NABATHEANS
The inhabitants of the Northern part of the Arabian peninsula. They settled also
in Idumaea, and their city Petra was a great entrepôt for commerce in the products
of the East. In Lady Mother iv.
1, Thorowgood says, "You do appear more glorious Than the red morn when she adorns
her cheeks With Nabathean pearls."
NAG'S HEAD
A tavern in Lond., at the E. corner of Cheapside and Friday St. In Ret.
Pernass. i. 6, Phantasms says, "I promised to bring you to a drinking Inn,
in Cheapside, at the sign of the Nagges Heade." In Feversham
ii. 2, Michael says that Master Arden supped "at the Nages head at the 18
pence ordinary." Nash, in Saffron Walden, says Watson first told him of Gabriel
Harvey's vanities and hexameters "one night at supper at the N. H. in Cheape."
There was another N. H. at the S. corner of Lombard St. and Gracechurch St., opposite
Leadenhall Market (see under LEADENHALL).
NAMANCOS
A town on the coast of Galicia, in North-W. Spain, near Cape Finisterre. Milton, in Lyc. 162, speaks of the angel looking from St. Michael's Mt. "toward N. and Bayona's hold." There is nothing between the S. of Cornwall and the North of Spain except sea.
NANCY
The old capital of Lorraine, on the Meurthe, 219 m. E. of Paris. Charles the Bold
was defeated and killed at the battle of N. in 1477. A large piece of tapestry,
found in his tent after the battle, is preserved in the Galerie des Cerfs in the
old Ducal Palace; and the place where his body was found is marked by a cross.
In Massinger's Dowry i. 2, Charalois
tells how his father "did as much as man In those 3 memorable overthrows At Granson,
Morat, N., where his master, The warlike Charalois, lost treasure, men, and life."
In Devonshire iv. 1, Manuel says
he left his father "at N. in Lorraine."
NANTES
A city in France, on the right bank of the Loire, 35 m. from its mouth. It was
a strongly Catholic city, but when it was taken by Henri IV in 1598 it was there
that he signed the famous Edict of Toleration, afterwards repealed by Louis XIV
in 1685. In Bale's Laws ii., Sodomy
says, "Pope July sought to have 2 lads from the cardinal of N."
NANTWICH
A town in Cheshire, on the Weaver, 17 m. S.E. of Chester. It had as many as 300
salt-works in the 16th cent. In Brome's Crew
ii. 1, Vincent suggests to Hilliard "a journey to the Wise Woman of N., to
ask if we be fit husbands for them," i.e. Merial and Rachel. Drayton, in
Polyolb. xi. 61, celebrates the "2 renowned Wyches, The Nantwyche and the North,
whose either briny well For store and sorts of salts make Weever to excell."
NAPAE
A wooded glen in the island of Lesbos, mentioned in Strabo ix. 426. In Peele's
Ed. I vi. 35. Joan speaks of the
Thames as "wallowing up and down On Flora's beds and Napae's silver down."
NAPLES
(Lat. NEAPOLIS, It. NAPOLI); Nn.=Neapolitan. A city in Italy, on the Northern shore of the Bay of Naples, 120 miles S.E. of Rome in a direct line. The site is one of the most beautiful in the world. Neapolis originally was a Greek colony, though the date and circumstances of its origin are uncertain. It fell under the dominion of Rome, and after the break-up of the Roman Empire was for over 4 cents. an independent republic. About 1050 the Normans established their authority over the S. of Italy and Sicily, and in 1130 Count Roger assumed title of K. of the Two Sicilies. In 1194, by default of male issue, the kingdom passed to the Emperor Henry VI of the house of Hohenstaufen, his successors being Frederick II, Conrad, Conradine, and Manfred. In 1265 Charles I of Anjou defeated and slew Manfred, and was granted the kingship of the Two Sicilies by the Pope; but in 1282 a popular revolution, the Sicilian Vespers, turned the French out of Sicily. Under the Aragonese, and then the Kings of Spain, Naples and Sicily remained until 1707. The Austrians then held fleeting possession until 1733, when Don Carlos (son of the Bourbon Philip V of Spain) founded the Bourbon line of kings, who retained their throne till 1860, when they were expelled by Garibaldi, and Naples became part of the united Kingdom of Italy.
In Tempest there is an Alonzo,
K. of N., and his son Ferdinand. Whilst there is nothing historical in the story,
the names were probably suggested by those of Alphonsus I (1434) and his son
Ferdinand I (1458); or of Alphonsus II (1494) and his son Ferdinand II (1494).
In H6 A. v. 3, 94, Suffolk says
of Margaret of Anjou: "Though her father be the K. of N., D. of Anjou and Maine,
yet is he poor." In v. 4, 78, he is called "Reignier, K. of N."; and in v. 5,
39, "The K of N. and Jerusalem"; and again, in H6
B. i. 1, 48, "Reignier, K. of N., Sicilia, and Jerusalem." In v. 1, 118,
York calls Margaret "Blood-bespotted Neapolitan, Outcast of N., England's bloody
scourge." Reignier's poverty is again referred to, in H6
C. i. 4, 121; and in ii. 2, 139, Richd. calls Margaret "Iron of N. hid with
English gilt, Where father bears the title of a K., As if a channel should be
called the sea." Q. Joanna I left the kingdom of the Two Sicilies to René (Reignier)
of Anjou in 1435, but Alphonso of Arragon also claimed the throne. René reached
N. in 1438, but in 1441 Alphonso besieged and took the city, and René retired
to France, though he continued to the end to call himself K. of N. and Sicily.
The scene of B. & F. Double Mar.
is laid partly at N., during the reign of "Ferrand, the libidinous tyrant of
N." In i. 1, Virolet speaks of him as "this Arragonian tyrant," and says that
he "seized on the government." Ferdinand I, the natural son of Alphonso of Arragon,
and a man of great cruelty, is intended He reigned from 1458 to 1494, and, though
cordially hated by his people, did much for N. He established printing there,
and introduced the manufacture of silk. He built the Cartel del Carmine and
the beautiful Ports Capuana, and erected a lighthouse on the Molo. The scene
of B. & F. Wife is also laid in
N. The K. is Alphonso, but his throne has been usurped by his "unnatural and
libidinous brother, Frederick." Alphonso retires to a monastery, but is ultimately
restored to his kingdom. There is nothing historical in this; but, as Sir Adolphus
Ward suggests, the idea may have been suggested by the imprisonment of Alphonso
of Leon by his brother Sancho of Castile in the 11th cent. and his ultimate
restoration. Massinger's Guardian is
laid partly in N.; the K. is Alphonso, but there is nothing to show whether
Alphonso I or II is meant, unless, indeed, an allusion to the Indies may be
taken as more consistent with the later of the 2 monarchs, who died in 1495.
The scene of Webster's Law Case
is laid in N. in the time of Philip II of Spain. 3 of Shirley's plays have their
scene in N.: The Young Admiral ,
The Royal Master , and The Two
Gentlemen of Italy [ed. note: here Sugden doubtlessly intends The
Gentlemen of Venice of 1639]. In Gascoigne's Supposes
i. 4, presents are taken from D. Hercules of Ferrara to the K. of N. As
Hercules II was D. from 1508 to 1559, the Emperor Charles V was the K. of N.
intended. In Barnes' Charter (the
date of the action in which is 1494-1503) i. 1, Sforza proclaims Charles VIII
of France "Undoubted heir unto the crown of N. By lawful right of the great
house of Anjou"; and in ii. 1, Guicchiardine says "The D. of Orleans, Lewis
XII, conjointly knitting forces, Doth march in arms with Ferdinand of Spain:
These regain N. and divide that realm." This was in 1494, but their hold of
N. did not last long. Ferdinand II returned from Ischia, whither he had fled,
and soon recovered his throne. In Greene's Alphonsus
there is a Belinus, K. of N., and the action takes place there. Alphonsus
probably is intended for Alphonsus V of Arragon; but Belinus is an entirely
imaginary person. In Swetnam, one
of the characters is an imaginary Lisandro, Prince of N. The scene of Dekker's
If It Be is laid at N. during
the reign of Alphonso, but he is merely a generalized figure. In T. Heywood's
Maidenhead, we are told in Act
i. that Milan has captured N. after a siege of 9 months. This is unhistorical
altogether. In May's Heir iv. 2,
Euphues boasts that his ancestors "have been props of the Sicilian crown 'Gainst
the hot French and Nns."
The Nns. had a bad reputation as poisoners and inventors of various
methods for secret assassination. In Marlowe's Ed.
II v. 4, Lightfoot says, "I learned in N. how to poison flowers; To strangle
with a lawn thrust down the throat; To pierce the windpipe with a needle's point;
Or, whilst one is asleep, to take a quill And blow a little powder in his ears;
Or open his mouth and pour quicksilver down." Nash, in Wilton 142, says, "The
Nn. carrieth the bloodiest wreakful mind, and is the most secret fleering murderer.
Wherefore it is grown to a common proverb, 'I'll give him the Nn. shrug' when
one means to play the villain and makes no boast of it." Dekker, in Hornbook
ii., says, "Who knows not that the Nn. will embrace you with one arm and rip
your guts with the other? There's not a hair in his mustachio but, if he kiss
you, will stab you through the cheeks like a poniard." In Chapman's Alphonsus
i. 1, 178, Lorenzo says, "Julius Lentulus, A most renowned Nn., Gave me
this box of poison."
The Nns. speak with a very marked nasal twang. In Oth.
iii. 1, 4, the Clown says to the musicians, "Have your instruments been in N.
that they speak i' the nose thus?" Some commentators see a reference to the
Nn. Punchinello; others think there is an allusion to the loss of the nose,
which is a common effect of the Nn. disease (syphilis).
Nn. horses were highly esteemed. Moryson, Itinerary iii. 133,
speaks of "English coursers bred of the Nn. horses and English mares." In Merch.
i. 2, 42, Portia says of the Nn. prince: "That's a colt indeed; for he doth
nothing but talk of his horse"; and in 63, she says that the French lord "hath
a horse better than the Nn.'s." In Chapman's D'Olive
iii. 2, D'Olive satirizes "the travelling humour; as if an ass for going
to Paris could come home a courser of N." In Massinger's Maid
Hon. i. 1, Antonio says, "I have horses Of the best breed in N., fitter
far To break a rank than crack a lance; and are, In their career, of such incredible
swiftness They outstrip swallows." In B. & F. Friends
iii. 2, Sir Pergamus boasts," In that career, Ere I could stay my Nn. steed,
[I] Unhorsed some 15 more." In their Fair Maid I. i. 1, Mentivole asks, "Is the Nn. horse the Viceroy sent you In
a fit plight to run?" In Peele's Polyhymnia 152, Carey is "On mighty horse of
N. mounted fair." Gervase, in English Horseman (1617), says, "Next to the English
horse I place the courser of N., which is a horse of a strong and comely fashion,
of great goodness, loving disposition, and an infinite courageousness."
Syphilis is called the Nn. disease. It is said to have made
its first appearance in Europe at N. about 1494. In Troil.
ii. 3, 20, the Qq. read: "After this, the vengeance on the whole camp! or rather,
the Nn. bone-ache; for that, methinks, is the curse dependent on those that
war for a placket." In Davenport's Nightcap
iv. 1, Morro asks of Abstemia: "Came this nice piece from N., with a pox
to her?" and Timpania answers, "And she has not Neapolitanized him, I'll be
flayed for it." In Ford's Sacrifice
iv. 1, D'Avolo advises Manruccio to "pass to N. and set up a house of carnality;
you need not fear the contagion of any pestilent disease, for the worst is very
proper to the place." In Milkmaids
iv. 1, Ferdinand says, "The Nn. canker has searched into his bones, and
he lies buried in ulcers." In T. Heywood's Captives
v. 3, Mildew prays, "May the disease of N. take both the judge and the jurors."
In Alimony (1659) i. 3, Haxter says, "I got a snap from a Nn. ferret." In Shirley's
Admiral ii. 1, Cesario prays, "All
the diseases N. ever groaned with overtake Vittori!" In Glapthorne's Hollander
ii. 1, Sconce says, "If I should obtain the Nn. beneach [? boneache], a
crick i' the back, or so, from her, 'twould be but a scurvy touch." In Cartwright's
Ordinary i. 3, Hearsay says, "Refined
People feel N. in their bodies; and An ache in the bones at 16 passeth now For
high descent." Fuller, Holy and Profane State (1642) v. 1, calls it "That disease,
unknown to antiquity, created within some hundreds of years, which took the
name from N."
The Manufactures of Naples. N. was famous for its manufactures
of silk, velvet, a kind of cotton velvet known as fustian-in-n.corrupted
into fustianapes, anapes, and even apeshats, biscuits, and armour. In
Pleadings in the Case of Rastell v. Walton (1530), one of the theatrical garments
in question was "paned and guarded with gold skins and fustians of N. black."
Greene, in Quip, p. 219, speaks of a pair of velvet breeches with panes "made
of the chiefest Neapolitane stuff." Laneham, in his Letter (1575), describes
a doublet with "a welt toward the hand of fustian anapes." In Shirley's Ball
v. 1, Freshwater speaks of the Nns. as "a soft kind of people and clothed
in silk." In Glapthorne's Privilege
iii. 1, Frangipan says, "Our ladies seek supply [of silk] from N." In B.
& F. Woman Hater iv. 2, the Pander
says, "These stockings are of N., they are silk." In their Pilgrimage
i. 1, Incubus mentions "the N. hat" amongst the clothes that a man of fashion
should wear. The passage is plagiarized from Jonson's New
Inn ii. 2. In Cockayne's Trapolin
ii. 1, Trapolin says of his hat: "I think some N. devil made it, 'tis so
high-crowned; one that saw me in this would rather think me a fool than a Duke."
In Chaunticleers x., Budget says, "Ill mend her with sugar nails and a N.-biscuit
hammer," i.e. a hammer made of N. biscuit. N. Biscuits were sold at 2/6
a pound in Lond. In the Accounts of the Carpenters' Company of London, Aug.
2nd, 1644, it is ordered that this year there shall be no election-dinner, "but
onely wine and N. bisketts."
The Beauty of the City. In B. & F. Double
Mar. i. 1, Virolet says, "N., the Paradise of Italy, As that is of the earth;
N., that was The sweet retreat of all the worthiest Romans; This flourishing
kingdom, whose inhabitants, For wealth and bravery, lived like petty kings."
