Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 9Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (9)
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Aryan Languages (The)—
1. Sanskrit, whence Hindustanee.
2. Zend, whence Persian.
3. Greek, whence Romaic.
4. Latin, whence Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Wallachian
(
Romance
).
5. Keltic, whence Welsh, Irish, Gaelic.
6. Gothic, whence Teutonic, English, Scandinavian.
7. Slavonic, whence European Russian, and Austrian.
As You Like It, a comedy by Shakespeare. One of the French dukes, being driven from his dukedom by his brother, went with certain followers to the forest of Arden, where they lived a free and easy life, chiefly occupied in the chase. The deposed duke had one daughter, named Rosalind, whom the usurper kept at court as the companion of his own daughter Celia, and the two cousins were very fond of each other. At a wrestling match Rosalind fell in love with Orlando, who threw his antagonist, a giant and professional athlete. The usurping duke (Frederick) now banished her from the court, but her cousin Celia resolved to go to Arden with her; so Rosalind in boy's clothes (under the name of Ganymede), and Celia as a rustic maiden (under the name of Alie'na), started to find the deposed duke. Orlando being driven from home by his elder brother, also went to the forest of Arden, and was taken under the duke's protection. Here he met the ladies, and a double marriage was the result—Orlando married Rosalind, and his elder brother Oliver married Celia. The usurper retired to a religious house, and the deposed duke was restored to his dominions.—(1598.)
Asaph. So Tate calls Dryden in Absalom and Achitophel.
While Judah's throne and Zion's rock stand fast,
The song of Asaph and his fame shall last.
Part ii.
Asaph (St.) a British [i.e. Welsh] monk of the sixth century, abbot of Llan-Elvy, which changed its name to St. Asaph, in honor of him.
So bishops can she bring, of which her saints shall be:
As Asaph, who first gave that name unto that see.
Drayton, Polyolbion, xxiv. (1622).
Ascal'aphos, son of Acheron, turned into an owl for tale-telling and trying to make mischief.—Greek Fable.
Asca'nio, son of don Henrique (2 syl.), in the comedy called The Spanish Curate, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1622).
As'capart or As'cupart, an enormous giant, thirty feet high, who carried off sir Bevis, his wife Jos'ian, his sword Morglay, and his steed Ar'undel, under his arm. Sir Bevis afterwards made Ascapart his slave, to run beside his horse. The effigy of sir Bevis is on the city gates of Southampton.—Drayton, Polyolbion, ii. (1612).
He was a man whose huge stature, thews, sinews, and bulk ... would have enabled him to enact "Colbrand," "Ascapart," or any other giant of romance, without raising himself nearer to heaven even by the altitude of a chopin.—Sir W. Scott.
Those Ascaparts, men big enough to throw
Charing Cross for a bar.
Dr. Donne (1573-1631).
Thus imitated by Pope (1688-1744)—
Each man an Ascapart of strength to toss
For quoits both Temple Bar and Charing Cross.
Ascræ'an Sage, or Ascræan poet, Hesiod, who was born at Ascra, in Boeo'tia. Virgil calls him "The Old Ascræan."
Hos tibi dant calamos, en accipe, Musæ
Ascræo quos ante seni.
Ecl. vii. 70.
As'ebie (3 syl.), Irreligion personified in The Purple Island (1633), by Phineas Fletcher (canto vii.). He had four sons: Idol'atros (idolatry), Phar'makeus (3 syl.) (witchcraft), Hæret'icus, and Hypocrisy; all fully described by the poet. (Greek, asebeia, "impiety.")
Asel'ges (3 syl.), Lasciviousness personified. One of the four sons of Anag'nus (inchastity), his three brothers being Mæchus (adultery), Pornei'us (fornication), and Acath'arus. Seeing his brother Porneius fall by the spear of Parthen'ia (maidenly chastity), Aselgês rushes forward to avenge his death, but the martial maid caught him with her spear, and tossed him so high i' the air "that he hardly knew whither his course was bent." (Greek, aselgês, "intemperate, wanton.")—Phineas Fletcher, The Purple Island, xi. (1633).
As'en, strictly speaking, are only the three gods next in rank to the twelve male Asir; but the word is not unfrequently used for the Scandinavian deities generally.
