Chapter XIII: Part 13

=Vrience= (_King_), one of the knights of the Round Table. He married
Morgan le Fay, half-sister of King Arthur.--Sir T. Malory, _History of
Prince Arthur_ (1470).

=Vulcan= was the lawful offspring of Jupiter and Juno, but the former,
upon beholding his homely son, kicked him out of heaven.

“From morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer’s day, and with the setting sun
Drop’t from the zenith like a falling star
On Lemnos, the Ægean isle.”
Milton, _Paradise Lost_, I.

His leg was broken, and he remained lame forever after. He was a
blacksmith, and employed by the Cyclops to forge their thunderbolts.

=Vulcan’s Badge=, the badge of cuckoldom. Vulcan was the husband of
Venus, with whom Mars intrigued.

We know
Better than he have worn Vulcan’s badge.
Shakespeare, _Titus Andronicus_, act ii. sc. 1 (1593).

=Vulnerable Parts.=

ACHILLES was vulnerable only in the heel. When his mother, Thetis,
dipped him in the river Styx, she held him by the heel, and the water
did not touch this part.--_A Post-Homeric Story._

AJAX, son of Telamon, could be wounded only behind the neck; some say
only in one spot of the breast. As soon as he was born Alcīdês covered
him with a lion’s skin, which rendered the whole body invulnerable,
except in a part where the skin had been pierced by Herculês.

ANTÆOS was wholly charmed against death so long as he touched the
earth.--Lucan, _Pharsalia_, iv.

FERRACUTE (3 _syl._) was only vulnerable in the navel.--Turpin,
Chronicle of Charlemagne.

He is called Ferrau, son of Landfūsa, by Ariosto, in his _Orlando
Furioso_.

MEGISSOGWON was only vulnerable at one tuft of hair on his head. A
woodpecker revealed the secret to Hiawatha, who struck him there and
killed him.--Longfellow, _Hiawatha_, ix.

ORILLO was impervious to death unless one particular hair was cut off;
wherefore Astolpho, when he encountered the robber, only sought to cut
off this magic hair.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_.

ORLANDO was invulnerable except in the sole of his foot, and even
there nothing could injure him except the prick of a pin.--ITALIAN
CLASSIC FABLE.

SIEGFRIED was invulnerable except in one spot between the shoulders,
on which a leaf stuck when he dipped his body in the dragon’s
blood.--_The Nibelungen Lied._

⁂ The Promethĕan unguent rendered the body proof against fire and
wounds of any sort. Medea gave Jason some of this unguent.--_Classic
Story._

=Vulture= (_The Black_), emblem of the ancient Turk, as the crescent
is of the modern Ottoman empire.

And that black vulture, which with dreadful wing
O’ershadows half the earth, whose dismal sight
Frightened the Muses from their native spring,
Already stoops, and flags with weary wing.
Phineas Fletcher, _The Purple Island_, vii. (1633).

=Vulture Hopkins.= John Hopkins was so called from his rapacious mode
of acquiring money. He was the architect of his own fortune, and died
worth £300,000 (in 1732).

⁂ Pope refers to John Hopkins in the lines:

When Hopkins dies, a thousand lights attend
The wretch who, living, saved a candle end.

=Wabster= (_Michael_), a citizen of Perth.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid
of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Wabun=, son of Mudjekeewis; the Indian Apollo. He chases darkness
over hill and dale with his arrows, wakes man, and brings the morning.
He married Wabun-Annung, who was taken to heaven at death, and became
the morning star.--Longfellow, _Hiawatha_ (1855).

=Wabun-Annung=, the morning star, a country maiden who married Wabun,
the Indian Apollo.--Longfellow, _Hiawatha_ (1855).

=Wackbairn= (_Mr._), the schoolmaster at Libberton.--Sir W. Scott,
_Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

=Wackles= (_Mrs._ and the _Misses_), of Chelsea, keepers of a “Ladies’
Seminary.” English grammar, composition, geography, and the use of
dumb-bells, by Miss Melissa Wackles; writing, arithmetic, dancing,
music, and general fascination, by Miss Sophy Wackles; needlework,
marking, and samplery, by Miss Jane Wackles; corporal punishment and
domestic duties, by Mrs. Wackles. Miss Sophy was a fresh,
good-natured, buxom girl of 20, who owned to a soft impeachment for
Mr. Swiveller, but as he held back, she married Mr. Cheggs, a
well-to-do market gardener.--C. Dickens, _The Old Curiosity Shop_,
viii. (1840).

=Wade= (_Miss_), a handsome young woman, brought up by her
grandmother, with a small independence. She looked at every act of
kindness, benevolence, and charity with a jaundiced eye, and
attributed it to a vile motive. Her manner was suspicious,
self-secluded, and repellant; her temper proud, fiery, and
unsympathetic. Twice she loved--in one case she jilted her lover, in
the other she was herself jilted. The latter was Henry Gowan, who
married Pet, the daughter of Mr. Meagles, and in consequence of this
marriage Miss Wade hated Gowan, his wife, the Meagleses, and all their
friends. She enticed Tattycoram away from Mr. Meagles, and the two
beautiful young women lived together for a time, nursing their hatred
of man to keep it warm.--C. Dickens, _Little Dorrit_, ii. 21 (1857).

=Waddell= (_James_), the Blind Preacher, as he was familiarly called,
was a marked character in the central counties of Virginia in the
latter part of the eighteenth century. He performed all the offices of
a clergyman up to the time of his death, preaching with power and
unction every week. “I have never,” says William Wirt, “seen in any
other orator such a union of simplicity and majesty. He has not a
gesture, an attitude or an accent, to which he does not seem forced by
the sentiment which he is expressing.... He is not only a very polite
scholar, but a man of extensive and profound erudition.”--William
Wirt, _The British Spy_ (1803).

=Wadman= (_Widow_), a comely widow, who would full fain secure Uncle
Toby for her second husband. Amongst other wiles, she pretends to have
something in her eye, and gets Uncle Toby to look for it. As the
kind-hearted hero of Namur does so, the gentle widow gradually places
her face nearer and nearer the captain’s mouth, under the hope that he
will kiss and propose.--Sterne, _The Life and Opinions of Tristram
Shandy_ (1759).

=Wagner=, the faithful servant and constant companion of Faust, in
Marlowe’s drama called _The Life and Death of Dr. Faustus_ (1589); in
Goethe’s _Faust_ (German, 1798); and in Gounod’s opera of _Faust_
(1859).

Wagner is a type of the pedant. He sacrifices himself to books as
Faust does to knowledge ... the dust of folios is his element,
parchment the source of his inspiration.... He is one of those who, in
the presence of Niagara, would vex you with questions about
arrow-headed inscriptions ... or the origin of the Pelasgi.--Lewes.

=Wa´hela=, Lot’s wife, who was confederate with the men of Sodom, and
gave them notice when a stranger came to visit her husband. Her sign
was smoke by day and fire by night. Wahela was turned into a pillar of
salt.--Jallâlo´ddin, _Al Zamakh_.