In Marlowe's Faustus vii., Faustus tells
of his visit to "N., rich Campania, Whose buildings fair and gorgeous to the
eye, The streets straight forth, and paved with finest brick, Quarter the town
in 4 equivalents. There saw we learned Maro's golden tomb, The way he cut, an
English mile in length, Thorough a rock of stone in one night's space." The
Via di Roma, or Toledo, running North and S., and the Strada San. Trinita crossing
it, divide the old city into 4 quarters: they are paved with basalt. Vergil's
tomb stands at the N. end of the tunnel through the promontory of Posillipo,
which was probably constructed by Agrippa in 27 B.C. It is 2244 ft. longnot
an English mile. In Cockayne's Trapolin
ii. 3, Horatio characterizes it as "Sweet N., plenteous inability."
General References. In Temp.
i. 1, 161, Gonzalo is called a Neapolitan. In Shr.
i. 1, 210, Lucentio proposes to disguise himself as "some Florentine, some Neapolitan,
Or meaner man of Pisa." In Webster's Malfi
v. 1 and 2, we learn the Antonio owned the "citadel of St. Bennet at N."
According to one form of the legend, Danae drifted in her chest to Naples, where
she married K. Pellonus, or Pelonnus, and became Queen. In T. Heywood's Gold.
Age v., Arges reports of Danae: "As far as N. The friendly winds her mastless
boat transports, There she's presented to K. Pelonnus, Who, ravished with her
beauty, crowns her Q." Perseus refers to the same legend in the S.
Age i. In Jonson's Ev. Man I.
ii. 2, Brainworm, in the disguise of an old soldier, pretends: "I have been
at Marseilles, N., and the Adriatic Gulf, a gentleman slave in the gallies."
sc. as a prisoner of war. Lyly, in Euphues Anat. Wit (1578), p. 11 (Croll),
speaks of N. as "a place of more pleasure than profit, and yet of more profit
than piety."
In Massinger's Very Woman i.
1, Cardenes says, "They wrong the Nns . . . . That say they are fiery spirits,
uncapable Of the least injury, dangerous to be talked with After a loss." In
Jonson's Cynthia v. 2, the Perfumer
says, "I assure you, Sir, pure benjamin [i.e. benzoin, frankincense],
the only spirited scent that ever awaked a Nn. nostril." In Massinger's Guardian
i. 1, Durazzo says of "the wise men of N.": "To me they are hide-bounded
money-mongers." In Barnes' Charter iii.
3, Frescobaldi speaks of one "Armed in a molly Briggandie [brigandine] of N."
In Webster's Malfi iii. 2, the Duchess
says, "My brother stood engaged with me for money Ta'en up of certain Nn. Jews."
NARBONNE
The ancient capital of Gallic Narbonensis, and one of the oldest cities in France.
It stands near the W. shore of the Gulf of Lyons, abt. 380 m. S. of Paris in the
ancient province of Roussillon. In All's
i. 1, 31, 43; ii. 1, 104, we are told that the father of Helena was Gerard
de N., who has been a great physician. Shakespeare took both the name of Gerard
and the story of the play from Boccaccio (Decam. iii. 9).
NARRE, or NERA
R. in Italy, rising in the Apennines and flowing through Terni, where it forms
the famous Cascade delle Marmore, to the Tiber, which it joins a little below
Orte. In Barnes' Charter i. 4. Alexander
bestows on Caesar Borgia the provinces "Within the river N. and fruitful Arno."
'
NARROW SEAS
The seas between England and the continent of Europe and between England and Irelandthe
English Channel and St. George's Channelbut most often of the former, especially
the part surrounding the coasts of Kent. In Merch.
ii. 8, 28, Salarino tells the report that "in the n. s. that part The French and
English, there miscarried A vessel of our country"; and in iii. 1, 3, he says,
"Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the n. s.: the Goodwins, I think
they call the place." In H5 ii.,
Chor. 38, the speaker promises the audience "To France shall we convey you safe,
And bring you back, charming the n. s. To give you gentle pass." In H6
C. i. 1, 239, Margaret says, "Stern Falconbridge commands the n. s." In iv.
8, 3, Warwick announces: "Edward from Belgia Hath passed in safety through the
n. s." In Webster's Weakest ii. 3,
Lodowick, in Flanders, says, "I will cross the n. s., for England." In Peele's
Alcazar ii., Sebastian says of England:
"The south the narrow Britain sea begirts." In Dekker's Westward
iii. 3, Justiniano quotes an Italian proverb: "If there were a bridge over
the n. s., all the women in Italy would fly over into England." Nash, in Lenten,
p. 294, talks of K. Edgar scouring "the n. s.' Cowley's Cutter [a.k.a. The
Guardian ], Prol., calls Charles I "The sovereign of these n. s. of wit."
NATOLIA, or ANATOLIA
(= ASIA MINOR). So called as being E. of Greece. In Turkish usage it is limited
to the Pashalic which occupied the W. half of the peninsula, and its capital Kutaya,
200 m. North-E. of Smyrna. In Marlowe's Tamb.
B. i. 1, Orcanes, K. of N. says, "Now have we marched from fair N. 200 leagues
and on Danubius' banks Rest." In iii. 1, Orcanes crowns Callapine "Emperor of
N." In iii. 5, the messenger announces that Tamburlaine "means to girt N. 's walls
with siege, Fire the town, and overrun the land." In Selimus
iii. 3, Acomat says, "March to N., there will we begin Our massacres." He
subsequently takes N. and slays Mahomet and his wife, Zonara. This was about 1513.
In Death Huntington i. 2, the Prior
says, "A pint of this ransomed the Sophy's son When he was taken in N." In Massinger's
Renegado iii. 3, Asambeg says, "The
Basha of N. and myself Were rivals for her," i.e. Donusa.
NAVARRE
A small kingdom lying on both sides of the Pyrenees: the Spanish part lies between the Pyrenees on the North, Aragon on the E., and Leon on the W., with Pampeluna for its capital; the French part around the valley of the Adour, with Pau for its capital. The kingdom was founded in the 8th cent. A.D. by Garcia Ximenes, who successfully resisted the Moors and maintained the independence of N. The Spanish portion of it was annexed by Ferdinand of Spain in 1512, the French part alone being left in the hands of K. John d'Albret and his queen, Katharine. Their great-grandson was the well-known Henri of N., who became K. of France in 1589 and added his kingdom to her dominions.
The scene of L. L. L. is laid
in the park of the K. of N. The only indication of the date of the play is given
in ii. 1, 129, where the K. says to the Princess of France, "Madam, your father
here doth intimate The payment of 100,000 crowns, Being but the one half of
an entire sum Disbursed by my father in his wars." Monstrelet, in his Chronicles,
says, "Charles, k. of N., came to Paris to wait on the k. He negotiated so successfully
with the K. and Privy Council that he obtained a gift of the castle of Nemours,
with some of its dependent castle-wicks, which territory was made a duchy. He
instantly did homage for it, and at the same time surrendered to the K. the
castle of Cherburgh, the county of Evreux, and all other lordships he possessed
within the kingdom of France, renouncing all claims or profits in them to the
K. and to his successors, on condition that with the duchy of Nemours the K.
of France engaged to pay him 200,000 gold crowns of the coin of the K. our Lord."
(Translation by Thomas Johnes [1819], Vol. 1, p. 108.) The French K. is decrepit,
sick, and bedrid, and his daughter has come to treat about the surrender of
Aquitaine. There is no history in the play, but if the K. of N. is to be identified
at all he must be Charles III, the son of Charles II, who reigned from 1386
to 1425.
The K. of N. is one of the characters in Chivalry, the supposed date of which
is about 1260: in that case the K. would be Theobald II. The scene of Shirley's
Cardinal is laid in the capital
of N., and there is a war going on between N. and Aragon. The reference is probably
to the conquest of the Spanish portion of N. by Ferdinand of Aragon in 1512.
In Webster's Weakest i. 2, a messenger
announces: "The power of Spain has passed the Pyren Hills . . . N. is sacked."
The supposed date is during the reign of Louis IX, about 1245, but the statement
is not historically correct. Henri of N„ afterwards Henri IV of France, is one
of the leading characters in Marlowe's Massacre.
In i. 1, Guise says, "Ay, but N.'tis but a nook of France, Sufficient
yet for such a petty k., That with a rabblement of his heretics Blinds Europe's
eyes and troubleth our estate." In Barnes' Charter
v. 5, the chorus announces that Caesar Borgia "Escaped into the kingdom
of N., Where, in an ambush at Viano slain, just Nemesis repaid his treachery."
This was on March 12th, 1507.
NAXOS
The largest island of the Cyclades, lying in the AEgean, abt. 100 m. due W. of
Halicarnassus and 130 E. of the nearest point of the Peloponnesus. It is now called
Capo di Schiso. It was here that Ariadne was deserted by Theseus and saved by
Bacchus, to whom the island, which produces much excellent wine, is sacred. In
Wilson's Pedler 790, the Pedler says, "When Bacchus was disposed to sail unto
Naxion, the mariners promised to bring him thither." The reference is to the story
told by Ovid that Dionysus (Bacchus), having hired a ship from some Tyrrhenian
pirates to convey him from Icaria to N., they tried to pass by the island and
take him to Asia to sell him there; whereupon he drove them all mad and they jumped
into the sea. Beaumont, in Salmacis, speaks of Bacchus going "To N., where his
house and temple stands." In Barnes' Charter
i. 5, Lucretia would rather dwell "in N. where no noise is heard But Neptune's
rage" than in Rome. Lodge, in Answer to Gosson, p. 8, says, "It is reported .
. . that the beasts of Naxus have distentum fel."
NAZARETH
(now AL-NASIRA). A town in Galilee, North of the plain of Esdraelon, abt. 65 m.
North of Jerusalem. It was the home of Joseph and Mary, and here our Lord spent
his infancy and youth. The house in which he lived was said to have been transported
by angels to Loretto, where it now stands in the cathedral. In 1271 Prince Edward
of England besieged and took it in the 9th crusade, and massacred all the inhabitants.
In York M. P. xii. 136, the prologue says, "Fro God in heaven is sent . . . An
Angel is named Gabriell To N. in Galale, Where then a maiden mild gon dwell That
with Joseph should wedded be." Milton, P. R. i. 23, says, "with them came From
N. the son of Joseph deemed To the flood Jordan." In ii. 79, Mary says, "in N.
Hath been our dwelling many years." In Bale's Baptyste,
Jesus says he has come "From N. this hour, a city of Galyle." In Merch.
i. 3, 35, Shylock refuses to dine with Bassanio, because he would have "to smell
pork; to eat of the habitation which your prophet the Nazarite conjured the devil
into" (see Matthew viii. 28-34). In Peele's Ed.
I v. 24, the K. says, "Sitting before the gates of N. My horse's hoofs I
stained in pagan gore."
NEAPOLITAN
See NAPLES.
NEAT HOUSE
Properly a cow-shed, but applied specially to the site of some old cow-sheds in
Chelsea on the banks of the Thames, W. of Vauxhall Bdge., which were converted
into market gardens for the sale of "asparagus, artichokes, cauliflowers, muskmelons,
and the like useful things" (Strype). In Massinger's Madam
iii. 1, Shavem complains: "The neathouse for muskmelons and the gardens Where
we traffic for asparagus, are, to me, In the other world."
NEBO
One of the peaks in the mtns. of Abarim in the North of the land of Moab, abt. 10 m. E. of the North-East end of the Dead Sea. It was from this point that Moses was permitted to view the Promised Land before his death. Milton, P. L, i. 407, says that Chemos was worshipped "From Aroer to Nebo and the wild Of southmost Abarim."
NECKAR
A river in Germany, rising in Würtemburg and flowing into the Rhine at Mannheim.
In the lower part of its course it runs through a famous wine-producing district.
In Glapthorne's Wallenstein v. 2,
Newman says, "This Neckar wine hath a strange virtue in't."
NECOSIA
(probably = NICOSIA). The capital of Cyprus, in the centre of the island, on the
Pedia. In Davenant's Platonic iv.
4, Fredaline says, "I caused him sign this grant, The Provostship of Necosia,
newly void."
NEGRO
A member of the African race, especially the part of it inhabiting the W. coast
around Sierra Leone. The word was also applied to the Moors of North Africa, though
they are in the main of Semitic race, and have not the woolly hair, thick lips,
flat nose, and black skin that characterize the true n. The Nes. are represented
as being of degraded character and licentious disposition. In Marlowe's Tamb.
B. i. 3, Techelles reports: "By the coast of Byather [Biafra] at last I came
to Cubar, where the nes. dwell." In Lady
Mother iii. 2, Thurston says, "I'll confer my fancy on a N." In Fair
Women ii. 250, Browne says, "Let me be Held no more worthy to obtain her
bed Than a foul n. to embrace a Queen." In Jonson's Volpone
iii. 6, Volpone, enumerating the different types of women, speaks of "Some
quick N., or cold Russian." In Middleton's R.
G. i. 1, Sir Alexander says of his graceless son: "I wash a n., Losing both
pains and cost."
In Merch. iii. 5, 42, N. is synonymous
with Moor: Lorenzo says to Launcelot, "I shall answer that better than you can
the getting up of the n. 's belly; the Moor is with child by you." In Peele's
Alcazar iii., Zareo exhorts Abdilmelec
to "chastise this ambitious N. Moor." In Brome's Moor
i.ii. 1, when Quicksands proposes that his wife should disguise herself
as a Moor, she says, "Would you make a n. of me?" Dekker, in Bankrouts Banquet
(1613), calls the devil "the black k, of Neagers." In Mason's Mulleasses
731, Mulleasses compares Night to "a black N. in an ebon chair." In B. &
F. Sea Voyage iii. 1, Tibalt speaks
of "pearls, for which the slavish n. dives To the bottom of the sea." N. is
also used for an American Indian. Fuller, Holy State (1642) ii. 22, tells how
Drake "received intelligence from the Nes., called Symerons, of gold and silver
which was to be brought from Panama."
NEMEA
A valley in Argolis in ancient Greece, 14 m. north of Argos. The first labour
of Hercules was the killing of the Nn. lion, a fearsome beast, the offspring of
Typhon and Echidna. Finding that his club and arrows were useless, the hero strangled
the lion with his bare hands and carried off its skin, which he afterwards wore.
In L. L. L. iv Boyet, having read
Armado's love-letter to Jaquenetta, says, "Thus dost thou hear the Nn. lion roar
'Gainst thee, thou lamb, that standest as his prey." In Ham.
i. 4, 83, Hamlet says, "My fate cries out And makes each petty artery in this
body As hardy as the Nn. lion's nerve." In Val.
Welsh. ii. 2, Bardh says, "Gederus Fights like a Nn. lion." In Caesar's
Rev. ii. 3, Caesar justifies his coming to Cleopatra by urging "Great Alcides
when he did return From Nn. victories reposed himself In Deianira's arms." In
T. Heywood's S. Age iii., the slaying
of the Nn. lion by Hercules is described: "And the Nn. terror naked lies." The
word is usually pronounced with the accent on the first syllable, though the Gk.
is Nemeios. In Tiberius 1504, Tiberius
says, "Nemia never saw a lioness Was half so furious as is Julia." In Sampson's
Vow. iv. 1, 35, Clifton says, "From
his sides, like Libian Hercules, I tore the rough Nn. lion's skin." Spenser, F.
