Cornwall means Cornu Galliæ or Walliæ—the horn of Gallia or Wallia (g and w being convertible letters,)letters,) and Gaul and Wales different forms of the same word.
Gog´magog Hill, the higher of the two hills some three miles south-east of Cambridge. It once belonged to the Balsham Hills, but, “being rude and bearish, regarding neither God nor man,” it was named in reproach Gogmagog. The legend is that this Gogmagog Hill was once a huge giant, who fell in love with the nymph Granta, and, meeting her alone, told her all his heart, saying:
but the saucy nymph only mocked the giant, and told his love story to the Muses, and all made him their jest and sport and laughter.—Drayton, Polyolbion, xxi. (1622).
Gold of Tolo´sa (The), ill gains, which never prosper. The reference is to Cæpio, the Roman consul, who, on his march to Gallia Narbonensis, stole from Tolosa (Toulouse) the gold and silver consecrated by the Cimbrian Druids to their gods. He was utterly defeated by the Cimbrians, and some 112,000 Romans were left dead on the field of battle (B.C. 106).
Gold Poured down the Throat. Marcus Licin´ius Crassus, surnamed “The Rich,” one of the first Roman triumvirate, tried to make himself master of Parthia, but being defeated and brought captive to Oro´dês, king of Parthia, he was put to death by having molten gold poured down his throat. “Sate thy greed with this,” said Orodês.
Manlius Nepos Aquilius tried to restore the kings of Bithynia and Cappado´cia, dethroned by Mithridātês, but being unsuccessful and made prisoner, he was put to death by Mithridātês by molten gold poured down his throat.
In hell, the avaricious are punished in the same way, according to the Shephearde’s Calendar.
Gol´demar (King), a house-spirit, sometimes called King Vollmar. He lived three years with Neveling von Hardenberg, on the Hardenstein at the Ruhr, and the chamber in which he lived is still called Vollmar’s chamber. This house-spirit, though sensible to the touch, was invisible. It played beautifully on the harp, talked freely, revealed secrets, and played dice. One day, a person determined to discover its whereabouts, but Goldemar cut him to pieces and cooked the different parts. Never after this was there any trace of the spirit. The roasted fragments disappeared in the Lorrain war in 1651, but the pot in which the man’s head was boiled was built into the kitchen wall of Neveling von Hardenberg, where it remains to this day.—Von Steinen, German Mythology, 477.
Golden Ass (The), a romance in Latin, by Apule´ius (4 syl.). It is the adventures of Lucian, a young man who had been transformed into an ass, but still retained his human consciousness. It tells us the miseries which he suffered at the hands of robbers, eunuchs, magistrates, and so on, till the time came for him to resume his proper form. It is full of wit, racy humor, and rich fancy, and contains the exquisite episode of Cupid and Psy´chê (bks. iv., v., vi.).
Golden Dragon of Bruges (The), The golden dragon was taken in one of the crusades from the church of St. Sophia, at Constantinople, and placed on the belfry of Bruges, but Philip van Artevelde (2 syl.) transported it to Ghent, where it still adorns the belfry.
Golden Fleece (The), the fleece of the ram which transported Phryxos to Colchis. When Phryxos arrived there, he sacrificed the ram and gave the fleece to King Æētês, who hung it on a sacred oak. It was stolen by Jason, in his “Argonautic expedition.”
The Golden Fleece of the North. Fur and peltry of Siberia is so called.
Golden Gate. The gate of mercy before which one of the ten foolish virgins waits when her companions have returned to their evil courses.
Golden Legend (The), a collection of hagiology, made in the thirteenth century, by James de Voragine, a Dominican. The Legend consists of 177 sections, each of which is devoted to a particular saint or festival, arranged in the order of the calendar.
Golden Mouth, St. Chrysostom (347-407). The name is the Greek chrusos stŏma, “gold mouth.”
Golden Stream (The), Joannes Damascēnus (died 756).
Golden-tongued (The), St. Peter, of Ravenna (433-450). Our equivalent is a free translation of the Greek chrysol´ogos (chrusos logos, “gold discourse”).
Goldfinch (Charles), a vulgar, horse fellow, impudent and insolent in manner, who flirts with Widow Warren, and conspires with her and the Jew Silky to destroy Mr. Warren’s will. By this will the widow was left £600 a year, but the bulk of the property went to Jack Milford, his natural son, and Sophia Freelove, the daughter of Widow Warren by a former marriage. (See Beagle.)
