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The tradition is that the Black Prince, haying slain John of Luxemburg, King of Bohemia, in the Battle of Cressy, assumed his crest and motto. The crest consisted of three ostrich feathers, and the motto was Ich dien (I serve). Much controversy has arisen on the question; the crest, for instance, has been stated to be a rebus of Queen Philippa's hereditary title — viz.
An edition of about 1702 which makes David pathetically com- plain that "printers [princes] have perse- cuted me without a cause " (Ps. cxix, 161).
Made from a herb on which some of the blood of Prometheus had fallen. Medea gave Jason some of it, and thus rendered his body proof against fire and war- like instruments.
The most binding of all oaths to a Norseman. In making it the hand was passed through a massive silver ring kept for the purpose; or through a sacrificial stone, like that called the "Circle of Stemus.
The revised version of the first impression of Luther's
Results are more important than plans or appearances
Clement XIV. He ordered the suppression of the Jesuits (1773) and was one of the most enlightened men who- ever sat in the chair of St. Peter.
The old for- tresses of Luxemburg, Coblentz, Sarrelouis, and Mayence.
high social class or prestige
In honour of James I's daughter Elizabeth, who married the King of Bohemia.
Elizabeth (1596-1662), daughter of James I, the unfortunate Queen of Bohemia, so called in the Low Countries from her amiable character and engaging manners, even in her lowest estate.
The Virgin Mary. In ancient times, among the Phoenicians, Astarte; Greeks, Hera; Romans, Juno; Hecate; the Egyptian Isis, etc.
Aphrodite, or Venus. Poor queen of love in thme own law forlorn To love a cheek that smiles at thee in scorn! Venus and Adonis ; 251.
See ENGLISH. The Queen's Pipe, A name given in Queen Victoria's reign to a furnace at the Victoria Docks for destroying (by the Inland Revenue authorities) contraband and worthless tobacco, etc.
An old legal phrase for the crowbars, hammers, etc., used to force an entrance so that a warrant could be executed.
The living and the dead
See under OYSTER. The three .R's. Reading, writing, and arith- metic. The phrase is said to have been origi- nated by Sir William Curtis (d. 1829), who gave this as a toast.
a pregnancy test is positive
The Army and Navy Club. "The rag," of course, is the flag. "By the way, come and dine to-night at the Rag," said the major. — Truth. Queer Story, April 1st, 1886.
A public-house sign, in compliment to the Clothiers' Company. The ram with the golden fleece is emblematical of wool, and the teazle is used for raising the nap of wool spun and woven into cloth.
Formerly held on May morn- ing at Holne, Dartmoor, when a ram was run down in the "Ploy Field" and roasted whole, with its skin and fur, close by a granite pillar. At midday a scramble took place for a slice, which was supposed to bring luck to those who got it.
This is the famous Chrysomallion, whose golden fleece was stolen by Jason in his Argonautic expedition. It was transposed to the stars, and made the first sign of the Zodiac.
A Welsh manu- script of the 14th century, containing the Mabinogion, poems by Taliesin and Llywarch Hen, a history of the world from Adam to 1320, etc. It is now the property of Jesus College, Oxford.
The cognizance of Henry VII or the principality of Wales.
See ULSTER. Red-haired persons have for centuries had the reputation of being deceitful and un- reliable— probably owing to the tradition that Judas Iscariot (q.v ) had red hair.
The sign of the Cheshire cheese.
What happened after that is well-known or easily guessed
The last words of the dying Hamlet (Hamlet, v, 2).
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
the remaining part of something
All countries and people except one's own
Charles Caleb Colton (credited as the author of these freaks) offered £100 to anyone who could explain the matter except on supernatural grounds. No one, however, claimed the reward. Colton died 1832.
A revision of the Authorized Version commenced under a resolution passed by both Houses of Con- vocation in 1870 by a body of twenty-five English scholars (assisted and advised by an American Committee), the New Testament published in 1881, the complete Bible in 1885, and the Apocrypha in 1895.
