Chapter Iberia to Idle Wheel of I by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Iberia to Idle Wheel

Iberia Spain; the country of the Iberus or Ebro. (See Rowe: On the Late Glorious Successes.)

Iberia's Pilot Christopher Columbus. Spain is called "Iberia," and the Spaniards the "Iberi." The river Ebro is a corrupt form of the Latin Iberus.

"Launched with Iberia's pilot from the steep,
To worlds unknown, and isles beyond the deep."
Campbell: The Pleasures of Hope, ii.

Ibid A contraction of ibidem (Lat.), in the same place.

Ibis or Nile-bird. The Egyptians call the sacred Ibis Father John. It is the avatar' of the god Thoth, who in the guise of an Ibis escaped the pursuit of Typhon. The Egyptians say its white plumage symbolises the light of the sun, and its black neck the shadow of the moon, its body a heart, and its legs a triangle. It was said to drink only the purest of water, and its feathers to scare or even kill the crocodile. It is also said that the bird is so fond of Egypt that it would pine to death if transported elsewhere. It appears at the rise of the Nile, but disappears at its inundation. If, indeed, it devours crocodiles' eggs, scares away the crocodiles themselves, devours serpents and all sorts of noxious reptiles and insects, no wonder it should be held in veneration, and that it is made a crime to kill it. (See Birds.)
   Ibis. The Nile-bird, says Solius, "rummages in the mud of the Nile for serpents' eggs, her most favourite food."

Iblis or Eblis. The Lucifer of Mozlem theology. Once called Azazel (prince of the apostate angels). (See Eblis.) He has five sons: -
   (1) Tir, author of fatal accidents; (2) Awar, the demon of lubricity; (3) Dásim, author of discord; (4) Sût, father of lies; and (5) Zalambûr, author of mercantile dishonesty.

Ibraham The Abraham of the Koran.

Icarian Soaring, adventurous. (See Icaros .) Also a follower of Cabet, the Communist, a native of Icaria (last half of the nineteenth century).

Icaros Son of Dæ'dalos, who flew with his father from Crete; but the sun melted the wax with which his wings were fastened on, and he fell into the sea, hence called the Icarian. (See Shakespeare: 3 Henry VI., v. 6.)

Ice (1 syl.). To break the ice. To broach a disagreeable subject; to open the way. In allusion to breaking ice for bathers. (Latin, scindere glaciem; Italian, romper il giaccio.) (Anglo-Saxon, is.)

"[We] An' if you break the ice, and do this feat ...
Will not so graceless be, to be ingrate."
Shakespeare: Taming of the Shrew, i. 2.

Ice-blink (The). An indication of pack-ice or of a frozen surface by its reflection on the clouds. If the sky is dark or brown, the navigator may be sure that there is water; if it is white, rosy, or orange-coloured, he may be certain there is ice, for these tints are reflected from the sun's rays, or of light. The former is called a "water sky," the latter an "ice sky."

Ice-brook A sword of ice-brook temper. Of the very best quality. The Spaniards used to plunge their swords and other weapons, while hot from the forge, into the brook Salo [Xalon], near Bilbilis, in Celtiberia, to harden them. The water of this brook is very cold.

"It is a sword of Spain, the ice-brook temper."
Shakespeare: Othello, v. 2.

"Sævo Bilbilin optimam metallo
Et ferro Plateam suo sonantem
Quam fluctu tenui sed inquieto
Armorum Salo temperator ambit."
Martial.

Ice Saints or Frost Saints. Those saints whose days fall in what is called "the blackthorn winter" - that is, the second week in May (between 11 and 14). Some give only three days, but whether 11, 12, 13 or 12, 13, 14 is not agreed. May 11th is the day of St. Mamertus, May 12th of St. Pancratius, May 13th of St. Servatius, and May 14th of St. Boniface.

"Ces saincts passent pour saincts gresleurs, geleurs, et gateurs du bourgeon." - Rabelais.

Iceberg A hill of ice, either floating in the ocean, or aground. The magnitude of some icebergs is very great. One