Chapter Mop to Mormon of M by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Mop to Mormon

Mop In many places statute fairs are held, where servants seek to be hired. Carters fasten to their hats a piece of whipcord; shepherds, a lock of wool; grooms, a piece of sponge, etc. When hired they mount a cockade with streamers. Some few days after the statute fair, a second, called a Mop, is held for the benefit of those not already hired. This fair mops or wipes up the refuse of the statute fair, carrying away the dregs of the servants left.
   Mop. One of Queen Mab's attendants.
   All mops and brooms. Intoxicated.

Mora-stone near Upsala, where the Swedes used anciently to elect their kings.

Moral The moral Gower. John Gower, the poet, is so called by Chaucer. (1320-1402.)
   Father of moral philosophy. Thomas Aquinas (1227-1274).

Moralist The great moralist of Fleet Street. Dr. Johnson (1709-1784).

Moran's Collar which strangled the wearer if he deviated from the strict rules of equity. Moran was the wise councillor of Feredach the Just, an early king of Ireland, before the Christian era. Of course, the collar is an allegory of obvious meaning.

Morasteen [great stone]. The ancient Danes selected their king from the sacred line of royalty. The man chosen was taken to the Landsthing, or local court, and placed on the morasteen, while the magnates ranged themselves around on stones of inferior size. This was the Danish mode of installation.

Morat Morat and Marathon twin names shall stand (Childe Harold, iii. 64). Morat, in Switzerland, is famous for the battle fought in 1476, in which the Swiss defeated Charles le Téméraire of Burgundy.

Moratorium A legal permission to defer for a stated time the payment of a bond, debt, cheque, or other obligation. This is done to enable the creditor to pull himself round by borrowing money, selling effects, or otherwise raising funds to satisfy obligations. The device was adopted in 1891 in the Argentine Republics during the money panic caused by the Baring Brothers' “difficulty,” a default of some twenty millions sterling.

Moravians or Bohemian Brethren. A religious community tracing its origin from John Huss, expelled by persecution from Bohemia and Moravia in the eighteenth century. They are often called The United Brethren.

Morbleu! (French). A corruption of Mort de Dieu. (See Ventre St. Gris .)

More To be no more. To exist no longer; to be dead.

“Cassius is no more.”
Shakespeare: Julius Caesar.

More Kicks than Hapence Like the monkey which plays tricks for his master. The monkey gets the kicks and the master the ha'pence.

More Last Words When Richard Baxter lost his wife, he published a broadsheet, headed Last Words of Mrs. Baxter, which had an immense sale. The printer, for his own profit, brought out a spurious broadsheet, headed More Last Words; but Baxter issued a small handbill with this concise sentence: “Mrs. Baxter did not say anything else.”

More of More Hall A legendary hero who armed himself with an armour of spikes; and, concealing himself in the cave where the dragon of Wantley dwelt, slew the monster by kicking it on the mouth, where alone it was mortal.

More the Merrier (The). The author of this phrase was Henry Parrot.

More one has, the More he Desires (The). In French, Plus il en a, plus il en veut. In Latin, Quo plus habent, eo plus cupiunt.

“My more having would be a source
To make me hunger more.”
Shakespeare: Macbeth, iv. 3.

Moreno (3 syl.). Don Antonio Moreno, a gentleman of Barcelona, who entertained Don Quixote with mockheroic