PREFACE. (continued 10)

6. The Teutonic knights were originally called “Knights of St. George.”

Knights of St. Jago, a Spanish order, instituted under Pope Alexander III., the grand-master of which is next in rank to the sovereign. St. Jago or James (the Greater) is the patron saint of Spain.

Knights of St. John at Jerusalem, instituted in 1120. This order took its name from John, patriarch of Alexandria, and from the place of their abode(Jerusalem.) These knights subsequently resided at Rhodes (between 1310 and 1523). Being driven out by the Turks in 1523, they took up their abode in Malta, and were called “Knights of Malta.”

Knights of St. Lazare (2 syl.), a religious and military order of Knights Hospitallers, established in the twelfth century, and confirmed by the pope in 1255. Their special mission was to take care of lepers. The name is derived from Lazarus, the beggar, who lay at the gate of Divês. The order was introduced into France under Louis VII., and was abolished in the first Revolution.

Knights of St. Magdalene (3 syl.), a French order, instituted by St. Louis (IX.) to suppress duels.

Knights of St. Maria de Mercede (3 syl.), a Spanish order, for the redemption of captives.

Knights of St. Michael the Archangel (Chevaliers de l’Ordre de St. Michel), a French order, instituted by Louis XI. in 1469. The king was at the head of the order. M. Bouillet says: “St. Michel est 281regardé comme le protecteur et l’ange tutélaire de la France.”

Knights of St. Patrick, instituted in 1783. The ruling sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, and the lord-lieutenant of Ireland, are ex-officio members of this order. The order is named after St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.

Knights of St. Salvador, in Aragon, instituted by Alphonso I. in 1118.

Knights of Windsor, formerly called “Poor Knights of Windsor,” but now entitled “The Military Knights of Windsor,” a body of military pensioners, who have their residence within the precincts of Windsor Castle.

Knights of the Bath, an order of knighthood derived from the ancient Franks, and so termed because the members originally “bathed” before they performed their vigils. The last knights created in this ancient form were at the coronation of Charles II., in 1661.

G. C. B. stands for Grand Cross of the Bath (the first class); K. C. B. for Knight Commander of the Bath (the second class); and C. B. for Companion of the Bath (the third class).

Knights of the Blood of Our Saviour, an order of knighthood in Mantua, instituted by Duke Vincent Gonzaga, in 1608, on his marriage. It consisted of twenty Mantuan dukes. The name originated in the belief that in St. Andrew’s Church, Mantua, certain drops of our Saviour’s blood are preserved as a relic.

Knights of the Broom Flower (Chevaliers de l’Ordre de la Geneste), instituted by St. Louis (IX.) of France, on his marriage. The collar was decorated with broom flowers, intermixed with fleurs de lys in gold. The motto was Exaltat Humĭlês.

Knights of the Carpet or Carpet Knights, i. e. non-military or civil knights, such as mayors, lawyers, authors, artists, physicians, and so on, who receive their knighthood kneeling on a carpet, and not in the tented field.

Knights of the Chamber or Chamber Knights, knights bachelors made in times of peace in the presence chamber, and not in the camp. These are always military men, and therefore differ from “Carpet Knights,” who are always civilians.

Knights of the Cock and Dog, founded by Philippe I., Auguste, of France.

Knights of the Crescent, a military order, instituted by Renatus, of Anjou, king of Sicily, etc., in 1448. So called from the badge, which is a crescent of gold enamelled. What gave rise to this institution was that Renatus took for his device a crescent, with the word loz (“praise”), which, in the style of rebus, makes loz in crescent, i. e. “by advancing in virtue one merits praise.”

Knights of the Dove, a Spanish order, instituted in 1379, by John I., of Castile.

Knights of the Dragon, created by the emperor Sigismond, in 1417, upon the condemnation of Huss and Jerome, of Prague, “the heretics.”

KnightsKnights of the Ermine (Chevaliers de l’Ordre de l’Epi), instituted in 1450 by François I., duc de Bretagne. The collar 282was of gold, composed of ears of corn in saltier, at the end of which hung an ermine, with the legend à ma vie. The order expired when the dukedom was annexed to the crown of France.

Knights of the Garter, instituted by Edward III. of England, in 1344. According to Selden, “it exceeds in majesty, honor, and fame, all chivalrous orders in the world.” The story is that Joan, countess of Salisbury, while dancing with the king, let fall her garter, and the gallant Edward, perceiving a smile on the face of the courtiers, picked it up, bound it round his own knee, and exclaimed, “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” The blue garter and the motto of the order are thus accounted for.

Knights of the Golden Fleece, a military order of knighthood, instituted by Philippe, le Bon, of Burgundy, in 1429. It took its name from a representation of the golden fleece on the collar of the order. The king of Spain is grand-master, and the motto is Ante feret quam flamma micet.

Knights of the Golden Shield, an order instituted by Louis II., of France, for the defence of the country. The motto is Allons (i. e. “Let us go in defence of our country”).

Knights of the Hare, an order of twelve knights, instituted by Edward III. while he was in France. The French raised a tremendous shout, and Edward thought it was the cry of battle, but it was occasioned by a hare running between the two armies. From this incident the knights created on the field after this battle were termed “Knights of the Order of the Hare.”

Knights of the Holy Ghost (Chevalier de l’Ordre du Saint Esprit), instituted by Henri III., of France, on his return from Poland. Henri III. was both born and crowned on Whit-Sunday, and hence the origin of the order.

Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, an order of knighthood founded by St. Hel´ena, when she visited Jerusalem, at the age of 80, and found (as it is said) the cross on which Christ was crucified, in a cavern under the temple of Venus, A. D. 328. This order was confirmed by Pope Pascal II. in 1114.

Knights of the Lily, an order of knighthood in Navarre, founded by Garcia, in 1048.

Knights of the Order of Fools, established November, 1381, and continued to the beginning of the sixteenth century. The insignia was a jester or fool embroidered on the left side of their mantles, cap and bells, yellow stockings, a cup of fruit in the right hand, and a gold key in the left. It resembled the “Odd Fellows” of more modern times.

Knights of the Porcupine (Chevaliers de l’Ordre du Porcépic), a French order of knighthood. The original motto was Cominus et eminus, changed by Louis XII. into Ultus avos Trojæ.

Knights of the Red Staff, an order instituted by Alfonso XI. of Castile and Leon, in 1330.

Knights of the Round Table. King Arthur’s knights were so called, because they sat with him at a round table made by Merlin, for King Leodegraunce. This king gave it to Arthur on his marriage with Guinever, his daughter. It contained 283seats for 150 knights, 100 of which King Leodegraunce furnished when he sent the table.

Knights of the Shell. The argonauts of St. Nicholas were so called from the shells worked on the collar of the order.

Knights of the Ship, an order of knighthood founded by St. Louis IX., of France, in his expedition to Egypt.

Knights of the Star (Chevaliers de l’Ordre de l’Etoile), an ancient order of knighthood in France. The motto of the order was Monstrant regibus astra viam.

Knights of the Swan (Chevalier de l’Ordre du Cygne), an order of knighthood founded in 1443 by the elector Frederick II., of Brandenburg, and restored in 1843 by Frederick William IV., of Prussia. Its object is the relief of distress generally. The king of Prussia is grand-master. The motto is Gott mit uns (“God be with you”); and the collar is of gold. The white swan is the badge of the house of Cleves (Westphalia).

Lord Berners has a novel called The Knight of the Swan (sixteenth century).

Knights of the Thistle, said to be founded by Archaicus, king of the Scots, in 809; revived in 1530 by James V., of Scotland; again in 1687 by James II., of Great Britain; and again by Queen Anne, who placed the order on a permanent footing. The decoration consists of a collar of enamelled gold, composed of sixteen thistles interlaced with sprigs of rue, and a small golden image of St. Andrew within a circle. The motto is Nemo me impune lacessit. The members are sometimes called “Knights of St Andrew.”

The rue mixed with the thistles is a pun on the word “Andrew” thistles And-rue.

⁂ There was at one time a French “Order of the Thistle” in the house of Bourbon, with the same decoration and motto.

Knights of the Virgin’s Looking-Glass, an order instituted in 1411 by Ferdinand of Castile.

Knights Teutonic, originally called “Knights of St. George,” then “Knights of the Virgin Mary,” and lastly “Teutonic Knights of the Hospital of St. Mary the Virgin.” This order was instituted by Henry, king of Jerusalem, in compliment to the German volunteers who accompanied Frederick Barbarossa on his crusade. The knights were soon afterwards placed under the tutelage of the Virgin, to whom a hospital had been dedicated for the relief of German Pilgrims; and in 1191, Pope Celestine III. confirmed the privileges, and changed the name of the order into the “Teutonic Knights,” etc. Abolished by Napoleon in 1809.

Knights of To-day, under this caption Charles Barnard has given us stories of engineers, mechanics, inventors, and other followers of peaceful arts that make for the enduring prosperity of the race, and call into practice nobler virtues than the trade of war and greed of conquest.

Knighton, groom of the duke of Buckingham.—Sir. W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I.).

Knockwinnock (Sybil), wife of Sir Richard of the Redhand, and mother of Malcolm Misbegot.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).

Koh-i-noor (“mountain of light”), a diamond once called “The Great Mogul.” 284Held in the fourteenth century by the rajah of Malwa. Later it fell into the hands of the sultans of Delhi, after their conquest of Malwa. It belonged in the seventeenth century, to Aurungzebe the Great. The Schah Jihan sent it to Hortensio Borgio to be cut, but the Venetian lapidary re-reduced it from 793-5/8 carats to 186, and left it dull and lustreless. It next passed into the hands of Aurungzebe’s great-grandson, who hid it in his turban. Nadir Schah invited the possessor to a feast, and insisted on changing turbans, “to cement their love,” and thus it fell into Nadir’s hands, who gave it the name of “Koh-i-noor.” It next passed into the hands of Ahmed Shah, founder of the Cabûl dynasty; was extorted from Shah Shuja by Runjet Singh, who wore it set in a bracelet. After the murder of Shu Singh, it was deposited in the Lahore treasury, and after the annexation of the Punjaub, was presented to Queen Victoria, in 1850. It has been recut, and, though reduced to 106 carats, is supposed to be worth £140,000.

⁂ There is another diamond of the same name belonging to the shah of Persia.

Kohlhass (Michael), an excellent historical novel of the Lutheran period, by Henry Kleist, a German (1776-1811).

Kolao, the wild man of Misanichis. He had a son who died in early youth, and he went to Pat-Koot-Parout to crave his son’s restoration to life. Pat-Koot-Parout put the soul of the dead body in a leather bag, which he fastened with packthread, and hung round the neck of Kolao, telling him to lay the body in a new hut, put the bag near the mouth, and so let the soul return to it, but on no account to open the bag before everything was ready. Kolao placed the bag in his wife’s hands while he built the hut, strictly enjoining her not to open it; but curiosity led her to open the bag, and out flew the soul to the country of Pat-Koot-Parout again.—T. S. Gueulette, Chinese Tales (“Kolao, the Wild Man,” 1723).

