THE TENNYSON DICTIONARY

ABADDON.

The angel of the bottomless pit.

And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon. Rev. ix. 2.

St. Simeon Stylites.

ABDIEL.

One of the Seraphim, who withstood Satan in his revolt against God.

Milton.

ABEL.

Becket.

ABOMINABLE.

Has reference to Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. She was the only goddess who was not invited to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, and in revenge threw a golden apple among the guests, which led to the Trojan war.

Œnone.

ABSALOM.

Bishop Foliot’s reference to Archbishop Becket.

Becket.

ABÛ SAÎD.

Sufee poet, born A.D. 968, died at the age of 83. He was a mystical poet, and some of his expressions have been compared to our George Herbert. Poet’s Note.

Akbar’s Dream.

ACACIA.

The name of a thorny tree found in Egypt.

The Princess; Maud.

ACADEME.

= Academy.

Shakespeare in Love’s Labour’s Lost uses the same term.

The Princess.

ACANTHUS-WREATH.

The Acanthus is a prickly plant, the leaves of which are reproduced in the capital of Corinthian and Composite Orders.

Lotos-Eaters.

ACHÆANS.

The common name for the Greek nation in the Homeric period.

Achilles over the Trench.

ACHILLES.

Son of Peleus and Thetis, grandson of Æacus, king of the island of Ægina, and the most famous of the Greek heroes in the Trojan war. When a baby he was taken to the river Styx, for it was said that those who bathed in its waters could never be wounded. Afraid to let go her child for fear he might drown, his mother plunged him into the tide, holding him fast by one heel. This she held so tightly that the waters never wet it, and some time after, when too late to remedy it, the oracle told her he would be wounded in his heel. At Troy he slew Hector, tied the corpse by the heels to his chariot and dragged it three times round the walls of Troy. After several other great fights Achilles was wounded in his heel by a poisoned arrow, shot by Paris, from which he died. Thus was fulfilled the prophecy. Upon his death his arms were awarded to Ulysses, who afterwards saw and conversed with him in Hades. It is supposed that he married Helen after the siege of Troy, but others maintain that he was married after death in the island of Leuce, where many of the ancient heroes lived.

The story of his quarrel with Agamemnon—who deprived him of his favourite mistress, Briseis—is the main subject of the Iliad of Homer. In the Odyssey he is one of the heroes of the underworld visited by Odysseus, and is also one of the characters in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida.

Ulysses; Achilles over the Trench.

ACRE.

A seaport on the coast of Syria, on a promontory north of Mount Carmel. It was captured by the Saracens in 638, by the Crusaders in 1104, recaptured by the Saracens in 1187, and in 1191, after a two years’ siege and a loss of 300,000 soldiers, it was taken by the Crusaders under Richard Cœur de Lion and Philip Augustus. It was then named St. Jean d’Acre on account of it being the headquarters of the Knights of the Order of St. John. It was again taken by the Saracens in 1291, when 60,000 Christians perished. In 1517 it was captured by the Turks, and in 1799 was besieged by the French under Napoleon, but was successfully defended by the garrison with the aid of English sailors under sir Sydney Smith. In 1832 it was stormed by Ibrahim Pasha, son of the viceroy of Egypt, in whose possession it remained until 1840, when it was captured by a combined English, Austrian and Turkish fleet under sir Robert Stopford.

The Foresters.

ACRISIUS.

In Greek mythology, king of Argos and father of Danaë (q.v.). Being told by an oracle that his daughter’s son would kill him, he kept her shut up in a tower of brass, where she became the mother of Perseus—who won the Golden Fleece, and cut off the Gorgon’s head—by Jupiter, in the form of a golden shower. Acrisius then ordered his daughter and her child to be cast into the sea, but they were rescued by a fisherman named Dictys. When Perseus was grown to manhood, wishing to show his skill in throwing the quoit, he by misadventure struck the foot of Acrisius with a quoit, which caused his death, and thus the oracle was unhappily fulfilled. Acrisius reigned about 31 years.

Becket.

ACTON (Roger).

See Roger Acton.

ADAIR.

See Ellen, Ellen Adair.

ADAM.

Day-Dream.

ADAM.

Columbus.

ADAM.

Lady Clara Vere de Vere.

ADAMS.

The Princess.

Adam is used here as ‘Galen’ in Canto 1, line 19.

ADAM’S WINE.

A cant phrase for water as a beverage.

Northern Cobbler.

ADDER.

A small serpent of the genus Vipera.

Harold; Becket.

ADELINE.

Margaret.

ADELINE.

Adeline.

ADMIRAL OF THE OCEAN.

A title conferred upon Columbus and on his heirs and successors for ever, by Ferdinand of Spain.

ÆAKIDES.

See Achilles.

ÆGIS.

In mythology the shield of Jupiter, made of the hide of the goat Amalthæa. Jupiter gave this shield to Pallas, who placed upon it Medusa’s head, which turned into stone all those who fixed their eyes upon it. It was the symbol of divine protection.

Achilles over the Trench.

ÆOLIAN HARP.

A stringed instrument consisting of a box, on or in which were stretched strings, on which the wind acted to produce the notes. It was usually placed at an open window.

Two Voices.

ÆSOP.

Æsop was a famous Greek fabulist who lived in the sixth century B.C. Little is known of his history except that he was a native of Phrygia and a slave, but subsequently set free by Jadmon of Samos. Visiting the court of Crœsus he gained his confidence to such an extent that he was sent on several missions, on one of which to Delphi he was put to death by the priests. (B.C. 620–560).

Queen Mary.

ÆTNA.

A mountain on the east coast of Sicily, noted for its volcano.

Demeter and Persephone; Lover’s Tale.

AFRIC (Africa).

A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh.

AGARIC.

A fungus, to which the common mushroom belongs.

Edwin Morris; Gareth and Lynette.

AGATHA.

A sister of mercy, who persuaded Eva Steer, who was supposed to be drowned, to return home to her father and implore his forgiveness. Agatha rescued Eva when she was about to commit suicide by drowning.

Promise of May.

AGAVE.

A plant, native of the warmer parts of America. It takes from ten to seventy years, according to climate, to attain maturity, the stem rising to a height of 40 feet.

The Daisy.

AGINCOURT.

A village in Pas-se-Calais where one of the more important battles in the Hundred Years’ War was fought; Henry V defeating the French on October 25, 1415.

The Princess.

AGLAÏA.

The child of Lady Psyche. Means brightness, and is the name of one of the Graces.

The Princess.

AGNED-CATHREGONION.

The scene of one of king Arthur’s battles. Some authorities consider it to be a hill in Somersetshire; according to others Edinburgh is the place, as the old name of that city was Agned.

Lancelot and Elaine.

AGRIPPINA.

A cultured and courageous Roman matron, daughter of Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia, and the granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. She married Germanicus, whom she accompanied on his campaigns, and upon his death brought his ashes to Rome; was subsequently exiled to the island of Pandataria, by Tiberius, where she died in 33 A.D.

The Princess here is pointing out the brows on the marble statue of Agrippina.

The Princess.

AGYPT (Egypt).

Tomorrow.

AÏDONEUS.

A surname of Pluto, king of the Molossi, who imprisoned Theseus because he and Pirithous attempted to ravish his daughter Proserpine, hence the fable of the descent of Theseus and Pirithous into hell.

Demeter and Persephone.

AILMER (John).

Chaplain to Henry Grey, marquis of Dorset, and tutor of lady Jane Grey. In 1522 he was made archdeacon of Stow, but on the accession of Mary was deprived of preferments for opposing in Convocation the doctrine of Transubstantiation, and fled to Zurich. In 1558, upon Elizabeth’s accession, he returned, was made archdeacon of London 1562; D.D. of Oxford 1573; and bishop of London 1577 (1521–1594).

Queen Mary.

AJALON.

A valley in Palestine, and the scene of a battle between Joshua and five Canaanitish kings, during which Joshua commanded the sun and moon to stand still.

‘Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon.’ Joshua x. 12.

Locksley Hall.

AKBAR (Jellal-Ud-Din-Mohammed).

The greatest of the Mogul emperors, who, at the age of 13, succeeded his father Humayun. Assuming the reins of government at the age of 18, he commenced his conquest of Hindustan. He subdued and ruled over fifteen provinces, and his empire extended from Cashmir to Ahmedabad and from Cabul to Dacca. His reign was marked by his daring change of policy from fanatical Mohammedanism to universal tolerance. He consulted Mohammedans, Hindus, Parsees, Jews and Christians, and drew up a new faith upon eclectic principles, by which he hoped to unite all creeds and peoples; he abolished the poll-tax on infidels and the pilgrimage tax on Hindus (1542–1605).

