Chapter Suckfist to Sumpnor's Tale of S by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Suckfist to Sumpnor's Tale

Suckfist (Lord), defendant in the great Pantagruelian lawsuit, known as “lord Busqueue v. lord Suckfist,” in which the plaintiff and defendant pleaded in person. After hearing the case, the bench declared, “We have not understood one single circumstance of the matter on either side.” But Pantagruel gave judgment, and as both plaintiff and defendant left the court fully persuaded that the verdict was in his own favour, they were both highly satisfied, “a thing without parallel in the annals of the law.” —Rabelais: Pantagruel, ii. 11-13 (1533).

Suddlechop (Benjamin), “the most renowned barber in all Fleet Street.” A thin, half-starved creature.

Dame Ursula Suddlechop, the barber’s wife. “She could contrive interviews for lovers, and relieve frail fair ones of the burden of a guilty passion.” She had been a pupil of Mrs. Turner, and learnt of her the secret of making yellow starch, and two or three other prescriptions more lucrative still. The dame was scarcely 40 years of age, of full form and comely features, with a joyous, good-humoured expression.

Dame Ursula had acquaintances … among the quality, and maintained her intercourse … partly by driving a trade in perfumes, essences, pomades, headgears from France, not to mention drugs of various descriptions, chiefly for the use of ladies, and partly by other services more or less connected with the esoteric branches of her profession.—Sir W. Scott: Fortunes of Nigel, viii. (time, James I.).

Suds (Mrs.), any washerwoman or laundress.

Suerpo Santo, called St. Elmo, Castor and Pollux, St. hermes; a corposant or electric light occasionally seen on a ship’s mast before or after a storm.

I do remember … there came upon the toppe of our maine-yarde and maine-maste a certaine little light … which the Spaniards call the Suerpo Santo. … This light continued aboord our ship about three houres, flying from maste to maste, and from top to top.—Hackluyt: Voyages (1598).

Suffusion, that dimness of sight which precedes a cataract. It was once thought that a cataract was a thin film growing externally over the eye and veiling the sight; but it is now known that the seat of the disease is the crystalline humour (between the outer coat of the eye and the vitreous humour). Couching for this disease is performed with a needle, which is passed through the external coat, and driven into the crystalline humour. (See Drop Serene, p. 301.)

So thick a “drop serene” hath quenched their orbs,
Or dim “suffusion” veiled.

Milton: Paradise Lost, iii. 25 (1665).

Suicides from Books.

(1) Cleombrotos, the Academic philosopher, killed himself after reading Plato’s Phœdon, that he might enjoy the happìness of the future life so enchantingly described.

(2) Fräulein von Lassberg drowned herself in spleen, after reading Goethe’s Sorrows of Werther.

Suleyman. (See Genii, p. 412.)

Sulin-Sifadda, one of the two steeds of Cuthullin general of the Irish tribes. The name of the other was Dusronnal.

Before the right side of the car is seen the snorting horse; the high-maned, broad-breasted, proud, wide- leaping, strong steed of the hill. Loud and resounding is his hoof; the spreading of his mane above is like a stream of smoke on a ridge of rocks. Bright are the sides of his steed. His name is Sulin-Sifadda.—Ossian: Fingal, i.

Dusronnal snorted over the bodies of heroes. Sifadda bathed his hoof in blood.—Ditto.