Chapter Foot-breadth to Fortiter in Re of F by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Fordelis (in Orlando Furioso). Wife of Brandimart, Orlando's intimate friend. When Brandimart was slain, she dwelt for a time in his mausoleum in Sicily, and died broken-hearted. (Book xii.)

Fore To the fore. In the front rank; eminent.
   To come to the fore. To stand out prominently; to distinguish oneself; to stand forth.

Fore-and-Aft Lengthwise, in opposition to "athwart-ships" (or across the line of the keel). (Dana: Seaman's Manual, p. 96.)

"A slight spar-deck fore-and-aft." - Sir W. Raleigh.

Forecastle Ancient ships had a castle, as may be seen in the tapestry of the House of Lords, representing the Spanish Armada. The term forecastle means before the castle. The Romans called the castled ships naves turri'tæ'.

"That part of the upper deck forward of the foremast ... In merchant ships, the forward part of the vessel, under the deck, where the sailors live." - Dana: Seaman's, Manual, p.96.

Foreclose To put an end to. A legal term, meaning to close before the time specified; e.g. suppose I held the mortgage of a man called A, and A fails to fulfil his part of the agreement, I can insist upon the mortgage being cancelled, foreclosing thus our agreement.

"The embargo with Spain foreclosed this trade." - Carew.

Fore-shortened Not viewed laterally, but more or less obliquely. Thus, a man's leg lying on the ground, with the sole of the foot nearer the artist than the rest of the body, would be perspectively shortened.

"He forbids the fore-shortenings, because they make the parts appear little." - Dryden.

Forfar Do as the cow o' Forfar did, tak' a stannin' drink. A cow, in passing a door in Forfar, where a tub of ale had been placed to cool, drank the whole of it. The owner of the ale prosecuted the owner of the cow, but a learned baillie, in giving his decision, said, "As the ale was drunk by the cow while standing at the door, it must be considered deoch an doruis (stirrup-cup), to make a charge for which would be to outrage Scotch hospitality." (Sir W. Scott: Waverley.)

Forget-me-nots of the Angels The stars are so called by Longfellow. The similitude between a little lightblue flower and the yellow stars is very remote. Stars are more like buttercups than forget-me-nots.

"Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossom the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." Evangeline.

Forgive, blest Shade This very celebrated epitaph is in Brading churchyard, Isle of Wight, and is attributed to Mrs. Anne Steele (Theodosia), daughter of a Baptist minister of Bristol, but was touched up by the Rev. John Gill, curate of Newchurch. Set to music in three parts by J. W. Callcott (1795).

Forgiveness (Ang.-Sax., forgifenes.)

"Forgiveness to the injured doth belong.
But they ne'er pardon who have done the wrong." Dryden: Conquest of Granada, part ii. act i. 2.

"Proprium humani generis, odisse quem laceris." - Tacitus.

Fork Out Hand over; pay down; stand treat. Fingers are called forks, and this may suffice to explain the phrase; if not, we have the Anglo-Saxon verb feccan (to draw out, to take), and "fork out" would be "fec out."

Forks The gallows. (Latin, furca.) Cicero (de Divinitate, i. 26) says, "Ferens furcam ductus est, " often quoted in proof that criminals condemned to the cross were obliged to carry their own cross to the place of execution. But the ordinary meaning of furca is a kind of yoke to which the hands of criminals were fastened. The punishment was of three degrees of severity: (1) The furca ignominiosa; (2) the furca pænalis; and (3) the furca capitalis. The first was for slight offences, and consisted in carrying the furca on the shoulders, more or less weighted. The second consisted in carrying the furca and being scourged.