Chapter Nolo Episcopari to Norrisian Professor of N by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Non Sequitur (A). A conclusion which does not follow from the premises stated.

“The name began with B and ended with G. Perhaps it was Waters.”- Dickens: Nicholas Nickleby, p. 198.

Nonce For the nonce. A corruption of for then anes (for then once), meaning for this once. “An apron” for a naperon is an example of n transferred the other way. We have some halfdozen similar examples in the language, as “tother day”- i.e. the other or thæt other = the other. Nuncle used in King Lear, which was originally mineuncle. An arrant knave is a narrant knave. (See Nag .)

Nonconformists The 2,000 clergymen who, in 1662, left the Church of England, rather than conform or submit to the conditions of the Act of Uniformity- i.e. “unfeigned assent to all and everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer.” The word is loosely used for Dissenters generally.

Nones (1 syl.), in the Roman calendar.
   On March the 7th, June, July,
   October too, the NONES you spy;
   Except in these, those Nones appear
   On the 5th day of all the year.
   If to the Nones you add an 8
   Of every IDE you'll find the date.
   E.C.B.

Nonjurors Those clergymen who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the new government after the Revolution. They were Archbishop Sancroft with eight other bishops, and four hundred clergymen, all of whom were ejected from their livings. (1691.)

Nonne Prestes Tale A thrifty widow had a cock, “hight Chaunteclere,” who had his harem; but “damysel Pertilote” was his favourite, who perched beside him at night. Chaunteclere once dreamt that he saw a fox who “tried to make arrest on his body,” but Pertilote chided him for placing faith in dreams. Next day a fox came into the poultry-yard, but told Chaunteclere he merely came to hear him sing, for his voice was so ravishing he could not deny himself that pleasure. The cock, pleased with this flattery, shut his eyes and began to crow most lustily, when Dan Russell seized him by the throat and ran off with him. When they got to the wood, the cock said to the fox, “I should advise you to eat me, and that anon.” “It shall be done,” said the fox, but as he loosed the cock's neck to speak the word, Chaunteclere flew from his back into a tree. Presently came a hue and cry after the fox, who escaped with difficulty, and Chaunteclere returned to the poultry-yard wiser and discreeter for his adventure. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales.)
   This tale is taken from the old French “Roman de Renart." The same story forms also one of the fables of Marie of France, “Don Coc et Don Werpil."

Nor The giant, father of Night. He dwelt in Utgard. (Scandinavian mythology.)

Norfolk The folk north of Kent, Essex, and Suffolk.

Norfolk-Howards Bugs. A man named Bugg, in 1863, changed his name into Norfolk-Howard.

Norfolk Street (Strand), with Arundel, Surrey, and Howard Streets, were the site of the house and grounds of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, then of the Lord High Admiral Seymour, and afterwards of the Howards, Earls of Arundel and Surrey, from whom it came into the possession of the Earl of Norfolk.

Norma A vestal priestess who has been seduced. She discovers her paramour in an attempt to seduce her friend, also a vestal priestess, and in despair contemplates the murder of her baseborn children. The libretto is a melodrama by Romani, music by Bellini (1831.) (Norma, an opera.)

Normandy The Poles are the vintagers in Normandy. The Norman vintage consists of apples beaten down by poles. The French say, “En Normandie l'on vendange avec la gaule, ” where gaule is a play on the word Gaul, but really means a pole.
   The Gem of Normandy. Emma, daughter of Richard I. (* -1052.)

Norna The well of Urda, where the gods sit in judgment, and near which is that “fair building” whence proceed the three maidens called Urda, Verdandi, and Skulda (Past, Present, and Future). (Scandinavian mythology.)