Akbar’s Dream.

AKROKERAUNIAN WALLS.

The Acroceraunia: a mountain range along the coast of north-west Greece jutting out into the Ionian sea.

To E. L.

ALBERIGHI (Federigo degli).

See Federigo degli Alberighi.

ALBERT.

The Prince Consort, husband of queen Victoria. Before the Idylls of the King were published the Prince died (1861), and to his memory they were afterwards dedicated.

In the concluding lines of the Dedication Tennyson added some words of comfort to the Queen on the death of the Prince:

The success of the Exhibition of 1851 was mainly due to the efforts of the Prince, who at the time of his death was planning the International Exhibition of 1862. In the Ode sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition, and the Opening of the Indian and Colonial Exhibition by the Queen, the poet alludes to the part played by the Prince in connexion with these two Exhibitions.

It was chiefly owing to the Prince’s admiration of In Memoriam that Tennyson was appointed Poet Laureate.

Dedication of Idylls.

ALBERT.

Brother of Olivia, who was betrothed to Walter.

Talking Oak.

ALBION.

Ancient name for Britain, in use among the early Celtic inhabitants. The word means ‘white island’ and was used by the Gauls to describe the white-chalked cliff land they saw to the North.

On the Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

ALCESTIS.

In Greek mythology, daughter of Pelias and Anaxibia, and wife of Admêtus. In order that her father might be restored to youth by Medea, she, with her sisters, put him to death, but Medea refused to redeem her promise, and the sisters fled to Admêtus, who married Alcestis. Their brother Acastus with an army pursued them, and Admêtus being taken prisoner, was redeemed from death by Alcestis who gave herself to save her husband; but Hercules descended to the lower world and brought her back. Alcestis is the subject of one of the tragedies of Euripides.

Romney’s Remorse.

ALCOR.

The name of a star in the tail of the Great Bear.

Last Tournament.

ALDER.

A tree related to the birch, usually growing in moist land.

Edwin Morris; Amphion; A Farewell; Balin and Balan.

ALDRED.

Abbot of Tavistock, 1027; bishop of Worcester, 1044; appointed ambassador by Edward the Confessor to the emperor of Germany, Henry III, 1054; and was the first English bishop to visit Jerusalem, which he did in 1058. On his return, he was made archbishop of York, 1060, with leave to hold his former See, but upon visiting Rome the pope refused him the pallium unless he resigned his former post. On the death of Edward (1066) Aldred supported Harold, and officiated at his coronation; but after the battle of Senlac he became a faithful servant of the Conqueror, and crowned William at Westminster before the year was completed in which he had crowned Harold (d. 1069).

Harold.

ALDWYTH.

Daughter of Alfgar, and widow of Griffyth, king of Wales; she subsequently became the wife of Harold.

Harold.

ALENÇON.

Capital of the department of Orne, North France, once famous for its point-lace. The title of a Duchy held by various members of the royal family of France, from Charles II of Valois. In 1048 duke William of Normandy captured the town, and inflicted great cruelty on the inhabitants who had taunted him with his birth, by hanging raw hides over the walls,

The town was taken and retaken in the French Wars during the reigns of Henry V and Henry VI of England; and in 1871 it capitulated to the Germans under the grand duke of Mecklenburg. The only remains of the ancient castle are three towers which form part of the present Town Hall.

Harold.

ALEXANDRA.

Eldest daughter of the late king Christian IX of Denmark; married to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward VII, at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, on March 10, 1863. The poem was written as a welcome to her upon her arrival in England.

A Welcome to Alexandra.

ALEXANDROVNA.

See Marie, Marie Alexandrovna.

ALFGAR.

Son of Leofric, earl of Mercia and Godgifu (Lady Godiva). He and his father supported king Edward the Confessor against earl Godwin at Gloucester, 1051. Was outlawed by the Witan, 1055, and took refuge in Ireland; invaded Herefordshire with Welsh allies but was defeated by Harold; made peace and succeeded as the earl of Mercia, 1057. In the same year he was again outlawed, but regained his earldom with the help of Northmen.

Harold.

ALFRED.

Duke of Edinburgh and duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha; second son of queen Victoria and prince Albert; married February 23, 1874, at St. Petersburg to the grand duchess Marie Alexandrovna, only daughter of Alexander II, czar of Russia. The bride and bridegroom made their public entry into London on March 12 of the same year.

A Welcome to Her Royal Highness Marie Alexandrovna, Duchess of Edinburgh.

ALFRED.

King of the West Saxons, born at Wantage. His father was king Ethelwulf, and although the youngest of five sons succeeded to the crown in 872 A.D.—at the age of 22. In the first year of his reign the young king fought nine battles against the Danes who had overrun the greater part of England north of the Thames. After a respite of several years a second invasion took place in 878 under Guthrum, king of the Danes in East Anglia, who overran Somerset without opposition, and Alfred retired to Athelney, where tradition says he burnt the cakes. In the same year he inflicted a defeat on the Danes at Edington in Wiltshire. By the peace of Wedmore, Guthrum consented to become a Christian and to acknowledge the supremacy of Alfred of the country south of the Thames and the greater part of Mercia. He subsequently devoted himself to legislation, the administration of government, and to the encouragement of learning, being himself a man of letters. It is to him we owe the foundation of England’s greatness on the seas (849–901).

An Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington; Harold.

ALFWIG.

Abbot of New Minster and uncle of king Harold. With twelve of his monks, joined Harold at the battle of Senlac, and after the battle was found among the slain, his body being recognized by the habit of his order.

Harold.

ALICE.

A lady in waiting to queen Mary.

Queen Mary.

ALICE.

Daughter of a wealthy miller, betrothed to a man whose parents at first thought he ‘might have looked a little higher.’ They were married, and in later years her husband expressed a wish that they might die together.

Miller’s Daughter.

ALICE.

The nurse of the supposed lady Clare. On the eve of the wedding of lady Clare and lord Ronald, Alice revealed to her the secret of her birth, namely, that she was the daughter of her own nurse.

Lady Clare.

ALICE.

May Queen.

ALIF.

The first letter of the Arabic alphabet.

Akbar’s Dream.

ALINGTON.

A castle—near the river Medway—originally built in Saxon times by a family named Columbary, but was razed afterwards by the Danes. After the conquest it was given to bishop Odo, and on his disgrace to earl Warrenne. It afterwards passed to the Cobham family, and from them to the Brents, by whom it was alienated to sir Thomas Wyatt, who made it his residence, and where was born his son and successor, sir Thomas Wyatt, Junior, who was subsequently deprived of his estates and executed for treason against Mary.

Queen Mary.

ALIOTH.

The name of a star in the tail of the Great Bear.

Last Tournament.

ALLA.

The word used by the Arabs to denote their chief god, and adopted by Mahomet as the name of the one true God.

Akbar’s Dream.

ALLAN.

A farmer, father of William, to whom he wished to wed his niece Dora.

Dora.

ALLEN (Francis).

See Francis, Francis Allen.

ALLEN.

A labourer to farmer Steer.

Promise of May.

ALLEN (Sally).

See Sally, Sally Allen.

ALLENDALE (Earl of).

Allen-a-Dale of Nottingham was to be married to a lady who returned his love, but her parents compelled her to forego him for an old knight of wealth. Allen told his tale to Robin Hood, who, in the disguise of a harper, went to the church where the wedding ceremony was to take place. ‘This is no fit match; the bride shall be married only to the man of her choice,’ exclaimed Robin, and sounding his horn Allen and twenty-four bowmen entered the church. The bishop, however, refused to marry the woman to Allen until the banns had been called three times, whereupon Robin pulled off the bishop’s gown, and placed it upon Little John, who called the banns seven times, and performed the ceremony.

The Foresters.

ALL-HEAL.

A name applied to various plants, as the mistletoe, the great valerian, etc.

Vastness.

ALLY.

Alfred Tennyson, grandson of the poet, to whom the poem is inscribed.

To Alfred Tennyson.

ALMESBURY.

A town in Wiltshire on the river Avon, about eight miles from Salisbury. Elfrida, widow of Edgar, founded here in 980 a Benedictine nunnery in atonement for the murder of her son-in-law, king Edward, but there had been a more ancient British monastery at the same place, called after king Ambrosius who lies buried there. Mary, daughter of king Edward I, took the veil here in 1285, and two years later, Eleanor, queen of Henry III and the mother of Edward I, was admitted. It was at this town that Guinevere (q.v.) after the death of Arthur, took the nun’s habit.

