Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 21Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (21)
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the fury of his assault till he had, with his Caliburn,
killed 470 men.—Geoffrey,
British History
,
ix. 4 (1142).
Cal´idore (Sir), the type of courtesy, and the hero of the sixth book of Spenser's Faëry Queen. The model of this character was sir Philip Sidney. Sir Calidore (3 syl.) starts in quest of the Blatant Beast, which had escaped from sir Artegal (bk. v. 12). He first compels the lady Bria´na to discontinue her discourteous toll of "the locks of ladies and the beards of knights" (canto 1). Sir Calidore falls in love with Pastorella, a shepherdess, dresses like a shepherd, and assists his lady-love in keeping sheep. Pastorella being taken captive by brigands, sir Calidore rescues her, and leaves her at Belgard Castle to be taken care of, while he goes in quest of the Blatant Beast. He finds the monster after a time, by the havoc it had made with religious houses, and after an obstinate fight succeeds in muzzling it, and dragging it in chains after him, but it got loose again, as it did before (canto 12).—Spenser, Faëry Queen, vi. (1596).
Sir Gawain was the "Calidore" of the Round
Table.—Southey.
"Pastorella" is Frances Walsingham (daughter of sir Francis), whom sir Philip Sidney married. After the death of sir Philip she married the earl of Essex. The "Blatant Beast" is what we now call "Mrs. Grundy."
Calig´orant, an Egyptian giant and cannibal, who used to entrap travellers with an invisible net. It was the very same net that Vulcan made to catch Mars and Venus with. Mercury stole it for the purpose of entrapping Chloris, and left it in the temple of Anu´bis, whence it was stolen by Caligorant. One day Astolpho, by a blast of his magic horn, so frightened the giant that he got entangled in his own net, and being made captive was despoiled of it.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Cali´no, a famous French utterer of bulls.
Calip´olis, in The Battle of Alcazar, a drama by George Peele (1582). Pistol says to Mistress Quickly:
"Then feed and be fat, my fair Calipolis."—
Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV. act ii. sc 4 (1598).
Cal´is (The princess), sister of As´torax, king of Paphos, in love with Polydore, brother of general Memnon, but loved greatly by Siphax.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Mad Lover (1617).
Calis´ta, the fierce and haughty daughter of Sciol´to (3 syl.), a proud Genoese nobleman. She yielded to the seduction of Lotha´rio, but engaged to marry Al´tamont, a young lord who loved her dearly. On the wedding-day a letter was picked up which proved her guilt, and she was subsequently seen by Altamont conversing with Lothario. A duel ensued, in which Lothario fell; in a street row Sciolto received his death-wound, and Calista stabbed herself. The character of "Calista" was one of the parts of Mrs. Siddons, and also of Miss Brunton.—N. Rowe, The Fair Penitent (1703).
Richardson has given a purity and sanctity to the sorrows of his "Clarissa" which leave "Calista" immeasurably behind.—R. Chambers, English Literature, i. 590.
Twelve years after Norris's death, Mrs. Barry was acting the character of "Calista." In the last act, where "Calista" lays her hand upon a skull, she [Mrs. Barry] was suddenly seized with a shuddering, and fainted. Next day she asked whence the skull had been obtained, and was told it was "the skull of Mr. Norris, an actor." This Norris was her former husband, and so great was the shock that she died within six weeks.—Oxberry.
Calis'to and Ar'cas. Calisto, an Arcadian nymph, was changed into a she-bear. Her son Arcas, supposing the bear to be an ordinary beast, was about to shoot it, when Jupiter metamorphosed him into a he-bear. Both were taken to heaven by Jupiter, and became the constellations Ursa Minor and Ursa Major.
Call'aghan O'Brall'aghan (Sir), "a wild Irish soldier in the Prussian army. His military humor makes one fancy he was not only born in a siege, but that Bellona had been his nurse, Mars his schoolmaster, and the Furies his playfellows" (act i. 1). He is the successful suitor of Charlotte Goodchild.—C. Macklin, Love à la mode (1779).