⁂ Orpheus, having lost his wife, Eurydĭcê, by the bite of a serpent, obtained permission of Pluto for her restoration, provided he looked not back till he reached the upper world. He had got to the end of his journey, when he turned round to see if Pluto had kept his word. As he turned he just caught sight of Eurydicê, who was instantly caught back again to the infernal regions.

Korigans or Korrigans, nine fays of Brittany, who can predict future events, assume any shape, and move from place to place as quick as thought. They do not exceed two feet in height, sing like syrens, and comb their long hair like mermaids. They haunt fountains, and flee at the sound of bells, and their breath is deadly.—Breton Mythology.

Kosciusko (Thaddœus), the Polish general who contended against the allied army of Russia under the command of Suwarrow, in 1794. He was taken prisoner and sent to Russia, but in 1796 was set at liberty by the Czar.

Hope for a season bade the world farewell,

And Freedom shrieked—as Kosciusko fell.

Campbell, Pleasures of Hope, i. (1799).

Kriemhild [Kreem.hild], daughter of Dancrat, and sister of Günther, king of Burgundy. She first married Siegfried, king of the Netherlanders, who was murdered by Hagan. Thirteen years afterwards, she married Etzel (Atilla), king of the Huns. Some time after her marriage, she 285invited Günther, Hagan, and others to visit her, and Hagan slew Etzel’s young son. Kriemhild now became a perfect fury, and cut off the head of both Günther and Hagan with her own hand, but was herself slain by Hildebrand. Till the death of Siegfried, Kriemhild was gentle, modest, and lovable, but afterwards she became vindictive, bold and hateful.—The Nibelungen Lied (by the German minnesingers, 1210).

Kriss Kringle. (See St. Nicholas, Santa Claus, etc.)

Krook, proprietor of a rag and bone warehouse, where everything seems to be bought and nothing sold. He is a grasping drunkard, who eventually dies of spontaneous combustion. Krook is always attended by a large cat, which he calls “Lady Jane,” as uncanny as her master.—C. Dickens, Bleak House (1852).

Kruitz´ner, or the “German’s Tale,” in Miss H. Lee’s Canterbury Tales. Lord Byron founded his tragedy of Werner on this tale.

The drama [of Werner] is taken entirely from the “German’s Tale” [Kruitzner], published in Lee’s Canterbury Tales, written by two sisters.... I have adopted the characters, plan, and even the language of many parts of the story.—Lord Byron, Preface to Werner (1822).

Kubla Kahn. Coleridge says that he composed the poem in a dream, immediately after reading in Purchas’s Pilgrimage a description of the Khan Kubla’s palace, and he wrote it down on awaking, in its present fragmentary state.

Kudrun, called the German Odyssey (thirteenth century); divided into three parts called Hagen, Hilde (2 syl.), and Kudrun—same as Gudrun (q. v.).

Hagen is the son of Siegebrand, king of Ireland, and is carried off by a griffin to a distant island, where three princesses take charge of him. In due time a ship touches on the island, takes all the four to Ireland, and Hagen marries Hilda, the youngest of the three sisters.

Hilda. In due time Hilda has a daughter, who is called by the same name, and at a marriageable age she becomes the wife of Hedel, king of Friesland.

Kudrun. Hilda has two children, Otwein [Ot.vine] a son, and Kudrun, a daughter. Kudrun is affianced to Herwig, but, while preparing the wedding dresses, is carried off by Hartmut, son of Ludwig, king of Normandy. Her father goes in pursuit, but is slain by Ludwig. On reaching Normandy, Gerlinde (3 syl.), the queen-mother, treats Kudrun with the greatest cruelty, and puts her to the most menial work, because she refuses to marry her son. At length, succor is at hand. Her lover and brother arrive and slay Ludwig. Gerlinde is just about to put Kudrun to death, when Watt Long-beard rushes in, slays the queen, and rescues Kudrun, who is forthwith married to Herwig, her affianced lover.—Author unknown (some of the minnesingers).

Kwa´sind, the strongest man that ever lived, the Herculês of the North America Indians. He could pull up cedars and pines by the roots, and toss huge rocks about like playthings. His wondrous strength was “seated in his crown,” and there of course lay his point of weakness, but the only weapon which could injure him was the “blue cone of the fir tree,” a secret known only to the pygmies or Little-folk. This mischievous race, out of jealousy, determined to kill the strong man, and one day, finding him asleep in a boat, pelted him with fir cones till he died; 286and now, whenever the tempest rages through the forests, and the branches of the trees creak and groan and split, they say “Kwasind is gathering in his firewood.”

Dear, too, unto Hiawatha

Was the very strong man Kwasind;

He the strongest of all mortals.

Longfellow, Hiawatha, vi. and xviii.

Kyrie Elyson de Montalban (Don) or “Don Quirieleyson de Montalvan,” brother of Thomas de Montalban, in the romance called Tirante le Blanc.—Author unknown.

⁂ Dr. Warburton, in his essay on the old romances, falls into the strange error of calling this character an “early romance of chivalry.” As well might he call Claudius, king of Denmark, a play of Shakespeare’sShakespeare’s, instead of a character in the tragedy of Hamlet.

A large quarto dropped at the barber’s feet ... it was the history of that famous knight Tirante le Blanc. “Pray let me look at that book,” said the priest; “we shall find in it a fund of amusement. Here shall we find the famous knight Don Kyrie Elyson of Montalban, and his brother Thomas.... This is one of the most amusing books ever written.”—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).

Lab´arum, the imperial standard carried before the Roman emperors in war. Constantine, having seen a luminous cross in the sky the night before the battle of Saxa Rubra, added the sacred monogram XP (Christos).—Gibbon, Decline and Fall, etc., xx. note (1788).

R. Browning erroneously calls the word labā´rum.

... stars would write his will in heaven,

As once when a labarum was not deemed

Too much for the old founder of these walls

[Constantinople].

R. Browning, Paracelsus, ii.

Labe (2 syl.), the sorceress-queen of the Island of Enchantments. She tried to change Beder, the young king of Persia, into a halting, one-eyed hack; but Beder was forewarned, and changed Labê herself into a mare.—Arabian Nights (“Beder and Giauharê”).

Labe´rius, a Roman writer of mimes contemporary with Julius Cæsar.

Laberius would be always sure of more followers than Sophoclês.—J. Macpherson, Dissertation on Ossian.

La Creevy (Miss), a little talkative, bustling, cheery miniature-painter. Simple-minded, kind-hearted, and bright as a lark. She marries Tim Linkinwater, the old clerk of the brothers Cheeryble.—C. Dickens, Nicholas NicklebyNickleby (1838).

Lackitt (Widow), the widow of an Indian planter. This rich, vulgar widow falls in love with Charlotte Weldon, who assumes the dress of a young man, and calls herself Mr. Welden. Charlotte even marries the widow, but then informs her that she is a girl in male apparel, engaged to Mr. Stanmore. The widow consoles herself by marrying Jack Stanmore.—Thomas Southern, Oroonoko (1696).

Lacy (Sir Hugo de), constable of Chester, a crusader.

Sir Damian de Lacy, nephew of Sir Hugo. He marries Lady Eveline.

Randal de Lacy, Sir Hugo’s cousin, introduced in several disguises, as a merchant, 287a hawk-seller, and a robber-captain.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

La´das, Alexander’s messenger, noted for his swiftness of foot.

Ladislaus, a cynic, whose humor is healthy and amusing.—Massinger, The Picture (1629).

Ladon, the dragon or hydra that assisted the Hesperidês in keeping watch over the golden apples of the Hesperian grove.

So oft th’ unamiable dragon hath slept,

That the garden’s imperfectly watched after all.

T. Moore, Irish Melodies (1814).

Ladur´lad, the father of Kail´yal (2 syl.). He killed Ar´valan for attempting to dishonor his daughter, and thereby incurred the “curse of Keha´ma” (Arvalan’s father). The curse was that water should not wet him nor fire consume him, that sleep should not visit him nor death release him, etc. After enduring a time of agony, these curses turned to blessings. Thus, when his daughter was exposed to the fire of the burning pagoda, he was enabled to rescue her, because he was “charmed from fire.” When her lover was carried by the witch Lorrimite (3 syl.) to the city of Baly, under the ocean, he was able to deliver the captive, because he was “charmed from water, the serpent’s tooth, and all beasts of blood.” He could even descend to the infernal regions to crave vengeance against Kehama, because “he was charmed against death.” When Kehama drank the cup of “immortal death,” Ladurlad was taken to Paradise.—Southey, The Curse of Kehama (1809).

Lady (A), authoress of A New System of Domestic Cookery (1808), is Mrs. Rundell.

Lady (A), authoress of The Diary of an Ennuyée (1826), is Mrs. Anna Jameson.

Several other authoresses have adopted the same signature, as Miss Gunn of Christchurch, Conversations on Church Polity (1833); Mrs. Palmer, A Dialogue in the Devonshire Dialect (1837); Miss S. Fenimore Cooper, Rural Hours (1854); Julia Ward, Passion-flowers, etc., (1854); Miss E. M. Sewell, Amy Herbert (1865); etc.

Lady of the Aroostook. A young girl educated in a provincial town, wishes to visit relatives in Italy, and takes passage in a sailing-vessel, not knowing that there was to be no other woman on board. She is treated with chivalric respect by all on board.—W. D. Howells, Lady of the Aroostook (1879).

Lady Bountiful (A). The benevolent lady of a village is so called, from “Lady Bountiful” in the Beaux’ Stratagem, by Farquhar. (See Bountiful, p. 125).

Lady of Castelnore. Châtelaine of Bretagne, sought by many in marriage, but reputed haughtily cold up to the day of her death. One November morning a long delayed ship brought home her lover to weep “too late” over her grave.

“And they called her cold. God knows! underneath the winter snows,

The invisible hearts of flowers grow ripe for blossoming!

And the lives that look so cold, if their stories could be told,

Would seem cast in gentler mould, would seem full of love and spring.”

T. B. Aldrich, The Lady of CastelnoreCastelnore (1856).

Lady Freemason, the Hon. Miss Elizabeth St. Leger, daughter of Lord 288Doneraile. The tale is that, in order to witness the proceedings of a Freemason’s lodge, she hid herself in an empty clock-case when the lodge was held in her father’s house; but, being discovered, she was compelled to submit to initiation as a member of the craft.

Lady Magistrate, Lady Berkley, made justice of the peace for Gloucestershire by Queen Mary. She sat on the bench at assizes and sessions girt with a sword.

Lady Margaret, mother of Henry VII. She founded a professorship of divinity in the University of Cambridge, 1502; and a preachership in both universities.

Lady in the Sacque. The apparition of this hag forms the story of the Tapestried Chamber, by Sir W. Scott.

Lady of England, Maud, daughter of Henry I. The title of Domina Anglorum was conferred upon her by the council of Winchester, held April 7, 1141.—See Rymer’s Fœdera, i. (1703).

