Chapter Wabâr to Wallaces Larder of W by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Wabâr to Wallaces Larder

Wabâr, an ape, which, according to the Arabs, was once a human being. (See Man, p. 662.)

Wabster (Michael), a citizen of Perth.—Sir W. Scott: Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).

Wabun, son of Mudjekeewis; the Indian Apollo. He chases darkness over hill and dale with his arrows, wakes man, and brings the morning. He married Wabun-Annung, who was taken to heaven at death, and became the morning star. —Longfellow: Hiawatha (1855).

Wabun-Annung, the morning star, a country maiden who married Wabun the Indian Apollo.—Longfellow: Hiawatha (1855).

Wackbairn (Mr.), the schoolmaster at Libberton.—Sir W. Scott: Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).

Wackles (Mrs. and the Misses), of Chelsea, keepers of a “Ladies’ Seminary. English grammar, composition, geography, and the use of dumb-bells, by Miss Melissa Wackles; writing, arithmetic, dancing, music, and general fascination, by Miss Sophy Wackles; needlework, marking, and samplery, by Miss Jane Wackles; corporal punishment and domestic duties by Mrs. Wackles. Miss Sophy was a fresh, good-natured, buxom girl of 20, who owned to a soft impeachment for Mr. Swiveller, but as he held back, she married Mr. Cheggs, a well-to-do market gardener.—Dickens: The Old Curiosity Shop, viii. (1840).

Wade (General), an English commander in the Scotch rebellion of 1715. He detailed a strong force to construct a road, so well made that even his Scotch enemies sang his praises in the couplet—

If you had seen this road before it was made,
You would lift up your hands, and bless general Wade.

Wade (Miss), a handsome young woman, brought up by her grandmother, with a small independence. She looked at every act of kindness, benevolence, and charity with a jaundiced eye, and attributed it to a vile motive. Her manner was suspicious, self-secluded, and repellant; her temper proud, fiery, and unsympathetic. Twice she loved—in one case she jilted her lover, in the other she was herself jilted. The latter was Henry Gowan, who married Pet the daughter of Mr. Meagles, and in consequence of this marriage, Miss Wade hated Gowan, his wife, the Meagleses, and all their friends. She enticed Tatty- coram away from Mr. Meagles, and the two young women lived together for a time, nursing their hatred of man to keep it warm.—Dickens: Little Dorrit, ii. 21 (1857).

Wadman (Widow), a comely widow, who would full fain secure uncle Toby for her second husband. Amongst other wiles, she pretends to have something in her eye, and gets uncle Toby to look for it. As the kind-hearted hero of Namur does so, the gentle widow gradually places her face nearer and nearer the captain’s mouth, under the hope that he will kiss and propose.—Sterne: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy (1759).

Wagemin! the cry of the young lads and lasses of the North American tribes, when in harvesting they light upon a crooked and mildewed ear of maize, emblematic of old age.

And whene’er a youth or maiden
Found a crooked ear in husking,…
Blighted, mildewed, or misshapen,
Then they laughed and sang together,
Crept and limped about the corn-fields,
Mimicked in their gait and gestures
Some old man bent almost double,
Singing singly or together,
“Wagemin, the thief of corn-fields!”
   —Longfellow: Hiawatha, xiii. (1855).

Waggoner (The), a poem in four cantos, by Wordsworth (1819).

Wagner, the faithful servant and constant companion of Faust, in Marlowe’s drama called The Life and Death of Dr. Faustus (1589); in Goethe’s Faust (German, 1798); and in Gounod’s opera of Faust (1859).

Wagner is a type of the pedant. He sacrifices himself to books as Faust does to knowledge…the dust of folios is his element, parchment the source of his inspiration…He is one of those who, in the presence of