Gavroche (2 syl.), type of the Parisian street arab.—Victor Hugo, Les Misèrables (1862).
Gawain [Gaw´’n], son of King Lot and Morguase (Arthur’s sister). His brothers were Agravain, Ga´heris, and Ga´reth. The traitor Mordred was his half-brother, being the adulterous offspring of Morgause and Prince Arthur. Lot was king of Orkney. Gawain was the second of the fifty knights created by King Arthur; Tor was the first, and was dubbed the same day (pt. i. 48). When the adulterous passion of Sir Launcelot for Queen Guenever came to the knowledge of the king, Sir Gawain insisted that the king’s honor should be upheld. Accordingly, King Arthur went in battle array to Benwicke (Brittany), the “realm of Sir Launcelot,” and proclaimed war. Here Sir Gawain fell, according to the prophecy of Merlin, “With this sword shall Launcelot slay the man that in this world he loved the best” (pt. i. 44). In this same battle the king was told that his bastard son Mordred had usurped his throne, so he hastened back with all speed, and in the great battle of the West received his mortal wound (pt. iii. 160-167).—Sir T. Malory, History of Prince Arthur (1470).
Of Arthurian knights, Gawain is called the “Courteous,” Sir Kay the “Rude and Boastful,” Mordred the “Treacherous,” Launcelot the “Chivalrous,” Galahad the “Chaste,” Mark the “Dastard,” Sir Palomides (3 syl.) the “Saracen,” i.e. unbaptized, etc.
Gawky (Lord), Richard Grenville (1711-1770).
Gaw´rey, a flying woman, whose wings served the double purpose of flying and dress.—R. Pultock, Peter Wilkins (1750).
Gay (Walter), in the firm of Dombey and Son; an honest, frank, and ingenuous youth, who loved Florence Dombey, and comforted her in her early troubles. Walter Gay was sent in the merchantman called The Son and Heir, as junior partner, to Barbadoes, and survived a shipwreck. After his return from Barbadoes, he married Florence.—C. Dickens, Dombey and Son (1846).
Gayless (Charles), the penniless suitor of Melissa. His valet is Sharp.—Garrick, The Lying Valet (1741).
Gaylords (The). Village family in good circumstances.
Squire Gaylord, shrewd lawyer, with one tender place in his heart—his love for his only child.
Mrs. Gaylord, a calvinistic invalid, in awe of her imperious lord.