=Poole= (1 _syl._), in Dorsetshire; once “a young and lusty sea-born lass,” courted by Great Albion, who had by her three children, Brunksey, Fursey and [St.] Hellen. Thetis was indignant that one of her virgin train should be guilty of such indiscretion; and, to protect his children from her fury, Albion placed them in the bosom of Poole, and then threw his arms around them.--M. Drayton, _Polyolbion_, ii. (1612). =Poor= (_Father of the_), Bernard Gilpin. (1517-1583). =Poor Gentleman= (_The_), a comedy by George Colman, the younger (1802). “The poor gentleman” is Lieutenant Worthington, discharged from the army on half-pay because his arm had been crushed by a shell in storming Gibraltar. On his half-pay he had to support himself, his daughter Emily, an old corporal and a maiden sister-in-law. Having put his name to a bill for £500, his friend died without effecting an insurance, and the lieutenant was called upon for payment. Imprisonment would have followed if Sir Robert Bramble had not most generously paid the money. With this piece of good fortune came another--the marriage of his daughter Emily to Frederick Bramble, nephew and heir of the rich baronet. =Poor Richard=, the pseudonym of Benjamin Franklin, under which he issued a series of almanacs, which he made the medium of teaching thrift, temperance, order, cleanliness, chastity, forgiveness, and so on. The maxims or precepts of these almanacs generally end with the words, “as poor Richard says” (begun in 1732). =Poor Robin=, the pseudonym of Robert Herrick, the poet, under which he issued a series of almanacs (begun in 1661). =Pope= (_to drink like a_). Benedict XII. was an enormous eater, and such a huge wine-drinker that he gave rise to the Bacchanalian expression, _Bibāmus papaliter_. =Pope Changing His Name.= Peter Hogsmouth, or, as he is sometimes called, Peter di Porca, was the first pope to change his name. He called himself Sergius II. (844-847). Some say he thought it arrogant to be called Peter II. =Pope-Fig-Lands=, Protestant countries. The Gaillardets, being shown the pope’s image, said, “A fig for the pope!” whereupon their whole island was put to the sword, and the name changed to Pope-fig-land, the people being called “Pope-figs.”--Rabelais, _Pantag´ruel_, iv. 45 (1545). The allusion is to the kingdom of Navarre, once Protestant; but in 1512 it was subjected to Ferdinand, the Catholic. =Pope-Figs=, Protestants. The name was given to the Gaillardets for saying “A fig for the pope!” They were made tributaries and slaves to the Papimans for saying “A fig for the pope’s image!” and never after did the poor wretches prosper, but every year the devil was at their doors, and they were plagued with hail, storms, famine, and all manner of woes, in punishment of this sin of their forefathers.--Rabelais, _Pantagruel_, iv. 45 (1545).