Lady of Lyons (The), Pauline Deschappelles, daughter of a Lyonese merchant. She rejected the suits of Beauseant, Glavis, and Claude Melnotte, who therefore combined on vengeance. To this end, Claude, who was a gardener’s son, aided by the other two, passed himself off as Prince of Como, married Pauline, and brought her home to his mother’s cottage. The proud beauty was very indignant, and Claude left her to join the French army. In two years and a half he became a colonel and returned to Lyons. He found that his father-in-law was on the eve of bankruptcy, and that Beauseant had promised to satisfy the creditors if Pauline would consent to marry him. Pauline was heart-broken; Claude revealed himself, paid the money required, and carried home Pauline as his loving and true-hearted wife.—L. B. Lytton, Lady of Lyons (1838).

Lady of Mercy (Our), an order of knighthood in Spain, instituted in 1218 by James I., of Aragon, for the deliverance of Christian captives amongst the Moors. As many as 400 captives were rescued in six years by these knights.

Lady of Shalott, a maiden who died for love of Sir Lancelot of the Lake. Tennyson has a poem so entitled.

⁂ The story of Elaine, “the lily maid of Astolat,” in Tennyson’s Idylls of the King, is substantially the same.

Lady of the Bleeding Heart, Ellen Douglas. The cognizance of the Douglas family is a “bleeding heart.”—Sir W. Scott, Lady of the Lake (1810).

Lady of the Lake (A), a harlot. (Anglo-Saxon, lác, “a present.”) A “guinea-fowl” or “guinea-hen” is a similar term.

But for the difference marriage makes

’Twixt wives and “ladies of the lake.”

S. Butler, Hudibras, iii. 1 (1668)

Lady of the Lake (The), Nimue [sic], one of the damsels of the lake, that King Pellinore took to his court. Merlin, in his dotage, fell in love with her, when she wheedled him out of all his secrets, and enclosed him in a rock, where he died. Subsequently, Nimue married Sir Pelleas.

⁂ Tennyson, in his Idylls of the King (“Merlin and Vivien”), makes Vivien the enchantress who wheedled old Merlin out of his secrets; and then, “in a hollow oak,” she shut him fast, and there “he 289lay as dead, and lost to life and use, and name, and fame.”

Tennyson takes a poet’s privilege, and varies the old legend at pleasure.

Lady of the Lake (The), Nineve. The name of the Lady of the Lake is variously spelled in the old editions of the Mort d’ Arthur. We find: 1, Nimue; 2, Nineve; 3, Vivien; 4, Vivienne. 4 is the French of 3; 1 is probably a misprint for Ninve; and 1, 2, 3 are probably anagrams.

Lady of the Lake (The). Vivienne (3 syl.) is called La Dame du Lac, and dwelt en la marche de la petite Bretaigne. She stole Lancelot in his infancy, and plunged with him into her home lake; hence was Lancelot called du Lac. When her protégé was grown to manhood, she presented him to King Arthur.

Lady of the Lake (The), Ellen Douglas, once a favorite of King James; but when her father fell into disgrace, she retired with him into the vicinity of Loch Katrine.—Sir W. Scott, Lady of the Lake (1810).

Lady of the Lake and Arthur’s Sword. The lady of the Lake gave to King Arthur the sword “Excalibur.” “Well,” said she, “go into yonder barge and row yourself to the sword, and take it.” So Arthur and Merlin came to the sword that a hand held up, and took it by the handles, and the arm and hand went under the lake again (pt. i. 23).

The Lady of the Lake asked in recompense, the head of Sir Balin, because he had slain her brother; but the king refused the request. Then said Balin, “Evil be ye found! Ye would have my head; therefore ye shall lose thine own.” So saying, with his sword he smote off her head in the presence of King Arthur.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 28 (1470).

Lady of the Mercians, Æthelflæd or El´flida, daughter of King Alfred. She married Æthelred, chief of that portion of Mercia not claimed by the Danes.

Lady of the Sun, Alice Perrers (or Pierce), a mistress of Edward III., of England. She was a married woman, and had been lady of the bed-chamber to Queen Philippa. Edwin lavished on her both riches and honors; but when the king was dying, she stole his jewels, and even the rings from his fingers.

Lady or the Tiger? (The). A princess is beloved by a subject, and for this crime he is condemned to die by the king. Two doors open from the amphitheatre. Behind one crouches a tiger; behind the other smiles a woman whom the condemned is to marry. The princess, who loves the doomed man madly, knows which door conceals death, and which marriage, and by preconcert with her lover, gives him a secret signal which to open. He walks directly to the door on the right and opens it.

“Did the tiger come out of the door, or did the lady?”—Francis Richard Stockton, The Lady or the Tiger? (1884).

Lady with a Lamp, Florence Nightingale (1820- ).

In England’s annals ...

A lady with a lamp shall stand ...

A noble type of good,

Heroic womanhood.

Longfellow, Santa Filomena.

Laer´tes (3 syl.), son of Polōnius, lord chamberlain of Denmark, and brother of Ophelia. He is induced by the king to challenge Hamlet to a “friendly” duel, 290but poisons his own rapier. He wounds Hamlet; and in the scuffle which ensues, the combatants change swords, and Hamlet wounds Laertês, so that both die.—Shakespeare, Hamlet (1596).

Laertes (3 syl.), a Dane, whose life Gustavus Vasa had spared in battle. He becomes the trusty attendant of Christi´na, daughter of the king of Sweden, and never proves ungrateful to the noble Swede.—H. Brooke, Gustavus Vasa (1730).

Laer´tes’s Son, Ulysses.

But when his strings with mournful magic tell

What dire distress Laertês’ son befell,

The streams meandering thro’ the maze of woe,

Bid sacred sympathy the heart o’erflow.

Falconer, The Shipwreck, iii. 1 (1756).

Lafeu, an old French lord, sent to conduct Bertram, count of Rousillon, to the king of France, by whom he was invited to the royal court.—Shakespeare, All’s Well that Ends Well (1598).

Lafontaine (The Danish), Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875).

Lafontaine of the Vaudeville. So C. F. Panard is called (1691-1765).

Lag´ado, capital of Balnibarbi, celebrated for its grand school of projectors, where the scholars have a technical education, being taught to make pincushions from softened granite, to extract from cucumbers the sunbeams which ripened them, and to convert ice into gunpowder.—Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (“Voyage to Lapu´ta,” 1726).

La Grange and his friend Du Croisy pay their addresses to two young ladies whose heads have been turned by novels. The girls think their manners too natural to be aristocratic, so the gentlemen send to them their lackeys, as “the marquis of Mascarille” and “the viscount of Jodelet.” The girls are delighted with their “aristocratic visitors;” but when the game has been played far enough, the masters enter and unmask the whole trick. By this means the girls are taught a most useful lesson, without suffering any serious ill consequences.—Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659).

Laider (Donald), one of the prisoners at Portanferry.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.)

Laidley (Genevieve). An ingénue, whose sentimental heroics and tearful blandishments nearly dupe her fifty year old guardian (rich and distinguished) into a proposal.—Frank Lee Benedict, My Daughter Elinor (1869).

Lai´la (2 syl.), a Moorish maiden, of great beauty and purity, who loved Manuel, a youth worthy of her. The father disapproved of the match; and they eloped, were pursued, and overtaken near a precipice on the Gruádalhorcê (4 syl.). They climbed to the top of the precipice, and the father bade his followers discharge their arrows at them. Laila and Manuel, seeing death to be inevitable, threw themselves from the precipice, and perished in the fall. It is from this incident that the rock was called “The Lovers’ Leap.”

And every Moorish maid can tell

Where Laila lies, who loved so well;

And every youth who passes there,

Says for Manuel’s soul a prayer.

Southey, The Lovers’ Rock (a ballad, 1798, taken from Mariana, De la Pena de los Enamorados.)

Laila, daughter of Okba, the sorcerer. It was decreed that either Laila or Thalaba must die. Thalaba refused to redeem his 291own life by killing Laila; and Okba exultingly cried, “As thou hast disobeyed the voice of Allah, God hath abandoned thee, and this hour is mine.” So saying, he rushed on the youth; but Laila, intervening to protect him, received the blow, and was killed. Thalaba lived on, and the spirit of Laila, in the form of a green bird, conducted him to the simorg (q.v.), which he sought, that he might be directed to Dom-Daniel, the cavern “under the roots of the ocean.”—Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, x. (1797).

La´is (2 syl.), a generic name for a courtezan. Laïs was a Greek hetæra who sold her favors for £200 English money. When Demosthenês was told the amount of the fee, he said he had “no mind to buy repentance at such a price.” One of her great admirers was Diog´enês, the cynic.

This is the cause

That Lais leads a lady’s life aloft.

G. Gascoigne, The Steele Glas (died 1577).

Lake Poets (The), Wordsworth, Southey, and Coleridge, who lived about the lakes of Cumberland. According to Mr. Jeffrey, the conductor of the Edinburgh Review, they combined the sentimentality of Rousseau with the simplicity of Kotzebue and the homeliness of Cowper. Of the same school were Lamb, Lloyd, and Wilson. Also called “Lakers” and “Lakists.”

Laked´ion (Isaac), the name given in France to the Wandering Jew (q.v.).

Lalla Rookh, the supposed daughter of Aurungzebe, emperor of Delhi. She was betrothed to Alĭris, sultan of Lesser Bucharia. On her journey from Delhi to Cashmere, she was entertained by Fer´amorz, a young Persian poet, with whom she fell in love, and unbounded was her delight when she discovered that the young poet was the sultan to whom she was betrothed.—T. Moore, Lalla Rookh (1817).

Lambert (General), parliamentary leader.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).

Lambert (Sir John), the dupe of Dr. Cantwell, “the hypocrite.” He entertains him as his guest, settles on him £400 a year, and tries to make his daughter Charlotte marry him, although he is 59 and she under 20. His eyes are opened at length by the mercenary and licentious conduct of the doctor. Lady Lambert assists in exposing him, but old lady Lambert remains to the last a believer in the “saint.” In Molière’s comedy, “Orgon” takes the place of Lambert, “Mde. Parnelle” of the old lady, and “Tartuffe” of Dr. Cantwell.

Lady Lambert, the gentle, loving wife of Sir John. By a stratagem, she convinces her husband of Dr. Cantwell’s true character.

Colonel Lambert, son of Sir John and Lady Lambert. He assists in unmasking “the hypocrite.”

Charlotte Lambert, daughter of Sir John and Lady Lambert. A pretty, bright girl, somewhat giddy, and fond of teasing her sweetheart, Darnley (see act i. 1).—I. Bickerstaff, The Hypocrite (1769).

Lambourne (Michael), a retainer of the earl of Leicester.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time Elizabeth).

Lambro, a Greek pirate, father of Haidée (q.v.).—Bryon, Don Juan, iii. 26, etc. (1820).(1820).

292⁂ The original of this character was Major Lambro, who was captain (1791) of a Russian piratical squadron, which plundered the islands of the Greek Archipelago, and did great damage. When his squadron was attacked by seven Algerine corsairs, Major Lambro was wounded, but escaped. The incidents referred to in canto vi., etc., are historical.

