Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 27Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (27)
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Cloudes'ley (William of), a famous north-country archer, the companion of Adam Bell and Clym of the Clough. Their feats of robbery were chiefly carried on in Englewood Forest, near Carlisle. William was taken prisoner at Carlisle, and was about to be hanged, but was rescued by his two companions. The three then went to London to ask pardon of the King, which at the Queen's intercession was granted. The King begged to see specimens of their skill in archery, and was so delighted therewith, that he made William a "gentleman of fe," and the other two "yemen of his chambre." The feat of William was very similar to that of William Tell (q.v.).—Percy, Reliques, I. ii. 1.
Clout (Colin), a shepherd loved by Marian "the parson's maid," but for whom Colin (who loved Cicily) felt no affection. (See COLIN CLOUT).
Young Colin Clout, a lad of peerless meed,
Full well could dance, and deftly tune the reed;
In every wood his carols sweet were known,
At every wake his nimble feats were shown.
Gay, Pastoral, ii. (1714).
Clout (Loblin), a shepherd in love with Blouzelinda. He challenged Cuddy to a contest of song in praise of their respective sweethearts, and Cloddipole was appointed umpire. Cloddipole was unable to award the prize, for each merited "an oaken staff for his pains." "Have done, however, for the herds are weary of the song, and so am I."—Gay, Pastoral, i. (1714).
Cloyse (Goody). A pious and exemplary dame, especially well-versed in the catechism, who, in Goodman Brown's fantasy of the witches' revel in the forest, joins him on his way thither, and croaks over the loss of her broomstick, which was "all anointed with the juice of small-age and cinquefoil and wolf's bane—" "Mingled with fine wheat and the fat of a new-born babe," says another shape.—Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from an Old Manse (1854).
Club-Bearer (The), Periphe'tes, the robber of Ar'golis, who murdered his victims with an iron club.—Greek Fable.
Clumsey (Sir Tunbelly), father of Miss Hoyden. A mean, ill-mannered squire and justice of the peace, living near Scarborough. Most cringing to the aristocracy, whom he toadies and courts. Sir Tunbelly promises to give his daughter in marriage to Lord Foppington, but Tom Fashion, his lordship's younger brother, pretends to be Lord Foppington, gains admission to the family and marries her. When the real Lord Foppington arrives he is treated as an imposter, but Tom confesses the ruse. His lordship treats the knight with such ineffable contempt, that Sir Tunbelly's temper is aroused, and Tom is received into high favor.—Sheridan, A Trip to Scarborough (1777).
This character appears in Vanbrugh's Relapse, of which comedy the Trip to Scarborough is an abridgment and adaptation.
Clu'ricaune (3 syl.), an Irish elf of evil disposition, especially noted for his knowledge of hidden treasure. He generally assumes the appearance of a wrinkled old man.
Clutterbuck (Captain), the hypothetical editor of some of Sir Walter Scott's novels, as The Monastery and The Fortunes of Nigel. Captain Clutterbuck is a retired officer, who employs himself in antiquarian researches and literary idleness. The Abbot is dedicated by the "author of Waverley" to "Captain Clutterbuck," late of his majesty's—infantry regiment.
Clym of the Clough ("Clement of the Cliff"), noted outlaw, associated with Adam Bell and William of Cloudesley, in Englewood Forest, near Carlisle. When William was taken prisoner at Carlisle, and was about to be hanged, Adam and Clym shot the magistrates, and rescued their companion. The mayor with his posse went out against them, but they shot the mayor, as they had done the sheriff, and fought their way out of the town. They then hastened to London to beg pardon of the king, which was granted them at the queen's intercession. The king, wishing to see a specimen of their shooting, was so delighted at their skill that he made William a "gentleman of fe," and the other two "yemen of his chambre."—Percy, Reliques ("Adam Bell," etc., I. ii. 1).
Cly'tie, a water-nymph in love with Apollo. Meeting with no return, she was changed into a sunflower, or rather a tournesol, which still turns to the sun, following him through his daily course.
