Character Sketches of Romance Volume I Part 83

CORMAC I., son of Conar, a Cael, who succeeded his father as "king of Ireland," and reigned many years. In the latter part of his reign the Fir-bolg (or Belgae settled in the south of Ireland), who had been subjugated by Conar, rebelled, and Cormac was reduced to such extremities that he sent to Fingal for aid. Fingal went with a large army, utterly defeated Colculla "lord of Atha," and re-established Cormac in the sole possession of Ireland. For this service Cormac gave Fingal his daughter Roscra'na for wife, and Ossian was their first son. Cormac I. was succeeded by his son Cairbre; Cairbre by his son Artho; Artho by his son Cormac II. (a minor); and Cormac II., (after a short interregnum) by Ferad-Artho.--Ossian.

CORMAC II. (a minor), king of Ireland. On his succeeding his father Artho on the throne, Swaran, king of Lochlin [_Scandinavia_] invaded Ireland, and defeated the army under the command of Cuthullin.

Fingal's arrival turned the tide of events, for the next day Swaran was routed and returned to Lochlin. In the third year of his reign Torlath rebelled, but was utterly discomfited at lake Lago by Cuthullin, who, however, was himself mortally wounded by a random arrow during the persuit. Not long after this Cairbre rose in insurrection, murdered the young king, and usurped the government. His success, however, was only of short duration, for having invited Oscar to a feast, he treacherously slew him, and was himself slain at the same time. His brother Cathmor succeeded for a few days, when he also was slain in battle by Fingal, and the Conar dynasty restored. Conar (first king of Ireland, a Caledonian) was succeeded by his son Cormac I; Cormac I. was succeeded by his son Cairbre; Cairbre by his son Artho; Artho by his son Cormac II.; and Cormac II (after a short interregnum) by his cousin Ferad-Artho.--Ossian, _Fingal, Dar-Thula and Temora_.

COR'MACK _(Donald)_, a Highland robber-chief.--Sir W. Scott, _Fair Maid of Perth_ (time, Henry IV).

COR'MALO, a "chief of ten thousand spears," who lived near the waters of Lano (a Scandinavian lake). He went to Inis-Thona (an island of Scandinavia), to the court of King Annir, and "sought the honor of the spear" (i.e. a tournament). Argon, the eldest son of Annir, tilted with him and overthrew him. This vexed Cormalo greatly, and during a hunting expedition he drew his bow in secret and shot both Argon and his brother Ruro. Their father wondered they did not return, when their dog Runa came bounding into the hall, howling so as to attract attention. Annir followed the hound, and found his sons both dead. In the mean time his daughter was carried off by Cormalo. When Oscar, son of Ossian, heard thereof, he vowed vengeance, went with an army to Lano, encountered Cormalo, and slew him. Then rescuing the daughter, he took her back to Inis-Thona, and delivered her to her father.--Ossian, _The War of Inis-Thona._

COR'MORAN' _(The Giant_), a Cornish giant slain by Jack the Giant-killer. This was his first exploit, accomplished when he was a mere boy. Jack dug a deep pit, and so artfully filmed it over atop, that the giant fell into it, whereupon Jack knocked him on the head and killed him.

CORNAVII, the inhabitants of Ches.h.i.+re, Shrops.h.i.+re, Staffords.h.i.+re, Warwicks.h.i.+re, and Worcesters.h.i.+re. Drayton refers to them in his _Polyolbion_, xvi. (1613).

CORNE'LIA, wife of t.i.tus Semp.r.o.nius Gracchus, and mother of the two tribunes Tiberius and Caius. She was almost idolized by the Romans, who erected a statue in her honor, with this inscription: CORNELIA, MOTHER OF THE GRACCHI.

Clelia, Cornelia,... and the Roman brows Of Agrippina

Tennyson, _The Princess_, ii.

CORNET, a waiting-woman on Lady Fanciful. She caused great offence because she did not flatter her ladys.h.i.+p. She actually said to her, "Your ladys.h.i.+p looks very ill this morning," which the French waiting-woman contradicted by saying, "My opinion be, matam, dat your latys.h.i.+p never look so well in all your life." Lady Fanciful said to Cornet, "Get out of the room, I can't endure you;" and then turning to Mdlle, she added, "This wench is insufferably ugly.... Oh, by-the-by, Mdlle., you can take these two pair of gloves. The French are certainly well-mannered, and never flatter."--Vanbrugh, _The Provoked Wife_ (1697).

[Ill.u.s.tration] This is of a piece with the archbishop of Granada and his secretary Gil Blas.

CORNEY (_Mrs_.), matron of the workhouse where Oliver Twist was born.

She is a well-to-do widow, who marries b.u.mble, and reduces the pompous beadle to a hen-pecked husband.--C. d.i.c.kens, _Oliver Twist_, x.x.xvii.

(1837).

CORNFLOWER (_Henry_), a farmer, who "beneath a rough outside, possessed a heart which would have done honor to a prince."

_Mrs. Cornflower_, (by birth Emma Belton), the farmer's wife abducted by Sir Charles Courtly.--Dibdin, _The Farmer's Wife_ (1789).

CORNIOLE GIOVANNI DELLE, i.e. Giovanni of the Cornelians, the cognomen given to an engraver of these stones in the time of Lorenzo di Medici.

His most famous work, the Savonarola in the Uffoziel gallery.

CORN-LAW RHYMER (_The_), Ebenezer Elliot (1781-1849).

CORNWALL (_Barry_), an imperfect anagram of Bryan Waller Proctor, author of _English Songs_ (1788-1874).

COROMBONA (_Vittoria_), the White Devil, the chief character in a drama by John Webster, ent.i.tled _The White Devil, or Vittoria Corombona_ (1612).

