Maas

See Meuse, a river in France and Belgium. Maa luis (mäs's lois), or Maas lands luis (mäs'läntslois). A small town in the province of South Holland, Netherlands, situated on the Meuse 10 miles west of Rotter dam. Maastricht. See Maestricht. Mab (mab), Queen. [Orig. Ir. Medb , 'queen' of Con naught, mentioned in Irish poems about the year 1100. The ordinary etym. from W. mab , a child, has no basis of fact. See Mabinogion .] In fairy and folk lore, the fairies' midwife. She is first mentioned as Queen Mab in Shakspere's "Romeo and Juliet," i. 4. Drayton introduces her in his "Nymphidia," written several years later, and Ben Jonson in his "Entertainment of the Queen and Prince at Althrope." Shakspere represents her not only as adroit in all kinds of teasing and mischief, but as the hag Nightmare herself. She is the fairies' midwife - that is, the fairy whose duty it is to deliver the fancies of men and to produce dreams by driving over the sleeper in her chariot. Titania, the fairy queen, is not the same person. In Shelley's "Queen Mab" she has a wider sphere, and is made to rule over men's thoughts. Maba (mä'bä). The largest tribe of Wadai, living in the northern portion of central Sudan, Africa. It is of Nigritic stock, largely Mohammedan, and composed of 22 tribes (Kodoi, Malanga, Madaba, Matlamba, Kondongo, Kadjanga, Karanga, etc.), all speaking different dialects of Maba, which is understood beyond its own territory. Maba slaves used to be exported to the east coast, while their neighbors went to the west coast. The ruler of Wadai must be born of a Maba woman. Mabillon (mä - bē-yôn'), Jean. Born at St.Pierremont, Ardennes, France, Nov. 23, 1632: died at Paris, Dec. 27, 1707. A noted French scholar and historian, a member of the Benedictine order. He lived after 1664 in the Abbey of St.. Germain-des-Prés in Paris. His works include "Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedict i" (1668-1702), "Vetera analecta" (1675-85), "De re diplomatic a" (1681), "Musæum Italicum" (1687-89), etc. Mabinogion (mab-i-no'gi-on), The. The fairy tales and romances of the Welsh. See the extract. Mabinogion is the plural of the Welsh word mabinogi , which means instruction for the young-the word being derived from mab , a child, and the same root running through many words with a like sense, Queen Mab herself included.. The great collection of these tales is at Jesus College, Oxford, in a MS. volume of the fourteenth century, known as the Red Book of Hergest, of which the tales have been published, both in the original Cymric and in a delightful English translation, as the Mabinogion, by Lady Charlotte Guest (now Schreiber), who takes the word Mabinogion as simply meaning stories for the young. The Mabinogion thus represented contains Welsh versions of three of the French Arthur i an romances by Chrestien de Troyes, namely, "The Lady of the Fountain," and among the notes to it the text of the "Chevalier au Lion," with which that story corresponds; "Peredur, the son of Ev rawc," corresponding to the "Percival le Gallois" of Chres tien; and "Geraint, the son of Erbin," which is his "Erec and Enide." Besides these, in the Mabinogion are two British tales ascribed to the time of King Arthur, "Kilhwch and Olwen" and the "Dream of Rhonabwy." The rest are tales in which King Arthur does not appear, or is named only as by interpolation - namely, "Pwyll, Prince of Dyved"; " "; "Branwen, the Daughter of Llyr"; "Math, the Son of Mathonwy"; these four being the sections which Profe or Rhys regards as the foundation of the Mabinogion; the rest, being later editions, are, besides the Arthur romances already named, the "Dream of Emperor Maximus," "Lludd and Llevelys," and the romance of "Ta lies in." Morley, English Writers, III. 257-259. Since the publication of Lady Charlotte Guest's edition of the Mabinogion the idea seems to prevail that any Welsh tale of respectable antiquity may be called a Mabinogi, plural Mabinogion, but there is no warrant for so extending the use of the word; and, of the eleven stories contained in Lady Charlotte Guest's collection, only four are entitled to be called Mabinogion. More strictly speaking, they are not Mabinogion so much perhaps as the "four branches of the Mabinogi." The word Mabinogi is derived