“Yea, Lord! Yet man must earn
And woman bake the bread;
And some must watch and wake
Early for other’s sake
Who pray instead.”
Julia C. R. Dorr, Afternoon Songs (1885).
Martha, sister to “The Scornful Lady” (no name given).—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Scornful Lady (1616).
Martha, the servant-girl at Shaw’s Castle.—Sir W. Scott, St. Ronan’s Well (time, George III.).
Martha, the old housekeeper at Osbaldistone Hall.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).
Martha, daughter of Ralph and Louise de Lascours, and sister of Diana de Lascours. When the crew of the Urania rebelled, Martha, with Ralph de Lascours (the captain), Louise de Lascours, and Barabas, were put adrift in a boat, and cast on an iceberg in “the Frozen Sea.” The iceberg broke, Ralph and Louise were drowned, Barabas was picked up by a vessel, and Martha fell into the hands of an Indian tribe, who gave her the name of Orgari´ta (“withered corn”). She married Carlos, but as he married under a false name, the marriage was illegal, and when Carlos was given up to the hands of justice, Orgarita was placed under the charge of her grandmother, Mde. de Théringe, and [probably] espoused Horace de Brienne.—E. Stirling, The Orphan of the Frozen Sea (1856).
Martha, a friend of Margaret. She makes love to Mephistophelês, with great worldly shrewdness.—Goethe, Faust (1798).
Martha, alias Ulrica, mother of Bertha, who is betrothed to Hereward and marries him.—Sir W. Scott, Count Robert of Paris (time, Rufus).
Martha (The Abbess), abbess of Elcho Nunnery. She is a kinswoman of the Glover family.—Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Martha (Dame), housekeeper to major Bridgenorth.—Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).
Martha Hilton, serving-maid in the household of the widowed Governor Wentworth, until, on his sixtieth birthday, he surprised the guests assembled to do him honor by wedding her in their sight.—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Lady Wentworth.