Character Sketches of Romance Volume I Part 111

DUMMY or SUPERNUMERARY. "Celimene," in the _Precieuses 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.

And presently a halter got, Made of the best strong hempen teer, And ere a cat could lick his ear, Had tied him up with as much art As Dun himself could do for's heart.

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_], Shrops.h.i.+re.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration] 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 d.u.c.h.ess 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 G.o.ddess 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 G.o.ddess. In his dream he sees the triumphs of the empire. Finally the G.o.ddess 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_.

[Ill.u.s.tration] "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 ent.i.tled _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:

Que j'aime la plus belle, Et sois le plus vaillant!

He behaved with great valor, and the count whom he followed gave him his daughter to wife. The guests, on the bridal day, all cried aloud:

Amour a la plus belle!

Honneur an plus vaillant!

Words by M. de Laborde (1809).

DUN'OVER, a poor gentleman introduced by Sir W. Scott in the introduction of _The Heart of Midlothian_ (time, George II.).

DUNROMMATH, lord of Uthal, one of the Orkneys. He carried off Oith'ona, daughter of Nuath (who was engaged to be married to Gaul, son of Morni), and was slain by Gaul in fight.

Gaul advanced in his arms. Dunrommath shrunk behind his people. But the spear of Gaul pierced the gloomy chief; his sword lopped off his head as it bended in death.--Ossian, _Oithoha_.

DUNS SCOTUS, called "The Subtle Doctor," said to have been born at Dunse, in Berwicks.h.i.+re, or Dunstance, in Northumberland (1265-1308).

John Scotus, called _Erigena_ ("Erin-born"), is quite another person (_-886). Erigena is sometimes called "Scotus the Wise," and lived four centuries before "The Subtle Doctor."

DUN-SHUNNER _(Augustus)_, a _nom de plnme_ of Professor William Edmonstoune Aytoun, in _Blackwood's Magazine_ (1813-1865).

DUNS'TAN _(St.)_, patron saint of goldsmiths and jewellers. He was a smith, and worked up all sorts of metals in his cell near Glas...o...b..ry Church. It was in this cell that, according to legend, Satan had a gossip with the saint, and Dunstan caught his sable majesty by the nose with a pair of red-hot forceps.

DUNTHAL'MO, lord of Teutha _(the Tweed)._ He went "in his pride against Rathmor," chief of Clutha (_the Clyde_), but being overcome, "his rage arose," and he went "by night with his warriors" and slew Rathmor in his banquet hall. Touched with pity for his two young sons (Calthon and Colmar), he took them to his own house and brought them up. "They bent the bow in his presence, and went forth to his wars."

But observing that their countenances fell, Dunthalmo began to be suspicious of the young men, and shut them up in two separate caves on the banks of the Tweed, where neither "the sun penetrated by day nor the moon by night." Colmal (the daughter of Dunthalmo), disguised as a young warrior, loosed Calthon from his bonds, and fled with him to the court of Fingal, to crave aid for the liberation of Colmar. Fingal sent his son Ossian with 300 men to effect this object, but Dunthalmo, hearing of their approach, gathered together his strength and slew Colmar. He also seized Calthon, mourning for his brother, and bound him to an oak. At daybreak Ossian moved to the fight, slew Dunthalmo, and having released Calthon, "gave him to the white-bosomed Colmal."--Ossian, _Calthon and Colmal_.

DUPELEY (_Sir Charles_), a man who prided himself on his discernment of character, and defied any woman to entangle him in matrimony; but he mistook Lady Bab Lardoon, a votary of fas.h.i.+on, for an unsophisticated country maiden, and proposed marriage to her.

"I should like to see the woman," he says, "that could entangle me ... Shew me a woman ...and at the first glance I will discover the whole extent of her artifice."--Burgoyne, _The Maid of the Oaks_, i. I.

DUPRe [_Du.Pray_'], a servant of Mr. Darlemont, who a.s.sists his master in abandoning Julio, count of Harancour (his ward) in the streets of Paris, for the sake of becoming possessor of his ward's property.

Dupre repents and confesses the crime.--Th. Holcroft, _The Deaf and Dumb_ (1785).

DURAN'DAL, the sword of Orlando, the workmans.h.i.+p of fairies. So admirable was its temper that it would "cleave the Pyrenees at a blow."--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516)

DURANDAR'TE (_4 syl_.), a knight who fell at Roncesvalles (_4 syl_.).

Durandarte loved Belerma whom he served for seven years, and was then slain; but in dying he requested his cousin Montesi'nos to take his heart to Belerma.

Sweet in manners, fair in favor, Mild in temper, fierce in fight.

Lewis.

DUR'DEN _(Dame)_, a notable country gentlewoman, who kept five men-servants "to use the spade and flail," and five women-servants "to carry the milken-pail." The five men loved the five maids. Their names were:

Moll and Bet, and Doll and Kate, and Dorothy Draggletail; John and d.i.c.k, and Joe and Jack, and Humphrey with his flail.

_A Well-known Glee_.

(In _Bleak House_, by C. d.i.c.kens, Esther Summerson is playfully called "Dame Durden.")

DURETETE _(Captain)_, a rather heavy gentleman who takes lessons in gallantry from his friend, young Mirabel. Very bashful with ladies, and for ever sparring with Bisarre, who teazes him unmercifully _[Dure-tait, Be-zar']._--G. Farquhar, _The Inconstant_ (1702).

DURINDA'NA, Orlando's sword, given him by his cousin Malagi'gi. This sword and the horn Olifant were buried at the feet of the hero.