Wingfield, a citizen of Perth, whose trade was feather-dressing.--Sir W. Scott, Fair Maid of Perth (time, Henry IV.).
Wingfield (Ambrose), employed at Osbaldistone Hall.
Lancie Wingfield, one of the men employed at Osbaldistone Hall.--Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (time, George I.).
Wing-the-Wind (Michael), a servant at Holyrood Palace, and the friend of Adam Woodcock.--Sir W. Scott, The Abbot (time, Elizabeth).
Winifred, heroine of The Last Meeting, by Brander Matthews. In defiance of all innuendoes and arguments, she remains true to her lover throughout the period of his mysterious absence.
Winifrid (St.), patron saint of virgins; beheaded by Caradoc, for refusing to marry him. The tears she shed became the fountain called “St. Winifrid’s Well,” the waters of which not only cure all sorts of diseases, but are so buoyant that nothing sinks to the bottom. St. Winifrid’s blood stained the gravel in the neighborhood red, and her hair became moss. Drayton has given this legend in verse in his Polyolbion x. (1612).
Winkle (Nathaniel), M.P.C., a young cockney sportsman, considered by his companions to be a dead shot, a hunter, skater, etc. All these acquirements are, however, wholly imaginary. He marries Arabella Allen.--C. Dickens, The Pickwick Papers (1836).
Winkle (Rip Van), a Dutch colonist of New York, who met a strange man in a ravine of the Catskill Mountains. Rip helped the stranger to carry a keg to a wild retreat among rocks, where he saw a host of strange personages playing skittles in mysterious silence. Rip took the first opportunity of tasting the keg, fell into a stupor, and slept for twenty years. On waking, he found that his wife was dead and buried, his daughter married, his village remodelled, and America had become independent.--Washington Irving, Sketch-Book (1820).
The tales of Epimenidês, of Peter Klaus, of the Sleeping Beauty, the Seven Sleepers, etc., are somewhat similar. (See Sleeper.)
Winklebred or Winklebrand (Louis), lieutenant of Sir Maurice de Bracy, a follower of Prince John.--Sir W. Scott, Ivanhoe (time, Richard I.).