Chapter II: Part 2

=Fiammetta,= a lady beloved by Boccaccio, supposed to be Maria, daughter of Robert, king of Naples. (Italian, fiammetta, a little flame).

=Fib,= an attendant on Queen Mab.—Drayton, _Nymphidia_.

=Fiction.= _Father of Modern Prose Fiction_, Daniel Defoe (1663-1731).

=Fiddler= (_Oliver’s_). Sir Roger l’Estrange was so called, because at one time he was playing a fiddle or viole in the house of John Hingston, where Cromwell was one of the guests (1616-1704).

=Fiddler Joss,= Mr. Joseph Poole, a reformed drunkard, who subsequently turned preacher in London, but retained his former sobriquet.

=Fide´le= (3 _syl._), the name assumed by Imogen, when, attired in boy’s clothes, she started for Milford Haven to meet her husband Posthŭmus.—Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).

⁂ Collins has a beautiful elegy on “Fidele.”

=Fidelia,= “the foundling.” She is in reality Harriet, the daughter of Sir Charles Raymond, but her mother dying in childbirth, she was committed to the charge of a governante. The governante sold the child, at the age of 12, to one Villiard, and then wrote to Sir Charles to say that she was dead. One night, Charles Belmont, passing by, heard cries of distress, and going to the rescue took the girl home as a companion to his sister. He fell in love with her: the governante, on her death-bed, told the story of her birth; and Charles married the foundling.—Ed. Moore, _The Foundling_ (1748).

=Fide´lio,= Leono´ra, wife of Fernando Florestan. She assumed the name of Fidelio, and dressed in male attire when her husband was a state prisoner, that she might enter the service of Rocco the jailer, and hold intercourse with her husband.—Beethoven, _Fidelio_ (1791).

=Fides= (2 _syl._), mother of John of Leyden. Believing that the prophet-ruler of Westphalia had caused her son’s death, she went to Munster to curse him. Seeing the ruler pass, she recognized in him her own son; but the son pretended not to know his mother, and Fidês, to save him annoyance, professed to have made a mistake. She was put into a dungeon, where John visited her, and when he set fire to his palace, Fidês rushed into the flames, and both perished together.—Meyerbeer, _Le Prophete_ (1849).

=Fidessa,= the companion of Sansfoy; but when the Red Cross Knight slew that “faithless Saracen,” Fidessa told him she was the only daughter of an emperor of Italy; that she was betrothed to a rich and wise king; and that her betrothed being slain, she had set forth to find the body, in order that she might decently inter it. She said that in her wanderings Sansfoy had met her and compelled her to be his companion: but she thanked the knight for having come to her rescue. The Red Cross Knight, wholly deluded by this plausible tale, assured Fidessa of his sympathy and protection: but she turned out to be Duessa, the daughter of Falsehood and Shame. The sequel must be sought under the word DUESSA.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, i. 2 (1590).

=Fido,= Faith personified, the foster-son of Acŏë (“hearing,” _Rom._ x. 17); his foster-sister is Meditation. Fully described in canto ix. of _The Purple Island_ (1633), by Phineas Fletcher. (Latin, _fidês_, “faith.”)

=Field of the Forty Footsteps,= at the back of the British Museum, once called Southampton Fields. The tradition is that two brothers, in the Monmouth rebellion, took different sides, and engaged each other in fight. Both were killed, and forty impressions of their feet were traceable in the field for years afterwards.

⁂ The Misses Porter wrote a novel called _The Field of the Forty Footsteps_, and the Messrs. Mayhew took the same subject for a melodrama.

=Fielding= (_Mrs._), a little querulous old lady with a peevish face, who, in consequence of having once been better off, or of laboring under the impression that she might have been, if something in the indigo trade had happened differently, was very genteel and patronizing indeed. When she dressed for a party, she wore gloves, and a cap of state “almost as tall, and quite as stiff as a mitre.”

_May Fielding_, her daughter, very pretty and innocent. She was engaged to Edward Plummer, but heard that he had died in South America, and consented to marry Tackleton the toy merchant. A few days before the day fixed for the wedding, Edward Plummer returned, and they were married. Tackleton gave them as a present the cake he had ordered for his own wedding feast.—C. Dickens, _The Cricket on the Hearth_ (1845).

=Fielding of the Drama,= George Farquhar, author of _The Beaux’ Stratagem_, etc. (1678-1707).

=Fielding’s Proverbs.= These were in reality compiled by W. Henry Ireland, the Shakespeare impostor, who published _Miscellaneous Papers and Instruments, under the hand and seal of William Shakespeare, including the tragedy of King Lear and a small fragment of Hamlet, from the original_, 1796, folio, £4 4_s_. The whole was a barefaced forgery.

=Fierabras= (_Sir_) [_Fe.ā´.ra.brah_], a Saracen of Spain, who made himself master of Rome, and carried away the crown of thorns and the balsam with which the Lord had been embalmed. His chief exploit was to slay the giant who guarded the bridge of Mantible, which had thirty arches, all of black marble. Bal´and of Spain assumed the name of Sir Fierabras.

_Balsam of Fierabras_, the balsam used in embalming the body of Christ, stolen by Sir Fierabras. It possessed such virtues that one single drop, taken internally, sufficed to heal the most malignant wound.

=Fierabras of Alexandria,= the greatest giant that ever walked the earth. He possessed all Babylon, even to the Red Sea, was seigneur of Russia, lord of Cologne, master of Jerusalem, and of the Holy Sepulchre. This huge giant ended his days in the odor of sanctity, “meek as a lamb, and humble as he was meek.”

=Fierce= (_The_), Alexander I. of Scotland, so called from the impetuosity of his temper (*, 1107-1124).

=Fiesco,= the chief character of Schiller’s tragedy so called. The poet makes Fiesco to be killed by the hand of Verri´na the republican; but history says his death was the result of a stumble from a plank (1783).

=Fig´aro=, a barber of extraordinary cunning, dexterity, and intrigue.—Beaumarchais, _Barbier de Séville_ (1775).

_Fig´aro_, a valet, who outwits every one by his dexterity and cunning.—Beaumarchais, _Mariage de Figaro_ (1784).

⁂ Several operas have been founded on these two comedies: _e.g._ Mozart’s _Nozze di Figaro_ (1786); Paisiello’s _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ (1810); Rossini’s _Il Barbiere di Siviglia_ (1816).

_Fig´aro,_ the sweetheart of Susan (favorite waiting-woman of the Countess Almaviva). Figaro is never so happy as when he has two or three plots in hand.—T. Holcroft, _The Follies of a Day_ (1745-1809).

