Chapter Falstaff to Fashionable Lover of F by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Fang and Snare, two sheriff’s officers.—Shakespeare: 2 Henry IV. (1598).

Fanny (Lord). So John lord Hervey was usually called by the wits of the time, in consequence of his effeminate habits. His appearance was that of a “half wit, half fool, half man, half beau.” He used rouge, drank ass’s milk, and took Scotch pills (1694–1743).

Consult lord Fanny, and confide in Curll [publisher]. Byron: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809).

Fanny (Miss), younger daughter of Mr. Sterling, a rich City merchant. She was clandestinely married to Lovewell. “Gentle-looking, soft-speaking, sweet-smiling, and affable,” wanting “nothing but a crook in her hand and a lamb under her arm to be a perfect picture of innocence and simplicity.” Every one loved her, and as her marriage was a secret, sir John Melvil and lord Ogleby both proposed to her. Her marriage with Love-well being ultimately made known, her dilemma was removed.—Colman and Garrick: The Clandestine Marriage (1766).

Fanteries, foot-soldiers, infantry.

Five other bandes of English fanteries.
   —Gascoigne: The Fruites of Warre, 152 (died 1557).

Faquir, a religious anchorite, whose life is spent in the severest austerities and mortification.

He diverted himself, however … especially with the Brahmins, faquirs, and other enthusiasts who had travelled from the heart of India, and halted on their way with the emir.—Beckford: Vathek (1786).

Farinata [Degli Uberti], a noble Florentine, leader of the Ghibelline faction, and driven fr om his country in 1250 by the Guelfes . Some ten years later, by the aid of Mainfroi of Naples, he defeated the Guelfes, and took all the towns of Tuscany and Florence. Dantê conversed with him in the city of Dis, and represents him as lying in a fiery tomb yet open, and not to be closed till the last judgment day. When the council agreed to raze Florence to the ground, Farinata opposed the measure, and saved the city. Dantê refers to this—

Lo! Farinata … his brow
Somewhat uplifted, cried …
“In that affray [i.e. at Montaperto, near the river Arbia]
I stood not singly …
But singly there I stood, when by consent
Of all, Florence had to the ground been razed,—
The one who openly forbade the deed.”
   —Dante: Inferno, x. (1300).

Like Farinata from his fiery tomb.
   —Longfellow: Dante.

Farintosh (Beau), in Robertson’s comedy of School (1869).

Farm — house (The). Modely and Heartwell, two gentlemen of fashion, come into the country and receive hospitality from old Farmer Freehold. Here they make love to his daughter Aura and his niece Flora. The girls, being high-principled, convert the flirtation of the two guests into love, and Heartwell marries the niece, while Modely proposes to Aura, who accepts him, provided he will wait two months and remain constant to her.—J. P. Kemble.

Farmer George, George III.; so called because he was like a farmer in dress, manners, and tastes (1738–1820). Also called “The Farmer-King.”

Farmer’s Boy (The), a rural poem by R. Bloomfield (1798), who was himself a “farmer’s boy” for eleven years.

Farmer’s Wife (The), a musical drama by C. Dibdin (1780). Cornflower, a benevolent, high-minded farmer, having saved Emma Belton from the flames of a house on fire, married her, and they lived together in love and peace till sir Charles Courtly took a fancy to Mrs. Cornflower, and abducted her. She was soon tracked, and as it was evident that she was no particeps criminis, she was restored to her husband, and sir Charles gave his sister to Mrs. Cornflower’s brother in marriage as a peace offering.