Part 10

=Gashford=, secretary to Lord George Gordon. A detestable, cruel sneak, who dupes his half-mad master, and leads him to imagine he is upholding a noble cause in plotting against the English Catholics. To wreak vengeance on Geoffrey Haredale, he incites the rioters to burn “The Warren,” where Haredale resided. Gashford commits suicide.—C. Dickens, _Barnaby Rudge_ (1841).

=Gaspar= or Casper (“_the white one_”), one of the three Magi or kings of Cologne. His offering to the infant Jesus was _frankincense_, in token of divinity.

⁂ The other two were Melchior (“king of light”), who offered _gold_, symbolical of royalty; and Balthazar (“lord of treasures”), who offered _myrrh_, to denote that Christ would die. Klopstock, in his _Messiah_, makes the number of the Magi _six_, not one of which names agrees with those of Cologne Cathedral.

=Gaspard=, the steward of Count De Valmont, in whose service he had been for twenty years, and to whom he was most devotedly attached.—W. Dimond, _The Foundling of the Forest_.

=Gas´pero=, secretary of state, in the drama called _The Laws of Candy_, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1647).

=Gathe´ral= (_Old_), steward to the duke of Buckingham.—Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Gath´erill= (_Old_), bailiff to Sir Geoffrey Peveril of the Peak.—Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Gauden´tio di Lucca=, the hero and title of a romance by Simon Berington. He makes a journey to Mezzoramia, an imaginary country in the interior of Africa.

=Gau´difer=, a champion in the romance of _Alexander_.

=Gaudio´sa= (_Lady_), wife of Pelayo; a wise and faithful counsellor, high-minded, brave in danger, and a real helpmate.—Southey, _Roderick, Last of the Goths_ (1814).

=Gaudissart=, the droll French bagman.

=Gaul=, son of Morni of Strumon. He was betrothed to Oith´ona, daughter of Nuäth, but before the day of marriage he was called away by Fingal to attend him on an expedition against the Britons. At the same time Nuäth was at war, and sent for his son Lathmon; so Oithona was left unprotected in her home. Donrommath, lord of Uthal (or Cuthal) seized this opportunity to carry her off, and concealed her in a cave in the desert island of Trom´athon. When Gaul returned to claim his betrothed, he found she was gone, and was told by a vision in the night where she was hidden. Next day, with three followers, Gaul went to Tromathon, and the ravisher coming up, he slew him and cut off his head. Oithona, armed as a combatant, mingled with the fighters and was wounded. Gaul saw what he thought a youth dying, and went to offer assistance, but found it was Oithona, who forthwith expired. Disconsolate, he returns to Dunlathmon, and thence to Morven. Ossian, _Oithona_.

=Gaunt´grim=, the wolf, in Lord Lytton’s _Pilgrims of the Rhine_ (1834).

Bruin is always in the sulks, and Gauntgrim always in a passion.—Ch. xii.

=Gavar´ni=, the pseudonym of Sulpice Paul Chevalier, the great caricaturist of the French _Charivari_ (1803-1896).

=Gavroche= (_2 syl._), type of the Parisian street arab.—Victor Hugo, _Les Misèrables_ (1862).

=Gawain= [_Gaw´’n_], son of King Lot and Morguase (Arthur’s sister). His brothers were Agravain, Ga´heris, and Ga´reth. The traitor Mordred was his half-brother, being the adulterous offspring of Morgause and Prince Arthur. Lot was king of Orkney. Gawain was the second of the fifty knights created by King Arthur; Tor was the first, and was dubbed the same day (pt. i. 48). When the adulterous passion of Sir Launcelot for Queen Guenever came to the knowledge of the king, Sir Gawain insisted that the king’s honor should be upheld. Accordingly, King Arthur went in battle array to Benwicke (_Brittany_), the “realm of Sir Launcelot,” and proclaimed war. Here Sir Gawain fell, according to the prophecy of Merlin, “With this sword shall Launcelot slay the man that in this world he loved the best” (pt. i. 44). In this same battle the king was told that his bastard son Mordred had usurped his throne, so he hastened back with all speed, and in the great battle of the West received his mortal wound (pt. iii. 160-167).—Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_ (1470).