=Wa´ila= (3 _syl._), wife of Noah, who told the people her husband was
distraught.

The wife of Noah [_Wâïla_] and the wife of Lot [_Wâhela_] were both
unbelievers, ... and it shall be said unto them at the last day,
“Enter ye into hell fire, with those who enter therein.”--_Al Korân_,
lxvi.

=Wainamoi´nen=, the Orpheus of Finnish mythology. His magic harp
performed similar wonders to that of Orpheus (2 _syl._). It was made
of the bones of a pike; that of Orpheus was of tortoiseshell. The
“beloved” of Wainamoinen was a treasure called Sampo, which was lost
as the poet reached the verge of the realms of darkness; the “beloved”
of Orpheus was Eurydi´cê, who was lost just as the poet reached the
confines of earth, after his descent into hell.

⁂ See Kalewala, _Rune_, xxii. It is very beautiful. An extract is
given in Baring Gould’s _Myths of the Middle Ages_, 440-444.

=Waitwell=, the lackey of Edward Mirabell, and husband of Foible,
governante of the household of Lady Wishfort. By his master’s request,
Waitwell personates Sir Roland, and makes love to Lady Wishfort, but
the trick is discovered before much mischief is done.--W. Congreve,
_The Way of the World_ (1700).

=Wakefield= (_Harry_), the English drover killed by Robin Oig.--Sir W.
Scott, _The Two Drovers_ (time, George III.).

=Wakeman= (_Sir George_), physician to Henrietta Maria, queen of
Charles I.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Waldeck= (_Martin_), the miner, and hero of a story read by Lovel to
a picnic party at the ruins of St. Ruth’s Priory.--Sir W. Scott, _The
Antiquary_ (time, George III.).

=Walde´grave= (2 _syl._), leader of the British forces which joined
the Hurons in extirpating the Snake Indians, but he fell in the fray
(pt. i. 18).

_Julia Waldegrave_, wife of the above. She was bound to a tree with
her child by some of the Indians during the attack. Outalissi, a Snake
Indian, unbound them, took them home, and took care of them; but the
mother died. Her last request was that Outalissi would carry her child
to Albert of Wy´oming, her friend, and beg him to take charge of it.

_Henry Waldegrave_, the boy brought by Outalissi to Albert. After
staying at Wyoming for three years, his English friends sent for him
(he was then 12 years old). When grown to manhood, he returned to
Wyoming, and was married to Gertrude; but three months afterwards
Outalissi appeared, and told them that Brandt was coming with his
English soldiers to destroy the village. Both Albert and Gertrude
were shot in the attack; and Henry joined the army of
Washington.--Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809).

=Waldemar Fitzurse= (_Lord_), a baron following Prince John of Anjou
(brother of Richard Cœur de Lion).--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time,
Richard I.).

=Waldstetten= (_The countess of_), a relative of the baron. He is one
of the characters in Donnerhugel’s narrative.--Sir W. Scott, _Anne of
Geierstein_ (time, Edward IV.).

=Walk= (_Knave_) is meant for colonel Hewson, generally called “Walk,
Knave, Walk,” from a tract written by Edmund Gayton, to satirize the
party, and entitled _Walk, Knaves, Walk_.--S. Butler, _Hudibras_
(1663-78).

=Walker= (_Dr._), one of the three great quacks of the eighteenth
century, the others being Dr. Rock and Dr. Timothy Franks. Goldsmith,
in his _Citizen of the World_, has a letter (lxviii.) wholly upon
these three worthies (1759).

_Walker_ (_Helen_), the prototype of Jeanie Deans. Sir W. Scott caused
a tombstone to be erected over her grave in Irongray churchyard,
Kirkcudbright [_Ke.koo´.bry_].

_Walker_ (_Hookey_), John Walker, outdoor clerk to Longman, Clementi
and Co., Cheapside. He was noted for his hooked nose, and disliked for
his official duties, which were to see that the men came and left at
the proper hour, and that they worked during the hours of work. Of
course, the men conspired to throw discredit on his reports; and hence
when any one draws the “long-bow,” the hearer exclaims, “Hookey
Walker!” as much as to say, “I don’t believe it.”

=Walking Gentleman= (_A_). Thomas Colley Grattan published his
_Highways and Byeways_ under this signature (1825).

=Walking Stewart=, John Stewart, an English traveller, who walked
through Hindûstan, Persia, Nubia, Abyssinia, the Arabian Desert,
Europe, and the North American states; “crazy beyond the reach of
hellebore, yet sublime and divinely benignant.... He had seen more of
the earth’s surface, and had communicated more with the children of
the earth, than any man before or since.”--De Quincey, (1856).

=Walking-Stick= (_Henry VIII.’s_), the great Danish club shown in the
armory of the Tower.

=Walkingshaw= (_Miss_), mistress of the chevalier Charles Edward, the
Young Pretender.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Wallace’s Larder=, the dungeon of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, where
Wallace had the dead bodies thrown when the garrison was surprised by
him in the reign of Edward I.

“Douglas’s Larder” is a similar phrase, meaning that horrible compound
of dead bodies, barrels of flour, meal, wheat, malt, wine, ale, and
beer, all mixed together in Douglas Castle, by the order of Lord James
Douglas, when, in 1306, the garrison was surprised by him.

=Wallenrode= (_The earl of_), an Hungarian crusader.--Sir W. Scott,
_The Talisman_ (time, Richard I.).

=Wallenstein= (_Max_), German baron and general, eminent in the Thirty
Years’ War. He was assassinated in 1634 by order of Ferdinand II. of
Germany.--Schiller, _Wallenstein_ (1799).

=Waller=, in love with Lydia, lady’s-maid to Widow Green. His love at
first was not honorable, because his aristocratic pride revolted at
the inferior social position of Lydia; but when he knew her real
worth, he loved her, proposed marriage, and found that she was the
sister of Trueworth, who had taken service to avoid an obnoxious
marriage.--S. Knowles, _The Love-Chase_ (1837).

=Waller’s Plot=, a plot organized in 1643 by Waller, the poet, against
the parliamentary party. The object was to secure the king’s children,
to seize the most eminent of the parliamentarians, to capture the
Tower, and resist all taxes imposed for the support of the
parliamentary army.

=Walley= (_Richard_), the regicide, whose story is told by Major
Bridgenorth (a roundhead) at his dinner-table.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril
of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Walnut Web.= When the three princes of a certain king were sent to
find out “a web of cloth which would pass through the eye of a fine
needle,” the White Cat furnished the youngest of the three with one
spun by the cats of her palace.

