=Musicians= (_Prince of_), Giovanni Battista Pietro Aloisio da Palestri'na
(1529-1594).

=Musidora=, the _dame du coeur_ of Damon. Damon thought her coyness was
scorn; but one day he caught her bathing, and his delicacy on the
occasion so enchanted her that she at once accepted his proffered
love.--Thomson, _Seasons_ ("Summer," 1727).

=Musido'rus=, a hero, whose exploits are told by Sir Philip Sidney, in his
_Arcadia_ (1581).

=Musketeer=, a soldier armed with a musket, but specially applied to a
company of gentlemen who were a mounted guard in the service of the king
of France from 1661.

They formed two companies, the _grey_ and the _black_; so called from
the color of their hair. Both were clad in scarlet, and hence their
quarters were called the _Maison rouge_. In peace they followed the
king in the chase, to protect him; in war they fought either on foot or
horseback. They were suppressed in 1791; restored in 1814, but only for
a few months; and after the restoration of Louis XVIII. we hear no more
of them. Many Scotch gentlemen enrolled themselves among these dandy
soldiers, who went to war with curled hair, white gloves, and perfumed
like milliners.

[Asterism] A. Dumas has a novel called _The Three Musketeers_ (1844),
the first of a series; the second is _Twenty Years Afterwards_; and the
third, _Viconte de Bragelonne_.

=Muslin=, the talkative, impertinent, intriguing _suivante_ of Mrs.
Lovemore. Mistress Muslin is sweet upon William, the footman, and loves
cards.--A. Murphy, _The Way to Keep Him_ (1760).

=Mus'tafa=, a poor tailor of China, father of Aladdin, killed by illness
brought on by the idle vagabondism of his son.--_Arabian Nights_
("Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp").

=Mutton=, a courtezan, sometimes called a "laced mutton." "Mutton Lane,"
in Clerkenwell, was so called because it was a suburra or quarter for
harlots. The courtezan was called a "Mutton" even in the reign of Henry
III., for Bracton speaks of them as _oves_.--_De Legibus_, etc., ii.
(1569).

=Mutton-Eating King= (_The_), Charles II. of England (1630, 1659-1685).

Here lies our mutton-eating king,
Whose word no man relies on;
He never _said_ a foolish thing,
And never _did_ a wise on'.

Earl of Rochester.

=Mutual Friend= (_Our_), a novel by Charles Dickens (1864). The "mutual
friend" is Mr. Boffin, "the golden dustman," who was the mutual friend
of John Harmon and of Bella Wilfer