Chapter Dactyle to Danaid of D by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Dalgarno (Lord Malcolm of), a profligate young nobleman, son of the earl of Huntinglen (an old Scotch noble family). Nigel strikes Dalgarno with his sword, and is obliged to seek refuge in “Alsatia.” Lord Dalgarno’s villainy to the lady Hermionê excites the displeasure of king James, and he would have been banished if he had not married her. After this, lord Dalgarno carries off the wife of John Christie, the ship-owner, and is shot by captain Colepepper, the Alsatian bully.—Sir W. Scott: Fortunes of Nigel (time, James I.).

Dalgetty (Dugald), of Drumthwacket, the union of the soldado with the pedantic student of Mareschal College. As a soldier of fortune, he is retained in the service of the earl of Monteith. The marquis of Argyll (leader of the parliamentary army) tried to tamper with him in prison, but Dugald seized him, threw him down, and then made his escape; locking the marquis in the dungeon. After the battle, captain Dalgetty was knighted. This “Rittmaster” is a pedant, very conceited, full of vulgar assurance, with a good stock of worldly knowledge, a student of divinity, and a soldier who lets his sword out to the highest bidder. The character is original and well drawn.—Sir W. Scott: Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).

It was an old fortalice, but is now reduced to the dimensions of a “sconce” that would have delighted the strategic soul of Dugald Dalgetty, of Drumthwacket.—Yates: Celebrities, etc., 45.

The original of this character was Munro, who wrote an account of the campaigns of that band of Scotch and English auxiliaries in the island of Swinemünde, in 1630. Munro was himself one of the band. Dugald Dalgetty is one of the best of Scott’s characters.

Dalton (Mrs.), housekeeper to the Rev. Mr. Staunton, of Willingham Rectory.—Sir W. Scott: Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).

Dalton (Reginald), the hero of a novel so called, by J. G. Lockhart (1832). The heroine is Helen Hesketh.

Dalzell (General Thomas), in the royal army of Charles II.—Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality (1816).

Damascus of the North. Bosna-Serai, capital of Bosnia, is so called from its garden-like aspect, trees being everywhere mingled with the houses.

Dame du Lac, Vivienne le Fay. The lake was “en la marche de la petite Bretaigne;” “en ce lieu … avoit la dame moult de belles maisons et moult riches.”

Dame du Lac, Sebille . Her castle was surrounded by a river on which rested so thick a fog that no eye could see across it. Alexander the Great abode a fortnight with this fay, to be cured of his wounds, and king Arthur was the result of their amour. (This is not in accordance with the general legends of this noted hero. See Arthur, p. 64.)—Perceforest, i. 42.

Damian, a squire attending on the Grand-Master of the Knights Templars.—Sir W. Scott: Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).

Damiens (Robert François) in 1757 attempted to assassinate Louis XV., and was torn to pieces by wild horses. He was first fastened to a scaffold with iron gyves, while his flesh was torn off by pincers (for one hour and a half). He was also tortured by molten lead. Two of the closing lines of Goldsmith’s Traveller are—

The uplifted axe, the agonizing wheel,

Luke’s iron crown, and Damiens’ bed of steel.
   (1765.)

(Damiens was born in 1715, in a village in Artois. His sobriquet was Robert le Diable. See Iron Crown.)

Being conducted to the conciergerie, an iron bed (which likewise served for a chair) was prepared for him, and to this he was fastened with chains. The torture was again applied, and a physician was ordered