Chapter Mahoun' to Make the Ice of M by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

assize, the sheriff of the county presents the judge with a pair of white gloves. White gloves symbolise innocence. Maiden primarily means unspotted, unpolluted, innocent; thus Hubert says to the king-

“This hand of mine
Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand,
Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.”
Shakespeare: King John, iv. 2.

Maiden King (The). Malcolm IV. of Scotland. (1141, 1153-1165.)

“Malcolm ... son of the brave and generous Prince Henry ... was so kind and gentle in his disposition, that he was usually called Malcolm the Maiden.”- Scott: Tales of a Grandfather, iv.

Maiden Lane (London). So called from an image of the Maiden or Virgin Mary, which stood there before the Reformation.

Maiden or Virgin Queen. Elizabeth, Queen of England, who never married. (1533, 1558-1603.)

Maiden Town i.e. a town never taken by the enemy. Edinburgh. The tradition is that the maiden daughters of a Pictish king were sent there for protection during an intestine war.

Maiden of the Mist Anne of Geierstein, in Sir Walter Scott's novel called Anne of Geierstein.

Maidenhair (a fern, so-called from its hair-like stalks) never takes wet or moisture.

“His skin is like the herb called true Maiden's hair, which never takes wet or moisture, but still keeps dry, though laid at the bottom of a river as long as you please. For this reason it is called Adiantos.”- Rabelais: Pantagruel, iv. 24

Main-brace Splice the main-brace, in sea language, means to take a draught of strong drink to keep the spirits up, and give strength for extra exertion. The main-brace is the rope by which the mainyard of a ship is set in position, and to splice it, in a literal sense, when the rope is broken or injured, is to join the two ends together again.

Main Chance (The). Profit or money, probably from the game called hazard.
   To have an eye to the main chance, means to keep in view the money to be made out of an enterprise.
    In the game of “hazard,” the first throw of the dice is called the main, which must be between four and nine, the player then throws his chance, which determines the main.

Mainote (2 syl.). A pirate that infests the coast of Attica.

"Like boat
Of island-pirate or Mainote.”
Byron: The Giaour

Maintain is to hold in the hand; hence, to keep; hence, to clothe and feed. (French, main tenir; Latin, manus teneo.)

Maitland Club (The) of literary antiquities, instituted at Glasgow in 1828. It published a number of works.

Maize (1 syl.). According to American superstition, if a damsel finds a blood-red ear of maize, she will have a suitor before the year is over.

“Even the blood-red ear to Evangeline brought not her lover.”
Longfellow: Evangeline.

Majesty Henry VIII. was the first English sovereign who was styled “His Majesty.” Henry IV. was “His Grace;” Henry VI, “His Excellent Grace;” Edward IV., “High and Mighty Prince;” Henry VII., “His Grace,” and “His Highness;” Henry VIII., in the earlier part of his reign, was styled “His Highness.” “His Sacred Majesty” was a title assumed by subsequent sovereigns, but was afterwards changed to “Most Excellent Majesty.”

Majesty in heraldry. An eagle crowned and holding a sceptre is “an eagle in his majesty.”