Drama. The earliest European drama since the fall of the Western empire appeared in the middle of the fifteenth century. It is called La Celestina, and is divided into twenty-one acts. The first act, which runs through fifty pages, was composed by Rodridgo Cota; the other twenty are ascribed to Ferdinando de Rojas. The whole was published in 1510.
The earliest English drama is entitled Ralph Roister Doister, a comedy by Nicholas Udal (before 1551, because mentioned by T. Wilson, in his Rule of Reason, which appeared in 1551).
The second English drama was Gammer Gurton's Needle, by Mr. S. Master of Arts. Warton, in his History of English Poetry (iv. 32), gives 1551 as the date of this comedy; and Wright, in his Historia Histrionica, says it appeared in the reign of Edward VI., who died 1553. It is generally ascribed to Bishop Still, but he was only eight years old in 1551.
Drama (Father of the French), Etienne, Jodell (1532-1573).
Father of the Greek Drama, Thespis (B.C. sixth century).
Father of the Spanish Drama, Lopêz de Vega (1562-1635).
Drap, one of Queen Mab's maids of honor.—Drayton, Nymphidia.
Dra´pier's Letters, a series of letters written by Dean Swift, and signed "M.D. Drapier," advising the Irish not to take the copper money coined by William Wood, to whom George I. had given a patent. These letters (1724) stamped out this infamous job and caused the patent to be cancelled. The patent was obtained by the Duchess of Kendall (mistress of the king), who was to share the profits.
Drawcan´sir, a bragging, blustering bully, who took part in a battle, and killed every one on both sides, "sparing neither friend nor foe."—George Villiers, duke of Buckingham, The Rehearsal (1671).
At length my enemy appeared, and I went forward some yards like a Drawcansir, but found myself seized with a panic as Paris was when he presented himself to fight with Menelaus.—Lesage, Gil Blas, vii. (1735).
Dream Authorship. Coleridge says that he wrote his Kubla Khan from his recollection of a dream.
therefore.jpg Condillac (says Cabanis) concluded in his dreams the reasonings left incomplete at bed-time.
Dreams. The Indians believe all dreams to be revelations, sometimes made by the familiar genius, and sometimes by the "inner or divine soul." An Indian, having dreamt that his finger was cut off, had it really cut off the next day.—Charlevoix, Journal of a Voyage to North America.
Dream´er (The Immortal), John Bunyan, whose Pilgrim's Progress is said by him to be a dream (1628-1688).
therefore.jpg The pretense of a dream was one of the most common devices of mediaeval romance, as, for example, the Romance of the Rose and Piers Plowman, both in the fourteenth century.
Dreary (Wat), alias BROWN WILL, one of Macheath's gang of thieves. He is described by Peachum as "an irregular dog, with an underhand way of disposing of his goods" (act i.1).—Gay, The Beggar's Opera (1727).
Drew (Timothy). A half-witted cobbler who, learning that a tailor had advertised for "frogs," catches a bagful and carries them to him, demanding one dollar a hundred. The testy tailor imagining himself the victim of a hoax, throws his shears at his head, and Timothy, in revenge empties the bag of bull-frogs upon the clean floor of Buckram's shop. Next day Timothy's sign was disfigured to read—Shoes Mended and Frogs Caught. By Timothy Drew.—The Frog Catcher, Henry J. Finn, American Comic Annual 1831.
Drink used by actors, orators, etc.
BRAHAM, bottled porter.
CATLEY (Miss), linseed tea and madeira.
COOKE (G. F.), everything drinkable.
EMERY, brandy-and-water (cold).
GLADSTONE (W. E.), an egg beaten up in sherry.
HENDERSON, gum arabic and sherry.
INCLEDON, madeira.
JORDAN (Mrs.), calves'-foot jelly dissolved in warm sherry.
KEAN (Edmund), beef-tea for breakfast, cold brandy.
LEWIS, mulled wine (with oysters).
OXBERRY, tea.
SMITH (William), coffee.
WOOD (Mrs.), draught porter.
therefore.jpg J Kemble took opium.
Drink. "I drink the air," says Ariel, meaning "I will fly with great speed."