=Fighting Prelate= (_The_), Henry Spencer, bishop of Norwich. He opposed the rebels under Wat Tyler with the temporal sword, absolved them, and then sent them to the gibbet. In 1383 he went to assist the burghers of Ghent in their contest with the count of Flanders.

The bishop of Norwich, the famous “Fighting Prelate,” had led an army into Flanders.—Lord Campbell.

=Filch=, a lad brought up as a pick-pocket. Mrs. Peachum says, “He hath as fine a hand at picking a pocket as a woman, and is as nimble-fingered as a juggler. If an unlucky session does not cut the rope of thy life, I pronounce, boy, thou wilt be a great man in history” (act i. 1).—Gay, _The Beggar’s Opera_ (1727).

=Fi´ler=, a lean, churlish man, who takes poor Toby Veck’s tripe, and delivers him a homily on the sinfulness of luxury and self-indulgence.—C. Dickens, _The Chimes_ (1844).

=Filia Doloro´sa=, the Duchess d’Angoulême, daughter of Louis XVI. Also called “The Modern Antig´onê” (1778-1851).

=Fillan=, son of Fingal and Clatho, the most highly finished character in the poem of _Tem´ora_. Fillan was younger than his nephew Oscar, and does not appear on the scene until after Oscar’s death. He is rash and fiery, eager for military glory, and brave as a lion. When Fingal appointed Gaul to command for the day, Fillan had hoped his father’s choice might have fallen to his own lot. “On his spear stood the son of Clatho ... thrice he raised his eyes to Fingal; his voice thrice failed him as he spoke ... He strode away; bent over a distant stream ... the tear hung in his eye. He struck at times the thistle’s head with his inverted spear.” Yet showed he no jealousy, for when Gaul was in danger, he risked his own life to save him. Next day was Fillan’s turn to lead, and his deeds were unrivalled in dash and brilliancy. He slew Foldath, the general of the opposing army, but when Cathmor, “Lord of Atha,” the commander-in-chief, came against him, Fillan fell. His modesty was then as prominent as his bravery. “Lay me,” he said to Ossian, “in that hollow rock. Raise no stone above me ... I am fallen in the first of my fields, fallen without renown.” Every incident of Fillan’s life is beautiful in the extreme.—Ossian, _Temora_, v.

=Filippo= (_Don_). In love with Camilla, heroine of _Signor Monaldini’s Niece_. His wife is insane, and he suffers himself to become enamored of this young girl, who repels him with holy, heroic words. His conscience comes to his aid when she appeals to him. While he hesitates to speak the words of parting, she springs into a pool beside them, and is to all appearance drowned. While she lies unconscious, a telegram is brought, saying that his wife is dead. Camilla revives, after a long period of insensibility, and all is well.—Mary Agnes Tincker, _Signor Monaldini’s Niece_, (1879).

=Fillpot= (_Toby_), a thirsty old soul, who “among jolly topers bore off the bell.” It chanced as in dog-days he sat boosing in his arbor, that he died “full as big as a Dorchester butt.” His body turned to clay, and out of the clay a brown jug was made, sacred to friendship, mirth, and mild ale.

His body, when long in the ground it had lain,
And time into clay had resolved it again,
A potter found out in its covert so snug,
And with part of fat Toby he formed this brown jug,
Now sacred to friendship, to mirth, and mild ale.
So here’s to my lovely sweet Nan of the vale.
Rev. Francis Fawkes (1721-1777).

⁂ The two best drinking songs in the language were both by clergymen. The other is, _I Cannot Eat but Little Meat_, by John Still, bishop of Bath and Wells (1534-1607).

=Filome´na= (_Santa_). At Pisa the church of San Francisco contains a chapel lately dedicated to Santa Filomena. Over the altar is a picture by Sabatelli, which represents Filomena as a nymph-like figure floating down from heaven, attended by two angels bearing the lily, the palm, and a javelin. In the fore-ground are the sick and maimed, healed by her intercession.

Nor ever shall be wanting here
The palm, the lily, and the spear:
The symbols that of yore
St. Filomena bore
Longfellow, _St. Filomena_.

⁂ Longfellow calls Florence Nightingale “St. Filomena” (born at Florence, 1820).

=Finality John,= Lord John Russell (afterwards “Earl Russell”), who maintained that the Reform Bill of 1832 was a _finality_ (1792-1878).

=Finch= (_Margaret_), queen of the gypsies, who died aged 109, a.d. 1740. She was born at Sutton, in Kent, and was buried at Beckenham, in the same county.

_Finch_ (_Lucilla_). Blind girl whose sight is restored for a little while. The man she has loved while blind has received injuries that make him repulsive to the eye. His crafty brother contrives that the girl shall mistake him for her betrothed. A series of complications has a climax in the return of Miss Finch’s blindness, after which matters resume the former course and she marries the right man.—Wilkie Collins, _Poor Miss Finch_.

=Fine-ear,= one of the seven attendants of Fortunio. He could hear the grass grow, and even the wool on the sheep’s back.—Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“Fortunio,” 1682).

⁂ In Grimm’s _Goblin’s_ is the same fairy tale (“Fortunio”).

=Fin´etor,= a necromancer, father of the Enchantress Damsel.—Vasco de Lobeira, _Amadis de Gaul_ (thirteenth century).

=Finetta,= “the cinder girl,” a fairy tale by the Comtesse D’Aunoy (1682). This is merely the old tale of Cinderella slightly altered. Finetta was the youngest of three princesses, despised by them, and put to all sorts of menial work. The two sisters went to balls, and left Finetta at home in charge of the house. One day she found a gold key, which opened a wardrobe full of most excellent dresses; so arraying herself in one, she followed her sisters to the ball, but she was so fine that they knew her not, and she ran home before them. This occurred two or three times, but at last, in running home, she lost one of her slippers. The young prince resolved to marry her whose foot fitted the slipper, and Finetta became his wife. Finetta was also called Auricula or “Fine-ear.”

=Fingal= (or _Fion na Gael_).

His _father_ was Comhal or Combal, and his _mother_ Morna.

(Comhal was the son of Trathal, king of Morven, and Morna was the daughter of Thaddu.)

His first _wife_ was Roscrana, mother of Ossian. His second was Clatho, mother of Fillan, etc.

(Roscrana was the daughter of Cormac I. third king of Ireland).

His _daughter_ was Bosmi´na, and his _sons_ Ossian, Fillan, Ryno, and Fergus. (The son of Ossian was Oscar.)

(Fillan was younger than his nephew Oscar, and both, together with Ryno, were slain in battle before Fingal died.)

His _bard_ and _herald_ was Ullin. His _sword_ Luno, so called from its maker, Luno of Locklin (_Denmark_).