Lamderg and Gelchossa. Gelchossa was beloved by Lamderg and Ullin, son of Cairbar. The rivals fought, and Ullin fell. Lamderg, all bleeding with wounds, just reached Gelchossa to announce the death of his rival, and expired also. “Three days Gelchossa mourned, and then the hunters found her cold,” and all three were buried in one grave.—Ossian, Fingal, ii.

Lame (The).

Jehan de Meung, called “Clopinet,” because he was lame, and hobbled.

Tyrtæus, the Greek poet, was called the lame or hobbling poet, because he introduced the pentameter verse alternately with the hexameter. Thus his distich consisted of one line with six feet and one line with only five.

The Lame King, Charles II., of Naples, Boiteux (1248, 1289-1309).

Lamech’s Song. “Ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt! If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.”—Gen. iv. 23, 24.

As Lamech grew old, his eyes became dim, and finally all sight was taken from them, and Tubal-Cain, his son, led him by the hand when he walked abroad. And it came to pass ... that he led his father into the fields to hunt, and said to his father: “Lo! yonder is a beast of prey; shoot thine arrow in that direction.” Lamech did as his son had spoken, and the arrow struck Cain, who was walking afar off, and killed him.... Now when Lamech ... saw [sic] that he had killed Cain, he trembled exceedingly ... and being blind, he saw not his son, but struck the lad’s head between his hands, and killed him.... And he cried to his wives, Ada and Zillah, “Listen to my voice, ye wives of Lamech.... I have slain a man to my hurt, and a child to my wounding!”—The Talmud, i.

Lamia. Libyan Queen, wronged by Jupiter and hated by Juno. Robbed of her children, she became a child murderess and a monster.—Greek and Roman Mythology.

Lamia.

“I kissed her hand, I called her blest,

I held her leal and fair—

She turned to shadow on my breast

And melted into air!

And lo! about me, fold on fold,

A writhing serpent hung—

An eye of jet, a skin of gold,

A garnet for a tongue.”

Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Lamia.

Lamia. Beautiful woman, with a serpent’s nature and much of the serpent’s glittering, sinuous charm. A seductive creature who lures men only to destroy.—Lamia, poem by John Keats (1820).

Lamin´ak. Basque fairies, little folk, who live under ground, and sometimes come into houses down the chimney, in order to change a fairy child for a human one. They bring good luck with them, but insist on great cleanliness, and always give their orders in words the very opposite of their intention. They hate church bells. Every Basque Laminak is named Guïllen (William). (See Say and Mean).

Lamington, a follower of Sir Geoffrey Peveril.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).

293Lami´ra, wife of Champernel, and daughter of Vertaigné (2 syl.), a nobleman and a judge.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Little French Lawyer (1647).

Lamkin (Mrs. Alice), companion to Mrs. Bethune Baliol.—Sir W. Scott, The Highland Widow (time, George II.).

Lammeter (Nancy), fair, good and sensible girl, who marries Geoffrey Cass, in Silas Warner, and when she learns that the waif brought up by Silas is her husband’s child, would gladly adopt her.—George Eliot, Silas MarnerMarner.

Lammikin, a blood-thirsty builder, who built and baptized his castle with blood. He was long a nursery ogre, like Lunsford.—Scotch Ballad.

Lammle (Alfred), a “mature young gentleman with too much nose on his face, too much ginger in his whiskers, too much torso in his waistcoat, too much sparkle in his studs, his eyes, his buttons, his talk, his teeth.” He married Miss Akershem, thinking she had money, and she married him under the same delusion; and the two kept up a fine appearance on nothing at all. Alfred Lammle had many schemes for making money; one was to oust Rokesmith from his post of secretary to Mr. Boffin, and get his wife adopted by Mrs. Boffin in the place of Bella Wilfer; but Mr. Boffin saw through the scheme, and Lammle, with his wife, retired to live on the Continent. In public they appeared very loving and amiable to each other, but led at home a cat-and-dog life.

Sophronia Lammle, wife of Alfred Lammle. “A mature young lady, with raven locks, and complexion that lit up well when well powdered.”powdered.”—C. Dickens, Our Mutual Friend (1864).

Lamoracke (Sir), Lamerocke, Lamorake, Lamorock, or Lamarecke, one of the knights of the Round Table, and one of the three most noted for deeds of prowess. The other two were Sir Launcelot and Sir Tristram. Sir Lamoracke’s father was King Pellinore of Wales, who slew King Lot. His brothers were Sir Aglavale and Sir Percival; Sir Tor, whose mother was the wife of Aries, the cowherd, was his half-brother (pt. ii. 108). Sir Lamoracke was detected by the sons of King Lot in adultery with their mother, and they conspired his death.

Sir Gawain and his three brethren, Sir Agrawain, Sir Gahĕris, and Sir Modred, met him [Sir Lamoracke] in a privy place, and there they slew his horse; then they fought with him on foot for more than three hours, both before him and behind his back, and all-to hewed him in pieces.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, ii. 144 (1470).

Roger Ascham says: “The whole pleasure of La Mort d’Arthur standeth in two special poyntes: in open manslaughter and bold bawdye, in which booke they are counted the noblest knights that doe kill most men without any quarrell, and commit foulest adulteries by sutlest shiftes; as Sir Launcelote, with the wife of King Arthur, his master, Sir Tristram, with the wife of King Marke, his uncle, and Sir Lamerocke with the wife of King Lote, that was his aunt.”—Works, 254 (fourth edit.).

Lamorce´ (2 syl.), a woman of bad reputation, who inveigles young Mirabel into her house, where he would have been murdered by four bravoes, if Oriana, dressed as a page, had not been by.—G. Farquhar, The Inconstant (1702).

Lamourette’s Kiss (A), a kiss of peace when there is no peace; a kiss of apparent reconciliation, but with secret hostility. On July 7, 1792, the Abbé Lamourette induced the different factions of the Legislative Assembly of France to lay aside their differences; so the deputies 294of the Royalists, Constitutionalists, Girondists, Jacobins, and Orleanists, rushed into each others’ arms, and the king was sent for, that he might see “how these Christians loved one another;” but the reconciliation was hardly made when the old animosities burst forth more furiously than ever.

Lampad´ion, a lively, petulant courtezan. A name common in the later Greek comedy.

Lampe´do, of Lacedæmon. She was daughter, wife, sister, and mother of a king. Agrippina was granddaughter, wife, sister, and mother of a king.—Tacitus, Annales, xii. 22, 37.

⁂ The wife of Raymond Ber´enger (count of Provence), was grandmother of four kings, for her four daughters married four kings; Margaret married Louis IX., king of France; Eleanor married Henry III., king of England; Sancha married Richard, king of the Romans; and Beatrice married Charles I., king of Naples and Sicily.

Lampedo, a country apothecary-surgeon, without practice; so poor and ill-fed that he was but “the sketch and outline of a man.” He says of himself:

Altho’ to cure men be beyond my skill,

’Tis hard, indeed, if I can’t keep them ill.

J. Tobin, The Honeymoon, iii. 3 (1804).

Lamplugh (Will), a smuggler.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

Lance (1 syl.), falconer and ancient servant to the father of Valentine, the gallant, who would not be persuaded to keep his estate.—Beaumont and Fletcher, Wit Without Money (1622).

Lancelot or Launcelot Gobbo, servant of Shylock. He assists Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, in running away from her father, and accompanies her in her flight.—Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice (1598).

Lancelot du Lac, by Ulrich of Zazikoven, the most ancient poem of the Arthurian series. It tells the adventures of a young knight, gay and joyous, with animal spirits and light-heartedness. (See Launcelot.)—One of the minnesongs of Germany (twelfth century).

Lancelot du Lac and Tarquin. Sir Lancelot, seeking adventures, met with a lady who prayed him to deliver certain knights of the Round Table from the power of Tarquin. Coming to a river, he saw a copper basin hung on a tree for gong, and he struck it so hard that it broke. This brought out Tarquin, and a furious combat ensued, in which Tarquin was slain. Sir Lancelot then liberated three score and four knights, who had been made captives by Tarquin. (See Launcelot.)—Percy, Reliques, I. ii. 9.

Lancelot of the Laik, a Scotch metrical romance, taken from the French Launcelot du Lac. Galiot, a neighboring king, invaded Arthur’s territories, and captured the castle of Lady Melyhalt among others. When Sir Lancelot went to chastise Galiot, he saw Queen Guinevere, and fell in love with her. The French romance makes Galiot submit to King Arthur; but the Scotch tale terminates with his capture. (See Launcelot.)

Lanciotto Da Rimini. The brave, deformed victim of a state-marriage. Loving his wife and brother best of created things, he is deceived by both, and goaded to fury by the discovery and the taunts of the spy, Pepe, seeks to wash out his dishonor in blood.—George Henry 295Boker, Francesca Da Rimini; A Tragedy (1856).

Landois (Peter), the favorite minister of the Duc de Bretagne.—Sir. W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Landscape Gardening (Father of), Lenôtre (1613-1700).

Lane (Mr.). The victim of another man’s dishonesty. Retires from the world and lives in Ivy Lane, London, in rags and poverty, lamenting “a lost life.” Meeting him to whom he owes his ruin, he pursues him, overtakes him at the river, seizes him and sinks with him to rise no more.

“When the victim recovered his life, what did his tempter and oppressor recover?”—Walter Besant; Children of Gibeon, (1890).

Lane (Jane), daughter of Thomas, and sister of Colonel John Lane. To save King Charles II. after the battle of Worcester, she rode behind him from Bentley, in Staffordshire, to the house of her cousin, Mrs. Norton, near Bristol. For this act of loyalty, the king granted the family the following armorial device: A strawberry horse saliant (couped at the flank), bridled, bitted, and garnished, supporting between its feet a royal crown proper. Motto: Garde le roy.

Laneham (Master Robert), clerk of the council-chamber door.

Sybil Laneham, his wife, one of the revellers at Kenilworth Castle.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).

Langcale (The laird of), a leader in the covenanters’ army.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Langley (Sir Frederick), a suitor to Miss Vere, and one of the Jacobite conspirators with the laird of Ellieslaw.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time, Anne).

Langosta (Duke of), the Spanish nickname of Aosta, the elected king of Spain. The word means “a locust” or “plunderer.”

Language: (The Primeval).

Psammetichus, king of Egypt, desiring to learn what was the original language, shut up two infants with a goat to suckle them, in a place where they could hear no human voice, and gave orders to report to him the first word they should utter. At the end of two years they cried “Bekos,” and as this resembled the Phrygian word for “bread,” Psammetichus decided that the Phrygians were older than the Egyptians. The word was really the echo of the cry of the goat.

Languish (Lydia), a romantic young lady, who is for ever reading sensational novels, and molding her behavior on the characters which she reads of in these books of fiction. Hence she is a very female Quixote in romantic notions of a sentimental type (see act i. 2).—Sheridan, The Rivals (1775).

