Chapter Albania to Alcibiades' Tables of A by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Albania to Alcibiades' Tables

Albania, the Scotch Highlands, so called from Albanact, son of Brute, the mythical Trojan king of Britain. At the death of Brute “Britain” was divided between his three sons: Locrin had England; Albanact had Albania (Scotland); and Kamber had Cambria (Wales).

He [Arthur] by force of arms Albania overrun,
Pursuing of the Picts beyond mount Caledon.
   —Drayton: Polyolbion, iv. (1612).

Albania (Turkey in Asia). It means “the mountain region,” and properly comprehends Schirwan, Daghestan, and Georgia. In poetry it is used very loosely.

Albano’s Knight, Rinaldo, whose brothers were Guichardo (the oldest), Ricardo, Richardetto, Vivian, and Alardo. His sister was Bradamant.—Ariosto: Orlando Furioso.

Alberick of MORTEMAR, the same as Theodorick the hermit of Engaddi, an exiled nobleman. He told king Richard the history of his life, and tried to dissuade him from sending a letter of defiance to the archduke of Austria.—Sir W. Scott: The Talisman (time, Richard I.).

Alberick, the squire of prince Richard (one of the sons of Henry II. of England).—Sir W. Scott: The Betrothed (time, Henry II.).

Albert, commander of the Britannia. Brave, liberal, and just; softened and refined by domestic ties and superior information. His ship was dashed against the projecting verge of Cape Colonna, the most southern point of Attica. And he perished in the sea, because Rodmond (second in command) grasped on his legs and could not be shaken off.

Though trained in boisterous elements, his mind
Was yet by soft humanity refined;
Each joy of wedded love at home he knew,
Abroad. confessed the father of his crew.…
His geneis, ever for th’ event prepared,
Rose with the storm, and all its dangers shared.
   —Falconer: The Shipwreck, i. 2 (1756).

Albert, father of Gertrude, patriarch and judge of Wyoming (called by Campbell “Wyming ”). Both Albert and his daughter were shot by a mixed force of British and Indian troops, led by one Brandt; who made an attack on the settlement, put all the inhabitants to the sword, set fire to the fort, and destroyed all the houses.—Campbell: Gertrude of Wyoming (1809).

Albert, in Goethe’s romance called The Sorrows of Werther, is meant for his friend Kestner. He is a young German farmer, who marries Charlotte Buff (called “Lotte” in the novel), with whom Goethe was in love. Goethe represents himself as Werther.

Albert of Geierstein (Count), brother of Arnold Biederman, and president of the “Secret Tribunal.” He sometimes appears as a “black priest of St. Paul’s,” and sometimes as the “monk of St. Victoire.”—Sir W. Scott: Anne of Geierstein (time, Edward IV.).

Albertazzo married Alda, daughter of Otho duke of Saxony. His sons were Ugo and Fulco. From this stem springs the Royal Family of England.—Ariosto: Orlando Furioso (1516).

Albiazar, an Arab chief, who joined the Egyptian armament against the crusaders.

A chief in rapine, not in knighthood bred.
   —Tasso: Jerusalem Delivered, xvii. (1575).

Albin, the primitive name of the northern part of Scotland, called by the Romans “Caledonia.” This was the part inhabited by the Picts. The Scots migrated from Scotia (north of Ireland), and obtained mastery under Kenneth Macalpin, in 834.

Green Albin, what though he no more survey
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore,
Thy pellochs [porpoises] rolling from the mountain bay,
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon the moor,
And distant isles that hear the loud Corbrechtan roar.
   —Campbell: Gertrude of Wyoming, i. 5 (1809).