Dictionary of phrase and fable, giving the derivation, source, or origin of common phrases, allusions, and works that have a tale to tell

Front matter

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Preface

“WiiAT has this babbler to say?” is substantially the question of every one to whom a new book is offered. For ourselves, it will be difficult to furnish an answer in a sentence equally terse and explicit ; yet our book has a definite scope and distinct speciality, which we will proceed to unfold. We call it a “Dictionary of Phrase and Fable,” a title wide enough, no doubt, to satisfy a very lofty ambition, yet not sufficiently wide to describe the miscellaneous contents of this “alms-basket of words.” As the Gargantuan course of studies included everything known to man and something more, so this sweep-net of a book encloses anything that comes within its reach. It draws in curious or novel etymologies, pseudonyms and popular titles, local traditions and literary blunders, biographical and historical trifles too insignificant to find a place in books of higher pretension, but not too worthless to be worth knowing. Sometimes a criticism is adventured, sometimes an exposition. Yulgar errors, of course, form an item; for the prescience of the ant in laying up a store for winter, the wisdom of the bee in the peculiar shape of its honey-comb, the disinterestedness of the jackal, the poisonous nature of the upas tree, and the striding of the Ehodian Colossos, if not of the nature of fable, are certainly “more strange than true.”

In regard to etymology, it forms a staple of the book, which professes to give “ the derivation, source, or origin of words that have a tale to tell.” Thus, abandon is to “desert your colours;” church means “a circle,” and not “ God’s house,” as is usually given ; prevaricate is “ to go zig-zag,” .or “plough a crooked furrow;” scrupulous is to get a “stone in one’s shoe;” sw is cousin german to the Greek “anax,” a vi

PREFACE.

king; head, to the Greek “kephale;” wig, to the Latin “pilucca;” tear and the French larme are mere varieties of the Greek “dakru/’ A large number of such word-studies have been admitted as walnuts for after dinner. Many others will serve to show how strangely even wise men will sometimes err when they wander in Dreamland : witness the etymology given by Dr. Ash of the word curmudgeon ; Orabbe’s etymology of the word doze, noticed under the article Sleep in this Dictionary; Isidor’s derivation of the word stipulate; Blackstone’s deduction of parson from “persona; ” Pliny’s druid from “ drus,” an oak; Scaliger’s etymology of satire ; Bescherelle’s higot ; Ducange’s Saracen ; Bailey’s Dunstable; the derivation given in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle of the Isle of Wight; that of barbarous from “barba,” a beard; of Shoreditch from “ Jane Shore ;” of Stony Arabia; Ptolemy’s blunder about Arabia Felix {see Yemen) ; Lloyd’s etymology of Ireland, “ the land of ire;” and Lord Coke’s Parliament (q.v.). Pleasant fables these, which have a right to stand in this museum of odds and ends.

Fugitive matter of this sort makes up no small portion of our bulky volume ; but, after all, the main substance of the book is “Phrase and Fable” proper. We have all met with a number of familiar phrases, some of them “as old as the hills,” the meaning of which, though perfectly plain, it is difficult to connect with the words themselves. Why, for example, is common sense so called.^ and how can we be said to have seven senses ? Why is kindliness of heart called good-humour ? and one “ gate ” said to be hilled with hindness ? What was the cat of the famous Whittington that made him a merchant prince ? Why is it said there is luck in odd numbers ? Why does Hamlet call the ghost old True-penny ? Why is a parasite called a Toad-eater ? or a hare Wat ? What is the origin of such household phrases as standing Sam, mare^s-nest, shell out, hich the buchet, dishing the spurs, little urchin, layers-over for medlers, eau de vie, fagot votes, salted accounts, ivalls have ears, the polite refusal expressed by the words Til thinh about it, and why is a mismanaged concern called a hettle of fish ? We talk of getting our hand or foot in, of the crisis of a disease, of 2i pretext (which, of course, is a sort of dress), with a thousand similar words and phrases ; but where they come from, how they became naturalised, and what they refer to, is, for the most part, a mystery. One object of this

PREFACE.

vii

“Dictionary of Phrase and Fable” is to make them tell their respective tales.

