Part 112 (2/2)

_Rhombus_, a spinning-wheel or rolling instrument used by the Roman witches for fetching the moon out of heaven.

Quae nunc Thessalico lunam deducere rhombo [_sciet_].--Martial, _Epigrams_, ix. 30.

=Rhone of Christian Eloquence= (_The_), St. Hilary (300-367).

=Rhone of Latin Eloquence= (_The_). St. Hilary is so called by St. Jerome (300-367).

=Rhongomyant=, the lance of King Arthur.--_The Mabinogion_ (”Kilhwch and Olwen,” twelfth century).

=Rhyming to Death.= In 1 _Henry VI._ act i. sc. 1, Thomas Beaufort, duke of Exeter, speaking about the death of Henry V., says, ”Must we think that the subtle-witted French conjurors and sorcerers, out of fear of him, 'by magic verses have contrived his end?'” The notion of killing by incantation was at one time very common.

Irishmen ... will not stick to affirme that they can rime either man or beast to death.--Reg. Scot, _Discoverie of Witchcraft_ (1564).

=Ribbon.= The _yellow_ ribbon, in France, indicates that the wearer has won a _medaille militaire_ (inst.i.tuted by Napoleon III.) as a minor decoration of the Legion of Honor.

The _red_ ribbon marks a _chevalier_ of the Legion of Honor. A _rosette_ indicates a higher grade than that of _chevalier_.

=Ribemont= (3 _syl._), the bravest and n.o.blest of the French host in the battle of Poitiers. He alone dares confess that the English are a brave people. In the battle he is slain by Lord Audley.--s.h.i.+rley, _Edward the Black Prince_ (1640).

_Ribemont_ (_Count_), in _The Siege of Calais_, by Colman.

=Riccar'do=, commander of Plymouth fortress, a Puritan to whom Lord Walton has promised his daughter, Elvira, in marriage. Riccardo learns that the lady is in love with Arthur Talbot, and when Arthur is taken prisoner by Cromwell's soldiers, Riccardo promises to use his efforts to obtain his pardon. This, however, is not needful, for Cromwell, feeling quite secure of his position, orders all the captives of war to be released.

Riccardo is the Italian form of Sir Richard Forth.--Bellini, _I Puritani_ (opera, 1834).

=Ricciardetto=, son of Aymon, and brother of Bradamante.--Ariosto, _Orlando Furioso_ (1516).

=Rice.= _Eating rice with a bodkin._ Amine, the beautiful wife of Sidi Nouman, ate rice with a bodkin, but she was a ghoul. (See AMINE.)

=Richard=, a fine, honest lad, by trade a smith. He marries, on New Year's Day, Meg, the daughter of Toby Veck.--C. d.i.c.kens, _The Chimes_ (1844).

_Richard_ (_Squire_), eldest son of Sir Francis Wronghead, of b.u.mper Hall. A country b.u.mpkin, wholly ignorant of the world and of literature.--Vanbrugh and Cibber, _The Provoked Husband_ (1727).

Robert Wetherilt [1708-1745] came to Drury Lane a boy, where he showed his rising genius in the part of ”Squire Richard.”--Chetwood, _History of the Stage_.

_Richard_ (_Prince_), eldest son of King Henry II.--Sir W. Scott, _The Betrothed_ (time, Henry II.).

_Richard_ ”Cur de Lion,” introduced in two novels by Sir W. Scott (_The Talisman_ and _Ivanhoe_). In the latter he first appears as ”The Black Knight,” at the tournament, and is called _Le Noir Faineant_, or ”The Black Sluggard;” also ”The Knight of the Fetter-lock.”

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