In Henry IV. we have "devour the way," meaning the same thing.
Dri'ver, clerk to Mr. Pleydell, advocate.
Edinburgh.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).
Driver of Europe. The duc de Choiseul, minister of Louis XV., was so called by the empress of Russia, because he had spies all over Europe, and ruled by them all the political cabals.
Dro'gio, probably Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. A Venetian voyager named Antonio Zeno (fourteenth century) so called a country which he discovered. It was said to lie south-west of Estotiland (Labrador), but neither Estotiland nor Drogio are recognized by modern geographers, and both are supposed to be wholly, or in a great measure, hypothetical.
Dro'mio (The Brothers), two brothers, twins, so much alike that even their nearest friends and masters knew not one from the other. They were the servants of two masters, also twins and the exact facsimiles of each other. The masters were Antiph'olus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse.—Shakespeare, Comedy of Errors (1593).
(The Comedy of Errors is borrowed from the Menoechmi of Plautus).
Dronsdaughter (Tronda), the old serving-woman of the Yellowleys.—Sir W. Scott, The Pirate (time, William III.).
Drop Serene (Gutta Serena). It was once thought that this sort of blindness was an incurable extinction of vision by a transparent watery humor distilling on the optic nerve. It caused total blindness, but made no visible change in the eye. It is now known that this sort of blindness arises from obstruction in the capillary nerve-vessels, and in some cases at least is curable. Milton, speaking of his own blindness, expresses a doubt whether it arose from the Gutta Serena or the suffusion of a cataract.
Drood (Edwin), hero of Charles Dickens' unfinished novel of that name.
Drudgeit (Peter), clerk to Lord Bladderskate.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Drugger (Abel), a seller of tobacco; artless and gullible in the extreme. He was building a new house, and came to Subtle "the alchemist" to know on which side to set the shop door, how to dispose the shelves so as to ensure most luck, on what days he might trust his customers, and when it would be unlucky for him so to do.—Ben Jonson, The Alchemist (1610).
Thomas Weston was "Abel Drugger" himself [1727-1776], but David Garrick was fond of the part also [1716-1779].—C. Dibdin, History of the Stage.
Drugget, a rich London haberdasher, who has married one of his daughters to Sir Charles Racket. Drugget is "very fond of his garden," but his taste goes no further than a suburban tea-garden with leaden images, cockney fountains, trees cut into the shapes of animals, and other similar abominations. He is very headstrong, very passionate, and very fond of flattery.
Mrs. Druggett, wife of the above. She knows her husband's foibles, and, like a wise woman, never rubs the hair the wrong way.—A. Murphy, Three Weeks after Marriage.
Druid (The), the nom de plume of Henry
Dixon, sportsman and sporting-writer; One of his books, called Steeple-chasing, appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine. His last work was called The Saddle and Sirloin.
therefore.jpg Collins calls James Thomson (author of The Seasons) a druid, meaning a pastoral British poet or "Nature's High Priest."
Druid (Dr.), a man of North Wales, 65 years of age, the travelling tutor of Lord Abberville, who was only 23. The doctor is a pedant and antiquary, choleric in temper, and immensely bigoted, wholly without any knowledge of the human heart, or indeed any practical knowledge at all.
"Money and trade, I scorn 'em both; ...I have traced the Oxus and the Po, traversed the Riphæan Mountains, and pierced into the inmost deserts of Kilmuc Tartary ...I have followed the ravages of Kuli Chan with rapturous delight. There is a land of wonders; finely depopulated; gloriously laid waste; fields without a hoof to tread 'em; fruits without a hand to gather 'em: with such a catologue of pats, peetles, serpents, scorpions, caterpillars, toads, and putterflies! Oh, 'tis a recreating contemplation indeed to a philosophic mind!"—Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover (1780).
Druid Money, a promise to pay on the Greek Kalends. Patricius says: "Druidæ pecuniam mutuo accipiebant in posteriore vita reddituri."
therefore.jpg Purchase tells us of certain priests of Pekin, "who barter with the people upon bills of exchange, to be paid in heaven a hundredfold."—Pilgrims, iii. 2.
Drum (Jack), Jack Drum's entertainment is giving a guest the cold shoulder.
