Gartha, sister of Prince Oswald of Vero´na. When Oswald was slain in single combat by Gondibert (a combat provoked by his own treachery), Gartha used all her efforts to stir up civil war; but Hermegild, a man of great prudence, who loved her, was the author of wiser counsel, and diverted the anger of the camp by a funeral pageant of unusual splendor. As the tale is not finished, the ultimate lot of Gartha is unknown.—Sir William Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).
Garth (Sip), woman of the people, who “puts” everything “honest” to people. Shrewd, deep of heart and almost fierce of will, girding at her limitations, yet profoundly in sympathy with her fellow-sufferers, she becomes a valuable ally to her high-bred friend, Perley Kelso, in her efforts to bring comfort and beauty into the dwellings of the poor.—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, The Silent Partner (1871).
Garth (Caleb), surveyor and land-agent. Excellent man, but better at lending than keeping money.
Mary Garth, his daughter; sensible and true woman, with few graces of person and no affectations.—George Eliot, Middlemarch.
Gas´abal, the ’squire of Don Galaor.
Gasabal was a man of such silence that the author names him only once in the course of his voluminous history.—Don Quixote, I. iii. 6 (1605).
Gascoigne (Sir William). Shakespeare says that Prince Henry “struck the chief justice in the open court;” but it does not appear from history that any blow was given. The fact is this:
One of the gay companions of the prince being committed for felony, the prince demanded his release, but Sir William told him the only way of obtaining a release would be to get from the king a free pardon. Prince Henry now tried to rescue the prisoner by force, when the judge ordered him out of court. In a towering fury, the prince flew to the judgment seat, and all thought he was about to slay the judge; but Sir William said very firmly and quietly. “Syr, remember yourselfe. I kepe here the place of the kynge, your sovereigne lorde and father, to whom you owe double obedience; wherefore I charge you in his name to desyste of your wylfulnes.... And nowe for your contempte goo you to the pryson of the Kynges Benche, whereunto I commytte you, and remayne ye there prisoner untyll the pleasure of the kynge be further known.” With which words the prince being abashed, the noble prisoner departed and went to the King’s Bench.—Sir Thomas Elyot, The Governour (1531).
Gashford, secretary to Lord George Gordon. A detestable, cruel sneak, who dupes his half-mad master, and leads him to imagine he is upholding a noble cause in plotting against the English Catholics. To wreak vengeance on Geoffrey Haredale, he incites the rioters to burn “The Warren,” where Haredale resided. Gashford commits suicide.—C. Dickens, Barnaby Rudge (1841).
Gaspar or Casper (“the white one”), one of the three Magi or kings of Cologne. His offering to the infant Jesus was frankincense, in token of divinity.
⁂ The other two were Melchior (“king of light”), who offered gold, symbolical of royalty; and Balthazar (“lord of treasures”), who offered myrrh, to denote that Christ would die. Klopstock, in his Messiah, makes the number of the Magi six, not one of which names agrees with those of Cologne Cathedral.
Gaspard, the steward of Count De Valmont, in whose service he had been for twenty years, and to whom he was most devotedly attached.—W. Dimond, The Foundling of the Forest.
Gas´pero, secretary of state, in the drama called The Laws of Candy, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1647).
Gathe´ral (Old), steward to the duke of Buckingham.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Gath´erill (Old), bailiff to Sir Geoffrey Peveril of the Peak.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Gauden´tio di Lucca, the hero and title of a romance by Simon Berington. He makes a journey to Mezzoramia, an imaginary country in the interior of Africa.
Gau´difer, a champion in the romance of Alexander.
Gaudio´sa (Lady), wife of Pelayo; a wise and faithful counsellor, high-minded, brave in danger, and a real helpmate.—Southey, Roderick, Last of the Goths (1814).
Gaudissart, the droll French bagman.
Gaul, son of Morni of Strumon. He was betrothed to Oith´ona, daughter of Nuäth, but before the day of marriage he was called away by Fingal to attend him on an expedition against the Britons. At the same time Nuäth was at war, and sent for his son Lathmon; so Oithona was left unprotected in her home. Donrommath, lord of Uthal (or Cuthal) seized this opportunity to carry her off, and concealed her in a cave in the desert island of Trom´athon. When Gaul returned to claim his betrothed, he found she was gone, and was told by a vision in the night where she was hidden. Next day, with three followers, Gaul went to Tromathon, and the ravisher coming up, he slew him and cut off his head. Oithona, armed as a combatant, mingled with the fighters and was wounded. Gaul saw what he thought a youth dying, and went to offer assistance, but found it was Oithona, who forthwith expired. Disconsolate, he returns to Dunlathmon, and thence to Morven. Ossian, Oithona.