The sunflower does not turn to the sun. On the same stem may be seen flowers in every direction, and not one of them shifts the direction in which it has first opened. T. Moore (1814) says:
The sunflower turns on her god when he sets,
The same look which she turned when he rose.
This may do in poetry, but it is not correct. The sunflower is so called simply because the flower resembles a pictured sun.
Lord Thurlow (1821) adopted Tom Moore's error, and enlarged it:
Behold, my dear, this lofty flower,
That now the golden sun receives;
No other deity has power,
But only Phoebus, on her leaves;
As he in radiant glory burns,
From east to west her visage turns.
The Sunflower.
Clytus, an old officer in the army of Philip of Macedon, and subsequently in that of Alexander. At a banquet, when both were heated with wine, Clytus said to Alexander, "Philip fought men, but Alexander women," and after some other insults, Alexander in his rage stabbed the old soldier; but instantly repented and said:
What has my vengeance done?
Who is it thou hast slain? Clytus? What was he
The faithfullest subject, worthiest counsellor,
The bravest soldier. He who saved my life
Fighting bare-headed at the river Granic.
For a rash word, spoke in the heat of wine,
The poor, the honest Clytus thou hast slain,—
Clytus, thy friend, thy guardian, thy preserver!
N. Lee, Alexander the Great, iv. 2 (1678).
Cne'us, the Roman officer in command of the guard set to watch the tomb of Jesus, lest the disciples should steal the body, and then declare that it had risen from the dead.—Klopstock, The Messiah, xiii. (1771). Co'an (The), Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine" (B.C. 460-357).
... the great Coan, him whom Nature made
To serve the costliest creature of her tribe [
man
].
Dantê, Purgatory, xxix. (1308).
Co'anocot'zin (5 syl.), King of the Az'tecas. Slain in battle by Madoc.—Southey, Madoc (1805).
Co'atel, daughter of Acul'hua, a priest of the Az'tecas, and wife of Lincoya. Lincoya, being doomed for sacrifice, fled for refuge to Madoc, the Welsh Prince, who had recently landed on the North American coast, and was kindly treated by him. This gave Coatel a sympathetic interest in the White strangers, and she was not backward in showing it. Then, when young Hoel was kidnapped, and confined in a cavern to starve to death, Coatel visited him and took him food. Again, when Prince Madoc was entrapped, she contrived to release him, and assisted the prince to carry off young Hoel. After the defeat of the Az'tecas by the White strangers, the chief priest declared that some one had proved a traitor, and resolved to discover who it was by handing round a cup, which he said would be harmless to the innocent, but death to the guilty. When it was handed to Coatel, she was so frightened that she dropped down dead. Her father stabbed himself, and "fell upon his child," and when Lincoya heard thereof, he flung himself down from a steep precipice on to the rocks below.—Southey, Madoc (1805).
Cobb (Ephraim), in Cromwell's troop.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, Commonwealth).
Cobbler-Poet (The), Hans Sachs, of Nuremberg. (See TWELVE WISE MASTERS).
Cobham (Eleanor), wife of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, and aunt of King Henry VI., compelled to do penance barefoot in a sheet in London, and after that to live in the Isle of Man in banishment, for "sorcery." In 2 Henry VI., Shakespeare makes Queen Margaret "box her ears," but this could not be, as Eleanor was banished three years before Margaret came to England.
Stand forth, dame Eleanor Cobham, Gloster's wife ...
You, madam ... despoiled of your honor ...
Shall, after three days' open penance done,
Live in your country, here in banishment,
With Sir John Stanley, in the Isle of Man.
Shakespeare, 2 Henry VI. act ii. sc. 3 (1591).
Cock of Westminster (The). Castell, a shoemaker, was so called from his very early hours. He was one of the benefactors of Christ's Hospital (London).
Cocker (Edward), published a useful treatise on arithmetic, in the reign of Charles II., which had a prodigious success, and has given rise to the proverb, "According to Cocker" (1632-1675).
