Chapter Lindabrides to Linspe of L by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Line of March The ground from point to point over which an army moves.

Line of Operation (The) in war. The line between the base of operation (q.v.) and the object aimed at. Thus, if a fleet is the base and the siege of a city is the object aimed at, the line of operation is that drawn from the fleet to the city. If a well-fortified spot is the base and a battle the object, the line of operation is that which lies between the fortified spot and the battle-field.

Line upon Line Admonition or instruction repeated little by little (a line at a time). Apelles said “Nulla dies sine linea. ” A drawing is line upon line, an edifice is brick upon brick or stone upon stone.

“Line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.”- Isiah xxviii. 10.

Lines The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. The part allotted to me and measured off by a measuring line. (Palms xvi. 6.)
   Hard lines. Harsh restrictions. Here lines means an allotment measured out.
   To read between the lines. To discern the secret meaning. One method of cryptography is to write in alternate lines; if read line by line, the meaning of the writer is reversed or wholly misunderstood. Thus lines 2, 4, 6 of the following cryptogram would convey the warning to Lord Monteagle of the Gunpowder Plot.

“My lord, having just returned from Paris,
(2) stay away from the house to-night
and give me the pleasure of your company.
(4) for God and man have concurred to punish
those who pay not regard to their health,
and
(6) the wickedness of the time
adds greatly to its wear and tear.”

Linen Goods In 1721 a statute was passed imposing a penalty of £5 upon the wearer, and £20 upon the seller of, a piece of calico. Fifteen years later this statute was so far modified that calicoes manufactured in Great Britain were allowed, “provided the warp thereof was entirely of linen yarn.” In 1774 a statute was passed allowing printed cotton goods to be used on the payment of threepence a yard duty; in 1806 the duty was raised to threepence halfpenny. This was done to prevent the use of calicoes from interfering with the demand for linen and woollen stuffs. The law for burying in woollen was of a similar character. The following extracts from a London news-letter, dated August 2nd, 1768, are curious. [Note - chintz is simply printed calico. ]

“Yesterday three tradesmen's wives of this city were convicted before the Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor for wearing chintz gowns on Sunday last, and each of them was fined £5. These make eighty who have been convicted of the above offence within twelve months past ... There were several ladies in St. James's Park on the same day with chintz gowns on, but the persons who gave informas of the above three were not able to discover their names or places of abode. ... Yesterday a waggon loaded with £2,000 worth of chintz was seized at Dartford in Kent by some custom-house officers. Two post-chaises loaded with the same commodity got off with their goods by swiftness of driving.”

Lingo Talk, language. A corruption of lingua.

Lingua Franca A species of corrupt Italian spoken on the coasts of the Mediterranean. The Franks' language mixed with the Italian.

Lining of the Pocket Money.

“My money is spent: Can I be content
With pockets deprived of their lining?”
The Lady's Decoy, or Man Midwife's Defence, 1738, p. 4.

   When the great court tailor wished to obtain the patronage of Beau Brummel, he made him a present of a dress-coat lined with bank-notes. Brummel wrote a letter of thanks, stating that he quite approved of the coat, and he especially admired the lining.

Linnæan System A system devised by Linnæus of Sweden, who arranged his three kingdoms of animals, vegetables, and minerals into classes, orders, genera, species, and varieties, according to certain characteristics.

Linne (The Heir of). The Lord of Linne was a great spendthrift, “who wasted his substance in riotous living.” Having spent all, he sold his estates to John o' the Scales, his steward, reserving to himself only a “poor and lonesome lodge in a lonely glen.” When he had squandered away the money received for his estates, and found that no one would lend or give him more, he retired to the lodge in the glen, where he found a rope with a running noose dangling over his head. He put the rope round his neck and sprang