Philip (earl of Derby), King of Man, son of the countess.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Daniel Deronda, pure young fellow whose influence for good over men and women is marvellous, and explicable only upon the principle that virtue is mightier than vice. "You could not have seen his face thoroughly meeting yours without believing that human creatures had done nobly in times past and might do more nobly in time to come."—George Eliot, Daniel Deronda.
Der'rick, hangman in the first half of the seventeenth century. The crane for hoisting goods is called a derrick, from this hangman.
Derrick (Faith). The rural heroine of Susan Warner's novel Say and Seal (1860).
Derrick (Tom), quarter-master of the pirate's vessel.—Sir W. Scott, The Pirate (time, William III.).
Derry Down Triangle (The), Lord Castlereagh; afterwards marquis of Londonderry; so called by William Hone. The first word is a pun on the title, the second refers to his lordship's oratory, a triangle being the most feeble, monotonous, and unmusical of all musical instruments. Tom Moore compares the oratory of Lord Castlereagh to "water spouting from a pump."
Q
. Why is a pump like viscount Castlereigh?
A. Because it is a slender thing of wood,
That up and down its awkward arm doth sway,