Chapter Mayeux to Measure for Measure of M by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Mayeux to Measure for Measure

Mayeux The stock name in French plays for a man deformed, vain and licentious, brave and witty.

“Mayflower” (The). A ship of 180 tons, which, in December, 1620, started from Plymouth, and conveyed to Massachusetts, in North America, 102 Puritans, called the “Pilgrim Fathers.” They called their settlement New Plymouth.

Mayonnaise A sauce made with pepper, salt, oil, vinegar, and the yolk of an egg beaten up together. A “may” in French is a cullender or strainer, also a “fort plancher sur lequel on met les raisins qu' on veut fouler.”

Mayor The chief magistrate of a city, elected by the citizens, and holding office for twelve months.
   The chief magistrate of London is The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, one of the Privy Council.
   Since 1389 the chief magistrate of York has been a Lord Mayor, and in 1894 those of Liverpool and Manchester.
    There are two Lord Mayors of Ireland, viz. those of Dublin (1685) and of Belfast; and four of Scotland- Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and Dundee.
    At the Conquest the sovereign appointed the chief magistrates of cities. That of London was called the Port-Reeve, but Henry II. changed the word to the Norman maire (our mayor). John made the office annual; and Edward III. (in 1354) conferred the title of “The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor of London.”
    The first Lord Mayor's Show was 1458, when Sir John Norman went by water in state, to be sworn in at Westminster; and the cap and sword were given by Richard II. to Sir William Walworth, for killing Wat Tyler.

Mayor of Garratt (See Garratt .)

Mayor of the Bull-ring (Old Dublin). This official and his sheriffs were elected on May-day and St. Peter's Eve “to be captaine and gardian of the batchelers and the unwedded youth of the civitie.” For the year the Mayor of the Bull-ring had authority to punish those who frequented brothels and houses of ill-fame. He was termed Mayor of the Bull-ring from an iron ring in the Corn Market, to which bulls for bull-baiting were tied, and if any bachelor happened to marry he was conducted by the Mayor and his followers to the market-place to kiss the bull-ring.

Mayors of the Palace (Maire du Palais). Superintendents of the king's household, and stewards of the royal leudes or companies of France before the accession of the Carlovingian dynasty.

Mazarinades (4 syl.). Violent publications issued against Mazarin, the French minister (1650, etc.).

Mazarine Bible (The). The earliest book printed in movable metal type. It contains no date, but a copy in the Bibliothèque Mazarine contains the date of the illuminator Cremer (1456), so that the book must have been printed before that date. Called “Mazarine” from Cardinal Mazarin, who founded the library in 1688.
   In 1873, at the Perkin's sale, Lord Ashburnham gave £3,400 for a copy in vellum, and Mr. Quaritch, bookseller, gave £2,690 for one on paper. At the Thorold sale, in 1884, Mr. Quaritch gave £3,900 for a copy. In 1887 he bought one for £2,600; and in 1889 he gave 2£,000 for a copy slightly damaged.

Mazeppa (Jan), historically, was hetman of the Cossacks. Born of a noble Polish family in Podolia, he became a page in the court of Jan Casimir, King of Poland. Here he intrigued with Theresia, the young wife of a Podolian count, who had the young page lashed to a wild horse, and turned adrift. The horse dropped down dead in the Ukraine, where Mazeppa was released by a Cossack family, who nursed him in their own hut. He became secretary to the hetman, and at the death of the prince was appointed his successor. Peter I. admired him, and created him Prince of the Ukraine, but in the wars with Sweden Mazeppa deserted to Charles XII., and fought against Russia at Pultowa. After the loss of this battle, Mazeppa fled to Valentia, and then to Bender. Some say he died a natural death, and others that he was put to death for treason by the Czar. Lord Byron makes Mazeppa tell his tale to Charles after the battle of Pultowa. (1640-1709.)