Chapter Finger and Glove to First-class Hard Labour of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Fire (Anglo-Saxon, fyr, Greek, pur.)
   St. Antony's fire. Erysipelas. "Le feu St Antoine. " (See Anthony.)
   St. Helen's fire. "Ignis sanctæ Helenæ. "
   "Feu St. Helme. " (See Castor and Pollux; and Elmo.)
   Hermes's fire. Same as St. Helen's fire (q.v.).
   I have myself passed through the fire; I have smelt the smell of fire. I have had experience in trouble. The allusion is to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who were cast into the fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. iii.).
   If you will enjoy the fire you must put up with the smoke. (Latin, "Commoditas quævis sua fert incommoda secum.") Every convenience has its inconvenience.
   More fire in the bed-straw. More mischief brewing. Alluding to the times when straw was used for carpets and beds.
   No fire without smoke. (French, "Nul feu sans fumée. ") No good without its mixture of evil.
   No smoke without fire. To every scandal there is some foundation.
   Where there is smoke there is fire. Every effect is the result of some cause.

Fire The Great Fire of London (1666) broke out at Master Farryner's, the king's baker, in Pudding Lane, and after three nights and three days was arrested at Pie Corner. St. Paul's Cathedral, eighty-nine other churches, and 13,200 houses were burnt down.

Fire Away! Say on; say what you have to say. The allusion to firing a gun; as, You are primed up to the muzzle with something you want to say; fire away and discharge your thoughts.

" `Foster, I have something I want you and Miss Caryll to understand.' `Fire away!' exclaimed Foster." - Watson: The Web of a Spider, chap. xv.

   Fire away, Flanagan. A taunt to a boaster. A man threatening you, says he will do this, that, and the other; you reply, "Fire away, Flanagan." Cromwell marched against a castle defended by Flanagan, who threatened to open his cannon on the Parliamentarians unless they withdrew. Cromwell wrote on the corner of the missive sent to him, "Fire away, Flanagan," and the doughty champion took to his heels immediately.

Fire First Non, Monsieur, nous ne tirons jamais les premiers. According to tradition, this was said by the Count D'Auteroches to Lord Charles Hay at the battle of Fontenoy, 30th April, 1745 (old style).

"On c'était de tradition dans l'armée; on laissait toujours par courtoisie, l'avantage du premier feu à l'ennemi." (See Notes and Queries, 29th October, 1892, p. 345.)

Fire-balloon A balloon whose ascensional power is derived from hot air rising from a fire beneath its open mouth. Montgolfier used such a balloon.

Fire-brand An incendiary; one who incites to rebellion; like a blazing brand which sets on fire all it touches.

"Our fire-brand brother, Paris, burns us all."
Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida, ii. 2.

Fire-drake or Fire-dragon. A fiery serpent, an ignis-fatuus of large proportions, superstitiously believed to be a flying dragon keeping guard over hid treasures.

"There is a fellow somewhat near the door, he should be a brazier by his face, for, o' my conscience, twenty of the dog-days now reign in 's nose ... That fire-drake did I hit three times on the head." - Shakespeare: Henry VIII., v. 3.

Fire-eaters Persons ready to quarrel for anything. The allusion is to the jugglers who "eat" flaming tow, pour melted lead down their throats, and hold red-hot metal between their teeth. Richardson, in the seventeenth century - Signora Josephine Girardelli (the original Salamander), in the early part of the nineteenth century - and Chaubert, a Frenchman, of the present century, were the most noted of these exhibitors.

"The great fire-eater lay unconscious upon the floor of the house." - Nashville Banner.

Fire-new Spick and span new (q.v.).

"You should have accosted her; and with some excellent jests fire-new from the mint." - Shakespeare: Twelfth Night, iii. 2.

Fire-ship A ship filled with combustibles to be sent against adverse vessels in order to set them on fire.

Fire Up (To). To become indignantly angry. The Latin, "irâ exardescere," "Inflammer de colère."