from Mabinog, and that was a term belonging to the bardic system, meaning a sort of a literary apprentice or young man who was receiving instruction from a qualified bard; and the lowest description of Mabinog was one who had not acquired the art of making verse. The inference to be drawn is that Mabinogi meant the collection of things which formed the Mabinog's literary training and stock in trade, so to say. He was probably allowed to relate the tales forming the four branches of the Mabinogi at a fixed price, but he was usually a young man, not a child in the nursery, and it is utterly wrong to suppose the Mabinogion to be nursery tales. Rhys , Arthur i an Legend, pp. 1, 2. Mably (mä-blē'), Gabriel Bonnot, Abbé de. Born at Grenoble, France, March 14, 1709: died at Paris, April 23, 1785. A French publicist, elder brother of Condillac. For a time he was secretary to his uncle Cardinal Tencin, and was occupied with diplomatic affairs; but he soon gave up his office, and thereafter lived in retirement. He wrote "Parallèle des Romains et des Français" (1740), "Observations sur les Romains" (1751), "Observations sur l'his to ire de France" (1765), "Droit publique de l'Europe" (1748), "Entretiens de Phocion" (1763), etc. Mabuse. See Go aert . Mac. [Gael. mac, Ir. mac, W. map , mab , also ap , ab , a son, Goth. magus , a son.] An element, usually a conjoined prefix, in many Scotch and Irish names of Celtic origin, cognate with the Welsh Ap- , signifying 'son,' and being thus equivalent to the Irish O ' , the English -son or-s, and the Norman Fitz- . The prefix is either written in full, Mac- , or abbreviated to Mc -or Mc- , which in works printed in the British Isles almost invariably appears as M'- the abbreviated form being followed by a capital letter, while Mac- takes a capital after it but rarely. Thus a name may be variously spelled as Mac donald (rarely Mac Donald ), McDonald , or M'Donald ; so Mackenzie , McKenzie, or M'Kenzie , etc. În alphabetical lists, names with this prefix, however written, are properly entered in the place of Mac- . Macaber, or Macabre. See Dance of Death . Macadam (mak-ad'am), John Loudon. Born at Ayr, Sept. 21, 1756: died at Moffat, Nov. 26, 1836. A Scottish engineer, inventor of the system of macadamizing roads. Macaire (ma-kar'). A chanson de geste, written in a mixed French and Italian dialect. The MS. was discovered in Venice, and was published in 1866 by M. Gue ard at Paris. It contains the original of the well known story of the dog of Montargis. Macaire, Robert. A typical villain in French comedy, originally an a a in heavily loaded with crimes. He was transformed by Frédéric Lemaître into an adroit highwayman and fripon, which is an amiable diminutive of thief. See Robert Macaire . McAllister, Fort. See Fort McAllister . Macao (mä-kou' or mä-kä'ō). A Portuguese settlement and city, situated on an island at the mouth of the Canton River, China, in lat. 22° 11′ N., long. 113° 33′ E.: formerly the seat of important commerce. It was occupied by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century. Population, 67,030. Macarians (mā-kā ́ri-anz). 1. The followers of the monastic system or customs of the elder Macarius of Egypt, or of the younger Macarius of Alexandria, contemporary monks of the 4th century, who were noted for their severe asceticism.-2. The followers of the Monothelite Macarius, patriarch of Antioch in the 7th century. Macarska. See Makarska . lay. Born at Rothley Temple, Leicestershire, England, Oct. 25, 1800: died at Kensington, London, Dec. 28, 1859. A celebrated English historian, e ayist, poet, and statesman. He en College, Cambridge, in 1818, and was called to the bar in 1826. He was a member of Parliament 1830 1834; a member of the supreme council in India 1834–38; member of Parliament 1839-47; secretary at war 18391841; and paymaster-general 1846-47. He reëntered Parliament in 1852, and was raised to the peerage in 1857. His chief work is a "History of England" (reigns of James II. and William III.: Vols. I and II published 1848; III and IV, 1855; V, 1861). He published "Lays of An. cient Rome" (1842). His complete works, including e ays, biographies, and speeches, were edited in 8 vols. by Lady Trevelyan in 1866. See life by G. O. Trevelyan (2 vols. 1876).