Flor and Blancheflor, the title of a minnesong by Conrad Fleck, at one time immensely popular. It is the story of two children who fall in love with each other. There is a good deal of grace and tenderness in the tale, with an abundance of trash. Flor, the son of Feinix, a pagan king, is brought up with Blancheflor (an enfant volé). The two children love each other, but Feinix sells Blancheflor to some Eastern merchants. Flor goes in quest of Blancheflor, whom he finds in Babylon, in the palace of the sultan, who is a sorcerer. He gains access to the palace, hidden in a basket of roses; but the sultan discovers him, and is about to cast both into the flames, when, touched with human gentleness and love, he sets them free. They then return to Spain, find Feinix dead, and marry (fourteenth century).
Flo´ra, goddess of flowers. In natural history all the flowers and vegetable productions of a country and locality are called its flora, and all its animal productions its fauna.
Flora, the waiting-woman of Donna Violante. In love with Lissado, the valet of Don Felix.—Mrs. Centlivre, The Wonder (1714).
Mrs. Mattocks’s was the most affecting theatrical leave taking we ever witnessed. The part she chose was “Flora,” to Cook’s “Don Felix,” which she played with all the freshness and spirit of a woman in her prime.—The New Monthly (1826).
Flora, the niece of old Farmer Freehold. She is a great beauty, and captivates Heartwell, who marries her. The two are so well assorted that their “best love is after their espousals.”—John Philip Kemble, The Farm-house.
Floranthe (Donna), a lady beloved by Octavian. Octavian goes mad because he fancies Floranthê is untrue to him, but Roque, a blunt, kind-hearted servitor, assures him he is mistaken, and persuades him to return home.—G. Colman, Octavian (1824).
Flor´delice (3 syl.), the mistress of Bran´dimart (king of the Distant Islands).—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Flordespi´na, daughter of Marsiglio.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Florence (Vane). The lost love eulogized in Philip Pendleton Cooke’s poem of that name.
Florence, Mrs. Spenser Smith, daughter of Baron Herbert, the Austrian ambassador in England. She was born at Constantinople, during her father’s residence in that city. Byron made her acquaintance in Malta, but Thomas Moore thinks his devotion was more imaginary than real. In a letter to his mother, his lordship says, he “finds her [Florence] very pretty, very accomplished, and extremely eccentric.”
Florence (The German), Dresden, also called “The Florence of the North.”
Florence (Weir). A beautiful girl committed to the care of a young man who expects to meet a child. Although hardly released from an engagement to another girl he falls in love with his charge, when his former flame recalls him, but generously resigns him to her younger rival.—Ellen Olney Kirk, One too Many (1889).
Florent, the nephew of “the emperor,” is condemned to death, but is offered his life if he can solve a certain riddle. An old deformed hag promises him the solution if he will agree to marry her afterward. He keeps faith with his deliverer, and on the wedding-night she is transformed into a beautiful woman.—Gower, Confessio Amantis, I.
Chaucer puts this story into the mouth of “The Wife of Bath,” Canterbury Tales. He does not name the hero, but makes him a bachelor of King Artour’s court. The story is much older than Gower, and is found in the legends of several countries, but Chaucer probably borrowed it from him while changing it in details.
Florentine Diamond (The), the fourth largest cut diamond in the world. It weighs 139-1/2 carats, and was the largest diamond belonging to Charles “the Bold,” duke of Burgundy. It was picked up by a Swiss peasant, who sold it to a priest for half a crown. The priest sold it for £200 to Bartholomew May, of Berne. It subsequently came into the hands of Pope Julius II., and the pope gave it to the Emperor of Austria. (See Diamonds.)
Flores or Isle of Flowers, one of the Azores (2 syl.). It was discovered in 1439 by Vanderburg, and is especially celebrated because it was near this isle that Sir Richard Grenville, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, fought his famous sea-fight. He had only one ship with a hundred men, and was opposed by the Spanish fleet of fifty-three men-of-war. For some hours victory was doubtful, and when Sir Richard was severely wounded, he wanted to sink the ship; but the Spaniards boarded it, complimented him on his heroic conduct, and he died. As the ship (The Revenge) was on its way to Spain, it was wrecked, and went to the bottom, so it never reached Spain after all. Tennyson has a poem on the subject (1878).
Flo´res (2 syl.), the lover of Blanchefleur.—Boccaccio, Il Filocopo (1340)
⁂ Boccaccio has repeated the tale in his Decameron, x. 5 (1352), in which Flores is called “Ansaldo,” and Blanchefleur “Diano´ra.” Flores and Blanchefleur, before Boccaccio’s time, were noted lovers, and are mentioned as early as 1288 by Matfre Ermengaud de Beziers, in his Breviaire d’Amour.
Chaucer has taken the same story as the basis of the Frankeleine’s Tale, and Bojardo has introduced it as an episode in his Orlando Innamorato, where the lover is “Prasildo” and the lady “Tisbina.” (See Prasildo.)
