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A semi-legendary vicar of Bray, Berkshire, who, between 1520 and 1560, was twice a Papist and twice a Protestant in successive reigns. His name has been given as Symonds, Alleyne, and Pendelton, and his date transferred to the time of Charles II. Historically nothing is known of him ; the well- known song is said to have been written in Restoration times by an officer in Colonel Fuller's regiment.
Someone who adapts to circumstances to maintain position
A title given to the Pope, in allusion to his clai$i to be the representative of Christ on earth.
A name playfully given by Henry VIII to John Skelton, his "poet laureate," perhaps because Skelton was rector of Diss, in Norfolk, the pun being on
An edition printed at Oxford in 1717 in which the chapter heading to Luke xx is given as "The parable of the Vinegar" (instead of "Vineyard").
Elizabeth I; also called (by Shakespeare) "the fair Vestal.
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
A matrimonial or other vow made before the "Stone of Odm," in the
People are waiting for someone to fail or die to gain advantage
A civil contest that lasted thirty years, in which eighty princes of the blood, a large portion of the English nobility, and some 100,000 common soldiers were slain.
A national song of the old German Empire, sharing the place of honour v/ith'Deutschland uber Alles (Germany over all).
If a woman was known to have committed adultery she was to be stoned to death, according to the Mosaic law (Deut. xxii, 22). If, however, the husband had no proof, but only suspected his wife of infidelity, he might take her before the Sanhedrin to be examined, and if she denied it, she was given the "water of jealousy" to drink (Numb, v, 11-29).
The "Derby" of the coursing fraternity; the great dog-race held annually at Altcar during three days in February.
A man's affection can be won by cooking him good food
An Irish patriotic and revolutionary song, dating from 1798. Green (cp. EMERALD ISLE) was the emblematic colour adopted by Irish Nationalists.
The destiny of an individual from the cradle to the grave. The allusion is to the three Fates who, according to Roman mythology, spin the thread of life, the pattern being the events which are to occur.
A work "never ending, still beginning"; never done, but ever in hand. Penelope, according to Homer, was pestered by suitors at Ithaca while Ulysses was absent at the siege of Troy. To relieve herself of their importunities, she promised to make a choice of one as soon as she had finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law.
St. Swithin (q.v.), because of the tradition of forty days' rain if it rams on July 15th.
The Roman Catholic Church, which, after the Great Schism m the 9th century, acknowledged the headship of the Pope,
The western division of the Roman Empire having Rome as B.D.
Fortuna, the goddess, is represented on ancient monuments with a wheel in her hand, emblematical of her inconstancy.
Something failed or fell apart completely
A famous treatise on algebra (1556) by Robert Recqrde. The old name for algebra was the "Cossic Art,*' and Cos ingenii rendered into English is "the Whetstone of Wit." In Scott's Fortunes of Nigel the maid told the belated traveller that her master had "no other books but her young mistress's Bible . . . and her master's Whetstone of Witte, by Robert Recorde.
Another name for the "Place-makers' Bible"
A sect of Catholic reformers that appeared early in the 15th century. Mosheim says (Bk. ii, p. 2, ch. v) a certain priest came from the Alps with an immense concourse of followers, all dressed in white linen. They marched through several provinces, following a cross borne by their leader. Boniface X ordered their leader to be burnt, and the multitude dispersed.
The badge worn by the followers of Charles Edward, the Young Pretender.
A band of French cut-throats organized by Bertrand du Guesclin m 1366, and led against Pedro the Cruel; so called because they wore a white cross on the shoulder. The name had previously (13th cent.) been given to a gang of assassins led by Folquet, the villainous Bishop of Toulouse, who massacred all suspected of heresy.
George's cross shows the white field. In the saltire the cross is reversed on each side, showing that the other half of the cross is covered over. The broad white band is the St. Andrew's cross and should be uppermost at the top left-hand corner of the flag. The narrow white edge is the white field of St. Patrick's cross.
