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Things Not Generally Known: Arthur

Round Table. A huge circular marble table, at which, according to the old romancers, King Arthur and his knights were accustomed to sit. It was originally the property of Uther Pendragon, for whom it was made by the sorcerer Merlin; it afterwards belonged to Leodegrance, King of Camelard, and came to Arthur as the portion of his wife Guinever, the daughter of that monarch. It was said to have been modelled after one established by Joseph of Arimathea, in imitation of that which Jesus had used at the Last Supper. Every knight had his seat with his name inscribed on it in letters of gold. There were thirteen seats around it, in memory of the thirteen apostles. Twelve only were occupied, and by knights of the highest fame. The thirteenth represented the seat of the traitor Judas. Rowland. Another orthography of Roland, one of the most famous of Charlemagne's

Twelve Peers. To give one "a Rowland for an Oliver" is an old and proverbial expression used to signify the matching of one incredible lie with another.

Oliver was also one of Charlemagne's paladins; and the exploits of these renowned heroes are rendered ridiculously and equally extravagant by the old romancers. Rubicon. The ancient name of a small stream, thought to be the modern Pisatello, which formed the boundary between Italy and Cisalpine Gaul. It is celebrated from Cæsar having hesitated about crossing it with his army, and initiating civil war, in the year 49 B. c. Hence, "to pass the Rubicon" has become a proverbial phrase to denote the taking of the first step in an undertaking from which one cannot or will not recede.