Flores´ki (Count), a Pole, in love with Princess Lodois´ka (4 syl.). At the opening of the play he is travelling with his servant Verbel to discover where the princess has been placed by her father during the war. He falls in with the Tartar chief Kera Khan, whom he overpowers in fight, but spares his life, and thus makes him his friend. Floreski finds the princess in the castle of Baron Lovinski, who keeps her a virtual prisoner, but the castle being stormed by the Tartars the baron is slain, and the princess marries the count.—J.P. Kemble, Lodoiska.
Flo´rez, son of Gerrard, king of the beggars. He assumes the name of Goswin, and becomes, in Bruges, a wealthy merchant. His mistress is Bertha, the supposed daughter of Vandunke the burgomaster.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggars’ Bush (1622).
Flor´ian, the “foundling“foundling of the forest,” discovered in infancy by the Count De Valmont, and adopted as his own son. FlorianFlorian is light-hearted and volatile, but with deep affection, very brave, and the delight of all who know him. He is betrothed to his cousin, Lady Geraldine, a ward of Count De Valmont.—W. Dimond, The Foundling of the Forest.
Florida (Vervain), American girl with her mother in Venice. She takes Italian lessons from Don Ippolito, a young priest, who has mistaken his calling. The girl’s pity for him and her desire to see him freed from a false position and in a different profession in America are misunderstood by her lover, Henry Ferris. Separation and sorrow ensue. Ippolito’s death-bed confession to Ferris clears up the mystery.
“If it is a little shocking, it is nevertheless true, and true to human nature that they spoke of Don Ippolito as if he were a part of their love.”—W.D. Howells, A Foregone Conclusion, (1874).
Flor´imel, “the Fair,” courted by Sir Sat´yrane, Sir Per´idure, and Sir Cal´idore (each 3 syl.), but she herself “loved none but Mar´inel,” who cared not for her. When Marinel was overthrown by Britomart and was reported to be dead, Florimel resolved to search into the truth of this rumor. In her wanderings, she came weary to the hut of a hag, but when she left the hut the hag sent a savage monster to bring her back. Florimel, however, jumped into a boat and escaped, but fell into the hands of Proteus (2 syl.), who kept her in a dungeon “deep in the bottom of a huge great rock.” One day, Marinel and his mother went to a banquet given by Proteus to the sea-gods; and as Marinel was loitering about, he heard the captive bemoaning her hard fate, and all “for love of Marinel.” His heart was touched; he resolved to release the prisoner, and obtained from his mother a warrant of release, signed by Neptune himself. Proteus did not dare to disobey, the lady was released, and became the happy bride of her liberator.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. 4, 8, and iv. 11, 12 (1590-1596).
⁂The name Florimel means “honey-flower.”
Florimel (The False), made by a witch of Riphæ´an snow and virgin wax, with an infusion of vermilion. Two burning lamps in silver sockets served for eyes, fine gold wire for locks, and for soul “a sprite that had fallen from heaven.” Braggadoccio, seeing this false Florimel, carried “her” off as the veritable Florimel; but when he was stripped of his borrowed plumes, this waxen Florimel vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind except the “golden girdle that was about her waist.”—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. 8, and v.3 (1590-1596).
Florimel’s Girdle, a girdle which gave to those who wore it, “the virtue of chaste love and wifehood true;” if any woman not chaste or faithful put it on, it immediately “loosed or tore asunder.” It was once the cestus of Venus, but when that queen of beauty wantoned with Mars, it fell off and was left on the “Acidalian mount.”—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 2 (1596).
One day Sir Cambel, Sir Triamond, Sir Paridel, Sir Blandamour, and Sir Ferramont agreed to give Florimel’s girdle to the most beautiful lady; when the previous question was moved, “Who was the most beautiful?” Of course, each knight, as in duty bound, adjudged his own lady to be the paragon of women, till the witch’s image of snow and wax, made to represent Florimel, was produced, when all agreed that it was without a peer, and so the girdle was handed to “the false Florimel.” On trying it on, however, it would in no wise fit her; and when by dint of pains it was at length fastened, it instantly loosened and fell to the ground. It would fit Amoret exactly, and of course Florimel, but not the witch’s thing of snow and wax.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 5 (1596).
⁂ Morgan la Fée sent King Arthur a horn, out of which no lady could drink “who was not to herself or to her husband true.” Ariosto’s enchanted cup possessed a similar spell.
A boy showed King Arthur a mantle which no wife not leal could wear. If any unchaste wife or maiden put it on, it would either go to shreds or refuse to drape decorously.
At Ephesus was a grotto containing a statue of Diana. If a chaste wife or maiden entered, a reed there (presented by Pan) gave forth most melodious sounds; but if the unfaithful or unchaste entered, the sounds were harsh and discordant.
Alasnam’s mirror remained unsullied when it reflected the unsullied, but became dull when the unchaste stood before it. (See Caradoc, p. 160.)
Florin´da, daughter of Count Julian, one of the high lords in the Gothic court of Spain. She was violated by King Roderick; and the count, in his indignation, renounced the Christian religion and called over the Moors, who came to Spain in large numbers and drove Roderick from the throne. Orpas, the renegade archbishop of Sev´ille, asked Florinda to become his bride, but she shuddered at the thought. Roderick, in the guise of a priest, reclaimed Count Julian as he was dying, and as Florinda rose from the dead body:
Flo´ripes (3 syl.), sister of Sir Fierabras [Fe.ā´.ra.brah], daughter, daughter of Laban, and wife of Guy, the nephew of Charlemagne.