Cockle (Sir John), the miller of Mansfield, and keeper of Sherwood Forest. Hearing a gun fired one night, he went into the forest, expecting to find poachers, and seized the king (Henry VIII.), who had been hunting and had got separated from his courtiers. When the miller discovered that his captor was not a poacher, he offered him a night's lodging. Next day the courtiers were brought to Cockle's house by under-keepers, to be examined as poachers, and it was then discovered that the miller's guest was the king. The "merry monarch" knighted the miller, and settled on him 1000 marks a year.—R. Dodsley, The King and the Miller of Mansfield (1737).
Cockney (Nicholas), a rich city grocer, brother of Barnacle. Priscilla Tomboy, of the West Indies, is placed under his charge for her education.
Walter Cockney, son of the grocer, in the shop. A conceited young prig, not yet out of the quarrelsome age. He makes boy-love to Priscilla Tomboy and Miss La Blond; but says he will "tell papa" if they cross him.
Penelope Cockney, sister of Walter.—The Romp (altered from Bickerstaff's Love in the City).
Coelebs' Wife, a bachelor's ideal of a model wife. Coelebs is the hero of a novel, by Mrs. Hannah Moore, entitled Coelebs in Search of a Wife (1809).
In short, she was a walking calculation,
Miss Edgworth's novels stepping from their covers,
Or Mrs. Trimmer's books on education.
Or "Coelebs' wife" set out in quest of lovers.
Byron,
Don Juan
, i. 16 (1819).
Coeur de Lion, Surname of Richard of England (1157-1199.) Also conferred upon Louis VIII. of France.
Coffin (Long Tom), the best sailor character ever drawn. He is introduced in The Pilot, a novel by J. Fenimore Cooper. Cooper's novel has been dramatized by E. Fitzball, under the same name, and Long Tom Coffin preserves in the burletta his reckless daring, his unswerving fidelity, his simple-minded affection, and his love for the sea.
Cogia Houssain, the captain of forty thieves, outwitted by Morgiana, the slave. When, in the guise of a merchant, he was entertained by Ali Baba, and refused to eat any salt, the suspicions of Morgiana was aroused, and she soon detected him to be the captain of the forty thieves. After supper she amused her master and his guest with dancing; then playing with Cogia's dagger for a time, she plunged it suddenly into his heart and killed him.—Arabian Nights ("Ali Baba or the Forty Thieves").
Col'ax. Flattery personified in The Purple Island (1633), by Phineas Fletcher. Colax "all his words with sugar spices ... lets his tongue to sin, and takes rent of shame ... His art [was] to hide and not to heal a sore." Fully described in canto viii. (Greek, kolax, "a flatterer or fawner.")
Colbrand or Colebrond (2 syl.), the Danish giant, slain in the presence of King Athelstan, by Sir Guy of Warwick, just returned from a pilgrimage, still "in homely russet clad," and in his hand a "hermit's staff." The combat is described at length by Drayton, in his Polyolbion, xii.
One could scarcely bear his axe ...
Whose squares were laid with plates, and riveted with steel,
And armed down along with pikes, whose hardened points
... had power to tear the joints
Of cuirass or of mail.
Drayton, Polyolbion, xii. (1613).
Coldstream (Sir Charles), the chief character in Charles Mathew's play called Used up. He is wholly ennuyé, sees nothing to admire in anything; but is a living personification of mental inanity and physical imbecility.
Cole (1 syl.), a legendary British king, described as "a merry old soul," fond of his pipe, fond of his glass, and fond of his "fiddlers three." There were two kings so called—Cole (or Coïl I.) was the predecessor of Porrex; but Coïl II. was succeeded by Lucius, "the first British king who embraced the Christian religion." Which of these two mythical kings the song refers to is not evident.
Cole (Mrs.). This character is designed for Mother Douglas, who kept a "gentlemen's magazine of frail beauties" in a superbly furnished house at the north-east corner of Covent Garden. She died 1761.—S. Foote, The Minor (1760).
Colein (2 syl.), the great dragon slain by Sir Bevis of Southampton.—Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. (1612).
Colemi'ra (3 syl.), a poetical name for a cook. The word is compounded of coal and mire.
