Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 145

fogey of five and forty. Harriet hated the idea, and agreed to elope with Scruple; but her father discovered by accident the intention, and intercepted it. However, to prevent scandal, he gave his consent to the union, and discovered that Scruple, both in family and fortune, was quite suitable for a son-in-law.--G. Colman, _Ways and Means_ (1788).

=Scu'damour= (_Sir_), the knight beloved by Am'oret (whom Britomart delivered from Busyrane, the enchanter), and whom she ultimately married. He is called Scudamour (3 _syl._) from [_e_]_scu d'amour_ ("the s.h.i.+eld of love"), which he carried (bk. iv. 10). This s.h.i.+eld was hung by golden bands in the temple of Venus, and under it was written: "WHOSOEVER BE THIS s.h.i.+ELD, FAIRE AMORET BE HIS." Sir Scudamour, determined to win the prize, had to fight with twenty combatants, overthrew them all, and the s.h.i.+eld was his. When he saw Amoret in the company of Britomart, dressed as a knight, he was racked with jealousy, and went on his wanderings, accompanied by nurse Glauce for "his squire;" but somewhat later, seeing Britomart, without her hemlet,[TN-163]

he felt that his jealousy was groundless (bk. iv. 6). His tale is told by himself (bk. iv. 10).--Spenser, _Faery Queen_, iii., iv. (1590-6).

=Sculpture= (_Father of French_), Jean Goujon (1510-1572). G. Pilon is so called also (1515-1590).

=Scyld=, the king of Denmark preceding Beowulf. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem called _Beowulf_ (sixth century) begins with the death of Scyld.

At his appointed time, Scyld deceased, very decrepit, and went into the peace of the Lord. They ... bore him to the sea-sh.o.r.e as he himself requested.... There on the beach stood the ring-prowed s.h.i.+p, the vehicle of the n.o.ble ... ready to set out. They laid down the dear prince, the distributer of rings, in the bosom of the s.h.i.+p, the mighty one beside the mast ... they set up a golden ensign high overhead ... they gave him to the deep. Sad was their spirit, mournful their mood.--Kemble, _Beowulf_ (an Anglo-Saxon poem, 1833).

=Scylla and Charybdis.= The former was a rock, in which dwelt Scylla, a hideous monster, encompa.s.sed with dogs and wolves. The latter was a whirlpool, into which Charybdis was metamorphosed.--_Cla.s.sic Fable._

=Scythian= (_That Brave_), Darius, the Persian. According to Herod'otus, all the south-east of Europe used to be called Scythia, and Xenophon calls the dwellers south of the Caspian Sea "Scythians," also. In fact, by Scythia was meant the south of Russia and west of Asia; hence, the Hungarians, a Tartar horde, settled on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, who, in 889, crossed into Europe, are spoken of as "Scythians," and Lord Brooke calls the Persians "Scythians." The reference below is to the following event in Persian history:--The death of Smerdis was kept for a time a profound secret, and one of the officers about the court who resembled him usurped the crown, calling himself brother of the late monarch. Seven of the high n.o.bles conspired together, and slew the usurper, but it then became a question to which of the seven the crown should be offered. They did not toss for it, but they did much the same thing. They agreed to give the crown to him whose horse neighed first.

Darius's horse won, and thus Darius became king of the Persian empire.

That brave Scythian, Who found more sweetness in his horse's neighing Than all the Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian playing.

Lord Brooke, (1554-1628).

? Marlowe calls Tamburlaine of Tartary "a Scythian."

You shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine Threatening the world with high astounding terms.

Marlowe, _Tamburlaine_ (prologue, 1587).

=Scythian's Name= (_The_). Humber or Humbert, king of the Huns, invaded England during the reign of Locrin, some 1000 years B.C. In his flight, he was drowned in the river Abus, which has ever since been called the Humber, after "the Scythian's name."--Geoffrey, _British History_, ii. 2 (1142); and Milton's _History of England_.

Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythian's name.

Milton, _Vacation Exercise_ (1627).

=Sea-Captain= (_The_), a drama by Lord Lytton (1839). Norman, "the sea-captain," was the son of Lady Arundel by her first husband, who was murdered. He was born three days after his father's murder, and was brought up by Onslow, a village priest. At 14 he went to sea, and became the captain of a man-of-war. Lady Arundel married again, and had another son named Percy. She wished to ignore Norman, and to settle the t.i.tle and estates on Percy, but it was not to be. Norman and Percy both loved Violet, a ward of Lady Arundel. Violet, however, loved Norman only. A scheme was laid to murder Norman, but failed; and at the end Norman was acknowledged by his mother, reconciled to his brother, and married to the ward.

=Seaforth= (_The earl of_), a royalist, in the service of King Charles I.--Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).

=Seasons= (_The_), a descriptive poem in blank verse, by James Thomson, "Winter" (1726), "Summer" (1727), "Spring" (1728), "Autumn" (1730).

"Winter" is inscribed to the earl of Wilmington; "Summer" to Mr.

