Chapter Dag to Dalgetty of D by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

who will break his chain and fall upon the world, and bring on man the most dreadful calamities. Two prophets will appear to cheer the oppressed, and announce the advent of Ormuzd.

Dahlia A flower. So called from Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist.

Dahomey is not derived from Daho, the founder of the palace so called, but is a corruption of Danh- homen, "Danh's Belly." The story is as follows: Ardrah divided his kingdom at death between his three sons, and Daho, one of the sons, received the northern portion. Being an enterprising and ambitious man, he coveted the country of his neighbour Danh, King of Gedavin, and first applied to him for a plot of land to build a house on. This being granted, Daho made other requests in quick succession, and Danh's patience being exhausted, he exclaimed, "Must I open my belly for you to build on?" On hearing this, Daho declared himself insulted, made war on Danh, and slew him. He then built his palace where Danh fell, and called it Danh-homen. (Nineteenth Century, October, 1890, pp. 605-6.)

Daiboth (3 syl.). A Japanese idol of colossal size. Each of her hands is full of hands. (Japanese mythology.)

Daikoku (4 syl.). The god invoked specially by the artisans of Japan. He sits on a ball of rice, holding a hammer in his hand, with which he beats a sack; and every time he does so the sack becomes full of silver, rice, cloth, and other useful articles. (Japanese mythology.)

Dairi (3 syl.). The royal residence in Japan; the court of the mikado, used by metonomy for the sovereign or chief pontiff himself.

Dairy A corrupt form of "dey-ery," Middle English deierie and deyyerye, from deye, a dairymaid.

"The dey or farm-woman entered with her pitchers, to deliver the milk for the family." - Scott: Fair Maid of Perth, chap. xxxii.

Dais The raised floor at the head of a dining-room, designed for guests of distinction (French, dais, a canopy). So called because it used to be decorated with a canopy. The proverb "Sous le dais" means "in the midst of grandeur."

Daisies Slang for boots. Explained under CHIVY.

Daisy Ophelia gives the queen a daisy to signify "that her light and fickle love ought not to expect constancy in her husband." So the daisy is explained by Greene to mean a Quip for an upstart courtier. (Anglo- Saxon dages eage, day's eye.)
   The word is Day's eye, and the flower is so called because it closes its pinky lashes and goes to sleep when the sun sets, but in the morning it expands its petals to the light. (See Violet.)

"That well by reason men calle it maie.
The daisie, or else the eie of the daie."
Chaucer

Daisy (Solomon). Parish clerk of Chigwell. He had little, round, black, shiny eyes like beads; wore rusty black breeches, a rusty black coat, and a long-flapped waistcoat with queer little buttons. Solomon Daisy, with Phil Parkes, the ranger of Epping Forest, Tom Cobb, the chandler and post-office keeper, and John Willet, mine host, formed a quadrilateral or village club, which used to meet night after night at the Maypole, on the borders of the forest. Daisy's famous tale was the murder of Mr. Reuben Haredale, and the conviction that the murderer would be found out on the 19th of March, the anniversary of the murder. (Dickens: Barnaby Rudge, chap. i., etc.)

Daisy-cutter (A). In cricket, a ball that is bowled all along the ground.

Daisy-roots like dwarf-elder berries, are said to stunt the growth; hence the fairy Milkah fed her royal foster-child on this food, that his standard might not exceed that of a pigmy. This superstition arose from the notion that everything had the property of bestowing its own speciality on others. (See Fern Seed.)

"She robbed dwarf-elders of their fragrant fruit,
And fed him early with the daisy root,
Whence through his veins the powerful juices ran,
And formed the beauteous miniature of man."
Tickell: Kensington Gardens.