Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 155

=Sh.o.r.e= (_Jane_), the heroine and t.i.tle of a tragedy by N. Rowe (1312).

Jane Sh.o.r.e was the wife of a London merchant, but left her husband to become the mistress of Edward IV. At the death of that monarch, Lord Hastings wished to obtain her, but she rejected his advances. This drew on her the jealous wrath of Alicia (Lord Hastings's mistress), who induced her to accuse Lord Hastings of want of allegiance to the lord protector. The duke of Gloucester commanded the instant execution of Hastings; and, accusing Jane Sh.o.r.e of having bewitched him, condemned her to wander about in a sheet, holding a taper in her hand, and decreed that any one who offered her food or shelter should be put to death.

Jane continued an outcast for three days, when her husband came to her succor, but he was seized by Gloucester's myrmidons, and Jane Sh.o.r.e died.

=Sh.o.r.editch= (_Duke of_). Barlow, the favorite archer of Henry VIII., was so ent.i.tled by the Merry Monarch, in royal sport. Barlow's two skillful companions were created at the same time, "marquis of Islington," and "earl of Pancras."

Good king, make not good lord of Lincoln "duke of Sh.o.r.editche."--_The Poore Man's Pet.i.tion to the Kinge_ (art. xvi.

1603).

=Shorne= (_Sir John_) noted for his feat of conjuring the devil into a boot.

To Master John Shorne, That blessed man borne, Which jugeleth with a bote; I beschrewe his herte rote That will trust him, and it be I.

_Fanta.s.sie of Idolatrie._

=Short-Lived Administration= (_The_). the[TN-177] administration formed February 12, 1746, by William Pulteney. It lasted only two days.

=Shortcake= (_Mrs._), the baker's wife, one of Mrs. Mailsetter's friends.--Sir W. Scott, _The Antiquary_ (time, George III.).

=Shortell= (_Master_), the mercer at Liverpool.--Sir W. Scott, _Peveril of the Peak_ (time, Charles II.).

=Short'hose= (2 _syl._), a clown, servant to Lady Hartwell, the widow.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _Wit Without Money_ (1539).

=Shorthouse= (_Tom_), epitaph of.

_Hic Jacet_ Tom Shorthouse, _sine_ Tom, _sine_ Sheets, _sine_ Riches; _Qui Vixit sine_ Gown, _sine_ Cloak, _sine_ s.h.i.+rt, _sine_ Breeches.

_Old London_ (taken from the _Magna Britannia_)

=Shovel-Boards= or _Edward Shovel-Boards_, broad s.h.i.+llings of Edward III.

Taylor, the water-poet, tells us "they were used for the most part at shoave-board."

... the unthrift every day, With my face downwards do at shoave-board play.

Taylor, the water-poet (1580-1754).

=Shewsberry= (_Lord_), the earl marshall in the court of Queen Elizabeth.--Sir W. Scott, _Kenilworth_ (time, Elizabeth).

=Shufflebottom= (_Abel_), a name a.s.sumed by Robert Southey in some of his amatory productions (1774-1843).

=Shuffles= (_Robert_). One of the "bad boys," whose misdemeanors and reformation are sketched in _Outward Bound_, by William T. Adams (Oliver Optic).

=Shuffleton= (_The Hon. Tom_), a man of very slender estate, who borrows of all who will lend, but always forgets to repay or return the loans.

When spoken to about it, he interrupts the speaker before he comes to the point, and diverts the conversation to some other subject. He is one of the new school, always emotionless, looks on money as the _summum bonum_, and all as fair that puts money in his purse. The Hon. Tom Shuffleton marries Lady Caroline Braymore, who has 4000 a year. (See DIMANCHE.)--G. Colman, Jr., _John Bull_.

