Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 32Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (32)
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hinds. Her bow is near the maid, unstrung ...
Clothed in the beauty of youth, the love of
heroes lay. Dark-bending from ... the wood
her wounded father seemed to come. He appeared
at times, then hid himself in mist.
Bursting into tears, she arose. She knew that
the chief was low ... Thou wert the last of his
race, O blue-eyed Dardu-Lena!--Ossian,
Temora
,
v.
Dargo, the spear of Ossian, son of Fingal.—Ossian, Calthon and Colmal.
Dar'gonet, "the Tall," son of Astolpho, and brother of Paradine. In the fight provoked by Oswald against Duke Grondibert, which was decided by four combatants against four, Dargonet was slain by Hugo the Little. Dargonet and his brother were rivals for the love of Lora.—Sir Wm. Davenant, Gondibert, i. (died 1668).
Dari'us and His Horse. The seven candidates for the throne of Persia agreed that he should be king whose horse neighed first. As the horse of Darius was the first to neigh, Darius was proclaimed king.
That brave Scythian
Who found more sweetness in his horse's neighing
Than all the Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian playing.
Lord Brooke.
Darlemont, guardian and maternal uncle of Julio of Harancour; formerly a merchant. He takes possession of the inheritance of his ward by foul means, but is proud as Lucifer, suspicious, exacting, and tyrannical. Every one fears him; no one loves him.—Thorn. Holcroft, Deaf and Dumb (1785.)
Darling (Grace), daughter of William Darling, lighthouse-keeper on Longs tone, one of the Fame Islands. On the morning of September 7, 1838, Grace and her father saved nine of the crew of the Forfarshire steamer, wrecked among the Fame Islands opposite Bamborough Castle (1815-1842).
Darnay (Charles), the lover and afterwards the husband of Lucie Manette. He bore a strong likeness to Sydney Carton, and was a noble character, worthy of Lucie. His real name was Evrémonde.—C. Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859.)
Darnel (Aurelia), a character in Smollet's novel entitled The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves (1760).
Darnley, the amant of Charlotte [Lambert], in The Hypocrite, by Isaac Bicker-staff. In Molière's comedy of Tartuffe, Charlotte is called "Mariane," and Darnley is "Valère."
Dar'-Thula, daughter of Colla, and "fairest of Erin's maidens." She fell in love with Nathos, one of the three sons of Usnoth, lord of Etha (in Argyllshire). Cairbar, the rebel was also in love with her, but his suit was rejected. Nathos was made commander of King Cormac's army at the death of Cuthullin, and for a time upheld the tottering throne. But the rebel grew stronger and stronger, and at length found means to murder the young king; whereupon the army under Nathos deserted. Nathos was now obliged to quit Ireland, and Dar-Thula fled with him. A storm drove the vessel back to Ulster, where Cairbar was encamped, and Nathos, with his two brothers, being overpowered by numbers, fell. Dar-Thula was arrayed as a young warrior; but when her lover was slain "her shield fell from her arm; her breast of snow appeared, but it was stained with blood. An arrow was fixed in her side," and her dying blood was mingled with that of the three brothers.—Ossian, Dar-Thula (founded on the story of "Deirdri," i. Trans, of the Gaelic Soc.)
Dar'tle (Rosa), companion of Mrs. Steerforth. She loved Mrs. Steerforth's son, but her love was not reciprocated. Miss Dartle is a vindictive woman, noted for a scar on her lip, which told tales when her temper was aroused. This scar was from a wound given by young Steerforth, who struck her on the lip when a boy.—C. Dickens, David Copperfield (1849).
Darwin's Missing Link, the link between the monkey and man. According to Darwin, the present host of animal life began from a few elemental forms, which developed, and by natural selection propagated certain types of animals, while others less suited to the battle of life died out. Thus, beginning with the larvae of ascidians (a marine mollusc,) we get by development to fish lowly organized (as the lancelet), thence to ganoids and other fish, then to amphibians. From amphibians we get to birds and reptiles, and thence to mammals, among which comes the monkey, between which and man is a MISSING LINK.
