WILDRAKE 
 
 
should find a gold ducat in every furrow 
he ploughed."    The bargain was con- 
cluded, but before the year was over he 
had worked himself to death looking for 
ducats in the furrows which he ploughed. 
-Blýgen Tradition. 
 
   Wildenhaim (Baron), father of Amelia. 
 In his youth he seduced Agatha Friburg, 
 whom he deserted. Agatha bore a son, 
 Frederick, who in due time became a 
 soldier. Coming home on furlough, he 
 found his mother on the point of starva- 
 tion, and, going to beg alms, met the 
 baron with his gun, asked alms of him, 
 and received a shilling. He demanded 
 more money, and, being refused, collared 
 the baron, but was soon seized by the 
 keepers, and shut up in the castle dungeon. 
 Here he was visited by the chaplain, and 
 it came out that the baron was his father. 
 As the baron was a widower, he married 
 Agatha, and Frederick became his heir. 
 Amelia Wildenhaim, daughter of the 
 baron. A proposal was made to marry 
 her to Count Cassel, but, as the count was 
 a conceited puppy, without "brains in his 
 head or a heart in his bosom," she would 
 have nothing to say to him. She showed 
 her love to Anhalt, a young clergyman, 
 and her father gave his consent to the 
 match.-Mrs. Inchbald, Lovers' Vows (al- 
 tered from Kotzebue, 1800). 
 
 Wildfire (Madge), the insane daughter 
 of old Meg Murdochson, the gypsy thief. 
 Madge had been seduced when a girl, and 
 this, with the murder of her infant, had 
 turned her brain.-Sir W. Scott, Heart of 
 Midlothian (time, George II.). 
 
 Wilding (Jack), a young gentleman 
fresh from Oxford, who fabricates the most 
ridiculous tales, which he tries to pass off 
for facts; speaks of his adventures in 
 
 
America, which he has never seen; of his 
being entrapped into marriage with a Miss 
Sibthorpe, a pure invention. Accidentally 
meeting a Miss Grantam, he sends his man 
to learn' her name, and is told it is Miss 
Godfrey, an heiress. On this incident the 
humor of the drama hinges. When Miss 
Godfrey is presented to him he does not 
know her, and a person rushes in who de- 
clares she is his wife, and that her maiden 
name was Sibthorpe. It is now Wild- 
ing's turn to be dumbfounded, and, wholly 
unable to unravel the mystery, he rushes 
forth, believing the world is a Bedlam let 
loose.-S. Foote, The Liar (1761). 
 
   Wilding (Sir Jasper), an ignorant but 
 wealthy country gentleman, fond of fox- 
 hunting. He dresses in London like a 
 foxhunter, and speaks with a "Hoic! 
 tally-ho !" 
   Young Wilding, son of Sir Jasper, about 
to marry the daughter of old Philpot for 
the dot she will bring him. 
  Maria Wilding, the lively, witty, high- 
spirited daughter of Sir Jasper, in love 
with Charles Beaufort. Her father wants 
her to marry George Philpot, but she 
frightens the booby out of his wits by 
her knowledge of books and assumed ec- 
centricities.-Murphy, The Citizen, (1757 
or 1761). 
  Wildrake, a country squire, delighting 
in horses, dogs, and field sports. He was 
in love with "neighbor Constance," daugh- 
ter of Sir William Fondlove, with whom 
he used to romp and quarrel in childhood. 
He learned to love Constance; and Con- 
stance loved the squire, but knew it not till 
she feared he was going to marry another. 
When they each discovered the state of 
their hearts, they agreed to become man 
and wife.-S. Knowles, The Love-Chase 
(1837). 
 
 
WILDE 
 
 
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