died.

Delf

or more correctly Delft. A common sort of pottery made at Delft in Holland, about 1310.

Delia

of Pope's line, “Slander or poison dread from Delia's rage,” was Lady Deloraine, who married W. Windam of Carsham, and died 1744. The person said to have been poisoned was Miss Mackenzie. (Satires and Epistles, i. 81.)

Delia is not better known to our yard—dog — i.e. the person is so intimate and well known that the yard—dog will not bark at his approach. It is from Virgil, who makes his shepherd Menalcas boast “That his sweetheart is as well known to his dog as Delia the shepherdess.” (Eclogues, iii. 67.)

Delias

The sacred vessel made by Theseus (2 syl.) and sent annually from Athens to Delos. This annual festival lasted 30 days, during which no Athenian could be put to death, and as Socrates was condemned during this period his death was deferred till the return of the sacred vessel. The ship had been so often repaired that not a stick of the original vessel remained at the time, yet was it the identical ship. So the body changes from infancy to old age, and though no single particle remains constant, yet the man 6 feet high is identical with his infant body a span long. (Sometimes called Theoris.)

Delight

is “to make light.” Hence Shakespeare speaks of the disembodied soul as “the delighted spirit ... blown with restless violence round about the pendant world” (Measure for Measure, iii. 1). So again he says of gifts, “the more delayed; delighted” (Cymbeline, v. 5), meaning the longer they are delayed the “lighter” or less valuable they are esteemed. Delighted, in the sense of “pleased,” means light—hearted, with buoyant spirits.

The delight of mankind. So Titus, the Roman emperor, was entitled (40, 79—81).

Delirium

From the Latin lira (the ridge left by the plough), hence the verb de—lirare, to make an irregular ridge or balk in ploughing. Delirus is one whose mind is not properly tilled or cultivated, a person of irregular intellect; and delirium is the state of a person whose mental faculties are like a field full of balks or irregularities. (See Prevarication.)

Della Cruscans or Della Cruscan School. So called from Crusca, the Florentine academy. The name is applied to a school of poetry started by some young Englishmen at Florence in the latter part of the eighteenth century. These silly, sentimental affectations, which appeared in the World and the Oracle, created for a time quite a furore. The whole affair was mercilessly gibbeted in the Baviad and Mæviad of Gifford. (Academia della Crusca literally means, the Academy of Chaff, and its object was to sift the chaff from the Italian language, or to purify it.)

Delmonico

The great American cuisinier, of New York.

“The table service is of heavy silver, French cut glasses, and handsome china; and the meals are worthy of Delmonico.” — The Oracle, August 2nd 1884, p. 495.

Delos

A floating island ultimately made fast to the bottom of the sea by Poseidon (Neptune). Apollo having become possessor of it by exchange, made it his favourite retreat. It is one of the Cyclades.

Delphi

or Delphos. A town of Phocis, famous for a temple of Apollo and for an oracle celebrated in every age and country. So called from its twin peaks, which the Greeks called brothers (adelphoi ).

Delphin Classics

A set of Latin classics edited in France by thirty—nine scholars, under the superintendence of Montausier, Bossuet, and Huet, for the use of the son of Louis XIV., called the Grand Dauphin. Their chief value consists in their verbal indexes or concordances.

Delta

The island formed at the mouth of a river, which usually assumes a triangular form, like the Greek letter ( ) called delta; as the delta of the Nile, the delta of the Danube, Rhine, Ganges, Indus, Niger, Mississippi, Po, and so on.

Deluge

After me the Deluge [”Après moi le Déluge “]. When I am dead the deluge may come for aught I care. Generally ascribed to Prince Metternich, but the Prince borrowed it from Mme. Pompadour, who laughed off all the remonstrances of ministers at her extravagance by saying, “Après nous le déluge” (Ruin, if you like, when we are dead and gone).

Deluges

(3 syl.). The chief, besides that recorded in the Bible, are the following: — The deluge of Fohi, the Chinese; the Satyavrata, of the Indians; the Xisuthrus, of the Assyrians; the Mexican deluge; and the Greek deluges of Deucalion and Ogyges.

The most celebrated painting of Noah's Flood is by Poussin, in Paris; and that by Raphael is in the Vatican (Rome).

