Chapter River Demon to Robin Goodfellow of R by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Shakespeare, in Hamlet, speaks of roasting “in wrath and fire.”

Rob A sort of jam. It is a Spanish word, taken from the Arabic roob (the juice of fruit).
   Faire un rob (in whist). To win the rubber; that is, either two successive games, or two out of three. Borrowed from the game of bowls.

Rob Roy [Robert the Red]. A nickname given to Robert M'Gregor, who assumed the name of Campbell when the clan M'Gregor was outlawed by the Scotch Parliament in 1662. He may be termed the Robin Hood of Scotland.

“Rather beneath the middle size than above it, his limbs were formed upon the very strongest model that is consistent with agility. ... Two points in his person interfered with the rules of symmetry: his shoulders were so broad ... as to give him the air of being too square in respect to his stature; and his arms, though round, sinewy, and strong, were so very long as to be rather a deformity.”- Sir Walter Scott: Rob Roy McGregor, xxiii.

Robber The highwayman who told Alexander that he was the greater robber of the two was named Dionides. The tale is given in Evenings at Home under the title of Alexander and the Robber.
   Robber. Edward IV. of England was called by the Scotch Edward the Robber.

Robbing Peter to pay Paul On December 17th, 1550, the abbey church of St. Peter, Westminster, was advanced to the dignity of a cathedral by letters patent; but ten years later it was joined to the diocese of London again, and many of its estates appropriated to the repairs of St. Paul's Cathedral. (Winkle: Cathedrals.)

“Tanquam siquis crucifigeret Paulum ut redimeret Petrum.” (Twelfth century.)

“It was not desirable to rob St. Peter's altar in order to build one to St. Paul.”- Viglius: Com. Dec. Denarii, i. 9 (1569).

Robert King Robert of Sicily. A metrical romance of the Trouveur, taken from the Story of the Emperor Jovinian in the Gesta Romanorum, and borrowed from the Talmud. It finds a place in the Arabian Nights, the Turkish Tutinameh, the Sanskrit Pantschatantra, and has been réchauffé by Longfellow under the same name.
   Robert, Robin. A highwayman.

Robert François Damiens, who attempted to assassinate Louis XV., is called “Robert the Devil.” (1714-1757.)

Robert Macaire He's a Robert Macaire. A bluff, free-living, unblushing libertine, who commits the most horrible crimes without stint or compunction. It is a character in M. Daumier's drama of L'Auberge des Adrets. His accomplice is Bertrand, a simpleton and villain. (See Macaire .)

Robert Street (Adelphi, London). So called from Robert Adams, the builder.

Robert le Diable The son of Bertha and Bertramo. The former was daughter of Robert, Duke of Normandy, and the latter was a fiend in the guise of a knight. The opera shows the struggle in Robert between the virtue inherited from his mother, and the vice imparted by his father. He is introduced as a libertine; but Alice, his foster-sister, places in his hand the will of his mother, “which he is not to read till he is worthy.” Bertramo induces him to gamble till he loses everything, and finally claims his soul; but Alice counter plots the fiend, and finally triumphs by reading to Robert the will of his mother. (Meyerbeer: Roberto il Diavolo, an opera.)

Robert the Devil Robert, first Duke of Normandy; so called for his daring and cruelty. The Norman tradition is that his wandering ghost will not be allowed to rest till the Day of Judgment. He is also called Robert the Magnificent. (1028-1035.)

Robert of Brunne that is, of Bourne, in Lincolnshire. His name was Robert Manning, author of an old English Chronicle, written in the reign of Edward III. It consists of two parts, the first of which is in octosyllabic