Gaunt´grim, the wolf, in Lord Lytton’s Pilgrims of the Rhine (1834).
Bruin is always in the sulks, and Gauntgrim always in a passion.—Ch. xii.
Gavar´ni, the pseudonym of Sulpice Paul Chevalier, the great caricaturist of the French Charivari (1803-1896).
Gavroche (2 syl.), type of the Parisian street arab.—Victor Hugo, Les Misèrables (1862).
Gawain [Gaw´’n], son of King Lot and Morguase (Arthur’s sister). His brothers were Agravain, Ga´heris, and Ga´reth. The traitor Mordred was his half-brother, being the adulterous offspring of Morgause and Prince Arthur. Lot was king of Orkney. Gawain was the second of the fifty knights created by King Arthur; Tor was the first, and was dubbed the same day (pt. i. 48). When the adulterous passion of Sir Launcelot for Queen Guenever came to the knowledge of the king, Sir Gawain insisted that the king’s honor should be upheld. Accordingly, King Arthur went in battle array to Benwicke (Brittany), the “realm of Sir Launcelot,” and proclaimed war. Here Sir Gawain fell, according to the prophecy of Merlin, “With this sword shall Launcelot slay the man that in this world he loved the best” (pt. i. 44). In this same battle the king was told that his bastard son Mordred had usurped his throne, so he hastened back with all speed, and in the great battle of the West received his mortal wound (pt. iii. 160-167).—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470).
Of Arthurian knights, Gawain is called the “Courteous,” Sir Kay the “Rude and Boastful,” Mordred the “Treacherous,” Launcelot the “Chivalrous,” Galahad the “Chaste,” Mark the “Dastard,” Sir Palomides (3 syl.) the “Saracen,” i.e. unbaptized, etc.
Gawky (Lord), Richard Grenville (1711-1770).
Gaw´rey, a flying woman, whose wings served the double purpose of flying and dress.—R. Pultock, Peter Wilkins (1750).
Gay (Walter), in the firm of Dombey and Son; an honest, frank, and ingenuous youth, who loved Florence Dombey, and comforted her in her early troubles. Walter Gay was sent in the merchantman called The Son and Heir, as junior partner, to Barbadoes, and survived a shipwreck. After his return from Barbadoes, he married Florence.—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).
Gayless (Charles), the penniless suitor of Melissa. His valet is Sharp.—Garrick, The Lying Valet (1741).
Gaylords (The). Village family in good circumstances.
Squire Gaylord, shrewd lawyer, with one tender place in his heart—his love for his only child.
Mrs. Gaylord, a calvinistic invalid, in awe of her imperious lord.
Marcia Gaylord, headstrong village beauty, who elopes with Bartley Hubbard, a newspaper man; goes with him to Boston; shares his capricious fortunes; adores and is madly jealous of him and goes home to nurse her sick mother, without her husband’s consent. He sues for a divorce, prevented by her father’s arrival prepared to give the other side of the question.—W. D. Howells, A Modern Instance.
Gay´ville (Lord), the affianced husband of Miss Alscrip “the heiress,” whom he detests; but he ardently loves Miss Alton, her companion. The former is conceited, overbearing, and vulgar, but very rich; the latter is modest, retiring, and lady-like, but very poor. It turns out that £2000 a year of “the heiress’s” property was entailed on Sir William Charleton’s heirs, and therefore descended to Mr. Clifford in right of his mother. This money Mr. Clifford settles on his sister, Miss Alton (whose real name is Clifford). Sir Clement Flint tears the conveyance, whereby Clifford retains the £2000 a year, and Sir Clement settles the same amount on Lord Gayville, who marries Miss Alton, alias Miss Clifford.
Lady Emily Gayville, sister of Lord Gayville. A bright, vivacious, and witty lady, who loves Mr. Clifford. Clifford also greatly loves Lady Emily, but is deterred from proposing to her because he is poor and unequal to her in a social position. It turns out that he comes into £2000 a year in right of his mother, Lady Charlton; and is thus enabled to offer himself to the lady, by whom he is accepted.—General Burgoyne, The Heiress (1781).
