Chapter Y to Yellowhammer of Y by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

murder; if an owner does not claim an estray within the same length of time, it belongs to the lord of the manor; a year and a day is given to prosecute appeals, etc.

Yellow Anglo-Saxon, geolu, yellow; Italian, giallo; Danish, guul; Icelandic, gull, our gold, yellow metal.
   Yellow indicates jealousy, inconstancy, and adultery. In France the doors of traitors used to be daubed with yellow. In some countries the law ordains that Jews be clothed in yellow, because they betrayed our Lord. Judas in mediæval pictures is arrayed in yellow. In Spain the vestments of the executioner are either red or yellow- the former to indicate blood-shedding, and the latter treason.
   Yellow, in blazonry, is gold, the symbol of love, constancy, and wisdom.
   Yellow, in Christian symbolism, also gold, is emblematical of faith. St. Peter is represented in a robe of a golden yellow colour. In China yellow is the imperial colour.

Yellow-bellies Frogs, fenmen. The Mexicans are so called.

“When the Queen's Prize was won at Wimbledon, July 21st, 1885, by Sergeant Bulmer, 2nd Lincoln, his victory was hailed with `Well done, yellow-belly!' in allusion to his being a Lincon-shire man.”- Notes and Queries, August 22nd, 1885, p. 146.

“Ah, then, agin, it kin scarce be Mexikins neyther. It ur too fur noth for any o' them yellow-bellies.”- Captain Mayne Rcid: The War Trail, chap. 1xxi.

Yellow Book of France A report drawn up by government every year since 1861, designed to furnish historians with reliable information of the state, external and internal, of the French nation. It is called Yellow from the colour of its cover. It corresponds to our “Blue Book” and the “White Books” of Germany and Portugal.

Yellow-boy (A). A gold sovereign.
   John did not starve the cause: there wanted not yellow-boys to fee counsel.”- Arbuthnot: John Bull.

Yellow-boy (A). A bankrupt. The French call a bankrupt Safranier, and Aller au safran means to be made a bankrupt. The allusion is to the ancient custom of painting the house of a traitor yellow. It will be remembered that the house of the Petit Bourbon was long so stigmatised on account of the treason of the Constable Bourbon.

Yellow Caps A notable insurrection in China, in the reign of Hân-lingtee (168-189), headed by Tchang- keo, and so called from the caps worn by the rebels, which were all of the imperial colour.

Yellow Dwarf A certain queen had a daughter named ALL-FAIR, of incomparable beauty. One day the queen went to consult the Desert-Fairy, but, being weary, lay down to rest, and fell asleep. On waking she saw two lions approaching, and was greatly terrified. At this juncture the Yellow Dwarf arrested her attention, and promised to save her from the lions if she would consent to give him ALL-FAIR for his bride. The queen made the promise, and an orange-tree opened, into which the queen entered, and escaped the lions. The queen now sickened, and ALL-FAIR went to consult the Desert-Fairy, but, like her mother, was threatened by the lions, and promised to be the dwarf's bride if he would contrive her escape. Next morning she awoke in her own room, and found on her finger a ring made of a single red hair, which could not be got off. The princess now sickened, and the States resolved to give her in marriage to the powerful king of the Gold Mines. On the day of espousals the Yellow Dwarf came to claim his bride, carried her off on his Spanish cat, and confined her in Steel Castle. In the meantime the Desert-Fairy made the king of the Gold Mines her captive. One day a mermaid appeared to the captive king, carried him to Steel Castle, and gave him a sword made of one entire diamond. Thus armed, the king went in, and was first encountered by four sphinxes, then by six dragons, then by twenty-four nymphs. All these he slew with the syren sword, and then came to the princess. Here he dropped his sword, which the Yellow Dwarf took possession of. The Yellow Dwarf now made the king his captive, and asked if he would give up the princess. “No,” said the king; whereupon the dwarf stabbed him to the heart; and the princess, seeing him fall, threw herself upon the dead body and died also. (Countess D'Aulnoy: Fairy Tales.)