Demerit

has reversed its original meaning (Latin, demereo, to merit, to deserve). Hence Plautus, Demertas dare laudas (to accord due praise); Ovid, Numina culta demeruisse; Livy, dernerèri beneficio civitatem. The de — is intensive, as in “de—mand,” “de—scribe,” “de—claim,” etc.; not the privative deorsum, as in the word

“de—fame.”

“My demerits [deserts]

May speak unbonneted.”

Shakespeare: Othello, i. 2.

Demijohn

(A). A glass vessel with a large body and small neck, enclosed in wickerwork like a Florence flask, and containing more than a bottle. (French, dame—jeanne, “Madam Jane,” a corruption of Damaghan, a town in Persia famous for its glass works.)

Demi—monde Lorettes, courtezans. Le beau monde means “fashionable society,” and demi—monde the society only half acknowledged.

“Demi—monde implies not only recognition and a status, but a certain social standing.” — Saturday Review.

Demi—rep

A woman whose character has been blown upon. Contraction of demi—reputation.

Demiurge

(3 syl.), in the language of Platonists, means that mysterious agent which made the world and all that it contains. The Logos or Word spoken of by St. John, in the first chapter of his gospel, is the Demiurgus of Platonising Christians. In the Gnostic systems, Jehovah (as an eon or emanation of the Supreme Being) is the Demiurge.

“The power is not that of an absolute cause, but only a world—maker, a demiurge; and this does not answer to the human idea of deity.” — Winchell: Science and Religion, chap. x.

p.295.

Demobilisation

of troops. The disorganisation of them, the disarming of them. This is a French military term. To “mobilise” troops is to render them liable to be moved on service out of their quarters; to “demobilise" them is to send them home, so that they cannot be moved from their quarters against anyone. To change from a war to a peace footing.

Democracy

A Republican form of government, a commonwealth. (Greek, demos—kratia, the rule of the people.)

Democritos

The laughing philosopher of Abdera. He should rather be termed the deriding philosopher, because he derided or laughed at people's folly or vanity. It is said that he put out his eyes that he might think more deeply.

“Democritus, dear droll, revisit earth,

And with our follies glut thy heightened mirth.” Prior.

Democritus Junior. Robert Burton, author of The Anatomy of Melancholy (1576—1640).

Demodocos

A minstrel who, according to Homer, sang the amours of Mars and Venus in the court of Alcin'oös while Ulysses was a guest there.

Demogorgon

A terrible deity, whose very name was capable of producing the most horrible effects. Hence Milton speaks of “the dreaded name of Demogorgon” (Paradise Lost, ii. 965). This tyrant king of the elves and fays lived on the Himalayas, and once in five years summoned all his subjects before him to give an account of their stewardship. Spenser (book iv. 2) says, “He dwells in the deep abyss where the three fatal sisters dwell.” (Greek daimon, demon; gorgos, terrible.)

“Must I call your master to my aid,

At whose dread name the trembling furies quake, Hell stands abashed, and earth's foundations shake?” Rowe: Lucan's Pharsalia, vi.

“When the morn arises none are found,

For cruel Demogorgon walks his round,

And if he finds a fairy lag in light,

He drives the wretch before, and lashes into night.” Dryden: The Flower and the Leaf, 492—5.

Demon of Matrimonial Unhappiness

Asmodeus, who slew the seven husbands of Sara. (Tobit.) (See Asmodaeus.)

Prince of Demons. Asmodeus. (Talmud.)

Demos

(King). The electorate; the proletariat. Not the mob, but those who choose and elect our senators, and are therefore the virtual rulers of the nation.

Demosthenes' Lantern

A choragic monument erected by Lysicrates in Athens, originally surmounted by the tripod won by Lysicrates. A “tripod” was awarded to everyone in Athens who produced the best drama or choral piece of his tribe. The street in which Demosthenes' Lantern stood was full of these tripods.

Demurrage

An allowance made to the master or owners of a ship by the freighters for detaining her in port longer than the time agreed upon. (Latin, demorari, to delay.)

“The extra days beyond the lay days ... are called days of demurrage.” — Kent: Commentaries, vol. iii. part v. lecture xlvii. p. 159.

Demy'

A size of paper between royal and crown. Its size is 22 1/2 in. x 17 1/2 in. It is from the French word demi (half), and means demi—royal (a small royal), royal being 25 in. x 20 in. The old watermark is a fleur—de—lis.