Gayworthys’ (The), New England household.
Dr. Gayworthy. Excellent man and physician. His heart is bound up in his step-grandson in whose favor he makes a will.
Johanna and Rebecca Gayworthy; one round, laughing and fair; the other, slight, brown, delicate, serious-eyed. Each has a lover and each her disappointment and victory.
Mrs. Vorse or “Sister Prue,” step-daughter, a widow with one son—Gershom, who is wild for sea-life, and gets it.
Mrs. Gair, née Gayworthy; the town-sister, diplomatic and suave. She secretes the doctor’s will and manœuvres Gershom off to sea.
Sadie, or Say Gair; upright little girl, who grows into a sound-hearted woman, and brings crooked things straight after many days and much striving, by marrying Gershom.—A.D.T. Whitney, The Gayworthys (1865).
Gaz´ban, the black slave of the old fire-worshipper, employed to sacrifice the Mussulmans to be offered on the “mountain of fire.”—Arabian Nights (“Amgiad and Assad”).
Gazette (Sir Gregory), a man who delights in news, without having the slightest comprehension of politics.—Samuel Foote, The Knights.
Ge´ber, an Arabian alchemist, born at Thous, in Persia (eighth century). He wrote several treatises on the “art of making gold,” in the usual mystical jargon of the period; and hence our word gibberish (“senseless jargon”).
Geddes (Joshua), the quaker.
Rachael Geddes, sister of Joshua.
Philip Geddes, grandfather of Joshua and Rachael Geddes.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Geierstein [Gi´.er.stine], Arnold, count of.
Count Albert of Geierstein, brother of Arnold Biederman, disguised (1) as the black priest of St. Paul’s; (2) as president of the secret tribunal; (3) as monk at Mont St. Victoire.
Anne of Geierstein, called “The Maiden of the Mist,” daughter of Count Albert, and baroness of Arnheim.
Count Heinrich of Geierstein, grandfather of Count Arnold.
Count Williewald of Geierstein, father of Count Arnold.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
Geislaer (Peterkin), one of the insurgents at Liège [Le.aje].—Sir W. Scott, Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).
Geith (George), a model of untiring industry, perseverance, and moral courage. Undaunted by difficulties, he pursued his onward way, and worked as long as breath was left him.—Mrs. Trafford [Riddell], George Geith.
Gelert, Llewellyn’s favorite hound. One day, Llewellyn returned from hunting, when Gêlert met him smeared with gore. The chieftain felt alarmed, and instantly went to look for his baby son. He found the cradle overturned, and all around was sprinkled with gore and blood. He called his child, but no voice replied, and thinking the hound had eaten it, he stabbed the animal to the heart. The tumult awoke the baby boy, and on searching more carefully, a huge wolf was found under the bed, quite dead. Gêlert had slain the wolf and saved the child.
⁂ This tale, with a slight difference, is common to all parts of the world. It is told in the Gesta Romanorum of Follicŭlus, a knight, but the wolf is a “serpent,” and Folliculus, in repentance, makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the sanskrit version, given in the Pantschatantra (A.D. 540), the tale is told of the brahmin Devasaman, an “ichneumon” and “black snake” taking the places of the dog and the wolf. In the Arabic version by Nasr-Allah (twelfth century), a “weasel” is substituted for the dog; in the Mongolian Uligerun a “polecat;” in the Persian Sindibadnâmeh, a “cat;” and in the Hitopadesa (iv. 3), an “otter.” In the Chinese Forest of Pearls from the Garden of the Law, the dog is an “ichneumon,” as in the Indian version (A.D. 668). In Sandabar, and also in the Hebrew version, the tale is told of a dog. A similar tale is told of Czar Piras of Russia; and another occurs in the Seven Wise Masters.
Gel´latly (Davie) idiot servant of the baron of Bradwardine (3 syl.).
Old Janet Gellatly, the idiot’s mother.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).
⁂ In some editions the word is spelt “Gellatley.”
Geloi´os. Silly laughter personified. Geloios is slain by Encra´tês (temperance) in the battle of Mansoul. (Greek, gĕloios, “facetious”).
