TARPEIAN ROCK 
 
 
otherwise. His figure, which was slender, 
he was proud of; and with his legs, which 
in knee-breeches were perfect curiosities 
of littleness, he was enraptured. He had 
also a secret notion that the power of his 
eye was irresistible, and he believed that 
lie could subdue the haughtiest beauty 
"by eyeing her." Of course Mr. Tappertit 
had an ambitious soul, and admired his 
master's daughter, Dolly. He was captain 
of the secret society of "'Prentice Knights," 
whose object was " vengeance against 
their tyrant masters." After the Gordon 
riots, in which Tappertit took a leading 
part, he was found "burnt and bruised, 
with a gun-shot wound in his body and 
both his legs crushed into shapeless ugli- 
ness." The cripple, by the locksmith's 
aid, turned shoe-black under an archway 
near the Horse Guards, thrived in his vo- 
cation, and married the widow of a rag- 
and-bone collector. While an apprentice, 
Miss Miggs, the "protestant" shrewish 
servant of Mrs. Varden, cast an eye of 
hope on "Simmun;" but the conceited. 
puppy pronounced her" decidedly scraggy," 
and disregarded the soft impeachment.- 
C. Dickens, Barnaby Budge (1841). (See 
SYLM.) 
 
  Tapwell (Timothy), husband of Froth, 
put into business by Wellborn's father, 
whose butler he was. When Wellborn 
was reduced to beggary, Timothy behaved 
most insolently to him; but as soon as he 
supposed he was about to marry the rich 
dowager, Lady Allworth, the rascal fawned 
on him like a whipped spaniel.-Massinger, 
A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625). 
 
  Tara (The Hill of), in Meath, Ireland. 
Here the kings, the clergy, the princes and 
the bards used to assemble in a large hall, 
to consult on matters of public importance. 
 
 
      The harp that once thro' Tara's halls 
        The soul of music shed, 
      Now hangs as mute on Tara's walls 
        As if that soul were fled. 
   T. Moore, Irish M2l elodies (" The Harp that 
 Once ... " 1814). 
 
   Tara (The Fes of), the triennial conven- 
 tion established by Ollam Fodlah or Ollav 
 Fola in B.C. 900, or 950. When business was 
 over the princes banqueted together, each 
 under his shield suspended by the chief her- 
 ald on the wall, according to precedency. 
 In the reign of Cormac, the palace of Tara 
 was 900 feet square, and contained 150 
 apartments, and 150 dormitories, each for 
 sixty sleepers. As many as 1000 guests 
 were daily entertained in the hall. 
 
   Tarpa (Sjmurius Metius), a famous critic 
 of the Augustan age. He sat in the tem- 
 ple of Apollo, with four colleagues, to 
 judge the merit of theatrical pieces before 
 they were produced in public. 
 He gives himself out for another Tarpa; de- 
 cides boldly, and supports his opinions with 
 loudness and obstinacy.-Lesage, Gil Blas, xi. 
 10 (1735). 
 
 Tarpe'ian Rock. So called from Tar- 
 peia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, gov- 
 ernor of the citadel on the Saturnian (i.e., 
 Capitoline) Hill of Rome. The story is 
 that the Sabines bargained with the Ro- 
 man maid to open the gates to them, for 
 the "ornaments on their arms." As they 
 passed through the gates they threw on 
 her their shields, saying, "These are the 
 ornaments we bear on our arms." She 
 was crushed to death, and buried on the 
 Tarpeian Hill. Ever after, traitors were 
 put to death by being hurled headlong 
from the hill-top. 
Bear him to the rock Tarpeian, and from thence 
Into destruction cast him. 
  Shakespeare, Coriolamts, act iii. se. 1 (1610). 
                                   IV 
 
 
TAPPERTIT 
 
 
77