=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 Melodies_ (“The Harp that Once ...” 1814). _Tara_ (_The Fes of_), the triennial convention 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 herald 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= (_Spurius Metius_), a famous critic of the Augustan age. He sat in the temple 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; decides boldly, and supports his opinions with loudness and obstinacy.--Lesage, _Gil Blas_, xi. 10 (1735). =Tarpe´ian Rock.= So called from Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, governor of the citadel on the Saturnian (_i.e._, Capitoline) Hill of Rome. The story is that the Sabines bargained with the Roman 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, _Coriolanus_, act iii. sc. 1 (1610). ⁂ G. Gilfillan, in his introduction to Longfellow’s poems, makes an erroneous allusion to the Roman traitress. He says Longfellow’s “ornaments, unlike those of the Sabine [_sic_] maid, have not crushed him.” Louise Imogen Guiney has a poem entitled _Tarpeia_, beginning: “Woe! lightly to part with one’s soul as the sea with its foam! Woe to Tarpeia, Tarpeia, daughter of Rome!” (1884). =Tarquin=, a name of terror in Roman nurseries. The nurse, to still her child, will tell my story, And fright her crying babe with Tarquin’s name. Shakespeare, _Rape of Lucrece_ (1594).