Gem of Normandy, Emma, daughter of Richard “the Fearless,” duke of Normandy. She first married Ethelred II. of England, and then Canute, but survived both, and died in 1052.
Gems emblems of the Twelve Apostles.
Andrew, the bright blue sapphire, emblematic of his heavenly faith.
Bartholomew, the red carnelian, emblematic of his martyrdom.
James, the white chalcedony, emblematic of his purity.
James the Less, the topaz, emblematic of delicacy.
John, the emerald, emblematic of his youth and gentleness.
Matthew, the amethyst, emblematic of sobriety. Matthew was once a “publican,” but was “sobered” by the leaven of Christianity.
Matthias, the chrysolite, pure as sunshine.
Peter, the jasper, hard and solid as the rock of the Church.
Philip, the friendly sardonyx.
Simeon of Cana, the pink hyacinth, emblematic of sweet temper.
Thaddeus, the chrysoprase, emblematic of serenity and trustfulness.
Thomas, the beryl, indefinite in lustre, emblematic of his doubting faith.
Gems symbolic of the Months.
January, the jacinth or hyacinth, symbolizing constancy and fidelity.
February, the amethyst, symbolizing peace of mind and sobriety.
March, the blood-stone or jasper, symbolizing courage and success in dangerous enterprise.
April, the sapphire and diamond, symbolizing repentance and innocence.
May, the emerald, symbolizing success in love.
June, the agate, symbolizing long life and health.
July, the carnelian, symbolizing cure of evils resulting from forgetfulness.
August, the sardonyx or onyx, symbolizing conjugal felicity.
September, the chrysolite, symbolizing preservation from folly, or its cure.
October, the aqua-marine, opal, or beryl, symbolizing hope.
November, the topaz, symbolizing fidelity and friendship.
December, the turquoise or ruby, symbolizing brilliant success.
⁂ Some doubt exists between May and June, July and August. Thus some give the agate to May, and the emerald to June; the carnelian to August, and the onyx to July.
Gem´ini (“the twins”). Castor and Pollux are the two principal stars of this constellation; the former has a bluish tinge, and the latter a damask red.
Gemini. Mrs. Browning makes Eve view in the constellation Gemini a symbol of the increase of the human race, and she loved to gaze on it.—E. B. Browning, A Drama of Exile (1850).
Geneu´ra. (See Gineura).
⁂ Queen Guinever or Guenever is sometimes called “Geneura,” or “Genevra.”
Gene´va Bull (The), Stephen Marshall, a Calvinistic preacher.
Geneviève (St.) the patron saint of Paris, born at Nanterre. She was a shepherdess, but went to Paris when her parents died, and was there during Attila’s invasion (A.D. 451). She told the citizens that God would spare the city, and “her prediction came true.” At another time, she procured food for the Parisians suffering from famine. At her request, Clovis built the church of St. Pierre et St. Paul, afterwards called Ste. Geneviève. Her day is January 3. Her relics are deposited in the Panthèon now called by her name (419-512).
Genii or Ginu, an intermediate race between angels and men. They ruled on earth before the creation of Adam—D’Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, 357 (1697). Also spelt Djinn and Jinn.
⁂ Solomon is supposed to preside over the whole race of genii. This seems to have arisen from a mere confusion of words of somewhat similar sound. The chief of the genii was called a suleyman, which got corrupted into a proper name.
Genius and Common Sense, T. Moore says that Common Sense and Genius once went out together on a ramble by moonlight. Common Sense went prosing on his way, arrived home in good time, and went to bed; but Genius, while gazing at the stars, stumbled into a river, and died.
⁂ This story is told of Thalês, the philosopher, by Plato. Chaucer has also an allusion thereto in his Miller’s Tales.
Genna´ro the natural son of Lucrezia di Borgia (daughter of Pope Alexander VI.) before her marriage with Alfonso, duke of Ferra´ra. He was brought up by a Neapolitan fisherman. In early manhood he went to Venice, heard of the scandalous cruelty of Lucrezia, and with the heedless petulance of youth, mutilated the duke’s escutcheon by striking out the B, thus converting Borgia into Orgia (orgies). Lucrezia demanded vengeance, and Gennaro was condemned to death by poison. When Lucrezia discovered that the offender was her own son, she gave him an antidote to the poison, and set him free. Not long after this, at a banquet given by Negro´ni Lucrezia revealed herself to Gennaro as his mother, and both expired of poison in the banquet hall.—Donizetti, Lucrezia di Borgia (1834).