Father was a sugar-baker, grandfather a slop-seller, I’m a gentleman.—Holcroft, The Road to Ruin, ii. 1 (1792).
Goldiebirds (Messrs.), creditors of Sir Arthur Wardour.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).
Gold-mine (The) or Miller of GrenobleGrenoble, a drama by E. Stirling (1854). (For the plot, see Simon.)
Gold-mines (King of the), a powerful, handsome prince, who was just about to marry the Princess All-Fair, when Yellow Dwarf claimed her as his betrothed, and carried her to Steel Castle on a Spanish cat. A good siren gave the betrothed king a diamond sword to secure All-Fair’s deliverance; but after overcoming every obstacle, he was so delighted at seeing her that he dropped his sword. In a moment Yellow Dwarf snatched it up, and stabbed his rival to the heart. The king of the Gold-mines and All-Fair were both changed into two palm trees.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“The Yellow Dwarf,” 1682).
Goldsmith (Oliver).
Goldsmith (Rev. J.), one of the many pseudonyms adopted by Sir Richard Phillips, in a series of school books. Some other of his false names were the Rev. David Blair, James Adair, Rev. C. Clarke, etc., with noted French names for educational French books.
Gol´thred (Lawrence), mercer, near Cumnor Place.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time Elizabeth).
Gold´y. Oliver Goldsmith was so-called by Dr. Johnson (1728-1774).
Gol´gotha (“the place of a skull”), a small elevated spot north-west of Jerusalem, where criminals were executed. Used in poetry to signify a battle-field or place of great slaughter.
⁂ In the University of Cambridge, the dons’ gallery in Great St. Mary’s is called “Golgotha” because the heads of the colleges sit there.
Golgotha (The City), Temple Bar, London; so called because the heads of traitors, etc., used at one time to be exposed there after decapitation. This was not done from any notion of punishment, but simply to advertise the fact as a warning to evil-doers. Temple Bar was taken away from the Strand in 1878.
Golightly (Mr.), the fellow who wants to borrow 5s. in Lend me Five Shillings, a farce by J.M. Morton.
Goltho, the friend of Ul´finore (3 syl.). He was in love with Birtha, daughter of Lord As´tragon, the sage; but Birtha loved the Duke Gondibert. The tale being unfinished, the sequel of Goltho is not known.—Sir William Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).
Gomer or Godmer, a British giant, slain by Canu´tus, one of the companions of Brute. (See Goemot.)
Gomez, a rich banker, 60 years of age, married to Elvi´ra, a young wife. He is mean, covetous, and jealous. Elvira has a liaison with Colonel Lorenzo, which Dominick, her father confessor, aids and abets; but the amour is constantly thwarted, and it turns out that Lorenzo and Elvira are brother and sister.—Dryden, The Spanish Fryar (1680).
Gond´ibert (Duke), of the royal line of Lombardy. Prince Oswald of Verona, out of jealousy, stirs up a faction fight against him, which is limited by agreement to four combatants on each side. Oswald is slain by Gondibert, and Gondibert is cured of his wounds by Lord As´tragon, a philosopher and sage. Rhodalind, the only child of Aribert, king of Lombardy, is in love with Gondibert, and Aribert hopes that he will become his son-in-law and heir, but Gondibert is betrothed to Birtha. One day while walking with his affianced Birtha, a messenger from the king comes post haste to tell him that Aribert had publicly proclaimed him his heir, and that Rhodalind was to be his bride. Gondibert still told Birtha he would remain true to her, and gave her an emerald ring, which would turn pale if his love declined. As the tale was never finished, the sequel cannot be given.—Sir W. Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).
Gon´eril, eldest daughter of King Lear, and wife of the duke of Albany. She treated her aged father with such scant courtesy, that he could not live under her roof; and she induced her sister Regan to follow her example. Subsequently both the sisters fell in love with Edmund, natural son of the earl of Gloucester, whom Regan designed to marry when she became a widow. Goneril, out of jealousy, now poisoned her sister, and “after slew herself.” Her name is proverbial for “filial ingratitude.”—Shakespeare, King Lear (1605).
Gonin, a buffoon of the sixteenth century, who acquired great renown for his clever tricks, and gave rise to the French phrase, Un tour de maître Gonin (“a trick of Master Gonin’s”).