Q. ii. 5, 31, tells how Alcides "In Nemus gained goodly victory." The constellation
Leo was supposed to be the Nn. Lion transferred to the Zodiac. In Mason's Mulleasses
765, the hero says, "Twice hath the Nn. Lion breathed forth fire . . . since
the time I came to Florence," i.e. 2 years have passed. See under ARCADIAN.
NEMOURS
A town in France on the Loire, 40 m. S. of Paris. The ruins of the old ducal castle
are still to be seen. The D. of N. is one of the characters in Massinger's Parl.
Love , the supposed date of which is during the reign of Charles VIII of France,
after 1494.
NEPTOLIS
Some ancient river is intended, but I suspect a misprint. Possibly we should read
"Niphatis" Niphates was properly the name of the part of the Taurus range E. of
Commagene, but it was used by the Roman poets as the name of a river (see Juvenal,
Sat. vi. 409). The name "snowy river" suggests cold. In Marston's Insatiate
v. 1, Sago says, "Although N. cold should flow through these guilty hands,
yet the sanguinolent stain would extant be."
NERO'S FEN
A marsh near the city of Artaxata in Armenia, on the Araxes. The city was destroyed
by Corbulo A.D. 58, and rebuilt under the name of Neronia by Tiridates, to whom
Nero had given the kingdom of Armenia. Baiazet had many wars with Aladeules of
Armenia, and Selim finally defeated and slew him. In Selimus
147, Baiazet says, "The vipers in great Nero's Fen Eat up the belly that first
nourished them." There is doubtless a reference to Nero's murder of his mother
Agrippina.
NERVII
A tribe in Gallia Belgica who inhabited the dist. round what is now Cambrai. In
57 B.C. Caesar attacked them on the banks of the Sambre, and after a strenuous
fight conquered and nearly destroyed them. In J.
C. iii. 2, 177. Antony says of the robe in which Caesar had been murdered:
"I remember The first time ever Caesar put it on; 'Twas on a summer's evening,
in his tent, That day he overcame the N."
NETHERLANDS
(= Low COUNTRIES, FLANDERS). The modern Holland and Belgium. Fuller, Holy State
(1642) ii. 19, says that the Netherlands stand "in daily fear of a double delugeof
the sea and the Spaniard . . . They have wonderfully improved all making of manufactures,
stuffs, clocks, watches." In Err.
iii. 2, 142, Antipholus, inquiring into the geography of Dromio's kitchen-vestal,
asks, "Where stood Belgia, the N.?""Oh, Sir," says the modest Dromio, "I
did not look so low." In Dekker's Northward
iv. 2, Jenkin speaks of "all the Low Countries in Christendom, as Holland,
and Zealand, and Netherland, and Cleveland too." In Larum
B. 3, Hauury says, "Their private avarice [of the Antwerpers] will pull destruction
of this town To the disgrace of all the N." In Brome's M.
Beggars i. 1, one of the Beggars says of another: "He has borne the name
of a Netherland soldier till he ran away from his colours." Jonson certainly,
and Chapman probably, served in the N. against the Spaniard. In Ed.
III iii. 1, K. John of France says, "To thirst what friends K. Edward hath
retained In Netherland among those frothy Dutchmen Doth aggravate mine ire." It
is used, like Low Countries, for the lower part of the body. In Webster's Law
Case ii. 1, Romelio talks of a woman "with a spangled copper fringe at her
n." See also Low COUNTRIES, HOLLAND, BELGIUM, FLANDERS, DUTCHMAN.
NETTLETON'S ORDINARY
An eating-house in Lond. In B. & F. Wit
S. W. iv. 1, Gregory says to Cunningham, "I have been seeking for you i' the
bowling green; Enquired at Nettleton's and Anthony's ordinary."
NEWBURY
A town in Berks. on the S. bank of the Kennet. It was noted for its woollen manufactures.
It was the scene of 2 battles in the Civil War, in 1643 and 1644. It was the home
of John Winchcomb, the hero of Deloney's Newberie. In Cowley's Cutter [a.k.a.
The Guardian ] i. 5, Cutter says
to Worm, "You said you had served stoutly in my regiment at Newbury." In Middleton's
Mad World iv. 4, Sir Bounteous, after
Folly-wit, in the disguise of a Courtezan, has stolen his jewels, says, "I have
seen the same case tried at N. the last 'sizes."
NEW CARTHAGE
(= CARTHAGO NOVA, now CARTHAGENA, q.v.). A fine spt. near the S. extremity
of the E. coast of Spain. In Nabbes' Hannibal
i. 5, a messenger brings word (a little earlier than the fact warrants): "New
Carthage, Sagunt; Locris; Terracon; All these are re-o'ercome by Scipio." See
also under CARTHAGENA.
NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE
The county town of Northumberland, on the Tyne, 8 m. from its mouth. It was destroyed
by William the Conqueror, and in 1080 a new castle was built by Robert, his son.
Hence the name of the city. The present castle was erected on the same site by
Henry II about 1172, and was the strongest fortress in the north. Its keep still
remains. Around it are the great coalfields of Northumberland. Lond. began to
import this sea-coal, as it was called to distinguish it from charcoal, about
the end of the 14th cent.: it was at first used only for manufacturing purposes,
and there was much opposition to it on the ground of its smoke. In Sampson's Vow.
ii. 4, 158, Boote says, "Thy husband . . . this morn journeys to N." In Marlowe's
Ed. II ii. 2, Warwick, on receiving the
news of the capture of Mortimer by the Scots, says, "My lord of Pembroke and myself
Will to N. here and gather head." This scene is laid at Tynemouth, where the king
and Gaveston were in 1312. N. was the natural rendezvous of troops in the wars
against Scotland. In Ed. III i.
1, Mountague brings word that "Barwick is won, N. spoiled and lost." This was
in 1333. In Friar iv., Miles sings the
northern ballad, "Cam'st thou not from N.?" In Eastward
i. 2, Girtred begs: "Take me out of this miserable city! Carry me out of the
scent of N. coal and the hearing of Bow-bell." In Shirley's Wedding
ii. 3, Lodam reports: "There were four-and-twenty colliers cast away coming
from N.; 'tis cold news." In his Ball
iv. 3, Lucina says that the faults of women are discussed only "when the phlegmatic
Dutch have ta'en no fisher-boats, and our coal-ships land safe at N." In T. Heywood's
I. K. M. B. 259, Tawnie complains
that "your mask, silk-lace, washed gloves, carnation girdles, and busk-point suitable
are as common as coals from N." Dekker, in Seven Sins, mentions, as part of the
legion of sharpers, "the 2 degrees of colliers, viz. those of charcoals and those
of N." In News from Hell, he says that Hell "lies lower than the coalpits of N."
In Sharpham's Fleire iii. 156, Fleire
says, "She's a wise woman that will go as far as new Castle to search the depth
of a coal-pit for your truth." The sub-plot of Brewer's Lovesick
King is the story of Roger Thornton, who was Mayor of N. in 1400. The play
was evidently written for production in N., and contains many local references.
In ii., we hear of one Randolfe, who is "a famous merchant for N. coals." In the
same scene Goodgift's wife talks of "one of those players of Interludes that dwells
at N."; and Thornton says, "O Monday! I shall love Monday's vein to poetize as
long as I live": the reference being to Anthony Munday, the playwright. In iii.
1, Grim says, "N. coals shall conquer Croydon." In v. 1, Alured says, "Thornton,
as the first, We here create Mayor of N." A single play from the Mystery Cycle
of N. has been preserved.
NEW COLLEGE
University of Oxford, founded by William of Wykeham in 1386. It stands on the S. side of Holywell St. at the back of Queen's and All Souls. Dramatic representations were given there from an early date, for in the statutes (1400) provision is made for the election of a boy-bishop and the carrying out of the ceremonies connected with his office on the days of the Holy Innocents and St. Nicholas.
NEW ENGLAND
The name given in 1616 by Capt. John Smith to the dist. which now includes the
6 northeastern states in the United States of America. The territory had been
granted to the Plymouth Company in 1606 under the name of North Virginia. The
Mayflower sailed with the Pilgrim Fathers in 1620, and between that date and 1640
20,000 Puritans had emigrated thither to escape the persecution of Laud; so that,
as Trevelyan says, "Laud was the founder of Anglo-Saxon supremacy in the New World."
In 1635 a Proclamation was put forth prohibiting further emigration, and it is
said that both Hampden and Cromwell would have gone to N. E. but for this. The
playwrights, who hated the Puritans, satirized the emigrants, and gave circulation
to rumours of their immorality and poverty in their new home. In Cartwright's
Ordinary (1634) v. 5, Slicer, a rogue
and swindler, says to his companions, "There is no longer tarrying here; let's
resolve for N. E.," and they continue: "'Tis but getting a little pigeon-hole
reformed ruff, forcing our beards into the orthodox bent, nosing a little treason
'gainst the king; bark something at the bishops; and we shall be easily received."
They purpose to learn "a root or two of Hebrew" on the way, and conclude: "What
Old England won't afford, N. E. will." In Mayne's Match
ii. 2, Baneswright, finding that Mrs. Dorcas is a Puritan, says, "Had I known
her mistress had so bred her, I would first have preferred her to N. E." In iv.
3, Aurelia says, "I do not mean to marry like ladies in N. E., where they couple
with no more ceremony than birds.' In Glapthorne's Wit
v. 1, the watchman says that the Inquisition is a monster which "will swallow
all the brethren in Amsterdam and in N. E. in a morsel." In Brome's Antipodes
iv. 8, Peregrine says, "What if I craved a counsel from N. E.? The old Will
spare me none." In T. Heywood's Witches
iii., Seely says, "You housewife, teach your daughter better manners; I'll
ship you all for N. E. else." In Nabbes' Spring, when a company of beggars enter,
Lent says, "These good fellows would get a better race under a hedge to people
N. E. than the Separatists that possess it." In Cowley's Cutter [ed. note:
known as The Guardian during the
Renaissance.] iii. 1, Jolly says that when the bishops come back with the
K. (Charles II) the Puritan widow Barebottle will "away to N. E:' In Strode's
Float. Isl. (1655) v. ii, Prudentius
says, "Melancolico and Concupiscence Shall keep their State i' th' suburbs or
n.-E." In the last passage, and in that from Witches, there seems to be an allusion
to the transportation of convicts to the plantations, which was finally legalized
in 1666, but which appears to have been practised at least 20 years earlier. See
Bancroft, History of the United States i., pp. 174-176. See also Defoe's Moll
Flanders.
NEWFOUNDLAND
An island off the E. coast of North America, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence
river. It was discovered by John Cabot in 1497. The cod fisheries soon attracted
a large number of European vessels, but it was not till 1583 that formal possession
was taken of the island by Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Whitbourne's Discourse and Discovery
of N. Trade (1622) called the attention of English emigrants to the island, but
its progress was slow, and in 1650 there were only 350 families there. It was
not till the end of the 18th cent. that its prosperity really began. Hycke,
p. 88, says he has been "at Cape saynt Vincent and in the Newe Founde Ilonde."
In Dekker's Satiromastix v. 2, 161,
Sir Vaughan says, "I rejoice very near as much as if I had discovered a New-found
Land, or the North and E. Indies." In W. Rowley's New
Wonder iv. 1, Speedwell says, "I am an adventurer still, Sir, to this new-found
land." In Cartwright's Ordinary i.
4, Slicer, in his extravagant praise of the intelligence of the son of Credulous,
says that he has in his mind a layer of "China counsels, covered with a lid of
N. discoveries." Donne, Elegy xx. 27 (1614), apostrophizes his mistress: "Oh,
my America, my N.!" Fynes Moryson, in Itinerary iii. 3, 134 (1605). mentions "new
found land fish dried" as amongst the exports from England to France. The author
of Discourse on Leather (1627) says, "We can live without . . . the whales of
N."
NEWGATE
One of the gates of Old Lond.; built in the reign of Henry I in consequence of the temporary blocking up of the thoroughfare to Ludgate by the rebuilding of St. Paul's. The Gate was used as a prison at least as early as 1200, and it continued to be the chief prison of Lond. all through its history. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Sir R. Whittington about 1425, and was further repaired in 1555 and 1628. It was destroyed in the Gt. Fire and rebuilt in 1672, and was finally taken down in 1777. The Gate spanned N. St. a little E. of Old Bailey and Giltspur St., but there was an old Roman gate somewhat S. of it, the foundations of which were discovered in 1903 when the prison was pulled down. The Gate itself became quite insufficient for the proper accommodation of the prisoners as the city grew. and in 1770 the prison at the corner of N. St. and Old Bailey was built. It was pulled down in 1903 to make room for the new City Court. N. was used at first both for felons and debtors, though after 1815 it was employed for felons only. Those who were condemned to death were carted out to Tyburn for execution: the dismal procession passed by St. Sepulchre's ch., where a nosegay was given to the condemned man, up Giltspur St., across Smithfield to Cow Lane, and so to the bottom of Holborn Hill, or Heavy Hill, as it was nicknamed, and on to Tyburn.
In Chaucer's C. T. A. 4402, we are told that Perkyn Revelour, the London prentice,
was "sometyme lad with revel to Newegate." In Hycke,
p. 85, Imagynacioun says of himself and Hycke: "In N. we dwelled together; For
he and I were both shackeled in a fetter." Later, p. 103, Frewyll says humorously,
"Once at N. I bought a pair of stirrups, A whole year I ware them so long, But
they came not fully to my knee ": of course, he refers to the fetters with which
he was bound. Again, p. 108, Imagynacioun swears, "I was 10 year in N." In Bale's
Johan 287, Sedition says, "Get they-false witnesses, they force not of whence
they be, Be they of N. or be they of the Marshalsea." In Poverty 335, Prosperity
says to Peace, "Go! Out of my sight! or I shall lay thee fast in N." In Respublica
v. 8, Avarice asks Insolence and Adulation: "Be there not honester men in
N.?" In Youth (A. P. ii. 100),
Riot says, "The Mayor of Lond. sent me forth of N. for to come for to preach
at Tyburn," i.e. to be hanged. In J. Heywood's Gentleness, Pt. 1, the
Ploughman sarcastically says to the Knight and the Merchant, "Fare ye well,
both, I dare say, as true As some that be tied in N." In W. Rowley's Wonder
v., Stephen gives order to the keeper of Ludgate, "See your prisoners conveyed
From Ludgate unto N. and the Counter." This was on 1 June, 1419, but so many
of them died by reason of the foul atmosphere and the over-crowding that Ludgate
was reopened as a prison on 2nd November and the prisoners taken back there.