A Demy' of Magdalene College, Oxford, is a “superior” sort of scholar, half a Fellow.

Den Evening. God ye good den! — i.e. God (give) ye good evening. This is the final d of good joined to the “en,” a contraction of evening.

Denarius

A Roman silver coin, equal in value to ten ases (deni—ases ). The word was used in France and England for the inferior coins, whether silver or copper, and for ready money generally. Now d (denarius) stands for money less than a shilling, as £ s. d.

“The denarius ... shown to our Lord ... was the tribute—money payable by the Jews to the Roman emperor, and must not be confounded with the tribute paid to the Temple.” — F. H. Madden: Jewish Coinage, chap. xi. p. 247.

Denarius Dei [God's penny]. An earnest of a bargain, which was given to the church or poor. Denarii St. Petri [Peter's pence]. One penny from each family, given to the Pope.

Denarius tertius comitatus. One—third of the pence of the county, which was paid to the earl. The other two—thirds belonged to the Crown. (See D.)

Denizen

A made citizen — i.e. an alien who has been naturalised by letters patent. (Old French deinzein; Latin de—intus, from within.)

“A denizen is a kind of middle state, between an alien and a natural—born subject, and partakes of both.” — Blackstone: Commentaries, book i. chap. x. p. 374.

Dennis

(John), called the “best abused man in England.” Swift and Pope both satirised him. He is called Zoïlus.

Denouement

(3 syl.). The untying of a plot; the winding—up of a novel or play. (French dénouer, to untie.)

Denys

(St.), according to tradition, carried his head, after martyrdom, for six miles, and then deliberately laid it down on the spot where stands the present cathedral bearing his name. This absurd tale took its rise from an ancient painting, in which the artist, to represent the martyrdom of the bishop, drew a headless body; but, in order that the trunk might be recognised, placed the head in front, between the martyr's hands.

Sir Denys Brand, in Crabbe's Borough, is a country magnate who apes humility. He rides on a sorry brown pony “not worth £5,” but mounts his lackey on a racehorse, “twice victor for a plate.” Sir Denys Brand is the type of a character by no means uncommon.

Deo Gratias

(Latin). Thanks to God.

Deo Juvante

(Latin). With God's help.

Deo, non Fortuna

(Latin). From God, not from mere luck; [I attribute it] to God and not to blind chance.

Deo Volente

contracted into D. V. (Latin). God being willing; by God's will.

Deodand

means something “given to God” (deo—dandum). This was the case when a man met with his death through injuries inflicted by some chattel, as by the fall of a ladder, the toss of a bull, or the kick of a horse. In such cases the cause of death was sold, and the proceeds given to the Church. The custom was based on the doctrine of purgatory. As the person was sent to his account without the sacrament of extreme unction, the money thus raised served to pay for masses for his repose. Deodands were abolished September 1st, 1846.

Depart

To part thoroughly; to separate effectually. The marriage service in the ancient prayer—books had “till death us depart,” or “till alimony or death us departs,” a sentence which has been corrupted into “till death us

do part.”

“Before they settle hands and hearts,

Till alimony or death departs.”

Butler: Hudibras, iii. 3.

Department

France is divided into departments, as Great Britain and Ireland are divided into counties or shires. From 1768 it was divided into governments, of which thirty—two were grand and eight petit. In 1790, by a decree of the Constituent Assembly, it was mapped out de novo into eighty—three departments. In 1804 the number of departments was increased to 107, and in 1812 to 130. In 1815 the territory was reduced to eighty—six departments, and continued so till 1860, when Savoy and Nice were added. The present number is eighty—seven.

Dependence

An existing quarrel. (A term used among swordsmen.)

“Let us pause ... until I give you my opinion on this dependence ... for if we coolly examine the state of our dependence, we may the better apprehend whether the sisters three have doomed one of us to expiate the same with our blood.” — Sir W. Scott: The Monastery, chap.

xxi.

Depinges

(2 syl.) or Deepings. A breadth of netting to be sewed on a hoddy (net) to make it sufficiently large. Sometimes the breadth is called a depth, and the act of sewing one depth on another is called deepening the net. In 1574 the Dutch settlers at Yarmouth were required “to provide themselves with twine and depinges in foreign places.”