His _kingdom_ was Morven (_The northwest coast of Scotland_); his _capital_ Semo; his _subjects_ were Caledonians or Gaels.

After the restoration of Ferad-Artho to the throne of Ireland, Fingal “resigned his spear to Ossian,” and died A.D. 283.

_Fingal_, an epic in six books, by Ossian. The subject is the invasion of Ireland by Swaran, king of Lochlin (_Denmark_) during the reign of Cormac II. (a minor), and its deliverance by the aid of Fingal, king of Morven (_northwest coast of Scotland_). The poem opens with the overthrow of Cuthullin, general of the Irish forces, and concludes with the return of Swaran to his own land.

=Finger.= “Little finger tell me true.” When M. Argan wishes to pump his little daughter Louison, respecting a young gentleman who pays attentions to her elder sister, he says to the child, “Prenez-y bien garde au moins; car voilà un petit doigt, qui sait tout, qui me dira si vous mentez.” When the child has told him all she knows, he puts his little finger to his ear and says, “Voilà mon petit doigt pourtant qui gronde quelque chose. Attendez! Hé! Ah, ah! Oui? Oh, oh! voila mon petit doigt, qui me dit quelque chose que vous avez vu et que vous ne m’avez pas dit.” To which the child replies, “Ah! mon papa, votre petit doigt est un menteur.”—Molière, _Le Malade Imaginaire_, ii. 11 (1673).

=Finis Poloniæ.= These words are attributed (but without sufficient authority) to Koscziusko the Pole, when he lay wounded by the balls of Suwaroff’s troops on the field of Maciejowieze (October 10, 1794).

Percé de coups, Koscziusko s’écria en tombant “Finis
Poloniæ.”—Michaud, _Biographie Universelle_.

=Finlayson= (_Luckie_), landlady of the lodgings in the Canongate of Edinburgh.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Fin´niston= (_Duncan_), a tenant of the laird of Gudgeonford.

_Luckie Finniston_, wife of Duncan.—Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Fion= (son of Comnal), an enormous giant, who could place one foot on Mount Cromleach, in Ulster, and the other on Mount Crommal, close by, and then dip his hand in the river Lubar, which ran between.

With one foot on the Crommal set and one on Mount Cromleach,
The waters of the Lubar stream his giant hand could reach.
_Translation of the Gaelic._

=Fiona,= a series of traditionary old Irish poems on the subject of Fion M’Comnal and the heroes connected with him.

=Fionnua´la,= daughter of Lir. Being transformed into a swan, she was doomed to wander over the lakes and rivers of Ireland till the Irish became Christians, but the sound of the first mass bell in the island was to be the signal of her release.

Silent, O Moyle, be the roar of thy water [_County Tyrone_] ...
While murmuring mournfully Lir’s lonely daughter
Tells to the night-star her tale of woes.
When shall the “Swan,” her death-note singing,
Sleep with wings in darkness furled?
When will heaven, its sweet “bell” ringing,
Call my spirit from this stormy world?
T. Moore, _Irish Melodies_, iv. (“The Song of Fionnuala”).

=Fips= (_Mr_.), a sedate, mysterious personage, living in an office in Austin Friars (London). He is employed by some unknown benefactor (either John Westlock or old Martin Chuzzlewit) to engage Tom Pinch at a weekly salary as librarian to the Temple Library.—C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).

=Fir-bolg= (_i.e._ _bowmen_, from _bolg_, “a quiver”), a colony of Belgæ from Britain, led by Larthon to Ireland and settled in the southern parts of the island. Their chief was called “lord of Atha” (a country of Connaught), and thence Ireland was called Bolga. Somewhat later a colony of Caledonians from the western coast of Scotland settled in the northern parts of Ireland, and made Ulster their headquarters. When Crotha was “lord of Atha” he carried off Conlama (daughter of the Cael chief) by force, and a general war between the two races ensued. The Cael were reduced to the last extremity, and sent to Trathal (grandfather of Fingal) for aid. Trathal accordingly sent over Conar with an army, and on his reaching Ulster he was made “king of the Cael” by acclamation. He utterly subdued the Fir-bolg, and assumed the title of “king of Ireland;” but the Fir-bolg often rose in insurrection, and made many attempts to expel the race of Conar.—Ossian.

=Fire-Brand of France= (_The_) John duke of Bedford, regent of France (1389-1435).

John, duke of Bedford, styled the “Firebrand of France.”

Drayton, _Polyolbion_ xviii. (1613.)

=Firouz Schah=, son and heir of the king of Persia. One New Year’s Day an Indian brought to the king an enchanted horse, which would convey the rider almost instantaneously anywhere he might wish to go to; and asked as the price thereof, the king’s daughter for his wife. Prince Firouz, mounting the horse to try it, was carried to Bengal, and there fell in love with the princess, who accompanied him back to Persia on the horse. When the king saw his son arrive safe and sound he dismissed the Indian discourteously; but the Indian caught up the princess, and, mounting the horse, conveyed her to Cashmere. She was rescued by the sultan of Cashmere, who cut off the Indian’s head and proposed marriage himself to the princess. To avoid this alliance, the princess pretended to be mad. The sultan sent for his physicians, but they could suggest no cure. At length came one who promised to cure the lady; it was Prince Firouz in disguise. He told the sultan that the princess had contracted enchantment from the horse and must be set on it to disenchant her. Accordingly, she was set on the horse, and while Firouz caused a thick cloud of smoke to rise, he mounted with the lady through the air, saying as he did so, “Sultan of Cashmere, when you would espouse a princess who craves your protection, first learn to obtain her consent.”—_Arabian Nights_ (“The Enchanted Horse”).

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

Louis d’Artois of France was so called also.

The “First Gentleman of Europe” had not yet quite lost his once elegant figure.—E. Yates, _Celebrities_ xvii.

=First Grenadier of France.= Latour d’Auverge was so called by Napoleon (1743-1800.)

=First Love=, a comedy by Richard Cumberland (1796.) Frederick Mowbray’s first love, being dowerless, marries the wealthy Lord Ruby, who soon dies leaving all his fortune to his widow. In the meantime, Frederick goes abroad, and at Padua falls in with Sabina Rosny, who nurses him through a severe sickness, for which he thinks he is bound in honor to marry her. She comes with him to England, and is placed under the charge of Lady Ruby. Sabina tells Lady Ruby she cannot marry Frederick, because she is married already to Lord Sensitive, and even if it were not so, she could not marry him, for all his affections are with Lady Ruby; this she discovers in the delirium of the young man, when his whole talk was about her ladyship. In the end Lord Sensitive avows himself the husband of Sabina, and Frederick marries his first love.

