Part 67 (1/2)

says, ”There, take her home, and use her well.” ”I will do so,” says Adraste, and leads off the Greek slave.--Moliere, _Le Sicilien ou L'Amour Peintre_ (1667).

=Pedrillo=, the tutor of Don Juan. After the s.h.i.+pwreck, the men in the boat, being wholly without provisions, cast lots to know which should be killed as food for the rest, and the lot fell on Pedrillo, but those who feasted on him most ravenously went mad.

His tutor, the licentiate Pedrillo, Who several languages did understand.

Byron, _Don Juan_, ii. 25; see 76-79 (1819).

=Pedro=, ”the pilgrim,” a n.o.ble gentleman servant to Alinda (daughter of Lord Alphonso).--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Pilgrim_ (1621).

_Pedro_ (_Don_), prince of Aragon.--Shakespeare, _Much Ado about Nothing_ (1600).

_Pedro_ (_Don_), father of Leonora.--R. Jephson, _Two Strings to your Bow_ (1792).

_Pedro_ (_Don_), a Portuguese n.o.bleman, father of Donna Violante.--Mrs.

Centlivre, _The Wonder_ (1714).

_Pedro_ (_Dr._), whose full name was Dr. Pedro Rezio de Aguero, court physician in the island of Barataria. He carried a whalebone rod in his hand, and whenever any dish of food was set before Sancho Panza, the governor, he touched it with his wand, that it might be instantly removed, as unfit for the governor to eat. Partridges were ”forbidden by Hippoc'rates,” olla podridas were ”most pernicious,” rabbits were ”a sharp-haired diet,” veal might not be touched, but ”a few wafers, and a thin slice or two of quince,” might not be harmful.

The governor, being served with some beef hashed with onions, ...

fell to with more avidity than if he had been set down to Milan G.o.dwits, Roman pheasants, Sorrento veal, Moron partridges, or green geese of Lavajos; and turning to Dr. Pedro, he said, ”Look you, signor doctor, I want no danties, ... for I have always been used to beef, bacon, pork, turnips and onions.”--Cervantes, _Don Quixote_, II. iii. 10, 12 (1615).

=Peebles= (_Peter_), the pauper litigant. He is vain, litigious, hard-hearted, and credulous; a liar, a drunkard, and a pauper. His ”ganging plea” is worthy of Hogarth.--Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Peecher= (_Miss_), a schoolmistress, in the flat country where Kent and Surrey meet. ”Small, s.h.i.+ning, neat, methodical, and buxom was Miss Peecher; cherry-cheeked and tuneful of voice. A little pincus.h.i.+on, a little hussie, a little book, a little work-box, a little set of tables and weights and measures, and a little woman all in one. She could write a little essay on any subject exactly a slate long, and strictly according to rule. If Mr. Bradley Headstone had proposed marriage to her, she would certainly have replied 'yes,' for she loved him;” but Mr.

Headstone did not love Miss Peecher--he loved Lizzie Hexam, and had no love to spare for any other woman.--C. d.i.c.kens, _Our Mutual Friend_, ii.

1 (1864).

=Peel-the-Causeway= (_Old_), a smuggler. Sir W. Scott, _Redgauntlet_ (time, George III.).

=Peeler= (_Sir_), any crop which greatly impoverishes the ground. To _peel_ is to impoverish soil, as ”oats, rye, barley, and grey wheat,”

but not peas (x.x.xiii. 51).

Wheat doth not well, Nor after Sir Peeler he loveth to dwell.

T. Tusser, _Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry_, xviii. 12 (1557).

=Peelers=, the constabulary of Ireland, appointed under the Peace Preservation Act of 1814, proposed by Sir Robert Peel. The name was subsequently given to the new police of England, who are also called ”Bobbies” from Sir Robert Peel.

=Peep-o'-Day Boys=, Irish insurgents of 1784, who prowled about at day-break, searching for arms.

=Peeping Tom of Coventry.= Lady G.o.diva earnestly besought her husband (Leofric, earl of Mercia) to relieve the men of Coventry of their grievous oppressions. Leofric, annoyed at her importunity, told her he would do so when she had ridden on horseback, naked, through the town.