Callet, a fille publique. Brantôme says a calle or calotte is "a cap," hence the phrase, Plattes comme des calles. Ben Jonson, in his Magnetick Lady, speaks of "wearing the callet, the politic hood."
Des filles du peuple et de la campagne s'appellant çalles, à cause de la "cale" qui leur servait de coiffure.—Francisque Michel.
En sa tête avoit un gros bonnet blanc, qui l'on appelle une calle, et nous autres appelons calotte, ou bonnette blanche de lagne, nouée ou bridée par dessous le menton.—Brantôme, Vies des Dames Illustres.
A beggar in his drink
Could not have laid such terms upon his callet.
Shakespeare, Othello, act iv. sc. 2 (1611).
Callim'achus (The Italian), Filippo Buonaccorsi (1437-1496).
Callir'rhoe (4 syl.), the lady-love of Chae'reas, in a Greek romance entitled The Loves of Choreas and Callirrhoê, by Char'iton (eighth century).
Callis'thenes (4 syl.), a philosopher who accompanied Alexander the Great on his Oriental expedition. He refused to pay Alexander divine honors, for which he was accused of treason, and being mutilated, was chained in a cage for seven months like a wild beast. Lysimachus put an end to his tortures by poison.
Oh let me roll in Macedonian rays,
Or, like Callisthenes, be caged for life,
Rather than shine in fashions of the East.
N. Lee, Alexander the Great, iv. I (1678).
Cal'mar, son of Matha, lord of Lara (in Connaught). He is represented as presumptuous, rash, and overbearing, but gallant and generous. The very opposite of the temperate Connal, who advises caution and forethought. Calmar hurries Cuthullin into action, which ends in defeat. Connal comforts the general in his distress.—Ossian, Fingal, i.
Cal'thon, brother of Col'mar, sons of Rathmor chief of Clutha (the Clyde). The father was murdered in his halls by Dunthalmo lord of Teutha (the Tweed), and the two boys were brought up by the murderer in his own house, and accompanied him in his wars. As they grew in years Dunthalmo fancied he perceived in their looks a something which excited his suspicions, so he shut them up in two separate dark caves on the banks of the Tweed. Colmal, daughter of Dunthalmo, dressed as a young warrior, liberated Calthon, and fled with him to Morven, to crave aid in behalf of the captive Colmar. Accordingly, Fingal sent his son Ossian with 300 men to effect his liberation. When Dunthalmo heard of the approach of this army, he put Colmar to death. Calthon, mourning for his brother, was captured, and bound to an oak; but at daybreak Ossian slew Dunthalmo, cut the thongs of Calthon, gave him to Colmal, and they lived happily in the halls of Teutha.—Ossian, Calthon and Colmal.
Cal´ydon (Prince of), Melea´ger, famed for killing the Calydonian boar.—Apollod. i. 8. (See MELEAGER.)
As did the fatal brand Althaea burn'd,
Unto the prince's heart of Calydon.
Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act i. sc. 1 (1591).
Cal´ydon, a town of Aeto´lia, founded by Calydon. In Arthurian romance Calydon is a forest in the north of our island. Probably it is what Richard of Cirencester calls the "Caledonian Wood," westward of the Varar or Murray Frith.
Calydo´nian Hunt. Artemis, to punish Oeneus [E´.nuce] king of Cal´ydon, in Aeto´lia, for neglect, sent a monster boar to ravage his vineyards. His son Melea´ger collected together a large company to hunt it. The boar being killed, a dispute arose respecting the head, and this led to a war between the Curetês and Calydo´nians.
A similar tale is told of Theseus (2 syl.), who vanquished and killed the gigantic sow which ravaged the territory of Krommyon, near Corinth. (See KROMMYONIAN SOW.)
Calyp´so, in Télémaque, a prose-epic by Fénélon, is meant for Mde. de Montespan. In mythology she was queen of the island Ogyg´ia, on which Ulyssês was wrecked, and where he was detained for seven years.
She essayed after his departure to bring his son Telemachus under her spell. The lad, seeking the world through for his father, was preserved from the arts of the temptress by Mentor—Minerva in disguise.