=Fish.=

_He eats no fish_, that is “he is no papist,” “he is an honest man or one to be trusted.” In the reign of Queen Elizabeth papists were the enemies of the government, and hence one who did not eat fish, like a papist, on fast days was considered a Protestant and a friend of the government.

I do profess ... to serve him truly that will put me in trust ... and to eat no fish.—Shakespeare, _King Lear_, act i. sc. 4 (1605).

=Fish and the Ring=.

1. Polycrătês, being too fortunate, was advised to cast away something he most highly prized, and threw into the sea an engraved gem of great value. A few days afterwards a fish came to his table, and in it was this very gem.—_Herodotus_, iii. 40.

2. A certain queen, having formed an illicit attachment to a soldier, gave him a ring which had been the present of her husband. The king, being apprised thereof, got possession of the ring while the soldier was asleep, threw it into the sea, and then asked his queen to bring it him. In great alarm, she went to St. Kentigern and told him everything. The saint went to the Clyde, caught a salmon with the ring in its mouth, and gave it to the queen, who thus saved her character and her husband. This legend is told about the Glasgow arms.

3. The arms of dame Rebecca Berry, wife of Sir Thomas Elton, Stratford-le-Bow, to be seen at St. Dunstan’s Church, Stepney. The tale is that a knight, hearing the cries of a woman in labor, knew that the infant was destined to become his wife. He tried to elude his destiny, and, when the infant had grown to womanhood, threw a _ring_ into the sea, commanding the damsel never to see his face again till she could produce the ring which he had cast away. In a few days a _cod-fish_ was caught, and the ring was found in its mouth. The young woman producing the ring, the marriage was duly solemnized.—_Romance of London_.

=Fisher= (_Ralph_), assistant of Roland Græme, at Avenel Castle.—Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Fishers_ (_The_). Grandpa and Grandma Fisher live with daughter-in-law and two grandchildren in “The Ark” at Cedar-swamp. Grandpa is a retired sea-captain with a talent for tedious stories and a temper that is occasionally frayed. Grandma’s face has, “besides large physical proportions, generosity, whole-heartedness and a world of sympathy.” Both sleep in church, but grandma wakes up first, and arouses her husband with an adroit pin. He starts and looks guilty. She “opens her eyes at regular intervals,” as though she had merely been closing them to engage in a few moments of silent prayer.—Sally Pratt McLean Green, _Cape Cod Folks_ (1881).

=Fitz-Boo´dle= (_George_), a pseudonym assumed by Thackeray in _Frazer’s Magazine_ (1811-1863).

=Fitz-Fulke= (_Hebe, duchess of_), a “gracious graceful, graceless grace” (canto xvi. 49), staying with Lord and Lady Amundeville (4 _syl._), while Don Juan “the Russian envoy” was their guest. Don Juan fancied he saw in the night the apparition of a monk, which produced such an effect on his looks and behavior as to excite attention. When the cause of his peturbation was known, Lady Adeline sang to him a tale purporting to explain the apparition; but “her frolic grace” at night personated the ghost to carry on the joke. She was, however, discovered by Don Juan, who was resolved to penetrate the mystery. With this discovery the sixteenth and last book of _Don Juan_ ends.—Byron, _Don Juan_ (1824).

=Fitzurse= (_Lord Wildemar_), a baron in the suite of Prince John of Anjou (brother of Richard Cœur de Lion).—Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

=Five Kings of France=, the five directors (1795).

The five kings of France sit in their curule chairs with their flesh-colored breeches and regal mantles.—_Atalier du Lys_, ii.

=Flaccus=, Horace the Roman poet, whose full name was Quintus Horātius Flaccus (B.C. 65-8).

=Fladdock= (_General_), a friend of the Norris family in America, and, like them, devoted to titles, and aristocracy.—C. Dickens, _Martin Chuzzlewit_ (1844).

=Flam´berge= (2 _syl._), the sword which Maugis took from Anthe´nor the Saracen admiral, when he attacked the castle of Oriande la Fée. The sword was made by Weyland, the Scandinavian Vulcan.—_Romance of Maugis d’Aygremont et de Vivian son Frère_.

=Flamborough= (_Solomon_), farmer. A talkative neighbor of Dr. Primrose, vicar of Wakefield. Moses Primrose marries one of his daughters.

_The Misses Flamborough_, daughters of the farmer. Their homeliness contrasts well with the flashy pretenders to fashion introduced by Squire Thornhill.—Goldsmith, _Vicar of Wakefield_ (1766).

=Flame= (_Lord_), Johnson the jester and dramatist, author of _Hurlo-Thrumbo,_ an extravaganza (1729).

=Flammer= (_The Hon. Mr. Frisk_), a Cantab, nephew to Lord Totterly. He is a young gentleman with a vivid imagination, small income, and large debts.—C. Selby, _The Unfinished Gentleman_.

=Flammock= (_Wilkin_), a Flemish soldier and burgess at the Castle of Garde Doloureuse.

_Rose or Roschen Flammock_, daughter of Wilkin Flammock, and attendant on Lady Eveline.—Sir. W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).

=Flanders= (_Moll_), a woman of extraordinary beauty, born in Old Bailey. She was twelve years a harlot, five years a wife, twelve years a thief, and eight years a convict in Virginia; but ultimately she became rich, lived honestly, and died a penitent in the reign of Charles II.—Defoe, _The Fortunes of Moll Flanders_.

=Flash= (_Captain_), a blustering, cowardly braggart, “always talking of fighting and wars.” In the Flanders war he pretended to be shot, sneaked off into a ditch, and thence to England. When Captain Loveit met him paying court to Miss Biddy Bellaw, he commanded the blustering coward to “deliver up his sword,” and added:

“Leave this house, change the color of your clothes and fierceness of your looks; appear from top to toe the very wretch thou art!”—D. Garrick, _Miss in Her Teens_ (1753).

=Fla´vius,= the faithful, honest steward of Timon the man-hater.—Shakespeare, _Timon of Athens_ (1600).

=Fle´ance,= in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is the son of Banquo, one of Duncan’s trusted generals, and beloved and honored by Macbeth until the witches’ prophecy promises him the crown for which Macbeth has murdered the king. Macbeth resolves to destroy Banquo and his son, but while the father is murdered the son escapes, and the death-blow is given to Macbeth’s hope of an undisputed succession. Thus far the play; the chronicle makes Fleance become in time the Lord High Steward (Stewart, Stuart) of Scotland, and the ancestor of the House of Stuart which gave James I. to the English throne. James was very proud of this descent from Shakespeare’s Banquo, whose character was evidently drawn to flatter the king, since the Banquo of Holinshed’s Chronicle, from which the main of the play is drawn, is Macbeth’s partner in the murder of Duncan.

