Chapter Romano to Rory o' the Hill of R by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Romano to Rory o' the Hill

Romano, the old monk who took pity on Roderick in his flight (viii.), and went with him for refuge to a small hermitage on the sea-coast, where they remained for twelve months, when the old monk died.—Southey: Roderick, the Last of the Goths, i., ii. (1814).

Rome Does (Do as). The saying originated with St. Ambrose (fourth century). It arose from the following diversity in the observance of Saturday: The Milanese make it a feast, the Romans a fast. St. Ambrose, being asked what should be done in such a case, replied, “In matters of indifference, it is better to be guided by the general usage. When I am at Milan, I do not fast on Saturdays, but when I am at Rome, I do as they do at Rome.”

Rome of the North. Cologne was so called (says Hope) in the Middle Ages, from its wealth, power, and ecclesiastical foundations.

Rome Saved by Geese. When the Gauls invaded Rome, a detachment in single file scaled the hill on which the capitol stood, so silently that the foremost man reached the summit without being challenged; but while striding over the rampart, some sacred geese were disturbed, and by their cackle aroused the guard. Marcus Manlius rushed to the wall, and hustled the Gaul over, thus saving the capitol.

A somewhat parallel case occurred in Ireland in the battle of Glinsaly, in Donegal. A party of the Irish would have surprised the protestants if some wrens had not disturbed the guards by the noise they made in hopping about the drums and pecking on the parchment heads.—Aubrey: Miscellanies, 45.

Romeo, a son of Montague, in love with Juliet the daughter of Capulet; but between the houses of Montague and Capulet there existed a deadly feud. As the families were irreconcilable, Juliet took a sleeping draught, that she might get away from her parents and elope with Romeo. Romeo, thinking her to be dead, killed himself; and when Juliet awoke and found her lover dead, she also killed herself.—Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet (1598).

(Fox said that Barry’s “Romeo” was superior to Garrick’s (S. Rogers, Table Talk). Fitzgerald says that Barry was the superior in the garden-scenes and in the first part of the tomb, but Garrick in the scene with the “friar” and in the dying part.)

Romeo and Juliet, a tragedy by Shakespeare (1598). The tale is taken from Rhomeo and Julietta, a novel by Boisteau in French, borrowed from an Italian story by Bandelio (1554).

In 1562 Arthur Brooke produced the same tale in verse, called The Tragicall History of Romeus and Juliet. In 1567 Painter published a prose translation of Boisteau’s novel.

Rominagrobis, used in French for a “cat.” Rabelais tells us that Panurge applied to Rominagrobis to tell him whether he should marry or let it alone, but received no answer. (Probably professors wore cats’ fur, as we use rabbits’ fur in our universities, instead of ermine.) Our word “cat-gut,” which is no part of a cat, shows that the word was very loosely used. Similarly, “puss” means a cat, hare, or rabbit. Thus in the Hare and the Tortoise we have the line, “Poor Puss [Hare], what a lesson you’ve taught men!”

Romola, a novel of Italian life by George Eliot (Mrs. J. W. Cross, 1863). (1858–1861). Romola, the heroine, marries Tito Melema, a Greek.

Romp (The), a comic opera altered from Bickerstaffs Love in the City. Priscilla Tomboy is “the romp,” and the plot is given under that name.

A splendid portrait of Mrs. Jordan, in her character of “The Romp,” hung over the mantelpiece in the dining-room [of Adolphus Fitzclarence].—Lord W. Lennox: Celebrities, etc., i. 11.

Romuald (St.). The Catalans had a great reverence for a hermit so called, and, hearing that he was about to quit their country, called together a parish meeting, to consult how they might best retain him