The prince ... took out of his box a walnut, which he cracked ... and
saw a small hazel nut, which he cracked also ... and found therein a
kernel of wax.... In this kernel of wax was hidden a single grain of
wheat, and in the grain a small millet seed.... On opening the millet,
he drew out a web of cloth 400 yards long, and in it was woven all
sorts of birds, beasts, and fishes; fruits and flowers; the sun, moon,
and stars; the portraits of kings and queens, and many other wonderful
designs.--Comtesse D’Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (“The White Cat,” 1682).

=Walpurgis=, saint who converted the Saxons to Christianity.

=Walpurgis Night.= May 1, when witches dance upon the Brocken in the
Hartz Mountains.

=Walsingham=, the affianced of Helen Mowbray. Deceived by appearances,
he believed that Helen was the mistress of Lord Athunree, and
abandoned her; but when he discovered his mistake he married her.--S.
Knowles, _Woman’s Wit, etc._ (1838).

_Walsingham_ (_Lord_) of Queen Elizabeth’s court.--Sir W. Scott,
_Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

=Walter=, marquis of Saluzzo, in Italy, and husband of Grisilda, the
peasant’s daughter (_q.v._).--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (“The
Clerk’s Tale,” 1388).

⁂ This tale, of course, is allegorical; Lord Walter takes the place of
deity, and Grisilda typifies the true Christian. In all her
privations, in all her sorrows, in all her trials, she says to her
lord and master, “Thy will be done.”

_Walte_ (_Master_), “the hunchback,” guardian of Julia. A worthy man,
liberal and charitable, frank and honest, who turns out to be the earl
of Rochdale and father of Julia.--S. Knowles, _The Hunchback_ (1831).

=Walter Debree=, a Protestant clergyman, who, driven as he imagines,
by conscience, takes orders in the Roman Catholic Church. His wife
seeks him out and makes an eloquent appeal to him in the name of their
former love, their dead child, and their once common faith. His heart
and conscience thus aroused, combine to urge reconsideration of his
belief. He resolves to return to the Mother Church, and makes his
plans to take the Lord’s Supper with his wife on a certain Sabbath. On
his way to church, he is overtaken by a fierce snow-storm and buried
in the drifts. It is his lifeless body which is taken to the waiting
wife. “Is this all, Walter?” she sobbed. “Is this the end? Yes, and it
is a good end.... I did not seek you for myself. It never was for
myself!” The effort to subdue the human love to the Divine triumphed
in the midst of tears.--Robert Lowell, _The New Priest of Conception
Bay_ (1858).

=Walter= [=Furst=], father-in-law of Tell.--Rossini, _Guglielmo Tell_
(opera, 1829).

=Walter Hartwright=, drawing-teacher and lover of Laura Fairlie. When
the report of her death has been circulated by her husband, Sir
Percival Glyde, Walter unravels the plot, restores Laura to her
rightful place, and after the baronet’s death, marries her.--Wilkie
Collins, _The Woman in White_.

=Walter von der Vogelweide=, one of the German _minnesingers_,
flourished in 1206.

=Waltheof= (_The abbot_), abbot of St. Withold’s Priory.--Sir W.
Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

_Waltheof_ (_Father_), a grey friar, confessor to the duchess of
Rothesay.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Walton= (_Lord_), father of Elvi´ra, who promised his daughter in
marriage to Sir Richard Forth, a puritan officer; but Elvira had
already plighted her love to Lord Arthur Talbot, a cavalier. The
betrothal was set aside, and Elvira married Arthur Talbot at
last.--Bellini, _Il Puritani_ (opera, 1834).

_Walton_ (_Sir John de_), governor of Douglas Castle.--Sir W. Scott,
_Castle Dangerous_ (time, Henry I.).

=Wamba=, “the son of Witless,” the jester of Cedric, the Saxon, of
Rotherwood.--Sir W. Scott, _Ivanhoe_ (time, Richard I.).

=Wampum=, a string or belt of whelk-shells, current with the North
American Indians as a medium of exchange, and always sent as a present
to those with whom an alliance or treaty is made.

Peace be to thee! my words this belt approve.
Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_, i. 14 (1809).

Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace.
Ibid, i. 15.

=Wanda=, proud, high-bred German beauty, who loves and weds a man,
believing him to be of noble birth. Accident reveals the mistake, and
she drives him from her in anger. After long separation, he rescues
their child from death, and dies in the arms of his remorseful
wife.--Ouida, _Wanda_.

=Wanderers.= It is said that gypsies are doomed to be wanderers on the
face of the earth, because they refused hospitality to the Virgin and
Child, when the holy family fled into Egypt. (See WILD
HUNTSMAN.)--Aventinus, _Annalium Boiorum, libri septem_ (1554).

=Wandering Jew= (_The_), Kartaph´ilos (in Latin, _Cartaphilus_), the
door-keeper of the judgment hall, in the service of Pontius Pilate.
The tradition is that this porter, while haling Jesus before Pilate,
struck Him, saying, “Get on faster!” whereupon Jesus replied, “I am
going fast enough; but thou shalt tarry till I come again.”

⁂ The earliest account of this tradition is in the _Book of the
Chronicles of the Abbey of St. Alban’s_, copied and continued by
Matthew Paris (1228). In 1242 Philip Mouskes, afterwards bishop of
Tournay, wrote the “rhymed chronicle.”

Kartaphilos, we are told, was baptized by Ananias, who baptized Paul,
and received the name of Joseph.--See _Book of the Chronicles of the
Abbey of St. Alban’s_.

Another tradition says the Jew was Ahasue´rus, a cobbler, and gives
the story thus: Jesus, overcome by the weight of the cross, stopped at
the door of Ahasuerus, when the man pushed Him away, saying, “be off
with you!” Jesus replied, “I am going off truly, as it is written; but
thou shalt tarry till I come again.”

⁂ This legend is given by Paul von Eitzen, bishop of Schleswig, in
1547.--See Greve, _Memoirs of Paul von Eitzen_, Hamburgh (1744).

In _Germany_, the Wandering Jew is associated with John Buttadæus, who
was seen at Antwerp in the thirteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries, and at Brussels in 1774.

⁂ Leonard Doldius of Nürnberg, in his _Praxis Alchymiæ_ (1604), says
the Jew Ahasuerus is sometimes called Buttadæus.

In _France_, the name given to the Jew is Isaac Laquedem, or Lakedion.

⁂ See Mitternacht, _Dissertatio in Johan._, xxi. 19.

Salathiel ben Sadi is the name of the Wandering Jew, in Croly’s novel
entitled _Salathiel_ (1827).

Eugène Sue introduces a Wandering Jew in his novel called _Le Juif
Errant_ (1845). Galt has also a novel called _The Wandering Jew_.

Poetical versions of the legend have been made by A. W. von Schlegal,
_Die Warnung_; by Schubert, _Ahasuer_; by Goethe, _Aus Meinem Leben_,
all in German. By Mrs. Norton, _The Undying One_, in English, etc. The
legend is based on St. John’s _Gospel_ xxi. 22. “If I will that _he_
tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” The apostles thought the
words meant that John would not die, but tradition has applied them to
some one else.