=Flecknoe= (_Richard_), poet-laureate to Charles II., author of dramas, poems, and other works. As a poet his name stands on a level with Bavius and Mævius. Dryden says of him:

... he reigned without dispute
Thro’ all the realms of nonsense absolute.
Dryden, _M’Flecnoe_ (1682).

(It was not Flecknoe but Shadwell that Dryden wished to castigate in this satire. The offence was that Dryden was removed from the post of laureate, and Shadwell appointed in his place. The angry ex-laureate says, with more point than truth, that, “Shadwell never deviates into sense.”)

=Fleda.= A winning child who grows into the lovely heroine of Susan Warner’s novel _Queechy_ (1852). Her simple faith and unaffected piety lead Mr. Carleton, a skeptical Englishman, into the right path. After many years and vicissitudes the two meet again in New York and are married in England.

=Fledge´by= (2 _syl._), an over-reaching, cowardly sneak, who conceals his dirty bill-broking under the trade name of Pubsey and Co. He is soundly thrashed by Alfred Lammle, and quietly pockets the affront.—C. Dickens, _Our Mutual Friend_ (1864).

=Fleecebump´kin= (3 _syl._), bailiff of Mr. Ireby, the country squire.—Sir W. Scott, _The Two Drovers_ (time, George III.).

=Fleece´em= (_Mrs._), meant for Mrs. Rudd, a smuggler, thief, milliner, matchmaker and procuress.—Sam. Foote, _The Cozeners_.

=Fleetwood= or _The New Man of Feeling_, the hero of a novel so named by W. Godwin (1805).

=Flemings= (_The Farmer_). Yeoman-farmer of Kent, dull, honest plodder.

_Dahlia_. Lovely girl, who goes off with _Edward Blancove_, believing herself married to him. Discovering the deception, she returns to the farm, and resumes her old life. When the penitent lover seeks her and would marry her, she refuses. “She has left her heart among the ashes of the fire” that consumed her youth and honor.

_Rhoda._ Devoted sister who seeks Dahlia until she is found, and cherishes her tenderly through life. Rhoda marries a farmer, and Dahlia lives for seven years as her housemate. George Meredith, _Rhoda Fleming_ (1888).

_Flem´ing_ (_Archdeacon_), the clergyman to whom old Meg Murdockson made her confession.—Sir W. Scott, _Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

_Fleming_ (_Sir Malcolm_), a former suitor of Lady Margaret de Hautlieu.—Sir W. Scott, _Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).

_Fleming_ (_Lady Mary_), one of the maids of honor to Mary Queen of Scots.—Sir W. Scott, _The Abbot_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Fleming_ (_Rose_), niece of Mrs. Maylie. Rose marries her cousin Harry Maylie.

She was past 17. Cast in so slight and exquisite a mould, so mild and gentle, so pure and beautiful, that earth seemed not her element, nor its rough creatures her fit companions. The very intelligence that shone in her deep blue eye ... seemed scarcely ... of the world, and yet the changing expression of sweetness and good-humor, the thousand lights that played about the face ... above all the smile, the cheerful, happy smile, were made for home and fireside peace and happiness.—C. Dickens, _Oliver Twist_, xxix. (1837).

=Flemish School= (_The_), a school of painting commencing in the fifteenth century, with the brothers Van Eyck. The chief _early_ masters were Memling, Van der Weyden, Matsys, and Mabuse. The chief of the _second_ period were Rubens, Vandyck, Snyders, Jordæns, Gaspar de Crayer and the younger Teniers.

=Flemming= (_Paul_), scholarly hero of Longfellow’s _Hyperion_. Among the storied ruins of the Old World, he wins his bride by weaving to her stories from his own imagination (1839).

=Fleshly School= (_The_), a class of British poets of which Swinburne, Rossetti, Morris, etc., are exponents; so called from the sensuous character of their poetry.

⁂ It was Thomas Maitland [_i.e._ R. W. Buchanan] who first gave them this appellation in the _Contemporary Review_.

=Fletcher= (_Dick_), one of the crew of a pirate vessel.—Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time, William III.).

_Fletcher_ (_Philip_), fine gentleman, suitor of Christie, in Louisa M. Olcot’s novel “_Work_.”

=Fleur de Marie=, the betrothed of Captain Phœbus.—Victor Hugo, _Notre Dame de Paris_ (1831).

=Fleurant=, an apothecary. He flies into a rage because Bérald (2 _syl._) says to his brother, “Remettez cela à une fois, et demeurez un peu en repos.” The apothecary flares out, “De quoi vous mêlez vous de vous opposer aux ordonnance de la medicine ... je vais dire à Monsieur Purgon comme on m’a empêché d’executer ses ordres.... Vous verrez, vous verrez.”—Molière, _La Malade Imaginaire_ (1673).

=Flib´bertigib´bet=, the fiend that gives man the squint eye and harelip, sends mildews and blight, etc.

This is the foul fiend Flibbertigibbet ... he gives the web and the pin [_diseases of the eye_], squints the eye, and makes the hare-lip; mildews the white heat, and hurts the poor creature of earth.—_King Lear_, act iii. sec. 4 (1605).

⁂ Shakespeare got this name from bishop Harsnett’s _Declaration of Popish Impostures_, where Flibberdigibet is one of the fiends which the Jesuits cast out of Mr. Edmund Peckham.

_Flib´bertigib´bet_, or “Dickie Sludge,” the dwarf grandson of Gammer Sludge (landlady of Erasmus Holiday, the schoolmaster in the vale of Whitehorse). In the entertainment given by the earl of Leicester to Queen Elizabeth, Dickon Sludge acts the part of an imp.—Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

=Flint= (_Lord_), chief minister of state to one of the sultans of India. He had the enviable faculty of a very short memory when he did not choose to recollect. “My people know, no doubt, but I cannot recollect,” was his stock phrase. Mrs. Inchbald, _Such Things Are_ (1786).

_Flint_, jailer in _The Deserter_, a musical drama by Dibdin (1770).

_Flint_ (_Sir Clement_), a very kind-hearted, generous old bachelor, who “trusts no one,” and though he professes his undoubted belief to be “that self is the predominant principle of the human mind,” is never so happy as when doing an unselfish and generous act. He settles £2000 a year on the young Lord Gayville, his nephew, that he may marry Miss Alton, the lady of his choice; and says, “To reward the deserving, and make those we love happy, is self-interest in the extreme.”—General Burgoyne, _The Heiress_ (1781).

=Flint Jack=, Edward Simpson, who used to tramp the kingdom, vending spurious flint arrow-heads, celts, and other imitation antiquities. In 1867 he was imprisoned for theft.