‘And when queen Guenever understood that king Arthur was slain, ... she went to Almesbury, and there she let make herself a nun, and wore white clothes and black.’

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book XXI, chap. vii.

Guinevere; Passing of Arthur.

ALMSHOUSES AT NOTTINGHAM.

Part shall go to the almshouses at Nottingham, part to the shrine of our Lady.

The Foresters.

ALOE.

A genus of plants, some classed as trees, others as shrubs, of considerable medicinal importance.

The Daisy.

ALPHEGE OF ENGLAND.

Monk of Deerhurst, bishop of Worcester 984; archbishop of Canterbury 1006. Inaugurated the Council of Enham, which made enactments against heathenism and the selling of slaves. By confirming Olaf Tryggwesson in his Christianity and obtaining from him in 994 a promise not to invade England, he incurred the hatred of the Northmen, and during the invasion of the Danes in 1011 was captured, and upon refusing to ransom himself was put to death. His body was translated to Canterbury by Knut, and in 1078 he was canonized (954–1012).

Becket.

ALPS.

The great mountain range in Europe, forming the boundary between France, Germany and Switzerland on the north and west, and Italy on the south.

The Daisy.

ALRASCHID.

See Haroun Alraschid.

ALVA (Duke of).

A distinguished soldier and a descendant from one of the ancient families of Spain. When only 17 years of age he was selected for a military command by Charles V, and was present at the battle of Pavia, 1535. In 1547 he gained a victory over John of Saxony at the battle of Muhlberg and subsequently took part in the siege of Wittenburg and presided at the court-martial which tried and condemned to death the Elector. In 1552 he invaded France and was engaged for several months in an unsuccessful siege of Metz. In his campaign against pope Paul IV in 1556, Alva was completely successful and was at the gates of Rome when we was compelled by Philip to negotiate a peace, and to ask pardon for having opposed the pope in the war. In 1567 he was sent to the Low Countries to reduce the Netherlands to the Spanish yoke, which they were attempting to throw off. By his tyranny he filled the provinces with terror and scenes of carnage, for which his memory is held in detestation to this day. In 1573 the oppressed country was relieved of his presence, and on returning to Spain was treated with distinction by Philip. Falling into disgrace he was banished from court, and confined in the castle of Uzeda, where he remained for two years. Appointed in command of an army he invaded Portugal in 1581, defeated Antonio and subdued the kingdom (1508–1583).

Queen Mary.

AMARACUS.

= Marjoram, a mint-like plant, used as a seasoning in cookery.

Œnone.

AMARANTH.

The unfading Amaranth, so called because its flowers do not soon wither; early employed as an emblem of immortality.

Lotos-Eaters; Romney’s Remorse.

AMARYLLIS.

A genus of bulbous-rooted plants, including the narcissus, jonquil, daffodil, agavè, etc. Amaryllis is the name of a country girl in Theocritus and Virgil.

The Daisy.

AMAZON.

In Greek mythology a race of warrior females, said to have inhabited the neighbourhood of the Caucasus.

The Princess.

AMBROSIA.

The food of the gods which conferred immortality upon those who partook of it.

The Princess; Demeter and Persephone.

AMBROSIAL.

An epithet used by Homer of the hair of the gods.

Claribel; Œnone; In Memoriam.

AMBROSIALLY.

= Delicious.

Œnone.

AMBROSIUS.

A monk.

Holy Grail.

AMMON.

A tribe, occupying the region to the east of Jordan, who hired Balaam to curse Israel. They were continually at war with the Israelites until subdued by Judas Maccabæus.

Dream of Fair Women.

AMMONIAN OASIS.

Refers to Alexander’s visit to the famous temple of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan desert.

Alexander.

AMMONITES.

Huge fossil snake-shaped stones, known in the middle ages as ‘Cornu Ammonis,’ so-called from the Ammonian Horn of Ammon.

The Princess.

AMOMUM.

An Indian spice plant. It is mentioned in Virgil’s Eclogue.

The Cup.

AMPHION.

In Greek mythology son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin-brother of Zethus. He was born on mount Citheron, where Antiope had fled to avoid the resentment of Dircê (q.v.), and the two children were exposed, but were brought up by shepherds. It is said that Amphion invented the lute and built Thebes by the music of it, which was so melodious that the stones danced into walls.

When the two children had grown to manhood they united to avenge the wrongs which their mother had suffered at the hands of Dircê. They captured Thebes, slew Lycus, and tied Dircê to the tail of a wild bull which dragged her through precipices until she expired. Amphion married Niobe (q.v.) who, boasting that she was greater and more deserving of immortality than Latona was changed into a stone, and in despair Amphion killed himself.

Amphion.

AMPHISBÆNA.

A fabled serpent having two heads and able to move either backwards or forwards.

Queen Mary.

AMURATH.

The Third, sixth sultan of the Turks (1574–1595). His first act on ascending the throne was to invite all his brothers to a banquet and strangle them.

In 1579 a commercial treaty between Amurath and Elizabeth was ratified.

Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham.

AMY.

The fiancée of an impetuous boy lover—her cousin—who found that his love had been disdained. Amy forsook him to satisfy the wishes of her father, and married for money. On account of his unhappy love affair he spoke of flight into a far country, and a marriage amid some savage tribes, but the bonds of culture and comfort were too strong for him, and the project of wild adventure was abandoned as quickly as it was formed. Amy died at the birth of her first child, and sixty years afterwards her once boy lover says:

Locksley Hall; Locksley Hall Sixty Years After.

ANAKIM.

Sons of Anak, a race of giants inhabiting the mountains of Hebron, and who were conquered by Joshua. Joshua xi. 21–22.

The Israelites said they were grasshoppers as compared with the Anakim. Numbers xiii. 33.

In Memoriam.

ANATOLIAN GHOST.

Anatolian spectre stories.

To Ulysses.

ANEMONE.

A plant of the crowfoot family.

Dream of Fair Women; To the Rev. F. D. Maurice; City Child.

ANDREW, SAINT.

See St. Andrew.

ANGELO (Michael).

A famous Italian sculptor, painter and poet.

In Memoriam.

ANGLE.

A German race of people who invaded Britain in the fifth century and settled in Northumbria and East Anglia. From them the name of England was derived.

Battle of Brunanburh; Harold; Becket.

ANGUISANT.

King of Erin, subdued by king Arthur, fighting on behalf of Leodogran, king of Cameliard.

Coming of Arthur.

ANGLIA.

Harold.

ANGLIAE.

Harold.

ANGLIAM.

Harold.

ANJOU.

An ancient province of France. In 1127 the eleventh count of Anjou married Plantagenet, the daughter of Henry I of England and became the father of Henry II, who took it from his brother Geoffrey in 1156. It was taken from king John by Philip Augustus of France in 1205, and united to the French kingdom in 1328 by Philip VI, son of Charles of Valois.

Becket.

ANLAF.

A Danish king who invaded England and, joining forces with Constantius, king of the Scots, was defeated by Athelstan (q.v.) and his brother Edmund Atheling (q.v.) at the battle of Brunanburh, A.D. 937.

Battle of Brunanburh.

ANNE.

The Foresters.

See Allendale (Earl of).

ANNE (Queen).

See Boleyn.

ANNE. ANNE WHARTON.

Wife of lord Wharton, and a friend of lady Jane Grey.

Queen Mary.

ANNE—ANNIE.

An old woman—who had survived all her children—relates to her grandchild Annie the story of her life.

Grandmother.

ANNIE.

Eldest daughter of the village squire.

Village Wife.

ANNIE.

One of the inmates of a children’s hospital, who suggested to one of her fellow sufferers who was about to undergo an operation, that she should pray for help to ‘the dear Lord Jesus.’

In the Children’s Hospital.

ANNIE. ANNIE LEE.

See Enoch, Enoch Arden.

ANSELM.

Archbishop of Canterbury. Born at Aosta in Piedmont. In 1060 entered the monastery of Bec, and in 1063 was installed as prior in succession to Lanfranc, and fifteen years later was elected abbot. Visited England in 1092, and in the following year accepted the archbishopric of Canterbury from William II who was lying ill at Gloucester. Consecrated the church, erected by William I in 1094 on the field on which he defeated Harold. In 1494 he was canonized (1033–1109).

Becket.

ANT.

A small insect.

Pelleas and Ettarre; Vastness; Queen Mary.