Calypso's Isle, Ogygia, a mythical island "in the navel of the sea." Some consider it to be Gozo, near Malta. Ogygia (not the island) is Boeo´tia, in Greece.
Cama´cho, "richest of men," makes grand preparations for his wedding with Quite´ria, "fairest of women," but as the bridal party are on their way, Basil´ius cheats him of his bride, by pretending to kill himself. As it is supposed that Basilius is dying, Quiteria is married to him as a mere matter of form, to soothe his last moments; but when the service is over, up jumps Basilius, and shows that his "mortal wounds" are a mere pretense.—Cervantes, an episode in Don Quixote, II. ii. 4 (1615).
Caman´ches (3 syl.), or COMAN´CHES, an Indian tribe of Texas (United States).
It is a caravan, whitening the desert where dwell the Camanches.
Longfellow, To the Driving Cloud.
Camaral´zaman, prince of "the Island of the Children of Khal´edan, situate in the open sea, some twenty days' sail from the coast of Persia." He was the only child of Schah´zaman and Fatima, king and queen of the island. He was very averse to marriage; but one night, by fairy influence, being shown Badou´ra, only child of the king of China, he fell in love with her and exchanged rings. Next day both inquired what had become of the other, and the question was deemed so ridiculous that each was thought to be mad. At length Marzavan (foster-brother of the princess) solved the mystery. He induced the prince Camaralzaman to go to China, where he was recognized by the princess and married her. (The name means "the moon of the period.")—Arabian Nights ("Camaralzaman and Badoura").
Cam´ballo, the second son of Cambuscan´ king of Tartary, brother of Al´garsife (3 syl.) and Can´acê (3 syl.). He fought with two knights who asked the lady Canacê to wife, the terms being that none should have her till he had succeeded in worsting Camballo in combat. Chaucer does not give us the sequel of this tale, but Spenser says that three brothers, named Priamond, Diamond, and Triamond were suitors, and that Triamond won her. The mother of these three (all born at one birth) was Ag´apê, who dwelt in Faëry-land (bk. iv. 2).
Spenser makes Cambi´na (daughter of Agapê) the lady-love of Camballo. Camballo is also called Camballus and Cambel.
Camballo's Ring, given him by his sister Canacê, "had power to stanch all wounds that mortally did bleed."
Well mote ye wonder how that noble knight,
After he had so often wounded been,
Could stand on foot now to renew the fight ...
All was thro' virtue of the ring he wore;
The which not only did not from him let
One drop of blood to fall, but did restore
His weakened powers, and his dulled spirits whet.
Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 2 (1596).
Cambel, called by Chaucer Cam´ballo, brother of Can´acê (3 syl.). He challenged Every suitor to his sister's hand, and overthrew them all except Tri´amond. The match between Cambel and Triamond was so evenly balanced, that both would have been killed had not Cambi´na interfered. (See next art.)—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 3 (1596).
Cambi´na, daughter of the fairy Ag´apê (3 syl.). She had been trained in magic by her mother, and when Cam´ballo, son of Cambuscan´, had slain two of her brothers and was engaged in deadly combat with the third (named Tri´amond), she appeared in the lists in her chariot drawn by two lions, and brought with her a cup of nepenthe, which had the power of converting hate to love, of producing oblivion of sorrow, and of inspiring the mind with celestial joy. Cambina touched the combatants with her wand and paralyzed them, then giving them the cup to drink, dissolved their animosity, assuaged their pains, and filled them with gladness. The end was that Camballo made Cambina his wife, and Triamond married Can´acê.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 3 (1596).
Cambuscan´, king of Sarra, in the land of Tartary; the model of all royal virtues.
At Sarra, in the lond of Tartarie,
Ther dwelt a king that werreied Russie,
Through which ther died many a doughty man:
This noble king was cleped Cambuscan
Which in his time was of so great renoun
That ther n' as no wher in no regioun,
So excellent a lord in alle thing:
This noble king, this Tartre Cambuscan
Hadde two sones by Elfeta his wif,
Of which the eldest sone highte Algarsif
That other was ycleped Camballo.