In Three Lords , Dods, vii. 488,
Fraud says, "If any of my friends see me committed to N., I were utterly discredited."
The only Shakespearian reference is in H4
A. iii. 3, 104, where Falstaff asks: "Must we all march?" and Bardolph replies:
"Yea, 2 and 2, N.-fashion." So, in Dekker's Satiro.
iii. 1, 325, Tucca says, "Come, we'll walk arm in arm As though we were leading
one another to N." In Fair Women
ii. 1230, Browne says he has a brother who is kept "close prisoner now in N.":
we learn from 1270 that he had committed "notorious felonies in Yorkshire."
In Feversham ii. 1, Will says that his
friend Fitten is "now in N. for stealing a horse." In Oldcastle
ii. 2, Murley says, "N., up Holborne, St. Giles in the field, and to Tiborne;
an old saw." In More i. 1, Williamson
complains: "My Lord Mayor sent me to N. one day, because (against my will) I
took the wall of a stranger "; and in ii. 3, the Messenger brings word: "The
rebels have broke open N., From whence they have delivered many prisoners Both
felons and notorious murderers." This was on May Day 1517, in the riots which
were raised to expel foreigners from Lond. In Dekker's Edmonton
iv. 1, Banks says, "Get a warrant first to examine her, then ship her to
N.; here's enough to burn her for a witch." In Westward
iii. 2, Monopoly threatens to so deal with the sergeants "that they should
think it a shorter way between this [Shoreditch] and Ludgate than a condemned
cut-purse thinks it between N. and Tyburn." Rosalind was thinking of this journey
when, in As You Like It iii. 2,
345, she tells how Time gallops with a thief to the gallows. In Middleton's
Chaste Maid ii. 2. the Promoter says
of the butcher who has been killing in Lent: "This butcher shall kiss N." In
Ford's Warbeck iii. 1, the K. says,
"Let false Audley Be drawn upon an hurdle from the N. To Tower-hill; there let
him lose his head." In B. & F. Wit
S. W. iv. 1, Wittypate says of Gregory: "He was even brought to Justice
Aurum's threshold; there had flown forth a mittimus straight for N." In Ret.
Pernass. iii; 3, Studioso says, "Yonder are pursuivants out for the French
doctor, and a lodging bespoken for him and his man in N." In a song appended
to T. Heywood's Lucrece, entitled
The Cries of Rome, the 2nd verse runs: "Bread-and-meat-bread-and-meat, For the
tender mercy of God To the poor prisoners of N., Four-score and ten-poor-prisoners."
The debtors in prison were allowed to appeal is this way to the passers-by.
In Field's Weathercock v. 2, Sir
John Worldly, when Pouts is apparently convicted of murder, cries: "To N. with
him!" In Middletons R. G. v. 1,
Moll speaks of a justice "that nothing but 'Make a mittimus, away with him to
N.!'" In KiIligrew's Parson iii.
5, Jolly says, "They were taken and condemnd, and suffered under a catholic
sheriff, that afflicted them with a litany all the way from N. to the gallows."
In iv. 2, Wild says, "Make his mittimus to the hole at N." Taylor, in Woks i.
91, says, "The ocean that suretyship sails in is the spacious Marshalsea; sometimes
she anchors at the King's Bench, sometimes at N. rd." Nash., in Pierce, says,
"N. a common name for all prisons, as Homo is a common name for a man or a woman.''
In Robin Goodfellow (1628), Grim says, "Sometimes I do affright many simple
people, for which some have termed me the Black Dog of N." In Dekker's Edmonton
iv. 1, Cuddy says of the Witch's dog: "Neither is this the Black Dog of
N." The reference is to a tract by Luke Hatton called The Black Dog of N. Henslowe
mentions a play by Hathway and others with the same title. Middleton, in Black
Book, calls sergeants "black dogs of N." In Brome's Antipodes
iii. 2, amongst other topsyturvy-doms there, the poet tells how "12 hymns
are sung by the quire of New-gate in the praise of City Clemency." Dekker, is
Seven Sins, says that Shaving (i.e. swindling) came into the City through
N., "because he knew N. held a number that, though they were false to all the
world, would be true to him." In Fam.
Vict., p. 330 when Prince Henry has been taken to the Counter for making
a disturbance in East Cheap, the thief, who has been arrested for a highway
robbery on Gadshill, says, "Let me go to the prison where my master is"; and
John Cobler replies: "Nay, thou must go to the country prison, to N." The Counter
was used for Lond. offenders, N. for those brought in from the country. In Shirley's
Bird i. 1, the ladies are "committed
to Newprison": the scene is Mantua, but I suppose the name was suggested by
the Lond. N.
Vulgar and obscene language was called N.-terms. Nicholson, in Acolastus
(1600) 15, says, "Naught but N. terms can store the tongue." In Puritan
1, 3, Frailtie says of the drunken Corporal: "If the wind stood right, a
man might smell him from the top of N. to the leads of Ludgate": abt. 220 yards.
The prisoners were called N.-birds. In Dekker's Edmonton
iv. 2, Carter says, "Your trull shall to the gaol go with you; there be
as fine N. birds as she that can draw him in." Dekker, in Jests ii. 343, says,
"Our N.-bird, spreading his dragon-like wings, beheld a thousand sins." In Brome's
Northern v. 8, Justice Squelch
threatens the doctor, "I will translate you out of an AEsculapian cock into
a N. bird."
Lady Alimony was "Printed by Tho. Vere and William Gilbertson and are to be
sold at the Angel without New-gate." In Dekker's Satiromastix
i. 2, 362, Tucca says to Horace, "Dost stare, my Sarsens-head at N.? dost
gloat?" See SARACEN'S HEAD.
NEWGATE-LANE
Lond. Probably N. St. is meant, which runs from the corner of Old Bailey, where
N. Prison stood, to St. Martin's-le-Grand. In Lawyer
i., Valentine laments that when he got back from his travels to Lond. he found
his old friends in Bridewell and Bedlam and the Counters; "others walk N. L.,"
meaning that they are on their way to prison.
NEWGATE MARKET
Lond., on the site of the present Paternoster Sq., between N. St., Warwick St.,
Paternoster Row, and Ivy Lane. It was at first a meal market, but came to be a
meat market. It was dismarketed in 1869 and the site sold for £20,000. In Jonson's
Barthol. i. 1, Quarlous tells how Zeal-of-the-land
Busy "has Undone a grocer here in N.-m., That trusted him with currants." One
of the taverns in the list in News Barthol. Fair is "Three Tuns, N. M." Armin,
in Ninnies, tells a story of "a cobler, next to Christ's Ch. gate in N. m." Barnes'
Charter was "Printed by G. E. for
John Wright and are to be sold at his shop in N.-m. near Christ ch. gate. 1607."
NEWHAVEN
A village in Scotland on the S. shore of the Firth of Forth, 2 m. north of Edinburgh.
There is an excellent harbour at Granton, W. of the village. In Ed.
III ii. 2, the K., being at Roxburgh Castle, says, "Thou, Prince of Wales,
and Audley, straight to sea; Scour to N.; there some stay for me." Sir John Davies,
in In Gerontem 10, represents the old man dating events from "The going to St.
Quintin's and N." Probably the reference is to Winter's expedition to the Forth
in 1560.
NEWINGTON
A suburb of Lond., formerly a separate vill. lying S. of Southwark, from St. George's to Camberwell. It was sometimes called N. Butts, from the butts for the practice of Archery which were erected there[ed. note: this etymology of Newington Butts is now discredited.]: the name is still retained by the st. running S. from the Elephant and Castle. The old parish ch. of St. Mary stood on the W. side of N. Butts, but was pulled down in 1876 to widen the road. Here Thomas Middleton was buried in 1627. His body was removed with hundreds of others when the church was pulled down, and interred with them in a vault specially constructed for the purpose.
There was a Theatre here established about 1585 and pulled down about 1600,
the site of which was probably on the S. side of the New Kent Road near the
railway station, not far from where Spurgeon's Tabernacle was built. The vill.
was a favourite place for afternoon jaunts by the citizens of Lond. In Oldcastle
iii. 2, N. is mentioned by Acton as one of the places of rendezvous for
the followers of Oldcastle. Harman, in his Caveat, tells of the pursuit of a
crank who crossed the river and "crossed over the fields towards Newyngton."
In B. & F. Pestle iv. 5, Ralph says,
"March on and show your willing minds, by 20 and by 20, To Hogsdon or to N.,
where cakes and ale are plenty." In Brome's Couple
ii. 1, Careless professes his readiness to escort his aunt "any whither,
to Islington, N., Paddington, Kensington, or any of the city out-leaps for a
spirt and back again." Gosson, in School of Abuse, p. 37 (Arber), says of loose
women: "They live a mile from the city like Venus, nuns in a cloister at N.,
Ratcliffe, Islington, Hogsdon, or some such place." In Field's Weathercock
iii, 3, when Abraham perpetrates some fustian verses, Pendant cries: "O
N. conceit!" i.e.. idea worthy of the N. Theatre.
NEW ISLANDS
Probably the W. Indies are intended. In Shirley's Ct. Secret iv. 1, Pedro says, "Send me to the New Islands or Japan."
NEWKERK
(= NIEUKIRK). A vill. in Rhenish Prussia, 20 m. North-west of Dusseldorf. In Webster's
Weakest ii. 3, Bunch says, "I have
but 20 stivers; that's all I have saved since I came here to Newkerk."
NEWMARKET
A town on the borders of Cambridgesh. and Suffolk, 56 m. north-east of Lond. The
heath W. of the town was notorious for its highway robberies. It began to be used
as a racecourse in the reign of James 1, and is now one of the finest in the world.
In J. Heywood's Four PP , p. 19,
the Pardoner tells how he brought a woman from hell and "This woman thanked me
chiefly That she was rid of this endless death, And so we departed on N. heth."
In Ret. Pernass. iii. 1, Sir Raderick
asks Immerito, who is being examined for holy orders, "How many [miles] from N.
to Grantham?" to which Immerito answers: "10, Sir.'' The actual distance is about
65. Immerito nevertheless passes. In Randolph's Muses'
iii. 1, Banausus says, "I have a rare device to set Dutch windmills upon N.
Heath and Salisbury Plain to drain the fens."To which Colax retorts: "The
fens, Sir, are not there." In Thersites
222, Thersites says, "I will with a cushion stop her breath Till she have
forgot N. Heath."
In Oldcastte i. 2, when Suffolk
and Butler are each refusing money that is offered to them, Sir John, the reverend
highwayman, says, "Were ye all 3 upon N. Heath, Sir John would quickly rid you
of that care." In Jonson's Ev. Man
O. iv. 2, Sogliardo says of Shift: "He has been the only Bid-stand that
ever kept N., Salisbury Plain, Hockley-i' the Hole, Gadshill." Middleton, in
Black Book, p. 20, says of brokers: "Sometimes they are clerks of N. Heath,
sometimes sheriffs of Salisbury Plain: they make many a man stand at Hockley-in-the-Hole."
In T. Heywood's Maidenhead iii.,
the Clown speaks of "N. Heath that makes thieves rich." Nash, in Pierce A. 2,
says, "I am vacuus viator and care not though I meet the commissioners
of Newmarket-heath at high midnight." In Underwit
iii. 3, Engine asks, "Does the race hold at N. for the cup?" In Shirley's
Hyde Park iv. 3, Venture sings
of "Bay Tarrall that won the cup at N."
NEWNHAM
Vill. 1 or 2 miles S. of Bedford, close to Elstow, where there was an abbey of
monks of the Order of St. Austin. In Lawyer
ii., Curfew masquerades as "the Abbot of Newnham"; and in iv. Vaster says,
"Now the water's up that we cannot get over to the Abbey."
NEW PLACE
The house in Stratford-on-Avon bought by Shakespeare in 1597. It stood in Church St. and Chapel Lane, and was the finest house in the town. It had been built by Sir Hugh Clopton in 1485, but was in a state of disrepair. The poet renovated it and made it his home for the rest of his life. In his will he says, "I give unto my daughter Susanna Hall all that capital messuage called the New Place wherein I now dwell." It was demolished in 1759 by the Rev. Francis Gastrell, but the site was bought in 1861 for the Birthplace Trust, and is laid out as a garden.
NEWPORT
(= NIEUPORT). A spt. in W. Flanders near the mouth of the Yser. It is strongly
fortified and defended by seaward batteries. Here Count Maurice of Nassau defeated
the Archduke Albert on 2nd July, 1600. In B. & F. Wit
S. W. i. 2, Sir Ruinous says, "I served in France, the Low Countries, lastly
at that memorable skirmish at N., where the forward and bold Scot there spent
his life so freely.'' In T. Heywood's Challenge
ii. 1, the Clown, describing his travels in the Netherlands, says, "Much ado
we had to find New-port." In Dekker's News from Hell, Charon says, "Bear with
me till you hear of such another battle as was at N.": when he will get enough
fares to enable him to pay his debt. In Armourers, he speaks of "that brave Roman
tragedy acted in our time at the battle of Neuport." Hall, in Characters, describes
the Vainglorious man as telling "what exploits he did at Cales or Nieuport."
NEW RIVER
An artificial river, originally nearly 40 m. long, projected by Sir Hugh Myddelton
to supply Lond. with water, and completed by him after much delay and difficulty
in 1613. It rose at Chadwell Springs in Herts., between Hertford and Ware, and
drew further supplies from Amwell-Springs and the river Lea. It terminated at
New River Head in Islington. Myddelton who had spent all his fortune on the scheme,
parted with his interest in it to the New River Compnay, which still holds it.
Middleton's Triumphs of Truth was written for performance at the inauguration
of the N. R. in 1613. In the title it is described as "the running stream from
Amwell-Head unto the cistern at Islington, being the sole cost of Mr. Hugh Middleton
of Lond." In B. & F. Wit S. W. iv.
1, Pompey says, "Direct him and his horses towards the N. R. by Islington: there
shall they have me, looking upon the pipes and whistling." In v. 1, Pompey says,
"I have been 7 miles in length along the N.-R.; I have seen a hundred sticklebags;
'twill ne'er be a true water." Later he says, "I will go walk by the N: R.; if
she sends, I shall be found angling." The play was produced in 1608-9; the work
of constructing the N. R. was begun in 1608. In their Wit
Money iv. 5, Valentine says, "You shall stay till I talk with you . . . Till
waterworks and rumours of N. R. Ride you again, and run you into questions Who
built the Thames." This play was produced in 1614. In Glapthorne's Hollander
iv. 1, Sconce, after drinking, says, "I ha' made a N. R. in my belly and my
guts are the pipes." In Scot. Presb. i. 2, Dipwell says, "Like to that river through
which once Levites did bear the holy ark, N. R. flows."
