Chapter Macrothumus to Madoc of M by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Charles Egerton M‘Sycophant, son of sir Pertinax. Egerton was the mother’s name. Charles Egerton marries Constantia.—Macklin: The Man of the World (1764).

Mactab (The Hon. Miss Lucretia), sister of lord Lofty, and sister-in-law of lieutenant Worthington “the poor gentleman.” Miss Lucretia was an old maid, “stiff as a ramrod.” Being very poor, she allowed the lieutenant “the honour of maintaining her,” for which “she handsomely gave him her countenance;’ but when the lieutenant was obliged to discontinue his hospitality, she resolved to “countenance a tobacconist of Glasgow, who was her sixteenth cousin.”—Colman: The Poor Gentleman (1802).

MacTavish Mhor or Hamish M‘Tavish, a Highland outlaw.

Elspat M‘Tavish, or “The Woman of the Tree,” widow of M‘Tavish Mhor; “the Highland widow.”

Hamish Bean M‘Tavish, son of Elspat M‘Tavish. He joins a Highland regiment, and goes to visit his mother, who gives him a sleeping draught to detain him. As he does not join his regiment in time, he is arrested for desertion, tried, and shot at Dunbarton Castle; and Elspat goes mad.—Sir W. Scott: The Highland Widow (time, George II.).

MacTurk (Captain Mungo or Hector), “the man of peace,” in the managing committee of the Spa hotel.—Sir W. Scott: St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).

MacVittie (Ephraim), a Glasgow merchant, one of Osbaldistone’s creditors.—Sir W. Scott: Rob Roy (time, George I.).

MacWheeble (Duncan), bailie at Tully Veolan to the baron of Bradwardine.—Sir W. Scott: Waverley (time, George II.).

Mad. The Bedlam of Belgium is Gheel, where madmen reside in the houses of the inhabitants, generally one in each family.

Dymphna; a woman of rank, was murdered by her father for resisting his incestuous passion, and became the tutelar saint of those stricken in spirit. A shrine in time rose in her honour, which for ten centuries has been consecrated to the relief of mental diseases. This was the origin of the insane colony of Gheel.

Mad Cavalier (The), prince Rupert of Bavaria, nephew of Charles I. Noted for his rash courage and impetuosity (1619–1682).

Mad Lover (The), a drama by Beaumont and Fletcher (before 1618). The name of the “mad lover” is Memnon, who is general of Astorax king of Paphos.

Mad Poet (The), Nathaniel Lee (1657–1690).

Madasima (Queen), an important character in the old romance called Amadis de Gaul; her constant attendant was Elisabat, a famous surgeon, with whom she roamed in solitary retreats.

Madeline, the heroine of lord Lytton’s Eugene Aram, a novel (1831).

Madelon, cousin of Cathos, and daughter of Gorgibus a plain citizen of the middle rank of life. (See Cathos, p. 188.)—Moliere: Les Précieuses Ridicules (1659).

Mademoiselle. What is understood by this word when it stands alone is Mlle. de Montpensier, daughter of Gaston duc d’Orléans, and cousin of Louis XIV.

Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, duchesse de Montpensier, connue sous le nom de Mademoiselle, née à Paris, 1627; m. 1693; était fille de Gaston d’Orléans frère de Louis XIII.—Bouillet.