Chapter Speech given to Conceal Thought to Splendid Shilling of S by Brewer's Readers Handbook

From Spenser to Flecknoe, that is, from the top to the bottom of all poetry; from the sublime to the ridiculous.—Dryden: Comment on Spenser, etc.

Spenser’s Monument, in Westminster Abbey, was erected by Anne Clifford countess of Dorset.

Spider. Bruce and the Spider. (See Bruce, p. 153.)

Spider and the Flie (The), an allegory, in seven-line stanzas, of the contention of the protestants (spiders) and the flies (catholics) (1556). (See The Hind And The Panther, by Dryden (1687), p. 492.)

Spider Cure for Fever (A).

Only beware of the fever, my friends, beware of the fever,
For it is not, like that of our cold Acadian climate,
Cured by the wearing a spider hung round one’s neck in a nutshell.
   —Longfellow: Evangeline, ii. 3 (1849).

Spider’s Net (A). When Mahomet fled from Mecca, he hid in a cave, and a spider wove its net over the entrance. When the Koreishites came thither, they passed on, being fully persuaded that no one had entered the cave, because the cobweb was not broken.

In the Talmud, we are told that David, in his flight, hid himself in the cave of Adullam, and a spider spun its net over the opening. When Saul came up and saw the cobweb, he passed on, under the same persuasion.

Spiders (Unlucky to kill). This especially refers to those small spiders called “money-spinners,” which prognosticate good luck. Probably because they appear in greater numbers on a fine morning; although some say the fine day is the precursor of rain.

Spynners ben token of divynation, and of knowing what wether shal fal, for oft by weders that shal fal some spin and weve higher and lower, and multytude of spynners ever betoken moche reyne.—Berthelot: De Proprietatibus Rerum, xviii. 314 (1536).

Spiders Indicators of Gold. In the sixteenth century it was generally said that “Spiders be true signs of great stores of gold;” and the proverb arose thus: While a passage to Cathay was being sought by the north-west, a man brought home a stone, which was pronounced to be gold, and caused such a ferment that several vessels were fitted out for the express purpose of collecting cold. Frobisher, in 1577, found, in one of the islands on which he landed, similar stones, and an enormous quantity of spiders.

Spidireen (The). If a sailor is asked to what ship he belongs, and does not choose to tell, he says, “The spidireen frigate with nine’ decks.”

Officers who do not choose to tell their quarters, give B.K.S. as their address, i.e. BarracKS.

Spindle (Jack), the son of a man of fortune. Having wasted his money in riotous living, he went to a friend to borrow £100. “Let me see, you want £100, Mr. Spindle; let me see, would not £50 do for the present?” “Well,” said Jack, “if you have not £100, I must be contented with £50.” “Dear me, Mr. Spindle!” said the friend, “I find I have but £20 about me.” “Never mind,” said Jack, “I must borrow the other £30 of some other friend.” “Just so, Mr. Spindle, just so. By-the-by, would it not be far better to borrow the whole of that friend, and then one note of hand will serve for the whole sum? Good morning, Mr. Spindle; delighted to see you! Tom, see the gentleman down.”— Goldsmith: The Bee, iii. (1759).

Spirit of the Age (The), a series of criticisms on the “Men of the time,” by Hazlitt (1825).

Spirit of the Cape (The), Adamastor, a hideous phantom, of unearthly pallor, “erect his hair uprose of withered red,” his lips were black, his teeth blue and disjointed, his beard haggard, his face scarred by lightning, his eyes “shot livid fire,” his voice roared. The sailors trembled at the sight of him, and the