Ashburton (Mary), heroine of Hyperion, by H.W. Longfellow (1839).
Ash'field (Farmer), a truly John Bull farmer, tender-hearted, noble-minded but homely, generous but hot-tempered. He loves his daughter Susan with the love of a woman. His favorite expression is "Behave pratty," and he himself always tries to do so. His daughter Susan marries Robert Handy, the son of sir Abel Handy.
Dame Ashfield, the farmer's wife, whose bête noire is a neighboring farmer named Grundy. What Mrs. Grundy will say, or what Mrs. Grundy will think or do, is dame Ashfield's decalogue and gospel too.
Susan Ashfield, daughter of farmer and dame Ashfield.—Thom. Morton, Speed the Plough (1764-1838).
Ash'ford (Isaac), "a wise, good man, contented to be poor."—Crabbe, Parish Register (1807).
Ashpenaz, chief of eunuchs, and majordomo to Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian monarch. Wily, corpulent, and avaricious, a creature to be at once feared and despised.—The Master of the Magicians, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Herbert D. Ward (1890).
Ash'taroth, a general name for all Syrian goddesses. (See ASTORETH.)
[
They
] had general names
Of Baälim and Ashtaroth: those male,
These feminine.
Milton, Paradise Lost, i. 422 (1665).
Ash'ton (Sir William), the lord keeper of Scotland, and father of Lucy Ashton.
Lady Eleanor Ashton, wife of sir William.
Colonel Sholto Douglas Ashton, eldest son of sir William.
Lucy Ashton, daughter of sir William, betrothed to Edgar (the master of Ravenswood); but being compelled to marry Frank Hayston (laird of Bucklaw), she tries to murder him in the bridal chamber, and becomes insane. Lucy dies, but the laird recovers.—Sir W. Scott, The Bride of Lammermoor (time, William III.).
(This has been made the subject of an opera by Donizetti, called Lucia di Lammermoor, 1835.)
Asia, the wife of that Pharaoh who brought up Moses. She was the daughter of Mozahem. Her husband tortured her for believing in Moses; but she was taken alive into paradise.—Sale, Al Korân, xx., note, and Ixvi., note.
Mahomet says, "Among women four have been perfect: Asia, wife of Pharaoh; Mary, daughter of Imran; Khadijah, the prophet's first wife; and Fatima, his own daughter."
As'ir, the twelve chief gods of Scandinavian mythology—Odin, Thor, Baldr, Niord, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Vidar, Vali, Ullur, and Forseti.
Sometimes the goddesses—Frigga, Freyja, Idu'na, and Saga, are ranked among the Asir also.
As'madai (3 syl.) the same as As-mode'us (4 syl.) the lustful and destroying angel, who robbed Sara of her seven husbands (Tobit iii. 8). Milton makes him one of the rebellious angels overthrown by Uriel and Ra'phael. Hume says the word means "the destroyer."—Paradise Lost, vi 365 (1665).
Asmode'us (4 syl.), the demon of vanity and dress, called in the Talmud "king of the devils." As "dress" is one of the bitterest evils of modern life, it is termed "the Asmodeus of domestic peace," a phrase employed to express any "skeleton" in the house of a private family.
In the book of Tobit Asmodeus falls in love with Sara, daughter of Rag'uël, and causes the successive deaths of seven husbands each on his bridal night, but when Sara married Tobit, Asmodeus was driven into Egypt by a charm made of the heart and liver of a fish burnt on perfumed ashes.
(Milton throws the accent on the third syl., Tennyson on the second.)
Better pleased
Than Asmodeus with the fishy fume.
Milton, Paradise Lost, iv. 168.
Abaddon and Asmodëus caught at me.
Tennyson, St. Simeon Stylitês.
Asmode'us, a "diable bon-homme," with more gaiety than malice; not the least like Mephistophelês. He is the companion of Cle'ofas, whom he carries through the air, and shows him the inside of houses, where they see what is being done in private or secrecy without being seen. Although Asmodeus is not malignant, yet with all his wit, acuteness, and playful malice, we never forget the fiend.—Le Sage, Le Diable Boiteux.
(Such was the popularity of the Diable Boiteux, that two young men fought a duel in a bookseller's shop over the only remaining copy, an incident worthy to be recorded by Asmodeus himself.)
