Chapter Robinson Crusoe to Rodmond of R by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Rochester, to whom Jane Eyre is eventually married.—Charlotte Bronté: Jane Eyre (1847).

Rock (Captain), the noted Irish chieftain. Thom. Moore wrote his memoirs (1824).

Rock (Dr. Richard), a famous quack, who professed to cure every disease. He was short of stature and fat, wore a white three-tailed wig, nicely combed and frizzed upon each cheek, carried a cane, and halted in his gait.

Dr. Rock, F.U.N., never wore a hat.…He and Dr. Franks were at variance.…Rock cautioned the world to beware of bog-trotting quacks, while Franks called his rival “Dumplin’ Dick.” Head of Confucius, what profanation!—Goldsmith: A Citizen of the World (1759).

Oh! when his nerves had once received a shock,
Sir Isaac Newton might have gone to Rock.
   —Crabbe: Borough (1810).

Rock Lizards, natives of Gibraltar born in the town, of British parents

Rocket. He rose like a rocket, and fell like the stick. Thomas Paine said this of Mr. Burke.

Rocnabad, a stream near the city of Schiraz, noted for the purity of its waters.

“I am disgusted with the mountain of the Four Fountains,” said the caliph Omar ben Abdal-aziz; “and am resolved to go and drink of the stream of Rocnabad.”—Beckford: Vathek (1784).

Roderick, the thirty-fourth and la st of the Gothic kings of Spain, son of Theodofred and Rusilla. Having violated Florinda, daughter of count Julian, he was driven from his throne by the Moors, and assumed the garb of a monk, with the name of “father Maccabee.” He was present at the great battle of Covadonga, in which the Moors were cut to pieces, but what became of him afterwards no one knows. His helm, sword, and cuirass were found, so was his steed. Several generations passed away, when, in a hermitage near Viseu, a tomb was discovered, “which bore in ancient characters king Roderick’s name;” but imagination must fill up the gap. He is spoken of as most popular.

Time has been
When not a tongue within the Pyrenees
Dared whisper in dispraise of Roderick’s name,
Lest, if the conscious air had caught the sound,
The vengeance of the honest multitude
Should fall upon the traitorous head, and brand
For life-long infamy the lying lips.
   —Southey: Roderick, etc., xv, (1814).
   Roderick’s Dog was called Theoren.
   Roderick’s Horse was Orel’io.

Roderick (The Vision of don). Roderick, the las t of the Gothic kings of Spain, descended into an ancient vault near Toledo. This vault was similar to th at in Greece, called the cave of Triphonios, where was an oracle. In the vault Roderick saw a vision of Spanish history from his own reign to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Period I. The invasion of the Moors, with his own defeat and death. Period II. The Augustine age of Spain, and their conquests in the two Indies. Period III. The oppression of Spain by Bonaparte, and its succour by British aid.—Sir W. Scott: The Vision of Don Roderick (1811).

Roderick Dhu, an outlaw and chief of a banditti, which resolved to win back the spoil of the “Saxon spoiler.” Fitz-James, a Saxon, met him and knew him not. He asked the Saxon why he was roaming unguarded over the mountains, and Fitz-James replied that he had sworn to combat with Roderick, the rebel, till death laid one of them prostrate. “Have, then, thy wish!” exclaimed the stranger, “for I am Roderick Dhu.” As he spoke, the whole place bristled with armed men. Fitz-James stood with his back against a rock, and cried, “Come one, come all; this rock shall fly ere I budge an inch.” Sir Roderick, charmed with his daring, waved his hand, and all the band disappeared. as mysteriously as they had appeared. Sir Roderick then bade the Saxon fight, “For,” said he, “that party will prove victorious which first slays an enemy.” “Then,” replied Fitz-James, “thy cause is hopeless, for Red Murdock is slain already.” They fought, however, and Roderick, being overcome, was made prisoner (canto v.).—Sir W. Scott: The Lady of the Lake (1810).