Gonnella, domestic jester to the Margrave Nicolo d’Este, and to his son Borso, duke of Ferrara. The horse he rode on was ossa atque pellis totus, and like Rosinantê, has become proverbial. Gonnella’s jests were printed in 1506.
Gonsalez [Gon.zalley], Fernan Gonsalez or Gonsalvo, a Spanish hero of the tenth century, whose life was twice saved by his wife Sancha. His adventures have given birth to a host of ballads.
(There was a Hernandez Gonsalvo of Cordŏva, called “The great Captain” (1443-1515), to whom some of the ballads refer, and this is the hero of Florian’s historical novel entitled Gonzalve de Cordoue (1791), borrowed from the Spanish romance called The Civil Wars of Granada, by Gines Perez de la Hita).
Gonza´lo, an honest old counsellor of Alonso, King of Naples.—Shakespeare, The Tempest (1609).
Gonzalo, an ambitious but politic lord of Venice.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Laws of Candy (1647.)
Good Earl (The), Archibald, eighth earl of Angus, who died in 1588.
Good Regent (The), James Stuart, earl of Murray, regent of Scotland after the imprisonment of Queen Mary, his half-sister. (Born 1533, regent 1567, assassinated 1570).
Goodfellow (Robin), son of King Oberon. When six years old, he was so mischievous that his mother threatened to whip him, and he ran away; but falling asleep, his father told him he should have anything he wished for, with power to turn himself into any shape, so long as he did harm to none but knaves and queens.
His first exploit was to turn himself into a horse, to punish a churl, whom he conveyed into a great plash of water and left there, laughing, as he flew off “Ho, ho, ho!” He afterwards went to a farm-house, and taking a fancy to a maid, does her work during the night. The maid, watching him, and observing him rather bare of clothes, provides him with garments, which he puts out, laughing “Ho, ho, ho!” He next changes himself into a Will-o-the-wisp, to mislead a party of merry-makers, and having misled them all night, he left them at daybreak, with a “Ho, ho, ho!” At another time, seeing a fellow ill-using a maiden, he changed himself into a hare, ran between his legs, and then growing into a horse, tossed him into a hedge, laughing, “Ho, ho, ho!”—The Mad Pranks and Merry Jests of Robin Goodfellow (1580). (Percy Society, 1841).
Goodfellow (Robin), a general name for any domestic spirit, as imp, urchin, elf, hag, fay, Kit-wi’-the-can´stick, spoorn, man-i’-the-oak, Puck, hobgoblin, Tom-tumbler, bug, bogie, Jack-o’-lantern, Friar’s lantern, Will-o’-the-wisp, Ariel, nixie, kelpie, etc., etc.
A bigger kind than these German kobolds is that called with us Robin Goodfellows, that would in those superstitioussuperstitious times grind corn for a mess of milk, cut wood, or do any manner of drudgery work.... These have several names ... but we commonly call them Pucks.—Burton, Anatomy of Melancholy, 47.
⁂ The Goodfellows, being very numerous, can hardly be the same as Robin, son of Oberon, but seem to obtain the name because their character was similar, and, indeed, Oberon’s son must be included in the generic name.
Goodman of Ballengeich, the assumed name of James V. of Scotland when he made his disguised visits through the districts round Edinburgh and Stirling.
⁂ Haroun-al-Raschid, Louis XI., Peter “The Great,” etc., made similar visits in disguise, for the sake of obtaining information by personal inspection.
Good´man Grist, the miller, a friend of the smugglers.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Goodricke (Mr.), a Catholic priest at Middlemas.—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon’s Daughter (time, George II.).
Goodsire (Johnnie), a weaver, near Charles’s Hope farm.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time George II.).
Goodwill, a man who had acquired £10,000 by trade, and wished to give his daughter Lucy in marriage to one of his relations, in order to keep the money in the family: but Lucy would not have any one of the boobies, and made choice instead of a strapping footman. Goodwill had the good sense to approve of the choice.—Fielding, The Virgin Unmasked.
Goody Blake, a poor old woman detected by Harry Gill picking up sticks from his farm-land. The farmer compelled her to leave them, and threatened to punish her for trespass. Goody Blake turned on the lusty yeoman, and said never from the moment should he know the blessing of warmth; and sure enough, neither clothing, fire, nor summer sun ever did make him warm again.