=Wandering Knight= (_The_), El Donzel del Febo (“the Knight of the
Sun”), is so called in the Spanish romance entitled _The Mirror of
Knighthood_. Eumen´edês is so called in Peele’s _Old Wives’ Tale_
(1590).

=Wandering Willie=, the blind fiddler, who tells the tale about Sir
Robert Redgauntlet, and his son, Sir John.--Sir W. Scott,
_Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Wandering Wood= which contained the den of Error. Error was a
monster, like a woman upwards, but ending in a huge dragon’s tail with
a venomous sting. The first encounter of the Red Cross Knight was with
this monster whom he slew.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_, i. 1 (1590).

⁂ When piety (_the Red Cross Knight_) once forsakes the oneness of
truth (_Una_), it is sure to get into “Wandering Wood,” where it will
be attacked by “Error.”

=Wantley= (_Dragon of_), a monster slain by More of More Hall, who
procured a suit of armor studded with spikes, and, proceeding to the
lair, kicked the dragon in its mouth, where alone it was
vulnerable.--Percy, _Reliques of Ancient Poetry_.

One of Carey’s farces is entitled _The Dragon of Wantley_.

=War of Wartburg=, a poetic contest at Wartburg’s Castle, in which
Vogelweid triumphed over Heinrich von Ofterdingen.

They renewed the war of Wartburg,
Which the bard had fought before.
Longfellow, _Walter von der Vogelweid_.

=Warbeck= (_Perkin_) assumed himself to be Richard, duke of York, the
younger son of Edward IV., supposed to be murdered by order of Richard
III., in the Tower.

_Parallel Instances._ The youngest son of Ivan IV. of Russia was named
Dīmitri, _i.e._, Demetrius. He was born in 1581, and was mysteriously
assassinated in 1591, some say by Godounov, the successor to the
throne. Several impostors assumed to be Dimitri, the most remarkable
appeared in Poland in 1603, was recognized as Czar in 1605, but
perished the year following.

Martin Guerre, in the sixteenth century, left his wife, to whom he had
been married ten years, to join the army in Spain. In the eighth year
of his absence one Arnaud du Tilh assumed to be Martin Guerre, and was
received by the wife as her husband. For three years he lived with
her, recognized by all her friends and relations, but the return of
Martin himself dispelled the illusion, and Arnaud was put to death.

The great Tichborne case was a similar imposition. One Orton assumed
to be Sir Roger Tichborne, and was even acknowledged to be so by Sir
Roger’s mother; but after a long and patient trial it was proved that
the claimant of the Tichborne estates was no other than one Orton, of
Wapping.

In German history, Jakob Rehback, a miller’s man, assumed, in 1345, to
be Waldemar, an Ascanier margraf. Jakob was a menial in the service of
the margraf.

=Warburton= (_Lord_), handsome, well-bred and commonplace young
nobleman, in love with Isabel Archer.--Henry James, Jr., _Portrait of
a Lady_ (1881).

=Ward= (_Artĕmus_), Charles F. Browne, of America, author of _His Book
of Goaks_ (1865). He died in London in 1867.

_Ward_ (_Dr._), a footman, famous for his “friars’ balsam.” He was
called to prescribe for George II., and died, 1761. Dr. Ward had a
claret stain on his left cheek, and in Hogarth’s famous picture, “The
Undertakers’ Arms,” the cheek is marked gules. He forms one of the
three figures at the top, and occupies the right hand side of the
spectator. The other two figures are Mrs. Mapp and Dr. Taylor.

=Warden= (_Henry_), _alias_ HENRY WELLWOOD, the Protestant preacher.
In the _Abbot_ he is chaplain of the Lady Mary at Avenel Castle.--Sir
W. Scott, _The Monastery_ (time, Elizabeth).

_Warden_ (_Michael_), a young man of about 30, well-made and
good-looking, light-hearted, capricious, and without ballast. He had
been so wild and extravagant, that Snitchey and Craggs told him it
would take six years to nurse his property into a healthy state.
Michael Warden told them he was in love with Marion Jeddler, and her,
in due time, he married.--C. Dickens, _The Battle of Life_ (1846).

=Wardlaw=, land-steward at Osbaldistone Hall.--Sir W. Scott, _Rob Roy_
(time, George I.).

_Wardlaw_ (_Henry of_), archbishop of St. Andrew’s.--Sir W. Scott,
_Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV.).

=Wardle= (_Mr._), an old country gentleman, who had attended some of
the meetings of “The Pickwick Club,” and felt a liking for Mr.
Pickwick and his three friends, whom he occasionally entertained at
his house.

_Miss_ [_Isabella_] _Wardle_, daughter of Mr. Wardle. She marries
Augustus Snodgrass, M.P.C.

_Miss Emily Wardle_, daughter of Mr. Wardle. She marries Mr.
Trundle.--C. Dickens, _The Pickwick Papers_ (1836).

=Wardour= (_Sir Arthur_), of Knockwinnock Castle.

_Isabella Wardour_, daughter of Sir Arthur. She marries Lord Geraldin.

_Captain Reginald Wardour_, son of Sir Arthur. He is in the army.

_Sir Richard Wardour_ or “Richard with the Red Hand,” an ancestor of
Sir Arthur.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).

=Ware= (_Bed of_), a great bed, twelve feet square, assigned by
tradition to the earl of Warwick, the “king maker.”

A mighty large bed [_the bed of honor_], bigger by half than the great
bed of Ware; ten thousand people may lie in it together and never feel
one another.--G. Farquhar, _The Recruiting Officer_ (1707).

_The bed of Og, king of Bashan,_ which was fourteen feet long, and a
little more than six feet wide, was considerably smaller than the
great bed of Ware.

His bedstead was a bedstead of iron ... nine cubits was the length
thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a
man.--_Deut._ iii. 11.

=Waring= (_Sir Walter_), a justice of the peace, whose knowledge of
the law was derived from Matthew Medley, his factotum. His sentences
were justices’ justice, influenced by prejudice and personal feeling.
An ugly old hag would have found from him but scant mercy, while a
pretty girl could hardly do wrong in Sir Walter’s code of law.--Sir H.
B. Dudley, _The Woodman_ (1771).

=Warman=, steward of Robin Hood, while earl of Huntingdon. He betrayed
his master into the hands of Gilbert Hoode (or Hood), a prior, Robin’s
uncle. King John rewarded Warman for this treachery by appointing him
high sheriff of Nottingham.

The ill-fac’d miser, bribed on either hand,
Is Warman, one the steward of his house,
Who, Judas-like, betraies his liberall lord
Into the hands of that relentlesse prior
Calde Gilbert Hoode, uncle of Huntington.
Skelton, _Downfall of Robert, earl of Huntington_ (Henry
VIII.).