Florisan´do (The exploits and adventures of), part of the series of Le Roman des Romans, or those pertaining to Am´adis of Gaul. This part (from bk. vi. to xiv.) was added by Paez de Ribēra.
Florise, (The lady), attendant on Queen Berengaria.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman, (time, Richard I.)
Flor´isel of Nice’a (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 Feliciano de Silva.
Flor´ismart, one of Charlemagne’s paladins, and the bosom friend of Roland.
Florival (Mdlle.), daughter of a French physician in Belleisle. She fell in love with Major Belford, while nursing him in her father’s house during a period of sickness. Her marriage however was deferred, from the great aversion of the major’s father to the French, and he went to Havana. In due time he returned to England and Colonel Tamper with him. Now Colonel Tamper was in love with Emily, and wishing to try the strength of her affection, pretended to be severely mutilated in the wars. Florival was a guest of Emily at the time, and, being apprised of the trick, resolved to turn the tables on the colonel, so when he entered the room as a maimed soldier, he found there Florival, dressed as an officer, and, under the name of Captain Johnson, flirting most desperately with Emily. The colonel was mad with jealousy, but in the very whirlwind of his rage, Major Belford recognized Mdlle. Florival, saw through the trick, and after a hearty good laugh at the colonel all ended happily.—Colman, sen., The Deuce is in Him (1762).
Flor´izel, son of Polixenês, king of Bohemia. In a hunting expedition, he saw Perdita (the supposed daughter of a shepherd), fell in love with her, and courted her under the assumed name of Dor´icles. The king tracked his son to the shepherd’s house, and told Perdita that if she gave countenance to this foolery he would order her and the shepherd to be put to death. Florizel and Perdita then fled from Bohemia, and took refuge in Sicily. Being brought to the court of King Leontês, it soon became manifest that Perdita was the king’s daughter. Polixenês, in the mean time, had tracked his son to Sicily, but when he was informed that Perdita was the king’s daughter, his objection to the marriage ceased, and Perdita became the happy bride of Prince Florizel.—Shakespeare, The Winter’s Tale (1604).
Florizel, the name assumed by George IV. in his correspondence with Mrs. Robinson (actress and poetess), generally known as Per´dita, that being the character in which she first attracted his attention when prince of Wales.
⁂ George IV. was generally nicknamed “Prince Florizel.”
Flower of Chivalry, Sir William Douglas, knight of Liddesdale (*-1353). Sir Philip Sidney, statesman, poet, and soldier, was also called “The Flower of Chivalry” (1554-1586). So was the Chevalier de Bayard, le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche (1476-1514).
Flower of Kings. Arthur is so called by John of Exeter (sixth century).
Flower of Poets, Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400).
Flower of the Levant´. Zantê is so called from its great beauty and fertility.
Flower of Yarrow (The), Mary Scott, daughter of Sir William Scott of Harden.
Flowers (The Death of the). In the poem bearing this title William Cullen Bryant thus names the American flowers that have been called “the crown-jewels of the year.”
Flowerdale (Sir John), father of Clarissa, and the neighbor of Colonel Oldboy.—Bickerstaff, Lionel and Clarissa.
Floyd (Ireson).
The punishment was inflicted because he had refused succor to a leaking ship, lost in consequence of his inhumanity.—J.G. Whittier, Skipper Ireson’s Ride (1877).
Floyds (The). Artist and wife summering in Broughton, Mass. He is self-indulgent and careless of her; she proud, passionate and morbid. Convinced that her husband is weary of her, and beset by the importunities of another man, she drowns herself.—Bliss Perry, The Broughton House (1890).
Fluel´len, a Welsh captain and great pedant, who, amongst other learned quiddities, drew this parallel between Henry V. and Alexander the Great: One was born in Monmouth and the other in Macedon, both which places begin with M, and in both a river flowed.—Shakespeare, Henry V. act iv. sc. 7 (1599).
Flur, the bride of Cassivelaun, “for whose love the Roman Cæsar first invaded Britain.”—Tennyson, Idylls of the King (“Enid”).
Flute (The Magic), a flute which has the powers of inspiring love. When given by the powers of darkness, the love it inspires is sensual love; but when bestowed by the powers of light, it becomes subservient to the very holiest ends. In the opera called Die Zauberflöte, Tami´no and Pami´na are guided by it through all worldly dangers to the knowledge of divine truth (or the mysteries of Isis.)—Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (1791).
Flutter, a gossip, fond of telling a good story, but, unhappily, unable to do so without a blunder. “A good-natured, insignificant creature, admitted everywhere, but cared for nowhere” (act i. 3).—Mrs. Cowley, The Belle’s Stratagem (1780).
Fly. Dainty butterfly of fashion who falls heir to the heroine’s rejected lover in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s novel, The Silent Partner.
Fly-gods, Beelzebub, a god of the Philistines, supposed to ward off flies. Achor was worshipped by the Cyrēneads for a similar object. Zeus Apomy´ios was the fly-god of the Greeks.
