own
conceit.--Greene, _Groat's-worth of Wit_ (1692).

FADDLE _(William)_, a "fellow made up of knavery and noise, with
scandal for wit and impudence for raillery. He was so needy that the
very devil might have bought him for a guinea." Sir Charles Raymond
says to him:

"Thy life is a disgrace to humanity. A foolish prodigality makes thee
needy; need makes thee vicious; and both make thee contemptible. Thy
wit is prostituted to slander and buffoonery; and thy judgment, if
thou hast any, to meanness and villainy. Thy betters, that laugh with
thee, laugh at thee; and all the varieties of thy life are but pitiful
rewards and painful abuses."--Ed. Moore, _The Foundling_, iv. 2
(1748).

FA'DHA _(Ah)_, Mahomet's silver cuirass.

FAD'LADEEN, the great nazir' or chamberlain of Aurungze'be's harem. He
criticises the tales told to Lalla Rookh by a young poet on her way to
Delhi, and great was his mortification to find that the poet was the
young king his master.

Fadladeen was a judge of everything, from the pencilling of a
Circassian's eyelids to the deepest questions of science and
literature; from the mixture of a conserve of rose leaves to the
composition of an epic poem.--T. Moore, _Lalla Rookh_ (1817).

FADLADIN'IDA, wife of King Chrononhotonthologos. While the king is
alive she falls in love with the captive king of the Antip'odes, and
at the death of the king, when two suitors arise, she says, "Well,
gentlemen, to make matters easy, I'll take you both."--H. Cary,
_Chrononhotonthologos_ (a burlesque).

FAERY QUEEN, a metrical romance, in six books, of twelve cantos each,
by Edmund Spenser _(incomplete)._

Book I. THE RED CROSS KNIGHT, _the spirit of Christianity_, or the
victory of holiness over sin (1590).

II. THE LEGEND OF SIB GUYON, _the golden mean_ (1590).

III. THE LEGEND or BRITOMARTIS, _chaste love._ Britomartis is Diana or
Queen Elizabeth (1590).

IV. CAMBEL AND TRIAMOND, _fidelity_ (1596).

V. THE LEGEND OF SIR AR'TEGAL, _justice_' (1596).

VI. THE LEGEND OF SIR CALIDORE, _courtesy_ (1596).

[Illustration] Sometimes bk. vii., called. _Mutability_, is added; but
only fragments of this book exist.

FAFNIS, the dragon with which Sigurd fights.--_Sigurd the Horny_ (a
German romance based on a Norse legend).

FAG, the lying servant of Captain Absolute. He "wears his master's
wit, as he does his lace, at second hand."--Sheridan, _The Rivals_
(1775).

FAGGOT _(Nicholas)_, clerk to Matthew Foxley,