Chapter Albert to Aldebaran of A by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Albert to Aldebaran

Albert (An) A chain from the waistcoat pocket to a button in front of the waistcoat. So called from Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria. When he went to Birmingham, in 1849, he was presented by the jewellers of the town with such a chain, and the fashion took the public fancy.

Albertazzo (in Orlando Furioso) married Alda, daughter of Otho, Duke of Saxony. His sons were Hugh or Ugo, and Fulke or Fulco. From this family springs the Royal Family of England.

Albiazar (in Jerusalem Delivered). One of the leaders of the Arab host which joined the Egyptian armament against the Crusaders. "A chief in rapine, not in knighthood bred." (Book xvii.)

Albigenses (4 syl.) A common name for heretics prior to the Reformation; so called from the Albigeois, inhabitants of the district which now is the department of the Tarn, the capital of which was Albi. It was here the persecution of the Reformers began, under the direction of Pope Innocent III, in 1209. The Waldenses rose after them, but are not unfrequently confounded with them.

Albin A name at one time applied to the northern part of Scotland, called by the Romans "Caledonia." This was the part inhabited by the Picts. The Scots migrated from Scotia in the North of Ireland, and acquired mastery under Kenneth M'Alpin in 843. In poetry Scotland is called Albin.

Gaelic, ailp; Keltic, alp, our Alps. Alpin is either Ailp-ben son of the hills, i.e., the hill country, or Alp- inn (hilly island), Albania means the "hilly country."
"Woe to his kindred, and woe to his cause,
When Albin her claymore indignantly draws."
Campbell: Lochiel's Warning.

Albino A term originally applied by the Portuguese to those negroes who were mottled with white spots; but now applied to those who are born with red eyes and white hair. Albinos are found among white people as well as among negroes. The term is also applied to beasts and plants. (Latin, albus, white.)

Albino-poets Oliver Wendell Holmes, in the Autocrat of the Breakfast Table (chap. viii.), speaks of Kirke White as one of the "sweet Albino poets," whose "plaintive song" he admires. It implies some deficiency of virility, as albinism suggests weakness, and possibly is meant as a play upon the name in this particular instance.

Albion England, so named from the ancient inhabitants called Albiones. The usual etymology of albus (white), said to have been given by Julius Cæsar in allusion to the "white cliffs," is quite untenable, as an old Greek treatise, the De Mundo, formely ascribed to Aristotle, mentions the islands of Albion and Ierne three hundred years before the invasion of Cæsar. Probably "Albion" or Albany was the Celtic name of all Great Britain, subsequently restricted to Scotland, and then to the Highlands of Scotland. Certainly the inhabitants of the whole island are implied in the word Albiones in Festus Avienus's account of the voyage of Hamilcar in the fifth century B.C. (See Albin.)

"Beyond the Pillars of Hercules is the ocean which flows round the earth, and in it are 2 very large islands called Britannia, viz., Albion and Ierne." - De Mundo, Sec. iii.

Albion Son of the king of this island when Oberon held his court in what we call Kensington Gardens. He was stolen by the elfin Milkah, and brought up in fairyland. When nineteen years of age, he fell in love with Kenna, daughter of King Oberon, but was driven from the empire by the indignant monarch. Albion invaded the territory, but was slain in the battle. When Kenna knew this, she poured the juice of moly over the dead body, and it changed into a snow-drop. - T. Tickell.

Albion the Giant Fourth son of Neptune, sixth son of Osiris, and brother of Hercules, his mother being Amphitrita. Albion the Giant was put by his father in possession of the isle of Britain, where he speedily subdued the Samotheans, the first inhabitants. His brother Bergion ruled over Ireland and the Orkneys. Another of his brothers was Lestrigo, who subjected Italy. (See "W. Harrison's Introduction to Holinshed's Chronicle."