Doddington; "Spring" to the countess of Hertford; and "Autumn" to Mr.

Onslow.

1. In "Winter," after describing the season, the poet introduces his episode of a traveller lost in a snowstorm, "the creeping cold lays him along the snow, a stiffened corse,"[TN-164] of wife, of children, and of friends unseen. The whole book containing 1069 lines.

2. "Summer" begins with a description of the season, and the rural pursuits of haymaking and sheep-shearing; pa.s.ses on to the hot noon, when "nature pants, and every stream looks languid." After describing the tumultuous character of the season in the torrid zone, he returns to England, and describes a thunder-storm, in which Celadon and Amelia are overtaken. The thunder growls, the lightnings flash, louder and louder crashes the aggravated roar, "convulsing heaven and earth." The maiden, terrified, clings to her lover for protection. "Fear not, sweet innocence," he says. "He who involves yon skies in darkness ever smiles on thee. 'Tis safety to be near thee, sure, and thus to clasp protection." As he speaks the words, a flash of lightning strikes the maid, and lays her a blackened corpse at the young man's feet. The poem concludes with the more peaceful scenery of a summer's evening, when the story of Damon and Musidora is introduced. Damon had long loved the beautiful Musidora, but met with scant encouragement. One summer's evening he accidently[TN-165] came upon her bathing, and the respectful modesty of his love so won upon the damsel that she wrote upon a tree, "Damon, the time may come when you need not fly." The whole book contains 1804 lines.

3. In "Spring" the poet describes its general features, and its influence on the vegetable and animal world. He describes a garden with its harem of flowers, a grove with its orchestry of song-birds making melody in their love, the rough world of brutes, furious and fierce with their strong desire, and lastly man tempered by its infusive influence.

The book contains 1173 lines.

4. In "Autumn" we are taken to the harvest-field, where the poet introduces a story similar to that of Ruth and Boaz. His Ruth he calls "Lavinia," and his Boaz "Palemon." He then describes partridge and pheasant shooting, hare and fox hunting, all of which he condemns. After luxuriating in the orchard and vineyard, he speaks of the emigration of birds, the falling of the sear and yellow leaf, and concludes with a eulogy of country life. The whole book contains 1371 lines.

? It is much to be regretted that the poet's order has not been preserved. The arrangement of the seasons into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, is unnatural, and mars the harmony of the poet's plan.

=Seatonian Prize.= The Rev. Thomas Seaton, Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, bequeathed the rents of his Kislingbury estate for a yearly prize of 40 to the best English poem on a sacred subject announced in January, and sent in on or before September 29 following.

Shall h.o.a.ry Granta call her sable sons....

Shall these approach the Muse? Ah, no! she flies, And even spurns the great Seatonian prize.

Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).

=Sebastes of Mytile'ne= (4 _syl._), the a.s.sa.s.sin in the "Immortal Guards."--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Sebastian=, a young gentleman of Messaline, brother to Viola. They were twins, and so much alike that they could not be distinguished except by their dress. Sebastian and his sister, being s.h.i.+pwrecked, escaped to Illyria. Here Sebastian was mistaken for his sister (who had a.s.sumed man's apparel), and was invited by the Countess Olivia to take shelter in her house from a street broil. Olivia was in love with Viola, and thinking Sebastian to be the object of her love, married him.--Shakespeare, _Twelfth Night_ (1614).

_Sebastian_, brother of Alonso, king of Naples, in _The Tempest_ (1609).

_Sebastian_, father of Valentine and Alice.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _Mons. Thomas_ (1619).

_Sebastian_ (_Don_), king of Portugal, is defeated in battle and taken prisoner by the Moors (1574). He is saved from death by Dorax, a n.o.ble Portuguese, then a renegade in the court of the emperor of Barbary. The train being dismissed, Dorax takes off his turban, a.s.sumes his Portuguese dress, and is recognized as Alonzo of Alcazar.--Dryden, _Don Sebastian_ (1690).

The quarrel and reconcilation[TN-166] of Sebastian and Dorax [_alias Alonzo of Alcazar_] is a masterly copy from a similar scene between Brutus and Ca.s.sius [_in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar_].--R. Chambers, _English Literature_, i. 380.

_Don Sebastian_, a name of terror to Moorish children.

Nor shall Sebastian's formidable name Be longer used to still the crying babe.

Dryden, _Don Sebastian_ (1690).

=Sebastian I. of Brazil=, who fell in the battle of Alcazarquebir in 1578.

The legend is that he is not dead, but is patiently biding the fulness of time, when he will return, and make Brazil the chief kingdom of the earth. (See BARBAROSSA.)

=Sebastoc'rator= (_The_), the chief officer of state in the empire of Greece. Same as Protosebastos.--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Sebile= (2 _syl._), la Dame du Lac, in the romance called _Perceforest_.

Her castle was surrounded by a river, on which rested so thick a fog that no one could see across it. Alexander the Great abode with her a fortnight to be cured of his wounds, and King Arthur was the result of this amour (vol. i. 42).