Chapter Mariner's Compass to Markham of M by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Mark Tapley Ever jolly, who recognises nothing creditable unless it is overclouded by difficulties. (Charles Dickens: Martin Chuzzlewit.)

Mark Time! Move the feet alternately as in marching, but without advancing or retreating from the spot.

Mark of the Beast (The). To set the “mark of the beast” on an object or pursuit is to denounce it, to run it down as unorthodox. Thus, many persons set the mark of the beast on theatres, some on dancing, and others on gambling, races, cards, dice, etc. The allusion is to Revelation xvi. 2; xix. 23.

Mark's Eve (St.). On St. Mark's Eve all persons fated to be married or to die pass, in procession, the church porch.

“ 'Tis now,' replied the village belle,
`St. Mark's mysterious eve. ...
The ghosts of all whom Death shall doom
Within the coming year
In pale procession walk the gloom. ..."
J. Montgomery.

Marks in Grammar and Printing Printers' marks on the first page of a sheet are called Signatures. (See Letters At Foot Of Page .)
   Serifs are the strokes which finish off Roman letters, top and bottom. A, B, C, are “block” letters, or “sans serifs.”
   ¨ over the second of two vowels, as aërial, is called “diæresis,” and in French, trema.
   ´ An acute accent. In Greek it indicates a rise in the voice. It was not used till Greek became familiar to the Romans.
    ` A grave accent. In Greek it indicates a fall of the voice. It was not used till Greek became familiar to the Romans.
   ¨ over a vowel, as ö, ii, is called in German zweipunct.
   ° over a vowel, as a, is called in Danish umlauf.
   ^ A circumflex over the letter n (as Oñoro), in Spanish, is called a tilde (2 syl.). A circumflex in French indicates that a letter has been abstracted, as être for “estre. '
   t between two hyphens in French, as parle-t-il? is called “t ephelcystic. ” (See N.)
   & The Tironian sign (q.v.). (See And.)
   - Hyphen, as horse-guards.
   - joining a pronoun to its verb in French, as irai-je, donnait-on, is called le trait d'union.
   ¸ under the letter c in French, is called a cedilla, and indicates that the letter = s. (See Printers Marks.)
   a hand with index finger pointed A pilcrow, to call attention to a statement.
    A blind P, marks a new paragraph indirectly connected with preceding matter.
   ( ) Called parentheses, and
   [ ] Called brackets, separate some explanatory or collateral matter from the real sequence.
   , is a comma; ; is a semicolon; : is a colon; . is a point or full stop.
   — or ... in the middle or at the end of a sentence is a break, and shows that something is suppressed.

Marks of Gold and Silver
   The date-mark on gold or silver articles is some letter of the alphabet indicating the year when the article was made. Thus, in the Goldsmith's Company of London:- From 1716 to 1755 it was Roman capitals, beginning from A and following in succession year after year; from 1756 to 1775 it was Roman small letters, a to u; from 1776 to 1796, Roman black letters, small, a to u; from 1796 to 1815, Roman capitals, A to U; from 1816 to 1835, Roman small letters; from 1836 to 1855, Old English capitals; from 1856 to 1875, Old English small; 1876 to 1895, Roman capitals.
   The duty-mark on gold and silver articles is the head of the reigning sovereign, and shows that the duty has been paid. This mark is not now placed on watch-cases, etc.
   The Hall-mark, stamped upon gold and silver articles, is a leopard's head crowned for London; three lions and a cross for York; a castle with two wings for Exeter; three wheat sheaves or a dagger for Chester; three castles for Newcastle; an anchor for Birmingham; a crown for Sheffield; a castle and lion for Edinburgh; a tree, salmon, and ring for Glasgow; Hibernia for Dublin. (See Hall Mark, Silver.)
   The Standard-mark of gold or silver is a lion passant for England; a thistle for Edinburgh; a lion rampant for Glasgow; and a harp crowned for Ireland.

Market-penny (A). Money for refreshments given to those who go to market. Now, however, it means a toll surreptitiously exacted by servants sent out to buy goods for their master.

Markham (Mrs.). A nom de plume of Elizabeth Cartwright, afterwards Mrs. Penrose.