Lantern-Land, the land of authors, whose works are their lanterns. The inhabitants, called “Lanterners” (Lanternois), are bachelors and masters of arts, doctors, and professors, prelates and divines of the council of Trent, and all other wise ones of the earth. Here are the lanterns of Aristotle, Epicūros, and Aristophănês; the dark earthen lantern of Epictētos, the duplex lantern of Martial, and many others. The sovereign was a queen when Pantag´ruel visited the realm 296to make inquiry about the “Oracle of the Holy Bottle.”—Rabelais, Pantagruel, v. 32, 33 (1545).

Lanternois, pretenders to science, quacks of all sorts, and authors generally. They are the inhabitants of Lantern-land,¤ and their literary productions are “lanterns.”—Rabelais, Pantagruel, v. 32, 33 (1545).

Laocoon [La.ok´.o.on], a Trojan priest, who, with his two sons, was crushed to death by serpents. Thomson, in his Liberty, iv., has described the group, which represents these three in their death agony. It was discovered in 1506, in the baths of Titus, and is now in the Vatican. This exquisite group was sculptured at the command of Titus by Agesander, Polydorus, and Athenodorus, in the fifth century B.C.—Virgil, Æneid, ii. 201-227.

Laodami´a, wife of Protesila´os, who was slain at the siege of Troy. She prayed that she might be allowed to converse with her dead husband for three hours, and her request was granted; but when her husband returned to hadês, she accompanied him thither.

⁂ Wordsworth has a poem on this subject, entitled Laodamia.

Laodice´a, now Lataki´a, noted for its tobacco and sponge.—See Rev. iii. 14-18.

Lapet (Mons.), a model of poltroonery, the very “Ercles’ Vein” of fanatical cowardice. M. Lapet would fancy the world out of joint if no one gave him a tweak of the nose or lug of the ear. He was the author of a book on the “punctilios of duelling.”—Beaumont and Fletcher, Nice Valour or The Passionate Madman (1647).

Lapham (Silas). Boston man who has made a fortune, and means to enjoy it. His future son-in-law thus hits him off: “Simple-hearted and rather wholesome. He could be tiresome, and his range of ideas is limited. But he is a force, and not a bad one. He hasn’t got over being surprised at the effect of rubbing his lamp.” His most attractive qualities are his appreciation of his faithful wife, Persis, and prideful fondness for his pretty daughters. He is honest, too, through and through, and sacrifices much to sturdy integrity.—W. D. Howells, The Rise of Silas Lapham (1885).

Lappet, the “glory of all chambermaids.”—H. Fielding, The Miser.

Lapraick (Laurie), friend of Steenie Steenson, in Wandering Willie’s tale.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

Laprel, the rabbit, in the beast-epic entitled Reynard the Fox (1498).

Lara, the name assumed by Conrad, the corsair, after the death of Medo´ra. On his return to his native country, he was recognized by Sir Ezzelin, at the table of Lord Otho, and charged home by him. Lara arranged a duel for the day following, but Sir Ezzelin disappeared mysteriously. Subsequently, Lara headed a rebellion, and was shot by Otho.—Byron, Lara (1814).

Lara (The Seven Sons of), sons of Gonzalez Gustios de Lara, a Castilian hero, brother of Ferdinand Gonzalez, count of Castile. A quarrel having arisen between 297Gustios and Rodrigo Velasquez, his brother-in-law, Rodrigo caused him to be imprisoned in Cor´dova, and then allured his seven nephews into a ravine, where they were all slain by an ambuscade, after performing prodigies of valor. While in prison, Zaïda, daughter of Almanzor, the Moorish prince, fell in love with Gustios, and became the mother of Mudarra, who avenged the death of his seven brothers (A.D. 993).

⁂ Lope de Vega has made this the subject of a Spanish drama, which has several imitations, one by Mallefille, in 1835.—See Ferd. Denis, Chroniques Chevaleresques d’Espagne (1839).

Larder (The Douglas), the flour, meal, wheat, and malt of Douglas Castle, emptied on the floor by good Lord James Douglas, in 1307, when he took the castle from the English garrison. Having staved in all the barrels of food, he next emptied all the wine and ale, and then, having slain the garrison, threw the dead bodies into this disgusting mess, “to eat, drink, and be merry.”—Sir W. Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, ix.

Wallace’s Larder is a similar mess. It consisted of the dead bodies of the garrison of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, cast into the dungeon keep. The castle was surprised by him in the reign of Edward I.

Lardoon (Lady Bab), a caricature of fine life, the “princess of dissipation,” and the “greatest gamester of the times.” She becomes engaged to Sir Charles Dupely, and says, “to follow fashion where we feel shame, is the strongest of all hypocrisy, and from this moment I renounce it.”—J. Burgoyne, The Maid of the Oaks.

La Roche, a Swiss pastor, travelling through France with his daughter Margaret, was taken ill, and like to die. There was only a wayside inn in the place, but Hume, the philosopher, heard of the circumstance, and removed the sick man to his own house. Here, with good nursing, La Roche recovered, and a strong friendship sprang up between the two. Hume even accompanied La Roche to his manse in Berne. After the lapse of three years, Hume was informed that Mademoiselle was about to be married to a young Swiss officer, and hastened to Berne to be present at the wedding. On reaching the neighborhood, he observed some men filling up a grave, and found on inquiry that Mademoiselle had just died of a broken heart. In fact, her lover had been shot in a duel, and the shock was too much for her. The old pastor bore up heroically, and Hume admired the faith which could sustain a man in such an affliction.—H. Mackenzie, “Story of La Roche” (in The Mirror).

Lars, the emperor or over-king of the ancient Etruscans. A khedive, satrap, or under-king, was called lŭcŭmo. Thus the king of Prussia, as emperor of Germany, is lars, but the king of Bavaria is a lucumo.

There be thirty chosen prophets.

The wisest of the land,

Who alway by lars Por´sena,

Both morn and evening stand.

Lord Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome

(“Horatius,” ix. 1842).

Larthmor, petty king of Ber´rathon, one of the Scandinavian islands. He was dethroned by his son, Uthal, but Fingal sent Ossian and Toscar to his aid. Uthal was slain in single combatcombat, and Larthmor was restored to his throne.—Ossian, Berrathon.

Larthon. the leader of the Fir-bolg or Belgæ of Britain, who settled in the southern parts of Ireland.

298Larthon, the first of Bolga’s race who travelled in the winds. White bosomed spread the sails of the king towards streamy Inisfail [Ireland]. Dun night was rolled before him, with its skirts of mist. Unconstant blew the winds and rolled him from wave to wave.—Ossian, Temora, vii.

Lascaris, a citizen. Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Las-Ca´sas, a noble old Spaniard, who vainly attempted to put a stop to the barbarities of his countrymen, and even denounced them (act i. 1).—Sheridan, Pizarro (1799, altered from Kotzebue).

Lascelles (Lady Caroline), supposed to be Miss M. E. Braddon.—Athenæum, 2073, p. 82 (C. R. Jackson).

Last Man (The), Charles I.; so called by the parliamentarians, meaning the last man who would wear a crown in Great Britain. Charles II. was called “The son of the Last man.”

Last of the Fathers, St. Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux (1091-1153).

Last of the Goths, Roderick, the thirty-fourth and last of the Visigothic line of kings in Spain (414-711). He was dethroned by the African Moors.

⁂ Southey has an historical tale in blank verse, entitled Roderick, the Last of the Goths.

Last of the Greeks, (The), Philopœmen of Arcadia (B.C. 253-183).

Last of the Knights, Maximilian I., the Penniless, emperor of Germany (1459, 1493-1519).

Last of the Mo´hicans., Uncas, the Indian chief, is so called by J. F. Cooper, in his novel of that title.

⁂ The word ought to be pronounced Mo.hic.´kanz, but custom has ruled it otherwise.

Last of the Romans, Marcus Junius Brutus, one of the assassins of Cæsar (B.C. 85-42).

Caius Cassius Longīnus is so called by Brutus (B.C.*-42).

Aëtius, a general who defended the Gauls against the Franks, and defeated Attila in 451, is so called by Proco´pius.

Congreve is called by Pope, Ultimus Romanus (1670-1729).

Horace Walpole is called Ultimus Romanorum (1717-1797).

François Joseph Terasse Desbillons was called Ultimus Romanus, from his elegant and pure Latinity (1751-1789).

Last of the Tribunes, Cola di Rienzi (1313-1354).

⁂ Lord Lytton has a novel so entitled (1835).

Last of the Troubadors, Jacques Jasmin, of Gascony (1798-1864).

Last who Spoke Cornish (The), Doll Pentreath (1686-1777).

Last Words, (See Dying Sayings).

Lath´erum, the barber at the Black Bear inn, at Darlington.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).

Lathmon, son of Nuäth, a British prince. He invades Morven while Fingal is in Ireland with his army; but Fingal returns unexpectedly. At dead of night, Ossian (Fingal’s son) and his friend Gaul, the son of Morni, go to the enemy’s camp, and “strike the shield” to arouse the sleepers, then rush on, and a great slaughter ensues in the panic. Lathmon sees 299the two opponents moving off, and sends a challenge to Ossian; so Ossian returns, and the duel begins. Lathmon flings down his sword, and submits; and Fingal, coming up, conducts Lathmon to his “feast of shells.” After passing the night in banquet and song, Fingal dismisses his guest next morning, saying, “Lathmon, retire to thy place; turn thy battles to other lands. The race of Morven are renowned, and their foes are the sons of the unhappy.”—Ossian, Lathmon.

⁂ In Oithona he is again introduced, and Oithona is called Lathmon’s brother.

[Donrommath] feared the returning Lathmon, the brother of unhappy Oithona.—Ossian, Oithona.

Lat´imer (Mr. Ralph), the supposed father of Darsie Latimer, alias Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet.

Darsie Latimer, alias Sir Arthur Darsie Redgauntlet, supposed to be the son of Ralph Latimer, but really the son of Sir Henry Darsie Redgauntlet, and grandson of Sir Redwald Redgauntlet.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).

Latin Church (Fathers of the): Lactantius, Hilăry, Ambrose, of Milan, Jer´ome, AugustinAugustin of Hippo, and St. Bernard, “Last of the Fathers.”

Lati´nus, king of the Laurentians, who first opposed Æne´as, but afterwards formed an alliance with him, and gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage.—Virgil, Æneid.

Latinus, an Italian, who went with his five sons to the siege of Jerusalem. His eldest son was slain by Solyman; the second son, Aramantês, running to his brother’s aid, was next slain; then the third son, Sabi´nus; and lastly, Picus and Laurentës, who were twins. The father, having lost his five sons, rushed madly on the soldan, and was slain also. In one hour fell the father and his five sons.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

Latmian Swain (The), Endym´ion. So called because it was on Mount Latmos, in Caria, that Cynthia (the moon) descended to hold converse with him.

Thou dids’t not, Cynthia, scorn the Latmian swain.

Ovid, Art of Love, iii.

Lato´na, mother of Apollo (the sun) and Diana (the moon). Some Lycian hinds jeered at her as she knelt by a fountain in Delos to drink, and were changed into frogs.

As when those hinds that were transformed to frogs,

Railed at Latona’s twin-born progeny,

Which after held the sun and moon in fee.