Shakespeare calls it "John Drum's entertainment" (All Well, etc., act iii. sc. 6), and Holinshead speaks of "Tom Drum his entertaynement, which is to hale a man in by the heade, and thrust him out by both the shoulders."
Drummle (Bentley) and Startop, two young men who read with Mr. Pocket. Drummle is a surly, ill-conditioned fellow, who marries Estella.—C. Dickens, Great Expectations (1860).
Drunken Parliament, a Scotch parliament assembled at Edinburgh, January I, 1661.
Druon "the Stern," one of the four knights who attacked Britomart and Sir Scudamore (3 syl.).
Druses (Return of the). The Druses, a semi-Mohammedan sect of Syria, being attacked by Osman, take refuge in one of the Spor'adês, and place themselves under the protection of the Knights of Rhodes. These knights slay their sheiks and oppress the fugitives. In the sheik massacre, Dja'bal is saved by Maä'ni, and entertains the idea of revenging his people and leading them back to Syria. To this end he gives out that he is Hakeem, the incarnate god, returned to earth, and soon becomes the leader of the exiled Druses. A plot is formed to murder the prefect of the isle, and to betray the Island to Venice, if Venice will supply a convoy for their return. An'eal (2 syl.), a young woman stabs the prefect, and dies in bitter disappointment when she discovers that Djabal is a mere impostor. Djabal stabs himself when his imposition is made public, but Loys, (2 syl.) a Brenton count, leads the exiles back to Lebanon. Robert Browning.—The Return of the Druses.
therefore.jpg Historically, the Druses, to the number of 160,000 or 200,000, settled in Syria, between Djebail and Saïde, but their original seat was Egypt. They quitted Egypt from persecution, led by Dara'zi or Durzi, from whom the name Druse (1 syl.) is derived. The founder of the sect was the hakêm B'amr-ellah (eleventh century), believed to be incarnate deity, and the last prophet who communicated between God and man. From this founder the head of the sect was called the hakêm, his residence being Deir-el-Kamar. During the thirteenth or fourteenth century the Druses were banished from Syria, and lived in exile in some of the Sporadês but were led back to Syria early in the fifteenth century by Count Loys de Duex, a new convert. Since 1588 they have been tributaries of the sultan.
Robert Browning, The Return of the Druses.
Dryas or DRYAD, a wood-nymph, whose life was bound up with that of her tree (Greek, [Greek: dryas, dryados].)
"The quickening power of the soul," like Martha, "is busy about many things," or like "a Dryas living in a tree."—Sir John Davies, Immortality of the soul, xii.
Dry-as-Dust (The Rev. Doctor), an hypothetical person whom Sir W. Scott makes use of to introduce some of his novels by means of prefatory letters. The word is a synonym for a dull, prosy, plodding historian, with great show of learning, but very little attractive grace.
Dryden of Germany (The), Martin Opitz, sometimes called "The Father of German Poetry" (1597-1639).
Dryeesdale (Jasper), the old steward at Lochleven Castle.—Sir W. Scott, The Abott (time, Elizabeth).
Dry'ope (3 syl.), daughter of King Dryops, beloved by Apollo. Apollo, having changed himself into a tortoise, was taken by Dryopê into her lap, and became the father of Amphis'sos. Ovid says that Dryopê was changed into a lotus (Met., x. 331).
Duar'te (3 syl), the vainglorious son of Guiomar.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Custom of the Country (1647).
Dubosc, the great thief, who robs the night-mail from Lyons, and murders the courier. He bears such a strong likeness to Joseph Lesurques (act i. 1) that their identity is mistaken.—Ed. Stirling, The Courier of Lyons (1852).
Dubourg-(Mons.), a merchant at Bordeaux, and agent there of Osbaldistone of London.
Clement Dubourg, son of the Bordeaux merchant, one of the clerks of Osbaldistone, merchant.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).
Dubric (St.) or St. Dubricius, archbishop of the City of Legions (Caerleon-upon-Usk; Newport is the only part left.) He set the crown on the head of Arthur, when only 15 years of age. Geoffrey says (British history, ix. 12); This prelate, who was primate of Britain, was so eminent for his piety, that he could cure any sick person by his prayers. St. Dubric abdicated and lived a hermit, leaving David his successor. Tennyson introduced him in his Coming of Arthur, Enid, etc.