Gennil (Ralph), a veteran in the troop of Sir Hugo de Lacy.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).
Genove´va, wife of Siegfried, count palatine of Brabant. Being suspected of infidelity, she was driven into the forest of Ardennes, where she gave birth to a son, who was suckled by a white doe. After a time Siegfried discovered his error, and both mother and child were restored to their proper home.—German Popular Stories.
Tieck and Müller have popularized the tradition, and Raupach has made it the subject of a drama.
Gentle Shepherd (The), George Grenville. In one of his speeches he exclaimed in the House, “Tell me where!” when Pitt hummed the line of a popular song, “Gentle Shepherd, tell me where!” and the House was convulsed with laughter (1712-1770).
Gentle Shepherd (The), the title and chief character of Allan Ramsay’s pastoral (1725).
Gentleman of Europe (The First), George IV. (1762, 1820-1830).
It was the “first gentleman in Europe” in whose high presence Mrs. Rawdon passed her examination, and took her degree in reputation; so it must be flat disloyalty to doubt her virtue. What a noble appreciation of character must there not have been in Vanity Fair when that august sovereign was invested with the title of Premier Gentilhomme of all Europe!—Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1843).
Gentleman of Europe (First), Louis d’Artois.
Gentleman Smith, William Smith, actor, noted for his gentlemanly deportment on the stage (1730-1790).
Geoffrey, archbishop of York.—Sir W. Scott, The Talisman (time, Richard I.).
Geoffrey, the old ostler of John Mengs (inn-keeper at Kirchhoff).—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).
Geoffrey Crayon, the hypothetical name of the author of the Sketch-Book by Washington Irving (1818-1820).
George (Honest). General Monk, George, duke of Albemarle, was so called by the votaries of Cromwell (1608-1670).
George (Mr.), a stalwart, handsome, simple-hearted fellow, son of Mrs. Rouncewell, the housekeeper at Chesney Wold. He was very wild as a lad, and ran away from his mother to enlist as a soldier; but on his return to England he opened a shooting-gallery in Leicester Square, London. When Sir Leicester Dedlock, in his old age, fell into trouble, George became his faithful attendant.—C. Dickens, Bleak House (1853).
George (St.), the patron saint of England. He was born at Lydda, but brought up in Cappadocia, and suffered martyrdom in the reign of Diocletian, April, 23, A.D. 303. Mr. Hogg tells us of a Greek inscription at Ezra, in Syria, dated 346, in which the martyrdom of St. George is referred to. At this date was living George, bishop of Alexandria, with whom Gibbon, in his Decline and Fall, has confounded the patron saint of England; but the bishop died in 362, or fifty-nine years after the prince of Cappadocia. (See Red Cross Knight.)
⁂ Mussulmans revere St. George under the name of “Gherghis.”
St. George’s Bones were taken to the church in the City of Constantine.
St. George’s Head. One of his heads was preserved at Rome. Long forgotten, it was rediscovered in 751, and was given in 1600 to the church of Ferrara. Another of his heads was preserved in the church of Mares-Moutier, in Picardy.
St. George’s Limbs. One of his arms fell from heaven upon the altar of Pantaleon, at Cologne. Another was preserved in a religious house of Barala, and was transferred thence in the ninth century to Cambray. Part of an arm was presented by Robert of Flanders to the City of Toulouse; another part was given to the abbey of Auchin, and another to the Countess Matilda.
George and the Dragon (St.). St. George, son of Lord Albert of Coventry, was stolen in infancy by “the weird lady of the woods,” who brought the lad up to deeds of arms. His body had three marks; a dragon on the breast, a garter round one of the legs, and a blood-red cross on the right arm. When he grew to manhood, he fought against the Saracens. In Libya he heard of a huge dragon, to which a damsel was daily given for food, and it so happened that when he arrived the victim was Sabra, the king’s daughter. She was already tied to the stake when St. George came up. On came the dragon; but the knight, thrusting his lance into the monster’s mouth, killed it on the spot. Sabra, being brought to England, became the wife of her deliverer, and they lived happily in Coventry till death.—Percy, Reliques III. iii. 2.