CORO'NIS, daughter of Phoroneus (3 _syl_.) king of Pho'cis, metamorphosed by Minerva into a crow. CORPORAL (_The Little_). General Bonaparte was so called after the battle of Lodi(1796).

CORRECTOR (_Alexander the_), Alexander Cruden, author of the _Concordance to the Bible_, for many years a corrector of the press, in London. He believed himself divinely inspired to correct the morals and manners of the world (1701-1770).

COURROUGE' (2 _syl_.), the sword of Sir Otuel, a presumptuous Saracen, nephew of Farracute (3 _syl_.). Otuel was in the end converted to Christianity.

CORSAIR (_The_), Lord Conrad, afterwards called Lara. Hearing that the Sultan Seyd [_Seed_] was about to attack the pirates, he a.s.sumed the disguise of a dervise and entered the palace, while his crew set fire to the Sultan's fleet. Conrad was apprehended and cast into a dungeon, but being released by Glulnare (queen of the harem), he fled with her to the Pirates' Isle. Here he found that Medo'ra (his heart's darling) had died during his absence, so he left the Island with Gulnare, returned to his native land, headed a rebellion, and was shot.--Byron, _The Corsair_, continued in _Lara_ (1814).

(This tale is based on the adventures of Lafitte, the notorious buccaneer. Lafitte was pardoned by General Jackson for services rendered to the States in 1815, during the attack of the British on New Orleans).

COR'SAND, a magistrate at the examination of Dirk Hatteraick at Kippletringan.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time George II).

CORSICAN GENERAL (_The_), Napoleon I., who was born in Corsica (1769-1821).

COR'SINA, wife of the corsair who found Fairstar and Chery in the boat as it drifted on the sea. Being made very rich by her foster-children, Corsina brought them up as princes. Comtesse D'Aunoy, _Fairy Tales_ (The Princess Fairstar, 1682).

CORTE'JO, a cavaliere servente, who as Byron says in _Beppo_:

Coach, servants, gondola, must go to call, And carries fan and tippet, gloves and shawl.

Was it not for this that no cortejo ere I yet have chosen from the youth of Sev'ille?

Byron, _Don Juan_, i. 148 (1819).

CORVI'NO (_Signior_), a Venetian merchant, duped by Mosca into believing that he is Vol'pone's heir.--Ben Jonson, _Volpone or the Fox_ (1605).

CORYATE'S CRUDITIES, a book of travels by Thomas Coryate, who called himself the "Odcombian Legstretcher." He was the son of the rector of Odcombe (1577--1617).

CORYCIAN NYMPHS (_The_), the Muses, so called from the cave of Corycia on Lyeorca, one of the two chief summits of Mount Parna.s.sus, in Greece.

COR'YDON, a common name for a shepherd. It occurs in the _Idylls_ of Theocritos; the _Eclogues_ of Virgil; _The Cantata_, v., of Hughes, etc.

_Cor'ydon_, the shepherd who languished for the fair Pastorella (canto 9). Sir Calidore, the successful rival, treated him most courteously, and when he married the fair shepherdess, gave Corydon both flocks and herds to mitigate his disappointment (canto 11).--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, vi. (1596).

_Cor'ydon_, the shoemaker, a citizen.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

CORYPHAEUS OF GERMAN LITERATURE _(The)_, Goethe.

The Polish poet called upon ... the great Corypheeus of German literature.--W. R. Morfell, _Notes and Queries_, April 27, 1878.

CORYPHE'US (4 _syl_.), a model man or leader, from the Koruphaios or leader of the chorus in the Greek drama. Aristarchos is called _The Corypheus of Grammarians_.

COSETTE. Illegitimate child of Fantine, a Parisian _grisette_. She puts the baby into the care of peasants who neglect and maltreat the little creature. She is rescued by the ex-convict Jean Valjean, who nurtures her tenderly and marries her to a respectable man.--Victor Hugo, _Les Miserables._

COSME _(St.)_, patron of surgeons, born in Arabia. He practised medicine in Cilicia with his brother St. Damien, and both suffered martyrdom under Diocletian in 303 or 310. Their fete day is December 27. In the twelfth century there was a medical society called _Saint Cosme_.

COS'MIEL (3 _syl_.), the genius of the world. He gave to Theodidactus a boat of asbestos, in which he sailed to the sun and planets.--Kircher, _Ecstatic Journey to Heaven._

COSMOS, the personification of "the world" as the enemy of man.

Phineas Fletcher calls him "the first son to the Dragon red" (_the devil_). "Mistake," he says, "points all his darts;" or, as the Preacher says, "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." Fully described in _The Purple Island_, viii (1633). (Greek, _kosmos_, "the world.")

COS'TARD, a clown who apes the court wits of Queen Elizabeth's time.

He uses the word "honorificabilitudinitatibus," and some of his blunders are very ridiculous, as "ad dunghill, at the fingers' ends, as they say" (act v. I).--Shakespeare, _Love's Labour's Lost_ (1594).

COSTIGAN, Irish Captain in _Pendennis_, W. M. Thackeray.

COSTIN _(Lord)_, disguised as a beggar, in _The Beggar's Bush_, a drama by Beaumont and Fletcher (1622).

COTE MALE-TAILe _(Sir)_, meaning the "knight with the villainous coat," the nickname given by Sir Key (the seneschal of King Arthur) to Sir Brewnor le Noyre, a young knight who wore his father's, coat with all its sword-cuts, to keep him in remembrance of the vengeance due to his father. His first achievement was to kill a lion that "had broken loose from a tower, and came hurling after the queen." He married a damsel called Maledisaunt (3 _syl_.), who loved him, but always chided him. After her marriage she was called Beauvinant.--Sir T. Malory, _History of Prince Arthur_, ii. 42-50 (1470).