Moore (Mr. John), of the Pestle and Mortar, Abchurch Lane, immortalized by his “worm-powder,” and called the “Worm Doctor.”
Moors. The Moors of Aragon are called Tangarins; those of Granāda are Mudajares; and those of Fez are called Elches. They are the best soldiers of the Spanish dominions. In the Middle Ages, all Mohammedans were called Moors; and hence Camoens, in the Lusiad, viii., called the Indians so.
Mopes (Mr.), the hermit, who lived on Tom Tiddler’s Ground. He was dirty, vain, and nasty, “like all hermits,” but had landed property, and was said to be rich and learned. He dressed in a blanket and skewer, and, by steeping himself in soot and grease, soon acquired immense fame. Rumor said he murdered his beautiful young wife, and abandoned the world. Be this as it may, he certainly lived a nasty life. Mr. Traveller tried to bring him back into society, but a tinker said to him “Take my word for it, when iron is thoroughly rotten, you can never botch it, do what you may.”—C. Dickens, A Christmas Number (1861).
Mopsus, a shepherd, who, with Menalcas, celebrates the funeral eulogy of Daphnis.—Virgil, Eclogue, v.
Mora, the betrothed of Oscar, who mysteriously disappears on his bridal eve, and is mourned for as dead. His younger brother, Allan, hoping to secure the lands and fortune of Mora, proposes marriage, and is accepted. At the wedding banquet, a stranger demands “a pledge to the lost Oscar,” and all accept it except Allan, who is there and then denounced as the murderer of his brother. Oscar then vanishes, and Allan dies.—Byron, Oscar of Alva.
Moradbak, daughter of Fitead, a widower. Hudjadge, king of Persia, could not sleep, and commanded Fitead, his porter and jailer, under pain of death, to find some one to tell him tales. Fitead’s daughter, who was only 11, undertook to amuse the king with tales, and was assisted in private by the sage Abou´melek. After a perfect success, Hudjadge married Moradbak, and at her recommendation, Aboumelek was appointed overseer of the whole empire.—Comte de Caylus, Oriental Tales (1743).
Morakan´abad, grand vizier of the Caliph Vathek.—Beckford, Vathek (1784).
Moral Philosophy (The Father of), Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274).
Moran, Son of Fithil, one of the scouts in the army of Swaran, king of Lochlin (Denmark).—Ossian, Fingal.
Moran’s Collar, a collar for magistrates, which had the supernatural power of pressing the neck of the wearer if his judgments deviated from strict justice, and even of causing strangulation if he persevered in wrong doing. Moran, surnamed “the Just,” was the wise counsellor of Feredach, an early king of Ireland.