Miss Austen gives us just such a picture of domestic life as Asmodeus would present could he remove the roof of many an English home.—Encyc. Brit. Art. "Romance."
Aso'tus, Prodigality personified in The Purple Island (1633), by Phineas Fletcher, fully described in canto viii. (Greek, asotos, "a profligate.")
Aspa'tia, a maiden the very ideal of ill-fortune and wretchedness. She is the troth-plight wife of Amintor, but Amintor, at the king's request, marries Evad'ne (3 syl.). "Women point with scorn at the forsaken Aspatia, but she bears it all with patience. The pathos of her speeches is most touching, and her death forms the tragical event which gives name to the drama."—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Maid's Tragedy (1610).
As'pramonte (3 syl.), in Sir W. Scott's Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
The old knight
, father of
Brenhilda
.
The lady of Aspramonte
, the knight's wife.
Brenhilda of Aspramonte
, their daughter, wife of count Robert.
As'rael or Az'rael, an angel of death. He is immeasurable in height, insomuch that the space between his eyes equals a 70,000 days' journey.—Mohammedan Mythology.
As'sad, son of Camaral'zaman and Haiatal'nefous (5 syl.), and half-brother of Amgiad (son of Camaralzaman and Badoura). Each of the two mothers conceived a base passion for the other's son, and when the young men repulsed their advances, accused them to their father of gross designs upon their honor. Camaralzaman commanded his vizier to put them both to death; but instead of doing so, he conducted them out of the city, and told them not to return to their father's kingdom (the island of Ebony). They wandered on for ten days, when Assad went to a city in sight to obtain provisions. Here he was entrapped by an old fire-worshipper, who offered him hospitality, but cast him into a dungeon, intending to offer him up a human victim on the "mountain of fire." The ship in which he was sent being driven on the coast of queen Margiana, Assad was sold to her as a slave, but being recaptured was carried back to his old dungeon. Here Bosta'na, one of the old man's daughters, took pity on him, and released him, and ere long Assad married queen Margiana, while Amgiad, out of gratitude, married Bostana.—Arabian Nights ("Amgiad and Assad").
Astag'oras, a female fiend, who has the power of raising storms.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).
Astar'te (3 syl.), the Phoenician moon-goddess, the Astoreth of the Syrians.
With these
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called
Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns.
Milton,
Paradise Lost
, i. 438 (1665).
As'tarte (2 syl.), an attendant on the princess Anna Comne'na.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Eufus).
Astarte a woman, beloved by Manfred.—Byron, Manfred.
We think of Astarte as young, beautiful, innocent,—guilty, lost, murdered, judged, pardoned; but still, in her permitted visit to earth, speaking in a voice of sorrow, and with a countenance yet pale with mortal trouble. We had but a glimpse of her in her beauty and innocence, but at last she rises before us in all the moral silence of a ghost, with fixed, glazed, and passionless eyes, revealing death, judgment, and eternity.—Professor Wilson.
The lady Astarte his? Hush! who
comes here? (iii. 4.)
...The same Astarte? no! (iii. 4.)
As'tery, a nymph in the train of Venus; the lightest of foot and most active of all. One day the goddess, walking abroad with her nymphs, bade them go gather flowers. Astery gathered most of all; but Venus, in a fit of jealousy, turned her into a butterfly, and threw the flowers into the wings. Since then all butterflies have borne wings of many gay colors.—Spenser, Muiopotmos or the Butterfly's Fate (1590).
Astol'pho, the English cousin of Orlando; his father was Otho. He was a great boaster, but was generous, courteous, gay, and singularly handsome. Astolpho was carried to Alci'na's isle on the back of a whale; and when Alcina tired of him, she changed him into a myrtle tree, but Melissa disenchanted him. Astolpho descended into the infernal regions; he also went to the moon, to cure Orlando of his madness by bringing back his lost wits in a phial.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
As'ton (Sir Jacob), a cavalier during the Commonwealth; one of the partisans of the late king.—Sir W. Scott, Woodstock (period, Commonwealth).
As'ton (Enrico). So Henry Ashton is called in Donizetti's opera of Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). (See ASHTON.)
As'torax, king of Paphos and brother of the princess Calis.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Mad Lover (before 1618).