Dashall (The Hon. Tom), cousin of Tally-ho. The rambles and adventures of these two blades are related by Pierce Egan (1821-1822).
D'Asumar (Count), an old Nestor who fancied nothing was so good as when he was a young man.
"Alas! I see no men nowadays comparable
to those I knew heretofore; and the tournaments
are not performed with half the magnificence as
when I was a young man...." Seeing some
fine peaches served up, he observed, "In my
time, the peaches were much larger than they
are at present; natures degenerates every day."
"At that rate," said his companion, smiling,
"the peaches of Adam's time must have been
wonderfully large."—Lesage,
Gil Blas
, iv. 7
(1724).
Daughter (The), a drama by S. Knowles (1836). Marian, "daughter" of Robert, once a wrecker, was betrothed to Edward, a sailor, who went on his last voyage, and intended then to marry her. During his absence a storm at sea arose, a body was washed ashore, and Robert went down to plunder it. Marian went to look for her father and prevent his robbing those washed ashore by the waves, when she saw in the dusk some one stab a wrecked body. It was Black Norris, but she thought it was her father. Robert being taken up Marian gave witness against him, and he was condemned to death. Norris said he would save her father if she would marry him, and to this she consented; but on the wedding day Edward returned. Norris was taken up for murder, and Marian was saved.
Daughter with Her Murdered Father's Head. Margaret Roper, daughter of Sir Thomas More, obtained privately the head of her father, which had been exposed for some days on London Bridge, and buried it in St. Dunstan's Church, Canterbury (1835). Tennyson alludes to this in the following lines:—
Morn broadened on the borders of the dark,
Ere I saw her who clasped in her last trance
Her murdered father's head.
The head of the young earl of Derwent-water was exposed on Temple Bar in 1716. His wife drove in a cart under the the arch, and a man, hired for the purpose, threw the young earl's head into the cart, that it might be decently buried—Sir Bernard Burke Mdlle. de Sombreuil, daughter of the Comte de Sombreuil, insisted on the sharing her father's prison during the "Reign of Terror," and in accompanying him to the guillotine.
Dauphin (Le Grand), Louis duc de Bourgoyne, eldest son of Louis XIV., for whom was published the Delphine Classics (1661-1711).
Dauphin (Le Petit), son of the "Grand Dauphin" (1682-1712).
Daura, daughter of Armin. She was betrothed to Armar, son of Armart, Erath a rival lover having been rejected by her. One day, disguised as an old grey-beard, Erath told Daura that he was sent to conduct her to Armar, who was waiting for her. Without suspicion she followed her guide, who took her to a rock in the midst of the sea, and there left her. Her brother Arindal, returning from the chase, saw Erath on the shore, and bound him to an oak; then pushing off the boat, went to fetch back his sister. At this crisis Armar came up, and discharged his arrow at Erath; but the arrow struck Arindal, and killed him. "The boat broke in twain," and Armar plunged into the sea to rescue his betrothed; but a "sudden blast from the hills struck him, and he sank to rise no more." Daura was rescued by her father, but she haunted the shore all night in a drenching rain. Next day "her voice grew very feeble; it died away; and spent with grief, she expired." Ossian, Songs of Selma.
Davenant (Lord), a bigamist. One wife was Marianne Dormer, whom he forsook in three months. It was given out that he was dead, and Marianne in time married Lord Davenant's son. His other wife was Louisa Travers, who was engaged to Captain Dormer, but was told that the Captain was faithless and had married another. When the villainy of his lordship could be no longer concealed he destroyed himself.
Lady Davenant, one of the two wives of Lord Davenant. She was "a faultless wife," with beauty to attract affection, and every womanly grace.
Charles Davenant, a son of Lord Davenant, who married Marianne Dormer, his father's wife.—Cumberland, The Mysterious Husband (1783).
Davenant (Will), a supposed descendant from Shakespeare, and Wildrake's friend,—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (time, the Commonwealth).