NEW TROY
A name for Lond., derived from the legend which told how the Britons originally came from Troy after its capture by the Greeks (see TROYNOVANT). In Braithwaite's Barnabies journal, we read: "7 hills there were in Rome, and so there be 7 sights in N. T." Peele, in Polyhymnia 161, speaks of Gresham, "That beautified N. T. with Royal Change."
NEW WELLS
There were many springs of mineralized water all round Lond., which were visited for the sake of drinking the waters and became fashionable resorts with the additional attractions of eating-houses, dancing rooms, etc. These were called generically Wells: such were Bagnigge W., Sadler's W., Dulwich W., Sydenham W., Hampstead W., Islington W., White Conduit, and, a little further afield, Tunbridge W. and Epsom. Most of these were discovered and popularized in the 17th cent., and I have not been able to discover which is intended in the following passage: possibly Islington or Hampstead. In Jonson's New World, the Factor asks: "And they have [in the Moon] their N. W. too, and physical waters, I hope, to visit all time of year?"To which the Herald replies: "Your Tunbridge or the Spaw itself are mere puddle to them."
NICHOLAS (SAINT) CLIFFS
The cliffs crowned by the ancient castle of St. N., built by the Knights of St. John to defend the E. harbour [the harbour of Gallies] of the city of Rhodes. In Davenant's Rhodes A. i., the Admiral says. "Behind St, Nic'las cliffs Shelter our brigants."
NICHOLAS (SAINT), NEWCASTLE
The principal ch., now the cathedral, in Newcastle-on-Tyne, built by Robert de Rhodes in the reign of Henry VI. It stands in St. N. Sq., a little North of the Castle: its noble tower 193 ft. high, with its open lantern, is the most striking feature in the city. Ben Jonson wrote a riddle on it. "My altitude high, my body four-square, My foot in the grave, my head in the air, My eyes in my side, 5 tongues in my womb, 13 heads upon my body, 4 images alone; I can direct you where the wind doth stay, And I tune God's Precepts thrice a day. I am seen where I am not, I am heard where I is not; Tell me now what I am and see that you miss not."
NICHOLAS (SAINT) SHAMBLES
A ch. in Lond. on the North side of Newgate St., near the Sh. The tradition of
the Sh. was long preserved in Butcher Hall Lane, now K. Edward St., leading from
Newgate St. to Little Britain. The ch. was pulled down at the Reformation, and
the parish included in Christ Ch. In Wager's The Longer B. 1, Moros says, "In
S. Nicolas sh. there is enough [meat]." In Wise
Men i. 1, Proberio says of Antonio's works: "We'll put them in print and
set them up to be sold at the Hospital porch near St. Nicolas Sh." In Deloney's
Reading vi., when the clothiers' wives came up to Lond. they viewed "at St. N.
ch., the flesh sh." In Long Meg viii., Meg, being asked by a nobleman in the Strand
where she was going, replies: "To S. N. sh. to buy calves' heads."
NICOPOLIS
A town in Bithynia on the shore of the Bosporus, a little North of Chalcedon.
In B. & F. Hum. Lieut. ii. 3, the
maid says, "Thisbe! O, I have her; she lies now in N." But it is probable that
the authors were thinking of one of the better-known Nicopolises: either the one
in Cappadocia founded by Pompeius or that in Epirus erected by Augustus 31 B.C.,
though neither of these was in existence at the supposed date of the play, viz.
the time immediately after the death of Alexander the Great.
NICOSIA
A town in Sicily, 65 m. S.E. of Palermo. In Brome's Concubine
iii. 9, the K. says, "Come, my Alinda, I was calling you To our intended journey
to Nicosia."
NIGER
A river in Africa, rising on the North side of the Kong Mtns., abt. 300 m. E. of Sierra Leone, and flowing first North-east and then S.E. into the Gulf of Guinea, abt. 150 m. W. of Old Calabar. Its length is abt. 2600 m. In Milton, P. L. xi. 402, Adam is shown all the kingdoms of Africa "from N. flood to Atlas mt." Donne, Funeral Elegy (1611) 41, says that the soul is affected by death "As the Afric N. stream enwombs Itself into the earth, and after comes . . . far greater than it was." Pliny, Hist. Nat. v. 10, says that the Nile runs underground for some days' journey and emerges "at that spring which they call Nigris." Probably Donne was thinking of this Nigris, and not of the river N., unless, indeed, he confounded the two. N., "the AEthiops' river," is one of the characters in Jonson's Blackness.
NIGLINGTON
Named as the birthplace of one of the Gipsies in Jonson's Gipsies. He was "Born at Niglington, bred up at Filchington." To niggle meant to be over-elaborate (see N.E.D. s.v. 3, a). The names are obviously invented for the occasion.
NIGRA SYLVA
A dist. in the Russian province of Kherson, on the Bug, North of the Black Sea.
In Marlowe's Tamb. B. i. 3, Theridamas
says, "I crossed the sea [i.e. Black Sea] and came to Oblia [i.e.
Olbia, at the mouth of the Bug] And N. S. where the devils dance." N. S. is also
used for the Black Forest in Germany.
NILA
Probably a misprint for Nisa, which with a long "s" would look very like N. (see
NYSA). In Mason's Mulleasses 1576,
Timoclea speaks of "the vine-god's priests Running down N. or from Pindus' top."
I think the Thracian Nysa is the one intended.
NILE (NILUS)
Ns. = Nilus. The river which rises in Lake Victoria Nyanza in Central Africa and after a course of 3370 m. flows into the Mediterranean through Egypt: at its mouth it divides into a number of channels, usually reckoned as 7, which form the Delta. Little was known of its course beyond Meroe until comparatively recent times. Between Berber and Assouan the river forms a series of cataracts, 5 in number. Its most remarkable feature is its annual rising, by which Egypt is fertilized. The rise begins at Cairo about the end of June, attains its maximum about the end of September, and then gradually subsides until it reaches its minimum level about the end of March, leaving the land covered with a fertile mud or slime. A rise of 16 cubits was reckoned the best by the ancients, now from 24 to 27 ft. is counted the most serviceable: the height is registered on the Nilometer at Rodda in Cairo. It was generally believed that the slime left by the inundation produced serpents, rats, and other vermin spontaneously.
General References. In Brandon's Octavia 1329, Caesar asks:
"What angel queen rules these Nyleian coasts?" i.e. Egypt. In Selimus
2342, Tonombey says to Acomat, "Great Tonombey hath left AEgyptian Ns.
and my father's court To aid thee." Tuman Bey became Sultan of Egypt in 1516.
In Marston's Insatiate v. 1, Sago
declares that though Ns. "should flow through these guilty hands . . . Yet the
sanguinolent stain would extant be." In Marlowe's Tamb.
A. iii. 2, Zenocrate says, "As looks the Sun through Ns: flowing stream,
So looks my lordly Love." Zenocrate was the daughter of the Soldan of Egypt,
and had often seen the dazzling reflection of the sun in the waters of the overflowing
N. In iv. 1, the Soldan cries: "You base Egyptians Lie slumbering on the flowery
banks of N." In his Jew i. 1, Barabas
speaks of Alexandria as "at the entry there into the sea Where Ns. pays his
tribute to the main." Milton, P. L. 1, 343, speaks of the plague of locusts
called up by Moses, which "darkened all the land of N." In 413, he speaks of
the march of the Israelites to Canaan "from N.," i.e. Egypt. In iv. 283,
Mt. Amara is said to be "under the Ethiop line By Ns.' head." In P. R. iv. 71,
Meroe (q.v.) is called "Nilotic isle." In Nat. Ode 211, the Egyptian
gods are called "The brutish gods of N."
The Cataracts of the Nile. In B. & F. Valentinian
v. 4, Afranius says that the people are "in peace more raging Than the loud
falls of N." In Massinger's Actor v.
1, the tribune says, "With less fury The waves rush down the cataracts of N."
In Shirley's Fair One iii. 4,
Fowler says, "I would rather take a nap . . . on the fall of deafening Ns. than
endure the visitation of any of their tribe." In Daniel's Cleopatra v. 2, Chor.,
the Ns. is addressed, "Draw back thy waters' flow To thy concealed head; rocks,
strangle up Thy waves; stop, Cataractes, thy fall." In Brewer's Lingua
iii. 7, Memory says, "The Egyptian Catadupes never heard the roaring of
the fall of Ns. because the noise was so familiar unto them." In Cockayne's
Obstinate iv. 2, Falorus says,
"I'd Be deafer than the people that inhabit Near the Egyptian cataracts of N."
See CATADUPES.
The Inundation of the Nile. In Tit.
iii. 1, 71, Titus says, "My grief was at the height before thou tamest, But
now, like Ns., it disdaineth bounds." In Ant.
i. 2, 50, when Iras says of her own hand, "There's a palm presages chastity,"
Charmian replies sarcastically, "E'en as the o'erflowing Ns. presageth famine."
In ii. 7, 29, Antony says, "They take the flow o' the N. by certain scales i'
the pyramid: they know by the height, the lowness, or the mean, if dearth or
foison follow; the higher Ns. swells, the more it promiseth." In B. & F. False
One iii. 4, Ptolemy says to Caesar, "We owe for all this wealth to the
old Ns . . . . Within the wealthy womb of reverend Ns. All this is nourished."
Davies, in Nosce, says, "We seek to know . . . the strange cause of the ebbs
and floods of N." In Mason's Mulleasses
2244, Mulleasses says, "If thy warm blood . . . Desires with Nyle to rise
above her banks, A carpet richer than the breast of Tempe . . . shall be spread."
The Spontaneous Productiveness of the Slime after the Inundation.
In Ant. i. 3, 69, Antony swears
"By the fire that quickens Ns.' slime, I go from hence thy soldier." In ii.
7, 30, Lepidus says, "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation
of your sun; so is your crocodile." In Shirley's Traitor
iv. 2, Sciarrha says, "Oh, that my voice Could call a serpent from corrupted
N.!" In Kyd's Cornelia iii., Cornelia prays: "Let fair Ns., wont to nurse your
corn, Cover your land with toads and crocodiles." In B. & F. Maid's
Trag. iv. 1, Evadne says, "I do present myself the foulest creature, Most
poisonous, dangerous, and despised of men, Lerna e'er bred or Ns." Spenser,
in F. Q. i. 1,.21, says of the Ns.: "Huge heaps of mud he leaves, wherein there
breed 10,000 kinds of creatures, partly male And partly female, of his fruitful
seed; Such ugly monstrous shapes elsewhere may no man reed." And again, in iii.
6, 8, "So after Ns.' inundation, Infinite shapes of creatures men do find Informed
in the mud on which the sun hath shined." And in iv. 11, 20, "The fertile N.,
which creatures new doth frame," is in the river list. Linche, in Diella (1596)
xxx. 4, says, "What strange and hideous monsters Ns. shows." W. Smith, in Chloris
(1596) x. 2, asks, "Am I a Gorgon, that she me doth fly? Or was I hatched in
the river N.?"
The Seven Mouths of the Nile. In Barnes' Charter
iv. 5, Alexander calls asps "Cleopatra's birds Of 7-mouthed Ns." In Caesar's
Rev. i. 3, Caesar speaks of Pompey as "guarded with the unresisted power
That Meroe or 7-mouthed N. can yield." In Greene's Orlando
i. 1, 3, Marsilius speaks of "7-fold Nylus." In B. & F. False One ii. 1,
Caesar says that Pompey's blood"Will weep unto the ocean for revenge Till Ns.
raise his 7 heads and devour ye." In Kyd's Cornelia iv., Caesar names amongst
his conquests "The stony-hearted people that inhabit Where sevenfold Ns. doth
disgorge itself." In Taming of a Shrew
, Haz., p. 533. the Duke swears "By Merops head and by 7-mouthed N." Probably
for Merops we should read Meroe's. See quotation above from Caesar's Rev. Spencer,
F. Q. i. 5, 18, speaks of "broad 7-mouthed N." In Milton, P. L. xii. 157, Michael
predicts that the sons of Abraham will come "to a land hereafter called Egypt,
divided by the river N.; See where it flows, disgorging at 7 mouths Into the
sea."
The source of the Nile was not discovered till the 19th cent., and was considered
an insoluble mystery. In Brewer's Lingua
iii. 6, Anamnestes says, "When Phaeton ruled the sun, Ns. hid his head thenhe
could never find it since:' In Tiberius
2931, Agrippina says, "First let the head of Ns. be revealed." Montaigne (Florio's
Trans. 1603), iii. 5, says, "Nobility is . . . without birth, as the river Ns."
The N. was represented in statues and paintings as an old and venerable man.
In Marmion's Antiquary i. 1,
Lionel says, "Could I appear with a face rugged as father Ns. is pictured on
the hangings, there were hope he might look on me."
Egyptian Serpents, Crocodiles, Rats, Flies, etc. In Ant.
i. 5, 25, Cleopatra imagines Antony murmuring: "Where's my serpent of old N.?"
In ii. 5, 78, Cleopatra cries: "Melt Egypt into N.! and kindly creatures Turn
all to serpents!" In v. 2, 242, Cleopatra asks: "Hast thou the pretty worm of
Ns. there, That kills and pains not?" and in 356, the Guard says, "These fig-leaves
Have slime upon them, such as the aspic leaves Upon the caves of N." In Cym.
iii. 4, 37, Pisanio says, "'Tis slander, Whose tongue out-venoms all the worms
of N." In Caesar's Rev. ii. 4,
Caesar says of Pompey: "Well did the Cibill's unrespected verse Bid thee beware
of crocadilish N." In Marston's Sophonisba
iii. 1, Syphax says, "I'll trust her as our dogs drink dangerous N." The
dogs were said to run along as they drank for fear of the crocodiles. In Webster's
White Devil iv. 1, Flamineo
tells a story of the bird that picks the teeth of "the crocodile which lives
in the river Ns." In Locrine iii.,
Prol. 2, Ate says, "High on a bank by Ns.' boisterous streams Fearfully sat
the AEgiptian crocodile." In Shirley's Traitor
iii. 1, Rogero calls Depazzi "a viper, a rat of Ns.," and in his Love
Tricks ii. 1, we read of "the rat of Ns. fiction."
Egypt is emphatically a land of files: "the land of the buzzing
of wings," as Isaiah calls it (xviii. 1). In Ant.
iii. 13, 166, Cleopatra prays, if she be false, that she and all her Egyptians
may "Lie graveless, till the flies and gnats of N. Have buried them for prey."
In v. 2, 58, she says, "Rather on Ns.' mud Lay me stark-naked and let the water-flies
Blow me into abhorring." Hall, in Satires iv. 3, talks of "peaches by Ns. grown."
The peach, however, is not indigenous to Egypt, but was brought to Europe from
Persia and eastern Asia.