Goody Palsgrave, a name of contempt given to Frederick V., elector palatine. He is also called the “Snow King” and the “Winter King,” because the Protestants made him king of Bohemia in the autumn of 1619, and he was set aside in the autumn of 1620.
Goody Two-shoes, a nursery tale supposed to be by Oliver Goldsmith, written in 1765 for Newbery, the bookseller of St. Paul’s Churchyard.
Goose Gibbie, a half-witted lad, first entrusted to “keep the turkeys,” but afterwards “advanced to the more important office of minding the cows.”—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).
Goosey Goderich, Frederick Robinson, created viscount Goderich in 1827. So called by Cobbett, for his incapacity as a statesman (premier 1827-1828).
Gor´boduc, Gorbodug, or Gorbogud, a mythical British king, who had two sons (Ferrex and Porrex). Ferrex was driven by his brother out of the kingdom, and on attempting to return with a large army, was defeated by him and slain. Soon afterwards, Porrex himself was murdered in his bed by his own mother, Widen, who loved Ferrex the better.—Geoffrey, British History, ii. 16 (1142).
Gorboduc, the first historical play in the language. The first three acts by Thomas Norton, and the last two by Thomas Sackville, afterwards Lord Buckhurst (1562). It is further remarkable as being the father of Iambic ten-syllable blank verse.
Gor´brias, lord-protector of Ibe´ria, and father of King Arba´ces (3 syl.).—Beaumont and Fletcher, A King or No King (1611).
Gor´dius, a Phrygian peasant, chosen by the Phrygians for their king. He consecrated to Jupiter his wagon, and tied the yoke to the draught-tree so artfully that the ends of the cord could not be discovered. A rumor spread abroad that he who untied this knot would be king of Asia, and when Alexander the Great was shown it, he cut it with his sword, saying, “It is thus we loose our knots.”
Gordon (The Rev. Mr.), chaplain in Cromwell’s troop.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).
Gordon (Lord George), leader of the “No Popery riots” of 1779. Half mad, but really well-intentioned, he countenanced the most revolting deeds, urged on by his secretary, Gashford. Lord George Gordon died in jail, 1793.—C. Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841).
Gordo´nius or Gordon (Bernard), a noted physician of the thirteenth century in the Rouergue (France), author of Lilium Medicinœ, de Morborum prope Omnium Curatione, septem Particulis Distributum (Naples, 1480).
Gor´gibus, an honest, simple-minded citizen of middle life, father of Madelon and uncle of Cathos. The two girls have their heads turned by novels, but are taught by a harmless trick to discern between the easy manners of a gentleman and the vulgar pretentions of a lackey.—Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659).
Gorgibus, father of Célie. He is a headstrong, unreasonable old man, who tells his daughter that she is forever reading novels, and filling her mind with ridiculous notions about love. “Vous parlez de Dieu bien moins que de Lélie,” he says, and insists on her giving up Lélie for Valère, saying, “S’il ne l’est amant, il le sera mari,” and adds, “L’amour est souvent un fruit du mariage.”
Gor´loïs (3 syl.), said by some to be the father of King Arthur. He was lord of Tintag´il Castle, in Cornwall; his wife was Igrayne (3 syl.) or Igerna, and one of his daughters (Bellicent) was, according to some authorities, the wife of Lot, king of Orkney.
⁂ Gorloïs was not the father of Arthur, although his wife (Igrayne or Igerna) was his mother.
Then all the kings asked Merlin, “For what cause is that beardless boy Arthur made king?” “Sirs,” said Merlin, “because he is King Uther’s son, born in wedlock ... More than three hours after the death of Gorlois, did the king wed the fair Igrayne.”—Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 2, 6 (1470).
[Uther] was sorry for the death of Gorlois, but rejoiced that Igerna was now at liberty to marry again ... they continued to live together with much affection, and had a son and daughter, whose names were Arthur and Anne.—Geoffrey, British History, iii. 20 (1142).
⁂ It is quite impossible to reconcile the contradictory accounts of Arthur’s sister and Lot’s wife. Tennyson says Bellicent, but the tales compiled by Sir T. Malory all give Margawse. Thus in La Mort d’Arthur, i. 2, we read: “King Lot of Lothan and of Orkeney wedded Margawse [Arthur’s sister]” (pt. i. 36), “whose sons were Gawaine, Agravaine, Gaheris, and Gareth;” but Tennyson says Gareth was “the last tall son of Lot and Bellicent.”