Milton, Sonnets.

Latorch, Duke Rollo’s “earwig,” in the tragedy called The Bloody Brother, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1639).

Latro (Marcus Porcius), a Roman rhetorician in the reign of Augustus; a Spaniard by birth.

I became as mad as the disciples of Porcius Latro, who, when they had made themselves as pale as their master by drinking decoctions of cumin, imagined themselves as learned.—Lesage, Gil Blas, vii. 9 (1735).

Laud (Archbishop). One day, when the archbishop was about to say grace before dinner, Archie Armstrong, the royal jester, begged permission of Charles I. to perform the office instead. The request being granted, the wise fool said, “All praise to the Lord, and little Laud to the devil!” the point of which is much increased by 300the fact that the archbishop was a very small man.

Lauderdale (The Duke of), president of the privy council.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Laugh (Jupiter’s). Jupiter, we are told, laughed incessantly for seven days after he was born.—Ptol. Hephæstion, Nov. Hist., vii.

Laughing Philosopher (The), Democ´rītos, of Abde´ra (B.C. 460-357).

⁂He laughed or jeered at the feeble powers of man so wholly in the hands of fate, that nothing he did or said was uncontrolled. The “Weeping Philosopher” was Heraclitos.

Dr. Jeddler, the philosopher, who looked upon the world as a “great practical joke, something too absurd to be considered seriously by any rational man.”—C. Dickens, The Battle of Life (1846).

Laughter (Death from). A fellow in rags told Chalchas, the soothsayer, that he would never drink the wine of the grapes growing in his vineyard; and added, “If these words do not come true, you may claim me for your slave.” When the wine was made, Chalchas made a feast, and sent for the fellow to see how his prediction had failed; and when he appeared, the soothsayer laughed so immoderately at the would-be prophet that he died.—Lord Lytton, Tales of Miletus, iv.

Somewhat similar is the tale of Ancæos. This king of the Lelĕgês, in Samos, planted a vineyard, but was warned by one of his slaves that he would never live to taste the wine thereof. Wine was made from the grapes, and the king sent for his slave, and said, “What do you think of your prophecy now?” The slave made answer, “There’s many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip;” and the words were scarcely uttered, when the king rushed from table to drive out of his vineyard a boar which was laying waste the vines, but was killed in the encounter.—Pausanias.

Crassus died from laughter on seeing an ass eat thistles. Margutte, the giant, died of laughter on seeing an ape trying to pull on his boots. Philemon or Philomēnês died of laughter on seeing an ass eat the figs provided for his own dinner (Lucian, i. 2). Zeuxis died of laughter at sight of an old woman he had painted.

Launay (Vicomte de), pseudonym of Mde. Emile de Girardin (née Delphine Gay).

Launce, the clownish servant of Proteus, one of the two “gentlemen of Verona.” He is in love with Julia. Launce is especially famous for soliloquies to his dog, Crab, “the sourest-natured dog that lives.” Speed is the serving-man of Valentine, the other “gentleman.”—Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594).

Launcelot, bard to the Countess Brenhilda’s father.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).

Launcelot (Sir), originally called Galahad, was the son of Ban, king of Benwick (Brittany), and his wife, Elein (pt. i. 60). He was stolen in infancy by Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake, who brought him up till he was presented to King Arthur and knighted. In consequence, he is usually called Sir Launcelot du Lac. He was in “the eighth degree [or generation] of our Saviour” (pt. iii. 35); was uncle to Sir Bors de Ganis (pt. iii. 4); his brother was Sir Ector de Maris (pt. ii. 127); and his son, by Elaine, daughter of King Pelles, 301was Sir Galahad, the chastest of the 150 knights of the Round Table, and therefore allotted to the “Siege Perilous” and the quest of the Holy Graal, which he achieved. Sir Launcelot had from time to time a glimpse of the Holy Graal; but in consequence of his amours with Queen Guenever, was never allowed more than a distant and fleeting glance at it (pt. iii. 18, 22, 45).

Sir Launcelot was the strongest and bravest of the 150 knights of the Round Table; the two next were Sir Tristram and Sir Lamoracke. His adultery with Queen Guenever was directly or indirectly the cause of the death of King Arthur, the breaking up of the Round Table, and the death of most of the knights. The tale runs thus: Mordred and Agravain hated Sir Launcelot, told the king he was too familiar with the queen, and, in order to make good their charge, persuaded Arthur to go a-hunting. While absent in the chase, the queen sent for Sir Launcelot to her private chamber, when Mordred, Agravain, and twelve other knights beset the door, and commanded him to come forth. In coming forth he slew Sir Agravain and the twelve knights; but Mordred escaped and told the king, who condemned Guenever to be burned to death. She was brought to the stake, but rescued by Sir Launcelot, who carried her off to Joyous Guard, near Carlisle. The king besieged the castle, but received a bull from the pope, commanding him to take back the queen. This he did, but refused to be reconciled to Sir Launcelot, who accordingly left the realm and went to Benwick. Arthur crossed over with an army to besiege Benwick, leaving Mordred regent. The traitor, Mordred, usurped the crown, and tried to make the queen marry him; but she rejected his proposal with contempt. When Arthur heard thereof, he returned, and fought three battles with his nephew, in the last of which Mordred was slain, and the king received from his nephew his death-wound. The queen now retired to the convent of Almesbury, where she was visited by Sir Launcelot; but as she refused to leave the convent, Sir Launcelot turned monk, died “in the odor of sanctity,” and was buried in Joyous Guard (pt. iii. 143-175).

“Ah! Sir Launcelot,” said Sir Ector; “thou were [sic] head of all Christian knights.” “I dare say,” said Sir Bors, “that Sir Launcelot there thou liest, thou were never matched of none earthly knight’s hand; and thou were the courteoust knight that ever bare shield; and thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse; and thou were the truest lover of sinfull man that ever loved woman; and thou were the kindest man that ever struck with sword; and thou were the goodliest person that ever came among press of knights; and thou were the meekest man and the gentlest that ever eat in hall among ladies; and thou were the sternest knight to thy mortal foe that ever put spear in rest.”—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. 176 (1470).

N. B.—The Elaine above referred to is not the Elaine of Astolat, the heroine of Tennyson’s Idyll. Sir Ector de Maris is not Sir Ector, the foster-father of King Arthur; and Sir Bors de Ganis must be kept distinct from Sir Bors of Gaul, and also from Sir Borre or Sir Bors, a natural son of King Arthur, by Lyonors, daughter of the Earl Sanam (pt. i. 15).

Sir Launcelot and Elaine. The Elaine of Tennyson’s Idyll, called the “fair maid of Astolat,” was the daughter of Sir Bernard, lord of Astolat, and her two brothers were Sir Tirre (not Sir Torre, as Tennyson writes the word) and Lavaine (pt. iii. 122). The whole tale and the beautiful picture of Elaine propelled by the old dumb servitor down the river to the king’s palace, is all borrowed from Sir T. Malory’s compilation. “The fair maid of Astolat” asked Sir Launcelot to marry her, but the 302knight replied, “Fair damsel, I thank you, but certainly cast me never to be married;” and when the maid asked if she might be ever with him without being wed, he made answer, “Mercy defend me, no!” “Then,” said Elaine, “I needs must die for love of you;” and when Sir Launcelot quitted Astolat, she drooped and died. But before she died she called her brother, Sir Tirre (not Sir Lavaine, as Tennyson says, because Sir Lavaine went with Sir Launcelot as his squire), and dictated the letter that her brother was to write, and spake thus:

“While my body is whole, let this letter be put into my right hand, and my hand bound fast with the letter until that I be cold, and let me be put in a fair bed, with all my richest clothes.... and be laid in a chariot to the next place, whereas the Thames is, and there let me be put in a barge, and but one man with me ... to steer me thither, and that my barge be covered with black samite.”... So her father granted ... that all this should be done ... and she died. And so, when she was dead, the corpse and the bed ... were put in a barge ... and the man steered the barge to Westminster.—Pt. iii. 123.

The narrative then goes on to say that King Arthur had the letter read, and commanded the corpse to be buried right royally, and all the knights then present made offerings over her grave. Not only the tale, but much of the antique flavor of the original is preserved in the version of the laureate.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470).

Launcelot and Guenever. Sir Launcelot was chosen by King Arthur to conduct Guenever (his bride) to court; and then began that disloyalty between them which lasted to the end. Gottfried, the German minnesinger (twelfth century), who wrote the tale of Sir Tristan [our Tristram], makes King Mark send Tristan to Ireland, to conduct Yseult to Cornwall, and then commenced that disloyalty between Sir Tristram and his uncle’s wife, which also lasted to the end, and was the death of both.

Launcelot Mad. Sir Launcelot, having offended the queen, was so vexed, that he went mad for two years, half raving and half melancholy. Being partly cured by a vision of the Holy Graal, he settled for a time in Joyous Isle, under the assumed name of La Chevalier Mal-Fet. His deeds of prowess soon got blazed abroad, and brought about him certain knights of the Round Table, who prevailed on him to return to court. Then followed the famous quest of the Holy Graal. The quest of the graal is the subject of a minnesong by Wolfram (thirteenth century), entitled Parzival. (In the History of Prince Arthur, complied by Sir T. Malory, it is Galahad, son of Sir Launcelot, not Percival, who accomplished the quest).

⁂ The madness of Orlando, by Ariosto, resembles that of Sir Launcelot.

Launcelot a Monk. When Sir Launcelot discovered that Guenever was resolved to remain a nun, he himself retired to a monastery, and was consecrated a hermit by the bishop of Canterbury. After twelve months, he was miraculously summoned to Almesbury, to remove to Glastonbury the queen, who was at the point of death. Guenever died half an hour before Sir Launcelot arrived, and he himself died soon afterwards (pt. iii. 174). The bishop in attendance on the dying knight affirmed that “he saw angels heave Sir Launcelot up to heaven, and the gates of paradise open to receive him” (pt. iii. 175). Sir Bors, his nephew, discovered the dead body in the cell, and had it buried with all honors at Joyous Guard (pt. iii. 175).—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470), and also Walter Mapes.

When Sir Bors and his fellows came to his (Sir Launcelot’s) bed, they found him stark dead, and he lay as he had smiled, and the sweetest savor about him that ever they smelled.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. 175 (1470).

303N.B.—Sir Launcelot intended, when he quitted the court of Arthur, and retired to Benwick, to found religious houses every ten miles between Sandwich and Carlisle, and to visit every one of them barefoot; but King Arthur made war upon him, and put an end to this intention.

⁂ Other particulars of Sir Launcelot. The tale of Sir Launcelot was first composed in monkish Latin, and was translated by Walter Mapes (about 1180). Robert de Borron wrote a French version, and Sir T. Malory took his History of Prince Arthur from the French, the third part being chiefly confined to the adventures and death of this favorite knight. There is a metrical romance called La Charrette, begun by Chrestiens de Troyes (twelfth century), and finished by Geoffrey de Ligny.

