At his appointed time, Scyld deceased, very decrepit, and went into the peace of the Lord. They ... bore him to the sea-shore as he himself requested.... There on the beach stood the ring-prowed ship, the vehicle of the noble ... ready to set out. They laid down the dear prince, the distributer of rings, in the bosom of the ship, the mighty one beside the mast ... they set up a golden ensign high overhead ... they gave him to the deep. Sad was their spirit, mournful their mood.—Kemble, Beowulf (an Anglo-Saxon poem, 1833).
Scylla and Charybdis. The former was a rock, in which dwelt Scylla, a hideous monster, encompassed with dogs and wolves. The latter was a whirlpool, into which Charybdis was metamorphosed.—Classic Fable.
Scythian (That Brave), Darius, the Persian. According to Herod´otus, all the south-east of Europe used to be called Scythia, and Xenophon calls the dwellers south of the Caspian Sea “Scythians,” also. In fact, by Scythia was meant the south of Russia and west of Asia; hence, the Hungarians, a Tartar horde, settled on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, who, in 889, crossed into Europe, are spoken of as “Scythians,” and Lord Brooke calls the Persians “Scythians.” The reference below is to the following event in Persian history:—The death of Smerdis was kept for a time a profound secret, and one of the officers about the court who resembled him usurped the crown, calling himself brother of the late monarch. Seven of the high nobles conspired together, and slew the usurper, but it then became a question to which of the seven the crown should be offered. They did not toss for it, but they did much the same thing. They agreed to give the crown to him whose horse neighed first. Darius’s horse won, and thus Darius became king of the Persian empire.
That brave Scythian,
Who found more sweetness in his horse’s neighing
Than all the Phrygian, Dorian, Lydian playing.
Lord Brooke, (1554-1628).
*** Marlowe calls Tamburlaine of Tartary “a Scythian.”
You shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms.
Marlowe, Tamburlaine (prologue, 1587).
Scythian’s Name (The). Humber or Humbert, king of the Huns, invaded England during the reign of Locrin, some 1000 years B.C. In his flight, he was drowned in the river Abus, which has ever since been called the Humber, after “the Scythian’s name.”—Geoffrey, British History, ii. 2 (1142); and Milton’s History of England.
Or Humber loud that keeps the Scythian’s name.
Milton, Vacation Exercise (1627).
Sea-Captain (The), a drama by Lord Lytton (1839). Norman, “the sea-captain,” was the son of Lady Arundel by her first husband, who was murdered. He was born three days after his father’s murder, and was brought up by Onslow, a village priest. At 14 he went to sea, and became the captain of a man-of-war. Lady Arundel married again, and had another son named Percy. She wished to ignore Norman, and to settle the title and estates on Percy, but it was not to be. Norman and Percy both loved Violet, a ward of Lady Arundel. Violet, however, loved Norman only. A scheme was laid to murder Norman, but failed; and at the end Norman was acknowledged by his mother, reconciled to his brother, and married to the ward.
Seaforth (The earl of), a royalist, in the service of King Charles I.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).