Chapter Locksley to Logistilla of L by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Locusts (For food.)

“The bushmen [says Captain Stockenston] consider locusts a great luxury, consuming great quantities, fresh, and drying abundance for future emergencies.” “They are eaten [says Thomas Bayne] in like manner by the Arabs of the Desert, and by other nomadic tribes in the East.”

“Even the wasting locust-swarm,
Which mighty nations dread,
To me no terror brings, nor harm,
I make of them my bread.”
African Sketches (1820).

Locusta This woman has become a byword for one who murders those she professes to nurse, or those whom it is her duty to take care of. She lived in the early part of the Roman empire, poisoned Claudius and Britannicus, and attempted to destroy Nero; but, being found out, she was put to death.

Lode The vein that leads or guides to ore. A dead lode is one exhausted.
   Lode. A ditch that guides or leads water into a river or sewer.

Lodestar The leading-star by which mariners are guided; the pole-star.

“Your eyes are lodestars.”- Shakespeare: Midsummer Night's Dream, i. 1.

Lodestone or Loadstone. The magnet or stone that guides.

Lodona The Lodden, an affluent of the Thames in Windsor Forest. Pope, in Windsor Forest, says it was a nymph, fond of the chase, like Diana. It chanced one day that Pan saw her, and tried to catch her; but Lodona fled from him, imploring Cynthia to save her from her persecutor. No sooner had she spoken than she became “a silver stream which ever keeps its virgin coolness.”

Loegria or Logres. England is so called by Geoffrey of Monmouth, from Logrine, eldest son of the mythical King Brute.

“His [Brute's] three sons divide the land by consent; Locrine had the middle part, Loëgra ...”- Milton: History of England, bk. i.

“Thus Cambria to her right, what would herself restore,
And rather than to lose Loegria, looks for more.”
Drayton: Polyolbion, iv.

“Il est ecrit qu'il est une heure
Ou tout le royaume de Logres,
Qui jadis fut la terre es ogres,
Sera detruit par cette lance.”
Chretien de Troyes.

Log An instrument for measuring the velocity of a ship. It is a flat piece of wood, some six inches in radius, and in the shape of a quadrant. A piece of lead is nailed to the rim to make the log float perpendicularly. To this log a line is fastened, called the log-line (q.v.). Other forms are also used.
   A king Log. A roi fainéant. In allusion to the fable of the frogs asking for a king. Jupiter first threw them down a log of wood, but they grumbled at so spiritless a king. He then sent them a stork, which devoured them eagerly.

Log-board A couple of boards shutting like a book, in which the “logs” are entered. It may be termed the waste-book, and the log-book the journal.

Log-book The journal in which the “logs” are entered by the chief mate. Besides the logs, this book contains all general transactions pertaining to the ship and its crew, such as the strength and course of the winds, the conduct and misconduct of the men, and, in short, everything worthy of note.

Log-line The line fastened to the log (q.v.), and wound round a reel in the ship's gallery. The whole line (except some five fathoms next the log, called stray line) is divided into equal lengths called knots, each of which is marked with a piece of coloured tape or bunting. Suppose the captain wishes to know the