ANTIBABYLONIANISMS.

See Boanerges.

ANTIOCH.

Ancient capital of the Greek kings of Syria, built by Seleucus 300 B.C. It was famous in the early history of the Church as the seat of several ecclesiastical councils, as well as for being the birthplace of Chrysostom. In 635 A.D. it fell into the hands of the Saracens, who held it until 969 A.D. when it came under Roman dominion and retained till 1084 A.D., when it fell into the hands of the Turks, from whom it was captured by the Crusaders A.D. 1098.

Becket.

ANTON.

A Knight of the Round Table, and, according to Tennyson, the foster-father of king Arthur.

Malory in his Morte d’Arthur says: ‘So the child was delivered unto Merlin; and so he bare it forth unto Sir Ector, and made an holy man to christen him, and named him Arthur.’

Coming of Arthur.

ANTONIUS.

A Roman general, but evidently not meant to be identified with any Roman general known to history.

The Cup.

ANTONY (Mark).

See Mark Antony.

ANTONY. ANTONY KNYVETT.

Lieutenant of the Tower of London in the reign of Henry VIII; joined the earl of Devon in insurrection to prevent the marriage of Mary with Philip of Spain; taken prisoner with Wyatt at Temple Bar by sir Maurice Berkeley, and being taken to the Tower was tried, condemned and executed.

Queen Mary.

ANTWERP.

Queen Mary.

APE.

A monkey.

St. Simeon Stylites; In Memoriam; Making of Man; Queen Mary; Becket.

APHRODITÈ.

The Greek goddess of love and beauty, and wife of Hephæstus and mother of Cupid. Her sacred bird was the dove. As the queen of beauty she had the golden apple awarded her by Paris, and possessed the power of conferring beauty. In Roman mythology she is identified with Venus (q.v.).

Œnone.

APICUS.

A celebrated Roman glutton in the time of Augustus Tiberius. He expended large sums in gluttony and wrote a book upon cookery. It is said that having spent £800,000 in supplying the delicacies of his table and having only £30,000 left, he committed suicide, not thinking it possible to exist on such a miserable sum.

Becket.

APOLLO.

The chief god of the Greeks; in ancient literature described as possessed of many powers. Tennyson speaks of him as the god of the sun and god of music:

The statue of Apollo at Rhodes, made to commemorate the successful defence of that place against Demetrius Poliorcetes in 300 B.C., was one of the several wonders of the old world. It represented the sun-god with his head surrounded by rays, and with his feet resting one on each side of the entrance to the port. This Colossus of Rhodes, as the statue was generally called, was 105 feet high, and took twelve years to build, at a cost of about £120,000.

Tithonus; Lucretius.

APPLE-TREE.

A tree of many varieties.

Holy Grail.

AQUITAINE.

A province of south-west France. It was conquered by the Romans 57 B.C. under Cæsar, and again in 418 in the reign of Augustus. On the marriage of Louis VII with Eleanor, daughter of William X, it was annexed to the French crown, but upon Henry II of England marrying Eleanor after her divorce, it was added to the English crown. It remained in English possession until 1453, when it was restored to France.

Becket.

ARAB.

Refers to the high instep of the Arab, giving swiftness and elasticity to his gait.

Maud.

ARÂBI.

Leader of the Egyptian Revolt, 1882. As under-secretary for War in the Egyptian government, he adopted a policy which the British government had to meet by armed force. Alexandria was bombarded on July 11, 1882, and on September 13 of the same year the British troops under sir Garnet Wolseley completely routed him at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir.

Arâbi fled to Cairo, but surrendering was banished to Ceylon, 1883. In 1901 he was released and granted a pension. He claimed descent from the prophet.

Prologue to General Hamley.

ARABY.

A poetical form of Arabia.

Queen Mary.

ARAC (Prince).

A prince, whose hard old father represented in his blunt and violent manner the old-fashioned régime when women were women and knew their place. Since his infancy he had been proxy wedded to a certain princess Ida (q.v.), with whom he was deeply in love. He is described as a genial giant, with splendid muscles, healthy love of action, and proud devotion to his sister. When Ida reached marriageable age she founded a college for women from which men were excluded. Arac determined to gain access to the college, so with two more friends disguised as girl students, the college portress admitted them. After many adventures his sex was discovered. Arac wooed Ida, this time more successfully, and after many amusing happenings they were married.

The Princess.

ARAGON.

Once a kingdom, but now divided into three provinces. It was conquered by the Romans, but upon the fall of that empire, it passed into the hands of the Goths; and at the beginning of the eighth century was conquered by the Moors. In 1137 it was recovered by the rulers of Aragon and united with Catalonia, and by the marriage of Ferdinand with Isabella of Castile in 1469 the crowns of Aragon and Castile (q.v.) were united.

Queen Mary.

ARBACES.

Name of a horse.

The Brook.

ARCADY.

Represents Greek Idyllic poetry.

In Memoriam.

ARDEN (Enoch).

See Enoch, Enoch Arden.

ARDEN.

A large forest supposed to have been in Warwickshire. It is a place-name in Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Sisters (Evelyn and Edith).

ARÊS.

The Greek god of war, called by the Romans, Mars, and son of Zeus and Hera. Was an enemy of Cadmus (q.v.) on account of his having killed the dragon that guarded the springs of Dircê which were sacred to Mars.

His symbols were the spear and the burning torch.

Tiresias.

ARIMATHÆAN JOSEPH.

See Joseph.

ARNO.

An Italian river which flows through Florence.

The Brook.

ARNON.

A river which formed the boundary between Moab and the Amonites, and afterwards between Moab and Israel.

Dream of Fair Women.

AROER.

A city on the river Arnon, the southern point of the territory of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and afterwards of the tribe of Reuben, but later in the possession of Moab.

Dream of Fair Women.

‘And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith.’ Judges xi. 33.

Dream of Fair Women.

’AROLD (Harold).

Promise of May.

AROMAT.

Supposed to have been the native land of Joseph of Arimathæa and the place from which he brought the Holy Grail to Glastonbury.

Holy Grail.

ARTEMIS.

In Greek mythology the daughter of Zeus and Leto. She was twin-sister of Apollo, and was born in the isle of Delos. A virgin goddess, represented as a huntress armed with bow and arrows. The Romans identified Artemis with the old Italian goddess Diana (q.v.).

The Cup.

ARTEMISIA (Carian).

See Carian Artemisia.

ARTHUR.

= The Idylls of the King.

The Epic.

ARTHUR.

Sir Arthur, a local magnate.

The Brook.

ARTHUR.

Arthur Henry Hallam, son of Henry Hallam, the historian, born 1811. During his residence at Trinity College, Cambridge, Tennyson made the acquaintance of Hallam, with whom he formed an affectionate friendship, and some years later Hallam became engaged to the poet’s sister Emily. His early death, which occurred suddenly at Vienna in 1833, was a great grief to the poet, whose In Memoriam is a noble elegy to his loss.

Hallam was buried at Clevedon in Somersetshire, and in the Manor aisle of the church, over the vault of the Hallams, is a tablet, which bears the following inscription:

TO THE MEMORY OF ARTHUR HENRY HALLAM ELDEST SON OF HENRY HALLAM ESQUIRE AND OF JULIA MARIA HIS WIFE DAUGHTER OF SIR ABRAHAM ELTON BARONET OF CLEVEDON COURT

who was snatched away by sudden death at Vienna on September 15th 1833 in the twenty-third year of his age and now in this obscure and solitary church repose the mortal remains of one too early lost for public fame but already conspicuous among his contemporaries for the brightness of his genius the depth of his understanding the nobleness of his disposition the fervour of his piety and the purity of his life Vale dulcissime Vale dilectissime Desideratissime requiescas in pace ter ac mater hic posthac requiescamus tecum usque ad tubam.

In Memoriam.

ARTHUR.

Supposed to have been in the sixth century a war leader of the tribes inhabiting Cumbria and Strathclyde against the Saxons from the East and the Picts and Scots from the North. The name Arthur originally denoted the Bear, and the constellation of that name is called in Welsh the Chariot of Arthur. His father was Uther the pendragon, and his mother Ygernê widow of Gorloïs, duke of Cornwall, and he was born at Tintagel Castle, Cornwall, about the year 500 A.D. Tennyson says that Merlin gave Arthur, when an infant, to Sir Anton to bring him up, and he was brought up as his foster-son.