Again, there are a host of words which have an attached meaning, apart “from” their original bearing, such as Aclullamites ; shibboleth; tariff; delirium, which has something to do with ploughing ; canvassing a town, which has something to do with hemp ; suffrages and suffragans, which are somehow connected with the pasterns of a horse ; banlcrupt, a man whose bench is broken; grotesque, which must belong to the word grotto ; a tradesman’s bill, which must be connected with a billet of wood; and all such strange misnomers as widoiv-bird, Judas-tree, wolfs-bane, Jerusalem artichoke, and fox-glove. Who gave them their present twist ? who effaced their old image, and stamped on them their present superscription In what crucible have they been melted, that their nature has been so completely changed? To give a brief and trustworthy answer is another of the objects of our book.

Once more. There are allusions in every newspaper and periodical, which would puzzle many a wrangler more than the “Principia” of Hewton. Orabbe, for example, says, I do not use the word fight in the sense of Mendoza, the Jew ; but no extant book that I know of throws any light upon this Hebrew. Hapoleon said of the young Queen of Prussia, She was Armida, in her distraction, setting fire to her own palace. Sir Walter Scott says, I submitted, like Dorax, with a swelling heart. The song says. Sham Abram you may, but must not sham Abraham Newland. Longfellow says. Thought, like Acestes* arrow, kindles as it flies. The Times says, Let Gryll be Gryll, and keep his hoggish mind. Some hundreds of such allusions are explained in the present book.

Then we have references to Scandinavian and other mythology, bogie-land and fairy-land, ghouls and gnomes, and a legion of characterwords, such as Bumbledom and Podsnappery, Lilliputian and Utopian, Jeremy Diddler Sbud Jerry Sneak, Tony Lumpkim, Tom Tiddler, Bob Acres, and S queers, the Malaprops and Partingtons of society, whom we meet with in our daily walks, but know neither their family nor address. The “Dictionary of Phrase and Fable” is their Directory, not so perfect as that of the Post Office, yet sufficiently so, we hope, to give the local habitation of the most characteristic. In a word, from a mass of viii

PREFACE.

material in manuscript, fully tlirice the size of the present volume, we have selected some 20,000 examples of what we have thought to be the best suited for popular purposes. Much has been culled, of necessity, from the thousand and one sources of such lore, in English, German, or French, and more is entirely new. We cannot even hope that all our explanations will pass the ordeal of critics unscathed. It is the bread and cheese of some to ‘‘pick holes in a’ our coats;” and the lighting on weak places carries with it something of the ferret’s or huntsman’s “passion.” What is fair game will, of course, be run hard; and some of our statements must of necessity be mere matters of opinion, in more than one instance modified even while these pages have been passing through the press ; but we doubt not that most of them are correct, and are bold to believe that we have in many cases succeeded, where others have wholly or partially failed. The labour has been the willing labour of an enthusiast, who has been for twenty years a “ snapper-up of unconsidered trifles.” If other eyes less fond see defects in any of these little ones, and will communicate with the author, or his publishers, he will promise to be more grateful than the Archbishop of Toledo to his secretary Gil Bias.

As a rule, the names of Greek and Latin fable have been excluded from this Dictionary ; where an exception has been made it is either because the ivord has been so incorporated into our litefi'ature as to render its omission a serious defect, or because some characteristic has been added which finds no place in a “ Classical Dictionary,^*

THIRD EDITION.

It would be to the general reader a wearisome Hst, if the names were sot down of all the correspondents who have by their suggestions shown an interest in this Dictionary. Some of them have written from America, others from Germany, Belgium, France, and Norway, two from Ireland, many from Scotland, and the rest from England. George Martin, Esq., of Birkenhead, and F. Tolhausen, Esq., whose name is already before the public, have gone through the book seriatim, and their remarks are most gratefully acknowledged.