As'toreth, the goddess-moon of Syrian mythology; called by Jeremiah, "The Queen of Heaven," and by the Phoenicians, "Astar'tê."
With these [the host of heaven] in troop
Came Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called
Astartê, queen of heaven, with crescent horns.
Milton,
Paradise Lost
, i. 438 (1665).
(Milton does not always preserve the difference between Ashtaroth and Ashtoreth; for he speaks of the "moonèd Ashtaroth, heaven's queen and mother.")
As'tragon, the philosopher and great physician, by whom Gondibert and his friends were cured of the wounds received in the faction fight stirred up by prince Oswald. Astragon had a splendid library and museum. One room was called "Great Nature's Office," another "Nature's Nursery," and the library was called "The Monument of Vanished Mind." Astragon (the poet says) discovered the loadstone and its use in navigation. He had one child, Bertha, who loved duke Gondibert, and to whom she was promised in marriage. The tale being unfinished, the sequel is not known.—Sir W. Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).
Astre'a (Mrs. Alphra Behn), an authoress. She published the story of Prince Oroonoka (died 1689).
The stage now loosely does Astrea tread. Pope.
Astringer, a falconer. Shakespeare introduces an astringer in All's Well that Ends Well, act v. sc. 1. (From the French austour, Latin austercus, "a goshawk.") A "gentle astringer" is a gentleman falconer.
We usually call a falconer who keeps that kind of hawk [the goshawk] an austringer.—Cowell, Law Dictionary.
As'tro-fiamman'te (5 syl.), queen of the night. The word means "flaming star."—Mozart, Die Zauberflöte (1791).
Astronomer (The), in Rasselas, an old enthusiast, who believed himself to have the control and direction of the weather. He leaves Imlac his successor, but implores him not to interfere with the constituted order.
"I have possessed," said he to Imlac, "for five years the regulation of the weather, and the distribution of the seasons: the sun has listened to my dictates, and passed from tropic to tropic by my direction; the clouds, at my call, have poured their waters, and the Nile has overflowed at my command; I have restrained the rage of the Dog-star, and mitigated the fervor of the Crab. The winds alone ... have hitherto refused my authority.... I am the first of human beings to whom this trust has been imparted."—Dr. Johnson, Rasselas, xli.—xliii. (1759).
As'trophel (Sir Philip Sidney). "Phil. Sid." may be a contraction of philos sidus, and the Latin sidus being changed to the Greek astron, we get astron philos ("star-lover"). The "star" he loved was Penelopê Devereux, whom he calls Stella ("star"), and to whom he was betrothed. Spenser wrote a poem called Astrophel, to the memory of Sir Philip Sidney.
But while as Astrophel did live and reign,
Amongst all swains was none his paragon.
Spenser,
Colin Clout's Come Home Again
(1591).
Astyn'ome (4 syl.) or Chryseïs, daughter of Chrysês priest of Apollo. When Lyrnessus was taken, Astynomê fell to the share of Agamemnon, but the father begged to be allowed to ransom her. Agamemnon refused to comply, whereupon the priest invoked the anger of his patron god, and Apollo sent a plague into the Grecian camp. This was the cause of contention between Agamemnon and Achillês, and forms the subject of Homer's epic called The Iliad.
As'wad, son of Shedad king of Ad. He was saved alive when the angel of death destroyed Shedad and all his subjects, because he showed mercy to a camel which had been bound to a tomb to starve to death, that it might serve its master on the day of resurrection.—Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer (1797).
Ataba'lipa, the last emperor of Peru, subdued by Pizarro, the Spanish general. Milton refers to him in Paradise Lost, xi. 409 (1665).
At'ala, the name of a novel by François Auguste Chateaubriand. Atala, the daughter of a white man and a Christianized Indian, takes an oath of virginity, but subsequently falling in love with Chactas, a young Indian, she poisons herself for fear that she may be tempted to break her oath. The novel was received with extraordinary enthusiasm (1801).
(This has nothing to do with Attila, king of the Huns, nor with Atlialie (queen of Judah), the subject of Racine's great tragedy.)
Atalanta, of Arcadia, wished to remain single, and therefore gave out that she would marry no one who could not outstrip her in running; but if any challenged her and lost the race, he was to lose his life. Hippom'enês won the race by throwing down golden apples, which Atalanta kept stopping to pick up. William Morris has chosen this for one of his tales in Earthly Paradise (March).