Malory in his Morte d’Arthur says:

So the child was delivered unto Merlin, and so he bore it forth unto Sir Ector, and made an holy man to christen him, and named him Arthur:

Uther Pendragon dying while Arthur was yet an infant, the succession to the kingdom was in doubt, and in order to prove who was the rightful heir to the realm, the method of drawing a sword from a stone was adopted. This stone, which was in the churchyard of St. Stephen’s, London, was like a marble stone, with an anvil of steel in the middle a foot high, and on it was placed a sword naked to the point, and inscribed thus:

Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightful king born of all England.

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book I, chap. iii.

Some 200 knights tried to release it but failed. Arthur alone could draw it, whereby proving his right of succession to the kingdom.

And right as Arthur did at Christmas he did at Candlemas, and pulled out the sword easily, whereof the barons were sore aggrieved,

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book I, chap. iv.

At the age of fifteen he was crowned at Caerleon-upon-Usk by Dubricius, archbishop of the ‘City of Legions.’ No sooner had he ascended the throne than slanderous statements began to be circulated as to his birth, some maintaining he was not the son of Uther and Ygernê:

Others said that he was cast up from the sea on the ninth wave:

Whilst another version says:

A great war took place between Arthur and eleven kings, all of whom were slain. Having defeated his enemies he ruled over the kingdom wisely, establishing order throughout the land, for since the death of Uther, lawlessness had become rampant. Meeting one day king Pellinore, he attacked him, and in the encounter their swords met with such force that the sword of king Arthur was broken in two pieces; but in order to save his life—being now defenceless—Merlin cast an enchantment on Pellinore, and he fell to the earth in a deep sleep, and Arthur was borne away to a place of safety. After three days, when the king’s wounds were healed, Arthur told Merlin he had no sword. So they rode till they came to a lake, and afar out in the midst of the lake, an arm clad in white samite rose from out the water and held up a fair sword. Then came the Lady of the Lake moving upon the water. ‘Enter into yonder barge,’ she said, ‘and row to the sword and take it;’ whereupon the king rowed out in the middle of the lake and seized the sword. The weapon, which was called Excalibur, was possessed with magic power, and gave light equal to thirty torches; and it was with this sword that he defeated all his enemies. He then began his career of conquests. He is supposed to have fought and won twelve great battles over the Saxons, Picts and Scots; the first was fought in Northumberland, by the river Glen; the second, third, fourth and fifth were the four battles of the Duglas; the sixth by the river Bassa; the seventh in the wood Celidon; the eighth at Castle Gurnion,

where Arthur bore the image of the Holy Virgin, Mother of God, upon his shoulders, and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy Mary, put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them the whole day with great slaughter.

Nennius: Six Chronicles.

It is however supposed to have been the head of the Virgin Mary engraven on the shield borne by Arthur.

The ninth battle was at Caerleon, or the ‘City of Legions’; the tenth by the river Trath Treroit, the eleventh near Agned Cathregonion, and the twelfth—the greatest victory of all—near Badon Hill. Some authorities consider his kingdom embraced Devon, Cornwall and part of Wales; others that it extended as far as the Orkneys, for we find that the king of those islands was married to Arthur’s sister. Leodogran, king of Cameliard, then appealed to Arthur to assist him in clearing his kingdom of wild beasts and heathen hordes that swarmed from overseas. Arthur accepted the call and leading all his knighthood threw the

Meanwhile Arthur had fallen in love with king Leodogran’s daughter, Guinevere, and from the battle-field sent three of his knights—Ulfius, Brastias and Bedivere—to Leodogran, saying:

but Leodogran, having heard of the suspicion attached to his birth hesitated, but eventually satisfying himself gave his consent. The marriage was however delayed as Arthur was compelled to enter upon a campaign abroad, with the result that Ireland and Iceland, as well as Norway and Gaul, were added to his conquests. Returning, he was married by Dubric the high priest, amid great splendour, to Guinevere at Camelot, in the church of St. Stephen’s.

Leodogran gave Arthur for a wedding present the famous Round Table with 100 knights, which tradition says is still preserved at Winchester. Arthur then established his new Order, known as the Knights of the Round Table, and made his knights swear to live lives of purest chastity, to love one maiden only, to redress human wrongs, and to reverence their king as their conscience. To accommodate the magic table a magnificent castle was erected, in the centre of which was a banqueting hall.

Holding a royal feast and Table Round at Camelot there came into the hall twelve men, ambassadors from Lucius, emperor of Rome, demanding that Arthur should acknowledge him as his lord, and pay tribute as his predecessors had done. Arthur met it with a counterclaim to the empire for himself as being the real representative of Constantine, and receiving promise of help from the knights and lords, held a Privy Council at York to make the necessary arrangements for his departure, and leaving his nephew sir Modred in charge of the kingdom, sailed from Sandwich in Kent. Arriving in Brittany he met the united forces of the Romans and Saracens, and in a great battle slew the emperor and his allies, the sowdan of Syria, and the kings of Egypt and Ethiopia, sent their bodies to the Senate at Rome, and marching over the Alps, through Lombardy and Tuscany, arrived at Rome, where he was crowned king by the pope. After sojourning in Rome for a short time, a message was brought to him that his nephew Modred, whom he had left in charge of his kingdom, had traitorously proclaimed himself king, and had seized Guinevere and kept her a prisoner. Without delay Arthur returned home, and landing at Dover was met by Modred, who being defeated fled with his forces to Winchester. Arthur pursued after him, and joined forces with him near the river Camel in Cornwall, where they fought all the day long. As night drew nigh, and some 100,000 lay dead upon the field, Arthur took his sword, held it with both hands, and ran towards sir Modred, calling out ‘Death to thee, traitor!’ ‘pierced the helmet and the brainpan, and sir Modred fell stark dead to the earth. And the noble Arthur fell in a swoon to the earth.’

Not one of sir Modred’s men remained alive, and of Arthur’s noble men, sir Bedivere alone had escaped. Finding his end drawing nigh, he commanded sir Bedivere to return his sword to the Lady of the Lake.

Twice did sir Bedivere go to the mere, and twice did his heart fail him, for instead of flinging the brand into the water he hid it in the waterflags about the marge. Returning to the dying king and being questioned as to what he had seen, replied:

Perceiving the knight’s deception, Arthur in wrath commanded him to fulfil his task:

whereupon the knight quickly rose, and going to the water side took the sword with both hands and flung it in mid-stream, when an arm rose up from out of the lake, caught it, and it disappeared for ever:

Returning again to the king he told him what he had seen, and taking the king upon his back, placed him in a barge in which were three queens—Queen Morgan le Fay; the Queen of Northgales; and the Queen of the Westerlands—who wept over him on account of his grievous wound. Elsdale in his Studies of the Idylls represents the three queens as Faith, Hope and Charity. Then sir Bedivere seeing his noble master about to leave him, asked permission to accompany him:

and Arthur slowly answered:

With the three mourning queens he passed up the Bristol Channel and hence

And in the Palace of Art the scene is pictured:

According to tradition, king Arthur is not dead but rests in Glastonbury, ‘till he shall come again, full twice as fair, to rule over his people.’ Cervantes in his Don Quixote says:

that he did not die, but that, by magic art, he was transformed into a raven: and that in process of time, he shall reign again, and recover his kingdom and sceptre; for which reason it cannot be proved that, from time to time, any Englishman hath killed a raven.

Some authorities contend that the mystery of his grave remains unsolved, for

Sharon Turner in his History of the Anglo-Saxons says:

In 1189—in the reign of Henry II—the body of king Arthur was found in Glastonbury Abbey sixteen feet under the surface. It was found under a stone, bearing the inscription: Hic jacit sepultus inciltus rex Arthurus in Insula Avallonia. The body was crumbled to dust, but a lock of golden hair was found, supposed to be that of his wife.

In the British Museum is a fifteenth century MS., containing annals of the Cistercian Abbey of Meaux, and a chronicle of events connected with it from its establishment in 1150 to the reign of Henry VI. In this MS., occurs the following:

In the twenty-third year of king Henry, the bodies of Arthur, some time king of the Britons, and of Wenevere his wife, were found at Glastonbury, between two stone pyramids formerly erected in the sacred cemetery. They were hidden by a hollow oak, lay about fifteen feet deep in the ground, and were distinguished by the most unmistakeable marks; for Arthur’s thigh-bone, when examined, exceeded by three fingers in length the tallest man’s thigh-bone that had ever been found, when measured down to the knee. Moreover, the space between his eyebrows was of the breadth of the palm of a man’s hand.