Launcelot, the man of Mons. Thomas. (See Lancelot.)—Beaumont and Fletcher, Mons. Thomas (1619).

Launfal (Sir), steward of King Arthur. Detesting Queen Gwennere, he retired to Carlyoun, and fell in love with a lady named Tryamour. She gave him an unfailing purse, and told him if he ever wished to see her, all he had to do was to retire into a private room, and she would be instantly with him. Sir Launfal now returned to court, and excited much attention by his great wealth. Gwennere made advances to him, but he told her she was not worthy to kiss the feet of the lady to whom he was devoted. At this repulse, the angry queen complained to the king, and declared to him that she had been most grossly insulted by his steward. Arthur bade Sir Launfal produce this paragon of woman. On her arrival, Sir Launfal was allowed to accompany her to the isle of Ole´ron; and no one ever saw him afterwards.—Thomas Chestre, Sir Launfal (a metrical romance, time, Henri VI.).

⁂ James Russell Lowell has a poem entitled The Vision of Sir Launfal.

Laura, niece of Duke Gondibert, loved by two brothers, Arnold and Hugo, the latter dwarfed in stature. Laura herself loved Arnold; but both brothers were slain in the faction fight stirred up by Prince Oswald against Duke Gondibert, his rival in the love of Rhodalind, only child of Aribert, king of Lombardy. On the death of Arnold and Hugo, Laura became attached to Tybalt. As the tale was never finished, we have no key to the poet’s intention respecting Laura and Tybalt.—Sir Wm. Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).

Laura, a Venetian lady, who married Beppo. Beppo being taken captive, turned Turk, joined a band of pirates, and grew rich. He then returned to his wife, made himself known to her, and “had his claim allowed.” Laura is represented as a frivolous mixture of millinery and religion. She admires her husband’s turban, and dreads his new religion. “Are you really, truly, now a Turk?” she says. “Well, that’s the prettiest shawl! Will you give it me? They say you eat no pork. Bless me! Did I ever? No, I never saw a man grown so yellow! How’s your liver?” and so she rattles on.—Byron, Beppo (1820).

Laura Fairlie, innocent victim of the machinations of Sir Percival Glyde and Count Tosco. The former marries her for her fortune, then imprisons her in an insane asylum, and announces her death. In the end she becomes a widow, and weds Walter Harbright, who has long 304loved her.—Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White.

Laura and Petrarch. Some say La belle Laure was only an hypothetical name used by the poet to hang the incidents of his life and love on. If a real person, it was Laura de Noves, the wife of Hugues de Sade, of Avignon, and she died of the plague in 1348.

Think you, if Laura had been Petrarch’s wife,

He would have written sonnets all his life?

Byron, Don Juan, iii. 8 (1820).

Laurana, the lady-love of Prince Parismus of Bohemia.—Emanuel Foord, The History of Parismus (1598).

Laureate of the Gentle Craft, Hans Sachs, the cobbler poet of Nuremberg. (See Twelve Wise Masters).

Laurence (Friar), the good friar who promises to marry Romeo and Juliet. He supplies Juliet with the sleeping draught, to enable her to quit her home without arousing scandal or suspicion. (See Lawrence).—Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1597).

Laurence, baby-boy whose brief life is the theme of Rossiter Johnson’s poem bearing that caption:

“The newness of love at his coming,

The freshness of grief when he went,

The pitiless pain of his absence,

The effort at argued content,

The dim eye forever retracing

The few little footprints he made,

The quick thought forever recalling

The visions that never can fade—

For these but one comfort, one answer

In faith’s or philosophy’s roll;—

Came to us for a pure little body

Went to God for a glorified soul.”

Rossiter Johnson, Idler and Poet (1883).

Laurie, favorite playfellow of Little Women, and when they are no longer “little,” the husband of Amy.—L.M. Alcott, Little Women.

Laurringtons ((The), a novel by Mrs. Trollope, a satire on “superior people,” the bustling Bothebys of society (1843).

Lauzun (The duke de), a courtier in the court of Louis XIV. Licentious, light-hearted, unprincipled and extravagant. To promote his own fortune, he supplanted La Vallière by Mde. de Montespan in the king’s favor. Montespan thought he loved her; but when he proposed to La Vallière, the discarded favorite, Mde. de Montespan dismissed him. The duke, in revenge, persuaded the king to banish the lady, and when La Vallière took the veil, the king sent Mde. de Montespan this cutting epistle:

We do not blame you; blame belongs to love,

And love had nought with you.

The duke de Lauzun, of these lines the bearer,

Confirms their purport. From our royal court

We do excuse your presence.

Lord E.L.B. Lytton, The Duchess de la Vallière, v. 5 (1836).

Lavaine (Sir), brother of Elaine, and son of the lord of As´tolat. Young, brave and knightly. He accompanied Sir Lancelot when he went to tilt for the ninth diamond.—Tennyson, Idylls of the King (“Elaine”).

Lavalette (3 syl.), condemned to death for sending to Napoleon secret intelligence of Government despatches. He was set at liberty by his wife, who took his place in prison, but became a confirmed lunatic.

Lord Nithsdale escaped in a similar manner from the Tower of London. His wife disguised him as her maid, and he passed the sentries without being detected.

305La Vallière (Louise, duchess de), betrothed to the Marquis de Bragelonê (4 syl.), but in love with Louis XIV., whose mistress she became. Conscience accused her, and she fled to a convent; but the king took her out, and brought her to Versailles. He soon forsook her for Mde. de Montespan, and advised her to marry. This message almost broke her heart, and she said, “I will choose a bridegroom without delay.” Accordingly she took the veil of a Carmelite nun, and discovered that Bragelonê was a monk. Mde. de Montespan was banished from the court by the capricious monarch. Lord E.L.B. Lytton, The Duchess de la Vallière (1836).

Liavin´ia, daughter of Latīnus, betrothed to Turnus, king of the Rutuli. When Æne´as landed in Italy, Latinus made an alliance with him, and promised to give him Lavinia to wife. This brought on a war between Turnus and Æneas, that was decided by single combat, in which Æneas was the victor.—Virgil, Æneid.

Lavinia, daughter of Titus Andron´icus, a Roman general employed against the Goths. She was betrothed to Bassia´nus, brother of Saturnius, emperor of Rome. Being defiled by the sons of Tam´ora, queen of the Goths, her hands were cut off and her tongue plucked out. At length her father, Titus, killed her, saying, “I am as woeful as Virginius was, and have a thousand times more cause than he to do this outrage.”—(?) Shakespeare, Titus Andron´icus (1593).

In the play, Andronicus is always called An.dron´.i.kus, but in classic authors it is An.dro.nī.kus.

Lavinia, sister of Lord Al´tamont, and wife of Horatio.—N. Rowe, The Fair Penitent (1703).

Lavinia and Pale´mon. Lavinia was the daughter of Acasto, patron of Palemon, from whom his “liberal fortune took its rise.” Acasto lost his property, and dying, left a widow and daughter in very indigent circumstances. Palemon often sought them out, but could never find them. One day, a lovely, modest maiden came to glean in Palemon’s fields. The young squire was greatly struck with her exceeding beauty and modesty, but did not dare ally himself with a pauper. Upon inquiry, he found that the beautiful gleaner was the daughter of Acasto; he proposed marriage, and Lavinia “blushed assent.”—Thomson, Seasons, (“Autumn,” 1730).

⁂ The resemblance between this tale and the Bible story of Ruth and Boaz must be obvious to every one.

Law of Athens (The). By Athenian law, a father could dispose of his daughter in marriage as he liked. Egēus pleaded this law, and demanded that his daughter Hermia should marry Demētrius, or suffer the penalty of the law; if she will not

Consent to marry with Demetrius,

I beg the ancient privilege of Athens;

As she is mine, I may dispose of her:

Which shall be either to this gentleman,

Or to her death; according to our law.

Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream, act i. sc. 1 (1592).

Law of Flanders (The). Charles “the Good,” earl of Flanders, made a law that a serf, unless legally emancipated, was always a serf, and that whoever married a serf became a serf. S. Knowles has founded his tragedy called The Provost of Bruges on this law (1836).

Law of Lombardy (The).

We have a law peculiar to this realm,

That subjects to a mortal penalty

306All women nobly born ... who, to the shame

Of chastity, o’erleap its thorny bounds,

To wanton in the flowery path of pleasure.

Act. ii. 2.

On this law Robert Jephson has founded the following tragedy: The Duke Bire´no, heir to the crown, falsely charges the Princess Sophia of incontinence. The villainy of the duke being discovered, he is slain in combat by a Briton named Paladore, and the victor marries the princess (1779).

Lawrence (Steven). Big yeoman, whose travels in America have added a touch of the backwoodsman to the English rustic. Handsome, wholesome and sensible, but unsophisticated. He is trapped into a marriage by a scheming woman, while he loves another. A series of unhappy years follow. His wife is shallow of heart and head, vain and ambitious; he resolute, upright, and tender of heart. After her death, he meets and marries the genuine woman of his first love.—Annie Edwards, Steven Lawrence, Yeoman.

Law’s Bubble, the famous Mississippi scheme, devised by John Law (1716-1720).

Law’s Tale (The Man of), the tale tells of Custance, daughter of the emperor of Rome, affianced to the sultan of Syria. On the wedding night the sultan’s mother murdered all the bridal party for apostacy, except Custance, whom she turned adrift in a ship. The ship stranded on the shores of Britain, where Custance was rescued by the lord-constable of Northumberland, whose wife, Hermegild, became much attached to her. A young knight wished to marry Custance, but she declined his suit; whereupon he murdered Hermegild, and then laid the knife beside Custance, to make it appear that she had committed the deed. King Alla, who tried the case, soon discovered the truth, executed the knight, and married Custance. Now was repeated the same infamy as occurred to her in Syria; the queen-mother, Donegild, disapproved of the match, and, during the absence of her son in Scotland, embarked Custance and her infant son in the same ship, which she turned adrift. After floating about for five years, it was taken in tow by the Roman fleet on its return from Syria, and Custance was put under the charge of a Roman senator. It so happened that Alla was at Rome at the very time on a pilgrimage, met his wife, and they returned to Northumberland together.

This story is found in Gower, who probably took it from the French chronicle of Nicholas Trivet.

A similar story forms the outline of Emaărê (3 syl.), a romance in Ritson’s collection.

The knight murdering Hermegild, etc., resembles an incident in the French Roman de la Violette, the English metrical romance of Le Bone Florence of Rome (in Ritson), and also a tale in the Gesta Romanorum, 69.

Lawford (Mr.), the town clerk of Middlemas.—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon’s Daughter (time, George II.).

Lawrence (Friar), a Franciscan who clandestinely marries Romeo and Juliet. (See Laurence).

Lawrence (Tom), alias “Tyburn Tom” or Tuck, a highwayman. (See Laurence).—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).

Lawrence Arbuthnot, dilettante society man, who disguises a kindly and 307generous nature under a careless manner.—Frances Hodgson Burnett, Through One Administration (1883).

La Writ, a little, wrangling French advocate.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Little French Lawyer (1647).