Davenport (Colonel), a Revolutionary veteran who, fighting the battle of Long Island over again in Parson Cushing's family, admits that General Washington poured out "a terrible volley of curses."
"And he swore?" objects Parson Gushing.
"It was not profane swearing. It was not taking GOD'S name in vain, for it sent us back as if we had been chased by lightning. It was an awful hour, and he saw it. It was life or death; country or no country."—Harriet Beecher Stowe, Poganuc People (1878).
David, in Dryden's satire of Absalom and Achitophel is meant for Charles II. As David's beloved son Absalom rebelled against him, so the Duke of Monmouth rebelled against his father Charles II. As Achitophel was a traitorous counsellor to David, so was the Earl of Shaftesbury to Charles II. As Hushaï outwitted Achitophel, so Hyde (duke of Eochester) outwitted the Earl of Shaftesbury, etc., etc.
Auspicious prince.
Thy longing country's darling and desire,
Their cloudy pillar, and their guardian fire ...
The people's prayer, the glad diviner's theme,
The young men's vision and the old men's dream.
Dryden, Absalom and Achitophel, i. (1681).
David, king of North Wales, eldest son of Owen, by his second wife. Owen died in 1169. David married Emma Plantagenet, a Saxon princess. He slew his brother Hoel and his half-brother Yorworth (son of Owen by his first wife), who had been set aside from the succession in consequence of a blemish in the face. He also imprisoned his brother Rodri, and drove others into exile. Madoc, one of his brothers, went to America, and established there a Welsh colony.—Southey, Madoc (1805).
David Sovine. Witness in a murder case in Edward Eggleston's novel The Graysons. He is put upon the stand and tells a plausible story of "the shooting," which he claims to have seen. The prosecutor then hands him over to the prisoner's counsel, Abraham Lincoln, whose cross-examination of the wretched man concludes thus:
"Why does David Sovine go to all this trouble to perjure himself? Why does he wish to swear away the life of that young man who never did him any harm? Because that witness shot and killed George Lockwood himself. I move your honor that David Sovine be arrested at once for murder!" (1888).
David Swan. A native of New Hampshire, born of respectable parents who has had a "classic finish" by a year at Grilmanton Academy. He lies down to sleep at noon of a Summer's day, pillowing his head on a bundle of clothing. While sound asleep in the shade, he is passed by many people on the road. Five or six pause to survey the youth and comment upon him. Awakened by the stage-coach, he mounts to the top, and bowls away, unconscious that a phantom of Wealth, of Love and of Death had visited him in the brief hour since he lay down to sleep.—Nathaniel Hawthorn, Twice-told Tales, (1851.)
David (St.), son of Xantus, prince of Cereticu (Cardiganshire) and the nun Malearia. He was the uncle of King Arthur. St. David first embraced the ascetic life in the Isle of Wight, but subsequently removed to Menevia, in Pembrokeshire, where he founded twelve convents. In 577 the archbishop of Caerleon resigned his see to him, and St. David removed the seat of it to Menevia, which was subsequently called St. David's and became the metropolis of Wales. He died at the age of 146, in the year 642. The waters of Bath "owe their warmth and salutary qualities to the benediction of this saint." Drayton says he lived in the valley of Ewias (2 syl.), between the hills of Hatterill, in Monmouthshire.
Here in an aged cell with moss and ivy grown,
In which not to this day the sun hath ever shown.
That reverend British saint in zealous ages past,
To contemplation lived.
Polyolbion, iv. (1612.)
David and Jonathan, inseparable friends. The allusion is to David the Psalmist and Jonathan the son of Saul. David's lamentation at the death of Jonathan was never surpassed in pathos and beauty.—2 Samuel, i. 19-27.
Davie Debet, debt.
So ofte thy neighbors banquet in thy hall,
Till Davie Debet in thy parler stand,
And bids thee welcome to thine own decay.