"Could I," he cried "express how bright a grace
Adorns thy morning hands and well-washed face,
Thou wouldst, Colemira, grant what I implore,
And yield me love, or wash thy face no more."
Shenstone,
Colemira
(an eclogue).
Cole'pepper (Captain) or CAPTAIN PEPPERCULL, the Alsatian bully.—Sir W. Scott, Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I.).
Colin, or in Scotch Cailen, Green Colin, the laird of Dunstaffnage, so called from the green colour which prevailed in his tartan.
Colin and Rosalinde. In The Shephearde's Calendar (1579), by Edm. Spenser, Rosalinde is the maiden vainly beloved by Colin Clout, as her choice was already fixed on the shepherd Menalcas. Rosalinde is an anagram of "Rose Danil," a lady beloved by Spenser (Colin Clout), but Rose Danil had already fixed her affections on John Florio the Resolute, whom she subsequently married.
And I to thee will be as kind
As Colin was to Rosalinde,
Of courtesie the flower.
M. Drayton,
Dowsabel
(1593)
Colin Clout, the pastoral name assumed by the poet Spenser, in The Shephearde's Calendar, The Ruins of Time, Daphnaida, and in the pastoral poem called Colin Clout's come home again (from his visit to Sir Walter Raleigh). Ecl. i. and xii. are soliloquies of Colin, being lamentations that Rosalinde will not return his love. Ecl. vi. is a dialogue between Hobbinol and Colin, in which the former tries to comfort the disappointed lover. Ecl. xi. is a dialogue between Thenot and Colin, Thenot begs Colin to sing some joyous lay; but Colin pleads grief for the death of the sheperdess Dido, and then sings a monody on the great sheperdess deceased. In ecl. vi. we are told that Rosalinde has betrothed herself to the shepherd Menalcas (1579).
In the last book of the Faery Queen, we have a reference to "Colin and his lassie," (Spenser and his wife) supposed to be Elizabeth, and elsewhere called "Mirabella" See CLOUT, etc.
Colin Clout and his lassie, referred to in the last book of the Faery Queen, are Spenser and his wife Elizabeth, elsewhere called "Mirabella" (1596).
Colin Clout's Come Home Again. "Colin Clout" is Spenser, who had been to London on a visit to "the Shepherd of the Ocean" (Sir Walter Raleigh), in 1589; on his return to Kilcolman, in Ireland, he wrote this poem. "Hobbinol," his friend (Gabriel Harvey, L.L.D.), tells him how all the shepherds had missed him, and begs him to relate to him and them his adventures while abroad. The pastoral contains a eulogy of British contemporary poets, and of the court beauties of Queen Elizabeth (1591). (See COLYN.)
Colin Tampon, the nickname of a Swiss, as John Bull means an Englishman, etc.
Colkitto (Young), or "Vich Alister More," or "Alister M'Donnell," a Highland chief in the army of Montrose.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).
Collean (May), the heroine of a Scotch ballad, which relates how "fause Sir John" carried her to a rock for the purpose of throwing her down into the sea; but May outwitted him, and subjected him to the same fate he had designed for her.
Colleen', i.e. "girl;" Colleen bawn ("the blond girl"); Colleen rhue ("the red-haired girl"), etc.
Dion Boucicault has a drama entitled The Colleen Bawn, founded upon Gerald Griffin's novel The Collegians.
Collier (Jem), a smuggler.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.)
Collingwood and the Acorns. Collingwood never saw a vacant place in his estate, but he took an acorn out of his pocket and popped it in.—Thackeray, Vanity Fair (1848).
Colmal, daughter of Dunthalmo, Lord of Teutha (the Tweed). Her father, having murdered Rathmor in his halls, brought up the two young sons of the latter, Calthon and Colmar, in his own house; but when grown to manhood he thought he detected a suspicious look about them, and he shut them up in two separate caves on the banks of the Tweed, intending to kill them. Colmal, who was in love with Calthon, set him free, and the two made good their escape to the court of Fingal. Fingal sent Ossian with 300 men to liberate Colmar; but when Dunthalmo heard thereof, he murdered the prisoner. Calthon, being taken captive, was bound to an oak, but was liberated by Ossian, and joined in marriage to Colmal, with whom he lived lovingly in the halls of Teutha.—Ossian, Calthon and Colmal.
