Chapter Lantern-Land to Larks of L by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

from its nest, it flies away and cries loudest when farthest from its nest; and (2) the young birds run from their shells with part thereof still sticking to their head.

“Far from her nest the lapwing cries away.”
Comedy of Errors, iv. 2.

“This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.”- Hamlet, v. 2.

Lar Familiaris (plu. Lares familiares). The familiar lar was the spirit of the founder of the house, which never left it, but accompanied his descendants in all their changes. (See Lares .)

Lara The name assumed by Lord Conrad, the Corsair, after the death of Medora. He returned to his native land, and was one day recognised by Sir Ezzelin at the table of Lord Otho. Ezzelin charged him home, and a duel was arranged for the day following; but Ezzelin was never heard of more. In time Lara headed a rebellion, and was shot by Lord Otho, the leader of the other party. (Byron: Lara.) (See Conrad .)
   The seven infants of Lara. Gonzales Gustios de Salas de Lara, a Castilian hero of the eleventh century, had seven sons. His brother, Rodrigo Velasquez, married a Moorish lady, and these seven nephews were invited to the feast. A fray took place in which one of the seven slew a Moor, and the bride demanded vengeance. Rodrigo, to please his bride, waylaid his brother Gonzales, and kept him in durance in a dungeon of Cordova, and the seven boys were betrayed into a ravine, where they were cruelly murdered. While in the dungeon, Zaida, daughter of the Moorish king, fell in love with Gonzales, and became the mother of Mudarra, who avenged the death of Lara's seven sons by slaying Rodrigo.

Larboard now called port (q.v.). (Starboard is from Anglo-Saxon steorabord, the steer-board, or right side of a ship.) Larboard is the French bâbord, the left-hand side of a ship looking towards the prow; Anglo- Saxon boec-bord.

“She gave a heel, and then a lurch to port,
And going down head foremost- sunk in short.”
Byron: Don Juan (The Shipwreck).

    “To give a heel” is to sway over on one side. Here it means a heel to the starboard side.

Larceny Petty theft, means really the peculations and thefts of a mercenary. (Greek latron, hire [latris, a hireling]; Latin latro, a mercenary, whence latrocinium; French, larcin.)

Larder A place for keeping lard or bacon. This shows that swine were the chief animals salted and preserved in olden times. (Latin, lardum, lard.)
   The Douglas Larder. The English garrison and all its provisions in Douglas castle massed together by good Lord James Douglas, in 1307.

“He caused all the barrels containing flour, meat, wheat, and malt to be knocked in pieces and their contents mixed on the floor; then he staved the great hogsheads of wine and ale, and mixed the liquor with the stores; and last of all, he killed the prisoners, and flung the dead bodies among this disgusting heap, which his men called, in decision of the English `The Douglas Larder.”- Sir Walter Scott: Tales of a Grandfather, ix.

   Wallace's Larder is very similar. It consisted of the dead bodies of the garrison of Ardrossan, in Ayrshire, cast into the dungeon keep. The castle was surprised by Wallace in the reign of Edward I.

Lares The Etruscan lar (lord or hero). Among the Romans lares were either domestic or public. Domestic lares were the souls of virtuous ancestors exalted to the rank of protectors. Public lares were the protectors of roads and streets. Domestic lares were images, like dogs, set behind the “hall” door, or in the lararium or shrine. Wicked souls became lemures or ghosts that made night hideous. Penates were the natural powers personified, and their office was to bring wealth and plenty, rather than to protect and avert danger. (See Fairy .)

Large To sail large is to sail on a large wind- i.e. with the wind not straight astern, but what sailors call “abaft the beam.”
   Set at large, i.e. at liberty. It is a French phrase; prendre le large is to stand out at sea, or occupy the main ocean, so as to be free to move. Similarly, to be set at large is to be placed free in the wide world.