King Arthur has been made the hero of many adventures by romancers and poets of the Middle Ages. The earliest legends are found in the Welsh Tales, the three Welsh poets, Taliesin, Aneurin and Llywarch Hen being the first to celebrate his deeds. In the twelfth century Geoffrey of Monmouth introduced the legends into his Latin History of the Britons. In 1196 archdeacon Map introduced the legend of the Quest of the Holy Grail, and in 1485 sir Thomas Malory published his Morte d’Arthur. It is from this work that Tennyson derived most of the incidents narrated in his Idylls of the King, and his Morte d’Arthur. Spenser introduced Arthur in his Faerie Queene, and Blackwood wrote two epics, and Dryden produced a dramatic opera entitled King Arthur. Later sir Walter Scott edited the old romance of Sir Tristram, and in 1838 lady Charlotte Guest published a translation of the mediæval Welsh tales, known as the Mabinogion. It is from the latter work that Tennyson derived his characters for his Idyll of Geraint and Enid.

Morte d’Arthur; Coming of Arthur; Gareth and Lynette; Marriage of Geraint; Geraint and Enid; Balin and Balan; Merlin and Vivien; Lancelot and Elaine; Holy Grail; Pelleas and Ettarre; Last Tournament; Guinevere; Passing of Arthur; Becket; Merlin and the Gleam.

ARUNDEL (Thomas).

Archbishop of Canterbury. Became bishop of Ely when only twenty-one years of age, and was Lord Chancellor five times under Richard II and Henry IV. In 1388 he was created archbishop of York, and translated to Canterbury in 1396; banished for conspiracy against Richard II in 1397, but returned to crown Henry IV in 1399. He was a vigorous persecutor of the Wickliffites (1353–1414).

Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham.

ARVIRAGUS.

Younger son of Cymbeline, a king of Britain from the time of the invasion of Claudius to the reign of Vespasian. Upon the arrival of Joseph of Arimathæa (q.v.) Arviragus gave him permission to settle, and presented him with land upon which to erect a church.

Arviragus is one of the characters in Shakespeare’s Cymbeline.

Holy Grail.

ASAPH.

The Levite, chief musician to king David. Considered to have been the founder of a guild of singers in the second Temple.

Harold.

ASCALON.

A city of the Philistines. The Egyptian army, sent by the Sultan of Egypt to recapture Jerusalem, was defeated near this town by the Crusaders under Godfrey of Bouillon, August 12, 1099. Recaptured by the Moslems, it was retaken in 1157 by Baldwin III, and in 1192 was the scene of a great victory gained by the Christians under Richard I, over the Saracen army under Saladin. Its fortifications were demolished by the Sultan Bibars, in 1270.

The Princess.

ASH. ASHTREE.

A genus of trees of the Olive family.

Amphion; The Princess; In Memoriam; Harold; The Foresters; Promise of May.

ASHRIDGE.

Ashridge House, in Buckinghamshire, was founded in 1221 by Edmund, earl of Cornwall, a grandson of king John, for an order of friars, called Bonhommes. After the dissolution of the monasteries it was given to the princess Elizabeth by her brother, Edward VI, after whose death she continued to occupy it during the reign of Mary, and after her retirement from court made it her permanent residence until she was suspected of conniving at sir Thomas Wyatt’s rebellion, when she was removed to the Tower.

Queen Mary.

ASIA.

Locksley Hall Sixty Years After.

ASMODEUS.

The angel of the bottomless pit.

St. Simeon Stylites.

ASPASIA.

The most accomplished woman in Athens during the government of that city by Pericles, whose mistress she was. When Pericles was deposed from the office of General in 430 B.C. Aspasia was, by the poet Hermippus, charged with impiety and brought to trial, but the pleading of Pericles procured her acquittal, and subsequently a decree was passed legitimizing her son.

The Princess.

ASPEN. ASPEN-TREE.

A species of the poplar; the trembling poplar.

Lady of Shalott; A Farewell; Lancelot and Elaine.

ASPHODEL.

A plant of the lily species.

Œnone; Lotos-Eaters; Demeter and Persephone.

ASPICK.

A venomous serpent.

Dream of Fair Women.

ASS.

A well-known quadruped of the horse family.

The Princess; Last Tournament; Queen Mary.

ASSAYE.

A small town in the Deccan, India. Here Wellington, with an army of 4,500 English and Sepoy troops defeated the Mahratta army, consisting of 30,000 men, on August 23, 1803.

Ode on the death of the Duke of Wellington.

ASSYRIAN BULL.

Maud’s brother, with his well-oil’d and groomed curly hair, and his dignified manner, is represented here by the Assyrian Bull, human-headed winged lions and bulls, sculptured in stone as found among Assyrian antiquities.

Maud.

ASTOLAT.

According to Malory, the town of Guildford in Surrey, thirty miles south-west of London, and situated on the river Wey; a tributary of the Thames.

And then he rode so much until he came to Astolat, that is Gilford.

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book XVIII. chap. ix.

It was the home of Elaine ‘the lily maid of Astolat.’

Lancelot and Elaine.

ASTRÆAN.

Astræa, which means ‘star-bright’ was a daughter of Astræus and Eos, or, according to another account, of Zeus and Themis. She lived among men on earth during the golden age, and in the brazen age was the last to withdraw into the sky, where she shines as the constellation of Virgo. Should the golden age ever return it is believed she will re-establish her home on earth again. Many poets make reference to this theory, but the best known is Dryden’s Astræa Redux.

The Princess.

ATHELING (Edgar).

See Edgar (the Atheling).

ATHELING (Edmund).

See Edmund Atheling.

ATHELSTAN.

King of the Mercians and West-Saxons, and afterwards of all the English. Son of Edward the Elder and grandson of Alfred the Great. Defeated the Welsh of Devonshire, Cornwall and Wales, and in 937 in a decisive battle defeated the Welsh, Scots and Danes at Brunanburh. He died at Gloucester in 940, and was buried at Malmesbury (895–940).

Battle of Brunanburh; Harold.

ATHENE (Pallas).

See Pallas, Pallas Athene.

ATHENS.

Capital of the kingdom of Greece.

Freedom.

ATHOS.

Signifies ‘Holy Hill.’ A mountain in the peninsula of Salonica, 6,780 feet high. It is celebrated for its twenty large monasteries, built during the ninth and tenth centuries, the first of which is said to have been founded by the empress Helena. The roofs of these monastic buildings sparkle with hues of bronze and purple and gold, and present a very picturesque appearance. There are many legends connected with the mountain.

To E. L.

ATLANTIC.

The Atlantic Ocean.

Third of February; The Princess; Columbus.

AUBREY (Ellen).

See Ellen, Ellen Aubrey.

AUDLEY. AUDLEY COURT.

A place-name in the poem entitled Audley Court. The poem was suggested by Abbey Park, at Torquay.

Audley Court.

AUGUSTINE.

One of the fathers of the early Church. In 371 he was sent to Carthage, where he became a convert to the Manichæans, and taught rhetoric with great reputation, and on his return to Rome was appointed its professor at Milan. Here the sermons of St. Ambrose effected his conversion, and renouncing his heretical opinions he was baptized, 387. Returning to Africa he was ordained a priest, and subsequently became coadjutor of Valerius, bishop of Hippo, and afterwards his successor. In the church of All Saints, Trull, Somerset, there is a fifteenth century oak pulpit, richly carved. On the pulpit are five figures, one of which represents Augustine of Hippo (354–430).

Columbus.

AURELIAN.

Lucius Domitius Aurelian, son of a peasant of Pannonia, was elected emperor of Rome 270 A.D., and rendered himself famous for his military character; drove the barbarians out of Italy; defeated Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, and carried her captive to Rome. After a reign of six years, as he was on his way to crush a rebellion in Persia, he was assassinated near Byzantium by his troops, A.D. 275.

The Princess.

AURELIUS.

Elder brother of Uther the pendragon and reigned before him. In Latin he is called Ambrosius. He was the uncle of king Arthur. In 457 he defeated the Saxons who had been invited over by Vortigern, and beheaded Hengist (q.v.); and by the aid of his magician Merlin, brought the great stones known as the ‘Giant’s Dance’ from Kildare to Salisbury Plain where he erected them as a monument to the 460 British chiefs who had been treacherously slain by Hengist. It is said that upon his death there appeared in the sky a large comet which issued two long and brilliant rays, together with a fairy form like a dragon.

Coming of Arthur; Gareth and Lynette.

AURICULA.

A species of primrose, called also, from the shape of its leaves, bear’s ear.

City Child.

AUSONIAN.

