Chapter Law Latin to Le Roi le Veut of L by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Law Latin to Le Roi le Veut

Law Latin (See Dog Latin .)

Law's Bubble The famous Mississippi scheme, devised by John Law, for paying off the national debt of France (1716-1720). By this “French South-Sea Bubble” the nation was almost ruined. It was called Mississippi because the company was granted the “exclusive trade of Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi.”

Laws of the Medes and Persians Unalterable laws.

“Now, O king, ... sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not.”- Daniel vi. 8.

   The Laws of Howel Dha, who reigned in South Wales in the tenth century, printed with a Latin translation by Wotton, in his Leges Wallicæ (1841).

Lawing (Scots.) A tavern reckoning.

Lawsuits Miles d'Illiers, Bishop of Chartres (1459-1493), was so litigious, that when Louis XI. gave him a pension to clear off old scores, and told him in future to live in peace and goodwill with his neighbours, the bishop earnestly entreated the king to leave him some three or four to keep his mind in good exercise. Similarly Panurge entreated Pantagruel not to pay off all his debts, but to leave some centimes at least, that he might not feel altogether a stranger to his own self. (Rabelais: Pantagruel, iii. 5.) (See Lilburne.)

Lawn Fine, thin cambric bleached on a lawn, instead of the ordinary bleaching grounds. It is used for the sleeves of bishops, and sometimes for ladies' handkerchiefs.

Lawn-market (The). To go up the Lawn-market, in Scotch parlance, means to go to be hanged.

“Up the Lawn-market, down the West Bow,
Up the lang ladder, down the short low.”
Schoolboy Rhyme (Scotland).

“They [the stolen clothes] may serve him to gang up the Lawn-market in, the scoundrel.”- Sir W. Scott: Guy Mannering, chap. xxxii.

Lawrence (St.). Patron saint of curriers, because his skin was broiled on a gridiron. In the pontificate of Sextus I. he was charged with the care of the poor, the orphans, and the widows. In the persecution of Valerian, being summoned to deliver up the treasures of the church, he produced the poor, etc., under his charge, and said to the praetor, “These are the church's treasures.” In Christian art he is generally represented as holding a gridiron in his hand. He is the subject of one of the principal hymns of Prudentius. (See Laurence .)
   St. Lawrence's tears or The fiery tears of St. Lawrence. Meteoric or shooting stars, which generally make a great display on the anniversary of this saint (August 10th).
    The great periods of shooting stars are between the 9th and 14th of August, from the 12th to the 14th of November, and from 6th to 12th December.
   Tom Lawrence, alias “Tyburn Tom” or “Tuck.” A highwayman. (Sir Walter Scott: Heart of Mid-Lothian.)

Lawyer's Bags Some red, some blue. In the Common Law, red bags are reserved for Q.C.'s and Sergeants; but a stuff-gownsman may carry one “if presented with it by a silk.” Only red bags may be taken into Common Law Courts, blue must be carried no farther than the robing-room. In Chancery Courts the etiquette is not so strict.

Lay Brothers Men not in orders received into the convents and bound by vows. (Greek, laos, people.)

Lay Figures Wooden figures with free joints, used by artists chiefly for the study of drapery. This is a metaphorical use of lay. As divines divide the world into two parties, the ecclesiastics and the laity, so artists divide their models into two classes, the living and the lay.

Lay Out (To). (a) To disburse: Il dépensa de grandes sommes d'argent.
   (b) To display goods: Mettre des marchandises en montre. To place in convenient order what is required for wear: Préparer ses beaux