Ducho´mar was in love with Morna, daughter of Comac, king of Ireland. Out of jealousy, he slew Câthba, his more successful rival, went to announce his death to Morna, and then asked her to marry him. She replied she had no love for him, and asked for his sword. "He gave the sword to her tears," and she stabbed him to the heart. Duchômar begged the maiden to pluck the sword from his breast that he might die; and when she approached him for the purpose, "he seized the sword from her, and slew her."
"Duchômar, most gloomy of men; dark are thy brows and terrible; red are thy rolling eyes ... I love thee not," said Morna; "hard is thy heart of rock, and dark is thy terrible brow."—Ossian, Fingal, i.
Duchran (The laird of), a friend of Baron Bradwardine.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).
Du Croisy and his friend La Grange are desirous to marry two young ladies whose heads are turned by novels. The silly girls fancy the manners of these gentlemen "too unaffected and easy to be aristocratic"; so the gentlemen send to them their valets, as "the viscount de Jodelet," and "the marquis of Mascarille." The girls are delighted whith their titled visitors; but when the game had gone far enough, the masters enter and unmask the trick. By this means the girls are taught a useful lesson, without being subjected to any fatal consequence.—Molière, Les Prècieuses Ridicules (1659).
Dudley, a young artist; a disguise assumed by Harry Bertram.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).
Dudley (Captain), a poor English officer, of strict honor, good family, and many accomplishments. He has served his country for thirty years, but can scarcely provide bread for his family.
Charles Dudley, son of Captain Dudley. High-minded, virtuous, generous, poor, and proud. He falls in love with his cousin Charlotte Rusport, but forbears proposing to her, because he is poor and she is rich. His grandfather's will is in time brought to light, by which he becomes the heir of a noble fortune, and he then marries his cousin.
Louisa Dudley, daughter of Captain Dudley. Young, fair, tall, fresh, and lovely. She is courted by Belcour the rich West Indian, to whom ultimately she is married.—Cumberland, The West Indian (1771).
Dudley Diamond (The). In 1868 a black shepherd named Swartzboy brought to his master, Nie Kirk, this diamond, and received for it £400, with which he drank himself to death. Nie Kirk sold it for £12,000; and the earl of Dudley gave Messrs. Hunt and Roskell £30,000 for it. It weighed in the rough 88 1/2 carats, but cut into a heart shape it weighs 44 1/2 carats. It is triangular in shape, and of great brilliancy.
therefore.jpg This magnificent diamond, that called the "Stewart" (q. v.), and the "Twin," have all been discovered in Africa since 1868.
Dudu, one of the three beauties of the harem, into which Juan, by the sultan's order, had been admitted in female attire. Next day, the sultana, out of jealousy, ordered that both Dudù and Juan should be stitched in a sack and cast into the sea; but by the connivance of Baba the chief eunuch, they affected their escape.— Byron, Don Juan, vi. 42, etc.
Duenna (The), a comic opera by R. B. Sheridan (1773). Margaret, the duenna, is placed in charge of Louisa, the daughter of Don Jerome. Louisa is in love with Don Antonio, a poor nobleman of Seville; but her father resolves to give her in marriage to Isaac Mendoza, a rich Portuguese Jew. As Louisa will not consent to her father's arrangement, he locks her up in her chamber, and turns the duenna out of doors, but in his impetuous rage he in reality turns his daughter out, and locks up the duenna. Isaac arrives, is introduced to the lady, elopes with her, and is duly married. Louisa flees to the convent of St. Catharine, and writes to her father for his consent to her marriage to the man of her choice; and Don Jerome supposing she means the Jew, gives it freely, and she marries Antonio. When they meet at breakfast at the old man's house, he finds that Isaac has married the duenna, Louisa has married Antonio, and his son has married Clara; but the old man is reconciled and says, "I am an obstinate old fellow, when I'm in the wrong, but you shall all find me steady in the right."
