Pomegranate of Vice, the Henbane of Bishops, the Mustard-pot of Penance, the Crucible of Contemplation, the Goad of Wine, the Spur of Cheese, the Cobbled-Shoe of Humility, the Trivet of Thought, the Curé’s Rap on the Knuckles, the Pilgrims’ Spectacles, the Prelates’ Bagpipes, the Lawyers’ Furred Cat, the Cardinals’ Rasp, etc.—Rabelais: Pantagruel, ii. 7 (1533).

Lichas, servant of Herculês, who brought to hi m from Dejanira the poisoned shirt of Nessus. He was thrown by Herculês from the top of mount Etna into the sea. Seneca says (Hercules) that Lichas was tossed aloft into the air, and sprinkled the clouds with his blood. Ovid says, “He congealed, like hail, in mid-air, and turned to stone; then, falling into the Euboic Sea, became a rock, which still bears his name and retains the human form” (Met., ix.).

Let me lodge Lichas on the horns of the moon.
   —Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra, act iv. sc. 10 (1608).

Lichfield. The field of the dead bodies. Anglo-Saxon liced, licit, or licet feld (lic, the place of a dead body, or a dead body).

[Lichfield] is said to have derived its name from the martyrdon of more than a thousand Christians, who are said to have been massacred here in the reign of Diocletian.—Lewis: Topographical Dictionary (article “Lichfield”).

(Lich-gate is a shelter at the gate of a churchyard, where the bearers rest the coffin before ascending the steps of the churchyard, and to await the clergyman.)

Licked into Shape. According to legend, the young bear is born a shapeless mass, and the dam licks her cub into its proper shape.

The she-bear licks her cubs into a sort
Of shape.
   —Byron: The Deformed Transformed, i. 1 (1821).

Lickitup (The laird of), friend of Neil Blanc the town piper.—Sir W. Scott: Old Mortality (time, Charles II.).

Lie. The four P’s disputed as to which could tell the greatest lie. The Palmer asserted that he had never seen a woman out of patience; the other three P’s (a Pardoner, a Poticary, and a Pedlar) were so taken aback by this assertion that they instantly gave up the contest, saying that it was certainly the greatest falsehood they had ever heard.—Heywood: The Four P’s (1520).

N.B.—Tennyson says—

A lie which is half a truth is ever the blackest of lies.
A lie which is all a lie may be met and fought with outright;
But a lie which is part a truth is a harder matter to fight.
   —The Grandmother.

  By PanEris using Melati.

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