Wealth tends to concentrate among those already wealthy
The right to use an heraldic device, which can be obtained only by direct grant from the College of Heralds (and the payment of certain fees), or by patrimony, i.e. direct descent from one on whom the grant has been conferred. In either case a small annual licence must be paid if the coat of arms is used in any way, such as on one's carnage, silver, or stationery. A person having such right is said to be armigerous.
A phrase used in Australia in the early 19th century to describe a goaprf™ most hard-bitten convicts at the Norfolk Island penitentiary, who exercised an evil in- fluence over their fellows. This use of the word ante-dates by some" 30 years its employment m U.S.A.
A ring with the same story as that of Polycrates. See below.
On May 29th, 1205, Innocent III sent John, King of England, four gold rings set with precious stones, and ex- plained that the rotundity signifies eternity — remember we are passing through time into eternity; the number signifies the four virtues which make up constancy of mind — viz.
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
Good intentions do not guarantee good outcomes
So the Scots call the game of curling. Roast To roast a person is to banter him un- mercifully; also, to give him a dressing-down. Shakespeare, in Hamlet, speaks of roasting "in wrath and fire.
The Empire established on the ruins of the Republic by Augustus in 27 B.C., and lasting till A.D. 395, when it was divided into the Western or Latin Empire, and the Eastern or Greek.
Romulus instituted a senate consisting of a hundred elders, called
Its true inwardness, its actual base and foundation.
Former barristers slang for an Old Bailey practice. Thus, "Gone into the rope-walk" means, he has taken up practice in the Old Bailey.
A symbol of England, as the Thistle is of Scotland, and the Shamrock of Ireland.
One of the "loyal" public-house signs. The Rose of the Quarter Sessions. A corrup- tion of La Rose des Quatre Saisons.
The Douai Bible (q.v.). 1609, is sometimes so called, because it has in Jer. vni, 22: "Is there noe rosin in Galaad." The Authorized Version translates the word by "balm," but gives "rosin" in the margin as an alternative. Cp. TREACLE BIBLE below.
Certain poems written by Thomas Chatterton (1752-70), and said by him to have been the work of a 15th-century priest of Bristol named Thomas Rowley, who, in fact, was purely fictitious. Chatterton began to write them before he was 15, and after having been refused by Dodsley, they were published in 1769. Many f prominent con- noisseurs and litterateurs, including Horace Walpole, were hoaxed by them.
The three lions passant gardant were introduced by Richard Cceur de Lion after his return from the third Crusade; the lion rampant in the second quarter is from the arms of Scotland, it having first been used in the reign of Alexander H (1214-49); and the harp in the fourth quarter represents Ireland; it was assigned to Ireland in the time of Henry VIII; before that time her device was three crowns.
The game re- ferred to by Goldsmith (Deserted Village, 232) as being present in the ale-house —
See OAK-APPLE DAY. Sir Philip Sydney's Oak, near Penshurst, was planted at his birth in 1554, and was commemo- rated by Ben Jonson and Waller.
Blaise de Montluc (1502-77), a Marshal of France, distinguished for his cruelties to the Protestants in the reign of Charles IX.
When a plan or idea is put into action and its effectiveness is tested.
The College of Car- dinals (q.v.) at Rome.
The "Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus" owes its origin to a French nun of the 17th century, St. Mary ^ Margaret Alacoque, of Burgundy, who practised devo- tion to the Saviour's heart in consequence of a vision. The devotion was sanctioned by Pope Clement XII in 1732, and extended to the whole Church by Pius IX in 1856. It is observed on the Friday after the octave of Corpus Christi.
In Greek history, one of the wars waged by the Amphictyonic League in defence of the temple and oracle of Delphi.
See VIA SACRA. The Sacred Weed, Vervain (see Herba Sacra), or — humorously — tobacco.
A law derived from the Salic Code limiting succession to the throne, land, etc., to heirs male to the exclusion of females, chiefly because certain military duties were con- nected with the holding of lands.
Properly, the elect; the perfect, or those approaching perfection (see Matt, v, 13).