Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 49

=Olla=, bard of Cairbar. These bards acted as heralds.--Ossian.

=Ol'lapod= (_Cornet_), at the Galen's Head. An eccentric country apothecary, "a jumble of physic and shooting." Dr. Ollapod is very fond of "wit," and when he has said what he thinks a smart thing he calls attention to it, with "He! he! he!" and some such expression as "Do you take, good sir! do you take?" But when another says a smart thing, he t.i.tters, and cries, "That's well! that's very well! Thank you, good sir, I owe you one!" He is a regular rattle; details all the scandal of the village; boasts of his achievements or misadventures; is very mercenary, and wholly without principle.--G. Colman, _The Poor Gentleman_ (1802).

? This character is evidently a copy of Dibdin's "Doctor Pother" in _The Farmer's Wife_ (1780).

=Ol'lomand=, an enchanter, who persuaded Ahu'bal, the rebellious brother of Misnar, sultan of Delhi, to try by bribery to corrupt the troops of the sultan. By an unlimited supply of gold, he soon made himself master of the southern provinces and Misnar marched to give him battle.

Ollomand, with 5000 men, went in advance and concealed his company in a forest; but Misnar, apprised thereof by spies, set fire to the forest, and Ollomand was shot by the discharge of his own cannons, fired spontaneously by the flames: "For enchantment has no power except over those who are first deceived by the enchanter."--Sir C. Morell [J.

Ridley], _Tales of the Genii_ ("The Enchanter's Tale," vi., 1751).

=Oluf= (_Sir_), a bridegroom who rode late to collect guests to his wedding. On his ride, the daughter of the erl king met him and invited him to dance a measure, but Sir Oluf declined. She then offered him a pair of gold spurs, a silk doublet, and a heap of gold, if he would dance with her: and when he refused to do so, she struck him "with an elf-stroke." On the morrow, when all the bridal party was a.s.sembled, Sir Oluf was found dead in a wood.--_A Danish Legend_ (Herder).

=Olympia=, countess of Holland and wife of Bire'no. Being deserted by Bireno, she was bound naked to a rock by pirates, but was delivered by Orlando, who took her to Ireland, where she married King Oberto (bks.

iv., v.),[TN-47]--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

_Olympia_, sister to the grand-duke of Muscovia.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Loyal Subject_ (1618).

=Omawhaws= [_Om'.a.waws_] or =Omahas=, an Indian tribe of Dakota.

O, chief of the mighty Omahaws!

Longfellow, _To the Driving Cloud_.

=Ombre'lia=, the rival of Smilinda, for the love of Sharper; "strong as the footman, as the master sweet."--Pope, _Eclogues_ ("The Ba.s.set Table," 1715).

=O'Neal= (_Shan_), leader of the Irish insurgents in 1567. Shan O'Neal was notorious for profligacy.

=O'Malley= (_Charles_). Das.h.i.+ng Irishman in Charles James Lever's novel _Charles O'Malley_.

=O'More= (_Rory_). Hero of a novel of same name and the lover of Katharine O'Bawn, in the popular song, Rory O'More. Novel and song are by Samuel Lover.

=Onei'za= (3 _syl._), daughter of Moath, a well-to-do Bedouin, in love with Thal'aba, "the destroyer" of sorcerers. Thalaba, being raised to the office of vizier, married Oneiza, but she died on the bridal night.--Southey, _Thalaba, the Destroyer_, ii., vii. (1797).

=Oneida Warrior= (_The_), Outalissi (_q.v._).--Campbell, _Gertrude of Wyoming_ (1809).

=Only= (_The_), Johann Paul Friedrich Richter, called by the Germans _Der Einzige_, from the unique character of his writings.

? The Italians call Bernardo Accolti, an Italian poet of the sixteenth century, "Aretino the Only," or _L'Unico Aretino_.

=Open, Ses'ame!= (3 _syl._) the magic words which caused the cave door of the "forty thieves" to open of itself. "Shut Sesame!" were the words which caused it to shut. Sesame is a grain, and hence Ca.s.sim, when he forgot the word, cried, "Open, Wheat!" "Open, Rye!" "Open, Barley!" but the door obeyed no sound but "Open, Sesame!"--_Arabian Nights_ ("Ali Baba or The Forty Thieves").

=Ophelia=, the young, beautiful, and pious daughter of Polo'nius, lord chamberlain to the king of Denmark. Hamlet fell in love with her, but her father forbade her holding word or speech with the Prince, and she obeyed so strictly that her treatment of him, with his other wrongs, drove him to upbraid and neglect her. Ophelia was so wrought upon by his conduct that her mind gave way. In her madness, attempting to hang a wreath of flowers on a willow by a brook, a branch broke, and she was drowned.--_Hamlet_ (1596).

Tate Wilkinson, speaking of Mrs. Cibber (Dr. Arne's daughter, 1710-1766), says: "Her features, figure and singing, made her the best 'Ophelia' that ever appeared either before or since."

=Ophiuchus= [_Of'.i.u'.kus_], the constellation _Serpentarius_. Ophiuchus is a man who holds a serpent (Greek _Ophis_) in his hands. The constellation is situated to the south of _Hercules_; and the princ.i.p.al star, called "Ras Alhague," is in the man's head. (_Ras Alhague_)[TN-48]

is from the Arabic, _ras-al-hawwa_, "the serpent-charmer's head.")

Satan stood Unterrified, and like a comet burned, That fires the length of Ophiuchus huge, In the Arctic sky.

Milton, _Paradise Lost_, ii. 709, etc. (1665).

=Opium-Eater= (_The English_), Thomas de Quincey, who published _Confessions of an English Opium-Eater_ (1845).

=O. P. Q.=, Robert Merry (1755-1798); object of Gifford's satire in _Baviad_ and _Maeviad_, and of Byron's in his _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_. He marries Miss Brunton, the actress.

And Merry's metaphors appear anew, Chained to the signature of O. P. Q.

Byron, _English Bards and Scotch Reviewers_ (1809).

=Oracle of the Church= (_The_), St. Bernard (1091-1153).

=Oracle of the Holy Bottle= (_The_), an oracle sought for by Rabelais, to solve the knotty point "whether Panurge (2 _syl._) should marry or not."

The question had been put to sibyl and poet, monk and fool, philosopher and witch, but none could answer it. The oracle was ultimately found in Lantern-land.

This, of course, is a satire on the celibacy of the clergy and the withholding of the cup from the laity. Shall the clergy marry or not?--that was the moot point; and the "Bottle of Tent Wine," or the clergy, who kept the bottle to themselves, alone could solve it. The oracle and priestess of the bottle were both called _Bacbuc_ (Hebrew for "bottle").--Rabelais, _Pantag'ruel_, iv., v. (1545).

=Oracle= (_Sir_), name used in Merchant of Venice to express conceited, pugnacious man.

... I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!"[TN-49]

=Orange= (_Prince of_), a t.i.tle given to the heir-apparent of the king of Holland. "Orange" is a petty princ.i.p.ality in the territory of Avignon, in the possession of the Na.s.sau family.

=Orania=, the lady-love of Am'adis of Gaul.--Lobeira, _Amadis of Gaul_ (fourteenth century).

=Orator Henley=, the Rev. John Henley, who for about thirty years delivered lectures on theological, political, and literary subjects (1692-1756).