Of Arthurian knights, Gawain is called the “Courteous,” Sir Kay the “Rude and Boastful,” Mordred the “Treacherous,” Launcelot the “Chivalrous,” Galahad the “Chaste,” Mark the “Dastard,” Sir Palomides (_3 syl._) the “Saracen,” _i.e._ unbaptized, etc.

=Gawky= (_Lord_), Richard Grenville (1711-1770).

=Gaw´rey=, a flying woman, whose wings served the double purpose of flying and dress.—R. Pultock, _Peter Wilkins_ (1750).

=Gay= (_Walter_), in the firm of Dombey and Son; an honest, frank, and ingenuous youth, who loved Florence Dombey, and comforted her in her early troubles. Walter Gay was sent in the merchantman called _The Son and Heir_, as junior partner, to Barbadoes, and survived a shipwreck. After his return from Barbadoes, he married Florence.—C. Dickens, _Dombey and Son_ (1846).

=Gayless= (_Charles_), the penniless suitor of Melissa. His valet is Sharp.—Garrick, _The Lying Valet_ (1741).

=Gaylords= (_The_). Village family in good circumstances.

_Squire Gaylord_, shrewd lawyer, with one tender place in his heart—his love for his only child.

_Mrs. Gaylord_, a calvinistic invalid, in awe of her imperious lord.

_Marcia Gaylord_, headstrong village beauty, who elopes with Bartley Hubbard, a newspaper man; goes with him to Boston; shares his capricious fortunes; adores and is madly jealous of him and goes home to nurse her sick mother, without her husband’s consent. He sues for a divorce, prevented by her father’s arrival prepared to give the other side of the question.—W. D. Howells, _A Modern Instance_.

=Gay´ville= (_Lord_), the affianced husband of Miss Alscrip “the heiress,” whom he detests; but he ardently loves Miss Alton, her companion. The former is conceited, overbearing, and vulgar, but very rich; the latter is modest, retiring, and lady-like, but very poor. It turns out that £2000 a year of “the heiress’s” property was entailed on Sir William Charleton’s heirs, and therefore descended to Mr. Clifford in right of his mother. This money Mr. Clifford settles on his sister, Miss Alton (whose real name is Clifford). Sir Clement Flint tears the conveyance, whereby Clifford retains the £2000 a year, and Sir Clement settles the same amount on Lord Gayville, who marries Miss Alton, _alias_ Miss Clifford.

_Lady Emily Gayville_, sister of Lord Gayville. A bright, vivacious, and witty lady, who loves Mr. Clifford. Clifford also greatly loves Lady Emily, but is deterred from proposing to her because he is poor and unequal to her in a social position. It turns out that he comes into £2000 a year in right of his mother, Lady Charlton; and is thus enabled to offer himself to the lady, by whom he is accepted.—General Burgoyne, _The Heiress_ (1781).

=Gayworthys’= (_The_), New England household.

_Dr. Gayworthy._ Excellent man and physician. His heart is bound up in his step-grandson in whose favor he makes a will.

_Johanna and Rebecca Gayworthy_; one round, laughing and fair; the other, slight, brown, delicate, serious-eyed. Each has a lover and each her disappointment and victory.

_Mrs. Vorse_ or “Sister Prue,” step-daughter, a widow with one son—_Gershom_, who is wild for sea-life, and gets it.

_Mrs. Gair_, née Gayworthy; the town-sister, diplomatic and suave. She secretes the doctor’s will and manœuvres Gershom off to sea.

_Sadie, or Say Gair_; upright little girl, who grows into a sound-hearted woman, and brings crooked things straight after many days and much striving, by marrying Gershom.—A.D.T. Whitney, _The Gayworthys_ (1865).

=Gaz´ban=, the black slave of the old fire-worshipper, employed to sacrifice the Mussulmans to be offered on the “mountain of fire.”—_Arabian Nights_ (“Amgiad and Assad”).

=Gazette= (_Sir Gregory_), a man who delights in news, without having the slightest comprehension of politics.—Samuel Foote, _The Knights_.

=Ge´ber=, an Arabian alchemist, born at Thous, in Persia (eighth century). He wrote several treatises on the “art of making gold,” in the usual mystical jargon of the period; and hence our word _gibberish_ (“senseless jargon”).