Gosh, the Right Hon. Charles Arbuthnot, the most confidential friend of the duke of Wellington, with whom he lived.
Gosling (Giles), landlord of the Black Bear inn, near Cumnor place.
Cicely Gosling, daughter of Giles.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).
Gospel Doctor (The), John Wycliffe (1324-1384).
Gospeller (The Hot), Dr. R. Barnes, burnt at Smithfield, 1540.
Gossips (Prince of), Samuel Pepys, noted for his gossiping Diary, commencing January 1, 1659, and continued for nine years (1632-1703).
Goswin, a rich merchant of Bruges, who is in reality Florez, son of Gerrard, king of the beggars. His mistress, Bertha, the supposed daughter of Vandunke, the burgomaster of Bruges, is in reality the daughter of the duke of Brabant.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggar’s Bush (1622).
Goths (The last of the), Roderick, the thirty-fourth of the Visigothic line of kings in Spain. He was the son of Cor´dova, who had his eyes put out by Viti´za, the king of the Visigoths, whereupon Roderick rose against Vitiza and dethroned him; but the sons and adherents of Vitiza applied to the Moors, who sent over Tarik with 90,000 men, and Roderick was slain at the battle of Xerres, A.D. 711.
⁂ Southey has an epic poem called Roderick, the Last of the Goths. He makes “Rusilla” to be the mother of Roderick.
Gothland or Gottland, an island called “The eye of the Baltic.” Geoffrey of Monmouth says that when King Arthur had added Ireland to his dominions, he sailed to Iceland, which he subdued, and then both “Doldavius, king of Gothland, and Gunfasius, king of the Orkneys, voluntarily became his tributaries.”—British History, ix. 10 (1142).
Gottlieb [Got.leeb], a cottage farmer, with whom Prince Henry of Hoheneck went to live after he was struck with leprosy. The cottager’s daughter Elsie volunteered to sacrifice her life for the cure of the prince, and was ultimately married to him.—Hartmann von der Aue, Poor Henry (twelfth century); Longfellow, Golden Legend.
Gour´lay (Ailsie), a privileged fool or jester.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).
Gourlay (Ailsie), an old sibyl at the death of Alice Gray.—Sir W. Scott, Bride of Lammermoor (time, William III.).
Gourmaz (Don), a national portrait of the Spanish nobility.—Pierre Corneille, The Cid (1636).
The character of Don Gourmaz, for its very excellence, drew down the censure of the French Academy.—Sir W. Scott, The Drama.
Go´vernale (3 syl.), first the tutor and then the attendant of Sir Tristram de Lionês.
Gow (Old Niell), the fiddler.
Nathaniel Grow, son of the fiddler.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).
Gow (Henry) or Henry Smith, also called “Gow Chrom” and “Hal of the Wynd,” the armorer. Suitor of Catharine Glover “the fair maid of Perth,” whom he marries.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Gowk-thrapple (Maister), a covenanting preacher.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).
A man of coarse, mechanical, perhaps rather intrinsically feeble intellect, with the vehemence of some pulpit-drumming Gowk-thrapple.—Carlyle.
Graaf (Count), was a great speculator in corn. One year a sad famine prevailed, and he expected, like Pharaoh, king of Egypt, to make an enormous fortune by his speculation, but an army of rats, pressed by hunger, invaded his barns, and then swarming into the castle, fell on the old baron, worried him to death, and then devoured him. (See Hatto).
Graal (Saint) or St. Greal, is generally said to be the vessel or platter used by Christ at the last supper, in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the blood of the crucified Christ. In all descriptions of it in the Arthurian romances, it is simply the visible “presence” of Christ, or realization of the Catholic idea that the wafer, after consecration, is changed into the very body of the Saviour, and when Sir Galahad “achieved the quest of the Holy Graal,” all that is meant is that he saw with his bodily eyes the visible Saviour into which the holy wafer had been transmuted.
Then the bishop took a wafer, which was made in the likeness of bread, and at the lifting up [the elevation of the host] there came a figure in the likeness of a child, and the visage was as red and as bright as fire, and he smote himself into that bread: so they saw that the bread was formed of a fleshly man, and then he put it into the holy vessel again ... then [the bishop] took the holy vessel and came to Sir Galahad as he kneeled down, and there he received his Saviour.—Pt. iii. 101, 102.