=Warming-Pan Hero= (_The_), James Francis Edward Stuart (the first
Pretender). According to the absurd story set afloat by the
disaffected at the time of his birth, he was not the son of Mary
d’Este, the wife of James II., but a natural child of that monarch by
Mary Beatrice, of Modena, and he had been conveyed to the royal bed in
a warming-pan, with the intention of palming him off upon the British
people as the legitimate heir to the throne.

=Warner=, the old steward of Sir Charles Cropland, who grieves to see
the timber of the estate cut down to supply the extravagance of his
young master.--G. Colman, _The Poor Gentleman_ (1802).

=Warning-Givers.=

ALASNAM’S MIRROR. This mirror remained unsullied when it reflected a
chaste and pure-minded woman, but became dim when the woman reflected
by it was faithless, wanton, or light.--_Arabian Nights_ (“Prince Zeyn
Alasnam”).

ANTS. Alexander Ross says that the “cruel battle between the Venetians
and Insubrians, and also that between the Liegeois and the
Burgundians, in which 30,000 men were slain, were both presignified by
combats between two swarms of ants.”--_Arcana Microcosmi._

BAHMAN’S KNIFE (_Prince_). When Prince Bahman started on his exploits,
he gave his sister, Parizādê, a knife which, he told her, would remain
bright and clean so long as he was safe and well, but, immediately he
was in danger, or dead, would become dull or drop gouts of
blood.--_Arabian Nights_ (“The Two Sisters”).

BAY TREES. The withering of bay trees prognosticates a death.

’Tis thought the king is dead ...
The bay trees in our country are all withered.
Shakespeare, _Richard II_. (1597).

N.B.--The bay was called by the Romans “the plant of the good angel,”
because “neyther falling sicknes, neyther devyll, wyll infest or hurt
one in that place whereas a bay tree is.”--Thomas Lupton, _Syxt Book
of Notable Thinges_ (1660).

BEE. The buzzing of a bee in a room indicates that a stranger is about
to pay the house a visit.

BIRTHA’S EMERALD RING. The Duke Gondibert gave Birtha an emerald ring
which, he said, would preserve its lustre so long as he remained
faithful and true, but would become dull and pale if he proved false
to her.--Wm. Davenant, _Gondibert_.

BRAWN’S HEAD (_The_). A boy brought to King Arthur’s court a brawn’s
head, over which he drew his wand thrice, and said, “There’s never a
traitor or a cuckold who can carve that head of brawn.”--Percy,
_Reliques_ (“The Boy and the Mantle”).

CANACE’S MIRROR indicated, by its lustre, if the person whom the
inspector loved was true or false.--Chaucer, _Canterbury Tales_ (“The
Squire’s Tale”).

CANDLES. The shooting forth of a parcel of tallow, called a
winding-sheet, from the top of a lighted candle, gives warning to the
house of an approaching death; but a bright spark upon the burning
wick is the promise of a letter.

CATS on the deck of a ship are said to “carry a gale of wind in their
tail,” or to presage a coming storm. When cats are very assiduous in
cleaning their ears and head, it prognosticates rain.

CATTLE give warning of an earthquake by their uneasiness.

CHILDREN PLAYING SOLDIERS on a road is said to forebode approaching
war.

COALS. A cinder bounding from the fire is either a purse or a coffin.
Those which rattle when held to the ear are tokens of wealth; those
which are mute and solid indicate sickness or death.

CORPSE CANDLES. The _ignis fatuus_, called by the Welsh _canhwyll
cyrph_, or “corpse candle,” prognosticates death. If small and of pale
blue, it denotes the death of an infant; if large and yellow, the
death of one of full age.

Captain Leather, chief magistrate of Belfast, in 1690, being
shipwrecked on the Isle of Man, was told that thirteen of his crew
were lost, for thirteen corpse candles had been seen moving towards
the churchyard. It is a fact that thirteen of the men were drowned in
this wreck.--Sacheverell, _Isle of Man_, 15.

CRADLE. It forebodes evil to the child if any one rocks its cradle
when empty.--_American Superstition._

CRICKETS. Crickets in a house are a sign of good luck, but if they
suddenly leave, it is a warning of death.

CROW (_A_). A crow appearing to one on the left hand side indicates
some impending evil to the person; and flying over a house, foretells
evil at hand to some of the inmates. (See “Raven.”)

Sæpe sinistra cava prædixit ab ilice cornex.
Virgil, _Eclogue_, i.

CROWING OF A COCK. Themistoclês was assured of his victory over Xerxes
by the crowing of a cock, on his way to Artemisium the day before the
battle.--Lloyd, _Stratagems of Jerusalem_, 285.

_Crowing of a hen_ indicates approaching disaster.

DEATH-WARNINGS IN PRIVATE FAMILIES.

1. _In Germany._ Several princes of Germany have their special
warning-givers of death. In some it is the roaring of a lion, in
others the howling of a dog. In some it is the tolling of a bell or
striking of a clock at an unusual time, in others it is a bustling
noise about the castle.--_The Living Library_, 284 (1621).

2. _In Berlin._ A White Lady appears to some one of the household or
guard, to announce the death of a prince of Hohenzollern. She was duly
seen on the eve of Prince Waldemar’s death in 1879.

3. _In Bohemia._ “Spectrum fœminium vestitu lugubri apparere solet
in arce quadam illustris familiæ, antequam una ex conjugibus dominorum
illorum e vita decebat.”--Debrio, _Disquisitiones Magicæ_, (592).

4. _In Great Britain._ In Wales the corpse candle appears to warn a
family of impending death. In Carmarthen scarcely any person dies but
some one sees his light or candle.

In Northumberland the warning light is called the person’s _waff_, in
Cumberland a _swarth_, in Ross a _task_, in some parts of Scotland a
_fye-token_.

King James tells us that the wraith of a person newly dead, or about
to die, appears to his friends.--_Demonology_, 125.

Edgewell Oak indicates the coming death of an inmate of Castle
Dalhousie by the fall of one of its branches.

5. _In Scotland._ The family of Rothmurchas have the Bodachau Dun, or
the Ghost of the Hill.

The Kinchardines have the Spectre of the Bloody Hand.

Gartinbeg House used to be haunted by Bodach Gartin.

The house of Tulloch Gorms used to be haunted by Maug Monlach, or the
Girl with the Hairy Left Hand.

DEATH-WATCH (_The_). The tapping made by a small beetle called the
death-watch is said to be a warning of death.

The chambermaids christen this worm a “Death-watch,”
Because, like a watch, it always cries “click;”
Then woe be to those in the house who are sick,
For sure as a gun they will give up the ghost,
If the maggot cries “click” when it scratches a post.
Swift.

DIVINING-ROD (_The_). A forked hazel rod, suspended between the balls
of the thumbs, was at one time supposed to indicate the presence of
water-springs and precious metals by inclining towards the earth
beneath which these things might be found. Dousterswivel obtained
money by professing to indicate the spot of buried wealth by a
divining-rod.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_.

DOGS. The howling of a dog at night forebodes death.