Deputations

The year of deputations. The eighth of the Hedjrah, after Mahomet's victory over the Arabs near Taïf, when deputations from all parts flocked to do him homage.

Depute

(2 syl.). To depute means to prune or cut off a part; deputation is the part cut off. A deputation is a slip cut off to represent the whole. (Latin, deputo.)

Derbend

[iron ]. A town on the Caspian, commanding the coast road. D'Herbelot says: “Les Turcs appellent cette ville `Demir Capi' (porte de fer); ce sont les Caspiæ Portæ des anciens.”

“Beyond the Caspian's iron gates.”

Moore: Fire Worshippers.

Derby Stakes

Started by Edward Smith Stanley, the twelfth Earl of Derby, in 1780, the year after his establishment of the Oaks stakes (q.v. ).

The Derby Day is the day when the Derby stakes are run for; it is the second Wednesday of the great Epsom Spring Meeting, in May.

The Derby Day.

The Derby, the Oaks, and the St. Leger are called “The Classic Races.” The Oaks is the classic race for fillies only, three years' old (£1,000); the Derby (Darby) for colts and fillies three years' old; the St. Leger for colts and fillies, those which have run in the Oaks or Derby being eligible.

Derive

(2 syl.) means “back to its channel or source” (Latin, de rivo). The Latin rivus (a river) does not mean the stream or current, but the source whence it flows, or the channel through which it runs. As Ulpian says,

“Fons sive locus per longitudinem depressus, quo aqua decurrat.”

Dernier Ressort

(French). A last resource.

Derrick A hangman; a temporary crane to remove goods from the hold of a vessel. So called from Derrick, the Tyburn hangman early in the seventeenth century, who for more than a hundred years gave his name to gibbets. (See Hangman.)

“He rides circuit with the devil, and Derrick must be his host, and Tyborne the inn at which he will light.” — Bellman of London, 1616.

Derwentwater

Lord Derwentwater's lights. The Aurora borealis; so called from James, Earl of Derwentwater, beheaded for rebellion February 24th, 1716. It is said that the northern lights were unusually brilliant on that night.

Desdemona

(in Shakespeare's Othello). Daughter of Brabantio. She fell in love with Othello, and eloped with him. Iago, acting on the jealous temper of the Moor, made him believe that his wife had an intrigue with Cassio, and in confirmation of this statement told the Moor that she had given Cassio a pocket—handkerchief, the fact being that Iago's wife, to gratify her husband, had purloined it. Othello asked his bride for it, but she was unable to find it; whereupon the Moor murdered her and then stabbed himself.

“She ... was ready to listen and weep, like Desdemona, at the stories of his dangers and campaigns.” — Thackeray.

Despair

The Giant Despair, in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, lived in “Doubting Castle.”

Dessert

means simply the cloth removed (French, desservir, to clear the cloth); and dessert is that which comes after the cloth is removed.

Destruction

Prince of Destruction. Tamerlane or Timour the Tartar (1335, 1360—1405.)

Destructives

(The), as a political term, arose in 1832.

“The Times newspaper, hitherto the most effective advocate of the [Reform] bill, has been obliged to designate those whom it formerly glorified as Radicals, by the more appropriate and emphatic title of the Destructives.” — Quarterly Review (Dec.,1832, p. 545.)

Desultory

Those who rode two or more horses in the circus of Rome, and used to leap from one to the other, were called desultores; hence desultor came in Latin to mean one inconstant, or who went from one thing to another; and desultory means after the manner of a desultor.

Detest

is simply to witness against. (Latin, de—testor.)

Deucalion

after the Deluge, was ordered to cast behind him the bones of his mother (i.e. the stones of mother earth). Those thrown by Deucalion became men, and those thrown by his wife, Pyrrha, became women. For the interchange between laoz (people), and laaz (a stone), see Pindar: Olympic Games, ix. 66.

Deucalion's flood. According to Greek mythology, Deucalion was a king of Thessaly, in whose reign the whole world was covered with a deluge in consequence of the great impiety of man. (See Deluges.)

Deuce

The Kelts called wood—demons dus. (Compare the Latin deus.)

“In the popular mythology both of the Kelts and Teutons there were certain hairy

wood—demons, called by the former dus, and by the latter scrat (? scratz). Our common names of `Deuce' and `Old Scratch' are plainly derived from these.” — Lowell: Among my

Books (Witchcraft), p. 109.