A doughter had this worthy king also
That youngest was and highte Canace.
Chaucer, The Squire's Tale.
Milton, in the Penseroso, alludes to the fact that the Squire's Tale was not finished:
Or call up him that left half told
The story of Cambuscan bold.
Camby´ses (3 syl.), a pompous, ranting character in Preston's tragedy of that name.
I must speak in passion, and I will do it in
king Cambyses' vein.—Shakespeare, 1
Henry IV
.
act ii. sc. 4 (1597).
Camby´ses and Smerdis. Cambysês king of Persia killed his brother Smerdis from the wild suspicion of a madman, and it is only charity to think that he was really non compos mentis.
Behold Cambisês and his fatal daye ...
While he his brother Mergus cast to slaye,
A dreadful thing, his wittes were him bereft.
T. Sackville,
A Mirrour for Magistraytes
("The
Complaynt," 1587).
Camdeo, the god of love in Hindû mythology.
Camil´la, the virgin queen of the Volscians, famous for her fleetness of foot. She aided Turnus against Æneas.
Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,
Flies o'er th' unbending corn, or skims along the main.
Pope.
Camilla, wife of Anselmo of Florence. Anselmo, in order to rejoice in her incorruptible fidelity, induced his friend Lothario to try to corrupt her. This he did, and Camilla was not trial-proof, but fell. Anselmo for a time was kept in the dark, but at the end Camilla eloped with Lothario. Anselmo died of grief, Lothario was slain in battle, and Camilla died in a convent.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. iv. 5, 6 ("Fatal Curiosity," 1605).
Camilla, English girl, heroine of Miss Burney's novel of same name.
Camilla, the heroine of Signor Monaldini's Niece, by Mary Agnes Tincker, a story of modern Rome (1879).
Camille´ (2 syl.), in Corneille's tragedy of Les Horaces (1639). When her brother meets her and bids her congratulate him for his victory over the three Curiatii, she gives utterance to her grief for the death of her lover. Horace says, "What! can you prefer a man to the interests of Rome?" Whereupon Camille denounces Rome, and concludes with these words: "Oh, that it were my lot!" When Mdlle. Rachel first appeared in the character of "Camille," she took Paris by storm (1838).
Voir le dernier Romain à son dernier soupir,
Moi seule en être cause, et mourir de plaisir.
¤¤¤ Whitehead has dramatized the subject and called it The Roman Father (1741).
Camille, one of the Parisian demi-monde. She meets and loves Armand Duval. Camille is besought by Duval père to leave her lover, whose prospects are ruined by the liaison. She quits him, returns to her former life, and dies of consumption in the arms of her lover, who has just found her after a long search.—A. Dumas, La Dame aux Camelias.
Camillo, a lord in the Sicilian court, and a very good man. Being commanded by king Leontês to poison Polixenês, instead of doing so he gave him warning, and fled with him to Bohemia. When Polixenês ordered his son Florizel to abandon Perdita, Camillo persuaded the young lovers to seek refuge in Sicily, and induced Leontês, the king thereof, to protect them. As soon as Polixenês discovered that Perdita was Leontês' daughter, he readily consented to the union which before he had forbidden.—Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (1604).
Cami´ola, "the maid of honor," a lady of great wealth, noble spirit, and great beauty. She loved Bertoldo (brother of Roberto king of the two Sicilies), and when Bertoldo was taken prisoner at Sienna, paid his ransom. Bertoldo before his release was taken before Aurelia the duchess of Sienna. Aurelia fell in love with him, and proposed marriage, an offer which Bertoldo accepted. The betrothed then went to Palermo to be introduced to the king, when Camiola exposed the conduct of the base young prince. Roberto was disgusted at his brother, Aurelia rejected him with scorn, and Camiola retired to a nunnery.—Massinger, The Maid of Honor (1637).
Campas´pe (3 syl.), mistress of Alexander. He gave her up to Apellês, who had fallen in love with her while painting her likeness.—Pliny, Hist. xxxv. 10.