A cane præviso funere disce mori.
R. Keuchen, _Crepundia_, 113 (1662).

Capitolīnus tells us that the death of Maximīnus was presaged by the
howling of dogs. Pausanias (in his _Messenĭa_) says the dogs brake
into a fierce howl just before the overthrow of the Messenians.
Fincelius says the dogs in Mysinia flocked together and howled just
before the overthrow of the Saxons in 1553. Virgil says the same thing
occurred just previous to the battle of Pharsalia.

Dogs give warning of death by scratching on the floor of a house.

DOTTERELS.

When dotterels do first appear,
It shows that frost is very near;
But when that dotterels do go,
Then you may look for heavy snow.
_Salisbury Saying._

DREAMS. It will be remembered that Joseph, the husband of Mary, was
warned by a dream to flee from Judæa, and when Herod was dead he was
again warned by a dream to “turn aside into the parts of
Galilee.”--_Matt._ ii. 13, 19, 22.

In the Old Testament, Pharaoh had a warning dream of a famine which he
was enabled to provide against.--_Gen._ xli. 15-36.

Pharaoh’s butler and baker had warning dreams, one being prevised
thereby of his restoration to favor, and the other warned of his
execution.--_Gen._ xl. 5-23.

Nebuchadnezzar had an historic dream, which Daniel explained.--_Dan._
ii. 1, 31-45.

Abimelech, king of Egypt was warned by a dream that Sarah was
Abraham’s wife and not his sister.--_Gen._ xx. 3-16.

Jacob had an historic dream on his way to Haran.--_Gen._ xxviii.
12-15.

Joseph, son of Jacob, had an historic dream, revealing to him his
future greatness.--_Gen._ xxxvii. 5-10.

Daniel had an historic dream about four beasts which indicated four
kingdoms (_Dan._ vii.). Whether his “visions” were also dreams is
uncertain (see chs. viii. x.).

It would require many pages to do justice to this subject. Bland, in
his _Popular Antiquities_, iii. 134, gives “A Dictionary of Dreams” in
alphabetic order, extracted from _The Royal Dream-Book_.

DRINKING-HORNS. King Arthur had a horn from which no one could drink
who was either unchaste or unfaithful. The cuckold’s horn, brought to
King Arthur’s court by a mysterious boy, gave warning of infidelity,
inasmuch as no one unfaithful in love or unleal to his liege lord
could drink therefrom without spilling the liquor. The _coupe
enchantée_ possessed a similar property.

EAGLE. Tarquinius Priscus was assured that he would be king of Rome by
an eagle, which stooped upon him, took off his cap, rose in the air,
and let the cap fall again upon his head.

Aristander assured Alexander of his victory over Darius at the battle
of Arbĕla, by the flight of an eagle.--Lloyd, _Stratagems of
Jerusalem_, 290.

EAR (_The_). If the left ear tingles or burns, it indicates that some
one is talking evil of you; if the right ear, some one is praising
you. The foreboded evil may be averted by biting the little finger of
the left hand.

Laudor et adverso, sonat auris, lædor ab ore;
Dextra bono tinnit murmure, læva malo.
R. Keuchen, _Crepundia_, 113 (1662).

EPITAPHS (_Reading_). If you would preserve your memory, be warned
against reading epitaphs. In this instance the American superstition
is the warning-giver, and not the act referred to.

FIR TREES. “If a firr tree be touched, withered, or burned with
lighting, it is a warning to the house that the master or mistress
thereof shall shortly dye.”--Thomas Lupton, _Syxt Book of Notable
Thinges_, iii. (1660).

FIRE. The noise occasioned when the enclosed gas in a piece of burning
coal matches fire, is a sure indication of a quarrel between the
inmates of the house.

FLORIMEL’S GIRDLE would loosen or tear asunder if any woman unfaithful
or unchaste attempted to put it on.--Spenser, _Faëry Queen_.

GATES OF GUNDOF´ORUS (_The_). No one carrying poison could pass these
gates. They were made of the horn of the horned snake, by the apostle
Thomas, who built a palace of sethym wood for this Indian king, and
set up the gates.

GROTTO OF EPHESUS (_The_) contained a reed, which gave forth musical
sounds when the chaste and faithful entered it, but denounced others
by giving forth harsh and discordant noises.--Lord Lytton, _Tales of
Miletus_, iii.

HARE CROSSING THE ROAD (_A_). It was thought by the ancient Romans
that if a hare ran across the road on which a person was travelling,
it was a certain omen of ill luck.

Lepus quoque occurrens in via, infortunatum iter præsagit et
ominosum.--Alexander ab Alexandro, _Genialium Dierum, libri VI._ v. 13
p. 685.

Nor did we meet, with nimble feet,
One little fearful _lepus_,
That certain sign, as some divine,
Of fortune bad to keep us.
Ellison, _Trip to Benwell_, lx.

HOOPOE (_The_). The country people of Sweden consider the appearance
of the hoopoe as a presage of war.--Pennant, _Zoölogy_, i. 258.

LIZARDS warn men of the approach of a serpent.

LOOKING-GLASSES. If a looking-glass is broken, it is a warning that
some one in the house will ere long lose a friend. Grose says it
“betokens a mortality in the family, commonly the master.”

To break a looking-glass is prophetic that the person will never get
married; or, if married, will lose the person wedded.

MAGPIES are prophetic birds. A common Lincolnshire proverb is, “One
for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, four for death;” or
thus: “One for sorrow, two for mirth, three a wedding, four a birth.”

Augurs and understood relations have,
By magotpies and choughs and rooks, brought forth
The secret’st man of blood.
Shakespeare, _Macbeth_ (1606).

Alexander Ross tells us that the battle between the British and
French, in which the former were overthrown in the reign of Charles
VIII., was foretold by a skirmish between magpies and
jackdaws.--_Arcana Microcosmi._

MANTLE (_The Test_). A boy brought to King Arthur’s court a mantle
which no one could wear who was unfaithful in love, false in domestic
life, or traitorous to the king. If any such attempted to put it on,
it puckered up, or hung slouchingly, or tumbled to pieces.--Percy,
_Reliques_ (“The Boy and the Mantle”).

METEORS. Falling stars, eclipses, comets, and other signs in the
heavens, portend the death or fall of princes.

Meteors fright the fixed stars of heaven;
The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth ...
These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
Shakespeare, _Richard II._, act ii. sc. 4 (1597).

Consult _Matt._ xxiv. 29; _Luke_ xxi. 25.

MICE AND RATS. If a rat or mouse, during the night, gnaw our clothes,
it is indicative of some impending evil, perhaps even death.