King Pelles and Sir Launcelot caught a sight of the St. Graal; but did not “achieve it,” like Galahad.
When they went into the castle to take their repast ... there came a dove to the window, and in his bill was a little censer of gold, and there withall was such a savor as if all the spicery of the world had been there ... and a damsel, passing fair, bare a vessel of gold between her hands, and thereto the king kneeled devoutly and said his prayers ... “Oh mercy!” said Sir Launcelot, “what may this mean?”... “This,” said the king, “is the holy Sancgreall which ye have seen.”—Pt. iii. 2.
When Sir Bors de Ganis went to Corbin, and saw Galahad, the son of Sir Launcelot, he prayed that the boy might prove as good a knight as his father, and instantly the white dove came with the golden censer, and the damsel bearing the Sancgraal, and told Sir Bors that Galahad would prove a better knight than his father, and would “achieve the Sancgreall;” then both dove and damsel vanished.—Pt. iii. 4.
Sir Percival, the son of Sir Pellinore, king of Wales, after his combat with Sir Ector de Maris (brother of Sir Launcelot), caught a sight of the Holy Graal, and both were cured of their wounds thereby. Like Sir Bors, he was with Sir Galahad when the quest was achieved (pt. iii. 14). Sir Launcelot was also miraculously cured in the same way (pt. iii. 18).
King Arthur, the queen, and all the 150 knights saw the Holy Graal as they sat at supper when Galahad was received into the fellowship of the Round Table:
First they heard a crackling and crying of thunder ... and in the midst of the blast entered a sun-beam more clear by seven times than ever they saw day, and all were lighted of the grace of the Holy Ghost ... then there entered the hall the Holy Greal [consecrated bread] covered with white samite; but none might see it, nor who bare it ... and when the Holy Greal had been borne thro’ the hall, the vessel suddenly departed.—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, iii. 35 (1470).
⁂ The chief romances of the St. Graal are: Parceval le Gallois, by Chrétien de Troyes, in verse, and Roman des Diverses Quêtes de St. Graal, by Walter Mapes, in prose, both written in the latter part of the twelfth century; Titurel, or the Guardian of the Holy Graal, by Wolfram von Eschenbach; the Romance of Parzival, by the same—partly founded upon the poem of Chrétien—and the Life of Joseph of Arimathēa, by Robert de Borron, all belonging to the early part of the thirteenth century; The Holy Grail, by Tennyson.
Gracchi (The). Caius and Tiberius Gracchus, sons of the Roman matron, Cornelia, and leaders of the populace in several revolutions.
Grace (Lady), a sister of Lady Townly, and the engaged wife of Mr. Manly. The very opposite of a lady of fashion. She says:
“In summer I could pass my leisure hours in reading, walking, ... or sitting under a green tree: in dressing, dining, chatting with an agreeable friend; perhaps hearing a little music, taking a dish of tea, or a game at cards; managing my family, looking into its accounts, playing with my children ... or in a thousand other innocent amusements.”—Vanbrugh and Cibber, The Provoked Husband, iii. (1728).
“No person,” says George Colman, “has ever more successfully performed the elegant levities of ‘Lady Townly’ upon the stage, or more happily practiced the amiable virtues of ‘Lady Grace’ in the circles of society, than Miss Farren (the countess of Dirby, 1759-1829).”
Grace-be-here Humgudgeon, a corporal in Cromwell’s troop.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).
Grace (Rev. Paul), mild, nervous little Oxonian curate who yet does good parish-work among colliers and peasants.—Frances Hodgson Burnett, That Lass o’ Lowrie’s, (1877).
Grace Pelham, accomplished and good daughter of the Colonel who plays a prominent part in the army novels of Captain Charles King.—Charles King, U.S.A., The Colonel’s Daughter.
Gracio´sa, a lovely princess, who is the object of a step-mother’s most implacable hatred. The step-mother’s name is Grognon, and the tale shows how all her malicious plots are thwarted by Percinet, a fairy prince, in love with Graciosa.
Gracio´so, the licensed fool of Spanish drama. He has his coxcomb and truncheon, and mingles with the actors without aiding or abetting the plot. Sometimes he transfers his gibes from the actors to the audience, like our circus clowns.
