Chapter Muckworm to Munera of M by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Muckworm to Munera

Muckworm (Sir Penurious), the miserly old uncle and guardian of Arbella. He wants her to marry squire Sapskull, a raw Yorkshire tike; but she loves Gaylove, a young barrister, and, of course, Muckworm is outwitted.—Carey: The Honest Yorkshireman (1736).

Mudarra, son of Goncalo Bu stos de Salas de Lara, who murdered his uncle Rodrigo while hunting, to avenge the death of his seven half-brothers. The tale is that Rodrigo Velasquez invited his seven nephews to a feast, when a fray took place in which a Moor was slain; the aunt, who was a Moorish lady, demanded vengeance, whereupon the seven boys were allured into a ravine and cruelly murdered. Mudarra was the son of the same father as “the seven sons of Lara,” but not of the same mother.—Romance of the Eleventh Century.

Muddle, the carpenter under captain Savage and lieutenant O’Brien.—Marryat: Peter Simple (1833).

Muddlewick (Triptolemus), in Charles XII., an historical drama by Planché (1826).

Mudjekeewis, the father of Hiawatha, and subsequently potentate of the winds. He gave all the winds but one to his children to rule; the one he reserved was the west wind, which he himself ruled over. The dominion of the winds was given to Mudjekeewis because he slew the great bear called the Mishê-Mokwa.

Thus was slain the Mishê-Mokwa …
“Honour be to Mudjekeewis!
Henceforth he shall be the west wind,
And hereafter, e’en for ever,
Shall he hold supreme dominion
Over all the winds of heaven.”

Longfellow: Hiawatha, ii. (1855).

Muff (Sir Harry), in The Rival Candidates (a musical interlude) by Dudley (1774). Muff is not only unsuccessful in his election, he also finds his daughter’s affections are engaged during his absence.

Mug (Matthew), a caricature of the duke of Newcastle.—Foote: The Mayor of Garratt (1763).

Mugby Junction, a Christmas number in All the Year Round (1866), Dickens wrote Barbox Brothers, The Boy at Mugby, and The Signalman.

Mugello, the giant slain by Averardo de Medici, a commander under Charlemagne. This giant wielded a mace from which hung three balls, which the Medici adopted as their device.

Three balls have been adopted by pawnbrokers as a symbol of their trade.

Muggins (Dr.), a sapient physician, who had the art “to suit his physic to his patients’ taste;” so when king Artaxaminous felt a little seedy after a night’s debauch, the doctor prescribed to his majesty “to take a morning whet.”—Rhodes: Bombastes Furioso (1790).

Muhldenau, the minister of Mariendorpt, and father of Meeta and Adolpha. When Adolpha was an infant, she was lost in the siege of Magdeburg; and Muhldenau, having reason to suppose that the child was not killed, went to Prague in search of her. Here Muhldenau was seized as a spy, and condemned to death. Meeta, hearing of his capture, walked to Prague to beg him off, and was introduced to the governor’s supposed daughter, who, in reality, was Meeta’s sister Adolpha. Rupert Roselheim, who was betrothed to Meeta, stormed the prison and released Muhldenau.—Knowles: The Maid of Mariendorpt (1838).

Mulatto, a half-caste. Strictly speaking, Zambo is the issue of an Indian and a Negress; Mulatto, of a Whiteman and a Negress; Terzeron, of a Whiteman and a Mulatto woman; Quadroon, of a Terzeron and a White.

Mulciber, Vulcan, who was blacksmith, architect, and god of fire.

In Ausonian land
Men called him Mulciber; and how he fell
From heaven, they fabled, thrown by angry Jove
Sheer o’er the crystal battlements; from morn
To noon he fell, from noon to dewy eve,
A summer’s