This art the Arabian Geber taught ... The Elixir of Perpetual Youth. Longfellow, _The Golden Legend_.

=Geddes= (_Joshua_), the quaker.

_Rachael Geddes_, sister of Joshua.

_Philip Geddes_, grandfather of Joshua and Rachael Geddes.—Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Geierstein= [_Gi´.er.stine_], Arnold, count of.

_Count Albert of Geierstein_, brother of Arnold Biederman, disguised (1) as the black priest of St. Paul’s; (2) as president of the secret tribunal; (3) as monk at Mont St. Victoire.

_Anne of Geierstein_, called “The Maiden of the Mist,” daughter of Count Albert, and baroness of Arnheim.

_Count Heinrich of Geierstein_, grandfather of Count Arnold.

_Count Williewald of Geierstein_, father of Count Arnold.—Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Geislaer= (_Peterkin_), one of the insurgents at Liège [_Le.aje_].—Sir W. Scott, _Quentin Durward_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Geith= (_George_), a model of untiring industry, perseverance, and moral courage. Undaunted by difficulties, he pursued his onward way, and worked as long as breath was left him.—Mrs. Trafford [Riddell], _George Geith_.

=Gelert=, Llewellyn’s favorite hound. One day, Llewellyn returned from hunting, when Gêlert met him smeared with gore. The chieftain felt alarmed, and instantly went to look for his baby son. He found the cradle overturned, and all around was sprinkled with gore and blood. He called his child, but no voice replied, and thinking the hound had eaten it, he stabbed the animal to the heart. The tumult awoke the baby boy, and on searching more carefully, a huge wolf was found under the bed, quite dead. Gêlert had slain the wolf and saved the child.

And now a gallant tomb they raise, With costly sculpture decked; And marbles, storied with his praise. Poor Gêlert’s bones protect. Hon. W.R. Spencer, _Beth Gêlerts_ (“Gêlerts Grave”).

⁂ This tale, with a slight difference, is common to all parts of the world. It is told in the _Gesta Romanorum_ of Follicŭlus, a knight, but the wolf is a “serpent,” and Folliculus, in repentance, makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In the sanskrit version, given in the _Pantschatantra_ (A.D. 540), the tale is told of the brahmin Devasaman, an “ichneumon” and “black snake” taking the places of the dog and the wolf. In the Arabic version by Nasr-Allah (twelfth century), a “weasel” is substituted for the dog; in the Mongolian _Uligerun_ a “polecat;” in the Persian _Sindibadnâmeh_, a “cat;” and in the _Hitopadesa_ (iv. 3), an “otter.” In the Chinese _Forest of Pearls from the Garden of the Law_, the dog is an “ichneumon,” as in the Indian version (A.D. 668). In Sandabar, and also in the Hebrew version, the tale is told of a dog. A similar tale is told of Czar Piras of Russia; and another occurs in the _Seven Wise Masters_.

=Gel´latly= (_Davie_) idiot servant of the baron of Bradwardine (3 _syl._).

_Old Janet Gellatly_, the idiot’s mother.—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

⁂ In some editions the word is spelt “Gellatley.”

=Geloi´os.= Silly laughter personified. Geloios is slain by Encra´tês (_temperance_) in the battle of Mansoul. (Greek, _gĕloios_, “facetious”).

=Gem of Normandy=, Emma, daughter of Richard “the Fearless,” duke of Normandy. She first married Ethelred II. of England, and then Canute, but survived both, and died in 1052.

=Gems emblems of the Twelve Apostles.=

ANDREW, the bright blue _sapphire_, emblematic of his heavenly faith.

BARTHOLOMEW, the red _carnelian_, emblematic of his martyrdom.

JAMES, the white _chalcedony_, emblematic of his purity.

JAMES THE LESS, the _topaz_, emblematic of delicacy.

JOHN, the _emerald_, emblematic of his youth and gentleness.

MATTHEW, the _amethyst_, emblematic of sobriety. Matthew was once a “publican,” but was “sobered” by the leaven of Christianity.

MATTHIAS, the _chrysolite_, pure as sunshine.

