ASHBURTON 
 
 
  Ashburton (Mary), heroine of Hyperion, 
by H. W. Longfellow (1839). 
  Ash'field (Farmer), a truly John Bull 
farmer, tender-hearted, noble-minded but 
homely, generous but hot-tempered. He 
loves his daughter Susan with the love of 
a woman. His favorite expression is "Be- 
have pratty," and he himself always tries 
to do so. His daughter Susan marries 
Robert Handy, the son of sir Abel Handy. 
  Dame Ashfield, the farmer's wife, whose 
be~te noire is a neighboring farmer named 
Grundy. What Mrs. Grundy will say, or 
what Mrs. Grundy will think or do, is dame 
Ashfield's decalogue and gospel too. 
  Susan Ashfield, daughter of farmer and 
dame Ashfield.-Thom. Morton, Speed the 
Plough (1764-1838). 
 
  Ash'ford (Isaac), "a wise, good man, 
contented to be poor."-Crabbe, Parish 
Register (1807). 
  Ashpenaz, chief of eunuchs, and major- 
domo to Nebuchadrezzar, the Babylonian 
monarch. Wily, corpulent, and avaricious, 
a creature to be at once feared and de- 
spised.-The Master of the Magicians, by 
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Hfertert D. 
Ward (1890). 
  Ash'taroth, a general name for all Syr- 
ian goddesses. (See ASTORETH.) 
         [They] had general names 
    Of Baiflim and Ashtarothl: those male, 
    These feminine. 
        Milton, Paradise Lost, i. 422 (1665). 
  Ash'ton (Sir William), the lord keeper 
of Scotland, and father of Lucy Ashton. 
  Lady Eleanor Ashton, wife of sir William. 
  Colonel Sholto Douglas Ashton, eldest son 
of sir William. 
  Lucy Ashton, daughter of sir William, 
betrothed to Edgar (the master of Ravens- 
wood); but being compelled to marry 
 
 
Frank Hayston (laird of Bucklaw), she 
tries to murder him in the bridal chamber, 
and becomes insane. Lucy dies, but the 
laird recovers.-Sir W. Scott, The Bride of 
Lammermoor (time, William III.). 
  (This has been made the subject of an 
opera by Donizetti, called Lucia di Lam- 
mermoor, 1835.) 
 
  Asia, the wife of that Pharaoh who 
brought up Moses. She was the daughter 
of Mozahem. Her husband tortured her 
for believing in Moses; but she was taken 
alive into paradise.-Sale, Al Korhn, xx., 
note, and lxvi., note. 
  Mahomet says, "Among women four 
have been perfect: Asia, wife of Pharaoh; 
Mary, daughter of Imrhn; Khadijah, the 
prophet's first wife; and FAtima, his own 
daughter." 
 
  As'ir, the twelve chief gods of Scandi- 
navian mythology-Odin, Thor, Baldr, 
Niord, Frey, Tyr, Bragi, Heimdall, Vidar, 
Vali, Ullur, and Forseti. 
  Sometimes the goddesses-Frigga, Frey- 
ja, Idu'na, and Saga, are ranked among 
the Asir also. 
 
  As'madai (3 syl.), the same as As- 
mode'us (4 syl.), the lustful and destroying 
angel, who robbed Sara of her seven hus- 
bands (Tobit iii. 8). Milton makes him 
one of the rebellious angels overthrown by 
Uri~l and Ra'phal. Hume says the word 
means "the destroyer."-Paradise Lost, vi. 
365 (1665). 
 
  Asmode'us (4 syl.), the demon of vanity 
and dress, called in the Talmud "king of 
the devils." As "dress" is one of the bit- 
terest evils of modern life, it is termed "the 
Asmodeus of domestic peace," a phrase 
employed to express any "skeleton" in the 
house of a private family. 
 
 
76 
 
 
ASMODEUS