Ausonia was the name of Campania, a province of Italy, during its occupation by the Oscans and Etruscans in the eleventh century.

Palace of Art.

AUSTIN (Augustine).

Prior of the Benedictine monastery of St. Andrew, Rome; sent by pope Gregory I in 596 with forty other monks as a missionary to England. Landing on the Isle of Thanet the missionaries were kindly received by Ethelbert, king of Kent, who subsequently became a convert to Christianity. Founded the See of Canterbury, and became its first archbishop.

Becket.

AVALON—AVILION.

Avalon or Avilion is supposed to have been an island in the neighbourhood of Glastonbury in Somersetshire, where Joseph of Arimathæa is said to have first landed with his boat with the Holy Grail. It was to this island that king Arthur went to be healed of his wounds, which he had received in the last weird battle in the west.

The word means ‘Apple-green Island’ and it has been described as the ‘Island of the blest, upon which Glastonbury stood.’

Palace of Art; Morte d’Arthur; Gareth and Lynette; Passing of Arthur.

AVE MARY.

See Mary.

AVERILL.

The Rector of the parish in which Aylmer’s Hall, the residence of sir Aylmer Aylmer (q.v.) was situated. On the death of Edith, the daughter of sir Aylmer, he was asked to preach the funeral sermon, and taking for his text ‘Behold, your house is left unto you desolate’ he denounced the pride and self-seeking of the Aylmer parents.

Aylmer’s Field.

AVILION.

See Avalon.

AYLMER.

Sir Aylmer Aylmer was a country squire, and was looked upon as the supreme authority in the village in which he resided.

His wife, lady Aylmer, had in her young days been a lady of superior beauty and attraction, but with advancing years had lost some of her good looks.

They had one daughter, Edith, heiress of their wealth and name, and a favourite in the parish, and sir Aylmer’s ambition was, that the man who married her should adopt the name of Aylmer in order that the family name may not become extinct.

The Rector of the parish in which Aylmer hall was situated was named Averill, whose family was on intimate terms with the Aylmers, three generations of each family having followed one another at the rectory and the hall respectively.

Edith was in love with Leolin—a barrister—brother of the rector, who, during the vacations, used to come and stay with his brother at the rectory. On the other hand an Indian kinsman came to visit the Aylmers and made presents to Edith, among them being a jewelled dagger; but as Edith did not care neither for the dagger nor the donor she passed it on to Leolin. Owing to the gossip in the village sir Aylmer’s eyes were opened to the lovemaking between his daughter and Leolin, with the result that Leolin was forbidden to enter his house, and Edith was kept close at home.

A clandestine correspondence was however carried on, and this being discovered was stopped, and Edith was more closely confined, with the result that she lost her health and eventually succumbed to an attack of fever. When Leolin learned the news he stabbed himself with the dagger that Edith had given him.

On the Sunday following Edith’s death, the rector of the parish was asked to preach her funeral sermon, and taking for his text ‘Behold your house is left unto you desolate,’ he denounced the pride of the Aylmer parents.

In a fainting condition lady Aylmer was carried out of church, followed by her husband, amid the frowns of the congregation.

Neither of them entered the church again, for in the course of a month lady Aylmer died.

Sir Aylmer became an imbecile and two years later was laid beside his wife and daughter; the hall was demolished and its place became the haunt of the mole and hedgehog, the slow-worm and the weasel.

Aylmer’s Field.

AYLMER-AVERILL.

A combination of the names of Aylmer and Averill; Aylmer being the family name of the pompous squire, and Averill the name of the rector of the parish in which Aylmer hall was situated.

In years gone by an Aylmer had married an Averill.

Aylmer’s Field.

AZORES.

A group of nine volcanic islands in the Atlantic of which Flores is one. It was near these islands that sir Richard Grenville (q.v.) in the reign of queen Elizabeth was attacked by the Spanish Fleet.

The Revenge.

AZRAEL.

The Angel of Death. According to Mahomet the angel appointed to inflict the death penalty on all unbelievers.

Akbar’s Dream.

BAAL.

The principal god of the Canaanites and Phœnicians. In Biblical times the priests, in honour of their god, cut themselves with knives. 1 Kings xviii. 28.

Aylmer’s Field; Becket.

BABEL.

Signifies confusion. Has reference to the building of the tower of Babel. Genesis xi. 1–9.

The Princess.

BABYLON.

Sea Dreams; Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham; The Dawn.

BABYLONIAN WALL.

Semiramis, wife of Ninus, king of Assyria and the founder of Nineveh. She was the daughter of Derceto, the Syrian fish-goddess, and married Onnes one of Ninus’ generals; but after her heroic capture of Bactra, the king married her, and Onnes committed suicide. After Ninus’ death she ruled and founded many cities, including the city of Babylon. After reigning forty-two years she abdicated in favour of her son and ascended to heaven in the form of a dove.

The Princess.

BACCHANAL.

= A noisy or riotous person.

Lover’s Tale.

BACCHANTE.

= A female disciple of Bacchus.

Romney’s Remorse.

BACCHUS.

In Roman mythology the god of wine, son of Zeus and Semele.

Dream of Fair Women.

BACON (Lord).

See Verulam.

BADGER.

A burrowing nocturnal animal.

Holy Grail; The Foresters.

BADON.

The twelfth great battle of king Arthur with the Saxons was fought near Badon Hill, 520 A.D. It was the greatest of all his victories, it being computed that ‘nine hundred and sixty men fell before Arthur’s single onset.’

The locality of Badon has been a matter of dispute. It has been identified with Badon Hill, in Linlithgow, but is now generally thought to be Bradbury Hill, in Dorset.

Lancelot and Elaine.

BAGDAT.

or Bagdad, on the river Tigris, was founded in 762 to be the capital of the Caliphate. Under Haroun Alraschid (q.v.) it became famous as a seat of learning, and contained over 100 mosques, the domes and minarets of which were ornamented with glazed tiles in green and white.

Recollections of the Arabian Nights.

BAGENHALL.

See Ralph, Ralph Bagenhall.

BAILEY-GATE.

Defence of Lucknow.

BALA.

A Welsh lake, out of which flows the river Dee. The south-west wind blows from end to end of the lake, and as it drives the water to north-east it fills the river.

Geraint and Enid.

BALAN.

A Knight of the Round Table; brother of Balin (q.v.).

Balin and Balan.

BALE (John).

Bishop of Ossory. Born in Suffolk, and educated at a Carmelite monastery, Norwich, and Jesus College, Cambridge, he became a convert from popery. In 1540, on the fall of Cromwell, he fled to Germany, but in 1547 was recalled by Edward VI, made rector of Swaffam in 1551, and two years later bishop of Ossory. On the accession of Mary he fled to Basle, where he lived until 1559, but returned in the reign of Elizabeth, and was made a prebendary of Canterbury. He wrote the first literary history of England, and in 1849 his select works were published by the Parker Society (1495–1563).

Queen Mary.

BALIN.

A knight of the Round Table called ‘The Savage.’ He was a Northumberland knight and being taken captive by king Arthur, was imprisoned for six months. When he was released, a damsel came to Camelot girded with a sword, and told the king that no one tainted with ‘treachery’ could draw it. King Arthur and all his knights tried and failed, but sir Balin drew it easily. The damsel begged for the sword but Balin refused, whereupon she said that it would be a plague to him, for with it he would slay his best friend, and would also prove his own death. The Lady of the Lake next demanded the sword, but Balin cut off her head with it and he was banished from court. Going one day to a castle to joust, he met a knight in red, accompanied with a shield, and rode forth to meet him. So fierce was the encounter that both the combatants were wounded, each living long enough to learn that his antagonist was none other than his brother.

Thus was fulfilled the damsel’s prophecy. Merlin buried the two brothers in one tomb, and

‘the scabbard of Balin’s sword Merlin left it on this side the island that Galahad should find it,’ also he put ‘Balin’s sword in a marble stone standing upright as great as a millstone, and the stone hoved always above the water, and did many years, and so by adventure it swam down the stream to the city of Camelot, that is in English Winchester.’

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book II. chap. xix.

Balin and Balan.

BALLIOL.

A college at Oxford founded in 1263 by John de Baliol father of John de Baliol king of Scotland.

To the Master of Balliol.

BALM-CRICKET.

A cicada.

A Dirge.

BALTIC.

Has reference to Lord Nelson’s victory at the battle of Copenhagen, April 2, 1801.

Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington.

BALTIC (Sea).

Maud.

BAMBOO.

A gigantic Indian reed or grass, with hollow jointed stem, which are used for poles, walking sticks, etc.