=Shylock=, the Jew, who lends Antonio (a Venetian merchant) 3000 ducats for three months, on these conditions: If repaid within the time, only the princ.i.p.al would be required; if not, the Jew should be at liberty to cut from Antonio's body a pound of flesh. The s.h.i.+ps of Antonio being delayed by contrary winds, the merchant was unable to meet his bill, and the Jew claimed the forfeiture. Portia, in the dress of a law doctor, conducted the trial, and when the Jew was about to take his bond, reminded him that he must shed no drop of blood, nor must he cut either more or less than an exact pound. If these conditions were infringed his life would be forfeit. The Jew, feeling it to be impossible to exact the bond under such conditions, gave up the claim, but was heavily fined for seeking the life of a Venetian citizen.--Shakespeare, _The Merchant of Venice_ (1598).

Among modern actors, _Henry Irving_, as Shylock, stands unsurpa.s.sed.

According to the kindred authority of Shylock, no man hates the thing he would not kill.--Sir W. Scott.

? Paul Secchi tells us a similar tale: A merchant of Venice, having been informed by private letter that Drake had taken and plundered St.

Domingo, sent word to Sampson Ceneda, a Jewish usurer. Ceneda would not believe it, and bet a pound of flesh it was not true. When the report was confirmed the pope told Secchi he might lawfully claim his bet if he chose, only he must draw no blood, nor take either more or less than an exact pound, on the penalty of being hanged.--Gregorio Leti, _Life of s.e.xtus V._ (1666).

=Sibbald=, an attendant on the earl of Menteith.--Sir W. Scott, _Legend of Montrose_ (time, Charles I.).

=Sibylla=, the sibyl. (See SIBYLS.)

And thou, Alecto, feede me wyth thy foode ...

And thou, Sibilla, when thou seest me faynte, Addres thyselfe the gyde of my complaynte.

Sackville, _Mirrour for Magistraytes_ ("Complaynte," etc., (1557).[TN-178]

=Sibyls.= Plato speaks of only _one_ sibyl; Martian Capella says there were _two_ (the _Erythraean_ or _c.u.maean_ sibyl, and the _Phrygian_); Pliny speaks of the _three_ sibyls; Jackson maintains, on the authority of aelian, that there were _four_; Shakespeare speaks of the _nine_ sibyls of old Rome (1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 2); Varro says they were _ten_ (the sibyls of Libya, Samos, c.u.mae (in Italy), c.u.mae (in Asia Minor), Erythrae, Persia, Tiburtis, Delphi, Ancy'ra (in Phrygia), and Marpessa), in reference to which Rabelais says, "she may be the _eleventh_ sibyl" (_Pantagruel_, iii. 16); the mediaeval monks made the number to be _twelve_, and gave to each a distinct prophecy respecting Christ. But whatever the number, there was but _one_ "sibyl of old Rome"

(the c.u.maean), who offered to Tarquin the nine Sibylline books.

=Sibyl's Books= (_The_). We are told that the sibyl of c.u.mae (in aeolis) offered Tarquin nine volumes of predictions for a certain sum of money, but the king, deeming the price exorbitant, refused to purchase them; whereupon she burnt three of the volumes, and next year offered Tarquin the remaining six at the same price. Again he refused, and the sibyl burnt three more. The following year she again returned, and asked the original price for the three which remained. At the advice of the augurs the king purchased the books, and they were preserved with great care under guardians specially appointed for the purpose.

=Sicilian Bull= (_The_), the brazen bull invented by Perillos for the tyrant Phalaris, as an engine of torture. Perillos himself was the first victim enclosed in the bull.

As the Sicilian bull that rightfully His cries echoed who had shaped the mould, Did so rebellow with the voice of him Tormented, that the brazen monster seemed Pierced through with pain.

Dante, _h.e.l.l_, xxvii. (1300).

=Sicilian Vespers= (_The_), the ma.s.sacre of the French in Sicily, which began at Palermo, March 30, 1282, at the hour of vespers, on Easter Monday. This wholesale slaughter was provoked by the brutal conduct of Charles d'Anjou (the governor) and his soldiers towards the islanders.

A similar ma.s.sacre of the Danes was made in England, on St. Bryce's Day (November 13), 1002.

Another similar slaughter took place at Bruges, March 24, 1302.