Nos autem ita leves, atque inconsiderati sumus, ut si mures
corroserint aliquid quorum est opus hoc unum, monstrum putemus? Ante
vero Marsicum bellum quod Clypeos Lanuvii--mures rosissent, maxumum id
portentum haruspices esse dixerunt. Quasi vero quicquam intersit,
mures diem noctem aliquid rodentes, scuta an cribra corroserint ...
cum vestis a soricibus roditur, plus timere suspicionem futuri mali,
quam præsens damnum dolere. Unde illud eleganter dictum est Catonis,
qui cum esset consultus a quodam, qui sibi erosas esse Caligas diceret
a soricibus, respondit; non esset illud monstrum; sed vere monstrum
habendum fuisse, si sorices a Caligis roderentur.--Cicero,
_Divinatio_, ii. 27.

MOLE-SPOTS. A mole-spot on the _armpit_ promises wealth and honor; on
the _ankle_ bespeaks modesty in men, courage in women; on the right
_breast_ is a sign of honesty, on the left forebodes poverty; on the
_chin_ promises wealth; on the right _ear_, respect; on the left
forebodes dishonor; on the centre of the _forehead_ bespeaks
treachery, sullenness and untidiness; on the right _temple_ foreshows
that you will enjoy the friendship of the great; on the left _temple_
forebodes distress; on the right _foot_ bespeaks wisdom, on the left,
rashness; on the right side of the _heart_ denotes virtue, on the left
side, wickedness; on the _knee_ of a man denotes that he will have a
rich wife, if on the left knee of a woman she may expect a large
family; on the _lip_ is a sign of gluttony and talkativeness; on the
_neck_ promises wealth; on the _nose_ indicates that a man will be a
great traveller; on the _thigh_ forebodes poverty and sorrow; on the
_throat_, wealth and health; on the _wrist_, ingenuity.

MOON (_The_). When the “mone lies sair on her back, or when her horns
are pointed towards the zenith, be warned in time, for foul weather is
nigh at hand.”--Dr. Jamieson.

Foul weather may also be expected “when the new moon appears with the
old one in her arms.”

Late yestreen I saw the new moone
Wi’ the auld moone in her arme,
And I feir, I feir, my deir master,
That we will come to harme.
_The Ballad of Sir Patrick Spens._

To see a new moon for the first time on the right hand, and direct
before you, is lucky; but to see it on the left hand or to turn round
and see it behind you, is the contrary.

If you first see a new moon through glass, your wish will come to
pass.

NAILS. A white spot on the _thumb_ promises a present; on the _index
finger_ denotes a friend; on the _long finger_, a foe; on the _third
finger_, a letter or sweetheart; on the _little finger_, a journey to
go.

In America, white spots on the nails are considered lucky.

NOURGEHAN’S BRACELET gave warning of poison by a tremulous motion of
the stones, which increased as the poison approached nearer and
nearer.--Comte de Caylus, _Oriental Tales_ (“The Four Talismans”).

OPAL turns pale at the approach of poison.

OWLS. The screeching of an owl forebodes calamity, sickness, or death.
On one occasion an owl strayed into the Capitol, and the Romans, to
avert the evil, underwent a formal lustration.

The Roman senate, when within
The city walls an owl was seen,
Did cause their clergy with lustrations ...
The round-faced prodigy t’ avert.
Butler, _Hudibras_, II. iii. 707 (1664).

The death of Augustus was presaged by an owl singing [screeching] upon
the top of the Curia.--Xiphilinus, _Abridgment of Dion Cassius_.

The death of Commŏdus Antonius, the emperor, was forboded by an owl
sitting on the top of his chamber, at Lanuvium.--Julius Obsequens,
_Prodigies_, 85.

The murder of Julius Cæsar was presaged by the screeching of owls.

The bird of night did sit,
Even at noonday, upon the market-place,
Hooting and shrieking.
Shakespeare, _Julius Cæsar_, act i. sc. 3 (1607).

The death of Valentinian was presaged by an owl, which perched on the
top of a house where he used to bathe.--Alexander Boss, _Arcana
Microcosmi_.

Antony was warned of his defeat in the battle of Actium by an owl
flying into the temple of Concord.--Xiphilinus, _Abridgment of Dion
Cassius_.

The great plague of Würtzburg, in Franconia, in 1542, was foreboded by
the screeching of an owl.

Alexander Ross says: “About twenty years ago I did observe that, in
the house where I lodged, an owl groaning in the window presaged the
death of two eminent persons, who died there shortly after.”--_Arcana
Microcosmi._

PEACOCKS give warning of poison by ruffling their feathers.

PERVIZ’S STRING OF PEARLS (_Prince_). When Prince Perviz went on his
exploit, he gave his sister, Parizādê, a string of pearls, saying, “So
long as these pearls move readily on the string, you may feel assured
that I am alive and well; but if they stick fast, they will indicate
to you that I am dead.”--_Arabian Nights_ (“The Two Sisters”).

PIGEONS. It is considered by many a sure sign of death in a house if a
white pigeon perches on the chimney.

PIGS running about with straws in their mouths give warning of
approaching rain.

RATS forsaking a ship forebode its wreck, and forsaking a house
indicate that it is on the point of falling down. (See “Mice.”)

RAVENS. The raven is said to be the most prophetic of “inspired
birds.” It bodes both private and public calamities. “To have the
foresight of a raven” is a proverbial expression.

The great battle fought between Beneventum and Apicium, was portended
by a skirmish between ravens and kites on the same spot.--Jovianus
Pontanus.

An irruption of the Scythians into Thrace was presaged by a skirmish
between crows and ravens.--Nicetas.

Cicero was warned of his approaching death by some ravens fluttering
about him just before he was murdered by Popilius Cænas.--Macaulay,
_History of St. Kilda_, 176.

Alexander Ross says: “Mr. Draper, a young gentleman, and my intimate
friend, about four or five years ago had one or two ravens, which had
been quarrelling on the chimney, fly into his chamber, and he died
shortly after.”--_Arcana Microcosmi._

RHINOCEROS’S HORNS. Cups made of this material will give warning of
poison in a liquid by causing it to effervesce.

SALT spilt towards a person indicates contention, but the evil may be
averted by throwing a part of the spilt salt over the left shoulder.

Prodige, subverso casu leviore salino,
Si mal venturum conjicis omen; adest.
R. Keuchen, _Crepundia_, 215 (1662).

SHEARS AND SIEVE (_The_), ordeals by fire, water, etc., single
combats, the corsned or cursed morsel, the Urim and Thummim, the
casting of lots, were all employed as tests of innocence or guilt in
olden times, under the notion that God would direct the lot aright.
(See JONAH, i. 7.)

SHOES. It was thought by the Romans a bad omen to put a shoe on the
wrong foot.

Augustus, having b’ oversight,
Put on his left shoe for his right,
Had like to have been slain that day
By soldiers mutin’ing for pay.
Butler, _Hudibras_.

Auguste ... restoit immobile et consterné lorsqu’il lui arrivoit par
mégarde de mettre le soulier droit au pied gauche.--ST. FOIX, _Essais
sur Paris_, v. 145.

SHOOTING PAINS. All sudden pains are warnings of evil at hand.

