Chapter Turcaret to Twickenham of T by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

romance turns on the expedition of Charlemagne to Spain in 777, to defend one of his allies from the aggressions of some neighbouring prince. Having conquered Navarre and Aragon, he returned to France. The chronicle says he invested Pampeluna for three months without being able to take it; he then tried what prayer could do, and the walls fell down of their own accord, like those of Jericho. Those Saracens who consented to become Christians were spared; the rest were put to the sword. Charlemagne then visited the sarcophagus of James, and Turpin baptised most of the neighbourhood. The king crossed the Pyrenees, but the rear commanded by Roland was attacked by 50,000 Saracens, and none escaped.

Turtle Doves Rhyming slang for a pair of gloves. (See Chivy .)

Tussle A struggle, a skirmish. A corruption of tousle (German, zausen, to pull); hence a dog is named Towser (pull 'em down). In the Winter's Tale (iv. 4.), Autolyeus says to the Shepherd, “I toze from thee thy business” (pump or draw out of thee). In Measure for Measure, Escalus says to the Duke, “We'll touze thee joint by joint” (v. 1.).

Tut A word used in Lincolnshire for a phantom, as the Spittal Hill Tut. Tom Tut will get you is a threat to frighten children. Tut-gotten is panic-struck. Our tush is derived from the word tut.

Tutivillus The demon who collects all the words skipped over or mutilated by priests in the performance of the services. These literary scraps or shreds he deposits in that pit which is said to be paved with “good intentions” never brought to effect. (Piers Plowman, p. 547; Townley Mysteries, pp. 310, 319; etc.).

Twa Dogs of Robert Burns, perhaps suggested by the Spanish Colloguio de Dos Perros, by Cervantes.

Twangdillo the fiddler, lost one leg and one eye by a stroke of lightning on the banks of the Ister.

“Yet still the merry bard without regret
Bears his own ills, and with his sounding shell
And comic phiz relleves his dropping friends.
He tickles every string, to every note
He bends his pliant neck, his single eye
Twinkles with joy, his active stump bears time.”
Somerville: Hobbinol.

Tweeds Checked cloths for trousers, etc. The origin of this name is supposed to have been a blunder for “tweels,” somewhat blotted and badly written in 1829. The Scotch manufacturer sent a consignment of these goods to James Locke, of London, who misread the word, and as they were made on the banks of the Tweed, the name was appropriated and accordingly adopted.
    However, the Anglo-Saxon twaed (duplex), which gave rise to tweddlin (cloth that is tweeled), and twedden sheets, is more likely to have given rise to the word. In fact, tweels and tweddles both mean cloth in which the woof crosses the warp vertically.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee

“Some say compared to Bononcini
That mynbeer Handel's but a ninny;
Others aver that he to Handel
Is scarcely $$$ to hold a candle.
Strange all this difference should be
'Twixt Tweedledum and Tweedledee.”
J. Byrom.

This refers to the feud between the Bononcinists and Handelists. The Duke of Marlborough and most of the nobility took Bononcini by the hand; but the Prince of Wales, with Pope and Arbuthnot, was for Handel. (See Gluckists.)

Twelfth (The), the 12th of August. The first day of grouse-shooting.

Twelfth Cake The drawing for king and queen is a relíc of the Roman Saturnalia. At the close of this festival the Roman children drew lots with beans to see who would be king. Twelfth Day is twelve days after Christmas, or the Epiphany.

Twelfth Night (Shakespeare). The serious plot is taken from Belleforest's Histories Tragiques. The comic parts are of Shakespeare's own invention. (See Befana .)

Twelve Each English archer carries twelve Scotchmen under his girdle. This was a common saying at one time, because the English were unerring archers, and each archer carried in his belt twelve arrows