St. George and the Dragon, on old guinea-pieces, was the design of Pistrucci. It was an adaptation of a didrachm of Tarentum, B.C. 250.
⁂ The encounter between George and the dragon took place at Berytus (Beyrut).
The tale of St. George and the dragon is told in the Golden Legends of Jacques de Voragine.—See S. Baring-Gould, Curious Myths of The Middle Ages.
George I. and the duchess of Kendal (1719). The duchess was a German, whose name was Erangard Melrose de Schulemberg. She was created duchess of Munster, in Ireland, baroness Glastonbury, Countess of Feversham, and duchess of Kendal (died 1743).
George II. His favorite was Mary Howard, duchess of Suffolk.
George II., when angry, vented his displeasure by kicking his hat about the room. We are told that Xerxes vented his displeasure at the loss of his bridges by ordering the Hellespont to be fettered, lashed with 300 stripes, and insulted.
George III., and the Fair Quakeress. When George III. was about 20 years of age he fell in love with Hannah Lightfoot, daughter of a linen-draper in Market Street, St. James’s. He married her in Kew Church, 1759, but of course the marriage was not recognized. (See Lovers.)
⁂ The following year (September, 1760), he married the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Hannah Lightfoot married a Mr. Axford, and passed out of public notice.
George IV. and Mrs. Mary Robinson, generally called Perdita. Mary Darby, at the age of 15, married Mr. Robinson, who lived a few months on credit, and was then imprisoned for debt. Mrs. Robinson sought a livelihood on the stage, and George IV., then Prince of Wales and a mere lad, saw her as “Perdita,” fell in love with her, corresponded with her under the assumed name of “Florizel,” and gave her a bond for £20,000, subsequently cancelled for an annuity of £500 (1758-1800).
⁂ George IV. was born 1762, and was only 16 in 1778, when he fell in love with Mrs. Robinson. The young prince suddenly abandoned her, and after two other love affairs, privately married, at Carleton House (in 1785), Mrs. Fitzherbert, a lady of good family, and a widow, seven years his senior. The marriage being contrary to the law, he married the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795; but still retained his connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and added a new favorite, the Countess of Jersey.
George [de Laval], a friend of Horace de Brienne (2 syl.). Having committed forgery, Carlos (alias Marquis d’Antas), being cognizant of it, had him in his power; but Ogarita (alias Martha) obtained the document, and returned it to George.—E. Stirling, Orphan of the Frozen Sea (1856).
George-a-Green, the pinner or pound-keeper of Wakefield, one of the chosen favorites of Robin Hood.
⁂ Robert Green has a drama entitled George-a-Green, the Pinner of Wakefield (1589).
Georgian Women (The) Allah, wishing to stock his celestial harem, commissioned an imaum to select for him forty of the loveliest women he could find. The imaum journeyed into Frankistan, and from the country of the Ingliz carried off the king’s daughter. From Germany he selected other maidens; but when he arrived at Gori (north-west of Tiflis) he fell in love with one of the beauties, and tarried there. Allah punished him by death, but the maidens remained in Gori, and became the mothers of the most beautiful race of mortals in the whole earth.—A Legend.
Georgina [Vesey], daughter of Sir John Vesey. Pretty, but vain and frivolous. She loved, as much as her heart was susceptible of such a passion, Sir Frederick Blount, but wavered between her liking and the policy of marrying Alfred Evelyn, a man of great wealth. When she thought the property of Evelyn was insecure, she at once gave her hand to Sir Frederick.—Lord E. Bulwer Lytton, Money (1840).(1840).
Geraint´ (Sir) of Devon, one of the knights of the Round Table. He was married to E´nid, only child of Yn´iol. Fearing lest Enid should be tainted by the queen, Sir Geraint left the court, and retired to Devon. Half sleeping and half waking, he overheard part of Enid’s words, and fancying her to be unfaithful to him, treated her for a time with great harshness; but Enid nursed him when he was wounded with such wifely tenderness that he could no longer doubt her fealty, and a complete understanding being established, “they crowned a happy life with a fair death.”—Tennyson, Idylls of the King (“Geraint and Enid”).
Ger´aldin (Lord), son of the earl of Glenallen. He appears first as William Lovell, and afterwards as Major Neville. He marries Isabella Wardour (daughter of Sir Arthur Wardour).
