Chapter Dircæ'an Swan to Distraction of D by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Dircæ'an Swan to Distraction

Dircæ'an Swan Pindar; so called from Dirce, a fountain in the neighbourhood of Thebes, the poet's birthplace (B.C. 518-442).

Direct Tax is one collected directly from the owner of property subject to the tax, as when the tax- gatherer goes direct to the owner of a house and demands five, ten, or twenty pounds, as it may be, for Government uses. Indirect taxes are taxes upon marketable commodities, such as tea and sugar, the tax on which is added to the article taxed, and is paid by the purchasers indirectly.

Directory The French constitution of 1795, when the executive was vested in five persons called directors, one of whom retired every year. After a sickly existence of four years, it was quashed by Napoleon Bonaparte. An alphabetical list of the inhabitants, etc., of a given locality, as a "London Directory."

Dirleton Doubting with Dirleton, and resolving those doubts with Stewart. Doubting and answering those doubts, but doubting still. It applies to law, science, religion, morals, etc. Sir John Nisbett of Dirleton's Doubts on points of law, and Sir James Stewart's Doubts Resolved, are works of established reputation in Scotland, but the Doubts hold a higher place than the Solutions.

Dirlos (Count). A Paladin, the beau-ideal of valour, generosity, and truth. The story says he was sent by Charlemagne into the East, where he conquered Aliarde, a great Moorish prince. On his return he found his young wife, who thought he was dead, betrothed to Celinos, another of Charlemagne's peers. The matter being set right, the king gave a grand banquet. Dirlos is D'Yrlos.

Dirt is matter in the wrong place. (Lord Palmerston.) This is not true: a diamond or sovereign lost on a road is matter in a wrong place, but certainly is not dirt.
   Throw plenty of dirt and some will be sure to stick. Scandal always leaves a trail behind.
   Dirt cheap. Very low-priced. Dirt is so cheap that persons pay others to take it away.
   To eat dirt is to put up with insults and mortification. An Eastern method of punishment.

"If dirt were trumps what a capital hand you
would hold!" - Charles Lamb to Martin Burney.

Dirty Half- Hundred The 50th Foot, so called from the men wiping their faces with their black cuffs. Now called "The Queen's Own."

Dirty Lane Now called Abingdon Street, Westminster.

Dirty Shirts (The). The 101st Foot, which fought at Delhi in their shirt-sleeves (1857). Now called "The Royal Bengal Fusileers."

Dis Pluto.

"Proserpine gathering flowers,
Herself a fairer flower, by gloomy Dis
Was gathered."
Milton: Paradise Lost, iv 270.

Disaster is being under an evil star (Greek, dus-aster, evil star). An astrological word.

"The stars in their courses fought against Sisera." -Judges v. 20.

Disastrous Peace (La Paix Malheureuse). It followed the battle of Gravelines (2 syl.), and was signed at Cateau - Cambresis. By this treaty Henri II. renounced all claim to Genoa, Naples, Milan, and Corsica (1559).

Disbar (To). To deprive a barrister of his right to plead. The bar is the part barred off in courts of law and equity for barristers or pleaders.

Discard To throw out of one's hands such cards as are useless.

Discharge Bible (The), 1806. "I discharge [charge] thee before God." (1 Tim. v. 21.)