Chapter Farmers to Father of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

adversary takes the two ends, and looses it or draws it away, showing that it has not been pierced at all.

He forced his neck into a noose,
To show his play at fast and loose;
And when he chanced t'escape, mistook,
For art and subtlety, his luck."
Butler: Hudibras, iii. 2.

Fasti Working days; when, in Rome, the law-courts were open. Holy days (dies non), when the law-courts were not open, were, by the Romans, called ne-fasti.

Fasting The most ingenious method of fasting I know of is that recorded in the Mappemonde Papistique, p. 82. A Venetian saint had certain boxes made like mass-books, and these book-boxes were filled, some with Malmsey wine, and some with the fleshiest parts of capons and partridges. These were supposed to be books of devotion, and the saint lived long and grew fat on them.

Fastrade (2 syl.). Daughter of the Saxon count Rodolph and Luitgarde the German. One of the nine wives of Charlemagne.

"Those same soft bells at eventide
Rang in the ears of Charlemagne,
As, seated by Fastrada's side
At Ingelheim, in all his pride,
He heard their sound with secret pain.
Longfellow: Golden Legend, vi.

Fat All the fat is in the fire. The allusion is to the process of frying. If the grease is spilt into the fire, the coals smoke and blaze so as to spoil the food. The proverb signifies that something has been let out inadvertently which will cause a "regular flare up."
   The Fat: -
   Alfonzo II. of Portugal. (1212-1223.)
   Charles II. of France, le Gros. (832, 881-888.)
   Louis VI. of France, le Gros. (1078, 1108-1137.)

Fat Men    Edward Bright, of Essex, weighed 44 stone, or 616 pounds, at death. He was 5 feet 9 inches high, 5 feet round the chest, and 6 feet 11 inches round the paunch. He died 1750, aged thirty.
   Daniel Lambert, born at St. Margaret's Leicester, weighed 739 pounds. He was 3 yards 4 inches round the waist, 1 yard 1 inch round the leg. (1770-1809.)

Fat as a Porpoise The skin of the porpoise is nearly an inch thick, and under it is a layer of fat somewhat thicker, and yielding oil of the finest quality.

Fata Women introduced in mediæval romance not unlike witches, and under the sway of Demogorgon. In Orlando Innamorato we meet with the "Fata Morgana;" in Bojardo, with the "Fata Silvanella." The Fates Nera and Bianca, the protectresses of Guidone and Aquilante; the "Fata della Fonti," from whom Manricardo obtains the arms of Hector; and "Alcina," sister of Morgana, who carries off Astolfo. In Tasso we have the three daughters of Morgana, whose names are Morganetta, Nivetta, and Carvilia; we have also Dragontina, Montana Argea (called the queen of the Fates), protectress of Floridante), Filidea (sister of Argea), and several others. In the Adone of Marini we have the Fata named "Falsirena."

Fata Morgana A sort of mirage occasionally seen in the Straits of Messina. Fata is Italian for a "fairy," and the fairy Morgana was the sister of Arthur and pupil of Merlin. She lived at the bottom of a lake, and dispensed her treasures to whom she liked. She is first introduced in the Orlando Innamorato as "Lady Fortune," but subsequently assumes her witch-like attributes. In Tasso her three daughters are introduced.

Fatal Gifts Collar of Arsinoe, collar and veil of Eriphyle, gold of the Nibelungen, gold of Tolosa, necklace of Cadmos, Harmonia's necklace and robe, opal of Alphonso XII., the Trojan horse, the shirt of Nessus, etc. (See these subjects.)

Fate = something destined or suitable, is not the Latin fatum, but the French fait = share, one's own, that which suits one; as "voila mon fait," that is the man for me.

"Pour moi, ma sieur, a dit la cadette, j'aime le solide, je veux un homme riche, et le gros don Blanco sera mon fait." - Le Sage: Diable Boiteux.

Fates (1 syl.). The cruel fates. The Greeks and Romans supposed there were three Parcæ or Fates, who arbitrarily controlled the birth, events, and death of every man. They are called cruel because they pay no regard to the wishes and requirements of anyone.
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