Lawson (Sandie), landlord of the Spa hotel—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).

Lay of the Last Minstrel. Ladye Margaret [Scott], of Branksome Hall, the “flower of Teviot,” was beloved by Baron Henry, of Cranstown, but a deadly feud existed between the two families. One day an elfin page allured Ladye Margaret’s brother (the heir of Branksome Hall) into a wood, where he fell into the hands of the Southerners. At the same time an army of 3000 English marched to Branksome Hall to take it, but, hearing that Douglas, with 10,000 men, was on the march against them, the two chiefs agreed to decide the contest by single combat. The English champion was Sir Richard Musgrave, the Scotch champion called himself Sir William Deloraine. Victory fell to the Scotch, when it was discovered that “Sir William Deloraine” was in reality Lord Cranstown, who then claimed and received the hand of Ladye Margaret, as his reward.—Sir W. Scott, Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805).

Lazarillo, a humorsome valet, who serves two masters, “Don Felix” and Octavio. Lazarillo makes the usual quota of mistakes, such as giving letters and money to the wrong master; but it turns out that Don Felix is Donna Clara, the fiancée of Octavio, and so all comes right.—Jephson, Two Strings to your Bow (1792).

Joseph Munden [1758-1832] was the original Lazarillo.—Memoir of J.S. Munden (1832).

Lazarillo de Tormes, the hero of a romance of roguery, by Don Diego de Mendo´za (1553). Lazarillo is a compound of poverty and pride, full of stratagems and devices. The “hidalgo” walks the streets (as he says) “like the duke of Arcos,” but is occupied at home “to procure a crust of dry bread, and, having munched it, he is equally puzzled how to appear in public with due decorum. He fits out a ruffle so as to suggest the idea of a shirt, and so adjusts a cloak as to look as if there were clothes under it.” We find him begging bread, “not for food,” but simply for experiments. He eats it to see “if it is digestible and wholesome;” yet he is gay withal, and always rakish.

Lazarus and Dives. Lazarus, a beggar whose fate is contrasted with that of Dives, i.e. a rich man (Latin). At their death Lazarus goes to heaven, the rich man goes to hell and begs that Lazarus may bring him a drop of water to cool his tongue.—Luke, xvi. 19-31.

⁂ Lazarus is the only proper name given in any of the New Testament parables. The rich man is not named.

Lazy Lawrence of Lubber-Land, the hero of a popular tale. He served the schoolmaster, the squire’s cook, the farmer, and his own wife, all which was accounted treason in Lubber-land.

Lea, one of the “daughters of men,” beloved by one of the “sons of God.” The angel who loved her ranked with the least of the spirits of light, whose post around the throne was in the outermost circle. Sent to earth on a message, he saw Lea bathing, and fell in love with her; but Lea was so heavenly minded that her only wish was to “dwell in purity and serve 308God in singleness of heart.” Her angel lover, in the madness of his passion, told Lea the spell-word that gave him admittance into heaven. The moment Lea uttered it, her body became spiritual, rose through the air, and vanished from sight. On the other hand, the angel lost his ethereal nature, and became altogether earthly, like a child of clay.—T. Moore, Loves of the Angels, i. (1822).

League (The), a league formed at Péronne in 1576, to prevent the accession of Henri IV. to the throne of France, because he was of the reformed religion. This league was mainly due to the Guises. It is occasionally called “The Holy League;” but the “Holy League” strictly so called is quite another thing, and it is better not to confound different events by giving them the same name. (See League, Holy).

League, (The Achæan), B.C. 281-146. The old league consisted of the twelve Achæan cities confederated for self-defence from the remotest times. The league properly so called was formed against the Macedonians.

League (The Ætolian), formed some three centuries B.C., when it became a formidable rival to the Macedonian monarchs and the Achæan League.

League (The Grey), 1424, called Lia Grischa or Graubünd, from the grey homespun dress of the confederate peasants, the Grisons, in Switzerland. This league combined with the League Caddee (1401), and the League of the Ten Jurisdictions (1436), in a perpetual alliance in 1471. The object of these leagues was to resist domestic tyranny.

League (The Hans or Hanseatic), 1241-1630, a great commercial confederation of German towns, to protect their merchandise against the Baltic pirates, and defend their rights against the German barons and princes. It began with Hamburg and Lubeck, and was joined by Bremen, Bruges, Bergen, Novogorod, London, Cologne, Brunswick, Danzig; and afterwards, by Dunkerque, Anvers, Ostend, Dordrecht, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, etc.; still later by Calais, Rouen, St. Malo, Bordeaux, Bayonne, Marseilles, Barcelona, Seville, Cadiz, and Lisbon; and lastly by Messina, Naples, etc.; in all, eighty cities.

League (The Holy). Several leagues are so denominated, but that emphatically so called is the league of 1511 against Louis XII., formed by Pope Julius II., Ferdinand “the Catholic,” Henry VIII., the Venetians, and the Swiss. Gaston de Foix obtained a victory over the league at Ravenna in 1512, but died in the midst of his triumph.

League (The Solemn), 1638, formed in Scotland against the Episcopal government of the Church.

League Caddee (The), or Ligue de la Maison de Dieu (1401), a confederation of the Grisons for the purpose of resisting domestic tyranny. (See League, Grey).

League of Augsburg (1686), a confederation of the house of Austria with Sweden, Saxony, Bavaria, the circles of Swabia and Franconia, etc., against Louis XIV. This league was the beginning of that war which terminated in the peace of Ryswick (1698).

League of Cambray (1508), formed by the Emperor Maximilian I., Louis XII., of France, Ferdinand “the Catholic,” and 309Pope Julius II., against the republic of Venice.

League of Ratisbonne (1524), by the Catholic powers of Germany against the progress of the Reformation.

League of Smalkalde (December 31, 1530), the Protestant states of Germany leagued against Charles the Fifth. It was almost broken up by the victory obtained over it at Mühlberg in 1547.

League of Wurtzburg (1610), formed by the Catholic states of Germany against the “Protestant Union” of Hall. Maximilian I., of Bavaria, was at its head.

League of the Beggars (1560), a combination formed against the Inquisition in Flanders.

League of the Cities of Lombardy (1167), under the patronage of Pope Alexander III., against Frederick Barbarossa, emperor of Germany. In 1225, the cities combined against Frederick II., of Germany.

League of the Public Weal (Ligue du Bien Public), 1464, a league between the dukes of Burgundy, Brittany, Bourbon, and other princes, against Louis XI., of France.

Leah Holland. Handsome granddaughter of an English farmer. Michael Standish, an artist lodger, paints her portrait and falls in love with her. His mother and friends oppose the match, and Leah, in proper pride, eludes his pursuit. In the end, he weds a girl in his own rank, and Leah becomes a useful and contented trained nurse.—Georgiana M. Craik, A Daughter of the People.

Lean´der (3 syl.), a young man of Aby´dos, who swam nightly across the Hellespont to visit his lady-love, Hero, a priestess of Sestos. One night he was drowned in his attempt, and Hero leaped into the Hellespont and died also.

The story is told by Musæus in his poem called Hero and Leander. Schiller has made it the subject of a ballad.

⁂ Lord Byron and Lieutenant Ekenhead repeated the feat of Leander, and accomplished it in 1 hr. 10 min.; the distance (allowing for drifting) would be about four miles.

Leander, a young Spanish scholar, smitten with Leonora, a maiden under the charge of Don Diego, and whom the Don wished to make his wife. The young scholar disguised himself as a minstrel to amuse Mungo, the slave, and with a little flattery and a few gold pieces lulled the vigilance of Ursula, the duenna, and gained admittance to the lady. As the lovers were about to elope, Don Diego unexpectedly returned; but being a man of 60, and, what is more, a man of sense, he at once perceived that Leander was a more suitable husband for Leonora than himself, and accordingly sanctioned their union and gave the bride a handsome dowry.—I. Bickerstaff, The Padlock.

Leandra, daughter of an opulent Spanish farmer, who eloped with Vincent de la Rosa, a heartless adventurer, who robbed her of all her money, jewels, and other valuables, and then left her to make her way home as best she could. Leandra was placed in a convent till the scandal had blown over.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. iv. 20 (“The Goat-herd’s Story,” 1605).

Léandre (2 syl.), son of Géronte (2 syl.). During the absence of his father, he fell in 310love with Zerbinette, whom he supposed to be a young gypsy, but who was in reality the daughter of Argante (2 syl.), his father’s friend. Some gypsies had stolen the child when only four years old, and required £1500 for her ransom—a sum of money which Scapin contrived to obtain from Léandre’s father under false pretences. When Géronte discovered that his son’s bride was the daughter of his friend Argante, he was quite willing to excuse Scapin for the deceit practiced on him.—Molière, Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671).

(In Otway’s version of this comedy, called The Cheats of Scapin, Léandre is Anglicized into “Leander;” Géronte is called “Gripe;” Zerbinette is “Lucia;” Argante is “Thrifty;” and the sum of money £200).

Léandre, the lover of Lucinde, daughter of Géronte (2 syl.). Being forbidden the house, Lucinde pretended to be dumb, and Léandre, being introduced in the guise of an apothecary, effects a cure by “pills matrimoniac.”—Molière, Le Médecin Malgré Lui (1666).

Lean´dro, a gentleman who wantonly loves Amaranta (the wife of Bar´tolus, a covetouscovetous lawyer).—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Spanish Curate (1632).

Lean´dro the Fair (The Exploits and Adventures of), part of the series called Le Roman des Romans, pertaining to “Am´adis of Gaul.” This part was added by Pedro de Lujan.

Lear, mythical king of Britain, son of Bladud. He had three daughters, and when four score years old, wishing to retire from the active duties of sovereignty, resolved to divide his kingdom between them in proportion to their love. The two elder said they loved him more than their tongue could express, but Cordelia, the youngest, said she loved him as it became a daughter to love her father. The old king, displeased with her answer, disinherited Cordelia, and divided his kingdom between the other two, with the condition that each alternately, month by month, should give him a home, with a suite of a hundred knights. He spent the first month with his eldest daughter, who showed him scant hospitality. Then going to the second, she refused to entertain so large a suite; whereupon the old man would not enter her house, but spent the night abroad in a storm. When Cordelia, who had married the king of France, heard of this, she brought an army over to dethrone her sisters, but was taken prisoner and died in jail. In the meantime the elder sister (Goneril) first poisoned her younger sister from jealousy, and afterwards put an end to her own life. Lear also died.—Shakespeare, King Lear (1605).

(The stage Lear is a corrupt version by Nahum Tate (Tate and Brady); as the stage Richard III. is Colley Cibber’s travesty.)

⁂ Percy, in his Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, has a ballad about “King Leir and His Three Daughters” (series I. ii.).

The story is given by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his British History. Spenser has introduced the tale in his Faëry Queen (ii. 10.)

Camden tells a similar story of Ina, the king of the West Saxons(Remains, 306).

Lear (King), Shakespeare’s drama, first printed in quarto (1608), is founded on The True Chronicle History of King Leir and His Three Daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordelia (1605).