Exodus xxxiv. 30, “All the children of Israel saw Moses, and the skin of his face shone, ” translated in the Vulgate, “Cornuta esset facies sua.” Rays of light were called horns. Hence in…
The forty-ninth doge or chief magistrate of the republic of Venice, elected 1354. A patrician named Michel Steno, having behaved indecently to some of the women assembled at the great…
(St.). Patron saint of idiots and fools. A pun on his name. (See below.) The malady of St. Mathurin. Folly, stupidity. A French expression. Maturins, in French argot, means dice, and “…
The celebrated painter, born 1474, died 1563. The Michael-Angelo of battle-scenes. Michael-Angelo Cerquozzi, a native of Rome, famous for his battle-scenes and shipwrecks. (1600-1660.)…
Olaus Magnus tells us that Eric, King of Sweden, was so familiar with evil spirits that what way soever he turned his cap the wind would blow, and for this he was called Windy Cap. The…
The membrane on the heads of some new-born infants, supposed to be a charm against death by drowning. To be born with a caul was with the Romans tantamount to our phrase, “To be born with…
An epithet applied to art between 1500-1600; called in France Renaissance, and in England Elizabethan. It was the revival of the classical or antique, but is generally understood as a…
(i.e. Bridget). A generic name for an Irish servant-maid, as Mike is for an Irish labourer. These generic names are very common: for example, Tom Tug, a waterman; Jack Pudding, a buffoon;…
(3 syl.); Italian Lazzaro, plu. Lazzaroni. The mob. Originally applied to all those people of Naples who lived in the streets, not having any habitation of their own. So called from the…
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