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Things Not Generally Known: Saragossa

Maid of Saragossa. An appellation bestowed upon Augustina Zaragoza, a young Spanish woman distinguished for her heroism during the defence of Saragossa in 1808-9. She first attracted notice by mounting a battery where her lover had fallen, and working a gun in his stead. Byron has celebrated her in the first canto of his "Childe Harold."

Man in the Moon. A name popularly given to the dark lines and spots upon the surface of the moon, which are visible to the naked eye, and which, when examined , when examined with a good telescope, are discovered to be the shadows of lunar mountains . It is one of the most popular, and perhaps one of the most ancient superstitions in the world, that these lines and spots are the figure of a man leaning on a fork, on which he carries a bundle of thorns or brushwood, for stealing while on a Sunday he was confined in the moon. The account given in Numbers xv. 32 of a man who was stoned to death for gathering sticks upon the Sabbath-day, is undoubtedly the origin of this belief. Man of Destiny. An appellation conferred upon Napoleon Bonaparte, who believed himself to be a chosen Instrument of Destiny, and that his actions were governed by some occult and supernatural influence.

Masher. This word is derived from the Gaelic maise pronounced masher, signifying fine, handsome, elegant, and was originally applied in derision to a dandy .