N, a flying island,
so late as 1755 set down in geographical charts west of the Canary
group. In 1721 an expedition was sent by Spain in quest thereof.
The Spaniards say their king Rodri'go has retreated there, and the
Portuguese affirm that it is the retreat of their don Sebastian. It
was called St. Brandan from a navigator of the sixth century, who went
in search of the "Islands of Paradise."

Its reality was for a long time a matter of firm belief ... the garden
of Armi'da, where Rinaldo was detained, and which Tasso places in
one of the Canary Isles, has been identified with San Borandan.--W.
Irving.

(If there is any truth at all in the legend, the island must be
ascribed to the Fata Morgana.)

BRAN'DEUM, plu. _Brandea_, a piece of cloth enclosed in a box with
relics, which thus acquired the same miraculous powers as the relics
themselves.

Pope Leo proved this fact beyond a doubt, for when some Greeks
ventured to question it, he cut a brandeum through with a pair of
scissors, and it was instantly covered with blood.--J. Brady, _Clavis
Calendaria_, 182.

BRAN'DIMART, brother-in-law of Orlando, son of Monodantes, and husband
of For'delis. This "king of the Distant Islands" was one of
the bravest knights in Charlemagne's army, and was slain by
Gradasso.--Bojardo, _Orlando Innamorata_ (1495); Ariosto, _Orlando
Furioso_ (1516).

BRAND, a term often applied to the sword in medaeval romances.

Thou therefore take my brand Excalibur,
Which was my pride--
Tennyson, _The Morte d'Arthur._

BRANGTONS (_The_), vulgar, jealous, malicious gossips in _Evelina_, a
novel by Miss Burney (1778).

BRANNO, an Irishman, father of Evirallin. Evirallin was the wife of
Ossian and mother of Oscar.--Ossian.

BRASS, the roguish confederate of Dick Amlet, and acting as his
servant.

"I am your valet, 'tis true; your footman
sometimes ... but you have always had the
ascendant, I confess. When we were school-fellows,
you made me carry your books, make your
exercise, own your rogueries, and sometimes take
a whipping for you. When we were fellow-'prentices,
though I was your senior, you made
me open the shop, clean my master's boots, cut
last at dinner, and eat all the crusts. In your
sins, too, I must own you still kept me under;
you soared up to the mistress, while I was content
with the maid."--Sir John Yanbrugh, _The Confederacy_,
iii. 1 (1695).

_Brass (Sampson)_, a knavish, servile attor