In short, she thus appeared like another Atalanta.—Comtesse D'Aunoy, Fairy Tales ("Fortunio," 1682).
Atalanta, the central figure in Algernon Charles Swinburne's poem after Æschylus Atalanta in Calydon (1864).
Atali'ba, the inca of Peru, most dearly beloved by his subjects, on whom Pizarro makes war. An old man says of the inca—
The virtues of our monarch alike secure to him the affection of his people and the benign regard of heaven.—Sheridan, Pizarro; ii. 4 (from Kotzebue),(1799).
Atê (2 syl.), goddess of revenge.
With him along is come the mother queen. An Atê, stirring him to blood and strife. Shakespeare, King John, act ii. sc. I (1596).
Atê (2 syl.), "mother of debate and all dissension," the friend of Duessa. She squinted, lied with a false tongue, and maligned even the best of beings. Her abode, "far under ground hard by the gates of hell," is described at length in bk. iv. I. When Sir Blandamour was challenged by Braggadoccio (canto 4), the terms of the contest were that the conqueror should have "Florimel," and the other "the old hag Atê," who was always to ride beside him till he could pass her off to another.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iv. (1596).
Ath'alie (3 syl.), daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and wife of Joram king of Judah. She massacred all the remnant of the house of David; but Joash escaped, and six years afterwards was proclaimed king. Athalie, attracted by the shouts, went to the temple, and was killed by the mob. This forms the subject and title of Racine's chef-d'oeuvre (1691), and was Mdlle. Rachel's great part.
(Racine's tragedy of Athalie, queen of Judah, must not be confounded with Corneille's tragedy of Attila, king of the Huns.)
Atheist's Tragedy (The), by Cyril Tourneur. The "atheist" is D'Amville, who murders his brother Montferrers for his estates.—(Seventeenth century.)
Ath'elstane (3 syl.), surnamed "The Unready," thane of Coningsburgh.—Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).
"Unready" does not mean unprepared but injudicious (from Anglo-Saxon raed, "wisdom, counsel").
Athe'na (Pallas) once meant "the air," but in Homer this goddess is the representative of civic prudence and military skill; the armed protectress of states and cities. The Romans called her Minerva.
Athe'nian Bee, Plato, so called from, the honeyed sweetness of his composition. It is said that a bee settled on his lip while he was an infant asleep in his cradle, and indicated that "honeyed words" would fall from his lips, and flow from his pen. Sophoclês is called "The Attic Bee."
Ath'liot, the most wretched of all women.
Her comfort is (if for her any be),
That none can show more cause of grief than she.
Wm. Browne,
Britannia's Pastorals
, ii. 5 (1613).
Ath'os. Dinoc'ratês, a sculptor, proposed to Alexander to hew mount Athos into a statue representing the great conqueror, with a city in his left hand, and a basin in his right to receive all the waters which flowed from the mountain. Alexander greatly approved of the suggestion, but objected to the locality.
And hew out a huge mountain of pathos,
As Philip's son proposed to do with Athos.
Byron,
Don Juan
, xii. 86.
At'imus, Baseness of Mind personified in The Purple Island (1633), by Phineas Fletcher. "A careless, idle swain ... his work to eat, drink, sleep, and purge his reins." Fully described in canto viii. (Greek, atimos, "one dishonored.")
A'tin (Strife), the squire of Pyr'ochlês.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, ii. 4, 5, 6 (1590).
Atos'sa. So Pope calls Sarah duchess of Marlborough, because she was the great friend of lady Mary Wortley Montagu, whom he calls Sappho.
But what are these to great Atossa's mind?
Pope.
(The great friend of Sappho was Atthis. By Atossa is generally understood Vashti, daughter of Cyrus and wife of Ahasuerus of the Old Testament.)
At'ropos, one of the Fates, whose office is to cut the thread of life with a pair of scissors.
... nor shines the knife,
Nor shears of Atropos before their vision.
Byron,
Don Juan
, ii. 64.
Attic Bee (The), Soph'oclês (B.C. 495-405). Plato is called "The Athenian Bee."