It played the deuce with me. It made me very ill; it disagreed with me; it almost ruined me. The deuce is in you. You are a very demon.

Deuce take you. Get away! you annoy me. What the deuce is the matter? What in the world is amiss?

Deuce—ace

A throw of two dice, one showing one spot and the other showing two spots.

Deuce of Cards

(The). The two (French, deux). The three is called “Tray” (French, trois; Latin, tres).

“A gentleman being punched by a butcher's tray, exclaimed,`Deuce take the tray.' `Well,' said the boy, `I don't know how the deuce is to take the tray.”' — Jest Book.

Deus

(2 syl.). Deus ex machina. The intervention of a god, or some unlikely event, in order to extricate from difficulties in which a clumsy author has involved himself; any forced incident, such as the arrival of a rich uncle from the Indies to help a young couple in their pecuniary embarrassments. Literally, it means “a god (let down upon the stage or flying in the air) by machinery.”

Deva's Vale

The valley of the river Dee or Deva, in Cheshire, celebrated for its pastures and dairy produce.

“He chose a farm in Deva's vale,

Where his long alleys peeped upon the main.” Thomson: Castle of Indolence, canto ii.

Development

(See Evolution .)

Devil

Represented with a cloven foot, because by the Rabbinical writers he is called seirissim (a goat). As the goat is a type of uncleanness, the prince of unclean spirits is aptly represented under this emblem.

Devil among the Tailors

(The). On Dowton's benefit at the Haymarket, some 7,000 journeymen tailors congregated in and around the theatre to prevent a burlesque called The Tailors: a Tragedy for Warm Weather, which they considered insulting to the trade. Fairburn's edition of this play is headed The Devil among the Tailors, and contains an account of this fracas. (See also Biographia Dramatica, article TAILORS.) There is a Scotch reel so called.

Devil and Bag o'Nails

(The). The public—house by Buckingham Gate was so called, but the sign was The Blackamoor's Head and the Woolpack. (Remarkable Trials, ii. p. 14; 1765.)

Devil and Dr. Faustus

(The). Faust was the first printer of Bibles, and issued a large number in imitation of those sold as manuscripts. These he passed off in Paris as genuine, and sold for sixty crowns apiece, the usual price being five hundred crowns. The uniformity of the books, their rapid supply, and their unusual cheapness excited astonishment. Information was laid against him for magic, and, in searching his lodgings, the brilliant red ink with which his copies were adorned was declared to be his blood. He was charged with dealings with the Devil, and condemned to be burnt alive. To save himself, he revealed his secret to the Paris Parlement, and his invention became the admiration of the world. N.B. — This tradition is not to be accepted as history.

Devil and his Dam

(The). Either the Devil and his mother, or the Devil and his wife. Numerous quotations may be adduced in support of either of these interpretations. Shakespeare uses the phrase six times, and in King John (ii. 1) dam evidently means mother; thus Constance says that her son Arthur is as like his father as the Devil is like his dam (mother); and in Titus Andronicus Tamora is called the “dam” of a black child. We

also read of the Devil's daughter and the Devil's son.

In many mythologies the Devil is supposed to be an animal: Thus in Cazotte's Diable Amoureux he is a camel; the Irish and others call him a black cat; the Jews speak of him as a dragon (which idea is carried out in our George and the Dragon); the Santons of Japan call him a species of fox; others say he is a goat; and Dante associates him with dragons, swine, and dogs. In all which cases dam for mother is not inappropriate. On the other hand, dam for leman or wife has good support. We are told that Lilith was the wife of Adam, but was such a vixen that Adam could not live with her, and she became the Devil's dam. We also read that Belphegor “came to earth to seek him out a dam.”

As women when they go wrong are for the most part worse than the other sex, the phrase at the head of this article means the Devil and something worse.

Devil and the Deep Sea

(Between the). Between Scylla and Charybdis; between two evils, each equally hazardous. The allusion seems to be to the herd of swine and the devils called Legion.

“In the matter of passing from one part of the vessel to another when she was rolling, we were indeed between the devil and the deep sea.” — Nineteenth Century, April, 1891, p.664.