To all our correspondents we return our thanks ; and if they or others still observe faults which have escaped detection, we shall be glad to have them pointed out to us.

Havant, Chichester,

THE AUTHOR.

THIED EDITION.

CURIOUS LITERARY BLUNDERS.

Yiegil has placed -^Eneas in a harbour which did not exist at the time: Tortusg^ue require Velinos {u^neid, vi. 366). Again, he makes -Eneas listen to the roar of the Yelinns, as it rushed through its narrow gorge into the Nar.

Audiit amnis

Sulfurea Nar albiis aqua, fontesque Velini — jEneid^ vii. 517.

Now, Curius Dentatus cut this gorge through the rocks to let the waters into the Nar ; before this was done the ‘‘ Yelinns ” was a number of stagnant lakes. In YirgiTs time the waters fell in a cascade from the height of several hundred feet into the river, and the poet might have listened to the roar, but -Eneas could know nothing of the harbour or cascade.

Chaucee, in his Court of Love, says : “ The throstle-cock sings so sweet a tune that Tubal himself, the first musician, could not equal it.” Of course he means Jubal.

SiiAKESPEAEE, in his Henry IV., makes the carrier complain that ‘‘ the turkeys in his pannier are quite starved (1 Henry IV., act ii. 5); whereas turkeys came to us from America, and America was not even discovered for a century after the reign of Henry lY.

Again : in Henry V. (act v. 1), Gower is made to say to Eluellen, ‘‘ Here he [Pistol] comes, swelling like a turkey-cock.”

In Julius Ccesar (ii. 1) Brutus says to Cassius, “ Peace ! count the clock.” To which ’Cassius replies, “The clock hath stricken three.” Clocks were unknown to the Eomans, and striking clocks were not invented till some 1400 years after the death of Caesar.

SciiiLLEK, in his Piccolojniniy speaks of a “ lightning-conductor.” This was about 150 years before its invention.

CowPEE calls the rose “ the glory of April and May,” but June is the great rose month. In the south of England they begin their bloom the latter half of May, and go on to the middle of July,

X

CURIOUS LITERARY BLUNDERS.

Thomas Moore says —

The sunflower turns to the god when he sets The same look that she turned when he rose.

The sunflower does not turn either to the rising or setting sun. It receives its name not because it ‘‘ turns ” to the sun, but because it resembles a picture sun.

W. Morris, in his Atalanta^s Race, has mistaken the Greek word saopliron for ‘‘ safFron.^^ He says —

She the saffron gown will never wear.

And in no flower- strewn couch shall she be laid.

That is, she will never be a bride. Nonnus (bk. xii.) tells us that virtuous women wore a girdled gown called saopliron (chaste) to indicate their purity, and to prevent improper liberties. The gown was not yellow, but it was girded with a girdle.

Eymer, in his Fceclera (vol. I., pt. i., p. 9), has ascribed to Henry I. (who died in 1135) a preaching expedition for the restoration of Rochester Cathedral, injured by fire. This fire occurred in 1177^, and the church was only fresh built at the close of the reign of Henry I.

In p. 8 a still more striking error occurs : here a deed of gift to the same cathedral from “ Henry king of England and lord of Ireland ” is ascribed to Henry I. ; whereas Ireland was added to the English crown by Henry II., and the deed referred to was the act of Henry III.

Again, p. 71 (the same volume), Odo is made in 1298 to swear “ in no wise to confederate with Richard I. ; ” whereas Richard the Lion-heart died in 1199.

Mazurier, a surgeon, wrote in 1618 a treatise called Veritable du Geant Teutohoclms, to prove from certain bones found in a tomb ” that “ Teutobochus ” was thirty feet high ; but the bones turned out to be those of a mastodon.

Dr. Mather in 1712 announced, in the Philosophical Tracis actions f the discovery in Hew York of another giant of similar size; but the bones from which he drew his inference were the teeth and bones of a mastodon also.