G. Gascoigne, Magnum Vectigal, etc. (died 1775).
Davie of Stenhonse, a friend of Hobbie Elliott.—Sir W. Scott, The Black Dwarf (time, Anne).
Davies (John), an old fisherman employed by Joshua Geddes the quaker.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III).
Da'vus, a plain, uncouth servitor; a common name for a slave in Greek and Roman plays, as in the Andria of Terence.
His face made of brass, like a vice in a game.
His gesture like Davus, whom Terence doth name.
T. Tusser, Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, liv. (1557).
Davus sum, non Oedipus. I am a homely man, and do not understand hints, innuendoes, and riddles, like Oedipus. Oedipus was the Theban who expounded the riddle of the Sphinx, that puzzled all his countrymen. Davus was the stock name of a servant or slave in Latin comedies. The proverb is used by Terence, Andria, 1, 2, 23.
Davy, the varlet of Justice Shallow, who so identifies himself with his master that he considers himself half host half varlet. Thus when he seats Bardolph and Page at table, he tells them they must take "his" good will for their assurance of welcome.—Shakespeare, 2 Henry IV. (1598).
Daw (Sir David), a rich, dunder-headed baronet of Monmouthshire, without wit, words, or worth, but believing himself somebody, and fancying himself a sharp fellow, because his servants laugh at his good sayings, and his mother calls him a wag. Sir David pays his suit to Miss [Emily] Tempest; but as the affections of the young lady are fixed on Henry Woodville, the baron goes to the wall.—Cumberland, The Wheel of Fortune (1779).
Daw (Marjorie) Edward Delaney, writing to another young fellow, John Flemming, confined in town in August by a broken leg, interests him in a charming girl, Marjorie Daw by name, whom he has met in his (Delaney's) summering-place. His description of her ways, sayings and looks so works upon the imagination of the invalid that he falls madly in love with her—without sight. As soon as he can travel he rushes madly down to "The Pines" where his friend is staying, and finds instead of Delaney a letter:
... "I tried to make a little romance to interest you, something soothing and idyllic, and by Jove! I've done it only too well ... I fly from the wrath to come—when you arrive! For, O, dear Jack, there isn't any colonial mansion on the other side of the road, there isn't any piazza, there isn't any hammock,—there isn't any Marjorie Daw!"
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Marjorie Daw (1873).
Dawfyd, "the one-eyed" freebooter chief.—Sir W. Scott, The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).
Dawkins (Jack), known by the sobriquet of the "Artful Dodger." He is one of Fagin's tools. Jack Dawkins is a young scamp of unmitigated villainy, and full of artifices, but of a cheery, buoyant temper.—C. Dickens, Oliver Twist, viii. (1837).
Dawson (Bully), a London sharper, bully, and debauchee of the seventeenth century.—See Spectator, No. 2.
Bully Dawson kicked by half the town, and half the town kicked by Bully Dawson.—Charles Lamb.
Dawson (Jemmy). Captain James Dawson was one of the eight officers belonging to the Manchester volunteers in the service of Charles Edward, the young pretender. He was a very amiable young man, engaged to a young lady of family and fortune, who went in her carriage to witness his execution for treason. When the body was drawn, i.e. embowelled, and the heart thrown into the fire, she exclaimed, "James Dawson!" and expired. Shenstone has made this the subject of a tragic ballad.
Young Dawson was a gallant youth,
A brighter never trod the plain;
And well he loved one charming maid,
And dearly was he loved again.
Shenstone, Jemmy Dawson.
Dawson (Phoebe), "the pride of Lammas Fair," courted by all the smartest young men of the village, but caught "by the sparkling eyes" and ardent words of a tailor. Phoebe had by him a child before marriage, and after marriage he turned a "captious tyrant and a noisy sot." Poor Phoebe drooped, "pinched were her looks, as one who pined for bread," and in want and sickness she sank into an early tomb. This sketch is one of the best in Crabbe's Parish Register (1807).
Day (Justice), a pitiable hen-pecked husband, who always addresses his wife as "duck" or "duckie."
