Greenhalgh, messenger of the earl of Derby.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Greenhorn (Mr. Gilbert), an attorney, in partnership with Mr. Gabriel Grinderson.
Mr. Gernigo Greenhorn, father of Mr. Gilbert.—Sir W. Scott, The Antiquary (time, George III.).
Greenleaf (Gilbert), the old archer at Douglas Castle.—Sir W. Scott, Castle Dangerous (time, Henry I.).
Gregory, a faggot-maker of good education, first at a charity school, then as waiter on an Oxford student, and then as the fag of a travelling physician. When compelled to act the doctor, he says the disease of his patient arises from “propria quæ maribus tribuuntur mascula dicas, ut sunt divorum, Mars, Bacchus, Apollo, virorum.” And when Sir Jasper says, “I always thought till now that the heart is on the left side and the liver on the right,” he replies, “Ay, sir, so they were formerly, but we have changed all that.” In Molière’s comedy, Le Médecin Malgré Lui, Gregory is called “Sganarelle,” and all these jokes are in act ii. 6.—Henry Fielding, The Mock Doctor.
Gregory, father and son, hangmen in the seventeenth century. In the time of the Gregorys, hangmen were termed “esquires.” In France, executioners were termed “monsieur,” even to the breaking out of the Revolution.
Gregson (Widow), Darsie Latimer’s landlady at Shepherd’s Bush.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Gregson (Gilbert), the messenger of Father Buonaventura.—Sir W. Scott, Redgauntlet (time, George III.).
Gre´mio, an old man who wishes to marry Bianca, but the lady prefers Lucentio, a young man.—Shakespeare, Taming of the Shrew (1594).
Grendel, the monster from which Beowulf delivered Hrothgar, king of Denmark. It was half monster, half man, whose haunt was the marshes among “a monster race.” Night after night it crept stealthily into the palace called Heorot, and slew sometimes as many as thirty of the inmates. At length Beowulf, at the head of a mixed band of warriors, went against it and slew it.—Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic (sixth century).