Sir Archibald Alison, in his Historiji has fallen into an error as strange as Dr. Ash’s etymology of curmudgeon (q.v.). The phrase droit du timbre (stamp duty) he translates timber duties.”

CURIOUS LITERARY BLUNDERS,

XI

Articles oe War for the Army. There is a curious blunder in these “Articles.’’ By the third article it is ordered “that every recruit shall have the 40fch and 46th of the articles read to him.” Now the 40th article relates wholly to the misconduct of cliajplains, and has no sort of concern with recruits. Probably the 41st, which like the 46th is about mutiny and insubordination, is the one intended.

A L0j55D0N Newspaper. One of the leading journals of the day has spoken three times within two years of “passing under the Caudine Forks,” evidently under the misapprehension that they were a “ yoke ” instead of a mountain pass. It is quite true that the Eoman army entrapj)ed there was sent “ under the yoke,” but that yoke was not the “ Furculge Caudi'nae.”

Chambers, in their Encyclo^pcedia, state that the “fame of [Beaumarchais] rests on his two operas, Le Barbier de Seville (1755) and Be Mariage de FigaroB Mozart composed the opera of Figaro in 1786, and Casti wrote the libretto. The opera of II Barhiere di Siviglia was composed by Eossini in 1816. What Beaumarchais wrote were two GomedieSf one in four and the other in five acts. The queen of France (Marie Antoinette) often performed the character of Eosina in the former comedy, and the latter was interdicted by the king as of dangerous political tendency. When the ban was removed all Paris was beside itself. — Article Beaumarchais.

In their Journal is a paper entitled “ Coincidences,” which states that “ Thursday has proved a fatal day with the Tudors, for on that day died Henry YIIL, Edward YI , Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth.” This is not correct ; for Henry YIII. died on Friday, January 28, 1547 (see Bymer, Feeder a,' vol. xv., p. 123); and Elizabeth died on Monday, March 24, 1603.

In the same paper it is stated that “ William HI. and every one of the Georges died on a Saturday;” but what is the fact? William III. died on Wednesday, March 8, 1702 ; and George I. died also on JVednesday, June 11, 1727.

Dickens, in his Nicholas Nichlehy, represents Mr. Squeers as setting his boys “ to hoe turnips ” in midwinter.

Again, in Eckvin Brood, he places “ rooks and rooks’ nests ” (instead of daws) “ in the towers of Cloisterham.”

CURIOUS LITERARY BLUNDERS.

xii

Whyte Melville, in his historical novel of Holmby House (ch. xxix.), makes a very prominent part of the story turn upon the death of a favourite hawk named Diamond. Mary Cave tossed it off so that it “ fell lifeless at the king’s feet.” This, he says, is what she “ anticipated, and was exactly what she intended should happen,” because it was the means of arresting the king’s attention, and securing for herself an interview with the monarch. In ch. xlvi. this very hawk is represented alive again ; proud, beautiful, and cruel, like a Venus Victrix it perched on her mistress’s wrist, unhooded.”

West, president of the Eoyal Academy, has represented Paris in Bom an costume, instead of Phrygian.

Etty has placed a helmet of the period of James I. by the bedside of Holofernes.

See also Oelando Eurioso, Vallambroso, &c. &c., in the body of the book,

BEEWEE'S DICTIONAET

PHRASE AND FABLE.

A. This letter is the outline of an ox’s head, the two legs being the two horns. It is called in Hebrew alepli (an ox).

A among the Egyptians is the hieroglyphic which represents the ibis. Among the Greeks it was the symbol of a bad augury in the sacrifices.

A in logic is the symbol of a universal affirmative. A asserts, E denies. Thus, syllogisms in harhara contain three universal affirmative propositions.

A 1 means first-rate — the very best. In Lloyd’s Kegister of British and Foreign Shipping, the character of the ship’s hull is designated by letters, and that of the anchors, cables, and stores by figures. A 1 means hull first-rate, and also anchors, cables, and stores ; A 2, hull first-rate, but furniture second-rate.