Devil and Tom Walker

(The). An American proverb, used as a caution to usurers. Tom Walker was a poor, miserly man, born at Massachusetts in 1727, and it is said that he sold himself to the Devil for wealth. Be this as it may, Tom suddenly became very rich, and opened a counting—house at Boston during the money panic which prevailed in the time of Governor Belcher. By usury he grew richer and richer; but one day, as he was foreclosing a mortgage with a poor land—jobber, a black man on a black horse knocked at the office door. Tom went to open it, and was never seen again. Of course the good people of Boston searched his office, but all his coffers were found empty; and during the night his house caught fire and was burnt to the ground.

(Washington Irving: Tales of a Traveller.)

Devil catch the Hindmost

(The). In Scotland (? Salamanca) it is said when a class of students have made a certain progress in their mystic studies, they are obliged to run through a subterranean hall, and the last man is seized by the devil, and becomes his imp.

Devil in Dublin City

(The). The Scandinavian form of Dublin was Divel—in[a], and the Latin Dublinia. (See Notes and Queries, April 9th, 1881, p. 296, for another explanation.)

“Is just as true's the deil's in hell

Or Dublin city.”

Burns: Death and Dr. Hornbook.

Devil looking Over Lincoln

(The). Sir W. Scott in his Kenilworth has, “Like the Devil looking over Lincoln.” A correspondent of Notes and Queries, September 10th, 1892, says —

“The famous devil that used to overlook Lincoln College, in Oxford, was taken down (Wednesday, September 15th, 1731), having about two years since [previously] lost his head in a storm.” — Gentleman's Magazine, 1831, p. 402.

We have other similar phrases, as “The devil looking over Durham.”

Devil loves Holy Water

(As the). That is, not at all. The Roman Catholics teach that holy water drives away the Devil. The Latin proverb is, “Sicut sus amaricinum amat” (as swine love marjoram). Lucretius, vi. 974, says “amaricinum fugitat sus.”

Devil—may—care

(A). A reckless fellow.

Devil must be Striking

(The) (German). Said when it thunders. The old Norse Donar means Thor, equal to Jupiter, the god of thunder, and donner is the German for thunder or Devil, as may be seen in the expression, “The runaway goose is gone to the Devil” (donner).

Devil on the Neck

(A). An instrument of torture used by persecuting papists. It was an iron winch which forced a man's neck and legs together.

Devil rides on a Fiddlestick

(The). Much ado about nothing. Beaumont and Fletcher, Shakespeare, and others, use the phrase. “Fiddlesticks!” as an exclamation, means rubbish! nonsense! When the prince and his merry companions are at the Boar's Head, first Bardolph rushes in to warn them that the sheriff's officers are at hand, and anon enters the hostess to put her guests on their guard. But the prince says, “Here's a devil of a row to make about a trifle” (or “The devil rides on a fiddlestick") (1 Henry IV., ii. 2), and hiding some of his companions, he stoutly faces the sheriff's officers and browbeats them.

Devil Sick would be a Monk

(The). “Dæmon languebat, monachus bonus esse volebat; Sed cum convaluit, manet ut ante fuit.”

“When the Devil was sick, the devil a monk would be;

When the Devil got well, the devil a monk was he.”

Said of those persons who in times of sickness or danger make pious resolutions, but forget them when danger is past and health recovered.

Devil to Pay and no Pitch Hot

(The). The “devil” is a seam between the garboard—strake and the keel, and to “pay” is to cover with pitch. In former times, when vessels were often careened for repairs, it was difficult to calk and pay this seam before the tide turned. Hence the locution, the ship is careened, the devil is exposed, but there is no pitch hot ready, and the tide will turn before the work can be done. (French, payer, from paix, poix, pitch.)

The Devil to Pay is the name of a farce by Jobson and Nelly. Here's the very devil to pay. Is used in quite another sense, meaning: Here's a pretty kettle of fish. I'm in a pretty mess; this is confusion worse confounded.

PROVERBIAL PHRASES.

Cheating the devil. Mincing an oath; doing evil for gain, and giving part of the profits to the Church, etc. It

is by no means unusual in monkish traditions. Thus the “Devil's Bridge” is a single arch over a cataract. It is said that his Satanic Majesty had knocked down several bridges, but promised the abbot, Giraldus of Einsiedel, to let this one stand, provided the abbot would consign to him the first living thing that crossed it. When the bridge was finished, the abbot threw across it a loaf of bread, which a hungry dog ran after, and “the rocks re—echoed with peals of laughter to see the Devil thus defeated.” (Longfellow: Golden Legend, v.)