Duessa (false faith), is the personification of the papacy. She meets the Red Cross Knight in the society of Sansfoy (infidelity), and when the knight slays Sansfoy, she turns to flight. Being overtaken, she says her name is Fidessa (true faith), deceives the knight, and conducts him to the palace of Lucif'era, where he encounters Sansjoy (canto 2). Duessa dresses the wounds of the Red Cross Knight, but places Sansjoy under the care of Escula'pius in the infernal regions (canto 4). The Red Cross Knight leaves the palace of Lucifera, and Duessa induces him to drink of the "Enervating Fountain;" Orgoglio then attacks him, and would have slain him if Duessa had not promised to be his bride. Having cast the Red Cross Knight into a dungeon, Orgoglio dresses his bride in most gorgeous array, puts on her head "a triple crown" (the tiara of the pope), and sets her on a monster beast with "seven heads" (the seven hills of Rome). Una (truth) sends Arthur (England) to rescue the captive knight, and Arthur slays Orgoglio, wounds the beast, releases the knight, and strips Duessa of her finery (the Reformation); whereupon she flies into the wilderness to conceal her shame (canto 7).—Spenser, Faëry Queen, i. (1590).
Duessa, in bk. v., allegorizes Mary queen of Scots. She is arraigned by Zeal before Queen Mercilla (Elizabeth), and charged with high treason. Zeal says he shall pass by for the present "her counsels false conspired" with Blandamour (earl of Northumberland), and Paridel (earl of Westmoreland), leaders of the insurrection of 1569, as that wicked plot came to naught, and the false Duessa was now "an untitled queen." When Zeal had finished, an old sage named the Kingdom's Care (Lord Burghley) spoke, and opinions were divided. Authority, Law of Nations, and Religion thought Duessa guilty, but Pity, Danger, Nobility of Birth, and Grief pleaded in her behalf. Zeal then charges the prisoner with murder, sedition, adultery, and lewd impiety; whereupon the sentence of the court is given against her. Queen Mercilla, being called on to pass sentence, is so overwhelmed with grief that she rises and leaves the court.—Spenser, Faëry Queen, v. 9 (1596).
Duff (Jamie), the idiot boy attending Mrs. Bertram's funeral.—Sir W. Scott, Guy Mannering (time, George II.).
Duke (My lord), a duke's servant, who assumes the airs and title of his master, and is addressed as "Your grace," or "My lord duke." He was first a country cowboy, then a wig-maker's apprentice, and then a duke's servant. He could neither write nor read, but was a great coxcomb, and set up for a tip-top fine gentleman.—Rev. J. Townley, High Life Below Stairs (1763).
Duke (The Iron), the duke of Wellington, also called "The Great Duke" (1769-1852).
Duke and Duchess, in pt. II. of Don Quixote, who play so many sportive tricks on "the Knight of the Woeful Countenance," were Don Carlos de Borja, count of Ficallo, and Donna Maria of Aragon, duchess of Villaher'mora, his wife, in whose right the count held extensive estates on the banks of the Ebro, among others a country seat called Buena'via, the place referred to by Cervantês (1615).
Duke of Mil'an, a tragedy by Massinger (1622). A play evidently in imitation of Shakespeare's Othello. "Sforza" is Othollo; "Francesco," Iago: "Marcelia," Desdemona: and "Eugenia," Emilia. Sforza "the More" [sic] doted on Marcelia his young bride, who amply returned his love. Francesco, Sforza's favorite, being left lord protector of Milan during a temporary absence of the duke, tried to corrupt Marcelia; but failing in this, accused her to Sforza of wantonness. The duke, believing his favorite, slew his beautiful young bride. The cause of Francesco's villainy was that the duke had seduced his sister Eugenia.
therefore.jpg Shakespeare's play was produced 1611, about eleven years before Massinger's tragedy. In act v. 1 we have "Men's injuries we write in brass," which brings to mind Shakespeare's line, "Men's evil manners live in brass, their virtues we write in water."
(Cumberland reproduced this drama, with some alterations, in 1780).
Duke Combe, William Combe, author of Dr. Syntax, and translator of The Devil upon Two Sticks, from Le Diable Boiteux of Lesage. He was called duke from the splendor of his dress, the profusion of his table, and the magnificence of his deportment. The last fifteen years of his life were spent in the King's Bench (1743-1823).