John Lyly produced, in 1583, a drama entitled Cupid and Campaspe, in which is the well-known lyric:
Cupid and my Campaspê played
At cards for kisses: Cupid paid.
Campbell (Captain), called "Green Colin Campbell," or Bar´caldine (3 syl.).— Sir W. Scott, The Highland Widow (time, George II.).
Campbell (General), called "Black Colin Campbell," in the king's service. He suffers the papist conspirators to depart unpunished.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Campbell (Sir Duncan), knight of Ardenvohr, in the marquis of Argyll's army. He was sent as ambassador to the earl of Montrose.
Lady Mary Campbell, sir Duncan's wife.
Sir Duncan Campbell of Auchenbreck, an officer in the army of the marquis of Argyll.
Murdoch Campbell, a name assumed by the marquis of Argyll. Disguised as a servant, he visited Dalgetty and M'Eagh in the dungeon, but the prisoners overmastered him, bound him fast, locked him in the dungeon, and escaped.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).
Campbell (The lady Mary), daughter of the duke of Argyll.
The lady Caroline Campbell, sister of lady Mary.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).
Campeador [Kam.pay´.dor], the Cid, who was called Mio Cid el Campeador ("my lord the champion"). "Cid" is a corruption of saïd ("lord").
Campo-Basso (The count of), an officer in the duke of Burgundy's army, introduced by sir W. Scott in two novels, Quentin Durward and Anne of Geierstein, both laid in the time of Edward IV.
Can´ace (3 syl.), daughter of Cambuscan´, and the paragon of women. Chaucer left the tale half told, but Spenser makes a crowd of suitors woo her. Her brother Cambel or Cam´ballo resolved that none should win his sister who did not first overthrow him in fight. At length Tri´amond sought her hand, and was so nearly matched in fight with Camballo, that both would have been killed, if Cambi´na, daughter of the fairy Ag´apê (3 syl.), had not interfered. Cambina gave the wounded combatants nepenthe, which had the power of converting enmity to love; so the combatants ceased from fight, Camballo took the fair Cambina to wife, and Triamond married Canacê.—Chaucer, Squire's Tale; Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. 3 (1596).
Canacê's Mirror, a mirror which told the inspectors if the persons on whom they set their affections would prove true or false.
Canacê's Ring. The king of Araby and Ind sent Canacê, daughter of Cambuscan´ (king of Sarra, in Tartary), a ring which enabled her to understand the language of birds, and to know the medical virtues of all herbs.—Chaucer, Canterbury Tales ("The Squire's Tale," 1388).
Candace, negro cook in The Minister's Wooing, by Harriet Beecher Stowe. She reverences Dr. Hopkins, but is slow to admit his dogma of Imputed Sin in Consequence of Adam's Transgression (1859).
Candau´les (3 syl.), king of Lydia, who exposed the charms of his wife to Gy´gês. The queen was so indignant that she employed Gygês to murder her husband. She then married the assassin, who became king of Lydia, and reigned twenty-eight years (B.C. 716-688).
Canday´a (The kingdom of), situate between the great Trapoba´na and the South Sea, a couple of leagues beyond cape Com´orin.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, II. iii. 4 (1615).
Candide´ (2 syl.), the hero of Voltaire's novel of the same name. He believes that "all things are for the best in the best of all possible worlds."
Voltaire says "No." He tells you that Candide
Found life most tolerable after meals.
Byron, Don Juan, v. 31 (1820).
Candour (Mrs.), the beau-ideal of female backbiters.—Sheridan, The School for Scandal (1777).
Can´idia, a Neapolitan, beloved by the poet Horace. When she deserted him, he held her up to contempt as an old sorceress who could by charms unsphere the moon.—Horace, Epodes, v. and xvii.
Such a charm were right Canidian.
Mrs. Browning,
Hector in the Garden
, iv.
Canmore or GREAT-HEAD, Malcolm III. of Scotland (1057-1093).—Sir W. Scott, Tales of a Grandfather, i. 4.
Canning (George), statesman (1770-1827). Charles Lamb calls him:
St. Stephen's fool, the zany of debate.
