Part 51 (1/2)

=O'riande= (3 _syl._), a fay who lived at Rosefleur, and was brought up by Maugis d'Aygremont. When her _protege_ grew up, she loved him, ”d'un si grand amour, qu'elle doute fort qu'il ne se departe d'avecques elle.”--_Romance de Maujis d'Aygremont et de Vivian son Frere._

=O'riel=, a fairy, whose empire lay along the banks of the Thames, when King Oberon held his court in Kensington Gardens.--Tickell, _Kensington Gardens_ (1686-1740).

=Orient= (_The_). In _The New Priest of Conception Bay_, f.a.n.n.y Dare sings to little Mary Barre how the good s.h.i.+p _Orient_ was wrecked.

”Woe for the brave s.h.i.+p Orient!

Woe for the old s.h.i.+p Orient!

For in the broad, broad light With the land in sight,-- Where the waters bubbled white,-- One great, sharp shriek!--one shudder of affright!

And---- down went the brave old s.h.i.+p, the Orient!”

Robert Lowell, _The New Priest of Conception Bay_ (1858).

=Oriflamme=, the banner of St. Denis. When the counts of Vexin became possessed of the abbey, the banner pa.s.sed into their hands, and when, in 1082, Philippe I. united Vexin to the crown, the oriflamme or sacred banner belonged to the king. In 1119 it was first used as a national banner. It consists of a crimson silk flag, mounted on a gilt staff (_un glaive tout dore ou est attache une baniere vermeille_). The loose end is cut into three wavy vand.y.k.es, to represent tongues of flame, and a silk ta.s.sel is hung at each cleft. In war the display of this standard indicates that no quarter will be given. The English standard of no quarter was the ”burning dragon.”

Raoul de Presle says it was used in the time of Charlemagne, being the gift of the patriarch of Jerusalem. We are told that all infidels were blinded who looked upon it. Froissart says it was displayed at the battle of Rosbecq, in the reign of Charles VI., and ”no sooner was it unfurled than the fog cleared away, and the sun shone on the French alone.”

I have not reared the Oriflamme of death.

... me it behooves To spare the fallen foe.

Southey, _Joan of Arc_, viii. 621, etc. (1837).

=Origilla=, the lady-love of Gryphon, brother of Aquilant; but the faithless fair one took up with Martano, a most impudent boaster and a coward. Being at Damascus during a tournament in which Gryphon was the victor, Martano stole the armor of Gryphon, arrayed himself in it, took the prizes, and then decamped with the lady. Aquilant happened to see them, bound them, and took them back to Damascus, where Martano was hanged, and the lady kept in bondage for the judgment of Lucina.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Orillo=, a magician and robber, who lived at the mouth of the Nile. He was the son of an imp and fairy. When any one of his limbs was lopped off, he had the power of restoring it; and when his head was cut off, he could take it up and replace it. When Astolpho encountered this magician, he was informed that his life lay in one particular hair; so instead of seeking to maim his adversary, Astolpho cut off the magic hair, and the magician fell lifeless at his feet.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Orinda=, ”the incomparable,” Mrs. Katherine Philipps, who lived in the reign of Charles II., and died of small-pox.

? Her praises were sung by Cowley, Dryden, and others.

We allowed you beauty, and we did submit ...

Ah, cruel s.e.x, will you depose us too in wit?

Orinda does in that too reign.

Cowley, _On Orinda's Poems_ (1647).

=Ori'on=, a giant of great beauty, and a famous hunter, who cleared the island of Chios of wild beasts. While in the island, Orion fell in love with Merope, daughter of king nop'ion; but one day, in a drunken fit, having offered her violence, the king put out the giant's eyes, and drove him from the island. Orion was told if he would travel eastward, and expose his sockets to the rising sun, he would recover his sight.

Guided by the sound of a Cyclop's hammer, he reached Lemnos, where Vulcan gave him a guide to the abode of the sun. In due time, his sight returned to him, and at death he was made a constellation. The lion's skin was an emblem of the wild beasts which he slew in Chios, and the club was the instrument he employed for the purpose.

He [_Orion_]

Reeled as of yore beside the sea, When, blinded by nopion, He sought the blacksmith at his forge, And, climbing up the mountain gorge, Fixed his blank eyes upon the sun.