348 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



took part in Hygelac's historical expedition against the 

 Hetware is probably historical, but the Beowulf of the 

 four great exploits of the poem, the swimming match 

 with Breca, and the contests with CJrendel, with his 

 dam. ami with the dragon, is probably a character 

 allied to the Norse divi: 



Bertram. Guy Mannerinir. Scott. The character 

 was suggested by James Annesley. Esq., rightful heir of 

 the earldom of Anglesey, of which he was dispose 

 his uncle Richard. He died in 17 i.'i. Bertram was also 

 the name of the haughty and dissolute count, husband 

 of Helena in Shakespere's comedy "All's Well that Ends 

 Well." 



Bianca. Othello. Miake*p<Te. Cassio's sweetheart. 



Itihlio 'main y. a mode of divination much practiced 

 during many ages. The diviner opened the Bible 

 arved the tirst passage which occurred or upon 

 entering a place of worship took notice of the first words 

 of the Bible heard after entering. The application was 

 often very fanciful, and depended rather upon the mere 

 sound of the words than upon their proper signification, 

 or the scope of the passage. Prayer and fasting were 

 sometimes used as a preparation for a mode of consulting 

 the divine oracles, than which nothing could be more 

 contrary to their purpose and spirit, and which was in 

 harmony only with the notions and practices of hea- 

 thenism. 



Bibliomu'nia, signifies book-madness. It is a pas- 

 sion for rare and curious books. While the ordinary 

 collector is satisfied with the possession of works which 

 are valuable, either on account of their established 

 reputation or as assisting him in his literary or profes- 

 sional pursuits, the bibliomaniac is actuated by other 

 With him utility is of secondary importance, 

 rarity being the first and great requisite. Thus even 

 a common book becomes valuable in his eyes if it be 

 one of a few copies thrown off on vellum or on large 

 paper, or if it has been bound by Derome, Bozerian, 

 Lewis, or Payne; and for the same reason, he some- 

 times prefers an inferior to a better article. The forma- 

 tion of complete sets of such books as the " Elzevir 

 Republics" (see Elzevir), or of the works 9f a single 

 author, provided they be scarce, is a favorite pursuit 

 with many. 



Bigendians. Gulliver's Travels, Swift. The 

 name of a religious party in the imaginary Empire of 

 Lilliput who made it a matter of duty and conscience to 

 break their eggs at the large end. They were regarded 

 as heretics by the law, which required all persons to break 

 the smaller end of their eggs, under pain of heavy penal- 

 ties in case of disobedience. 



Billil. Tom Jones, Fielding. Allworthy's nephew, 

 a talebearer. 



Birch, Harvey. The Spy, Cooper. The chief 

 character of the novel. 



Black-eyed Susan. Ballad, John Gay. The 

 heroine of the popular sea-song. 



Blatant Beast. Faery Queen, Spenser. A bel- 

 lowing monster typical of slander; or, an impersonation 

 of what we now call "Vox Populi," or the "Voice of the 

 People." 



Blimber, Miss Cornelia. Dombey and Son, Dick- 

 ens. The daughter of Dr. Blimber, tile head of a first- 

 class educational establishment conducted on the forcing 

 or cramming principle. She is a very learned, grave, 

 and precise young lady, "no light nonsense about her," 

 who has become "dry and sandy with working in the 

 graves of deceased languages." 



Blouzalinda. Shepherd's Week, John Gay. 

 The country girl, heroine of this pastoral poem, written 

 more than one hundred and fifty years ago, but quoted 

 r.s a picture of the poverty and rudeness of rural life at 

 that time. 



Bobadil, Captain. Every Man in His Humor, 

 Jon son. A boasting coward, who passes himself off 

 with young and simple people for a Hector. 



Boeuf, Front de. Ivanhoe, Scott. One of King 

 John's followers. A ferocious scoundrel. 



Bois Guilbert, Brian de. Ivanhoe, Scott. A 

 brave but cruel, crafty, and dissolute commander of the 

 Knights Templar. 



Boniface. The Beaux' Stratagem, Farquhar. 

 A fine representation of an English landlord. Hence 

 applied to landlords generally. 



Bontemps, Roger. Song, Berangcr. Known in 

 France as the personification of care-free leisure. The 

 equivalent, among the French peasantry, for the English 

 proverb, "There's a good time coming," is "Roger lion- 

 temps." This one of Beranger's most celebrated songs 

 was written in 1814. 



Bottom, Nick. A Midsummer Night's Dream, 

 Shakespere. A man who fancies he can do every- 

 thing, and do it better than anyone else. Shakespere 



hai drawn him as profoundly ignorant, and with an over- 

 flow of s, if-coiiceit. Oberon, the fairy king, desiring to 

 punish Titania, his queen, commissioned 1'uek to watch 

 her till she fell asleep, and then to annoint her eyelids 

 with the juice of a plant called "love-in-idleness," the 

 effect of which, when she awoke, was to make her dote 

 upon Bottom, upon whom Tuck hail fixed an ass's head. 