Gradas´so, king of Serica´na, “bravest of the pagan knights.” He went against Charlemagne with 100,000 vassals in his train, “all discrowned kings,” who never addressed him but on their knees.—Bojardo, Orlando Innamorato (1495); Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Grad´grind (Thomas), a man of facts and realities. Everything about him is square; his forehead is square, and so is his fore-finger, with which he emphasizes all he says. Formerly he was in the wholesale hardware line. In his greatness he becomes M.P. for Coketown, and he lives at Stone Lodge, a mile or so from town. He prides himself on being eminently practical; and though not a bad man at heart, he blights his children by his hard, practical way of bringing them up.
Mrs. Gradgrind, wife of Thomas Gradgrind. A little thin woman, always taking physic, without receiving from it any benefit. She looks like an indifferently executed transparency without light enough behind the figure. She is always complaining, always peevish, and dies soon after the marriage of her daughter Louisa.
Tom Gradgrind, son of the above, a sullen young man, much loved by his sister, and holding an office in the bank of his brother-in-law, Josiah Bounderby. Tom robs the bank, and throws suspicion on Stephen Blackpool, one of the hands in Bounderby’s factory. When found out, Tom takes refuge in the circus of the town, disguised as a black servant, till he effects his escape from England.
Louisa Gradgrind, eldest daughter of Thomas Gradgrind, M.P. She marries Josiah Bounderby, banker and mill-owner. Louisa has been so hardened by her bringing up, that she appears cold and indifferent to everything, but she dearly loves her brother Tom.—C. Dickens, Hard Times, (1854).
Græme (Roland), heir of Avenel (2 syl.). He first appears as page to the lady of Avenel, then as page to Mary Queen of Scots.
Magdalen Græme, dame of Heathergill, grandmother of Roland Græme. She appears to Roland disguised as Mother Nicneven, an old witch at Kinross.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbott (time Elizabeth).
Græme (William), the red riever [free-booter] at Westburnflat.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time, Anne).
Grævius or J.G. Græfe of Saxony, editor of several of the Latin classics (1632-1703).
Believe me, lady, I have more satisfaction in beholding you than I should have in conversing with Grævius and Gronovius.—Mrs. Cowley, Who’s the Dupe? i. 3.
(Abraham Gronovius was a famous philologist, 1694-1775.)
Gra´hame (Colonel John), of Claverhouse, in the royal army under the duke of Monmouth. Afterwards viscount of Dundee.
Cornet Richard Grahame, the colonel’s nephew, in the same army.—Sir W. Scott, Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).
Grahams, nicknamed “Of the Hen.” The reference is this: The Grahams, having provided for a great marriage feast, found that a raid had been made upon their poultry by Donald of the Hammer (q.v.). They went in pursuit, and a combat took place; but as the fight was for “cocks and hens,” it obtained for the Grahams the nickname of Gramoch an Garrigh.
Gram, Siegfried’s sword.
Grammarians (Prince of), Apollonios, of Alexandria. Priscian called him Grammaticorum Princeps (second century B.C.)
Grammont (The Count of). He promised marriage to la belle Hamilton, but left England without performing the promise; whereupon the brothers followed him and asked him if he had not forgotten something. “True, true,” said the count, “excuse my short memory;” and returning with the brothers, he made the young lady countess of Grammont.
Grand Jument, meant for Diana, of Poitiers.—Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel.
Grand Monarque [mo.nark´], Louis XIV. (1638, 1643-1715).
Grandison, (Sir Charles), the hero of a novel by S. Richardson, entitled The History of Sir Charles Grandison. Sir Charles is the beau ideal of a perfect hero, the union of a good Christian and perfect English gentleman; but such a “faultless monster the world ne’er saw.” Richardson’s ideal of this character was Robert Nelson, reputed author of the Whole Duty of Man (1753).
Like the old lady mentioned by Sir Walter Scott, who chose Sir Charles Grandison because she could go to sleep for half an hour at any time during its reading, and still find the personages just where she left them, conversing in the cedar parlor.—Encyc. Brit., Art. “Romance.”
Grandison is the English Emile, but an Emile completely instructed. His discourses are continual precepts, and his actions are examples. Miss Byron is the object of his affection.—Editor of Arabian Nights Continued, iv. 72.
Grandmother. Lord Byron calls the British Review “My Grandmother’s Review,” and jestingly says he purchased its favorable criticism of Don Juan.
Grane (2 syl.), Siegfried’s horse, whose speed outstripped the wind.
Grane´angowl (Rev. Mr.), chaplain to Sir Duncan Campbell, at Ardenvohr Castle.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time Charles I.).
