Aldabella, a marchioness of Florence, very beautiful and fascinating, but arrogant and heartless.  She used to give entertainments to the magnates of Florence, and Fazio was one who spent most of his time in her society.  Bian’ca his wife, being jealous of the marchioness, accused him to the duke of being privy to the death of Bartoldo, and for this offence Fazio was executed.  Bianca died broken-hearted, and Aldabella was condemned to spend the rest of her life in a nunnery.—­Dean Milman, Fazio (a tragedy, 1815).

ALDEN (John), one of the sons of the Pilgrim fathers, in love with Priscilla, the beautiful puritan.  Miles Standish, a bluff old soldier, wishing to marry Priscilla, asked John Alden to go and plead for him; but the maiden answered archly, “Why don’t you speak for yourself, John!” Soon after this, Standish being reported killed by a poisoned arrow, John spoke for himself, and the maiden consented.  Standish, however, was not killed, but only wounded; he made his reappearance at the wedding, where, seeing how matters stood, he accepted the situation with the good-natured remark: 

If you would be served you must serve yourself; and moreover No man can gather cherries in Kent at the season of Christmas.

Longfellow, Courtship of Miles Standish (1858).

ALDIBORONTEPHOSCOPHORNIO [Al’diboron’te-fos’co-for’nio], a character in Chrononhotonthologos, by H. Carey.

(Sir Walter Scott used to call James Ballantyne, the printer, this nickname, from his pomposity and formality of speech.)

AL’DIGER, son of Buo’vo, of the house of Clarmont, brother of Malagi’gi and Vivian.—­Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).

AL’DINE (2 syl.), leader of the second squadron of Arabs which joined the Egyptian armament against the crusaders.  Tasso says of the Arabs, “Their accents were female and their stature diminutive” (xvii.).—­Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).

AL’DINGAR (Sir), steward of queen Eleanor, wife of Henry II.  He impeached the queen’s fidelity, and agreed to prove his charge by single combat; but an angel (in the shape of a little child) established the queen’s innocence.  This is probably a blundering version of the story of Gunhilda and the emperor Henry.—­Percy, Reliques, ii. 9.

ALDO, a Caledonian, was not invited by Fingal to his banquet on his return to Morven, after the overthrow of Swaran.  To resent this affront, he went over to Fingal’s avowed enemy, Erragon king of Sora (in Scandinavia), and here Lorma, the king’s wife, fell in love with him.  The guilty pair fled to Morven, which Erragon immediately invaded.  Aldo fell in single combat with Erragon, Lorma died of grief, and Erragon was slain in battle by Graul, son of Morni.—­Ossian ("The Battle of Lora").

ALDRICK the Jesuit, confessor of Charlotte countess of Derby.—­Sir W. Scott, Peveril of the Peak (time, Charles II.).