Howling, Tom. Roderick Random, .Smollett. 

 A name made almost famous as hero of the novel. 

 Critics have said "The character of Tom Bowling, in 

 'Roderick Random,' will be regarded. in all ages as a 

 happy exhibition of those naval heroes to whom Britain 

 is indebted for so much of her happiness and glory." 

 The Tom Bowling referred to in Dibdin's famous sea- 

 song was Captain Thomas Dibdin, brother of Charles 

 Dibdin, who wrote the song. 



Box and Cox. Farce, Morton. Principal charac- 

 ters in the farce known as a "dramatic romance of real 

 life." 



Brag, Jack. Jack Brag, Theodore Hook. Hero 

 of the novel and a spirited embodiment of the arts em- 

 ployed by a vulgar pretender to creep into aristocratic 

 society, and of his ultimate discomfiture. General Bur- 

 goyne figures in an old ballad known as "Sir Jack Brag." 



Bramble, Matthew. Humphrey Clinker, Smol- 

 lett. Noted character in the novel described as "an odd 

 kind of humorist," afflicted with the gout, and "always 

 on the fret," but full of generosity and benevolence. 



Brass, Sally, and Sampson. Old Curiosity Shop, 

 Dickens. Brother and sister, well mated, he a shyster- 

 ing lawyer and she getting ahead of him in villany. 

 Sampson was dishonest, sentimental, and affected in 

 manner, and both are interesting characters to read about. 



Brentford, the two Kings of. The Rehearsal, 

 Villiers. Much question has been raised as to who was 

 to be ridiculed under these characters. The royal 

 brothers, Charles II. and James II., have been suggested, 

 others say the fighting Kings of Granada. In the farce 

 the two kings are represented as walking hand in hand, 

 as dancing together, as singing in concert, and, generally, 

 as living on terms of the greatest intimacy and affection. 



Brick, Mr. Jefferson. Martin Chuzzlewit, Dick- 

 ens. A ranting American politician who makes a ridic- 

 ulous figure as editor. 



Brook Farm. The full name was "Brook Farm 

 Institute of Agriculture and Education," a stock com- 

 pany of nearly 70 members, located on a farm of 200 

 acres at West Roxbury, Mass. Among the members 

 were George Ripley, Charles A. Dana, George William 

 Curtis, Margaret Fuller and Nathaniel Hawthorne. 

 Among their frequent visitors were Ralph Waldo Emer- 

 son, Theodore Parker, Bronson Alcott. This idyllic life 

 lasted about five years, from 1841 to 1846. Brook 

 Farm was a financial failure but it was important in 

 intellectual results. Hawthorne has written the story 

 of the experiment in " Blithedale Romance." 



Brown, Tom. Tom Brown's School Days and 

 Tom Brown at Oxford, Thomas Hughes. Ihe hero 

 of these stories of school days, a typical English school- 

 boy and undergraduate. 



Brunehild. Nibelungen-lied. The story of Brune- 

 hild holds large place in ancient German romance. She 

 was, herself, a warrior, proud and skillful and she prom- 

 ised to be the bride of the man who could conquer her in 

 three trials, in hurling the lance, in throwing the stone, 

 and in leaping after the stone when thrown. By the arts 

 and bravery of Siegfried, she was deluded into marrying 

 Gunther, King of Burgundy; but, discovering the trick, 

 she planned and accomplished the destruction of Sieg- 

 fried, and the humiliation of Chriemhild, his wife. 



Bumble, Mr. Oliver Twist, Dickens. A pompous, 

 disagreeable beadle who figures largely in the beginning 

 of the story. The name, Bumble, has since attached 

 itself to the office. 



Bunthorne. Patience, Sullivan. A gloomy poet 

 showing most distinctly in his gloom surrounded by the 

 characters of a comic opera. He was inserted as a satire 

 on the aesthetic craze, turning into ridicule the imitators 

 of Rosetti. 



Bunsby, Jack. Dombey and Son, Dickens. A 

 commander of a ship looked up to as an oracle by his 

 friend Captain Cuttle. He is described as wearing a 

 "rapt and imperturbable manner," and seeming to be 

 "always on the lookout for something in the extremest 

 distance." 



Burchell, Mr. Vicar of Wakefleld, Goldsmith. 

 A prominent character who passes himself off as a poor 

 man, but is really a baronet in disguise. He is noted 

 for his habit of crying out " Fudge! " by way of express- 

 ing his strong contempt for the opinions of others. 



Burd, Helen. Scotch Ballad. A traditional name 

 Standing for constancy. She was carried to England by 

 fairies and imprisoned in a castle. The youngest brother 



