Faerie Queene (fā´e-ri kwēn), The.—A poem by Edmund Spenser, published in 1590. This great allegorical epic is divided into six books, of which the first contains the Legend of the Knight of the Red Cross, or Holiness; the second the Legend of Sir Guyon, or Temperance; the third the Legend of Britomartis, or Chastity; the fourth the Legend of Cambal and Telamond, or Friendship; the fifth the Legend of Artegall, or Justice; and the sixth the Legend of Sir Calidore, or Courtesy. There originally existed twelve books, but the last six, excepting two cantos on Mutability, were lost by the poet’s servant in crossing from Ireland to England—a circumstance to be deeply regretted by every lover of true poetry. The finest things in Spenser are the character of Una, in the first book, the House of Pride, the Cave of Mammoth, and the Cave of Despair; the account of Memory; the description of Belphœbe; the story of Florimel and the Witch’s Son; the gardens of Adonis and the Bower of Bliss; the Mask of Cupid; and Colin Clout’s Vision, in the last book.
Fag.—A lying servant to Captain Absolute in Sheridan’s Rivals.
Fagin.—An old Jew in Dickens’ Oliver Twist, who employs young persons of both sexes to carry on a systematic trade of robbery.
Fainall, Mr. and Mrs.—Noted characters in Congreve’s comedy The Way of the World.
Faineant, Le Noir (The Black Idler).—In Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe, a name applied to Richard Cœur de Lion in disguise, by the spectators of a tournament, on account of his indifference during a great part of the action, in which, however, he was finally victorious.
Fair Maid of Perth.—The title of a novel by Sir Walter Scott, and the name of the heroine.
Fair Rosamond.—Prototype of many heroines of fiction, a daughter of Walter de Clifford. According to a popular legend, which has no foundation in fact, Henry II. built a labyrinth or maze to conceal her from Queen Eleanor, who discovered her by means of a silken clew and put her to death. She is commonly, though erroneously, stated to have been the mother of William Longsword and Geoffrey, archbishop of York.
Fairservice, Andrew.—A shrewd Scotch gardener at Osbaldistone Hall in Rob Roy, Sir Walter Scott.
Fairy of the Mine.—A malevolent being, supposed to live in mines, busying itself with cutting ore, turning the windlass, etc., and yet effecting nothing.
Faithful.—One of the allegorical personages in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, who dies a martyr before completing his journey.