Colmar, brother of Calthon. When quite young their father was murdered by Dunthalmo, who came against him by night, and killed him in his banquet hall; but moved by pity, he brought up the two boys in his own house. When grown to manhood, he thought he observed mischief in their looks, and therefore shut them up in two separate cells on the banks of the Tweed. Colmal the daughter of Dunthalmo, who was in love with Calthon, liberated him from his bonds, and they fled to Fingal to crave aid on behalf of Colmar; but before succor could arrive, Dunthalmo had Colmar brought before him, "bound with a thousand thongs," and slew him with his spear.—Ossian, Calthon and Colmal.
Colna-Dona ("love of heroes"), daughter of King Car'ul. Fingal sent Ossian and Toscar to raise a memorial on the banks of the Crona, to perpetuate the memory of a victory he had obtained there. Carul invited the two young men to his hall, and Toscar fell in love with Colna-Dona. The passion being mutual, the father consented to their espousals.—Ossian, Colna-Dona.
Cologne (The three kings of), the three Magi, called Gaspar, Melchior, and Baltha'zar. Gaspar means "the white one." Melchior, "king of light;" Balthazar, "lord of treasures." Klop-stock, in The Messiah, says there were six Magi, whom he calls Hadad, Sel'ima, Zimri, Mirja, Beled, and Sunith.
The "three" Magi are variously named; thus one tradition gives them as Apellius, Amerus, and Damascus; another calls them Magalath, Galgalath, and Sarasin; a third says they were Ator, Sator, and Perat'oras. They are furthermore said to be descendants of Balaam the Mesopotamian prophet.
Colon, one of the rabble leaders in Hudibras, is meant for Noel Perryan or Ned Perry, an ostler. He was a rigid puritan "of low morals," and very fond of bear-baiting.
Colonna (The Marquis of), a high-minded, incorruptible noble of Naples. He tells the young king bluntly that his oily courtiers are vipers who would suck his life's blood, and that Ludovico, his chief minister and favorite, is a traitor. Of course he is not believed, and Ludovico marks him out for vengeance. His scheme is to get Colonna, of his own free will, to murder his sister's lover and the king. With this view he artfully persuades Vicentio, the lover, that Evadnê (the sister of Colonna) is the king's wanton. Vicentio indignantly discards Evadnê, is challanged to fight by Colonna, and is supposed to be killed. Colonna, to revenge his wrongs on the king, invites him to a banquet with intent to murder him, when the whole scheme of villainy is exposed: Ludovico is slain, and Vicentio marries Evadnê.—Shiel, Evadne, or the Statue (1820).
Colossos (Latin, colossus), a gigantic brazen statue 126 feet high, executed by Charles for the Rhodians. Blaise de Vignenère says it was a striding figure, but Comte de Caylus proves that it was not so, and did not even stand at the mouth of the Rhodian port. Philo tells us that it stood on a block of white marble, and Lucius Ampellius asserts that it stood in a car. Tiekell makes out the statue to be so enormous in size, that—
While at one foot the thronging galleys ride,
A whole hour's sail scarce reached the further side;
Betwixt the brazen thighs in loose array,
Ten thousand streamers on the billows play,
Tickell, On the Prospect of Peace.
Colossus. Negro servant in G.W. Cable's "Posson Jone." He vainly tries to dissuade his master from drinking, and, in the end, restores to him the money lost during the drunken bout.
"In thundering tones" the parson was confessing
himself a "plum fool from whom the conceit
had been jolted out, and who had been made
to see that even his nigger had the longest
head of the two."
Col'thred (Benjamin) or "Little Benjie," a spy employed by Nixon (Edward Redgauntlet's agent).—Sir. W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.)
Columb (St.) or St. Columba, was of the family of the kings of Ulster; and with twelve followers founded amongst the Picts and Scots 300 Christian establishments of presbyterian character; that in Iona was founded 563.
The Pictish men by St. Columb taught.
