{168} "Maugrabee" [_Maghrab[=i]_, Moors], Moorish mercenaries.

[140] "Delis," bravos who form the forlorn hope of the cavalry, and
always begin the action. [See _Childe Harold_, Canto II., _Poetical
Works_, 1899, ii. 149, note 1.]

[141] [The Kizlar aghasi was the head of the black eunuchs; kislar, by
itself, is Turkish for "girls," "virgins."]

[142] A twisted fold of _felt_ is used for scimitar practice by the
Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut through it at a single stroke:
sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed
[jar[=i]d] is a game of blunt javelins, animated and graceful.

[143] "Ollahs," Alla il Allah [La il[=a]h ill 'll[=a]h], the "Leilies,"
as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah: a cry of which the
Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during
the jerreed [jar[=i]d], or in the chase, but mostly in battle. Their
animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and
comboloios [_vide post_, p. 181, note 4], form an amusing contrast.

[fp] {169} _Her heart confessed no cause of shame_.--[MS.]

[144] "Atar-gul," ottar of roses. The Persian is the finest.

[145] The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman
apartments are generally painted, in great houses, with one eternal and
highly-coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principal feature is
a noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, etc., are, in
general, fancifully and not inelegantly disposed.

[fq]
_The drops that flow upon his vest_
_Unheeded fell upon his breast_.--[MS.]

[146] {170} It has been much doubted whether the notes of this "Lover of
the rose" are sad or merry; and Mr. Fox's remarks on the subject have
provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on
the subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a
little inclined to the "errare mallem," etc., _if_ Mr. Fox _was_
mistaken.

[Fox, writing to Grey (see Lord Holland's Preface (p. xii.) to the
_History ... of James the Second_, by ... C. J. Fox, London, 1808),
remarks, "In defence of my opinion about the nightingale, I find
Chaucer, who of all poets seems to have been the fondest of the singing
of birds, calls it a 'merry note,'" etc. Fox's contention was attacked
and disproved by Martin Davy (1763-1839, physician and Master of Caius
College, Cambridge), in an interesting and scholarly pamphlet entitled,
_Observations u