NIMMINGHAM
(= NIJMEGEN, or NYMEGEN). A town in Holland in the province of Gelderland, 55
m. S.E. of Amsterdam on the left bank of the Waal. It was strongly fortified,
and in 1590 successfully resisted an attack by Prince Maurice. In T. Heywood's
Challenge ii. 1, the Clown says,
"N. bid you look to your Skonce" the point being in the double meaning of sconce:
(i) a fortification, and (2) a head. See also NUNWEGHEN.
NINEVEH
The ancient capital of the Assyrian Empire, lying on the E. bank of the Tigris,
opposite the modern Mosul, abt. 500 m. North of the head of the Persian Gulf.
It was destroyed in 608 B.C., and nothing remains of its former splendours but
the mounds which cover its palaces, and which were explored by Layard and others
during the 19th cent. N. was the scene of the preaching of Jonah after his ejection
from the whale, as related in the book of Jonah. The scene of Greens and Lodge's
Looking Glass is laid in N. at the
time of Jonah's visit. A mythical K., Rasni, is described as "he that rules great
N.," and the denunciation by the prophet of the sins of N. is applied to the corresponding
offences of Lond. In Milton, P. R. iii. 275, the Tempter points out to our Lord
"N., of length within her wall Several days' journey, built by Ninus old."
Jonah's deliverance from the whale and his preaching at N. were the subject
of a motion, or puppet-play, which enjoyed great popularity. In Jonson's Barthol,
v. 1, Leatherhead says, "O the motions that I, Lanthorn Leatherhead, have given
light to! Jerusalem a stately thing, and so was N., and the city of Norwich,
and Sodom and Gomorrah." In Ev. Man
O. ii. 1, Sogliardo says, "There's a new motion of the city of N. with Jonas
and the whale, to be seen at Fleet-bdge." In B. & F. Pestle
iii. 2, after the citizen's wife has enumerated several popular shows, the
citizen says, "Nay, by your leave, Nell, Ninivie was better." To which the lady
replies: "Ninivie! oh, that was the story of Jone and the wall, was it not,
George?" In Wit S. W. i. 1, when
Sir Gregory enters, the Niece asks, "What motion's this? the model of N.?" quasi
Ninny-veh. In Brewer's Lingua iii.
6, Phantasma says, "Visus, I wonder that, amongst all your objects, you presented
us not with the sight of N., Babylon, London, or some Sturbridge Fair monsters."
In Ev. Wom. I. v. 1, Getic says,
"I have seen the Babones already, the city of New Ninivie, and Julius Caesar,
acted by-the mammets." In Underwit
v. 3, Engine says, "My story would draw more audience than the Motion of
Ninivie or the horse that snorts at Spain." In Marston's Courtesan
iii. 1, Crispwell mentions the motions of "N., Julius Caesar, Jonas, or
the destruction of Jerusalem." In Middleton's Gipsy
iv. 1, Sancho sings: "For an ocean, Not such a motion As the city N." In
Cowley's Cutter [ed. note The Guardian] v. 11, Jolly says that the Puritan widow "ne'er saw any shew
yet but the puppet-play of Ninive." In Middleton's Blurt
i. 1, Hippolito says, "I now might describe the Ninevitical motion of the
whole battle."
NIPHATES
A mtn. range in Armenia, on the Northwest bank of Lake Van, now called Nimroud-Tagh. In Milton, P. L. iii. 742, Satan, on coming to the earth to seek for Eden, "Throws his steep flight in many an aery wheel, Nor staid till on Niphates' top he lights."
NISA
See NYSA.
NISIBIS
Avery ancient city in North of Mesopotamia, on the Mygdonius, between the Euphrates and .the Tigris, abt. 100 m. North-West of Nineveh. It was rebuilt under the Seleucid kings of Syria, and renamed Antiocheia Mygdoniae. Its ruins are still to be seen near the modern Nisibin. In Milton, P. R. iii. 291, it is mentioned along with Seleucia as one of the great cities "Built by Emathian or by Parthian hands."
NOBODY
The sign of John Trundle's bookshop in Barbican, Lond. Nobody
was "Printed for John Trundle and are to be sold at his shop in Barbican at
the sign of No-body." The sign represented a man all head, legs, and arms, with
no body. There is a reference to this sign, or to some similar picture, in Temp.
iii. 2, 136, where Trinculo says of Ariel's tune: "This is the tune of our catch,
played by the picture of Nobody." Taylor, in Works i. 123, says, "In Barbican
kind Nobody is hanged."
NOLA
An ancient city in the interior of Campania, 125 m. S.E. of Rome. Here Augustus
died A.D. 14, and the house in which he passed away was dedicated as a temple
to him by his successor Tiberius. In Jonsons Sejanus
iii. 3, Tiberius says that he is going into Campania to dedicate a temple
"at Nola to Augustus."
NOMBRE DE DIOS
Spt. on the E. coast of the isthmus of Panama, near the mouth of the Chagres.
It was raided by Drake in 1570. In Devonshire
i. 2, the Merchant says, "Nombre de Dios and the rest of those fair sisters
By Drake and his brave Binges were ravished." Fuller, Holy State ii. 22, tells
how Drake "made with all speed and secrecy to Nombre de Dios . . . Which city
was then the granary of the W. Indies."
NONACRIS
A town in North-East Arcadia, near which the river Styx has its source, the water
of which was said to be a deadly poison. In Mason's Mulleasses
1772, Borgias says to Timoclea, "Quaff Stigian N., I will pledge thee."
NONSUCH
A palace built by Henry VIII at Ewell in Surrey, 13 m. S.W. of Lond. Hentzner speaks with enthusiasm of its architecture, its parks, gardens, statues, and fountains. It was pulled down by the Duchess of Cleveland, to whom it was presented by Charles II.
NONSUCH HOUSE
A wooden house, 4 stories high, brought over from Holland and set up over the 7th and 8th arches of old Lond. Bdge., in the reign of Elizabeth. Only wooden pegs were used in its construction. Lupton, in London Carbonadoed (1632), says of Lond. Bdge.: "His houses may well be called Nonsuch, for there is none like them."
NOREMBERG
(= NUREMBERG, or NURNBERG) An ancient city in Bavaria, on the Pegnitz, 95 m. North-West of Munich. It was the centre of the silver-plate manufacture in Germany; and it held a first place in all sorts of artistic products, as well as in the music of which its master-singers were the exponents. The proverb ran "Nuremberg's hand goes through every land." Heylyn calls it "the fairest and richest town of all Germany." Jonson, in Underwoods xcv., says to the Lord Treasurer, "I would present you now with curious plate Of N. or Turky."
NOREMBERGA
See NORUMBEGA.
NORFOLK
The county on the E. coast of England immediately S. of the Wash. From it the
Earls and Dukes of N. take their title. The Roger Bigot who appears in K.
J. was made Earl in 1189 and died in 1220. The Earldom continued in the Bigot,
or Bigod, family from the Conquest to the death of Roger Bigod in 1302. Thomas
Mowbray was created D. in 1397: he was the great-great-grandson of Thomas of Brotherton,
Earl of N., younger son of Edward I. He is the Mowbray of R2.
He is challenged by Bolingbroke, in i. 1, for peculation and for having plotted
the D. of Gloucester's death. In i. 3, he is banished for life; in iv. 1, 91,
the Bp. of Carlisle reports that he has died at Venice. This was in 1399. In H4
B. iii. 2, 29, Shallow tells us that "Jack Falstaff, now Sir John, was then
a boy, And page to Thomas Mowbray, D. of N." Sir John Oldcastle was actually so:
an additional proof that he was the original Falstaff. His son was the Thomas
Lord Mowbray of H4 B. In iv. 1,
iii, Westmoreland says to him, "Were you not restored To all the D. of N. 's seignories,
Your noble father's?" He was never D. of N. at all. His brother John, however,
received the Dukedom, and the D. of N. in H6
C. was his grandson. He died in 1475, He is the D. of N. of R3
ii. 1, 101. He was the last male representative of his family, and in 1483
John Lord Howard, who was the grandson through his mother, of the Thomas Mowbray
of R2, was created D. of N. He is
the jockey of N, of the distich quoted in R3
v. 3, 304: "Jockey of N., be not too bold, For Dickon thy master is bought
and sold"and was killed at Bosworth. His son was the Earl of Surrey of R3
v. 3, 2, etc. He was imprisoned by Henry VII for 3 years, but then restored
to the Earldom of Surrey. He commanded the English at Flodden, and in 1514 was
created D. of N. He is the D. of N. of H8
i. 1, and his wife is the Duchess who bore Q. Anne's train in iv. 1, and was
godmother to the Princess Elizabeth in v. 3, 169. He died in 1524, and was succeeded
by his son Thomas (d. 1554), who is the D. of N. of H8
iii. and iv., and of Cromwell,
and is wrongly mentioned by Sampson in Vow
as being at the siege of Leith in 1560. Shakespeare has confused father and
son, and seems to regard them as only one person. Thomas Howard the younger was
father of Henry Earl of Surrey, the poet, beheaded in 1547. The present D. is
directly descended from these Howards, and is the premier D. and Earl of England.
In Merry Devil i., the Host of the
George uses the phrase, "I serve the good D. of N." as a kind of gag, meaning
"I live a free, jolly life." In B. & F. Thomas
iii. 3, one of the Fiddler's ballads is entitled "The D. of N." Probably it
told the story of the execution in 1572 of Thomas, 4th D. In H6
C. i. 1, 156, Northumberland says to Warwick, "'Tis not thy southern power
Of Essex, N., Suffolk, nor of Kent, Can set the D. up"; and in iv. 8, 12, Warwick
sends Clarence to stir up "in Suffolk, N., and in Kent, The knights and gentlemen
to come with thee."
In Piers B. v. 238, Avarice says, "I can no Frenche in feith but of the ferthest
ende of N.": N. being regarded as a rustic dist. where French would not be known.
Chaucer's Reeve was "of Northfolk Biside a town men clepen Baldeswelle" (C.
T. A. 619). In B. & F. Wit S. W.
i. 1, Cunningham is introduced as "a N. gentleman." He is represented as a discreet
and long-headed person. In Marmion's Leaguer
iv. 5, Capritis claims to be "of N." So, in Killigrew's Parson
i. 3, when jolly wants to get credit in Lond., he whispers to the mercer,
"Do you know the Constants and the Sads of N.?" and at once secures it. The
sub-title of Day's B. Beggar is
The Merry Humour of Tom Strowd the N. Yeoman. In Brewer's Lovesick
King i. 1, Alured exhorts Edmund, "Hie thee to Thetford, raise thy friends
in N." In v. 1, Alured says to Canute that the Danes have planted themselves
"In N., Suffolk, and in Cambridge-shire." In Merlin
iii. 6, 117, Edol speaks of the settlement of the Angles in "N. and Northumberland"
at the time of the English conquest of Britain.
N. dumplings were famous, and the N. people were consequently nicknamed N.
dumplings. In Massinger's New Way
iii. 2, Greedy complains, "There's a fawn brought in, and I cannot make him
roast it With a N. dumpling in the belly of it." Taylor, in Works. i. 82, says,
"The Capt's name was Hercules Dumpling, a N. gentleman." Day, in B.
Beggar ii. 2, says, "When mine hostess came up to call me, I was as naked
as a N. dumpling." Armin, in Ninnies, says, "He looked like a N. dumpling, thick
and short." In Day's B. Beggar
i., Hadland says to Canby, "You make me your gull, your N. dumpling." In v.,
Strowd says, "Ere thou com'st into N. I'll give thee as good a dish of dumplings
as e'er thou layd'st thy lips to."
The people of N. had a reputation for excellence in physical exercises and
athletic feats. In Dekker's Westward
iii. 2, Monopoly says, "You [catchpoles] are as necessary in a city as tumblers
in N., summers in Lancashire, or rake-hells in an army." In ii. 1, Honeysuckle
says, "Now I'm as active as a N. tumbler." In Northward
iv. 2, Jenkin affirms, "Your N. tumblers are but zanies to coney-catching
punks." In Day's B. Beggar iv.,
Strowd says, "There were a sort of Tumblers at Windham Fair, and they have made
that so stale in N. and Suffolk that every wench is turned tumbler." Dekker,
in Raven's Almanac (1609), says that punks are "more nimble than N. tumblers."
The N. people were credited with special love for lawsuits and skill in legal
chicanery, and a N. lawyer is used for a clever swindler. Tusser, in Husbandry
(1573), says, "N. wiles so full of guiles Have caught my toe." In Barry's Ram
iv., justice Tutchin calls Throate "A summer's son and learned in N. wiles."
In Mayne's Match iv. 7, Dorcas
says, "Your distressed vestals long more earnestly for term than N. lawyers."
An Act (33 H. VI, cap. 7) was passed to check the litigiousness of "the counties
of N. and Suffolk." N. was famous for its breed of bullocks. In Day's B.
Beggar iii., Young Strowd says, "I would not for all the bullocks in N.
they had fallen out." In Brome's Moor
iii. 1, Quicksands says, "O thou art a N. woman, where maids are mothers
and mothers are maids." "Mother," or "mauther," is still used in the N. dialect
for a young girl.
NORHAM CASTLE
An ancient border castle on the S. bank of the Tweed, 7 m. S.W. of Berwick. It
was in the detached portion of County Durham, called Norhamshire and Islandshire,
which was incorporated in Northumberland in 1844. It was besieged by James IV
of Scotland, acting in behalf of Perkin Warbeck, in 1497, but was relieved by
the approach of the Earl of Surrey. In Ford's Warbeck,
iii. 4 is laid "before the castle of Norham."
NORMANDY
(Nn. = Norman). A province in North-West France, on the English Channel. Its capital was Rouen on the Seine. It derived its name from the settlement of the North-men there in the early part of the 10th cent. In 1066, William, the bastard son of Robert and Herleva, invaded and conquered England, and from that time to 1154 N. remained under the control of members of the English royal house. In 1154, by the accession of Henry II, it became a part of the English dominions; but in 1204 it was ceded by John to France, and continued a French province till Henry V in 1418 recovered it. It was finally lost to England in 1450.
Robert of N., the son of William the Conqueror is one of the Christian leaders
in the attack on Jerusalem described in T. Heywood's Prentices.
In Trouble. Reign , Haz., p.
254, John says to the Bastard, "I gird thee with the sword of Normandie And
of that land I do invest thee D." This is not historical. In Marlowe's Ed.
II ii. 2, Mortimer reports: "The K. of France sets foot in N." This was
in pursuance of his demand that Edward should do homage to him for Guienne and
his other possessions in France in 1325. In Ed.
