*** After the death of Achillês, Ajax and Ulysses both claimed the armor of Hector. The dispute was settled by the sons of Atreus (2 syl.), who awarded the prize to Ulysses. This so enraged Ajax that it drove him mad, and he fell upon a flock of sheep driven at night into the camp, supposing it to be an army led by Ulysses and the sons of Atreus. When he found out his mistake, he stabbed himself. This is the subject of a tragedy by Soph´oclês called Ajax Mad.
*** Orlando in his madness also fell foul of a flock of sheep.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Sheffield (The Bard of), James Montgomery, author of The Wanderer of Switzerland, etc. (1771-1854).
With broken lyre and cheek serenely pale,
Lo! Sad Alcæns wanders down the vale ...
O’er his lost works let classic Sheffield weep;
May no rude hand disturb their early sleep!
Byron, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809).
Sheila, pretty, simple-hearted girl, whose father is a magnate among his neighbors in the Orkney Islands. Sheila is won by a Londoner—Lavender by name—who visits her island home. He transplants the Northern wild flower into a London home, where she pines for a while, homesick and heart-sick. In time, her sound sense enables her to adjust herself to altered conditions, and her stronger nature raises and ennobles her husband’s.—William Black, A Princess of Thulè.
Shelby (Mr.), Uncle Tom’s first master. Being in commercial difficulties, he was obliged to sell his faithful slave. His son afterwards endeavored to buy Uncle Tom back again, but found that he had been whipped to death by the villain Legree.—Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852).
Shell (A). Amongst the ancient Gaels a shell was emblematic of peace. Hence when Bosmi´na, Fingal’s daughter, was sent to propitiate King Erragon, who had invaded Morven, she carried with her a “sparkling shell as a symbol of peace, and a golden arrow as a symbol of war.”—Ossian, The Battle of Lora.
Shells, i.e., hospitality. “Semo, king of shells” (“hospitality”). When Cuthullin invites Swaran to a banquet, his messenger says, “Cuthullin gives the joy of shells; come and partake the feast of Erin’s blue-eyed chief.” The ancient Gaels drank from shells; and hence such phrases as “chief of shells,” “hall of shells,” “king of shells,” etc. (king of hospitality). “To rejoice in the shell” is to feast sumptuously and drink freely.
Shemus-an-Snachad, or “James of the Needle,” M’Ivor’s tailor at Edinburgh.—Sir W. Scott, Waverley (time, George II.)
Shepheardes Calendar (The), twelve eclogues in various metres, by Spenser, one for each month. January: Colin Clout (Spenser) bewails that Rosalind does not return his love, and compares his forlorn condition to the season itself. February: Cuddy, a lad, complains of the cold, and Thenot laments the degeneracy of pastoral life. March: Willie and Thomalin discourse of love (described as a person just aroused from sleep). April: Hobbinol sings a song on Eliza, queen of shepherds. May: Palinode (3 syl.) exhorts Piers to join the festivities of May, but Piers replies that good shepherds who seek their own indulgence expose their flocks to the wolves. He then relates the fable of the kid and her dam. June: Hobbinol exhorts Colin to greater cheerfulness, but Colin replies there is no cheer for him while Rosalind remains unkind and loves Menalcas better than himself. July: Morrel, a goat-herd, invites Thomalin to come with him to the uplands, but Thomalin replies that humility better becomes a shepherd (i.e., a pastor or clergyman). August: Perigot and Willie contend in song, and Cuddy is appointed arbiter. September: Diggon Davie complains to Hobbinol of clerical abuses. October: On poetry, which Cuddy says has no encouragement, and laments that Colin neglects it, being crossed in love. November; Colin, being asked by Thenot to sing, excuses himself because of his grief for Dido, but finally he sings her elegy. December: Colin again complains that his heart is desolate because Rosalind loves him not (1579).