Slie is a prime girl, she is; she is A.l.—SaYti SlicTe.

A.B. (-S'eeABLE.)

ABC Book. A primer, a book in which articles are set in alphabetical order, as the “ABC Bail way Guide.”

A.E. I. O. U. The device al opted by Frederick, emperor of Germany. Austriae Est Imperare Orhi Eniverso.

Alles Erdreich 1st Oesterreich Unterthan. Austria’s Empire Is Overall Universal. Austria’s Empire Is Obviously Upsut.

Frederick HI., in the fifteenth century, translated the motto thus : —

Austria Erit In Orbe Ultima {Austria will one day be lowest in the scale of empires).

A.U.C. Anno v.rlis conditoe (Latin), “from the foundation of the city” — i.e., Borne.

Aaron. An Aaron’s serpent. Something so powerful as to swallow up minor powers. Thus, Prussia was the Aaron’s serpent that swallowed up the small German States ; England was the Aaron’s serpent that swallowed up the States of India. A gigantic monopolyis the Aaron’s serpent that swallows up small private traders. (Exod. vii. 10 — 12).

Ab o'vo. From the very beginning. Stas'imos, in the epic poem called the “ Little Iliad,” does not rush in medias res, but begins with the eggs of Leda, from one of which Helen was born. If Leda had not laid this egg, Helen would never have been born. If Helen had not been born, Paris could not have eloped with her. If Paris had not eloped with Helen, there would have been no Trojan War, &c.

a1) O'VO usque ad mala. From the first dish to the last. A Boman coena (chief meal) consisted of three parts. The first course was the appetiser, and consisted chiefly of eggs, with stimulants ; the second was the “ dinner proper ; ” and the third the dessert, at which mala, (i.e., all sorts of apples, pears, quinces, pomegranates, and so on) formed the most conspicuous part.

Aback'. I was tahen aback— \ was greatly astonished — taken by surprise — startled. It is a sea term. A ship is “taken aback” when the sails are suddenly carried back by the wind.

Ab'acus. Each wire contains ten balls.

The Abacus is an instrument for calculation. The word is derived from the Hebrew abak (dust), because the Orientals used tables covered witii dust for ciphcr- B

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ABADDON.

ABDIEL, ing and diagrams. The multiplication table invented’ by Pythagoras is called Ah'acus Pythagor'icus.

Abaddon. The angel of the bottomless pit. (Rev. ix. 11.) The Hebrew aSac? means to be lost.”

Abam'bou. The evil spirit of the Gamma tribes in Africa. A fire is kept always burning in his house. He is supposed to have the power of causing sickness and death.

Abandan'nad. A boy who picks pockets of bandannas (pocket-handkerchiefs). The word is a contraction of A handanna-lad.

Abandon means properly to go away from your general’s ensign ; to fly from your colours. (Latin — a, away from ; ” bandum, the general’s banner.”)

Ab'aris. The dart of Abaris. Abaris, the Scythian, was a priest of Apollo ; and the god gave him a golden arrow on which to ride through the air. This dart rendered him invisible ; it also cured diseases, and gave oracles. Abaris gave it to Pythag'oras.

The dart of Abaris carried the philosopher wheresoever he desired it— Willmott.

Abased. In heraldry the wings of eagles are called abased, when the tops are turned downward towards the point of the shield, or when the}’' are shut.

Abas'ter. One of the horses of Pluto. {See Abatos.)

Abate means properly to knock down. (French, abattre, whence a battue, i,e., wholesale destruction of game; Saxon, a-bedtan.)

Abate, in horsemanship, is to perform well the downward motion. A horse is said to abate when, working upon curvets, he puts or beats down both his hind legs to the ground at once, and keeps exact time.

Abatement, in. heraldry, is a mark of dishonour annexed to coat armour, whereby the honour of it is abated.

