Chapter Dhu'lnun to Dick Amlet of D by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Diana de Lascours, daughter of Ralph and Louise de Lascours, and sister of Martha, alias Og arila. Diana was betrothed to Horace de Brienne, whom she resigns to Martha.—Stirling: The Orphan of the Frozen Sea (1856).

Diana the Inexorable. (1) She slew Orion with one of her arrows, for daring to make love to her. (2) She changed Actæon into a stag and set her own dogs on him to worry him to death; because he chanced to look upon her while bathing. (3) She shot with her arrows the six sons and six daughters of Niobê; because the fond mother said she was happier than Latona, who had only two children.

Dianæ non movenda numina.
   —Horace: Epode, xvii.

Diana the Second of Salmantin, a pastoral romance by Gil Polo.

“We will preserve that book,” said the curé, “as carefully as if Apollo himself had been its author.”—Cervantes: Don Quixote, I. i. 6 (1605).

Diana of the Stage, Mrs. Anne Bracegirdle (1663–1748).

Diana’s Foresters, “minions of the moon,” “Diana’s knights,” etc., highwaymen.

Marry, then, sweet wag, when thou art king, let not us that are “squires of the night’s body,” be called thieves … let us be “Diana’s foresters,” “Gentlemen of the shade,” “minions of the moon.”—Shakespeare: 1 Henry IV. act i. sc. 2 (1597).

Diana’s Livery (To wear), to be a virgin.

One twelve-moons more she’ll wear Diana’s livery;
This … hath she vowed.
   —Shakespeare: Pericles Prince of Tyre, act ii. sc. 5 (1608).

Diana’s Power and Functions.

Terrat, iustrat, agit, Proserpina, Luna, Diana,
Ima, Suprema, feras, sceptro, fulgore, sagitta.

Dianora, wife of Gilberto of Friuli, but amorously loved by Ansaldo. In order to rid herself of his importunities, she vowed never to yield to his suit till he could “make her garden at midwinter as gay with flowers as it was in summer” (meaning never). Ansaldo, by the aid of a magician, accomplished the appointed task; but when the lady told him her husband insisted on her keeping her promise, Ansaldo, not to be outdone in generosity, declined to take advantage of his claim, and from that day forth was the firm and honourable friend of Gilberto.—Boccaccio: Decameron, x. 5.

The Franklin’s Tale of Chaucer is substantially the same story. (See Dorigen, p. 294.)

Diarmaid, noted for his “beauty spot,” which he covered up with his cap; for if any woman chanced to see it, she would instantly fall in love with him.—Campbell: Tales of the West Highlands (“Diarmaid and Grainne”).

Diaries. A diary is a register of daily occurrences. Of printed diaries the following are celebrated: The Diary and Letters of Mde. D’Arblay, which contains some good sketches of the manners and customs of her own time, with notices of George III., Dr. Johnson, Burke, Reynolds, and others, published posthumously.

The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn, published posthumously in 1818. It contains an excellent account of the Great Fire of London, in 1666, and much most interesting gossip about the manners, customs, dress, and court of Charles II.

Sam. Pepys’s Diary, written in shorthand, and being deciphered by the Rev. John Smith, was published in 1825. Pepys lived 1632–1703, and his diary is quaint, domestic, and most interesting.