PETER, the _jasper_, hard and solid as the rock of the Church.

PHILIP, the friendly _sardonyx_.

SIMEON of Cana, the pink _hyacinth_, emblematic of sweet temper.

THADDEUS, the _chrysoprase_, emblematic of serenity and trustfulness.

THOMAS, the _beryl_, indefinite in lustre, emblematic of his doubting faith.

=Gems symbolic of the Months.=

_January_, the jacinth or hyacinth, symbolizing constancy and fidelity.

_February_, the amethyst, symbolizing peace of mind and sobriety.

_March_, the blood-stone or jasper, symbolizing courage and success in dangerous enterprise.

_April_, the sapphire and diamond, symbolizing repentance and innocence.

_May_, the emerald, symbolizing success in love.

_June_, the agate, symbolizing long life and health.

_July_, the carnelian, symbolizing cure of evils resulting from forgetfulness.

_August_, the sardonyx or onyx, symbolizing conjugal felicity.

_September_, the chrysolite, symbolizing preservation from folly, or its cure.

_October_, the aqua-marine, opal, or beryl, symbolizing hope.

_November_, the topaz, symbolizing fidelity and friendship.

_December_, the turquoise or ruby, symbolizing brilliant success.

⁂ Some doubt exists between May and June, July and August. Thus some give the _agate_ to May, and the _emerald_ to June; the _carnelian_ to August, and the _onyx_ to July.

=Gem´ini= (“_the twins_”). Castor and Pollux are the two principal stars of this constellation; the former has a bluish tinge, and the latter a damask red.

As heaven’s high twins, whereof in Tyrian blue The one revolveth; through his course immense Might love his fellow of the damask hue. Jean Ingelow, _Honours_, i.

_Gemini._ Mrs. Browning makes Eve view in the constellation _Gemini_ a symbol of the increase of the human race, and she loved to gaze on it.—E. B. Browning, _A Drama of Exile_ (1850).

=Geneu´ra.= (See GINEURA).

⁂ Queen Guinever or Guenever is sometimes called “Geneura,” or “Genevra.”

=Gene´va Bull= (_The_), Stephen Marshall, a Calvinistic preacher.

=Geneviève= (_St._) the patron saint of Paris, born at Nanterre. She was a shepherdess, but went to Paris when her parents died, and was there during Attila’s invasion (A.D. 451). She told the citizens that God would spare the city, and “her prediction came true.” At another time, she procured food for the Parisians suffering from famine. At her request, Clovis built the church of St. Pierre et St. Paul, afterwards called Ste. Geneviève. Her day is January 3. Her relics are deposited in the Panthèon now called by her name (419-512).

=Genii= or =Ginu=, an intermediate race between angels and men. They ruled on earth before the creation of Adam—D’Herbelot, _Bibliothèque Orientale_, 357 (1697). Also spelt Djinn and Jinn.

⁂ Solomon is supposed to preside over the whole race of genii. This seems to have arisen from a mere confusion of words of somewhat similar sound. The chief of the genii was called a suleyman, which got corrupted into a proper name.

=Genius and Common Sense=, T. Moore says that Common Sense and Genius once went out together on a ramble by moonlight. Common Sense went prosing on his way, arrived home in good time, and went to bed; but Genius, while gazing at the stars, stumbled into a river, and died.

⁂ This story is told of Thalês, the philosopher, by Plato. Chaucer has also an allusion thereto in his _Miller’s Tales_.

So ferde another clerk with ’stronomye: He walkêd in the feeldês for to prye Upon the sterrês, what ther shuld befall, Til he was in a marlê pit i-fall, Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_, (1388).

=Genna´ro= the natural son of Lucrezia di Borgia (daughter of Pope Alexander VI.) before her marriage with Alfonso, duke of Ferra´ra. He was brought up by a Neapolitan fisherman. In early manhood he went to Venice, heard of the scandalous cruelty of Lucrezia, and with the heedless petulance of youth, mutilated the duke’s escutcheon by striking out the B, thus converting Borgia into Orgia (_orgies_). Lucrezia demanded vengeance, and Gennaro was condemned to death by poison. When Lucrezia discovered that the offender was her own son, she gave him an antidote to the poison, and set him free. Not long after this, at a banquet given by Negro´ni Lucrezia revealed herself to Gennaro as his mother, and both expired of poison in the banquet hall.—Donizetti, _Lucrezia di Borgia_ (1834).

