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

said to him, “Wi' that same spear, O pierce my heart, and put me out o' pain;” but the baron replied, “Enouch of blood by me's bin spilt, sair, sair I rew the deid,” adding-

“Ill ay lament for Gil Morice,
As gin he were mine ain;
I'll neir forget the dreiry day
On which the youth was slain.”
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, ser. iii. 1.

   Dr. Percy says this pathetic tale suggested to Home the plot of Doralas (a tragedy)

Morris Dance brought to England in the reign of Edward III., when John of Gaunt returned from Spain. In the dance, bells were jingled, and staves or swords clashed. It was a military dance of the Moors or Moriscos, in which five men and a boy engaged; the boy wore a morione or head-piece, and was called Mad Morion. (See Maid Marian .)

Morse Alphabet (The). An alphabet used in telegraphic messages, invented by Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, of Massachusetts. The right-hand deflection of the electric needle corresponds to a dash, and the left-hand to a dot; and by means of dashes and dots every word may be spelt at length. Military signalling is performed in England by short and long flashes of a flag or some other instrument; the short flash corresponds with the dot, and the long with the dash. The following ten varieties will show how these two symbols are capable of endless combinations, · ¦ ·· ¦ ··· ¦ ···· ¦ — ¦ ·— ¦ ··— ¦ —·· ¦ etc.

Mort-safe A wrought-iron frame to prevent dead bodies from being exhumed by resurrectionists. (See Notes and Queries, March 14th, 1891, p. 210.)

Mortal I saw a mortal lot of people- i.e. a vast number. Mortal is the French à mort, as in the sentence, “Il y avait du monde à mort. ” Legonidec says, “Ce mot [mort] ne s'emploie jamais au propre, mais seulement au figuré, avec la signification de multitude, grand nombre, foule. ”

Mortar-board A college cap. A corruption of the French mortier, the cap worn by the ancient kings of France, and still used officially by the chief justice or president of the court of justice. As a college cap has a square board on the top, the mortier-board was soon transformed into mortar-board.

Mortars differ from guns, in having their trunnions placed behind the vent. They are short pieces, intended to project shells at high angles (45°), and the shells thus projected fall almost vertically on the object struck, forcing in the strongest buildings, and (bursting at the same time) firing everything around. Their splinters are very destructive.

Morte d'Arthur complied by Sir Thomas Malory, from French originals; edited by Southey, the poet- laureate. The compilation contains-
   The Prophecies of Merlin.
   The Quest of the St. Graal.
   The Romance of Sir Lancelot of the Lake.
   The History of Sir Tristram; etc. etc.
   Tennyson has a Morte d'Arthur among his poems.

Mortgage (See Welsh Mortgage .)

Morther Well, Mor, where have you been this long while? (Norfolk). I'sy, Mor, come hither! (Norfolk). Mor or Morther means a lass, a wench. It is the Dutch moer (a woman). In Norfolk they call a lad a bor, from the Dutch boer (a farmer), English boor. “Well, bor!” and “Well, mor!” are to be heard daily in every part of the country.

“When once a giggling morther you,
And I a red-faced chubby boy,
Sly tricks you played me not a few,
For mischief was your greatest joy"
Bloomfield: Richard and Kate.

Mortimer So called from an ancestor in crusading times, noted for his exploits on the shores of the Dead Sea. (De Mortuo Mari.)

Mortlake Tapestry The best English tapestry made at Mortlake (Middle-sex), in the reign of James I.

“Why, lady, do you think me Wrought in a loom, some Dutch-piece weaved at Mortlake?”    City Match.

Mortstone He may remove Mortstone. A Devonshire proverb, said incredulously of husbands who