Mrs. Day, wife of the "justice," full of vulgar dignity, overbearing, and loud. She was formerly the kitchen-maid of her husband's father; but being raised from the kitchen to the parlor, became my lady paramount.
In the comedy from which this farce is taken, "Mrs. Day" was the kitchen-maid in the family of Colonel Careless, and went by the name of Gillian. In her exalted state she insisted on being addressed as "Your honor" or "Your ladyship."
Margaret Woffington [1718-1760], in "Mrs. Day," made no scruples to disguise her beautiful face by drawing on it the lines of deformity, and to put on the tawdry habiliments and vulgar manners of an old hypocritical city vixen.—Thomas Davies.
Abel Day, a puritanical prig, who can do nothing without Obadiah. This "downright ass" (act i. I) aspires to the hand of the heiress Arabella.—T. Knight, The Honest Thieves.
This farce is a mere réchauffé of The Committee, a comedy by the Hon. Sir R. Howard (1670). The names of "Day," "Obadiah," and "Arabella" are the same.
Day (Ferquhard), the absentee from the clan Chattan ranks at the conflict.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Day of the Dupes, November 11, 1630. The dupes were Marie de Medicis, Anne of Austria, and Gaston, duc d'Orléans, who were outwitted by Cardinal Richelieu. The plotters had induced Louis XIII. to dismiss his obnoxious minister, whereupon the cardinal went at once to resign the seals of office; the king repented, re-established the cardinal, and he became more powerful than ever.
Days Recurrent in the Lives of Great men.
BECKET. Tuesday was Becket's day. He was born on a Tuesday, and on a Tuesday was assassinated. He was baptized on a Tuesday, took his flight from Northampton on a Tuesday, withdrew to France on a Tuesday, had his vision of martydom on a Tuesday, returned to England on a Tuesday, his body was removed from the crypt to the shrine on a Tuesday, and on Tuesday (April 13, 1875) Cardinal Manning consecrated the new church dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket.
CROMWELL'S day was September 3. On September 3, 1650, he won the battle of Dunbar; on September 3, 1651, he won the battle of Worcester; on September 3, 1658, he died.
HAROLD'S day was October 14. It was his birthday, and also the day of his death. William the Conqueror was born on the same day, and, on October 14, 1066, won England by conquest.
NAPOLEON'S day was August 15, his birthday; but his his "lucky" day, like that of his nephew, Napoleon III., was the 2nd of the month. He was made consul for life on August 2, 1802; was crowned December 2, 1804; won his greatest battle, that of Austerlitz, for which he obtained the title of "Great," December 2, 1805; married the archduchess of Austria, April 2, 1810; etc.
NAPOLEON III. The coup d'état was December 2, 1851. Louis Napoleon was made emperor December 2, 1852; he opened, at Saarbrück, the Franco-German war August 2, 1870; and surrendered his sword to William of Prussia, September 2, 1870.
Dazzle, in London Assurance, by D. Boucicault.
"Dazzle" and "Lady Gay Spanker" "act
themselves," and will never be dropped out of
the list of acting plays.—Percy Fitzgerald.
De Bourgo (William), brother of the earl of Ulster and commander of the English forces that defeated Felim O'Connor (1315) at Athunree, in Connaught.
Why tho' fallen her brother kerne [
Irish infantry
]
Beneath De Bourgo's battle stern.
Campbell, O'Connor's Child.
De Courcy, in a romance called Women, by the Rev. C.R. Maturin. An Irishman, made up of contradictions and improbabilities. He is in love with Zaira, a brilliant Italian, and also with her unknown daughter, called Eva Wentworth, a model of purity. Both women are blighted by his inconstancy. Eva dies, but Zaira lives to see De Courcy perish of remorse (1822).
De Gard, a noble staid gentleman, newly lighted from his travels; brother of Oria'na, who "chases" Mi'rabel "the wild goose," and catches him.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Wild-goose Chase (1652).