Flying Dutchman (The), a phantom ship, seen in stormy weather off the Cape of Good Hope, and thought to forebode ill luck. The legend is that it was a vessel laden with precious metal, gained by murder and piracy on the high seas. In punishment, the plague broke out among the crew; no port would admit them, and the ship must sail the seas till doomsday.
Another legend is, that a Dutch captain, homeward-bound, driven back by continued storms off the Cape, swore that he would double the Cape if he sailed till the day of doom. Taken at his word, he must now sail the seas forever.—Captain Marryat, The Phantom Ship.
Richard Wagner’s opera, Der Fliegende Holländer, adds a loftier motive to the legend. The doomed captain cannot find rest until some woman consents to share his fate. Elsa, moved by pity, makes the sacrifice and saves him from perdition.
Flying Highwayman. William Harrow, who leaped his horse over turn-pike gates as if it had been furnished with wings. He was executed in 1763.
Flynn (Tom), of Virginia.
Story told by the miner whose life he saved.—Bert Harte, In the Tunnel (1874).
Flyter (Mrs.), landlady of the lodgings occupied by Frank Osbaldistone in Glasgow.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).
Fog (Amos). Dreamy fisherman, hunter and wrecker, builder and owner of Castle Nowhere, in Constance Fennimore Woolson’s tale of that name.
Foible, the intriguing lady’s maid of Lady Wishfort, and married to Waitwell (lackey of Edward Mirabell). She interlards her remarks with “says he,” “he says, says he,” “she says, says she,” etc.—W. Congreve, The Way of the World (1700).
Foi´gard (Father), one of a gang of thieves. He pretends to be a French priest, but “his French shows him to be English, and his English shows him to be Irish.”—Farquhar, The Beaux’ Stratagem (1705).
Folair´ (2 syl.), a pantomimist at the Portsmouth Theatre, under the management of Mr. Vincent Crummles.—C. Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby (1838).
Foldath, general of the Fire-bolg or Belgæ in the south of Ireland. In the epic called Tem´ora, Cathmor is the “lord of Atha,” and Foldath is his general. He is a good specimen of the savage chieftain; bold and daring, but presumptuous, overbearing, and cruel. “His stride is haughty, and his red eye rolls in wrath.” He looks with scorn on Hidalla, a humane and gentle officer in the same army, for his delight is strife, and he exults over the fallen. In counsel Foldath is imperious, and contemptuous to those who differ from him. Unrelenting in revenge; and even when he falls with his death-wound dealt by Fillan the son of Fingal, he feels a sort of pleasure that his ghost would hover in the blast, and exult over the graves of his enemies. Foldath had one child, a daughter, the blue-eyed Dardu-Le´na, the last of the race.—Ossian, Temora.
Fon´dlewife, an uxorious banker.—Congreve, The Old Bachelor (1693).
When Mrs. Jefferson [1733-1776] was asked in what characters she excelled the most, she innocently replied,—“In old men, like ‘Fondlewife’ and ‘Sir Jealous Traffic.’”
⁂ “Sir Jealous Traffic” is in The Busy-Body, by Mrs. Centlivre.
Fondlove (Sir William), a vain old baronet of 60, who fancies himself a schoolboy, capable of playing boyish games, dancing, or doing anything that young men do. “How marvellously I wear! What signs of age have I? I’m certainly a wonder for my age. I walk as well as ever. Do I stoop? Observe the hollow of my back. As now I stand, so stood I when a child, a rosy, chubby boy. My arm is as firm as ’twas at 20. Oak, oak, isn’t it? Think you my leg is shrunk?—not in the calf a little? When others waste, ’tis growing-time with me. Vigor, sir, vigor, in every joint. Could run, could leap. Why shouldn’t I marry?” So thought Sir William of Sir William, and he married the Widow Green, a buxom dame of 40 summers.—S. Knowles, The Love-Chase (1837).
Fool. James I. of Great Britain was called by Henri IV. of France, “The Wisest Fool in Christendom” (1566-1625).
Fool (The), in the ancient morris-dance, represented the court-jester. He carried in his hand a yellow bauble, and wore on his head a hood with ass’s ears, the top of the hood rising into the form of a cock’s neck and head, with a belt at the extreme end. The hood was blue, edged with yellow and scolloped, the doublet red, edged with yellow, the girdle yellow, the hose of one leg yellow and of the other blue, shoes red. (See Morris-Dance.)
Fool’s Prayer (The). A king calls upon his jester to “kneel down and make a prayer!” The fool obeys in words so full of pregnant truth that—
Fools, Jesters and Mirthmen. Those in italics were mirthmen, but not licensed fools or jesters.
Adelsburn (Burkard Kasper), jester to George I. He was not only a fun-maker, but also a ghostly adviser of the Hanoverian.
Aksakoff, the fool of Czarina Elizabeth of Russia (mother of Peter II.). He was a stolid brute, fond of practical jokes.
Angély (L.) jester to Louis XIV., and last of the licensed fools of France. He is mentioned by Boileau in Satires i. and viii.
Aopi (Monsignore), who succeeded Soglia as the merryman of Pope Gregory XVI.