Timeo quod rerum gesserim hic, ita dorsus totus prurit.--Plautus,
_Miles Gloriosus_.

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked this way comes.
Shakespeare, _Macbeth_ (1606).

SNEEZING. Once, a wish, twice, a kiss, thrice, a letter, and oftener
than thrice, something better.

_Sneezing before breakfast_ is a forecast that a stranger or a present
is coming.

_Sneezing at night-time_. To sneeze twice for three successive nights
denotes a death, a loss, or a great gain.

Si duæ sternutationes fiant omni nocte ab aliquo, et illud continuitur
per tres noctes, signo est quod aliquis vel aliqua de domo morietur
vel aliud damnum domui continget, vel maximum lucrum.--Hornmannus, _De
Miraculis Mortuorum_, 163.

Eustathius says that sneezing to the left is unlucky, but to the right
lucky. Hence, when Themistoclês was offering sacrifice before his
engagement with Xerxes, and one of the soldiers on his right hand
sneezed, Euphrantīdês, the soothsayer, declared the Greeks would
surely gain the victory.--Plutarch, _Lives_ (“Themistoclês”).

SOOT ON BARS. Flakes of sheeted soot hanging from the bars of a grate
foretell the introduction of a stranger.

Nor less amused have I quiescent watched
The sooty films that play upon the bars
Pendulous, and foreboding ... some stranger’s near approach.
Cowper, _Winter Evening_.

SOPHIA’S PICTURE, given to Mathias, turned yellow if the giver was in
danger or in temptation; and black if she could not escape from the
danger, or if she yielded to the temptation.--Massinger, _The Picture_
(1629).

SPIDERS indicate to gold-searchers where it is to be found.

STAG’S HORN is considered in Spain to give warning of an evil eye, and
to be a safeguard against its malignant influences.

STONE. To find a perforated stone is a presage of good luck.

SWALLOWS forecast bad weather by flying low, and the fine weather by
flying high.

TEETH WIDE APART warn a person to seek his fortune away from his
native place.

THUNDER. Thunder on Sunday portends the death of some learned man,
judge, or author; on Monday, the death of women; on Tuesday, plenty of
grain; on Wednesday, the death of harlots, or bloodshed; on Thursday,
plenty of sheep, cattle, and corn; on Friday, the death of some great
man, murder, or battle; on Saturday it forebodes pestilence or
sickness.--Leonard Digges, _A Prognostication Everlasting of Ryght
Good Effecte_ (1556).

TOLLING BELL. You will be sure of tooth-ache if you eat while a
funeral bell is tolling. Be warned in time by this American
superstition, or take the consequences.

VEIPSEY, a spring in Yorkshire, called “prophetic,” gives due warning
of a dearth by rising to an unusual height.

VENETIAN GLASS. If poison is put into liquor contained in a vessel
made of Venetian glass, the vessel will crack and fall to pieces.

WARNING STONES. Bakers in Wiltshire and in some other counties used to
put a certain kind of pebble in their ovens, to give notice when the
oven was hot enough for baking. When the stone turned white, the oven
was fit for use.

WATER OF JEALOUSY (_The_). This was a beverage which the Jews used to
assert no adulteress could drink without bursting.--_Five
Philosophical Questions Answered_ (1653).

WHITE ROSE (_The_). A white rose gave assurance to a twin-brother of
the safety or danger of his brother during his absence. So long as it
flourished and remained in its pride of beauty, it indicated that all
went well, but as it drooped, faded, or died, it was a warning of
danger, sickness, or death.--_The Twin-Brothers._

WITCH HAZEL. A forked twig of witch hazel, made into a divining-rod,
was supposed, in the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries,
to give warning of witches, and to be efficacious in discovering them.

WORMS. If, on your way to a sick person, you pick up a stone and find
no living thing under it, it tells you that the sick person will die,
but if you find there an ant or worm, it presages the patient’s
recovery.

Si visitans ægrum, lapidem inventum per viam attollat, et sub lapide
inveniatur vermis se movens, aut formica vivens, faustum omen est, et
indicium fore ut æger convalescat, si nihil invenitur res est
conclamata et certa mors.--Buchardus, _Drecretorum, lib._ xix.

=Warren= (_Widow_), “twice married and twice a widow.” A coquette of
40, aping the airs of a girl; vain, weak, and detestable. Harry
Dornton, the banker’s son, is in love with her daughter, Sophia
Freelove; but the widow tries to win the young man for herself, by
advancing money to pay off his friend’s debts. When the father hears
of this he comes to the rescue, returns the money advanced, and
enables the son to follow his natural inclinations by marrying the
daughter instead of the designing mother.

A girlish, old coquette, who would rob her daughter, and leave her
husband’s son to rot in a dungeon, that she might marry the first fool
she could find.--Holcroft, _The Road to Ruin_, v. 2, (1792).

=Wart= (_Thomas_), a poor, feeble, ragged creature, one of the
recruits in the army of Sir John Falstaff.--Shakespeare, _2 Henry
IV._, act iii. sc. 2 (1598).

=Warwick= (_The earl of_), a tragedy by Dr. T. Franklin. The theme is
the last days and death of the “king maker” (1767).

=Washington of Africa= (_The_). William Wilberforce is so called by
Lord Byron. As Washington was the chief instrument in liberating
America, so Wilberforce was the chief instigator of slave
emancipation.

Thou moral Washington of Africa.
_Don Juan_, xiv. 82 (1824).

=Washington of Colombia=, Simon Bolivar (1785-1831).

=Wasky=, Sir Iring’s sword.

Right through the head-piece straight
The knight Sir Hagan paid,
With his resistless Wasky,
That sharp and peerless blade.
_Nibelungen Lied_, 35 (1210).

=Wasp=, in the drama called _Bartholomew Fair_, by Ben Jonson
(1574-1637).

Benjamin Johnson, an actor [1665-1742], commonly called Ben Johnson,
... seemed to be proud to wear the poet’s name, being particularly
great in all that author’s plays that were usually performed, viz.,
“Wasp,” “Corbaccio,” “Morose,” and “Ananias.”--Chetwood, _History of
the Stage_.

⁂ “Corbaccio,” in _The Fox_; “Morose,” in _The Silent Woman_; and
“Ananias,” in _The Alchemist_.

=Waste Time Utilized.=

BAXTER wrote his _Saints’ Everlasting Rest_ on a bed of sickness
(1615-1691).

BLOOMFIELD composed _The Farmer’s Boy_ in the intervals of shoemaking
(1766-1823).

BRAMAH (_Joseph_), a peasant’s son, occupied his spare time when a
mere boy in making musical instruments, aided by the village
blacksmith. At the age of 16 he hurt his ankle while ploughing, and
employed his time while confined to the house in carving and making
woodwares. In another forced leisure from a severe fall, he employed
his time in contriving and making useful inventions, which ultimately
led him to fame and fortune (1749-1814).