Chapter Cunstance to Curse of Scotland of C by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Cunstance to Curse of Scotland

Cunstance A model of Resignation, daughter of the Emperor of Rome. The Sultan of Syria, in order to have her for his wife, renounced his religion and turned Christian; but the Sultan's mother murdered him, and turned Cunstance adrift on a raft. After a time the raft stranded on a rock near Northumberland, and the constable rescued Cunstance, and took her home, where she converted his wife, Hermegild. A young lord fell in love with her; but, his suit being rejected, he murdered Hermegild, and laid the charge of murder against Cunstance. King Ella adjudged the cause, and Cunstance being proved innocent, he married her. While Ella was in Scotland, Cunstance was confined with a boy, named Maurice; and Ella's mother, angry with Cunstance for the introduction of the Christian religion, put her on a raft adrift with her baby boy. They were accidentally found by a senator, and taken to Rome. Ella, having discovered that his mother had turned his wife and child adrift, put her to death, and went to Rome in pilgrimage to atone for his crime. Here he fell in with his wife and son. Maurice succeeded his grandfather as Emperor of Rome, and at the death of Ella, Cunstance returned to her native land. (Chaucer: The Man of Lawes Tale.)

Cuntur A bird worshipped by the ancient Peruvians. It is generally called the “condor,” and by the Arabians the “roc.”

Cup
   A deadly cup. Referring to the ancient practice of putting persons to death by poison, as Socrates was put to death by the Athenians.

“In the hand of the Lord there is a cup [a deadly cup], the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out and drink them.” - Psalm lxxv. 8.

   Let this cup pass from me. Let this trouble or affliction be taken away, that I may not be compelled to undergo it. The allusion is to the Jewish practice of assigning to guests a certain portion of wine - as, indeed, was the custom in England at the close of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth. This cup is “full of the wine of God's fury,” let me not be compelled to drink it.
   Many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip. (See Ancaeus.)
   My [or his] cup runs over. My blessings overflow. Here cup signifies portion or blessing.

“My cup runneth over ... goodness and mercy follow me all the days of my life.” - Psalm xxiii. 5, 6.

   We must drink the cup. We must bear the burden awarded to us, the sorrow which falls to our lot. The allusion is to the words of our Lord in the garden of Gethsemanë(Matt. xxvi. 39; also xx. 22). One way of putting criminals to death in ancient times was by poison; Socrates had hemlock to drink. In allusion to this it is said that Jesus Christ tasted death for every man (Heb. ii. 9).

Cup in the university of Cambridge, means a mixture of strong ale with spice and a lemon, served up hot in a silver cup. Sometimes a roasted orange takes the place of a lemon. If wine is added, the cup is called bishop; if brandy is added, the beverage is called cardinal. (See BISHOP.)

Cup Tosser A juggler (French, joueur de gobelet). The old symbol for a juggler was a goblet. The phrase and symbol are derived from the practice of jugglers who toss in the air, twist on a stick, and play all sorts of tricks with goblets or cups.

Cup of Vows (The). It used to be customary at feasts to drink from cups of mead, and vow to perform some great deed worthy of the song of a skald. There were four cups: one to Odin, for victory; one to Frey, for a good year; one to Niörd, for peace; and one to Bragi, for celebration of the dead in poetry.

Cups He was in his cups. Intoxicated. (Latin, inter pocula, inter vina.) (Horace: 3 Odes, vi. 20.)

Cupar He that will to Cupar maun to Cupar. He that will have his own way, must have it even to his injury. The reference is to the Cistercian monastery, founded here by Malcolm IV.

Cupar Justice Same as “Jedburgh Justice,” hang first and try afterwards. Abingdon Law is another phrase. It is said that Major-General Brown, of Abingdon, in the Commonwealth, first hanged his prisoners and then tried them.