De l'Epèe (Abbe). Seeing a deaf and dumb lad abandoned in the streets of Paris, he rescues him, and brings him up under the name of Theodore. The foundling turned out to be Julio, count of Harancour.
"In your opinion, who is the greatest genius that France has ever produced?" "Science would decide for D'Alembert, Nature [would] say Buffon; Wit and Taste [would] present Voltaire; and Sentiment plead for Rousseau; but Genius and Humanity cry out for De l'Epee, and him I call the best and greatest of human creatures."—Th. Holcroft, The Deaf and Dumb, iii. 2. (1785).
De Valmont (Count), father of Florian and uncle of Geraldine. During his absence in the wars, he left his kinsman, the Baron Longueville, guardian of his castle; but under the hope of coming into the property, the baron set fire to the castle, intending thereby to kill the wife and her infant boy. When De Valmont returned and knew his losses, he became a wayward recluse, querulous, despondent, frantic at times, and at times most melancholy. He adopted an infant "found in a forest," who turned out to be his son. His wife was ultimately found, and the villainy of Longueville was brought to light.—W. Dimond, The Foundling of the Forest.
Many "De Valmonts" I have witnessed in fifty-four years, but have never seen the equal of Joseph George Holman [1764-1817].—Donaldson.
Deaf and Dumb (The), a comedy by Thomas Holcroft. "The deaf and dumb" boy is Julio, count of Harancour, a ward of M. Darlemont, who, in order to get possession of his ward's property, abandons him when very young in the streets of Paris. Here he is rescued by the Abbé De l'Epèe, who brings him up under the name of Theodore. The boy being recognized by his old nurse and others, Darlemont confesses his crime, and Julio is restored to his rank and inheritance.—Th. Holcroft, The Deaf and Dumb (1785).
Dean of St. Patrick (The), Jonathan Swift, who was appointed to the deanery in 1713, and retained it till his death. (1667-1745).
Deans (Douce Davie), the cowherd at Edinburgh, noted for his religious peculiarities, his magnanimity in affection, and his eccentricities.
Mistress Rebecca Deans, Douce Davie's second wife.
Jeanie Deans, daughter of Douce Davie Deans, by his first wife. She marries Reuben Butler, the Presbyterian minister. Jeanie Deans is a model of good sense, strong affection, resolution, and disinterestedness. Her journey from Edinburgh to London is as interesting as that of Elizabeth from Siberia to Moscow, or of Bunyan's pilgrim.
Effie [Euphemia] Deans, daughter of Douce Davie Deans, by his second wife. She is betrayed by George [afterward Sir George] Staunton (called Geordie Robertson) and imprisoned for child-murder. Jeanie goes to the queen and sues for pardon, which is vouchsafed to her, and Staunton does what he can to repair the mischief he has done by marrying Effie, who thus becomes Lady Staunton. Soon after this Sir George is shot by a gypsy boy, who proves to be his own son, and Effie retires to a convent on the Continent.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II).
J.E.Millais has a picture of Effie Deans keeping tryst with George Staunton.
The prototype of Jeanie Deans was Helen Walker, to whose memory Sir W. Scott erected a tombstone in Irongray churchyard (Kirkcudbright).
Dean (Elder). Rigid and puritaincal church, official who brings a charge of heretical opinions and blacksliding against his pastor's wife in John Ward, Preacher, Margaret Deland (1888).
Death or Mors. So did Tennyson call Sir Ironside the Red Knight of the Red Lands, who kept Lyonors (for Lionês) captive in Castle Perilous. The name "Mors," which is Latin, is very inconsistent with a purely British tale, and of course does not appear in the original story.—Tennyson, Idylls ("Gareth and Lynette"); Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur, i. 134-137 (1470).
Death from Strange Causes.
Æschylus was killed by the fall of a tortoise on his head from the claws of an eagle in the air.—Pliny, Hist. vii. 7.
Agath'ocles (4 syl.), tyrant of Sicily, was killed by a tooth-pick, at the age of 95.
