Chapter Elf-fire to Elohistic of E by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Elf-fire to Elohistic

Elf-fire The ignis - fatuus. The name of this elf is Will o' the Wisp, Jack o' lanthorn, Peg-a-lantern, or Kit o' the canstick (candlestick).

Elf-land The realm ruled over by Oberon, King of Faëry. King James says: "I think it is liker Virgilis Campi Elysii nor anything that ought to be believed by Christians." (Dæmonology, iii. 5.)

Elf-locks Tangled hair. It is said that one of the favourite amusements of Queen Mab is to tie people's hair in knots. When Edgar impersonates a madman, "he elfs all his hair in knots." (Lear, ii. 3.)

"This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes [? cakes] the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs."
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, i. 4.

Elf-marked Those born with a natural defect, according to the ancient Scottish superstition, are marked by the elves for mischief. Queen Margaret called Richard III. -

"Thou elfish-marked, abortive, rooting hog!" -
Shakespeare: Richard III., i. 3.

Elf-shot Afflicted with some unknown disease, and supposed to have been wounded by an elfin arrow. The rinderpest would, in the Middle Ages, have been ascribed to elf-shots. (See Elf-Arrows.)

Elfin The first fairy king. He ruled over India and America. (Middle Age Romance.)

Elgin Marbles A collection of ancient bas-reliefs and statutes made by Lord Elgin, and sent to England in 1812. They are chiefly fragments of the Parthenon at Athens, and were purchased by the British Government for £35,000, to be placed in the British Museum (1816). (Elgin pronounced `gin,' as in begin.)

Elia A nom de plume adopted by Charles Lamb. (Essays of Elia.)

"The adoption of this signature was purely accidental.Lamb's first contribution to the London Magazine was a description of the old South-Sea House, where he had passed a few months' novitiate as a clerk, ... and remembering the name of a gay light-hearted foreigner, who fluttered there at the time, substituted his name for his own." - Talfourd.

Eliab in the satire of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden and Tate, is meant for Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington. Eliab was one of the chiefs of the Gadites who joined David at Ziklag. (1 Chron. xii. 9.)

"Hard the task to do Eliab right;
Long with the royal wanderer [Charles II.] he roved,
And firm in all the turns of fortune proved."
Absalom and Achitophel, part ii. 986-8.

Eliakim Jehoiakim, King of Judah. (B.C. 635, 610-598.)

Elidure (3 syl.). A legendary king of Britain, advanced to the throne in place of his elder brother, Arthgallo, supposed by him to be dead. Arthgallo, after a long exile, returned to his country, and Elidure resigned to him the throne. Wordsworth has a poem on the subject.

Eligibles and Detrimentals. Sons which are socially good and bad parties, to be introduced to daughters with a view of matrimony.

"The County Families of the United Kingdom is useful to all who are concerned with questions of precedence, and especially useful to mothers who desire to distinguish between `eligibles' and `detrimentals.' " - Notes and Queries, February 1st, 1886, p. 119.

Elijah's Melons Certain stones on Mount Carmel are so called. (See Stanley, Sinai and Palestine.)
    Similar formations are those called "The Virgin Mary's Peas" (q.v.). Compare also the Bible story of Lot's wife.
   The story is that the owner of the land refused to supply the wants of the prophet, and consequently his melons were transformed into stones.

Eliminate (4 syl.). To turn out of doors; to turn out of an equation everything not essential to its conditions. (Latin, e limine, out of doors.)

Eliot (George). A nom de plume of Marian Evans (Mrs. Cross), author of Adam Bede, etc. (1820- 1880).