Chapter Ring a Ding-ding to Rivals of R by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

just prior to execution, knelt in prayer, and was lifted from the floor of his cell into mid-air, where he remained suspended for a considerable time. (Acta Sanctorum.)

Rivals “Persons dwelling on opposite sides of a river.” Forsyth derives these words from the Latin rivalis, a riverman. Caelius says there was no more fruitful source of contention than river-right, both with beasts and men, not only for the benefit of its waters, but also because rivers are natural boundaries. Hence Ariosto compares Orlando and Agrican to “two hinds quarrelling for the river-right” (xxiii. 83).