Chapter Templars to Term Time of our Universities of T by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Templars to Term Time of our Universities

Templars or Knights Templars. Nine French knights bound themselves, at the beginning of the twelfth century, to protect pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, and received the name of Templars, because their arms were kept in a building given to them for the purpose by the abbot of the convent called the Temple of Jerusalem. They used to call themselves the “Poor Soldiers of the Holy City.” Their habit was a long white mantle, to which subsequently was added a red cross on the left shoulder. Their famous war-cry was “Bauseant,” from their banner, which was striped black and white, and charged with a red cross; the word Bauseant is old French for a black and white horse.
   Seal of the Knights Templars (two knights riding on one horse). The first Master of the Order and his friend were so poor that they had but one horse between them, a circumstance commemorated by the seal of the order. The order afterwards became wealthy and powerful.

Temple (London) was once the seat of the Knights Templars. (See above.)

Temple The place under inspection, from the Latin verb tueor, to behold, to look at. It was the space marked out by the Roman augurs as the field of observation. When augurs made their observations they marked out a space within which the sign was to occur. Rather remarkable is it that the Greek theos and Latin deus are nouns from the verbs theaomai and tueor, meaning the “presence” in this space marked out by the augurs.

Temple (A). A kind of stretcher, used by weavers for keeping Scotch carpeting at its proper breadth during weaving. The weaver's temple is a sort of wooden rule with teeth of a pothook form.

Temple Bar called “the City Golgotha,” because the heads of traitors, etc., were exposed there. (Removed 1878.)

Temple of Solomon Timbs, in his Notabilia, p. 192, tells us that the treasure provided by David for this building exceeded 900 millions sterling (!). The building was only about 150 feet long and 105 wide. Taking the whole revenue of the British empire at 100 millions sterling annually, the sum stated by Timbs would exhaust nine years of the whole British revenue. The kingdom of David was not larger than Wales, and by no means populous.

Temples (Pagan) in many respects resembled Roman Catholic churches. There was first the vestibule, in which were the piscina with lustral water to sprinkle those who entered the edifice; then the nave (or naos), common to all comers; then the chancel (or adytum) from which the general public was excluded. In some of the temples there was also an apsis, like our apse; and in some others there was a portico, which not unfrequently was entered by steps or “degrees”; and, like churches, the Greek and Roman temples were consecrated by the pontiff.
    The most noted temples were that of Vulcan, in Egypt; of Jupiter Olympus, and of Apollo, in Delphos; of Diana, in Ephesus; the Capitol and the Pantheon of Rome; the Jewish temple built by Solomon, and that of Herod the Great.

Tempora Mutantur (See Mutantur. )

Ten Gothic, tai-hun (two hands); Old German, ze-hen, whence zehn, zen.

Ten Commandments (The). The following rhyme was written under the two tables of the commandments:-

“PRSVR Y PRFCT MN
VR KP THS PRCPTS TN.
The vowel E
Supplies the key.”

Ten Commandments (The). Scratching the face with the ten fingers of an angry woman; or a blow with the two fists of an angry man, in which the “ten commandments are summarised into two.”

“Could I come near your beauty with my nails,
I'd set my ten commandments in your face.”
Shakespeare: 2