Sonnet in "The Champion."
Cano´pos, Meneläos's pilot, killed in the return voyage from Troy by the bite of a serpent. The town Canöpos (Latin, Canopus) was built on the site where the pilot was buried.
Can´tab, a member of the University of Cambridge. The word is a contraction of the Latin Cantabrig´ia.
Can´tacuzene´ (4 syl.), a noble Greek family, which has furnished two emperors of Constantinople, and several princes of Moldavia and Wallachia. The family still survives.
We mean to show that the Cantacuzenês are
not the only princely family in the world.—D'Israeli,
Lothaire
.
There are other members of the Cantacuzenê
family besides myself.—Ditto.
Can´tacuzene´ (Michael), the grand sewer of Alexius Comne´nus, emperor of Greece.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris. (time, Rufus).
Canterbury Tales. Eighteen tales told by a company of pilgrims going to visit the shrine of "St. Thomas à Becket" at Canterbury. The party first assembled at the Tabard, an inn in Southwark, and there agreed to tell one tale each both going and returning, and the person who told the best tale was to be treated by the rest to a supper at the Tabard on the homeward journey. The party consisted of twenty-nine pilgrims, so that the whole budget of tales should have been fifty-eight, but only eighteen of the number were told, not one being on the homeward route. The chief of these tales are: "The Knight's Tale" (Pal´amon and Ar´cite, 2 syl.); "The Man of Law's Tale" (Custance, 2 syl.); "The Wife of Bath's Tale" (A Knight); "The Clerk's Tale" (Grisildis); "The Squire's Tale" (Cambuscan, incomplete); "The Franklin's Tale" (Dor'igen and Arvir'agus); "The Prioress's Tale" (Hugh of Lincoln); "The Priest's Tale" (Chanticleer and Partelite); "The Second Nun's Tale" (St. Cecil'ia); "The Doctor's Tale" (Virginia); "The Miller's Tale" (John the Carpenter and Alison); and "The Merchant's Tale" (January and May) (1388).
Canton, the Swiss valet of lord Ogleby. He has to skim the morning papers and serve out the cream of them to his lordship at breakfast, "with good emphasis and good discretion." He laughs at all his master's jokes, flatters him to the top of his bent, and speaks of him as a mere chicken compared to himself, though his lordship is seventy and Canton about fifty. Lord Ogleby calls him his "cephalic snuff, and no bad medicine against megrims, vertigoes, and profound thinkings."—Colman and Garrick, The Clandestine Marriage (1766).
Can'trips (Mrs.), a quondam friend of Nanty Ewart, the smuggler-captain.
Jessie Cantrips, her daughter.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Cant'well (Dr.), the hypocrite, the English representative of Molière's Tartuffe. He makes religious cant the instrument of gain, luxurious living, and sensual indulgence. His overreaching and dishonorable conduct towards lady Lambert and her daughter gets thoroughly exposed, and at last he is arrested as a swindler.—I. Bicker staff, The Hypocrite (1768).
Dr. Cantwell ... the meek and saintly hypocrite.
L. Hunt.
Canute' or Cnut and Edmund Ironside. William of Malmesbury says: When Canute and Edmund were ready for their sixth battle in Gloucestershire, it was arranged between them to decide their respective claims by single combat. Cnut was a small man, and Edmund both tall and strong; so Cnut said to his adversary, "We both lay claim to the kingdom in right of our fathers; let us therefore divide it and make peace;" and they did so.
Canutus of the two that furthest was from hope ...
Cries, "Noble Edmund hold! Let us the land divide."
... and all aloud do cry,
"Courageous kings, divide! 'Twere pity such should die."
Drayton, Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Canute's Bird, the knot, a corruption of "Knut," the Cinclus bellonii, of which king Canute was extremely fond.
The knot, that called was Canutus' bird of old,
Of that great king of Danes, his name that still doth hold,
His appetite to please ... from Denmark hither brought.
Drayton, Polyolbion, xxv. (1622).