Ab'atos. One of the horses of Pluto. (See Aeton.)

Abb'aside (3 syl.). A family of Arab caliphs, who reigned from 749-1257. The name is derived from Abbas ben Abd-al- Motalleb, paternal uncle of the prophet Mahomet. The most celebrated of these caliphs was Haroun-al-Raschid, born 765, reigned 786-808.

Abbey Lands. At the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey lands were mainly divided among five noble families, if the following rhyme may be relied on ;

Hopton, Horner, Smyth, Knocknaile, andThynne When abbots went out, they all came in.

Abbot of Misrule, or Lord of Misrule, A person who used to superintend the diversions of Christmas. In France the Abbot of Misrule” was called Labbt de Liesse. In Scotland the master of revels was called the Master of Unreason.”

Abbotsford. A name given by Sh Walter Scott to Cartl^y Hole, on the south bank of the Tweed, after it became his residence. Sir Walter devised the name from a fancy he loved to indulge in, that the abbots of Melrose Abbey, in ancient times, passed over thes/or^s of the Tweed.

Abb- wool. Wool or yarn used in the woof or abb of woollen fabrics. (Saxon.)

Abdall'ah, the father of Mahomet, was so beautiful, that when he married Ami'na, 200 virgins broke their hearts from disappointed love. — Life of Ma^ hornet,” by Washington Irving.

AbdalPah. Brother and predecessor of Giaffir, pacha of Aby'dos. He was murdered by Giaffir (2 Byron,

Bride of Abydos.”

Ab'dals. Persian fanatics, who think it a merit to kill any one of a different religion, and if slain in the attempt, are accounted martyrs.

Abde'rite (3 syl.). A scoffer. Democ'ritos, the laughing or rather scoffing philosopher, was a native of Abdera, in Thrace.

Abde'ritan. A native of Abdera — a fool. The stupidity of the Abderitans was proverbial. They were ultimately compelled to abandon their native land and migrate to Macedonia, in consequence of the swarms of rats and frogs.

Ab'diel. The faithful angel who withstood Satan when he urged th© angels to revolt.

(He) adheres with the faith of Abdiel to the ancient form of adoration.— A’ir Walter bcoti.

ABECEDARIAN.

ABOMINATION.

Abeceda'rian. One who teaches or is learning his ABC.

Abecedarian hymns. Hymns which began with the letter A, and each verse or clause following took up the letters of the alphabet in regular succession. {See Acrostic Poetry. )

Abel Xeene. A village schoolmaster, afterwards a merchant’s clerk. He was led astray, lost his place, and hanged himself. — Crabbds “ Borough ” Letter j xxi.

Abel Shufflebottom. A name assumed by Robert Southey in some of his amatory productions. (1774-1843.)

A^belites (3 syl.), AbeVians^ or Abelo'nians. A Christian sect of the fourth century, chiefly found in Hippo (N. Africa). They married, but lived in continence, as they affirm Abel did. The sect was maintained by adopting the children of others. No children of Abel being mentioned in Scripture, the Abelites assume that he had none.

Abes'sa. The impersonation of Abbeys and Convents, represented by Spenser as a damsel. When Una asked if she had seen the Red Cross Knight, Abessa, frightened at t he lion, ran to the cottage of blind Supei stition, and shut the door. Una arrived, and the lion burst the door open. The meaning is, that at the Reformation, when Truth came, the abbeys and convents got alarmed, and would not let Truth enter, but England (the lion) broke down the door. — Fouery Queen j b. i.

Abes'ta. The Commentary of the Zend.

Abey or Alawy. The Nile, so called by the Abyssinians. The word means ‘Hhe giant.”

Abey'anee really means something gaped after (French, bayer^ to gape). The allusion is to men standing with their mouths open, in expectation of some sight about to appear.

Abhor' (Latin, ab, '^intensive,” and hovreo, set up the bristles,” as a cat from antipathy to a dog). To abhor is to have a natural antipathy, and to show it by “ bristling ” ii; anger.