Attic Boy (The), referred to by Milton in his Il Penseroso, is Ceph'alos, who was beloved by Aurora or Morn, but was married to Procris. He was passionately fond of hunting.
Till civil-suited Morn appear,
Not tricked and flounced, as she was wont
With the Attic boy to hunt,
But kerchiefed in a comely cloud.
II Penseroso
(1638).
Attic Muse (The), a phrase signifying the whole body of Attic poetry.
Atticus. The surname of T. Pomponius, the intimate friend of Cicero, given to him on account of his long residence in Athens. His biography is found in Nepor.
The English Atticus. Joseph Addison.
Who but must laugh if such a man there be.
Who would not weep if Atticus were he?
Pope, Prologue to the Satires.
At'tila, one of the tragedies of Pierre Corneille (1667). This king of the Huns, usually called "The Scourge of God," must not be confounded with "Athalie," daughter of Jezebel and wife of Joram, the subject and title of Racine's ches-d'oeuvre, and Mdlle. Rachel's chief character.
Aubert (Thérèse), the heroine of C. Nodier's romance of that name (1819). The story relates to the adventures of a young royalist in the French Revolutionary epoch, who had disguised himself in female apparel to escape detection.
Aubrey, a widower for eighteen years. At the death of his wife he committed his infant daughter to the care of Mr. Bridgemore, a merchant, and lived abroad. He returned to London after an absence of eighteen years, and found that Bridgemore had abused his trust, and his daughter had been obliged to quit the house and seek protection with Mr. Mortimer.
Augusta Aubrey, daughter of Mr. Aubrey, in love with Francis Tyrrel, the nephew of Mr. Mortimer. She is snubbed and persecuted by the vulgar Lucinda Bridgemore, and most wantonly persecuted by lord Abberville, but after passing through many a most painful visitation, she is happily married to the man of her choice.—Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover (1780).
Au´bri's Dog showed a most unaccountable hatred to Richard de Macaire, snarling and flying at him whenever he appeared in sight. Now Aubri had been murdered by some one in the forest of Bondy, and this animosity of the dog directed suspicion towards Richard de Macaire. Richard was taken up, and condemned to single combat with the dog, by whom he was killed. In his dying moments he confessed himself to be the murderer of Aubri. (See DOG.)
Le combat entre Macaire et le chien eut lieu à Paris, dans l'île Louviers. On place ce fait merveilleux en 1371, mais ... il est bien antérieur, car il est mentionné dès le siècle précédent par Albéric des Trois-Fontaines.—Bouillet, Dict. Universel, etc.
Auch´termuch´ty (John), the Kinross carrier.—Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).
Audhum´bla, the cow created by Surt to nourish Ymir. She supplied him with four rivers of milk, and was herself nourished by licking dew from the rocks.—Scandinavian Mythology.
Au´drey, a country wench, who jilted William for Touchstone. She is an excellent specimen of a wondering she-gawky. She thanks the gods that "she is foul," and if to be poetical is not to be honest, she thanks the gods also that "she is not poetical."—Shakespeare, As You Like It (1598).
The character of "Audrey," that of a female
fool, should not have been assumed [
i.e.
by Miss
Pope, in her last appearance in public]; the last
line of the farewell address was, "And now poor
Audrey bids you all farewell" (May 26, 1808).—
James Smith,
Memoirs, etc.
(1840).
Augus´ta, mother of Gustavus Vasa. She is a prisoner of Christian II. king of Denmark, but the king promises to set her free if she will induce her son to submission. Augusta refuses, but in the war which follows, Gustavus defeats Christian, and becomes king of Sweden.—H. Brooke, Gustavus Vasa (1730).
Augusta, a title conferred by the Roman emperors on their wives, sisters, daughters, mothers, and even concubines. It had to be conferred; for even the wife of an Augustus was not an Augusta until after her coronation.
1. EMPRESSES. Livia and Julia were both Augusta; so were Julia (wife of Tiberius), Messalina, Agrippina, Octavia, Poppaea, Statilia, Sabina, Domitilla, Domitia, and Faustina. In imperials the wife of an emperor is spoken of as Augusta: Serenissima Augusta conjux nostra; Divina Augusta, etc. But the title had to be conferred; hence we read, "Domitian uxorem suam Augustam jussit nuncupari;" and "Flavia Titiana, eadem die, uxor ejus [i.e. Pertinax] Augusta est appellata."
