Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 47

Southey, _Thalaba, the Destroyer_, ii. 7 (1797).

=O'Kean= (_Lieutenant_), a quondam admirer of Mrs. Margaret Bertram, of Singleside.--Sir W. Scott, _Guy Mannering_ (time, George II.).

=Olave=, brother of Norma, and grandfather of Minna and Brenda Troil.--Sir W. Scott, _The Pirate_ (time, William III.).

=Old Bags.= John Scott, Lord Eldon; so called because he carried home with him in sundry bags the cases pending his judgment (1751-1838).

=Old Bona Fide= (2 _syl._), Louis XIV. (1638, 1643-1715).

=Old Curiosity Shop= (_The_), a tale by C. d.i.c.kens (1840). An old man, having run through his fortune, opened a curiosity shop in order to earn a living, and brought up a granddaughter, named Nell [Trent], 14 years of age. The child was the darling of the old man, but, deluding himself with the hope of making a fortune by gaming, he lost everything, and went forth, with the child, a beggar. Their wanderings and adventures are recounted till they reach a quiet country village, where the old clergyman gives them a cottage to live in. Here Nell soon dies, and the grandfather is found dead upon her grave. The main character, next to Nell, is that of a lad named Kit [Nubbles], employed in the curiosity shop, who adored Nell as "an angel." This boy gets in the service of Mr. Garland, a genial, benevolent, well-to-do man in the suburbs of London; but Quilp hates the lad, and induces Bra.s.s, a solicitor of Bevis Marks, to put a 5 bank-note in the boy's hat, and then accuse him of theft. Kit is tried, and condemned to transportation, but the villainy being exposed by a girl-of-all-work, nicknamed "The Marchioness," Kit is liberated and restored to his place, and Quilp drowns himself.

=Old Cutty Soames= (1 _syl._), the fairy of the mine.

=Old Fox= (_The_), Marshal Soult; so called from his strategic abilities and never-failing resources (1769-1851).

=Old Glory=, Sir Francis Burdett; so called by the radicals, because at one time he was their leader. In his later years Sir Francis joined the tories (1770-1844).

=Old Grog=, Admiral Edward Vernon; so called from his wearing a grogram coat in foul weather (1684-1757).

=Old Harry=, the devil. The Hebrew _seirim_ ("hairy ones") is translated "devils" in _Lev._ xvii. 7, probably meaning "he-goats."

=Old Hickory.= General Andrew Jackson was so called in 1813. He was first called "Tough," then "Tough as Hickory," then "Hickory," and lastly "Old Hickory."

=Old Humphrey=, the pseudonym of George Mogridge, of London (died 1854).

=Old Maid= (_The_), a farce by Murphy (1761). Miss Harlow is the "old maid," aged 45, living with her brother and his bride, a beautiful young woman of 23. A young man of fortune, having seen them at Ranelagh, falls in love with the younger lady; and, inquiring their names, is told they are "Mrs. and Miss Harlow." He takes it for granted that the elder lady is the mother, and the younger the daughter, so asks permission to pay his addresses to "Miss Harlow." The request is granted, but it turns out that the young man meant Mrs. Harlow; and the worst of the matter is that the elder spinster was engaged to be married to Captain Cape, but turned him off for the younger man; and, when the mistake was discovered, was left like the last rose of summer to "pine on the stem,"

for neither felt inclined to pluck and wear the flower.

=Old Maids=, a comedy by S. Knowles (1841). The "old maids" are Lady Blanche and Lady Anne, two young ladies who resolved to die old maids.

Their resolutions, however, are but ropes of sand, for Lady Blanche falls in love with Colonel Blount, and Lady Anne with Sir Philip Brilliant.

=Old Man= (_An_), Sir Francis Bond Head, Bart., who published his _Bubbles from the Brunnen of Na.s.sau_ under this signature.

=Old Man Eloquent= (_The_), Isoc'rates, the orator. The defeat of the Athenians at Cheronae'a had such an effect on his spirits that he languished and died within four days, in the 99th year of his age.

... that dishonest victory At Cheronaea, fatal to liberty, Killed with report that Old Man Eloquent.

Milton, _Sonnet_, ix.

The same _sobriquet_ was freely applied to John Quincy Adams.

=Old Man of the Mountains=, Hussan-ben-Sabah, sheik al Jebal; also called subah of Nishapour, the founder of the band (1090). Two letters are inserted in Rymer's _Fdera_ by Dr. Adam Clarke, the editor, said to be written by this sheik.

Aloaddin, "prince of the a.s.sa.s.sins" (thirteenth century).

=Old Man of the Sea= (_The_), a monster which contrived to get on the back of Sindbad the sailor, and refused to dismount. Sindbad at length made him drunk, and then shook him off.--_Arabian Nights_ ("Sindbad the Sailor," fifth voyage).

_Old Man of the Sea_ (_The_), Phorcus. He had three daughters, with only one eye and one tooth between 'em.--_Greek Mythology._

=Old Manor-House= (_The_), a novel by Charlotte Smith. Mrs. Rayland is the lady of the manor (1793).

=Old Moll=, the beautiful daughter of John Overie or Audery (contracted into Overs) a miserly ferryman. "Old Moll" is a standing toast with the parish officers of St. Mary Overs'.

=Old Mortality=, the best of Scott's historical novels (1716). Morton is the best of his young heroes, and serves as an excellent foil to the fanatical and gloomy Burley. The two cla.s.ses of actors, viz., the brave and dissolute cavaliers, and the resolute, oppressed covenanters, are drawn in bold relief. The most striking incidents are the terrible encounter with Burley in his rocky fastness; the dejection and anxiety of Morton on his return from Holland; and the rural comfort of Cuddie Headrigg's cottage on the banks of the Clyde, with its thin blue smoke among the trees, "showing that the evening meal was being made ready."

_Old Mortality_ always appeared to me the "Marmion" of Scott's novels.--Chambers, _English Literature_, ii. 587.

_Old Mortality_, an itinerant antiquary, whose craze is to clean the moss from gravestones, and keep their letters and effigies in good condition.--Sir W. Scott, _Old Mortality_ (time, Charles II.).

? The prototype of "Old Mortality" was Robert Patterson.

=Old Noll=, Oliver Cromwell (1590-1658).

_Old Noll's Fiddler_, Sir Roger Lestrange, who played the base-viol at the musical parties held at John Hingston's house, where Oliver Cromwell was a constant guest.

=Old Rowley=, Charles II., so called from his favorite race-horse (1630, 1660-1685).

=Old Stone.= Henry Stone, statuary and painter (died 1653).

=Oldboy= (_Colonel_), a manly retired officer, fond of his gla.s.s, and not averse to a little spice of the Lothario spirit.

_Lady Mary Oldboy_, daughter of Lord Jessamy, and wife of the colonel. A sickly nonent.i.ty, "ever complaining, ever having something the matter with her head, back, or legs." Afraid of the slightest breath of wind, jarred by a loud voice, and incapable of the least exertion.

_Diana Oldboy_, daughter of the colonel. She marries Harman.