Chapter Samson Carrasco to Sandwich of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Samson Carrasco to Sandwich

Samson Carrasco (See Don Quixote, pt. ii. bk. i. chap. iv.)

San Benito (The). The vest of penitence. It was a coarse yellow tunic worn by persons condemned to death by the Inquisition on their way to the auto da fé; it was painted over with flames, demons, etc. In the case of those who expressed repentance for their errors, the flames were directed downwards. Penitents who had been taken before the Inquisition had to wear this badge for a stated period. Those worn by Jews, sorcerers, and renegades bore a St. Andrew's cross in red on back and front.

San Christobal A mountain in Granada, seen by ships arriving from the African coast; so called because colossal images of St. Christopher were erected in places of danger, from the superstitious notion that whoever cast his eye on the gigantic saint would be free from peril for the whole day.

San Suen'a Zaragoza.

Sance-bell Same as “Sanctus-bell.” (See Sacring-Bell .)

Sancha Daughter of Garcias, King of Navare, and wife of Fernan Gonsalez of Castile. She twice saved the life of the count her husband; once on his road to Navarre, being waylaid by personal enemies and cast into a dungeon, she liberated him by bribing the gaoler. The next time was when Fernan was waylaid and held prisoner at Leon. On this occasion she effected his escape by changing clothes with him.
    The tale resembles that of the Countess of Nithsdale, who effected the escape of her husband from the Tower on February 23rd, 1715; and that of the Countess de Lavalette, who, in 1815, liberated the count her husband from prison by changing clothes with him.

Sancho Panza, the squire of Don Quixote, was governor of Barataria, according to Cervantes. He is described as a short, pot-bellied rustic, full of common sense, but without a grain of “spirituality.” He rode upon an ass, Dapple, and was famous for his proverbs. Panza, in Spanish, means paunch.
   A Sancho Panza. A justice of the peace. In allusion to Sancho, as judge in the isle of Barataria.
   Sancho Panza's wife, called Teresa, pt. ii. i. 5; Maria, pt. ii. iv. 7; Juana, pt. i. 7; and Joan, pt. i. 21.
   Sancho. The model painting of this squire is Leslie's Sancho and the Duchess.

Sanchoniatho A forgery of the nine books of this “author” was printed at Bremen in 1837. The “original” was said to have been discovered in the convent of St. Maria de Merinhâo by Colonel Pereira, a Portuguese; but it was soon discovered (1) that no such convent existed, (2) that there was no colonel in the Portuguese service of the name, and (3) that the paper of the MS. displayed the water-mark of an Osnabrück paper-mill. (See Richard Of Cirencester .)

Sanctum Sanctorum A private room into which no one uninvited enters. The reference is to the Holy of Holies in the Jewish Temple, a small chamber into which none but the high priest might enter, and that only on the Great Day of Atonement. A man's private house is his sanctuary; his own special private room in that house is the sanctuary of the sanctuary, or the sanctum sanctorum.

Sancy Diamond So called from Nicholas de Harlay, Sieur de Sancy, who bought it for 70,000 francs (£2,800) of Don Antonio, Prince of Crato and King of Portugal in partibus. It belonged at one time to Charles the Bold of Burgundy, who wore it with other diamonds at the battle of Granson, in 1476; and after his defeat it was picked up by a Swiss soldier, who sold it for a gulden to a clergyman. The clergyman sold it sixteen years afterwards (1492) to a merchant of Lucerne for 5,000 ducats (£1,125). It was next purchased (1495) by Emanuel the Fortunate of Portugal, and remained in the house of Aviz till the kingdom was annexed to Spain (1580), when Don Antonio sold it to Sieur de Sancy, in whose family it remained more than a century. On one occasion the sieur being desirous of aiding Henri I. in his struggle for the crown, pledged the diamond to the Jews at Metz. The servant entrusted with it, being attacked by robbers, swallowed the diamond and was murdered, but Nicholas de Harlay subsequently recovered the diamond out of the dead body of his unfortunate messenger. We next find it in the possession of James II., who purchased it for the crown of England. James carried it with him in his flight to France in 1688, when it was sold to Louis XIV. for £25,000. Louis XV. wore it at his coronation, but during the Revolution it was