The cognizance of Richard II; the White Lion, of Edward IV as Earl of March; the White Swan, of Henry IV and Edward HI.
The standard of the ancient Saxons; hence the emblem of Kent.
A white fairy bird of old Basque folklore, whose singing would restore sight to the blind.
Mary Queen of Scots; so called because she dressed in white mourning for her French husband (Francis II 1544-60).
The House of York, whose emblem it was (see under ROSE).
An epithet of the former Tsars of Russia, as Tsars of Muscovy; the King of Muscovy was called the White King from the robes which he wore. The King of Poland was called the Black King.
And Defrauding Discovered: being a Caution to all Housekeepers, Shopkeepers, Salesmen, and others, to guard against Robbers of both Sexes, and the best Methods to prevent their Villanies; to which is added an Explanation of most of the Cant terms in the Thieving Language, 8vo, pp. 46. 1786.
Cool, in this case, is merely an emphatic; it may have originally had reference to the calmness and deliberation with which the sum was counted out and the total made up.
Everyone is there or involved
An epithet bestowed on the Roman Catholic Church by the early Puritans and some of their descendants. The allusion is to Rev. xvn-xix. (Cp. SCARLET WOMAN.) In the book of the Revelation Babylon stands for Rome, the capital of the world, the embodiment of luxury, vice, splen- dour, tyranny, and all that the early Church knew was against the spirit of Christ.
So called because the word not is omitted in the seventh command- ment, making it, "Thou shalt commit adultery." Printed at London by Barker and Lucas, 1632. The "Unrighteous Bible" (g.v.) is also sometimes called by this name.
The name applied to Queen Victoria by Rudyard Kipling m his Barrack Room Ballad of that name.
A small supply of any- thing which, by good management, is made to go a long way and to be apparently in- exhaustible. In allusion to the miracle of the cruse of oil m 2 Kings iv.
An 1810 edition of the Bible gives Luke xiv, 26 as "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother . . yea, and his own wife also" instead of "life.
A spectral hunter of mediaeval legend who, with a pack of spectral dogs, frequents certain forests and occasion- ally appears to mortals. One account has it that he was a Jew who would not suffer Jesus to drink out of a horse-trough, but pointed to some water in a hoof-print as good enough for "such an enemy of Moses.
Properly the William's pear, or Bon Chretien is so called from the name of its introducer into England. For a like reason it is known in the U.S.A.
A favourite design for blue china plates, imitating (but not copying) the Chinese style of porcelain decoration. It was introduced into England by Thomas Turner of Caughley about 1780, when the craze for things Chinese was at its height.
The approach of death; the signs of death coming on the dying.
The winning horses of previous races being pitted together are first handicapped according to their respective merits : the horse that has won three races has to carry a greater weight than the horse that has won only two, and this latter more than its competitor who is winner of a single race only.
James I was so called by Henry IV of France, who learnt the phrase of Sully.
A desire can lead to a belief or idea
The powerful will find an excuse to exploit the weak.
"I think so just because I do think so" (see Two Gentlemen of Verona, i,2).
An enchanted horse of the old romance that could be directed by a peg turned by the rider and could fly through the air. Cambuscan (<?.v.) had such a horse, but his was of brass.
Virgil tells us that Ulysses had a monster wooden horse made after the death of Hector, and gave out that it was an offering to the gods to secure a prosperous voyage back to Greece. The Trojans dragged the horse within their city, but it was full of Grecian soldiers, who at night stole out of their place of concealment, slew the Trojan guards, opened the city gates, and set fire to Troy. Menelaus was one of the Greeks shut up in it.
Last in the classical tripos. When, in 1824, the classical tripos was instituted at Cambridge, it was debated by what name to call the last on the list. It so happened that the last on the list was Wedgewood, and the name was adopted to this slightly modified form.
The Scriptures; Christ as the Logos (see John i, 1). The object of words is to conceal thoughts.
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
A person's character is shown by their work.
All opportunities are open to someone; the world is theirs.
Everywhere in the world
Something's value is determined by what you can get for it