III iii. 1, the K. of F. before the battle of Creçy, commits part of his
forces to "My eldest son, the D. of N." In H5
iii. 5, 10, Bourbon denounces the English as "Nns., but bastard Nns., Nn.
bastards." In H6 B. i. 1, 87,
Gloucester speaks of the deep scars received in France and N. by the English
generals; in 114, Salisbury calls Anjou and Maine "the keys of N."; and in 215,
York says, "The state of N. Stands on a tickle point." In iv, 1, 87, the Capt.
says to Suffolk, "The false revolting Nns. through thee Disdain to call us lord."
In iv. 7,. 30, Cade says to Lord Say, "What canst thou answer to my majesty
for giving up of N. unto Mounsieur Basimecu, the Dauphin of France?"; and in
80, Say replies: "I sold not Maine; I lost not N." In S. Rowley's When
You A. 2, Wolsey says, "Admiral Hayward was sent To batter down the towns
in N." The reference is to the invasion of France by Henry VIII in 1523. In
Chapman's Chabot ii. 3, 73, the
K. says to Chabot, "I made you . . . Lieutenant-General, likewise of my son,
Dauphin and heir, and of all N.": a curious muddled translation of Pasquier's
"Lieutenant-General de Monsieur le Dauphin aux gouvernements de Dauphins et
de Normandie." One of the charges brought against Chabot was the imposition
of an excessive tax "upon certain fishermen . . . upon, the coast of N." (iii.
2, 81). In Davenport's Matilda i.
3, Fitzwater charges the K. with "the loss of N."
In L. L. L. ii. 1, 43, Maria
tells how she saw Longaville at the marriage between "Lord Perigort and the
beauteous heir Of Jaques Falconbridge solemnized in N." In Ham.
iv. 7, 83, the K. tells of the magnificent horsemanship of "a gentleman of N."
whose name is stated by Laertes to be Lamond. Possibly La Mond is meant as a
kind of translation of the name of Pietro Monte, who was an instructor in riding
to Louis VII. In iii. 2, 36, where the Ff. have "pagan or Nn.," the right reading
is "pagan nor man." In Marston's Parasitaster
v., when Herod says to Sir Amorous, "'Tis is great Cupid's case; you may
have no counsel," Sir Amorous replies, "Death a justice! are we in N.?" the
reference apparently being to the proverbial litigiousness and captiousness
of the Nns. "Great Cupid's case" means the Court of Love which is being held
on Sir Amorous and others.
As many of the noble English families came from N. with William the Conqueror,
to have come in with the Conqueror meant to have an ancient title to nobility.
In Davenant's Wits ii., Pallatine
speaks of "a melancholy race of old Nn. spiders that came in with the Conqueror."
In Brewer's Lingua iii. 6, the
Herald says that the 3 lions in the English arms "are one coat, made of 2 French
Dukedoms, N. and Aquitain." In Davenant's Rutland, p. 222, the Londoner says,
"Give me leave to be conducted from Dieppe on my Nn. nag, which, though it has
not as many legs as a caterpillar, yet by being well-spurred makes shift to
travel as fast." In T. Heywood's Ed.
IV A. 54, the Capt. relates that he attached Falconbridge "in a ship of
Normandie." The scene of B. & F. Brother
is laid in N. in the time of D. Rollo, i.e. Rolf, at the beginning
of the 10th cent., but it is quite unhistorical.
NORRIGE
See NORWICH.
NORTHAM
Apparently Northampton is meant, q.v. In Peele's Ed.
I x. 6, Sussex says, "Before your Highness rid from hence to N., Sir Roger
was a suitor to your grace Touching fair Elinor."
NORTHAMPTON
The county town of Northants., on the Nen, 65 m. North-West of Lond. The castle
was built by the 1st Earl in the time of William the Conqueror. One of the battles
of the Wars of the Roses was fought near N. in 1460, in which the Lancastrians
were defeated. In R3 ii. 4, 1, the
Archbp. says of the young K. Edward, who is on his way from Ludlow to Lond: "
Last night, I hear, they lay at N." In True
Trag., p. 69, the young K. says, "My mother . . . thinks it convenient that
we dismiss our train, for fear the town of N. is not able to receive us." In H8
i. 1, 200, the D. of Buckingham is described further as "Earl of Hereford,
Stafford, and N." The title passed from him to the Howard family, and in 1618
was conferred on Sir William Compton, the ancestor of the present Marquis. In
Three Ladies ii., Lucre mentions
N. as one of the towns where, through their great trade, infinite numbers of people
"great rents upon little room do bestow." In Marmion's Leaguer
iv. 5, Agurtes says, "'Twos an affray, a sudden affray, directly against the
statute of N., the decimo tertio of Harry the Fourth clears the doubt." Parliaments
were held at N. in the reigns of Henry II, Edward II, and Edward III: possibly
the reference is to the 1st section in the Assizes of N. of 1176, which prescribes
the loss of hand and foot for certain crimes of violence.
NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
The Midland county of England lying between Warwicksh. on the E. and Cambridgesh.
on the W. It is chiefly occupied in agriculture and sheep-breeding. In Middleton's
Quiet Life v. 2, Sanders says, "My
lady talked what a goodly act it was of a Countess-N. breed belikethat to
make Coventry a corporation rode through the city naked." Leofric, the husband
of the Lady Godiva, was the Lord of Mercia, in which N. was included, and Coventry
is in the adjacent county of Warwick. In K.
J. i. 1, 5 1, Philip the Bastard describes himself as "a gentleman Born in
N., and eldest son, As I suppose, to Robert Faulconbridge." He is introduced by
the Sheriff of N., Sir Simon de Pateshull, and the scene is a room of state in
Northampton Castle, which was a favourite resort of the Kings of England during
the Plantagenet period. Only a few vestiges now remain of the building: iv. 1
and v. 1 were probably intended to be at the same place. In H6
C. iv. 8, 15, Warwick instructs Montague that he will find men well inclined
to the Lancastrian cause in "Buckingham, Northampton, and in Leicestershire."
In Mayne's Match ii. 2, Aurelia
complains that her Puritan waiting-woman "will urge councils for her little
ruff, Called in N." Robert Browne, the founder of the Brown, held a benefice
in Northampton: he was committed to gaol over a dispute as to the payment of
church rates, and died there in 1630. In Middleton's Michaelmas
i. 2, Hellgill says to the country wench, "Why, N. lass, dost dream of virginity
now?" In Shirley's C. Maid iv.
2, the countryman says, "You have a guest, one Startup of N."
NORTH COUNTRY
Applied to the counties of England North of the Humber, and the lowlands of Scotland.
In Jonson's Barthol., one of the characters
is "a Northern clothier" who talks a kind of dialect, thus: "I'll ne mare, I'll
ne mare; the eale's too meeghty." In Dekker's Northward
i. 3, Philip informs us that "the northern man loves white-meats, the southern
man salads." In both cases the words are used as synonyms for paramours.
NORTH-EAST PASSAGE
A way of communication with India round the North coast of America, which was regarded as possible by the navigators of the 16th and 17th cents., and was sought for in vain by a large number of them. Its direction was, of course, NorthWest from England; but it was called North-East as being, the passage to the East by the North. The chief adventurers in this quest were: - Martin Frobisher (1576-8);
- John Davis (1585-7);
- William Barents (1594-6);
- Waymouth (1602);
- Henry Hudson (1607-10);
- Thomas Button (1612-3);
- Robert Bylot and William Baffin (1615-6).
In B. & F. Prize ii. 2, Bianca says,
"That everlasting cassock that has worn As many servants out as the North-east
passage Has consumed sailors." In Massinger's Madam
ii. 3, Sir Maurice says, "I will undertake To find the north passage to the
Indies sooner." In Mayne's Match i.
4., Bright says of Plotwell's merchant's habit: "This jacket surely was employed
In finding the n. e. passage out." Milton, P. L. x. 291, speaks of "Mtns. of ice,
that stop the imagined way Beyond Petsore eastward to the rich Cathaian coast."
In Wilson's Inconstant iv. 1, the
D. says, "'Tis more easy To plough the frozen North and force a way Unto the Eastern
world."
NORTH POLE
In Tourneur, Atheist ii. 5, Levidulcia
says of Fresco: "Faint-hearted fool! I think thou wert begotten Between the N.
P. and the congealed passage." In Cowley's Riddle iv., Aphron says, "Where am
I now? Under the Northern P. Where a perpetual winter binds the ground And glazeth
up the floods?"
NORTHUMBERLAND
The most Northerly county in England, extending from the Tyne to the Cheviot Hills.
The old kingdom of N. extended, as the name implies, from the Humber to the Firth
of Forth; and was ruled by a succession of Anglian kings from the middle of the
6th to the 9th cents. Chaucer's Man of Law's Tale relates how Constance was brought
to the coast of N. in the reign of Alla, or AElla, A.D. 560-567. It was conquered
by the Kings of Wessex in the 10th cent., but they had to cede the Northern part
of it beyond the Tweed to the Scottish Kings, whilst the Danes retained the lordship
of the S. portion. In Merlin iii.
6, 117, Edol speaks of the settlement of the Angles in "Norfolk and N." In 1041,
Siward the Strong, a Danish prince, reigned over this part of the old kingdom,
and aided Malcolm in ousting Macbeth from the Scottish throne. In Mac.
iii. 6, 3 1, we are told that Macduff "is gone To pray the holy king upon his
aid, To wake N. and warlike Siward."
As a result of the wars of the Edwards, N., Durham, and Yorks. became finally
attached to the English Crown, and in 1377 Richd. II granted the Earldom of
N. to Henry Percy. He is the N. of R2
and H4. He joined Henry
of Lancaster on his return to England; and after his coronation as Henry IV
supported him for a time, but he and his son Henry Hotspur took the lead in
the rebellion which forms the background of H4
A. and led up to the battle of Shrewsbury, in which Hotspur was killed.
The Earl himself failed to come to the battle, and succeeded in avoiding the
penalty of his revolt. But 2 years later he joined in the plot of Archbp. Scrope,
as told in H4 B. i. 3, and finally
perished in a new rebellion at Bramham Moor in 1408. His titles were forfeited,
but were restored to his grandson Henry, 2nd Earl, by Henry V. In Fam.
Vict., Haz., p. 361, he is mentioned as being at the battle of Agincourt.
He was killed fighting on the Lancastrian side at the 1st battle of St. Albans.
In H6 C. i. 1, 4, York relates
how in this battle "the great Lord of N. Cheered up the drooping army; and himself,
Lord Clifford, and Lord Stafford Were by the swords of common soldiers slain."
In i. 1, 54, K. Henry. says of York: "Earl of N., he slew thy father." He was
succeeded by his son, who is the N. of H6
C. and is called "rough N." by York (i. 4, 27) and "Haught N." by Warwick
(ii. 1, 169). He was present at Wakefield in 1460 when young Rutland was murdered.
In R3 i. 3. 187, Buckingham, referring
to this, says, "N. then present wept to see it." He was killed at Towton in
1461. His successor is the "melancholy Lord N." mentioned in R3
v. 3, 65 as cheering the troops before the battle of Bosworth; and in v.
3, 271 as saying that "Richmond was never trained up in arms." He was killed
in quelling a rebellion in the reign of Henry VII. The "stout Earl of N." who
is described in H8 iv. 2, 12
as arresting Wolsey was the 6th Earl and died childless. Dudley, Earl of Warwick,
held the title 1551-1553. He is the N. of Webster's Wyatt,
the father in-law of Lady Jane Grey. He was beheaded in 1553. The Earldom was
restored to the Percies by Elizabeth. The male line became extinct in 1670.
For the next two generations there were only heiresses; the second of whom,
Elizabeth, Baroness Percy, married Sir Hugh Smithson, who was created Earl of
N. in 1750 and Duke of N. in 1766. From him the present Duke is descended. In
Greene's James IV ii. 1, Eustace
says, "The country Countess of N. Doth greet you well." This was the wife of
the 5th Earl. In H5 ii. Prol.
25, one of the conspirators described as "Sir Thomas Grey, Knight, of N.'' He
was the son of Sir Thomas Grey of Berwick, Constable of Norham Castle.
In Peele's Ed. 1 v., the Messenger
reports: "Trothless Baliol, their accursed K., With fire and sword doth threat
N." In Respublica v. 6, Avarice says,
"I would have brought half Kent into N., and Somersetsh. should have taught
to Cumberland." In B. & F. Thomas iii.
3, Thomas says, "Now sing 'The D. of N.'" and the Fiddler responds, "And clambering
to promotion he fell down suddenly." In Hycke,
p. 88, Hycke says he has been in "Northumberlonde Where men seethe rushes in
gruel." I suppose he refers to the porridge which is the staple of north-country
diet. In May's Old Couple iv. 3,
Sir Argent plans: "I'll purchase all in parcels, far from home; A piece in Cornwall;
in Hampshire some; some in N." In Trag.
Richd. II iv. 3, the Sheriffs of Kent and of N. appear at Court to protest
against the K.'s exactions: they are evidently chosen from the extreme S. and
North to suggest the protest of the whole realm.
NORTHUMBRIA
One of the old Saxon kingdoms in England, lying North of the Humber and including
the counties of Yorks., Durham, Northumberland, part of Lancs., and Lothian in
S. Scotland. It was divided into Bernicia in the North and Deira in the South.
The scene of Brome's Queen's Exch.
is laid in N. during the reign of an imaginary K. Osrick, who married Bertha,
Q. of the W. Saxons. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 3, 39, records a prediction that "Cadwallin
. . . shall an huge host into Northumber lead."
NORTON FOLGATE
A street in Lond, connecting Bishopsgate Street Without and High Street, Shoreditch.
The Priory of St. Mary Spittle was founded on the E. side of the street near the
corner of White Lion Street, in 1197, by William Brewen. In W. Rowley's New
Wonder iv., Brewen says, "Near N. F. have I bought Ground to erect this house
which I will call St. Mary's Hospital." An entry in Bodleian MS., Aubrey 8, 45,
runs: "Mr. Beeston who knows most of him fr. Mr. Lacy he lived in Shoreditch at
Hoglane within 6 doors f- N.-f." The reference is supposed to be to Shakespeare.
See under HOG LANE.
NORUMBEGA
The name in the 17th cent. for the S. part of Canada and the States of New York and Maine. Milton, P. L. x. 696, describes the North winds blowing from the north Of N., and the Samoed shore." Burton, A. M. ii. 2, 3, says, "At Noremberga in 45 lat., all the sea is frozen ice."
NORWAY
(Nn. = Norwegian). The country on the W. and North of the Scandinavian Peninsula.
Its authentic history begins about the end of the 9th cent., when it be came a
united kingdom, and it continued to be governed by its own kings unit the union
of the Norwegian and Swedish crowns in 1319. In Clyomon,
Thrasellus, K. of N., is one of the characters, but as the play takes place during
the life of Alexander the Gt. it is obvious that Thrasellus is entirely mythical.