=Gennil= (_Ralph_), a veteran in the troop of Sir Hugo de Lacy.—Sir W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).

=Genove´va,= wife of Siegfried, count palatine of Brabant. Being suspected of infidelity, she was driven into the forest of Ardennes, where she gave birth to a son, who was suckled by a white doe. After a time Siegfried discovered his error, and both mother and child were restored to their proper home.—_German Popular Stories._

Tieck and Müller have popularized the tradition, and Raupach has made it the subject of a drama.

=Gentle Shepherd= (_The_), George Grenville. In one of his speeches he exclaimed in the House, “Tell me where!” when Pitt hummed the line of a popular song, “Gentle Shepherd, tell me where!” and the House was convulsed with laughter (1712-1770).

_Gentle Shepherd_ (_The_), the title and chief character of Allan Ramsay’s pastoral (1725).

=Gentleman of Europe= (_The First_), George IV. (1762, 1820-1830).

It was the “first gentleman in Europe” in whose high presence Mrs. Rawdon passed her examination, and took her degree in reputation; so it must be flat disloyalty to doubt her virtue. What a noble appreciation of character must there not have been in Vanity Fair when that august sovereign was invested with the title of _Premier Gentilhomme_ of all Europe!—Thackeray, _Vanity Fair_ (1843).

_Gentleman of Europe_ (_First_), Louis d’Artois.

=Gentleman Smith=, William Smith, actor, noted for his gentlemanly deportment on the stage (1730-1790).

=Geoffrey=, archbishop of York.—Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

_Geoffrey_, the old ostler of John Mengs (inn-keeper at Kirchhoff).—Sir W. Scott, _Anne of Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Geoffrey Crayon=, the hypothetical name of the author of the _Sketch-Book_ by Washington Irving (1818-1820).

=George= (_Honest_). General Monk, George, duke of Albemarle, was so called by the votaries of Cromwell (1608-1670).

_George_ (_Mr._), a stalwart, handsome, simple-hearted fellow, son of Mrs. Rouncewell, the housekeeper at Chesney Wold. He was very wild as a lad, and ran away from his mother to enlist as a soldier; but on his return to England he opened a shooting-gallery in Leicester Square, London. When Sir Leicester Dedlock, in his old age, fell into trouble, George became his faithful attendant.—C. Dickens, _Bleak House_ (1853).

_George_ (_St._), the patron saint of England. He was born at Lydda, but brought up in Cappadocia, and suffered martyrdom in the reign of Diocletian, April, 23, A.D. 303. Mr. Hogg tells us of a Greek inscription at Ezra, in Syria, dated 346, in which the martyrdom of St. George is referred to. At this date was living George, bishop of Alexandria, with whom Gibbon, in his _Decline and Fall_, has confounded the patron saint of England; but the bishop died in 362, or fifty-nine years after the prince of Cappadocia. (See RED CROSS KNIGHT.)

⁂ Mussulmans revere St. George under the name of “Gherghis.”

_St. George’s Bones_ were taken to the church in the City of Constantine.

_St. George’s Head._ One of his heads was preserved at Rome. Long forgotten, it was rediscovered in 751, and was given in 1600 to the church of Ferrara. Another of his heads was preserved in the church of Mares-Moutier, in Picardy.

_St. George’s Limbs._ One of his arms fell from heaven upon the altar of Pantaleon, at Cologne. Another was preserved in a religious house of Barala, and was transferred thence in the ninth century to Cambray. Part of an arm was presented by Robert of Flanders to the City of Toulouse; another part was given to the abbey of Auchin, and another to the Countess Matilda.