Can´ynge (Sir William) is represented in the Rowley Romance as a rich, God-fearing merchant, devoting much money to the Church, and much to literature. He was, in fact, a Maece´nas of princely hospitality, living in the Red House. The priest Rowley was his "Horace."—Chatterton (1752-1770).
Cap (Charles), uncle of Mabel Dunham in Cooper's Pathfinder (1849). He is a sea-captain who insists in sailing a vessel upon the great northern lakes as he would upon the Atlantic, but, despite his pragmatic self-conceit, is nonplussed by the Thousand Islands.
"And you expect me, a stranger on your lake, to find this place without chart, course, distance, latitude, longitude, or soundings? Allow me to ask if you think a mariner runs by his nose, like one of Pathfinder's hounds?"
Having by a series of blunders consequent upon this course, brought schooners and crew to the edge of destruction, he shows heart by regretting that his niece is on board, and philosophy with professional pride by the conclusion:—
"We must take the bad with the good in every v'y'ge, and the only serious objection that an old sea-captain can with propriety make to such an event, is that it should happen on this bit of d—d fresh water."
Capability Brown, Launcelot Brown, the English landscape gardener (1715-1783).
Cap'aneus (3 syl.) a man of gigantic stature, enormous strength, and headlong valor. He was impious to the gods, but faithful to his friends. Capaneus was one of the seven heroes who marched against Thebes (1 syl.), and was struck dead by a thunderbolt for declaring that not Jupiter himself should prevent his scaling the city walls.
Capitan, a boastful, swaggering coward, in several French farces and comedies prior to the time of Molière.
Caponsac'chi (Guiseppe), the young priest under whose protection Pompilia fled from her husband to Rome. The husband and his friends said the elopement was criminal; but Pompilia, Caponsacchi, and their friends maintained that the young canon simply acted the part of a chivalrous protector of a young woman who was married at fifteen, and who fled from a brutal husband who ill-treated her.—R. Browning, The Ring and the Book.
Capstern (Captain), captain of an East
Indiaman, at Madras.—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter (time, George II.).
Captain, Manuel Comne´nus of Treb´izond (1120, 1143-1180).
Captain of Kent. So Jack Cade called himself (died 1450).
The Great Captain (el Gran Capitano), Gonzalvo di Cor´dova (1453-1515).
The People's Captain (el Capitano del Popolo), Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-).
Captain (A Copper), a poor captain, whose swans are all geese, his jewellry paste, his guineas counters, his achievements tongue-doughtiness, and his whole man Brummagem. See Copper Captain.
Captain (The Black), lieutenant-colonel Dennis Davidoff of the Russian army. In the French invasion he was called by the French Le Capitaine Noir.
Captain Loys [Lo.is]. Louise Labé was so called, because in early life she embraced the profession of arms, and gave repeated proofs of great valor. She was also called La Belle Cordière. Louise Labé was a poetess, and has left several sonnets full of passion, and some good elegies (1526-1566).
Captain! my Captain! fallen leader apostrophized by Walt Whitman in his lines upon the death of President Lincoln (1865).
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells!
Rise up! for you the flag is flung, for you the bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribboned wreaths, for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning.
Here, Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head!
It is some dream that on the deck
You've fallen cold and dead.
Captain Right, a fictitious commander, the ideal of the rights due to Ireland. In the last century the peasants of Ireland were sworn to captain Right, as chartists were sworn to their articles of demand called their charter. Shakespeare would have furnished them with a good motto, "Use every man after his desert, and who shall 'scape whipping?" (Hamlet, act ii. sc. 2).
Captain Rock, a fictitious name assumed by the leader of certain Irish insurgents in 1822, etc. All notices, summonses, and so on, were signed by this name.
Cap'ulet, head of a noble house of Verona, in feudal enmity with the house of Mon'tague (3 syl). Lord Capulet is a jovial, testy old man, self-willed, prejudiced, and tyrannical.
Lady Capulet, wife of lord Capulet and mother of Juliet.—Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1598).
Capys, a blind old seer, who prophesied to Romulus the military triumphs of Rome from its foundation to the destruction of Carthage.