Sir Aymer de Geraldin, an ancestor of Lord Geraldin.—Sir W. Scott, the Antiquary (time, George III.)
Ger´aldine (3 syl.), a young man who comes home from his travels to find his playfellow (who should have been his wife) married to old Wincott, who receives him hospitably as a friend of his father’s, takes delight in hearing tales of his travels, and treats him most kindly. Geraldine and the wife mutually agree not in any wise to wrong so noble and confiding an old gentleman.—John Heywood, The English Traveller (1576-1645).
Geraldine (Lady), an orphan, the ward of her uncle Count de Valmont, and the betrothed of Florian (“the foundling of the forest,” and the adopted son of the count). This foundling turns out to be his real son, who had been rescued by his mother and carried into the forest to save him from the hands of Longueville, a desperate villain.—W. Dimond, The Foundling of the Forest.
Geraldine (The Fair), the lady whose praises are sung by Henry Howard, earl of Surrey. Supposed to be Elizabeth Fitzgerald, daughter of Gerald FitzgeraldFitzgerald, ninth earl of Kildare. She married the earl of Lincoln.
Gerard (John), an English botanist (1545-1607), who compiled the Catalogus Arborum, Fruticum, et Plantorum, tam Indigenarum quam Exoticarum, in Horto Johanis Gerardi. Also author of the Herbal or General History of Plants (1597).
Gerard, attendant of Sir Patrick Charteris (provost of Perth).—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Gerhard the Good, a merchant of Cologne, who exchanges his rich freight for a cargo of Christian slaves, that he may give them their liberty. He retains only one, who is the wife of William, king of England. She is about to marry the merchant’s son, when the king suddenly appears, disguised as a pilgrim. Gerhard restores the wife, ships both off to England, refuses all recompense, and remains a merchant as before.—Rudolf of Ems (a minnesinger), Gerhard the Good (thirteenth century).
Ger´ion. So William Browne, in his Britannia’s Pastorals (fifth song), calls Philip of Spain. The allusion is to Geryon of Gadês (Cadiz), a monster with three bodies (or, in other words, a king over three kingdoms) slain by Herculês.
⁂ The three kingdoms over which Philip reigned were Spain, Germany and the Netherlands.
Gerlinda or Girlint, the mother of Hartmuth, king of Norway. When Hartmuth carried off Gudrun the daughter of Hettel (Attila), who refused to marry him, Gerlinda put her to the most menial work, such as washing the dirty linen. But her lover, Herwig, king of Heligoland, invaded Norway, and having gained a complete victory, put Gerlinda to death.—An Anglo-Saxon Poem (thirteenth century).
German Literature (Father of), Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781).
Germany, formerly called Tongres. The name was changed (according to fable) in compliment to Ger´mana, sister of Julius Cæsar, and wife of Salvius Brabon, duke of Brabant.—Jehan de Maire, Illustrations de Gaule, iii. 20-23.
Geoffrey of Monmouth says that Ebraucus, one of the descendants of Brute, king of Britain, had twenty sons, all of whom, except the eldest, settled in Tongres which was then called Germany, because it was the land of the germans or brothers.
Geron´imo, the friend of Sganarelle (3 syl.). SganarelleSganarelle asks him if he would advise his marrying. “How old are you?” asks Geronimo; and being told that he is 63, and the girl under 20, says, “No.” Sganarelle, greatly displeased at his advice, declares he is hale and strong, that he loves the girl, and has promised to marry her. “Then do as you like,” says Geronimo.—Molière, Le Mariage Force (1664).
⁂ This joke is borrowed from Rabelais. Panurge asks Pantagruel whether he advises him to marry. “Yes,” says the prince; whereupon Panurge states several objections. “Then don’t,” says the prince. “But I wish to marry,” says Panurge. “Then do it by all means,” says the prince. Every time the prince advises him to marry, Panurge objects; and every time the prince advises the contrary, the advice is equally unacceptable.—Pantagruel, iii. 9 (1545).
