[Melrose], a small town in Roxburghshire, at the foot of the Eildons, on the S. bank of the Tweed, famed for its abbey, founded by David I. in 1136; it is celebrated by Sir Walter Scott in his "Lay of the Last Minstrel."
[Melton-Mowbray] (6), a town 15 m. NE. of Leicester, the centre of the great hunting district; celebrated for its pork pies.
[Melusina], a fairy of French legend, who married Raymond, a knight, on condition that on a particular day of the week he would not visit her, a stipulation which he was tempted to break, so that on a day of her seclusion he broke into her chamber, and found the lower part of her body from the waist downwards transformed into that of a serpent, upon which she straightway flew out at the window, to hover henceforth round the castle of her lord and only appear again on the occasion of the death of any of the inmates.
[Melville, Andrew], Scottish Presbyterian ecclesiastic, born near Montrose; of good and even wide repute as a scholar; became Principal first of Glasgow College and then of St. Mary's College, St. Andrews; was zealous for the headship of Christ over the Church, in opposition to the claim of the king, James, and spoke his mind freely both to the king and the bishops, for which he was sent to the Tower; on his release, after four years, he retired to a professorship at Sedan, in France, having been forbidden to return to Scotland (1545-1622).
[Melville, Whyte-], novelist; his novels were chiefly of the hunting field, such as "Katerfelto" and "Black, but Comely," though he wrote historical ones also, such as "The Queen's Maries" (1821-1878).
[Memel] (19), Baltic seaport at the mouth of the Kurisches Haff, in the extreme NE. of Prussia; ships great quantities of Russian and Lithuanian timber, and has some chemical works and shipbuilding yards.
[Memnon], a son of Tithonus and Aurora, who was sent by his father, king of Egypt and Ethiopia, to the assistance of Troy on the death of Hector, and who slew Antilochus, the son of Nestor, and was himself slain by Achilles, whereupon Aurora, all tears, besought Zeus to immortalise his memory, which, however, did not calm her sorrow, for ever since the earth bears witness to her weeping in the dews of the morning; a statue, presumed to be to his memory, was erected near Thebes, in Egypt, which was fabled to emit a musical sound every time the first ray fell on it from the rosy fingers of Aurora.
[Memphis], an ancient city of Egypt, of which it was the capital; it was founded by Menes at the apex of the delta of the Nile, and contained 700,000 inhabitants.
[Memphis] (102), a Tennessee port on the Mississippi, 826 m. above New Orleans, accessible to the largest vessels, is also a great railway centre, and therefore a place of great commercial importance; has many industries, and a great cotton market.
[Menado] (549), a Dutch colony in the N. of Celebes.