Dulcama'ra (Dr.), an itinerant physician, noted for his pomposity; very boastful, and a thorough charlatan.—Donizetti, L'Elisire d'Amore (1832).
Dulcarnon. (See DHU'L KARNEIN.)
Dulcifluous Doctor, Antony Andreas, a Spanish minorite of the Duns Scotus school (_-1320).
Dulcin'ea del Tobo'so, the lady of Don Quixote's devotion. She was a fresh-colored country wench, of an adjacent village, with whom the don was once in love. Her real name was Aldonza Lorenzo. Her father was Lorenzo Corchuelo, and her mother Aldonza Nogalês. Sancho Panza describes her in pt. I. ii. 11.—Cervantes, Don Quixote, I. i. I (1605).
Dull, a constable.—Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost (1594).
Du'machus. The impenitent thief is so called in Longfellow's Golden Legend, and the penitent thief is called Titus.
In the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemis, the impenitent thief is called Gestas, and the penitent one Dysmas.
In the story of Joseph of Arimathea, the impenitent thief is called Gesmas, and the penitent one Dismas.
Dumain, a French lord in attendance on Ferdinand, king of Navarre. He agreed to spend three years with the king in study, during which time no woman was to approach the court. Of course, the compact was broken as soon as made and Dumain fell in love with Katharine. When however, he proposed marriage, Katharine deferred her answer for twelve months and a day, hoping by that time "his face would be more bearded," for, she said, "I'll mark no words that smoothfaced wooers say."
Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act ii. sc. I (1594).
Du'marin, the husband of Cym'oent, and father of Marinel.—Spenser, Fairy Queen, in. 4.
Dumas (Alexandre D.), in 1845, published sixty volumes.
The most skillful copyist, writing 12 hours a day, can with difficulty do 3,900 letters in an hour, which gives him 46,800 per diem, or 60 pages of a romance. Thus he could copy 5 volumes octavo per month and 60 in a year, supposing that he did not lose one second of time, but worked without ceasing 12 hours every day thoughout the entire year.—De Mirecourt, Dumas Père (1867).
Dumb Ox (The). St. Thomas Aqui'nas was so called by his fellow-students at Cologne, from his taciturnity and dreaminess. Sometimes called "The Great Dumb Ox of Sicily." He was larged-bodied, fat, with a brown complexion, and a large head partly bald.
Longfellow, The Golden Legend.
(Thomas Aquinas was subsequently called "The Angelic Doctor," and the "Angel of the Schools," 1224-1274.)
Dumbiedikes (The old laird of), an exacting landlord, taciturn and obstinate.
The laird of Dumbiedikes had hitherto been moderate in his exactions ... but when a stout, active young fellow appeared ... he began to think so broad a pair of shoulders might bear an additional burden. He regulated, indeed, his management of his dependants as carters do their horses, never failing to clap an additional brace of hundred-weights on a new and willing horse.—Chap. 8 (1818).
The young laird of Dumbiedikes (3 syl.), a bashful young laird, in love with Jeanie Deans, but Jeanie marries the Presbyterian minister, Reuben Butler.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).
Dum'merar (The Rev. Dr.), a friend of Sir Geoffrey Peveril.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Dummy or SUPERNUMERARY. "Celimène," in the Précieuses Ridicules, does not utter a single word, although she enters with other characters on the stage.
Dumtous'tie (Mr. Daniel), a young barrister, and nephew of Lord Bladderskate.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Dun (Squire), the hangman who came between Richard Brandon and Jack Ketch.
Cotton, Virgil Travestied, iv. (1677).
Dun Cow (The), slain by Sir Guy of Warwick on Dunsmore Heath, was the cow kept by a giant in Mitchel Fold [middle-fold], Shropshire. Its milk was inexhaustible. One day an old woman, who had filled her pail, wanted to fill her sieve also with its milk, but this so enraged the cow that it broke away, and wandered to Dunsmore, where it was killed.
therefore.jpg A huge tusk, probably an elephant's, is still shown at Warwick Castle as one of the horns of this wonderful cow.
