Chapter Waldenses to Walnut of W by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Walker's 'Bus To go by Walker's 'bus, to walk. Similarly, “To go by the Marrowbone stage,” “To ride Shank's pony.”

Walking Gentleman (A), in theatrical parlance, means one who has little or nothing to say, but is expected to deport himself as a gentleman when before the lights.

Walking Sword (A). A short, light sword, when long swords wielded by two hands were in use. (See Sir W. Scott's Abbot, chap. xx.)

Walkyries (The). (See Valkyries .)

Wall (The), from the Tyne to Boulness, on the Solway Firth, a distance of eighty miles. Called-
   The Roman Wall, because it was the work of the Romans.
   Agricola's Wall, because Agricola made the south bank and ditch.
   Hadrian's Wall, because Hadrian added another vallum and mound parallel to Agricola's.
   The Wall of Severus, because Severus followed in the same line with a stone wall, having castles and turrets.
   The Picts' Wall, because its object was to prevent the incursions of the Picts.
   The wall of Antoninus, now called Graeme's Dyke, from Dunglass Castle on the Clyde to Blackness Castle on the Forth, was made by Lollius Urbicus, legate of Antoninus Pius, A.D. 140. It was a turf wall.

Wall To give the wall. Nathaniel Bailey's explanation of this phrase is worth perpetuating. He says it is “a compliment paid to the female sex, or those to whom one would show respect, by letting them go nearest the wall or houses, upon a supposition of its being the cleanest. This custom,” he adds, “is chiefly peculiar to England, for in most parts abroad they will give them the right hand, though at the same time they thrust them into the kennel.”
   To take the wall. To take the place of honour, the same as to choose “the uppermost rooms at feasts.” (Matt. xxiii. 6.) At one time pedestrians gave the wall to persons of a higher grade in society than themselves.

“I will take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's.”- Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, i. l.

   To go to the wall. To be put on one side; to be shelved. This is in allusion to another phrase, “Laid by the wall”- i.e. dead but not buried; put out of the way.
   To hang by the wall. To hang up neglected; hence, not to be made use of. (Shakespeare: Cymbeline, iii. 4.)

Wall-eyed properly means “withered-eyed.” Persons are wall-eyed when the white is unusually large, and the sight defective; hence Shakespeare has wall-eyed wrath, wall-eyed slave, etc. When King John says, “My rage was blind, ” he virtually says his “wrath was wall-eyed.” (Saxon, hwelan, to wither. The word is often written whall-eyed, or whallied, from the verb whally.)

Walls have Ears The Louvre was so constructed in the time of Catherine de Medicis, that what was said in one room could be distinctly heard in another. It was by this contrivance that the suspicious queen became acquainted with state secrets and plots. The tubes of communication were called the auriculaires, and were constructed on the same principle as those of the confessionals. The “Ear of Dionysius” communicated to him every word uttered in the state prison. (See Speaking Heads , 9.)

Wallace's Larder (See Larder .)

Wallflower So called because it grows on old walls and ruined buildings. It is a native plant. Similarly, wall-cress, wall-creeper, etc., are plants which grow on dry, stony places, or on walls. Wall-fruit is fruit trained against a wall. (See Walnut .)
   Herrick has a pretty fancy on the origin of this flower. A fair damsel was long kept in durance vile from her lover; but at last

“Up she got upon a wall,
`Tempting down to slide withal;
But the silken twist untied,
So she fell, and, bruised, she died.

“Love, in pity of the deed,
And her loving luckless speed,
Turned her to this plant we call
Now the `Flower of the wall.' ”

   Young ladies who sit out against the wall, not having partners during a dance, are called