=Flippan´ta=, an intriguing lady’s-maid. Daughter of Mrs. Cloggit. She is in the service of Clarissa, and aids her in all her follies.—Sir John Vanbrugh, _The Confederacy_ (1695).

=Flite= (_Miss_), a poor crazed, good-hearted woman, who has lost her wits through the “law’s delay.” She is always haunting the Courts of Chancery with “her documents,” hoping against hope that she will receive a judgment.—C. Dickens, _Bleak House_, iv. (1852).

=Flock´hart= (_Widow_), landlady of the lodgings in the Canongate where Waverley and M’Ivor dine with the baron of Bradwardine (3 _syl._).—Sir W. Scott, _Waverley_ (time, George II.).

=Flogged by Deputy.= The Marquis de Leganez forbade the tutor of his son to use rigor or corporal punishment of any kind, so the tutor hit upon this device to intimidate the boy: he flogged a lad named Raphael, brought up with young Leganez as a playmate, whenever that young nobleman deserved punishment. This produced an excellent effect; but Raphael did not see its justice and ran away.—Lesage, _Gil Blas_, v. i. (1724).

=Flollo= or =Flollio=, a Roman tribune, who held the province of Gaul under the Emperor Leo. When King Arthur invaded Gaul, the tribune fled to Paris, which Arthur besieged, and Flollo proposed to decide the quarrel by single combat. To this Arthur agreed, and cleft with his sword Caliburn both the helmet and head of his adversary. Having made himself master of all Gaul, King Arthur held his court at Paris.—Geoffrey, _British History_, ix. 11 (1142).

And after these ...
At Paris, in the lists [_Arthur_] with Flollio fought;
The emperor Leon’s power to raise his siege that brought.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, iv. (1612).

=Flor and Blancheflor=, the title of a minnesong by Conrad Fleck, at one time immensely popular. It is the story of two children who fall in love with each other. There is a good deal of grace and tenderness in the tale, with an abundance of trash. Flor, the son of Feinix, a pagan king, is brought up with Blancheflor (an _enfant volé_). The two children love each other, but Feinix sells Blancheflor to some Eastern merchants. Flor goes in quest of Blancheflor, whom he finds in Babylon, in the palace of the sultan, who is a sorcerer. He gains access to the palace, hidden in a basket of roses; but the sultan discovers him, and is about to cast both into the flames, when, touched with human gentleness and love, he sets them free. They then return to Spain, find Feinix dead, and marry (fourteenth century).

=Flo´ra=, goddess of flowers. In natural history all the flowers and vegetable productions of a country and locality are called its flora, and all its animal productions its fauna.

_Flora_, the waiting-woman of Donna Violante. In love with Lissado, the valet of Don Felix.—Mrs. Centlivre, _The Wonder_ (1714).

Mrs. Mattocks’s was the most affecting theatrical leave taking we ever witnessed. The part she chose was “Flora,” to Cook’s “Don Felix,” which she played with all the freshness and spirit of a woman in her prime.—_The New Monthly_ (1826).

_Flora_, the niece of old Farmer Freehold. She is a great beauty, and captivates Heartwell, who marries her. The two are so well assorted that their “best love is after their espousals.”—John Philip Kemble, _The Farm-house_.

=Floranthe= (_Donna_), a lady beloved by Octavian. Octavian goes mad because he fancies Floranthê is untrue to him, but Roque, a blunt, kind-hearted servitor, assures him he is mistaken, and persuades him to return home.—G. Colman, _Octavian_ (1824).

=Flor´delice= (3 _syl._), the mistress of Bran´dimart (king of the Distant Islands).—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Flordespi´na=, daughter of Marsiglio.—Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Florence= (_Vane_). The lost love eulogized in Philip Pendleton Cooke’s poem of that name.

“Thou wast lovelier than the roses
In their prime;
Thy voice excelled the closes
Of sweetest rhyme;
Thy heart was as a river
Without a main.
Would I had loved thee never,
Florence Vane!”
(185-).

=Florence=, Mrs. Spenser Smith, daughter of Baron Herbert, the Austrian ambassador in England. She was born at Constantinople, during her father’s residence in that city. Byron made her acquaintance in Malta, but Thomas Moore thinks his devotion was more imaginary than real. In a letter to his mother, his lordship says, he “finds her [_Florence_] very pretty, very accomplished, and extremely eccentric.”

Thou mayst find a new Calypso there
Sweet Florence, could another ever share
This wayward, loveless heart, it would be thine.
Byron, _Childe Harold_, ii. 30 (1810).

_Florence_ (_The German_), Dresden, also called “The Florence of the North.”

_Florence_ (_Weir_). A beautiful girl committed to the care of a young man who expects to meet a child. Although hardly released from an engagement to another girl he falls in love with his charge, when his former flame recalls him, but generously resigns him to her younger rival.—Ellen Olney Kirk, _One too Many_ (1889).

=Florent=, the nephew of “the emperor,” is condemned to death, but is offered his life if he can solve a certain riddle. An old deformed hag promises him the solution if he will agree to marry her afterward. He keeps faith with his deliverer, and on the wedding-night she is transformed into a beautiful woman.—Gower, _Confessio Amantis_, I.

Chaucer puts this story into the mouth of “The Wife of Bath,” _Canterbury Tales_. He does not name the hero, but makes him a bachelor of King Artour’s court. The story is much older than Gower, and is found in the legends of several countries, but Chaucer probably borrowed it from him while changing it in details.

=Florentine Diamond= (_The_), the fourth largest cut diamond in the world. It weighs 139-1/2 carats, and was the largest diamond belonging to Charles “the Bold,” duke of Burgundy. It was picked up by a Swiss peasant, who sold it to a priest for half a crown. The priest sold it for £200 to Bartholomew May, of Berne. It subsequently came into the hands of Pope Julius II., and the pope gave it to the Emperor of Austria. (See DIAMONDS.)

=Flores= or Isle of Flowers, one of the Azores (2 _syl._). It was discovered in 1439 by Vanderburg, and is especially celebrated because it was near this isle that Sir Richard Grenville, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, fought his famous sea-fight. He had only one ship with a hundred men, and was opposed by the Spanish fleet of fifty-three men-of-war. For some hours victory was doubtful, and when Sir Richard was severely wounded, he wanted to sink the ship; but the Spaniards boarded it, complimented him on his heroic conduct, and he died. As the ship (_The Revenge_) was on its way to Spain, it was wrecked, and went to the bottom, so it never reached Spain after all. Tennyson has a poem on the subject (1878).