Armstrong (Archie), jester in the courts of James I. and Charles I. One of the characters in Scott’s novel, The Fortunes of Nigel. Being condemned to death by King James for sheep-stealing, Archie implored that he might live till he had read his Bible through for his soul’s weal. This was granted, and Archie rejoined, with a sly look, “Then de’il tak’ me ’gin I ever read a word on’t!”
Berdic, “joculator” to William the Conqueror. Three towns and five caracutes in Gloucestershire were given him by the king.
Bluet d’Arbéres (seventeenth century), fool to the duke of Mantua. During a pestilence he conceived the idea of offering his life as a ransom for his countrymen, and actually starved himself to death to stay the plague.
Bonny (Patrick), jester to the regent Morton.
Borde (Andrew), usually called “Merry Andrew,” physician to Henry VIII. (1500-1549).
Brusquet. Of this court fool Brantôme says: “He never had his equal in repartee” (1512-1563).
Caillet (Guillaume), who flourished about 1490. His likeness is given in the frontispiece of the Ship of Fools (1497).
Chicot, jester of Henri III. and Henri IV. Alexandre Dumas has a novel called Chicot the Jester (1553-1591).
Colquhoun (Jemmy), predecessor of James Geddes, jester in the court of Mary queen of Scots.
Coryat, “prince of non-official jesters and coxcombs.” Kept by Prince Henry, brother of Charles I.
Coulon, doctor and jester to Louis XVIII. He was the very prince of mimics. He sat for the portraits of Thiers, Molé, and Comte Joseph de Villèle (died 1858).
Da´gonet (Sir), jester to King Arthur. He was knighted by the king himself.
Derrie, a court jester to James I. Contemporary with Thom.
Dufresnoy, poet, playwright, actor, gardener, glass-manufacturer, spendthrift, wit, and honorary fool to Louis XIV. His jests are the “Joe Millers” of France.
Geddes (James), jester in the court of Mary, queen of Scots. He was daft, and followed Jemmy Colquhoun in the motley.
Glorieux (Le), jester of Charles le Hardi of Burgundy.
Gonella, domestic jester of the duke of Ferrara. His jests are in print. Gonella used to ride a horse all skin and bone, which is spoken of in Don Quixote.
Hafod (Jack), a retainer in the house of Mr. Bartlett, of Castlemorton, Worcestershire. He died at the close of the eighteenth century, and has given birth to the expression “As big a fool as Jack Hafod.” He was the ultimus scurrarum in Great Britain.
Heywood (John) author of numerous dramatic works (1492-1565).
Jean (Seigni), or “Old John;” so called to distinguish him from Jean or Johan, called Le Fol de Madame, (fl. 1380).
Johan, Le Fol de Madame mentioned by Marot in his epitaphs.
Johnson (S.), familiarly known as “Lord Flame,” the character he played in his own extravaganza of Hurlo-Thrumbo (1729).
Kgaw (General), a Saxon general, famous for his broad jests.
Killigrew (Thomas), called “King“King Charles’s jester” (1611-1682).
Longely, jester to Louis XIII.
Narr (Klaus), jester to Frederick, “the Wise,” elector of Prussia.
Patch, court fool of Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII.
Patche, Cardinal Woolsey’s jester. The cardinal made Henry VIII. a present of this “wise fool,” and the king returned word that “the gift was a most acceptable one.”
Patison, licensed jester to Sir Thomas More. He is introduced by Hans Holbein in his famous picture of the lord chancellor’s family.
Paul (Jacob), Baron Gundling. This merryman was laden with titles in ridicule by Frederick William I. of Prussia.
Pearce (Dickie), fool of the earl of Suffolk. Dean Swift wrote an epitaph on him.
Rayère, court jester to Henry I. of England.
Rosen (Kunz von der), private jester to the emperor Maximilian I.
Scogan, court jester to Edward IV.
Soglia (Cardinal), the fun-maker of Pope Gregory XVI. He was succeeded by Aopi.
Somers (Will), court jester to Henry VIII. The effigy of this jester is at Hampton Court. And in Old Fish Street was once a public-house called Will Somers’s tavern (1490-1560).
Stehlin (Professor), in the household of czarina Elizabeth of Russia. He was teacher of mathematics and history to the grand-duke (Peter II.), and was also his licensed buffoon.
Tarleton, (Richard), the famous clown, and jester in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, but not attached either to the court or to any nobleman (1530-1588).
Thom, one of the court jesters of James I. Contemporary with Derrie.
Triboulet, court jester to Louis XII. and François I. (1487-1536). Licinio, the rival of Titian, took his likeness, which is still extant.
Wallett (W.F.), court jester to Queen Victoria. He styles himself “the queen’s jester,” but doubtless has no warrant for the title from the Lord Chamberlain.
Walter, jester to Queen Elizabeth.
Will, “my lord of Leicester’s jesting player;” but who this “Will” was is not known. It might be Will Johnson, Will Sly, Will Kimpe, or even Will Shakespeare.
Yorick, jester in the court of Denmark. Referred to by Shakespeare in his Hamlet, act v. sc. 1.
(Dr. Doran published The History of Court Fools, in 1858).