=George and the Dragon= (_St._). St. George, son of Lord Albert of Coventry, was stolen in infancy by “the weird lady of the woods,” who brought the lad up to deeds of arms. His body had three marks; a dragon on the breast, a garter round one of the legs, and a blood-red cross on the right arm. When he grew to manhood, he fought against the Saracens. In Libya he heard of a huge dragon, to which a damsel was daily given for food, and it so happened that when he arrived the victim was Sabra, the king’s daughter. She was already tied to the stake when St. George came up. On came the dragon; but the knight, thrusting his lance into the monster’s mouth, killed it on the spot. Sabra, being brought to England, became the wife of her deliverer, and they lived happily in Coventry till death.—Percy, _Reliques_ III. iii. 2.

_St. George and the Dragon_, on old guinea-pieces, was the design of Pistrucci. It was an adaptation of a didrachm of Tarentum, B.C. 250.

⁂ The encounter between George and the dragon took place at Berytus (_Beyrut_).

The tale of St. George and the dragon is told in the _Golden Legends_ of Jacques de Voragine.—See S. Baring-Gould, _Curious Myths of The Middle Ages_.

=George I. and the duchess of Kendal= (1719). The duchess was a German, whose name was Erangard Melrose de Schulemberg. She was created duchess of Munster, in Ireland, baroness Glastonbury, Countess of Feversham, and duchess of Kendal (died 1743).

=George II.= His favorite was Mary Howard, duchess of Suffolk.

George II., when angry, vented his displeasure by kicking his hat about the room. We are told that Xerxes vented his displeasure at the loss of his bridges by ordering the Hellespont to be fettered, lashed with 300 stripes, and insulted.

=George III., and the Fair Quakeress.= When George III. was about 20 years of age he fell in love with Hannah Lightfoot, daughter of a linen-draper in Market Street, St. James’s. He married her in Kew Church, 1759, but of course the marriage was not recognized. (See LOVERS.)

⁂ The following year (September, 1760), he married the Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Hannah Lightfoot married a Mr. Axford, and passed out of public notice.

=George IV. and Mrs. Mary Robinson=, generally called Perdita. Mary Darby, at the age of 15, married Mr. Robinson, who lived a few months on credit, and was then imprisoned for debt. Mrs. Robinson sought a livelihood on the stage, and George IV., then Prince of Wales and a mere lad, saw her as “Perdita,” fell in love with her, corresponded with her under the assumed name of “Florizel,” and gave her a bond for £20,000, subsequently cancelled for an annuity of £500 (1758-1800).

⁂ George IV. was born 1762, and was only 16 in 1778, when he fell in love with Mrs. Robinson. The young prince suddenly abandoned her, and after two other love affairs, privately married, at Carleton House (in 1785), Mrs. Fitzherbert, a lady of good family, and a widow, seven years his senior. The marriage being contrary to the law, he married the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, in 1795; but still retained his connection with Mrs. Fitzherbert, and added a new favorite, the Countess of Jersey.

=George= [DE LAVAL], a friend of Horace de Brienne (2 _syl._). Having committed forgery, Carlos (_alias_ Marquis d’Antas), being cognizant of it, had him in his power; but Ogarita (_alias_ Martha) obtained the document, and returned it to George.—E. Stirling, _Orphan of the Frozen Sea_ (1856).

=George-a-Green=, the pinner or pound-keeper of Wakefield, one of the chosen favorites of Robin Hood.

Veni Wakefield peramænum, Ubi quærens Georgium Greenum, Non inveni, sed in lignum, Fixim reperi Georgii signum, Ubi allam bibi feram, Donec Georgio fortior eram. _Drunken Barnaby_ (1640).

Once in Wakefield town, so pleasant, Sought I George-a-Green, the peasant; Found him not, but spied instead, sir, On a sign, “The George’s Head,” sir: Valiant grown with ale like nectar. What cared I for George or Hector?

⁂ Robert Green has a drama entitled _George-a-Green, the Pinner of Wakefield_ (1589).

=Georgian Women= (_The_) Allah, wishing to stock his celestial harem, commissioned an imaum to select for him forty of the loveliest women he could find. The imaum journeyed into Frankistan, and from the country of the Ingliz carried off the king’s daughter. From Germany he selected other maidens; but when he arrived at Gori (north-west of Tiflis) he fell in love with one of the beauties, and tarried there. Allah punished him by death, but the maidens remained in Gori, and became the mothers of the most beautiful race of mortals in the whole earth.—_A Legend._