The bridge referred to by Longfellow is that over the Fall of the Reuss, in the canton of the Uri, Switzerland.

Rabelais says that a farmer once bargained with the Devil for each to have on alternate years what grew under and over the soil. The canny farmer sowed carrots and turnips when it was his turn to have the under—soil share, and wheat and barley the year following. (Pantagruel, book iv. chap. xlvi.)

Give the devil his due. Give even a bad man or one hated like the devil the credit he deserves. Gone to the devil. To ruin. The Devil and St. Dunstan was the sign of a public house, No. 2, Fleet Street, at one time much frequented by lawyers.

“Into the Devil Tavern three booted troopers strode.”

Pull devil, pull baker. Lie, cheat, and wrangle away, for one is as bad as the other. (In this proverb baker is not a proper name, but the trade.)

“Like Punch and the Deevil rugging about the Baker at the fair.” — Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality, chap.xxxviii.

Talk of the devil and he's sure to come. Said of a person who has been the subject of conversation, and who unexpectedly makes his appearance. An older proverb still is, “Talk of the Dule and he'll put out his horns;” but the modern euphemism is, “Talk of an angel and you'll see its wings.” If “from the fulness of the heart the mouth speaketh,” their hearts must be full of the evil one who talk about him, and if the heart is full of the devil he cannot be far off.

“Forthwith the devil did appear,

For name him, and he's always near.”

Prior: Hans Carvel.

To hold a candle to the devil is to abet an evildoer out of fawning fear. The allusion is to the story of an old woman who set one wax taper before the image of St. Michael, and another before the Devil whom he was trampling under foot. Being reproved for paying such honour to Satan, she naïvely replied: “Ye see, your honour, it is quite uncertain which place I shall go to at last, and sure you will not blame a poor woman for securing a friend in each.”

To kindle a fire for the devil is to offer sacrifice, to do what is really sinful, under the delusion that you are doing God service.

To play the very devil with [the matter]. To so muddle and mar it as to spoil it utterly. When the devil is blind. Never. Referring to the utter absence of all disloyalty and evil.

“Ay, Tib, that will be [i.e. all will be true and loyal] when the deil is blind; and his e'en's no sair yet.” — Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering (Dandie Dinmont to Tib Mumps), chap.xxii.

Devil

(A), in legal parlance, is a leader's fag who gets up the facts of a brief, with the laws bearing on it, and arranges everything for the pleader in methodical order.

These juniors have surplus briefs handed to them by their seniors. A good fag is a good devil and is sure to get on.

The Attorney—General's devils are the Counsel of the Treasury, who not unfrequently get promoted to the bench.

A printer's devil. Formerly, the boy who took the printed sheets from the tympan of the press. Old Moxon says: “They do commonly so black and bedaub themselves that the workmen do jocosely call them devils.” The errand—boy is now so called. The black slave employed by Aldo Manuzio, Venetian printer, was thought to be an imp. Hence the following proclamation:

“I, Aldo Manuzio, printer to the Doge, have this day made public exposure of the printer's devil. All who think he is not flesh and blood may come and pinch him.' — Proclamation of Aldo Manuzio, 1490.

Robert the Devil, of Normandy. (See Robert Le Diable.)

The French Devil. Jean Bart, an intrepid French sailor, born at Dunkirk. (1650—1702.) Son of the Devil. Ezzelino, chief of the Gibelins, and Governor of Vicenza, was so called for his infamous cruelties. (1215—1259).

“Fierce Ezelin, that most inhuman lord,

Who shall be deemed by men the child of hell.” Rose: Orlando Furioso, iii. 32.

The White Devil of Wallachia. George Castriota was so called by the Turks. (1404—1467.)

Devil's Advocate

(The). In the Catholic Church when a name is suggested for canonisation, some person is appointed to oppose the proposition, and is expected to give reasons why it should not take place. This person is technically called Advocatus Diaboli. Having said his say, the conclave decides the question.

Devil's Apple

The mandrake.

Devil's Arrows

(Yorkshire). Three remarkable “Druid” stones near Boroughbridge, like Harold's Stones, and probably marking some boundary.

Devil's Bird

(The). The yellow bunting; is so called from its note, deil.

Devil's Bones

Dice, which a