_Flo´res_ (2 _syl._), the lover of Blanchefleur.—Boccaccio, _Il Filocopo_ (1340)

⁂ Boccaccio has repeated the tale in his _Decameron_, x. 5 (1352), in which Flores is called “Ansaldo,” and Blanchefleur “Diano´ra.” Flores and Blanchefleur, before Boccaccio’s time, were noted lovers, and are mentioned as early as 1288 by Matfre Ermengaud de Beziers, in his _Breviaire d’Amour_.

Chaucer has taken the same story as the basis of the _Frankeleine’s Tale_, and Bojardo has introduced it as an episode in his _Orlando Innamorato_, where the lover is “Prasildo” and the lady “Tisbina.” (See PRASILDO.)

The chroniclers of Charlemagne,
Of Merlin, and the Mort d’Arthure,
Mingled together in his brain,
With tale of Flores and Blanchefleur.
Longfellow.

=Flores´ki= (_Count_), a Pole, in love with Princess Lodois´ka (4 _syl._). At the opening of the play he is travelling with his servant Verbel to discover where the princess has been placed by her father during the war. He falls in with the Tartar chief Kera Khan, whom he overpowers in fight, but spares his life, and thus makes him his friend. Floreski finds the princess in the castle of Baron Lovinski, who keeps her a virtual prisoner, but the castle being stormed by the Tartars the baron is slain, and the princess marries the count.—J.P. Kemble, _Lodoiska_.

=Flo´rez=, son of Gerrard, king of the beggars. He assumes the name of Goswin, and becomes, in Bruges, a wealthy merchant. His mistress is Bertha, the supposed daughter of Vandunke the burgomaster.—Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Beggars’ Bush_ (1622).

=Flor´ian=, the “foundling of the forest,” discovered in infancy by the Count De Valmont, and adopted as his own son. Florian is light-hearted and volatile, but with deep affection, very brave, and the delight of all who know him. He is betrothed to his cousin, Lady Geraldine, a ward of Count De Valmont.—W. Dimond, _The Foundling of the Forest_.

=Florida= (_Vervain_), American girl with her mother in Venice. She takes Italian lessons from Don Ippolito, a young priest, who has mistaken his calling. The girl’s pity for him and her desire to see him freed from a false position and in a different profession in America are misunderstood by her lover, Henry Ferris. Separation and sorrow ensue. Ippolito’s death-bed confession to Ferris clears up the mystery.

“If it is a little shocking, it is nevertheless true, and true to human nature that they spoke of Don Ippolito as if he were a part of their love.”—W.D. Howells, _A Foregone Conclusion_, (1874).

=Flor´imel=, “the Fair,” courted by Sir Sat´yrane, Sir Per´idure, and Sir Cal´idore (each 3 _syl._), but she herself “loved none but Mar´inel,” who cared not for her. When Marinel was overthrown by Britomart and was reported to be dead, Florimel resolved to search into the truth of this rumor. In her wanderings, she came weary to the hut of a hag, but when she left the hut the hag sent a savage monster to bring her back. Florimel, however, jumped into a boat and escaped, but fell into the hands of Proteus (2 _syl._), who kept her in a dungeon “deep in the bottom of a huge great rock.” One day, Marinel and his mother went to a banquet given by Proteus to the sea-gods; and as Marinel was loitering about, he heard the captive bemoaning her hard fate, and all “for love of Marinel.” His heart was touched; he resolved to release the prisoner, and obtained from his mother a warrant of release, signed by Neptune himself. Proteus did not dare to disobey, the lady was released, and became the happy bride of her liberator.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 4, 8, and iv. 11, 12 (1590-1596).

⁂The name Florimel means “honey-flower.”

_Florimel_ (_The False_), made by a witch of Riphæ´an snow and virgin wax, with an infusion of vermilion. Two burning lamps in silver sockets served for eyes, fine gold wire for locks, and for soul “a sprite that had fallen from heaven.” Braggadoccio, seeing this false Florimel, carried “her” off as the veritable Florimel; but when he was stripped of his borrowed plumes, this waxen Florimel vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind except the “golden girdle that was about her waist.”—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iii. 8, and v.3 (1590-1596).

=Florimel’s Girdle=, a girdle which gave to those who wore it, “the virtue of chaste love and wifehood true;” if any woman not chaste or faithful put it on, it immediately “loosed or tore asunder.” It was once the cestus of Venus, but when that queen of beauty wantoned with Mars, it fell off and was left on the “Acidalian mount.”—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iv. 2 (1596).

One day Sir Cambel, Sir Triamond, Sir Paridel, Sir Blandamour, and Sir Ferramont agreed to give Florimel’s girdle to the most beautiful lady; when the previous question was moved, “Who was the most beautiful?” Of course, each knight, as in duty bound, adjudged his own lady to be the paragon of women, till the witch’s image of snow and wax, made to represent Florimel, was produced, when all agreed that it was without a peer, and so the girdle was handed to “the false Florimel.” On trying it on, however, it would in no wise fit her; and when by dint of pains it was at length fastened, it instantly loosened and fell to the ground. It would fit Amoret exactly, and of course Florimel, but not the witch’s thing of snow and wax.—Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, iv. 5 (1596).

⁂ Morgan la Fée sent King Arthur a _horn_, out of which no lady could drink “who was not to herself or to her husband true.” Ariosto’s _enchanted cup_ possessed a similar spell.

A boy showed King Arthur a _mantle_ which no wife not leal could wear. If any unchaste wife or maiden put it on, it would either go to shreds or refuse to drape decorously.

At Ephesus was a _grotto_ containing a statue of Diana. If a chaste wife or maiden entered, a reed there (presented by Pan) gave forth most melodious sounds; but if the unfaithful or unchaste entered, the sounds were harsh and discordant.

Alasnam’s _mirror_ remained unsullied when it reflected the unsullied, but became dull when the unchaste stood before it. (See CARADOC, p. 160.)

=Florin´da=, daughter of Count Julian, one of the high lords in the Gothic court of Spain. She was violated by King Roderick; and the count, in his indignation, renounced the Christian religion and called over the Moors, who came to Spain in large numbers and drove Roderick from the throne. Orpas, the renegade archbishop of Sev´ille, asked Florinda to become his bride, but she shuddered at the thought. Roderick, in the guise of a priest, reclaimed Count Julian as he was dying, and as Florinda rose from the dead body:

Her cheek was flushed, and in her eyes there beamed
A wilder brightness. On the Goth [_Roderick_] she gazed.
While underneath the emotions of that hour
Exhausted life gave way.... Round his neck she threw
Her arms, and cried “My Roderick; mine in heaven!”
Groaning, he claspt her close, and in that act
And agony her happy spirit fled.
Southey, _Roderick, etc._, xxiv. (1814).