Campbell, Rewllura.
Columbus (Christopher), Genoese navigator who was fitted out by Ferdinand and Isabella for a voyage of discovery resulting in the sight of the New World (1492). His ships were the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Nina, all small.—Washington Irving, Life of Columbus.
Colyn Clout (The Boke of), a rhyming six-syllable tirade against the clergy, by John Skelton, poet-laureate (1460-1529).
Comal and Galbi'na. Comal was the son of Albion, "chief of a hundred hills." He loved Galbi'na (daughter of Conlech), who was beloved by Grumal also. One day; tired out by the chase, Comal and Galbina rested in the cave of Roman; but ere long a deer appeared, and Comal went forth to shoot it. During his absence, Galbina dressed herself in armor "to try his love," and "strode from the cave." Comal thought it was Grumal, let fly an arrow, and she fell. The chief too late discovered his mistake, rushed to battle, and was slain.—Ossian, Fingal, ii.
Com'ala, daughter of Sarno, king of Inistore (the Orkneys). She fell in love with Fingal at a feast to which Sarno had invited him after his return from Denmark or Lochlin (Fingal, iii.). Disguised as a youth, Comala followed him, and begged to be employed in his wars; but was detected by Hidallan, son of Lamor, whose love she had slighted. Fingal was about to marry her when he was called to oppose Caracul, who had invaded Caledonia. Comala witnessed the battle from a hill, thought she saw Fingal slain, and though he returned victorious, the shock on her nerves was so great that she died.—Ossian, Comala.
Coman'ches (3 syl.), an Indian tribe of the Texas. (See CAMANCHES.)
Comb (Reynard's Wonderful), said to be made of Pan'thera's bone, the perfume of which was so fragrant that no one could resist following it; and the wearer of the comb was always of a merry heart. This comb existed only in the brain of Master Fox.—Reynard the Fox, xii. (1498).
Co'me (St.), (see Cosme,) a physician, and patron saint of medical practitioners.
"By St. Come!" said the surgeon, "here's a pretty adventure."—Lesage, (Gil Blas, vii. 1 1735).
Come and Take Them. The reply of Leon'idas, king of Sparta, to the messengers of Xerxes, when commanded by the invader to deliver up his arms.
Com'edy (The Father of), Aristoph'anês the Athenian (B.C. 444-380).
Comedy (Prince of Ancient), Aristoph'anês (B.C. 444-380).
Comedy (Prince of New), Menander (B.C. 342-291).
Comedy of Errors, by Shakespeare (1593), Aemilia, wife of Ægeon, had two sons at a birth, and named both of them Antipholus. When grown to manhood, each of these sons had a slave named Dromio, also twin-brothers. The brothers Antipholus had been shipwrecked in infancy, and being picked up by different vessels, were carried one to Syracuse and the other to Ephesus. The play supposes that Antipholus of Syracuse goes in search of his brother, and coming to Ephesus with his slave, Dromio, a series of mistakes arises from the extraordinary likeness of the two brothers and their two slaves. Adriana, the wife of the Ephesian, mistakes the Syracusan for her husband; but he behaves so strangely that her jealousy is aroused, and when her true husband arrives he is arrested as a mad man. Soon after, the Syracusan brother being seen, the wife, supposing it to be her mad husband broken loose, sends to capture him; but he flees into a convent. Adriana now lays her complaint before the duke, and the lady abbess comes into court. So both brothers face each other, the mistakes are explained, and the abbess turns out to be Aemilia, the mother of the twin brothers. Now, it so happened that Ægeon, searching for his son, also came to Ephesus, and was condemned to pay a fine or suffer death, because he, a Syracusan, had set foot in Ephesus. The duke, however, hearing the story, pardoned him. Thus Ægeon found his wife in the abbess, the parents their twin sons, and each son his long-lost brother.
The plot of this comedy is copied from the Menaechmí of Plautus.
Comhal or Combal, son of Trathal, and father of Fingal. His queen was Morna, daughter of Thaddu. Comhal was slain in battle, fighting against the tribe of Morni, the very day that Fingal was born.—Ossian.