Granger (Captain), in love with Elizabeth Doiley, daughter of a retired slop-seller. The old father resolves to give her to the best scholar, himself being judge. Gradus, an Oxford pedant, quotes two lines of Greek, in which the word panta occurs four times. “Pantry!” cries old Doiley; “no, no; you can’t persuade me that’s Greek.” The captain talks of “refulgent scintillations in the ambient void opake; crysalic spheroids, and astifarous constellations;” and when Gradus says, “It is a rant in English,” the old man boils with indignation. “Zounds!” says he; “d’ye take me for a fool? D’ye think I don’t know my own mother tongue? ’Twas no more like English than I am like Whittington’s cat!” and he drives off Gradus as a vile impostor.—Mrs. Cowley, Who’s the Dupe?
Granger. (See Edith.)
Grangousier, father of Gargantua, “a good sort of a fellow in his younger days, and a notable jester. He loved to drink neat, and would eat salt meat” (bk. i. 3). He married Gargamelle (3 syl.) daughter of the king of the Parpaillons, and had a son named Gargantua.—Rabelais, Gargantua, i. 3 (1533).
⁂ “Grangousier” is meant for John d’Albret, king of Navarre; “Gargamelle” for Catherine de Foix, queen of Navarre; and “Gargantua” for Henri d’Albert, king of Navarre. Some fancy that “Grangousier” is meant for Louis XII., but this cannot be, inasmuch as he is distinctly called a “heretic for declaiming against the saints” (ch. xlv.).
Grantam (Miss), a friend of Miss Godfrey, engaged to Sir James Elliot.—Sam. Foote, The Liar (1761).
Grant´mesnil (Sir Hugh de), one of the knights challengers at the tournament.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).
Grantorto, the personification of rebellion in general, and of the evil genius of the Irish rebellion of 1580 in particular. Grantorto is represented as a huge giant, who withheld from Irēna [i.e. Iernê or Ireland] her inheritance. Sir Artĕgal [Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton], being sent to destroy him, challenged him to single combat, and having felled him to the earth with his sword Chrysa´or, “reft off his head to ease him of his pain.”—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 12 (1596).
Grass (Cronos), a grass which gives those who taste it an irresistible desire for the sea. Glaucus, the Bœo´tian fisherman, observed that all the fishes which he laid on the grass instantly leaped back into the water, whereupon he also tasted the grass, and was seized with the same irresistible desire. Leaping into the sea, he became a minor sea-god, with the gift of prophecy.
Gra´tian (Father), the begging friar at John Mengs’s inn at Kirchhoff.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
Gratia´no, one of Antonio’s friends. He “talked an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice.” Gratiano married Nerissa, the waiting-gentlewoman of Portia.—Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice (1598).
Gratiano, brother of Brabantio, and uncle of Desdemona.—Shakespeare, Othello (1611).
Graunde Amoure (Sir), walking in a meadow, was told by Fame of a beautiful lady named La belle Pucell, who resided in the Tower of Musyke. He was then conducted by Gouvernance and Grace to the Tower of Doctrine, where he received instruction from the seven Sciences:—Gramer, Logyke, Rethorike, Arismetricke, Musyke, Geometry, and Astronomy. In the Tower of Musyke he met La belle Pucell, with whom he fell in love, but they parted for a time. Graunde Amoure went to the Tower of Chivalry to perfect himself in the arts of knighthood, and there he received his degree from King Melyz´yus. He then started on his adventures, and soon encountered False Report, who joined him and told him many a lying tale; but Lady Correction, coming up, had False Report soundly beaten, and the knight was entertained at her castle. Next day he left, and came to a wall where hung a shield and horn. On blowing the horn, a three-headed monster came forth, with whom he fought, and cut off the three heads, called, Falsehood, Imagination, and Perjury. He passed the night in the house of Lady Comfort, who attended to his wounds; and next day he slew a giant fifteen feet high and with seven heads. Lastly, he slew the monster Malyce, made by enchantment of seven metals. His achievements over, he married La belle Pucell, and lived happily till he was arrested by Age, having for companions Policye and Avarice. Death came at last to carry him off, and Remembrance wrote his epitaph.—Stephen Hawes, The Passe-tyme of Plesure (1515).
Graunde Amoure’s Steed, Galantyse, the gift of King Melyz´yus when he conferred on him the degree of knighthood.