Chapter Shah to Shandy of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Taylor (1613-1667).
   The Shakespeare of eloquence. So Barnave happily characterised the Comte de Mirabeau (1749-1791).
   The Spanish Shakespeare. Calderon (1601-1687).

Shaking Hands Horace, strolling along the Via Sacra, shook hands with an acquaintance. Arreptâque monu, “Quid agis dulcissime rerum?”
   AEneas, in the temple of Dido, sees his lost companions enter, and “avidi conjungere dextras ardebant” (AEn., i. 514.)
   Nestor shook hands with Ulysses on his return to the Grecian camp with the stolen horses of Rhesus.
   And in the Old Testament, when Jehu asked Jehonadab if his “heart was right” with him, he said, “If it be, give me thine hand,” and Jehonadab gave him his hand.

Shaky Not steady; not in good health; not strictly upright; not well prepared for examination; doubtfully solvent. The allusion is to a table or chair out of order and shaky.

Shallow A weak-minded country justice, intended as a caricature of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote. He is described as one who had been a madcap in his youth, and still dotes on his wild tricks; he is withal a liar, a blockhead, and a rogue. (Shakespeare: Merry Wives of Windsor, and 2 Henry IV.)

Shalott (Lady of). A poem by Tennyson, the tale of which is similar to that of Elaine the “fair maid of Astolat” (q.v.). Part I. describes the island of Shalott, and tells us that the lady passed her life so secluded there that only the farm-labourers knew her. Part II. tells us that the lady passed her time in weaving a magic web, and that a curse would light on her if she looked down the river towards Camelot. Part III. describes how Sir Lancelot, in all his bravery, rode to Camelot, and the lady looked at him as he rode along. Part IV. says that the lady entered a boat, having first written her name on the prow, and floated down the river to Camelot, but died on the way. When the boat reached Camelot, Sir Lancelot, with all the inmates of the palace, came to look at it. They read the name on the prow, and Sir Lancelot exclaimed, “She has a lovely face, and may God have mercy on the lady of Shalott!”

Shambles means benches (Anglo-Saxon, scamel; Latin, scamnum, and the diminutive scamellum, a little bench). The benches or banks on which meat is exposed for sale. (See Bank .)

“Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question.” - 1 Cor. x. 25.

Shamrock, the symbol of Ireland, because it was selected by St. Patrick to prove to the Irish the doctrine of the Trinity (Irish and Gaelic, seam-rog.)
   Shamrock. According to the elder Pliny, no serpent will touch this plant.

Shan Van Voght This excellent song (composed 1798) may be called the Irish Marseillaise. The title of it is a corruption of An t-sean bean bochd (the poor old woman - i.e. Ireland). (Holliday-Spurling: Irish Minstrelsy, p. 13.) The last verse is -

“Will Ireland then be free?
Said the Shan Van Voght? (repeat)
Yes, Ireland shall be free
From the centre to the sea,
Hurrah for liberty!
Said the Shan Van Voght.”

Shandean Exactness Sir Walter Scott says, “The author proceeds with the most unfeeling prolixity to give a minute detail of civil and common law, of the feudal institutions, of the architecture of churches and castles, of sculpture and painting, of minstrels, players, and parish clerks ... Tristram can hardly be said to be fairly born, though his life has already attained the size of half a volume.” (See below.)

“With a Shandean exactness ... Lady Anne begins her memoirs of herself nine months before her nativity, for the sake of introducing a beautiful quotation from the Psalms.” - Biog. Borealis, p. 269.

Shandy Captain Shandy is called Uncle Toby. He was wounded at the siege of Namur, and had retired from the service. He is benevolent and generous, simple as a child, brave as a lion, and gallant as a courtier. His modesty with Widow Wadman and his military tastes are admirable. He is said to be drawn for Sterne's father. (Tristram Shandy.)
   Mrs. Elizabeth Shandy, mother of Tristram. The beau-ideal of nonentity. Sir Walter Scott describes her as a “good lady of the poco-curante school.” (Sterne: Tristram Shandy.)
   Tristram Shandy. The hero of Sterne's novel so called.
   Walter Shandy, Tristram's father. He is a metaphysical Don Quixote in his way, full of superstitious and idle conceits. He believes in long noses and propitious