Fingal said to Aldo, "I was born in the battle."
Ossian, The Battle of Lora.
Comines [Cum'.in]. Philip des Comines, the favorite minister of Charles, "the Bold," Duke of Burgundy, is introduced by Sir W. Scott, in Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).
Commander of the Faithful (Emir al Mumenin), a title assumed by Omar I., and retained by his successors in the caliphate (581, 634-644).
Comminges (2 syl.) (Count de), the hero of a novel so-called by Mde. de Tencin (1681-1749).
Committee (The), a comedy by the Hon. Sir R. Howard. Mr. Day, a Cromwellite, is the head of a Committee of Sequestration, and is a dishonest, canting rascal, under the thumb of his wife. He gets into his hands the deeds of two heiresses, Anne and Arbella. The former he calls Ruth, and passes her off as his own daughter; the latter he wants to marry to his booby son Able. Ruth falls in love with Colonel Careless, and Arbella with colonel Blunt. Ruth contrives to get into her hands the deeds, which she delivers over to the two colonels, and when Mr. Day arrives, quiets him by reminding him that she knows of certain deeds which would prove his ruin if divulged (1670).
T. Knight reproduced this comedy as a farce under the title of The Honest Thieves.
Common (Dol), an ally of Subtle the alchemist.—Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610).
Commoner (The Great), Sir John Barnard, who in 1737 proposed to reduce the interest of the national debt from 4 per cent. to 3 per cent., any creditor being at liberty to receive his principal in full if he preferred it. William Pitt, the statesman, is so called also (1759-1806).
Comne'nus (Alexius), emperor of Greece, introduced by Sir. W. Scott in Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
Anna Comne'na the historian, daughter of Alexius Comnenus, emperor of Greece.—Same novel.
Compeyson, a would-be gentleman and a forger. He duped Abel Magwitch and ruined him, keeping him completely under his influence. He also jilted Miss Havisham.—C. Dickens, Great Expectations (1860).
Com'rade (2 syl.), the horse given by a fairy to Fortunio.
He has many rare qualities ... first he eats
but once in eight days; and then he knows
what's past, present, and to come [and speaks
with the voice of a man].—Comtesse DAunoy,
Fairy Tales
("Fortunio." 1682).
Comus, the god of revelry. In Milton's "masque" so called, the "lady" is lady Alice Egerton, the younger brother is Mr. Thomas Egerton, and the elder brother is Lord Viscount Brackley (eldest son of John, earl of Bridgewater, president of Wales). The lady, weary with long walking, is left in a wood by her two brothers, while they go to gather "cooling fruit" for her. She sings to let them know her whereabouts, and Comus, coming up, promises to conduct her to a cottage till her brothers could be found. The brothers, hearing a noise of revelry, become alarmed about their sister, when her guardian spirit informs them that she has fallen into the hands of Comus. They run to her rescue, and arrive just as the god is offering his captive a potion; the brothers seize the cup and dash it on the ground, while the spirit invokes Sabri'na, who breaks the spell and releases the lady (1634).
Conach'ar, the Highland apprentice of Simon Glover, the old glover of Perth. Conachar is in love with his master's daughter, Catharine, called "the fair maid of Perth;" but Catharine loves and ultimately marries Henry Smith, the armorer. Conachar is at a later period Ian Eachin [Hector] M'Ian, chief of the clan Quhele.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Conar, son of Trenmor, and first "king of Ireland." When the Fir-bolg (or belgae from Britain settled in the south of Ireland) had reduced the Cael (or colony of Caledonians settled in the north of Ireland) to the last extremity by war, the Cael sent to Scotland for aid. Trathel (grandfather of Fingal) accordingly sent over Conar with an army to their aid; and Conar, having reduced the Fir-bolg to submission, assumed the title of "king of Ireland." Conar was succeeded by his son Cormac I.; Cormac I. by his son Cairbre; Cairbre by his son Artho; Artho by his son Cormac II. (a minor); and Cormac (after a slight interregnum) by Ferad-Artho (restored by Fingal).—Ossian.