=Flo´ripes= (3 _syl._), sister of Sir Fierabras [_Fe.ā´.ra.brah_], daughter of Laban, and wife of Guy, the nephew of Charlemagne.

=Florisan´do= (_The exploits and adventures of_), part of the series of _Le Roman des Romans_, or those pertaining to Am´adis of Gaul. This part (from bk. vi. to xiv.) was added by Paez de Ribēra.

=Florise=, (_The lady_), attendant on Queen Berengaria.—Sir W. Scott, _The Talisman_, (time, Richard I.)

=Flor´isel of Nice’a= (_The exploits and adventures of_), part of the series called _Le Roman des Romans_, pertaining to Am´adis of Gaul. This part was added by Feliciano de Silva.

=Flor´ismart=, one of Charlemagne’s paladins, and the bosom friend of Roland.

=Florival= (_Mdlle._), daughter of a French physician in Belleisle. She fell in love with Major Belford, while nursing him in her father’s house during a period of sickness. Her marriage however was deferred, from the great aversion of the major’s father to the French, and he went to Havana. In due time he returned to England and Colonel Tamper with him. Now Colonel Tamper was in love with Emily, and wishing to try the strength of her affection, pretended to be severely mutilated in the wars. Florival was a guest of Emily at the time, and, being apprised of the trick, resolved to turn the tables on the colonel, so when he entered the room as a maimed soldier, he found there Florival, dressed as an officer, and, under the name of Captain Johnson, flirting most desperately with Emily. The colonel was mad with jealousy, but in the very whirlwind of his rage, Major Belford recognized Mdlle. Florival, saw through the trick, and after a hearty good laugh at the colonel all ended happily.—Colman, sen., _The Deuce is in Him_ (1762).

=Flor´izel=, son of Polixenês, king of Bohemia. In a hunting expedition, he saw Perdita (the supposed daughter of a shepherd), fell in love with her, and courted her under the assumed name of Dor´icles. The king tracked his son to the shepherd’s house, and told Perdita that if she gave countenance to this foolery he would order her and the shepherd to be put to death. Florizel and Perdita then fled from Bohemia, and took refuge in Sicily. Being brought to the court of King Leontês, it soon became manifest that Perdita was the king’s daughter. Polixenês, in the mean time, had tracked his son to Sicily, but when he was informed that Perdita was the king’s daughter, his objection to the marriage ceased, and Perdita became the happy bride of Prince Florizel.—Shakespeare, _The Winter’s Tale_ (1604).

_Florizel_, the name assumed by George IV. in his correspondence with Mrs. Robinson (actress and poetess), generally known as Per´dita, that being the character in which she first attracted his attention when prince of Wales.

⁂ George IV. was generally nicknamed “Prince Florizel.”

=Flower of Chivalry=, Sir William Douglas, knight of Liddesdale (*-1353). Sir Philip Sidney, statesman, poet, and soldier, was also called “The Flower of Chivalry” (1554-1586). So was the Chevalier de Bayard, _le Chevalier sans Peur et sans Reproche_ (1476-1514).

=Flower of Kings.= Arthur is so called by John of Exeter (sixth century).

=Flower of Poets=, Geoffrey Chaucer (1328-1400).

=Flower of the Levant´.= Zantê is so called from its great beauty and fertility.

Zante! Zante! flor di Levanti.

=Flower of Yarrow= (_The_), Mary Scott, daughter of Sir William Scott of Harden.

=Flowers= (_The Death of the_). In the poem bearing this title William Cullen Bryant thus names the American flowers that have been called “the crown-jewels of the year.”

“On the hill the golden-rod
And the aster in the wood,
And the yellow sunflower by the brook,
In autumn beauty stood,
Till fell the frost from the clear, cold heaven
As falls the plague on men
And the brightness of their smile was gone
From upland, glade and glen.”
_The Death of the Flowers_ (1821-1834).

=Flowerdale= (_Sir John_), father of Clarissa, and the neighbor of Colonel Oldboy.—Bickerstaff, _Lionel and Clarissa_.

=Floyd= (_Ireson_).

“Old Floyd Ireson, for his hard heart
Tarred and feathered, and carried in a cart
By the women of Marblehead.”

The punishment was inflicted because he had refused succor to a leaking ship, lost in consequence of his inhumanity.—J.G. Whittier, _Skipper Ireson’s Ride_ (1877).

_Floyds_ (_The_). Artist and wife summering in Broughton, Mass. He is self-indulgent and careless of her; she proud, passionate and morbid. Convinced that her husband is weary of her, and beset by the importunities of another man, she drowns herself.—Bliss Perry, _The Broughton House_ (1890).

=Fluel´len=, a Welsh captain and great pedant, who, amongst other learned quiddities, drew this parallel between Henry V. and Alexander the Great: One was born in Monmouth and the other in Macedon, both which places begin with M, and in both a river flowed.—Shakespeare, _Henry V._ act iv. sc. 7 (1599).

=Flur=, the bride of Cassivelaun, “for whose love the Roman Cæsar first invaded Britain.”—Tennyson, _Idylls of the King_ (“Enid”).

=Flute= (_The Magic_), a flute which has the powers of inspiring love. When given by the powers of darkness, the love it inspires is sensual love; but when bestowed by the powers of light, it becomes subservient to the very holiest ends. In the opera called _Die Zauberflöte_, Tami´no and Pami´na are guided by it through all worldly dangers to the knowledge of divine truth (or the mysteries of Isis.)—Mozart, _Die Zauberflöte_ (1791).

=Flutter=, a gossip, fond of telling a good story, but, unhappily, unable to do so without a blunder. “A good-natured, insignificant creature, admitted everywhere, but cared for nowhere” (act i. 3).—Mrs. Cowley, _The Belle’s Stratagem_ (1780).

=Fly.= Dainty butterfly of fashion who falls heir to the heroine’s rejected lover in Elizabeth Stuart Phelps’s novel, _The Silent Partner_.

=Fly-gods=, Beelzebub, a god of the Philistines, supposed to ward off flies. Achor was worshipped by the Cyrēneads for a similar object. Zeus Apomy´ios was the fly-god of the Greeks.

On the east side of your shop, aloft,
Write Mathlai, Tarmael, and Baraborat;
Upon the north part, Rael, Velel, Thiel.
They are the names of those mercurial sprites
That do fright flies from boxes.
B. Jonson, _The Alchemist_, i. (1610).

=Flying Dutchman= (_The_), a phantom ship, seen in stormy weather off the Cape of Good Hope, and thought to forebode ill luck. The legend is that it was a vessel laden with precious metal, gained by murder and piracy on the high seas. In punishment, the plague broke out among the crew; no port would admit them, and the ship must sail the seas till doomsday.