In Hughes' Misfort. Arth. iv. 2,
we find on Arthur's side "Islandians, Goths, Nns., Albans, Danes." In Ham.
i. 1, 61, Horatio informs us that the late K, of Denmark combated "the ambitious
N.," whose name was Fortinbras, and slew him. We learn from ii. 2, 70 that he
was succeeded by his brother, but his son, young Fortinbras, has "Sharked up a
list of lawless resolutes" to recover the lands lost by his father to Denmark
(i. 1, 98). In i. 2, 35, Cornelius and Voltimand are sent as ambassadors to "old
N." to protest, and return, in ii. 2, with news that the K. has rebuked his nephew
and asks for him the right of passage through Denmark to fight the Polacks. In
iv. 4, Fortinbras and his Nns. pass across the stage on their way to Poland, and
they return in time for Fortinbras to be acclaimed K. of Denmark. All this is
unhistorical. In Mac. i. 2, 49, Ross
tells how in Fife "the Norweyan banners flout the sky", that Macbeth has defeated
them, and "now Sweno, the Norway's K., craves composition." In i. 3, 112, we find
that the Thane of Cawdor was "combined with those of N." The date is 1041, and
Sweno is Svend Estridsen, the nephew of Canute, who was not actually K. of N.
but was a claimant for the crown against the young Magnus, who succeeded in 1035.
In Chettle's Hoffman F. 1, Fibs
says to old Stilt, "Ye were but one of the common all soldiers that served old
Sarloys in N." Milton, P. L. i. 203, speaks of a whale "haply slumbering on the
N. foam," to which a skiff is anchored, mistaking it for an island.
The Nns., like the Danes, were supposed to be given to strong drink. In Davenant's
Wits i. 1, Lucy says to Palatine,
"Thou dost out-drink The youth of N. at their marriage feasts." Heylyn (s.v.
NORWEY) says, "The people are much given to hospitality, plain dealing, and
abhorring theft." In Davenant's Wits
ii, Palatine says he has disciples among women "from your satin slipper
To your iron patten and your N. shoe": evidently a peasant's shoe; possibly
a wooden shoe or snow-shoe is meant.
N. has huge forests of fir and pine. In Jonson's Prince Henry's Barriers,
he says, "The proud Armada styled by Spain The Invincible . . . that swam .
. . as if . . . half of N. with her fir-trees came." Milton, P. L. i. 293, compares
Satan's spear to "the tallest pine Hewn on Nn. hills to be the mast Of some
great ammiral." N., like Lapland, was supposed to be the home of witches that
could command the winds. In Davenant's Plymouth
ii. 1, Seawit says, "I wish thou hadst an old aunt in N. that would command
the winds with a charm." The scene of Shirley's Politician
is laid in N.
NORWICH
The county town of Norfolk, on the right bank of the Wensum, 114 m. North-E. of
Lond. It was the Venta Icenorum of the Romans: the name Nordwic first appears
in 1004. The Castle, of which the keep still remains and is used as a prison,
was built by William Rufus; other notable old buildings are the noble cathedral,
the parish ch. of St. Peter Mancroft, St. Andrew's Hall, and the Grammar School.
A large Flemish colony settled here in the reign of Edward III, and established
the cloth manufacture which was for long the staple trade of the city. It was
one of the chief centres of Lollardism, and afterwards of Protestantism. In Three
Ladies ii., Lucre mentions N. among the places where trade is so good that
there are infinite numbers there who "great rents upon little room do bestow."
In Bale's Laws iv., Pseudodoctrine
claims "Rugge and Corbett of N." as supporters of the Pope against the Protestants.
Rugge was made Bp. of N. in 1530, but resigned in 1549 because of his opposition
to the alterations in church order. Corbett may be the Henry Corbett, a Dutch
priest, for whom Cranmer tries to get a benefice from Cromwell in a letter of
1539. He was probably one of the Flemish colony at N. In Bale's Johan
ii., p. 235, Wealth says of the Pope's Interdict: "The bp. of Norwyche and
the bp. of Wynchester Hath full authority to spread it in Yngland here." But the
Bp. of N. was at this time one of the K.'s supporters, and was, in fact, his Lord-Lieutenant
in Ireland.
In 1600 William Kemp, the actor, danced a morris all the way from Lond. to
N. in 9 days, the record of which he has left in his Nine Days Wonder. He entered
the city by St. Stephen's Gate, made his way to the Market Place, and was entertained
by the mayor. Jonson, in Fam. Voyage, refers to "him who Did dance the famous
morris unto N." Taylor, in Works ii. 73, says that Coryat's travels advanced
him "Above Kemp's N. antick Morris dance." W. Rowley, in Search Intro., speaks
of "the wild morris to Norrige." In Dekker's Westward
v. 1, Linstock says, "We'll dance to N. and take [our supper] there." Spenser,
F. Q. iv. 11, 33, speaks of "Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall." N. was the subject
of a popular Motion, or puppet play. Probably the scene represented the market
place, with the castle on the left and the cathedral on the right. What particular
event in the history of the city was enacted does not appear: possibly it was
Kett's rebellion in 1549. In Jonson's Barthol.
v. 1, Leatherhead says, "O the motions that I have given light to! Jerusalem
was a stately thing, and so was Nineveh and the city of N." In Day's B.
Beggar iv., Strowd, a Norfolk man, being invited to see a motion, says,
"Shall I see all Norwitch in the corner of a little chamber?" In Davenant's
Playhouse i., the Housekeeper mentions "the new motion-men of N." In preface
to Coryat's Crudities (1611), Ben Jonson says that Coryat supplies a spectacle
"grateful above that of Nineveh or the City of N." In verses prefixed to Coryat's
Crudities (1611), Peacham mentions amongst the sights of Lond. "The fall of
Nineveh with N. built in an hour."
Robert Greene, the dramatist, was born at N. about 1550. Thomas Deloney, the
well-known ballad writer (died about 1600), is called by Nash "the ballading
Silk-weaver of N." In Jonson's Devil
v. 5, Meercraft says, "A boy of 13 year old made him [the Devil] an ass
But t'other day." The reference is to a boy of 12 called Thomas Harrison, of
N., who had fits and was suspected of being a demoniac in 1605.
NOSTEL
The seat of an ancient priory of St. Oswald, in W. Riding Yorks., about half way between Wakefield and Pontefract. It was the oldest Augustinian Priory in England, having been founded by the Lacies in the 11th cent. It was dissolved by Henry VIII, and the property ultimately passed to the Winn family. The canons of N. performed the famous Towneley Plays about the feast of the Assumption and the Nativity of the Virgin at the vill. of Woodkirk, near Wakefield.
NOTTINGHAM
The county-town of Notts., on the Trent and its tributary, the Leene, 108 m. North-W.
of Lond. The castle, standing on a rock 133 ft. high, was built by William the
Conqueror. It was dismantled during the Protectorate, and a mansion was built
on its site by the D. of Newcastle in 1674. Sherwood Forest lies some 12 m. North
of the town, and many of Robin Hood's adventures take place at N. In Downfall
Huntington iii. 2, Scathlock says, "We were borne bound from thence [Mansfield]
to N." In True Trag., p. 108, a Messenger
brings word: "When the Peers of England and Scotland met at N. together, to confer
about the marriage of your niece, it was determined that she should be married
with the Scottish Earl." The scene of Massinger's New
Way is laid in the country near N. In iii. 2, Greedy says, "I have granted
20 warrants to have him [Wellborn] committed to N. gaol."
In Fam. Vict., Haz., p. 363,
"The Earl of N." is mentioned as being at the battle of Agincourt. This was
John, brother of Thomas Mowbray, who was beheaded in 1405 for being concerned
in a conspiracy against the K. The scene of part of Sampson's Vow
is laid at Clifton, near N.; and mention is made in the play of N. Castle
and St. Mary's Ch. In 1, 3, 76, Miles says a soldier in battle has not as much
warning "as a thief at N. gallows." Drayton, in Barons' Wars vi. 15, calls N.
"the North's imperious eye Which as a Pharus doth survey the soil, Armed by
Nature danger to defy." In Jonson's Devil
v. 3, Meercraft asks: "Did you ne'er read, Sir, little Darrel's tricks With
. . . Summers at N.?" Darrel was a Puritan parson who practised exorcising,
but was exposed by Harnsnett in the case of one William Summers of N., who had
been his confederate in 1599. There were once 2 giants at the castle, like Gog
and Magog at Lond., but they were allowed to fall into decay. Corbett, in Iter.
Boreale, says, "O you that do Guildhall and Holmeby keep, You are good giants
and partake no shame With those 2 worthless trunks of N."
NOTTINGHAM BRIDGE
The Trent Bridge over the Trent, about 1 m. S. of N. It crosses the river by 19
arches, and is of great antiquity. In Sampson's Vow
ii. 1, 77, Joshua says, "Commend me to my learned brother Spritchall, the
cobler of Notingham brig."
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
A county of England W. of Lincs. In Brome's Crew
(the scene is laid in N.), Randal says, in v. 1, "Were you ever at my master's
house in N.?" It is appropriate that the merry Beggars should be found in the
neighbourhood of Sherwood Forest, the haunt of the old Robin Hood and his merry
men. In Jonson's Love's Welcome, which was performed "at Welbeck in N." Accidence
says, "fetch the fiddles out of France To wonder at the hornpipes here Of Nottingham
and Derbysh."
NOVA ALBION
The name given by Drake to the country round San Francisco, on the North-West coast of North America, discovered by him in 1578. Burton, A. M. ii. 2, 3, says, "Quevira, or N. A., in America, bordering on the sea, was so cold in July that our Englishmen could hardly endure it."
NOVA HISPANIA
(= MEXICO) Heylyn says "Mexico, giving name to half America, is now called N.
H." In B. & F. Span. Cur. ii. 1,
Leandro pretends to Lopez to have come "from N. H."
NUBIA
Now applied to the country in Africa on the Nile lying S. of Egypt and North of
Abyssinia; formerly used for a vague region including the present N. and extending
inland as far as Lake Tchad (Borno Lake). In Marlowe's Tamb.
B. i. 3, Techelles tells how he visited the W. coast of Africa and then "made
haste to N.; There, having sacked Borno, the princely seat, I took the k.." In
v. 3, Tamburlaine says that he marched from Egypt "to N., near Borno Lake." In
T. Heywood's Prentices, p. 101, The
Souldan says that his army is drawn "From Sauxin eastward unto N.'s bounds."
NUIS, or NUITS
A town in the Dukedom of Burgundy, a few m. S. of Dijon, 160 m. S.E. of Paris.
It was taken by the Mareschal Biron in 1594. In Chapman's Consp.
Byron ii. 1, Savoy recalls how Byron "did take in Autun and Nuis in Burgundy,
chased away Viscount Tavannes' troops before Dijon."
NUMANTIA
A city in Spain the site of which is marked by the ruins at Puente de Don Guarray,
abt. 120 m. North-East of Madrid. It was destroyed by Scipio Africanus 134 B.C.,
and has never been rebuilt. In Caesar's
Rev. v. 1, Brutus says, "Proud Zanthus, That didst sadly fall, as proud Numantia,
To conquering Scipio's power."
NUMIDIA
(Nn. = Numidian). The ancient N. was the dist. on the North coast of Africa immediately
W. of Carthage. After the destruction of Carthage it was ruled by native kings.
Massinissa was the first of these: his son Jugurtha was defeated and slain by
the Romans 106 B.C Juba I allied himself with the Pompeians, and on his death
in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar made N. into a Roman province. The Elizabethans used
the word in a much wider sense: Heylyn gives the boundaries of N. as Egypt and
the Atlantic Ocean on the E. and W., and the Atlas Mtns. and Libya on the North
and South. In Tiberius 343. the Centurion
recalls the exploits of "Marius in N," i.e. in the Jugurthine wars. In
Caesar's Rev . i. 3, Caesar speaks
of Pompey as "guarded with Nn horse"; and in iii. 2, he says, "Juba, Backed with
Nn. and Gaetulian horse, Hath felt the puissance of a Roman sword." In Nabbes'
Hannibal i. 6, Bomilcar says, "Massanissa
hath Forsaken Carthage; we must never more Expect Nn. aid." In May's Agrippina
i. 614, Vitellius speaks of "warlike Syphax, the Nn. k., Stubborn Jugurtha."
In B. & F. Fair Maid I. ii.
3, Baptista says, "A wild Nn. that had sucked a tigress Would not have been
so barbarous." In their Mad Lover
iv. 5, Memnon says, "Fetch the Nn. lion I brought over; If she be sprung
from royal blood, the lion Hell do you reverence." In Massinger's Emperor
v. 2, Chrysapius says, "Like a Nn. lion . . . forced into a spacious cage
he walks About his chamber." In Davenport's Matilda
v. 3, Fitzwater claims for Matilda "Nn. marble to preserve her praise."
The reference is to the "Onyx Marble" of Algeria, which was largely used at
Carthage and Rome. In May's Agrippina
iv. 470, Petronius says, "N. marble brings." Rabelais, Gargantua i. 53,
describes "Nn. stone [as] yellowishly-streaked marble upon various colours."
In Nabbes' Microcosmus iii., amongst other table delicacies, Sensuality promises
Physander "hens of N.": guinea-hens presumably. In May's Agrippina
iv. 368, Petronius mentions "Nn. hens" amongst table delicacies. In Cuckqueans
iv. 8, Claribel says he has "visited all Barbaric and all N." In Tiberius
1774, Germanicus says, "Were every man a furious elephant Ruled by a castle
of Nns., Those German legions would encounter them."
NUNWEGHEN
(NIJMEGEN) In Barnavelt, Barnavelt
is charged with plotting to deliver over to Spain some Dutch towns, among which
is N. See NIMMINGHAM.
NUSE
(NEUSS) A town in the Rhine Province, near the left bank of the Rhine, opposite
to Dusseldorf. Charles the Bold of Burgundy besieged it in vain for 11 months
in 1474, and so was unable to assist Edward IV when he invaded France. In T. Heywood's
Ed. IV. B. 92, Scales says of
Burgundy: "He lingers still In his long siege of N."
NYSA
An island in Lake Tritonis, S. of Tunis, near the coast of the Lesser Syrtis. Here, according to Diodorus Siculus (iii. 67), Dionysus was concealed by his father Amnion to preserve him from the jealousy of his wife, Rhea. Other legends placed his birth at Nysa in Ethiopia, or at Nysa in Caria, or at Nysa in Thrace between the Strymon and Nestus. Milton, P. L. iv. 275, speaks of "that Nyseian isle, Girt with the river Triton, where old Chain, Whom Gentiles Amnion call and Libyan Jove, Hid Amalthea and her florid son, Young Bacchus, from his step-dame Rhea's eye." In Antonie ii. 315, Philostratus speaks of "howling noise Such as mad Bacchus priests in Bacchus feasts On Nisa make." See also NILA.