To Ulysses.

BARA.

A Welsh word meaning ‘bread.’

Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham.

BARABBAS.

Becket.

BARBARIAN.

= Russia.

Poland.

BARBAROSSA.

Surname of Frederick I, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Succeeded his father duke Frederick II of Swabia in 1147, and his uncle Conrad III as emperor in 1152. The great struggle of his reign was with Lombardy. Honorius III prepared to support the Lombardy cities, and Gregory IX began the struggle between the papacy and the emperor.

Died in 1190 in the crusade against Saladin (1123–1190).

Becket.

BARCELONA.

A seaport and capital of the province of Barcelona. On his return from his first voyage Columbus arrived at Barcelona, where every preparation had been made to give him an enthusiastic reception, and where Ferdinand and Isabella, seated under a rich canopy, awaited his arrival. As Columbus approached the king and queen rose from their seats, and Columbus falling on his knees requested to kiss their hands. The sovereigns however ordered him to seat himself in their presence, and at their request Columbus gave an account of the voyage and a description of the land he had discovered.

Columbus.

BARLOW (William).

A native of Essex, canon of St. Osith monastery Essex, and afterwards prior of the canons at Bisham. Appointed bishop of London, 1509, and bishop of St. Asaph, 1535, being transferred to St. David’s in the following year. In 1547 he was translated to Bath and Wells, and became a zealous preacher of the reformed faith. On the accession of Mary he was deprived of his bishopric, and committed to the Tower, but escaping, fled to Germany.

Elizabeth having succeeded, he returned, was created bishop of Chichester, 1559, and in 1560 prebendary of Westminster, and died the same year.

Queen Mary.

BARTON (Elizabeth).

See Joan of Kent.

BASILISK.

A fabulous creature, resembling a dragon.

Holy Grail.

BASLE.

A city in the north-west of Switzerland. Was a centre of influence in Reformation times, and for several years the home of Erasmus.

Queen Mary.

BASSA.

Supposed to mean Bashall Brook, which joins the river Ribble near Clitheroe, in Lancashire. It was the scene of king Arthur’s sixth victory over the Saxons.

Lancelot and Elaine.

BAT.

An animal with a body like a mouse, but which flies on wings attached mainly to its fore-feet.

Mariana; The Princess; In Memoriam; Maud; Balin and Balan; Despair; The Foresters.

BATHS.

= Lady Aylmer. Had formerly been a belle at the fashionable watering-places, but had now lost her good looks.

Aylmer’s Field.

BATHS, THE.

In great cities of the Roman Empire the Baths were popular lounges where amusements were provided for the people; consequently centre of gossip.

St. Telemachus.

BATTLE-TWIG.

= an earwig.

Spinster’s Sweet-Arts.

BAY.

= the laurel-tree.

Gareth and Lynette; Poets and their Bibliographies.

BAYEUX.

An ancient city of Normandy. The ancient cathedral in Gothic said to be the oldest in Normandy, was rebuilt, after a fire, by William the Conqueror in 1077, but the present structure dates mainly from 1106 to the thirteenth century. Bayeux is noted for its celebrated tapestry, preserved in the Bayeux public library. It is 230 feet long, by 20 inches wide, worked in coloured worsted, and divided into seventy-two scenes connected with the life of William the Conqueror. It is considered to have been the work of queen Matilda. William’s half-brother, Odo, was appointed bishop of Bayeux in 1048, a see which he held for fifty years.

Harold.

BEAR.

= an animal of many varieties.

The Princess; Coming of Arthur; Pelleas and Ettarre; Harold; Becket.

BEAR.

A constellation of seven stars in the northern hemisphere, called also the Plough, the Wagon, and Charles’s Wain. In Welsh it is called the Chariot of Arthur, as the name Arthur originally denoted a Bear; while the Round Table was suggested by the movement of the constellation round the pole star.

The Princess.

BECKET (Gilbert).

See Gilbert Becket.

BECKET (Thomas).

See Thomas, Thomas Becket.

BEDINGFIELD (Henry).

See Henry Bedingfield.

BEDIVERE.

The first made and the latest left of all the Knights of the Round Table. He is described as the ‘bold sir Bedivere,’ being always ready to defend king Arthur’s right to the throne.

He was one of the three knights sent by king Arthur to king Leodogran, to ask for the hand of his daughter Guinevere; and in the last weird battle in the west the only knight of Arthur’s who escaped alive. When Arthur lay dying he commanded sir Bedivere to return his sword Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake.

Twice did sir Bedivere go to the pool and twice did his heart fail him, for thinking it a pity to throw away so valuable a weapon he hid it among the waterflags about the marge. Returning to the dying king and being questioned as to what he had seen he replied:

but the dying monarch detecting the knight’s deception, threateningly commanded him to fulfil his wishes.

whereupon the knight rose, and going down to the mere, clutch’d the sword and threw it in the water.

Returning to the king sir Bedivere told him what he had seen, and taking the king upon his back went to the waterside and placed him in a barge in which were three queens, all of whom wept. Rowing from the land sir Bedivere cried:

‘Ah, my lord Arthur, what shall become of me now ye go from me, and leave me here alone among thine enemies. Comfort thyself, said the king, and do as well as thou mayest, for in me is no trust for to trust in. For I will into the vale of Avilion, to heal me of my grievous wound. And if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul.’

Malory: Morte d’Arthur, Book XXI. chap. v.

And as soon as the bold sir Bedivere lost sight of the barge he wept, and taking to the forest became a hermit.

Morte d’Arthur; Coming of Arthur; Passing of Arthur.

BEE.

A four-winged insect that makes honey.

Claribel; A Dirge; Eleänore; Two Voices; Œnone; Amphion; A Farewell; Enoch Arden; The Princess; Northern Farmer, New Style; The Window; Lancelot and Elaine; Holy Grail; Ancient Sage; Vastness; Progress of Spring; Romney’s Remorse.

BEEÄ.

= Bee.

Northern Cobbler.

BEECH.

A tree with smooth silvery-looking bark.

On a Mourner; Talking Oak; In Memoriam; Progress of Spring; Edwin Morris; Amphion; The Brook; Prologue to General Hamley; The Cup.

BEELZEBUB.

The Foresters.

BEETLE.

An insect, having four wings, the outer pair being stiff cases for covering the others when they are folded up.

Claribel.

BEL.

The British god of the underworld.

Boädicea.

BELLEROPHON.

Name of a horse.

The Brook.

BELLICENT.

Daughter of Gorloïs, duke of Cornwall, and his wife Ygernê. As a widow married Uther the pendragon, and was therefore the mother of Arthur. Tennyson says that she was the wife of Lot, king of Orkney, and mother of Gawain and Modred:

Geoffrey of Monmouth says ‘that Lot’s wife was Anne, the sister of Arthur;’ but Malory, in his Morte d’Arthur, says: ‘And king Lot of Lothian and of Orkney then wedded Margawse that was Gawaine’s mother: and king Nentres of the land of Garlot wedded Elaine.’

Coming of Arthur; Gareth and Lynette.

BENEDICT.

Founder of the religious order of the Benedictines. Born at Nursia of wealthy parents, he became convinced of the necessity of leading a life of meditation and prayer, and lived for three years as a hermit. Appointed abbot of the monastery of Vicovaro, he left it on account of the rules not being severe enough and founded the monastery of Monte Cassino, near Naples (480–543).

Becket.

BENGAL.

A presidency of British India.

The Brook.

BERKELEY (Maurice).

See Maurice, Maurice Berkeley.

BERKHAMSTEAD.

A castle erected by the Saxons, but in the time of Henry I was ordered to be razed to the ground. It is probable, however, that the demolition was only partial, as we find it some years later fitted up as a royal residence. In the twelfth century it was given to Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, by Henry II, and since was granted by the Crown from time to time to various noble families, until the time of Edward III, when it descended from the Crown to the successive Princes of Wales as heirs apparent to the throne and possessors of the dukedom of Cornwall.

Becket.

BERKSHIRE.

The figure of the White Horse on the Berkshire Hills is said to have been executed by king Alfred to celebrate his victory over the Danes at Ashdown in 871. The figure, which is 374 feet long, can be seen at a distance of fifteen miles, and is formed by cutting away the turf and leaving the chalk bare. A ceremony called the ‘Scouring of the White Horse’ was formerly held once a year; and for this purpose it was customary for the neighbouring inhabitants to assemble with picks and shovels, and after they had rendered more distinct the form of the horse, were entertained by the lord of the manor.