2. MOTHERS or GRANDMOTHERS. Antonia, grandmother of Caligula, was created Augusta. Claudius made his mother Antonia Augusta after her death. Heliogab´alus had coins inscribed with "Julia Mæsa Augusta," in honor of his grandmother;
Mammaea, mother of Alexander Severus, is styled Augusta on coins; and so is Helena, mother of Constantine.
3. SISTERS. Honorius speaks of his sister as "venerabilis Augusta germananostra." Trajan has coins inscribed with "Diva Marciana Augusta."
4. DAUGHTERS. Mallia Scantilla the wife, and Didia the daughter of Didius Julianus, were both Augusta. Titus inscribed on coins his daughter as "Julia Sabina Augusta;" there are coins of the emperor Decius inscribed with "Herennia Etruscilla Augusta," and "Sallustia Augusta," sisters of the emperor Decius.
5. OTHERS. Matidia, niece of Trajan, is called Augusta on coins; Constantine Monomachus called his concubine Augusta.
Augusta Hare, a woman with a native genius for popularity, in Mrs. A.D.T. Whitney's novel Hitherto.
Augusti´na, the Maid of Saragossa. She was only twenty-two when, her lover being shot, she mounted the battery in his place. The French, after a siege of two months, were obliged to retreat, August 15, 1808.
Such were the exploits of the Maid of Saragossa,
who by her valor elevated herself to the
highest rank of heroines. When the author
was at Seville, she walked daily on the Prado,
decorated with medals and orders, by order of
the Junta.—Lord Byron.
Auld Robin Gray was written (1772) by Lady Anne Barnard, to raise a little money for an old nurse. Lady Anne's maiden name was Lindsay, and her father was earl of Balcarras.
Aullay, a monster horse with an elephant's trunk. The creature is as much bigger than an elephant as an elephant is larger than a sheep. King Baly of India rode on an aullay.
The aullay, hugest of four-footed kind,
The aullay-horse, that in his force,
With elephantine trunk, could bind
And lift the elephant, and on the wind
Whirl him away, with sway and swing,
E'en like a pebble from a practised sling.
Southey,
Curse of Kehama
, xvi. 2 (1809).
Aure´lius, a young nobleman who tried to win to himself Do´rigen, the wife of Arvir´agus, but Dorigen told him she would never yield to his suit till all the rocks of the British coast were removed, "and there n'is no stone y-seen." Aurelius by magic made all the rocks disappear, but when Dorigen went, at her husband's bidding, to keep her promise, Aurelius, seeing how sad she was, made answer, he would rather die than injure so true a wife and noble a gentleman.—Chaucer, Canterbury Tales ("The Franklin's Tale," 1388).
(This is substantially the same as Boccaccio's tale of Dimora and Gilberto, x. 5. See DIANORA.)
Aurelius, elder brother of Uther the pendragon, and uncle of Arthur, but he died before the hero was born.
Even sicke of a flixe [ill of the flux] as he was, he caused himself to be carried forth on a litter; with whose presence the people were so encouraged, that encountering with the Saxons they wan the victorie.—Holinshed, History of Scotland, 99.
... once I read
That stout Pendragon on his litter sick
Came to the field, and vanquishèd his foes.
Shakespeare, 1
Henry VI.
, act iii. sc. 2 (1589).
Aurora Leigh, daughter of an Englishman and an Italian woman. At her father's death Aurora comes to England to live with a severe, practical aunt. In time she becomes a poet, travels far, sees much, and thinks much of life's problems. She marries her cousin Romney, a philanthropist, blinded by an accident.—Aurora Leigh, by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1856).
Aurora Nuncanou, beautiful Creole widow in The Grandissimes, by George W. Cable. In her thirty-fifth year, she "is the red, red, full-blown, faultless joy of the garden. With her it will be always morning. That woman is going to last forever; ha-a-a-a!--even longer!" (1880).
Austin, the assumed name of the lord of Clarinsal, when he renounced the world and became a monk of St. Nicholas. Theodore, the grandson of Alfonso, was his son, and rightful heir to the possessions and title of the count of Narbonne.—Robert Jephson, Count of Narbonne (1782).