Fig. 435 a. Hawk’s Lure.
Lure. A falconer’s decoy, made of feathers on a cord, to attract a hawk back to the wrist. The illustration is a heraldic lure. (See Fig. [91]. See also In Lure.)
Lusiad. The great epic of the Portuguese poet Camoens.
Lustratio (Gr. κάθαρσις). A purification, originally by water, afterwards by solemn ceremonies of sprinkling, or the smoke of sacrifice; made privately after deaths or accidental pollutions, and publicly on the occasion of public disasters, prodigies, or the like; and at certain fixed periods, especially at the close of every lustrum.
Lustricus (sc. dies), R. (lustrum, a lustration). The day of purification for a new-born infant, when it received its name.
Lustrum, R. (luo, to wash). A solemn purification performed by the censors on laying down their office, that is to say, every five years; whence the term was used to denote that space of time.
Lute (Arabic, el oud). A stringed instrument of great antiquity, first mentioned in Persia in 682 A. D. Before the 10th century the lute had only four strings, or four pairs producing four tones, each tone having two strings tuned in unison. About the 10th century a string for a fifth tone was added. The strings were made of silk neatly twisted. The neck of the instrument was provided with frets of string, regulated according to the system of seventeen intervals to an octave. The Chinese god of music is represented playing on a lute with four strings. The lute was very popular in England in Elizabeth’s time. Originally it had eight catgut strings, arranged in four pairs, each pair being in unison. The number of strings varied from time to time, and in the 17th century they were twenty-four. The size of the lute also varied; the treble lute was the smallest, and the bass lute the largest. There were also the Archlute, the Chitarrone, Theorbo, &c. (Consult Thomas Mace’s Musick’s Monument, 1676.)
Lycæa. A festival of the Arcadians in honour of Zeus Λυκαῖος.
Lyceium. A sacred enclosure at Athens, dedicated to Apollo Lycius, where the polemarch originally held his court. It was decorated with fountains, plantations, and ornamental edifices by Peisistratus, Pericles, and Lycurgus. Here Aristotle delivered his lectures, as he walked about with his followers, hence called “Peripatetics.”