Abia'la. Wife of Maljambi ; African deities. She holds a pistol in her hand, and is greatly feared. Her aid is implored in sickness.

Abidhar'ma. The book of metaphysics in the Tripit'aka {q-v.).

Ab'igail. A lady’s maid, or lady-maid. Abigail, who introduced herself to David, calls herself over and over again his handmaid (1 Sam. xxv. 3) ; hence the word became a synonym for a lady-maid, as Goliath for a giant, Samson a strong man, and Job a model of patience. Beaumont and Fletcher, in ‘‘The Scornful Lady,” call the “waiting gentlewoman ” Abigail, a name employed by Swift, Fielding, and others, in their novels. Probably “Abigail Hill,” the birthplace of Mrs. Masham, waitingwoman to queen Anne, popularised the name.

Abim'elech is no proper name, but a regal title of the Philistines, meaning Father-king.

Able, An able-bodied seaman is one not only sound in wind and limb, but skilled in seamanship, and willing to serve. Such a man is termed an A.B.

Aboard. He fell aboard of me— met me, abused me. A ship is said to fall aboard another when, both being in motion, one runs against the other and obstructs its progress.

To go aboard is to embark, to go on the board or deck.

Aboard main tack is to draw one of the lower corners of the main-sail down to the chess-tree. Figuratively, it means “ to keep to the point.”

Aboll'a. An ancient military garment worn by the Greeks and Romans, opposed to the toga or robe of peace. The abolla being worn by the lower orders, was affected by the philosophers in the vanity of humility.

Abom'inate {ab o'minay ill-omened). As ill-omened things are disliked, so, by a simple figure of speech, what we dislike we consider ill-omened.

Abomina'tion. The abomination of desolation. The Roman standard is so called. (Matt. xxiv. 15.) As it was set up in the holy temple, it was an abomination ; and, as it brought destruction, it was the “abomination of desolatioa.”

^ 2

AEON.

ABEAHAM.

Abon Hassan. A rich merchant, transferred during sleep to the bed and palace of the caliph Haroun-al-Easchid. Next morning he was treated as the caliph, and every effort was made to make him forget his identity. The same trick was played on Christopher Sly, in the Induction of Shakespeare’s comedy of Taming the Shrew;” and, according to Burton Anatomy of Melancholy,” ii. 2, 4), by Philippe the Good, duke of Burgundy, on his marriage with Eleono'ra. — Arabian Nights, ^^The Sleeper AwahenecV

Were I caliph for a day, as honest Ahon Hassan, I would scourge me these jugglers out of the Commonwealth— Walter Scott.

Abor'tion. A work badly finished, especially a literary production. An abortion is a human foetus born before the sixth month of pregnancy.

"Abortive Flowers are those which have stamens but no pistils.

Abou ebn Sina, born at Shiraz. The great Persian physician, whose canons of medicine were those adopted by Hippoc'rates and Aristotle. Died 1037.

Abou-Bekr, called Father of the Virgin, Mahomet’s favourite wife. He was the first caliph, and was founder of the sect called the Sunnites. (571-634.)

Abou* Jahi'a. The angel of death. {Mahom. Myth.)

Above. In a previous part of the book, as See above, p. An expression derived from the ancient method of making books in the form of scrolls, when the writer began at the top and continued to the bottom, which was the end.

Above board. In a straightforward manner. Dr. Johnson says the expression is derived from gamesters, who place their hands above the table when they change cards, that thdr adversaries may see they play fairly.

Above your hook — i.e., beyond your comprehension ; beyond your mark. The allusion is to hat-pegs placed in rows ; the higher rows are above the reach of small statures.

Abracada'bra. A charm. Abracadabra was the supreme deity of the Assyrians. Sere'nus Samondcus recommended the use of the word as a powerful Untidote against ague, flux, and tooihache. The word was to be written on parchment, and suspended round the neck by a linen thread, in the form given below : —