Chapter Copper Captain to Corinna of C by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Corbaccio (Signior), the dupe of Mosca the k navish confederate of Vol-pone . He is an old man, with “seeing and hearing faint, and understanding dulled to childishness,” yet he wishes to live on, and

Feels not his gout nor palsy; feigns himself
Younger by scores of years; flatters his age
With confident belying it; hopes he may
With charms, like Æson, have his youth restored.
   —Ben Jonson: Volpone, or the Fox (1605).

Benjamin Johnson [1665–1742]…seemed to be proud to wear the poet’s double name, and was particularly great in all that author’s plays that were usually performed, viz. “Wasp,” in Bartholomew Fair: “Corbaccio;” “Morose,” in The Silent Woman; and “Ananias,” in The Alchemist.—Chetwood.

C. Dibdin says none who ever saw W. Parsons (1736–1795) in “Corbaccio” could forget his effective mode of exclaiming, “Has he made his will? What has he given me?” but Parsons himself says, “Ah! to see ‘Corbaccio’ acted to perfection, you should have seen Shuter. The public are pleased to think that I act that part well, but his acting was as far superior to mine as mount Vesuvius is to a rushlight.”

Corbant, the rook, in the beast-epic of Reynard the Fox (1498). (French, corbeau, “a rook.”)

Corbrechtan or Corybrechtan, a whirlpool on the west coast of Scotland, near the isle of Jura. Its name signifies “Whirlpool of the prince of Denmark,” from the tradition that a Danish prince once wagered to cast anchor in it, but perished in his foolhardiness. In calm weather the sound of the vortex is like that of innumerable chariots driven with speed.

The distant isles that hear the loud Corbrechtan roar.
   —Campbell: Gertrude of Wyoming, i. 5 (1809).

Corceca , mother of Abessa. The word means “blindness of heart,” or Romanism. Una sought shelter under her hut, but Corceca shut the door against her; whereupon the lion which accompanied Una broke down the door. The “lion” means England, “Corceca” popery, “Una” protestantism, and “breaking down the door” the Reformation.—Spenser: Faërie Queene, i. 3 (1590).

Cordelia, youngest daughter of king Lear. She was disinherited by her royal father, because her protestations of love were less violent than those of her sisters. Cordelia married the king of France, and when her two elder sisters refused to entertain the old king with his suite, she brought an army over to dethrone them. She was, however, taken captive, thrown into prison, and died there.

Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low; an excellent thing in woman.
   —Shakespeare: King Lear, act v. sc. 3 (1605).

Corflambo, the personification of sensuality, a giant killed by Arthur. Corflambo had a daughter named Pæana, who married Placîdas, and proved a good wife to him.—Spenser: Faërie Queene, iv. 8 (1596).

Coriat (Thomas), Coriate, Coryat, Coryate. (See Coryat’s Crudities.)

Besides, ’tis known he could speak Greek,
As naturally as pigs do squeak.
   —Cranfield: Panegyric Verses on T. Coriat.

But if the meaning were as far to seek
As Coriat’s horse was of his master’s
Greek, When in that tongue he made a speech at length,
To show the beast the greatness of his strength.
   —Wither: Abuses Stript and Whipt (1613).

Corin, “the faithful shepherdess,” who, having lost her true love by death, retired from the busy world, remained a virgin for the rest of her life, and was called “The Virgin of the Grove.” The shepherd Thenot (final t pronounced) fell in love with her for her “fidelity,” and to cure him of his attachment she pretended