Anacreon was choked by a grape stone.—Pliny, Hist. vii. 7.
Bassus (Q. Lucilius) died from the prick of a fine needle in his left thumb.
Chalchas, the soothsayer, died of laughter at the thought of his having outlived the time predicted for his death.
Charles VIII., conducting his queen into a tennis-court, struck his head against the lintel, and it caused his death.
Fabius, the Roman praetor, was choked by a single goat-hair in the milk which he was drinking.—Pliny, Hist. vii. 7.
Frederick Lewis, prince of Wales, died from the blow of a cricket ball.
Itadach died of thirst in the harvest field, because (in observance of the rule of St. Patrick) he refused to drink a drop of anything.
Louis VI. met with his death from a pig running under his horse, and causing it to stumble. Margutte died of laughter on seeing a monkey try ing to pull on a pair of his boots.
Philom'enes (4 syl.) died of laughter at seeing an ass eating the figs provided for his own dessert.—Valerius Maximus.
Placut (Phillipot) dropped down dead while in the act of paying a bill.—Backaberry the elder.
Quenelault, a Norman physician of Montpellier, died from a slight wound made in his hand in the extraction of a splinter.
Saufeius (Spurius) was choked supping up the albumen of a soft-boiled egg.
Zeuxis, the painter, died of laughter at sight of a hag which he had just depicted.
Death Ride (The), the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, October 25, 1854. In this action 600 English horsemen, under the earl of Cardigan, charged a Russian force of 5,000 calvary and six batallions of infantry. They galloped through the battery of thirty guns, cutting down the artillerymen, and through the calvary, but then discovered the batallions and cut their way back again. Of the 670 who advanced to this daring charge, not 200 returned. This reckless exploit was the result of some misunderstanding in an order from the commander-in-chief. Tennyson has a poem on the subject called The Charge of the Light Brigade.
For chivalrous devotion and daring, "the Death Ride" of the Light Brigade will not easily be paralleled.—Sir Edw. Creasy, The Fifteen Decisive Battles (preface).
Deb'on, one of the companions of Brute. According to British fable, Devonshire is a corruption of "Debon's-share", or the share of the country assigned to Debon.
Deborah Debbitch, governante at Lady Peveril's—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Deborah Woodhouse. The practical sister of the spinster pair who cherish (respectively) a secret attachment for Mr. Dermer. Miss Deborah is an admirable cook, and an affectionate aunt and considers that in religion a woman ought to think just as her husband does.—Margaret Deland, John Ward, Preacher (1888).
Decem Scriptores, a collection of ten ancient chronicles on English history, edited by Twysden and John Selden. The names of the chroniclers are Simeon of Durham, John of Hexham, Richard of Hexham, Ailred of Rieval, Ralph De Diceto, John Brompton of Jorval, Gervase of Canterbury, Thomas Stubbs, William Thorn of Canterbury, and Henry Knighton of Leicester.
December. A mother laments in the
"Darkest of all Decembers
Ever her life has known,"
the death of two sons, one of whom fell in battle, while the other perished at sea.
"Ah, faint heart! in thy anguish
What is there left to thee?
Only the sea intoning
Only the wainscot-mouse
Only the wild wind moaning
Over the lonely house!"
Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Poems, (1882).
De'cius, friend of Antin'ous (4 syl.).—Beaumont and Fletcher, Laws of Candy (1647).
Dedlock (Sir Leicester), bart., who has a general opinion that the world might get on without hills, but would be "totally done up" without Dedlocks. He loves Lady Dedlock, and believes in her implicity. Sir Leicester is honorable and truthful, but intensely prejudiced, immovably obstinate, and proud as "county" can make a man; but his pride has a most dreadful fall when the guilt of Lady Dedlock becomes known.
Lady Dedlock, wife of Sir Leicester, beautiful, cold, and apparently heartless; but she is weighed down with this terrible secret, that before marriage she had had a daughter by Captain Hawdon. This daughter's name is Esther [Summerson] the heroine of the novel.