Pius X. The Vatican Journal Voce Della Verita recently gave an authorised explanation as to why the present Pope chose to be styled “Pius the Tenth.” It said: “The Holy Father preferred a name that would emphasise the undying struggle of the Holy See against the Revolution. From the very beginning Pius has been the name of predilection assumed by our most illustrious Pontiffs. His present Holiness, whose Pontificate opens under a hostile Government, and at a time when both Pope and State are the victims of imperious revolution, was determined to adopt the title of ‘Pius the Tenth.’”
Plain. The name given to the Girondist party on the floor of the French House of Assembly during the Revolution, as opposed to the “Mountain” party.
Plantagenet. The family name of the House of Anjou, which succeeded to the throne of England at the extinction of the Norman dynasty. It was assumed by Fulke Martel, the first of this line, as a perpetual reminder of the incident of having allowed himself to be scourged by two attendants with branches of the genista, or broom plant, while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre, as an atonement for his murder of the Earl of Brittany.
Platonic Affection. The kind of mutual esteem between persons of opposite sexes free from carnal desires or love in an earthly sense, as advocated by Plato and his school of philosophers.
Platonists. The disciples of Plato. See “[Academy].”
Play Fast and Loose. An expression derived from a very old cheating game called “Pricking the Belt,” which in the modified form of “Prick the Garter,” may yet be met with at fairs and race meetings. The victim was invited to stick a skewer through a folded belt so as to pin it to the table; whereupon the other, taking the two ends, proved that the belt had not been made fast at all; hence to “play fast and loose with a man.”
Playhouse Yard. Marks the site of the “Fortune Theatre,” the second regular playhouse opened in the city of London.
Please the Pigs. A corruption of “Please the Pixies,” or woodland fairies, still common in many rural districts.
Plebeians. The ordinary citizens among the Romans, so called from plebs, the people, as distinguished from the “Patricians,” or fathers of the State.
Plough Monday. The first Monday after the Epiphany, when, the Christmas festivities having come to an end, farm labourers were supposed to return to the plough. Instead of which they dragged a plough round the parish, begging for “plough money” from door to door, and spent the evening at the alehouse.