Fools’ Paradise, unlawful pleasure; illicit love; vain hopes; the limbus fatuorum or paradise of fools.
If ye should lead her into a fool’s paradise, it were a gross ... behavior.—Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, act ii. sc. 4 (1597).
Foot-breadth, the sword of Thoralf Skolinson “the Strong” of Norway.
Fopling Flutter (Sir), “the man of mode,” and chief character of a comedy by Sir George Etherege, entitled The Man of Mode or Sir Fopling Flutter (1676).
Foppery. Vespasian the Roman emperor had a contempt for foppery. When certain young noblemen came to him smelling of perfumes, he said to them, “You would have pleased me more if you had smelt of garlic.”
Charlemagne had a similar contempt of foppery. One day, when he was hunting, the rain poured down in torrents, and the fine furs and silks of his suite were utterly spoilt. The king took this occasion to rebuke the court beaux for their vanity in dress and advised them in future to adopt garments more simple and more serviceable.
Foppington (Lord),an empty-headed coxcomb, intent only on dress and fashion. His favorite oaths, which he brings out with a drawl, are: “Strike me dumb!” “Split my windpipe!” and so on. When he loses his mistress, he consoles himself with this reflection: “Now, for my part, I think the wisest thing a man can do with an aching heart is to put on a serene countenance; for a philosphical air is the most becoming thing in the world to the face of a person of quality.”—Sir John Vanbrugh, The Relapse (1697).
The shoemaker in The Relapse tells Lord Foppington that his lordship is mistaken in supposing that his shoe pinches.—Macaulay.
Foppington (Lord), a young married man about town, most intent upon dress and fashion, whose whole life is consumed in the follies of play and seduction. His favorite oaths are: “Sun, burn me!” “Curse, catch me!” “Stop my breath!” “Let me blood!” “Run me through!” “Strike me stupid!” “Knock me down!” He is reckoned the king of all court fops.—Colley Cibber, The Careless Husband (1704).
Foppington (Lord), elder brother of Tom Fashion. A selfish coxcomb, engaged to be married to Miss Hoyden, daughter of Sir Tunbelly Clumsy, to whom he is personally unknown. His brother Tom, to whom he did not behave well, resolved to outwit him; and passing himself off as Lord Foppington, got introduced to the family, and married the heiress. When his lordship appeared, he was treated as an impostor, till Tom explained his ruse; and Sir Tunbelly, being snubbed by the coxcomb, was soon brought to acquiesce in the change, and gave his hand to his new son-in-law with cordiality. The favorite oaths of Lord Foppington are: “Strike me dumb!” “Strike me ugly!” “Stap my vitals!” “Split my windpipe!” “Rat me!”, etc.; and, in speaking, his affectation is to change the vowel “o” into a, as rat, naw, resalve, waurld, ardered, manth, paund, maunth, lang, philasapher, tarture, and so on.—Sheridan, A Trip to Scarborough (1777).
⁂ This comedy is The Relapse, slightly altered and curtailed.
Forbes (Paul), A travelled man who thinks himself blasé, but finds, to his surprise, new sensations in America. The leading excitement (and surprise) is his falling in love with a rich and beautiful girl and a poor and pretty one at the same time. Miriam, the rich beauty, divines the truth and her plan for freeing him is thus described by Edward Jasper, whom she married out of hand one evening.
“She was not happy—she resolved to throw herself into the abyss. I am the abyss.”
Forbes replies: “Since at this hour yesterday I had the honor to consider myself engaged to Miss Reese, who is now your wife, the most graceful act on my part is apparently, to efface myself. Accordingly, I efface myself.”—Ellen Olney Kirk, Sons and Daughters (1887)(1887).
Ford, a gentleman of fortune living at Windsor. He assumes the name of Brook, and being introduced to Sir John Falstaff, the knight informs him “of his whole course of wooing,” and how at one time he eluded Mrs. Ford’s jealous husband by being carried out before his eyes in a buck-basket of dirty linen.—Act iii. sc. 5.
Mrs. Ford, wife of Mr. Ford. Sir John Falstaff pays court to her, and she pretends to accept his protestationsprotestations of love, in order to expose and punish him. Her husband assumes for the nonce the name of Brook, and Sir John tells him from time to time the progress of his suit, and how he succeeds in duping her fool of a husband.—Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor (1596).
Forde´lis (3 syl.), wife of Bran´dimart (Orlando’s intimate friend). When Brandimart was slain, Fordelis dwelt for a time in his sepulchre in Sicily, and died broken-hearted. (See Fourdelis.)—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1615).
Fore´sight (2 syl.), a mad superstitious old man, who “consulted the stars, and believed in omens, portents, and predictions.” He referred “man’s goatish disposition to the charge of a star,” and says he himself was “born when the Crab was ascending, so that all his affairs in life have gone backwards.”
I know the signs, and the planets, and their houses; can judge of motions, direct and retrograde, of sextiles, quadrates, trines, and oppositions, fiery trigons and aquatic trigons. Know whether life shall be long or short, happy or unhappy; whether diseases are curable or incurable; if journeys shall be prosperous, undertakings successful, or stolen goods recovered.—H. Congreve, Love for Love, ii. (1695).
Forester (Sir Philip), a libertine knight. He goes in disguise to Lady Bothwell’s ball on his return from the Continent, but being recognized, decamps.
Lady Jemima Forester, wife of Sir Philip, who goes with her sister Lady Bothwell to consult “the enchanted mirror,” in which they discover the clandestine marriage and infidelity of Sir Philip.—Sir W. Scott, Aunt Margaret’s Mirror (time, William III).
Forgeries (Literary).
Bertram (C. Julius), professor of English at Copenhagen, professed to have discovered, in 1747, the De Situ Britanniæ of Richardus Corinensis, in the library of that city; and in 1757 he published it with two other treatises, calling the whole The Three Writers on the Ancient History of the British Nations (better known as Scriptores Tres). His forgery was exposed by J.E. Mayor, in his preface to Ricardi de Cirencestria Speculum Historiale.
Chatterton (Thomas), in 1777, published certain poems, which he affirmed were written in the fifteenth century by Thomas Rowley, a monk. The poets Gray and Mason detected the forgery.
His other literary forgeries were: (1) The Pedigree of Burgum (a Bristol pewterer), professed to have been discovered in the muniment-room of St. Mary’s Church, Redcliffe. He accordingly printed a history of the “De Bergham” family, with a poem called The Romaunt of the Cnyghte, by John de Bergham (fourteenth century). (2) A forged account of the opening of the old bridge, signed “Dunhelmus Bristoliensis,” and professing to have been copied from an old MS. (3) An Account of Bristol, by Turgotus, “translated out of Saxon into English, by T. Rowley.” This forgery was made for the use of Mr. Catcott, who was writing a history of Bristol.
Ireland (S. W. H.) published, in folio, 1796, Miscellaneous Papers and Instruments, under the hand and seal of William Shakespeare, including the tragedy of King Lear and a small fragment of Hamlet, from the original, price £4 4s. He actually produced MSS. which he had forged, and which he pretended were original.
On April 2, 1796, the play of Vortigern and Rowena, “from the pen of Shakespeare,” was announced for representation. It drew a most crowded house; but the fraud was detected, and Ireland made a public declaration of his impositions, from beginning to end.
Mentz, who lived in the ninth century, published fifty-nine decretals, which he asserted were by Isidore of Seville, who lived three centuries previously. The object of these forged letters was to exalt the papacy and to corroborate certain dogmas.
At Bremen, in 1837, were printed nine books of Sanchoni´athon, and it was said that the MSS. had been discovered in the convent of St. Maria de Merinhâo by a Colonel Pereira in the Portuguese army; but it was ascertained that there was no such convent, nor any such colonel, and that the paper of this “ancient” MS. bore the water-mark of Osnabrück paper-mills.
Forgive, Blest Shade ... This celebrated epitaph in Brading Churchyard, Isle of Wight, is an altered version, by the Rev. John Gill (curate of Newchurch), of one originally composed by Mrs. Anne Steele, daughter of a Baptist minister at Bristol.
Fornar´ina (La), so called because she was the daughter of a baker (Fornajo), is the name under which Raphael’s mistress is known. Her name is said to have been Margherita. Raphael painted several portraits of this woman, the most famous being in the Uffizi Gallery at Florence, and her face appears to have suggested many of his most beautiful faces in other works.
Forrest (George), Esq., M.A., the nom de plume of the Rev. J. G. Wood, author of Every Boy’s Book (1855), etc.
Forsythe (Dick), Man of the world who comes to spend a few weeks in a country town with his invalid mother, astonishes and fascinates the natives of Ashwist, and falls in love with Lois Howe, the rector’s daughter. She has the bad taste to prefer a plainer man.—Margaret Deland, John Ward, Preacher (1888).
Fortescue (Ellen). Orphan niece adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton, shy, gentle, timid, and affectionate. Upon her death-bed Ellen’s mother has charged the child to shield her brother from blame everywhere and always. Performance of her promise to do this bring upon the sister a weight of suspicion that humbles her to the dust and nearly breaks her heart. She is cleared by her brother’s confession of his own wrong doing.—Grace Aguilar, Home Influence (1850).
For´tinbras, prince of Norway.—Shakespeare, Hamlet (1596).
Fortuna´tus, a man on the brink of starvation, on whom Fortune offers to bestow either wisdom, strength, riches, health, beauty, or long life. He chooses riches, and she gives him an inexhaustible purse. Subsequently, the sultan gives him a wishing-cap, which as soon as he puts on his head, will transport him to any spot he likes. These gifts prove the ruin of Fortunatus and his sons.
⁂This is one of the Italian tales called Nights, by Straparo´la. There is a German version, and a French one, as far back as 1535. The story was dramatized in 1553 by Hans Sachs; and in 1600 by Thomas Dekker, under the title of The Pleasant Comedie of old Fortunatus. Ludwig Tieck also had a drama upon the same subject.
The purse of Fortunatus could not supply you.—Holcroft, The Road to Ruin, i. 3.
Fortunatus’s Purse, a purse which was inexhaustible. It was given to Fortunatus by Fortune herself.
Fortunatus’s Wishing-cap, a cap given by the sultan to Fortunatus. He had only to put it on his head and wish, when he would find himself transported to any spot he liked.
Fortune (Emerson). Sharp spinster aunt of Ellen Montgomery in Susan Warner’s Wide, Wide World. She rules her house, her mother and niece with a hand of iron until she marries her farmer, phlegmatic Van Brunt.
Fortune’s Frolic, a farce by Allingham. Lord Lackwit died suddenly, and the heir of his title and estates was Robin Roughhead, a poor laborer, engaged to Dolly, a cottager’s daughter. The object of the farce is to show the pleasure of doing good, and the blessings which a little liberality can dispense. Robin was not spoilt by his good fortune, but married Dolly, and became the good genius of the cottage tenantry.
Fortunes of Nigel, a novel by Sir. W. Scott (1822). This story gives an excellent picture of the times of James I., and the account of Alsatia is wholly unrivalled. The character of King James, poor, proud and pedantic, is a masterly historic sketch.
Fortunio, one of the three daughters of an old lord, who at the age of four-score was called out to join the army levied against the emperor of Matapa´. Fortunio put on military costume, and went in place of her father. On her way, a fairy gave her a horse named Comrade, not only of incredible swiftness, but all-knowing and endowed with human speech; she also gave her an inexhaustible Turkey-leather trunk, full of money, jewels and fine clothes. By the advice of Comrade she hired seven gifted servants, named Strongback, Lightfoot, Marksman, Fine-ear, Boisterer, Trinquet, and Grugeon. After performing several marvelous feats by the aid of her horse and servants, Fortunio married Alfurite (3 syl.), the king of her country. Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (1682).
⁂ This tale is reproduced in Grimm’s Goblins.
Fortunio’s Horse, Comrade, which not only possessed incredible speed, but knew all things, and was gifted with human speech.
Fortunio’s Attendants.
Trinquet drank up the lakes and ponds, and thus caught for his master [sic] most delicate fish. Lightfoot hunted down venison, and caught hares by the ears. As for Marksman, he gave neither partridge or pheasant any quarter, and whatever amount of game Marksman shot, Strongback would carry without inconvenience.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales (“Fortunio,” 1682).
Fortunio’s Sisters. Whatever gifts Fortunio sent her sisters their touch rendered them immediately worthless. Thus the coffers of jewels and gold “became only cut glass and false pistoles” the moment the jealous sisters touched them.
Fortunio’s Turkey-leather Trunk, full of suits of all sorts, swords, jewels, and gold. The fairy told Fortunio “she needed but to stamp with her foot, and call for the Turkey-leather trunk, and it would always come to her, full of money and jewels, fine linen and laces.”—Comtesse D’Aunoy, Fairy Tales, (1682).
Forty Thieves, also called the tale of “Ali Baba.” These thieves lived in a vast cave, the door of which opened and shut at the words, “Open, Sesamê!” “Shut, Sesamê!” One day, Ali Baba, a wood-monger, accidentally discovered the secret, and made himself rich by carrying off gold from the stolen hoards. The captain tried several schemes to discover the thief, but was always outwitted by Morgia´na, the wood-cutter’s female slave, who, with boiling oil, killed the whole band, and at length stabbed the captain himself with his own dagger.—Arabian Nights (“Ali Baba or the Forty Thieves”).
Forwards (Marshal). Blucher is so called for his dash and readiness to attack in the campaign of 1813 (1742-1819).
Fosca´ri (Francis), doge of Venice for thirty-five years. He saw three of his sons die, and the fourth, named Jac´opo, was banished by the Council of Ten for taking bribes from his country’s enemies. The old doge also was deposed at the age of 84. As he was descending the “Giant Staircase” to take leave of his son, he heard the bell announce the election of his successor, and he dropped down dead.
Jac´opo Foscari, the fourth and only surviving son of Francis Foscari, the doge of Venice. He was banished for taking bribes of foreign princes. Jacopo had been several times tortured, and died soon after his banishment to Candia.—Byron, The Two Foscari (1820).
Fosco (Count), the airy, witty, unconscionable villain of Wilkie Collins’ Woman in White. Gallant, audacious and fat.
Foss (Corporal), a disabled soldier, who served many years under Lieutenant Worthington, and remained his ordinary when the lieutenant retired from the service. Corporal Foss loved his master and Miss Emily, the lieutenant’s daughter, and he gloried in his profession. Though brusque in manner, he was tender-hearted as a child.—G. Colman, The Poor Gentleman (1812).
⁂ Corporal Foss is modelled from “Corporal Trim,” in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy (1759).
Foster (Captain), on guard at Tully Veolan ruin.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).
Foster, the English champion.—Sir W. Scott, The Laird’s Jock (time, Elizabeth).
Foster (Anthony) or “Tony-fire-the-Faggot,” agent of the earl of Leicester at Cumnor Place.—Sir W. Scott, Kenilworth (time, Elizabeth).
Foster (Sir John), the English warden.—Sir W. Scott, The Monastery (time Elizabeth).
Foster (Dr. James), a dissenting minister, who preached on Sunday evenings for above twenty years, from 1728-1748, in Old Jewry (died 1753).