Géronte´ (2 syl.), father of Léandre and Hyacinthe; a miserly old hunks. He has to pay Scapin £1500 for the “ransom” of Léandre, and after having exhausted every evasion, draws out his purse to pay the money, saying, “The Turk is a villain!” “Yes,” says Scapin. “A rascal!” “Yes,” says Scapin. “A thief!” “Yes,” says Scapin. “He would wring from me £1500! would he?” “Yes,” says Scapin. “Oh, if I catch him, won’t I pay him out?” “Yes,” says Scapin. Then putting his purse back into his pocket, Géronte´ walks off, saying, “Pay the ransom, and bring back the boy.” “But the money; where’s the money?” says Scapin. “Oh, didn’t I give it you?” “No,” says Scapin. “I forgot,” says Géronte, and he pays the money (act ii. 11).—Molière, Les Fourberies de Scapin (1671).
In the English, version called The Cheats of Scapin, by Otway, Géronte is called “Gripe” Hyacinthe is called “Clara,” Léandre is Anglicized into “Leander,” and the sum of money borrowed is £200.
Geronte (2 syl.), the father of Lucinde (2 syl.). He wanted his daughter to marry Horace, but as she loved Léandre, in order to avoid a marriage she detested she pretended to have lost the power of articulate speech, and only answered, “Han, hi, hon!” “Han, hi, hon, han!” Sganarelle, “le médecin malgré lui,” seeing that this jargon was put on, and ascertaining that Léandre was her lover, introduced him as an apothecary, and the young man soon effected a perfect cure with “pills matrimoniac.”—Molière, Le Médecin Malgré Lui (1666).
Ger´rard, king of the beggars, disguised under the name of Clause. He is the father of Florez, the rich merchant of Bruges.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Beggars’ Bush (1622).
Ger´trude (2 syl.), Hamlet’s mother. On the death of her husband, who was king of Denmark, she married Claudius, the late king’s brother. Gertrude was accessory to the murder of her first husband, and Claudius was principal. Claudius prepared poisoned wine, which he intended for Hamlet; but the queen not knowing it was poisoned drank it and died; Hamlet, seeing his mother fall dead, rushed on the king and killed him.—Shakespeare, Hamlet (1596).
⁂ In the Historie of Hamblett, Gertrude is called “Geruth.”
Gertrude, daughter of Albert, patriarch of Wy´oming. One day an Indian brought to Albert a lad (nine years old) named Henry Waldegrave (2 syl.), and told the patriarch he had promised the boy’s mother, at her death, to place her son under his care. The lad remained at Wyoming for three years, and was then sent to his friends. When grown to manhood, Henry Waldegrave returned to Wyoming, and married Gertrude; but three months afterwards Brandt, at the head of a mixed army of British and Indians attacked the settlement, and both Albert and Gertrude were shot. Henry Waldegrave then joined the army of Washington, which was fighting for American independence.—Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming (1809).
Gertrude. Brave heroine of Maria S. Cummins’s Lamplighter. She raises herself by sheer force of energy and talent from the lowly station in which she was born to a position of highest respectability and influence (1853).
Gerun´dio (Fray), i.e. Friar Gerund, the hero and title of a Spanish romance, by the Jesuit De l’Isla. It is a satire on the absurdities and bad taste of the popular preachers of the time (1758).
Ge´ryon’s Sons, the Spaniards; so called from Geryon, an ancient king of Spain, whose oxen were driven off by Her´culês. This task was one of the hero’s “twelve labors.” Milton uses the expression in Paradise Lost, xi. 410 (1665).
Geryon´eo, a human monster with three bodies. He was of the race of giants, being the son of Geryon, the tyrant who gave all strangers “as food to his kine, the fairest and the fiercest kine alive.” Geryoneo promised to take the young widow Belgê (2 syl.) under his protection; but it was like the wolf protecting the lamb, for “he gave her children to a dreadful monster to devour.” In her despair she applied to King Arthur for help, and the British king, espousing her cause, soon sent Geryoneo “down to the house of dole.”—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 10, 11 (1596).
⁂ “Geryoneo” is the house of Austria, and Philip of Spain in particular. “King Arthur” is England, and the earl of Leicester in particular. The “Widow Belgê” is the Netherlands; and the monster that devoured her children the inquisition, introduced by the duke of Alva. “Geryoneo” had three bodies, for Philip ruled over three kingdoms—Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. The earl of Leicester, sent in 1585 to the aid of the Netherlands, broke off the yoke of Philip.
Ges´mas, the impenitent thief crucified with our Lord. In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, he is called Gestas. The penitent thief was Dismas, Dysmas, Demas, or Dumacus.