Chapter S to Sack of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Sabiens is the Aramean equivalent of the word “Baptists.” (See below.)

“The sects of Hemerobaptists, Baptists, and Sabiens (the Mogtasila of the Arabian writers) in the second century filled Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia.”- Renan: Life of Jesus, chap. xii.

Sable denotes- of the ages of man, the last; of attributes, wisdom, prudence, integrity, singleness of mind; of birds, the raven or crow; of elements, the earth; of metals, iron or lead; of planets, Saturn; of precious stones, the diamond; of trees, the olive; of animals, a sort of weasel.

Sable black. Expressed in heraldry by horizontal lines crossing perpendicular ones.
   In English heraldry escutcheons are varied by seven colours; foreign heralds add two more.
   A suit of sables. A rich courtly dress. By the statute of apparel (24 Henry VIII. c. 13) it is ordained that none under the degree of an earl shall use sables. Bishop tells us that a thousand ducats were sometimes given for a “face of sables” (Blossoms, 1577). Ben Jonson says, “Would you not laugh to meet a great councillor of state in a flat cap, with trunk-hose ... and yond haberdasher in a velvet gown trimmed with sables?” (Discoveries.)

“So long? Nay, then, let the devil wear black, for I'll have a suit of sables.”- Shakespeare: Hamlet, iii. 2.

Sablonnière (La). The sand-pits. So the Tuileries were called to the fourteenth century. Towards the end of that century tiles were made there, but the sand-pits were first called the Tile-works or Tuileries in 1416. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Nicolas de Neuville built a house in the vicinity, which he called the “Hotel des Tuileries.” This property was purchased in 1518 by Francois I. for his mother.

Sabra Daughter of Ptolemy, King of Egypt, rescued by St. George from the fangs of the giant, and ultimately married to her deliverer. She is represented as pure in mind, saintly in character, a perfect citizen, daughter, and wife. Her three sons, born at a birth, were named Guy, Alexander, and David. Sabra died from the “pricks of a thorny brake.”

Sabreur Le beau sabreur [the handsome or famous swordsman]. Joachim Murat (1767-1815).

Sabrina (Latin). The Severn. In Milton's Comus we are told she is the daughter of Locrine “that had the sceptre from his father, Brute,” and was living in concubinage with Estrildis. His queen, Guendolen, vowed vengeance against Estrildis and her daughter, gathered an army together, and overthrew Locrine by the river Sture. Sabrina fled and jumped into the river. Nereus took pity on her, and made her “goddess of the Severn.” which is poetically called Sabrina.

Saccharine Principle in Things (The). Mr. Emerson means by this phrase, the adaptation of living beings to their conditions- the becoming callous to pains that have to be borne, and the acquirement of liking for labours that are necessary.

Saccharissa A name bestowed by Waller on Lady Dorothea Sidney, eldest daughter of the Earl of Leicester, for whose hand he was an unsuccessful suitor, for she married the Earl of Sunderland.

“The Earl of Leicester, father of Algernon Sidney, the patriot, and of Waller's Saccharissa, built for himself a stately house at the north corner of a square plot of `Lammas land' belonging to the parish of St. Martin's, which plot henceforth became known to Londoners as `Leicester Fields.' ”- Cassell's Magazine: London Legends, ii.

   Saccharissa turns to Joan (Fenton: The Platonic Spell). The gloss of novelty being gone, that which was once thought unparalleled proves only ordinary. Fenton says before marriage many a woman seems a Saccharissa, faultless in make and wit, but scarcely is “half Hymen's taper wasted” when the “spell is dissolved,” and “Saccharissa turns to Joan.”

Sacco Benedetto or Saco Bendito [the blessed sack or cloak]. A yellow garment with two crosses on it, and painted over with flames and devils. In this linen robe persons condemned by the Spanish Inquisition were arrayed when they went to the stake. The word sack was used for any loose upper garment hanging down the back from the shoulders; hence “sac-friars” or fratres saccati.