Dunbar and March (George, earl of), who deserted to Henry IV. of England, because the betrothal of his daughter Elizabeth to the king's eldest son was broken off by court intrigue.
Elizabeth Dunbar, daughter of the earl of Dunbar and March, betrothed to Prince Robert, duke of Rothsay, eldest son of Robert III. of Scotland. The earl of Douglas contrived to set aside this betrothal in favor of his own daughter Elizabeth, who married the prince, and became duchess of Rothsay.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Duncan "the Meek," king of Scotland, was son of Crynin, and grandson of Malcolm II., whom he succeeded on the throne, Macbeth was the son of the younger sister of Duncan's mother, and hence Duncan and Macbeth were first cousins. Sueno, king of Norway, having invaded Scotland, the command of the army was entrusted to Macbeth and Banquo, and so great was their success that only ten men of the invading army were left alive. After the battle, King Duncan paid a visit to Macbeth in his castle of Inverness, and was there murdered by his host. The successor to the throne was Duncan's son Malcolm, but Macbeth usurped the crown.—Shakespeare, Macbeth (1606).
Duncan (Captain), of Knockdunder, agent at Roseneath to the Duke of Buckingham.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.). Duncan (Duroch), a follower of Donald Beau Lean.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.).
Dunce, wittily or willfully derived from Duns, surnamed "Scotus."
In the Gaelic, donas [means] "bad luck" or in contempt, "a poor ignorant creature." The Lowland Scotch has donsie, "unfortunate, stupid."—Notes and Queries, 225, September 21, 1878.
Dun'ciad ("the dunce epic"), a satire by Alexander Pope—written to revenge himself upon his literary enemies. The plot is this: Eusden the poet-laureate being dead, the goddess of Dulness elects Colley Cibber as his successor. The installation is celebrated by games, the most important being the "reading of two voluminous works, one in verse and the other in prose, without nodding." King Cibber is then taken to the temple of Dulness, and lulled to sleep on the lap of the goddess. In his dream he sees the triumphs of the empire. Finally the goddess having established the kingdom on a firm basis, Night and Chaos are restored, and the poem ends (1728-42).
Dundas, (Starvation), Henry Dundas, first Lord Melville. So called because he introduced into the language the word starvation, in a speech on American affairs (1775).
Dunder (Sir David), of Dunder Hall, near Dover. An hospitable, conceited, whimsical old gentleman, who forever interrupts a speaker with "Yes, yes, I know it," or "Be quiet, I know it." He rarely finishes a sentence, but runs on in this style: "Dover is an odd sort of a—eh?" "It is a dingy kind of a—humph!" "The ladies will be happy to—eh?" He is the father of two daughters, Harriet and Kitty, whom he accidentally detects in the act of eloping with two guests. To prevent a scandal, he sanctions the marriages, and discovers that the two lovers, both in family and fortune, are suitable sons-in-law.
Lady Dunder, fat, fair, and forty if not more. A country lady, more fond of making jams and pastry than doing the fine lady. She prefers cooking to croquet, and making the kettle sing to singing herself. (See HARRIET and KITTY.)—G. Colman, Ways and Means (1788).
William Dowton [1764-1851] played "Sir Anthony Absolute," "Sir Peter Teazle," "Sir David Dunder," and "Sir John Falstaff," and looked the very characters he represented.—W. Donaldson, Recollections.
therefore.jpg "Sir Anthony Absolute," in The Rivals (Sheridan); "Sir Peter Teazle," in The School for Scandal (Sheridan).
Dundrear'y (Lord), a good natured, indolent, blundering, empty-headed swell; the chief character in Tom Taylor's dramatic piece entitled Our American Cousin. He is greatly characterized by his admiration of "Brother Sam," for his incapacity to follow out the sequence of any train of thought, and for supposing all are insane who differ from him.
(Mr. Sothern of the Haymarket created this character by his power of conception and the genius of his acting.)
Dunios (The count de), in Sir W. Scott's novel of Quentin Durward (time, Edward IV.).
Dunois the Brave, hero of the famous French song, set to music by Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III., and called Partant pour Syrie. His prayer to the Virgin, when he left for Syria, was: