"Major-domo" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... political dictator. board &c. (council) 696. secretary, secretary of state; Reis Effendi; vicar &c. (deputy) 759; steward, factor; agent &c. 758; bailiff, middleman; foreman, clerk of works; landreeve[obs3]; factotum, major-domo[obs3], seneschal, housekeeper, shepherd, croupier; proctor, procurator. ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... accusation of timidity was frequently made against him. A gentleman at the court of the Emperor Charles once addressed a letter to the Duke with the title of "General of his Majesty's armies in the Duchy of Milan in time of peace, and major-domo of the household in the time of war." It was said that the lesson did the Duke good, but that he rewarded very badly the nobleman who gave it, having subsequently caused his head to be taken off. In general, however, Alva manifested a philosophical contempt for the opinions expressed concerning ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley
... noticed in continuing our story, the major-domo in the Ning Kuo mansion, came to hear that from inside an invitation had been extended to lady Feng to act as deputy, he summoned together his co-workers and other servants. "Lady Secunda, of the western mansion," he harangued them, "has now been asked to take over the ...
— Hung Lou Meng, Book I • Cao Xueqin
... vehicle in the gloom, with their evil-smelling sheepskins and their resigned, battered visages, were not calculated to reassure me. Yet when the door opened, there stood a smart chasseur and a solemn major-domo who might but just have stepped out of Mayfair; and there was displayed a spreading vista of warm, deep-colored halls, with here a statue and there a stuffed bear, and under foot pile carpets strewn ...
— The Lock And Key Library - Classic Mystery And Detective Stories, Modern English • Various
... be Charles!" said a warm and cluckling voice. "Paula has raved, Senor. Now I am going to take her off in my carriage. She is my maid. And you will follow the carriage on foot and I will have the major-domo let you in the servants' entrance, and the ...
— Astounding Stories of Super-Science July 1930 • Various
... the Sultan, consisting of a piece of cotton velvet for a tobe (ten mahboubs), a head of sugar, a little cinnamon and cloves, a piece of muslin for turbans, and a cotton handkerchief, I paid my visit under the escort of the Kashalla, and the Sultan's major-domo, a man carrying a large stick with a great knob at the end. We went straight to the palace, a considerable building, built of clay, like the Sultan's house at Zinder, in the shape of a ...
— Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 2 • James Richardson
... lights. The guests were fast leaving; fair ladies and officers bravely uniformed were coming down the steps. There was a calling of carriages and of names, the slamming of doors and the muffled roll of the wheels as they drove off. I was about to move on with Jones, when I heard the major-domo, a sergeant of the guard, call out the carriage of Colonel Charles Gordon, and then I would have drawn back, as I had been forced into the front rank; for, though I knew that she must be at the ball, I had not thought to be brought so suddenly face to face with her. But ere I could do so, she came ...
— The Tory Maid • Herbert Baird Stimpson
... as the capital, it was rather the non-Arabic Persians who held aloft the torch than the Arabs descended from Kureish. It was a bold move, this attempt to weld the old Persian civilization with the new Muhammadan. Yet so great was the power of the new faith that it succeeded. The Barmecide major-domo ably seconded his Abbasside master; the glory of both rests upon the interest they took in art, literature, and science. The Arab came in contact with a new world. Under Mansur (754), Harun al-Rashid ...
— Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol. 2 • Charles Dudley Warner
... of Johannisberg, "to drink my health," he laughingly said, "when you reach your chateau of Bergamo." Rubini accepted the friendly offering, and begged permission to bring Mme. Rubini, before quitting the north of Europe, to visit the fine chateau. Metternich immediately summoned his major-domo, and said to him, "Remember that, if ever M. Rubini visits Johannisberg during my absence, he is to be received as if he were its master. You will place the whole of the chateau at his disposal so long as he may please to remain." "And the cellar, also?" asked Rubini. "The cellar, also," added the ...
— Great Singers, Second Series - Malibran To Titiens • George T. Ferris
... When the major-domo had gone, Grazian went back into the church. He lifted the casks of money from the carriage and rolled them along the passage-way to the space just walled in. When they were all piled up together, he stuck his hand ...
— Peter the Priest • Mr Jkai
... expectation. Your words have found favour with the great man. Those friends, by whose judgement in such matters he sets most store, have made no attempt to alter his decision. His wife approves his choice; the steward and the major-domo have neither of them anything against you. No aspersions have been cast on your character; all is propitious, every omen is in your favour. Hail, mighty conqueror, wreathed in the Olympian garland! Babylon is yours, Sardis falls before you. The horn of plenty is within your ...
— Works, V2 • Lucian of Samosata
... principality the king had no other outlet for his energy—the ritual of a mediaeval Court, illustrated, too, with pictures drawn from the original manuscript. In this document are laid down with painful minuteness, the duties of every official from the chancellor and the major-domo to the lowest scullions and grooms, including butlers, cooks, blacksmiths, musicians, scribes, physicians, surgeons, chaplains, choir-men, and chamberlains. Remote, too, as these kings of Majorca and their elaborate ceremonial may seem to be from ...
— The Contemporary Review, January 1883 - Vol 43, No. 1 • Various
... Lawton's, after we did reach it—carpeted, and with a warm stove—in fact, quite in civilized style, Mr. Weeks, the man who brought us across, was the major-domo, during the temporary absence ...
— Wau-bun - The Early Day in the Northwest • Juliette Augusta Magill Kinzie
... he was met in the same cautious manner by a dark-skinned human being, the character of whose garments was something between those of a sailor and a West India planter. This was Sambo, Thorwald's major-domo, clerk, overseer, and right-hand man. Sambo was not his proper name, but his master, regarding him as being the embodiment of all the excellent qualities that could by any possibility exist in the person of a South Sea islander, had bestowed upon him ...
— Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader • R.M. Ballantyne
... replied the major-domo, after a brief hesitation, "are the melancholy moods to which his Majesty ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers
... Capua, who was major-domo. We can inquire," said Mr. Raleigh, with a smile, rising and ...
— Atlantic Monthly Volume 7, No. 39, January, 1861 • Various
... and massive that I could not help thinking of the aqueducts of Rome. A gang of black women were standing in the secadero or drying-place, among the lumps of clayed sugar, beating them small with mallets; before them, walked to and fro the major-domo, with a cutlass by his side and a whip in his hand, I asked him how a planter could increase his stock of slaves. "There is no difficulty," he replied, "slaves are still brought to the island from Africa. The other day ...
— Letters of a Traveller - Notes of Things Seen in Europe and America • William Cullen Bryant
... Baroness, dressed for dinner, passed from her own room into the small drawing-room adjoining. Crossing a carpet so thick and soft that it deadened the sound of footsteps, she pressed the button of an electric bell beside the fireplace. A major-domo, of the most correct ...
— Messengers of Evil - Being a Further Account of the Lures and Devices of Fantomas • Pierre Souvestre
... to the chateau was much like climbing a fire-escape to the top of a New York sky-scraper, but we earned the right to cry "Excelsior!" at last, had we not by that moment been speechless. History now repeated itself. I rang; the castle gate was opened, but this time by a major-domo who had already in some marvellous way learned that strangers ...
— The Princess Passes • Alice Muriel Williamson and Charles Norris Williamson
... of October, Mrs. Wishart was sitting alone in her back drawing-room. She was suffering from a cold, and coddling herself over the fire. Her major-domo brought her Mr. Dillwyn's name and request for admission, which was joyfully granted. Mrs. Wishart was denied to ordinary visitors; and Philip's arrival ...
— Nobody • Susan Warner
... was compadre of Senor Alfredo Bernard, Americanos not understanding all in that word, and the grandfather of Dario was major-domo of the rancho of Soledad at that time the Apaches are going down and killing the people there. That is when the mine was lost. On the skin of a sheep it was told in writing all about it, and Dario had that skin. Sure he had! It was old and had been buried in the sand, and holes were eaten in it ...
— The Treasure Trail - A Romance of the Land of Gold and Sunshine • Marah Ellis Ryan
... hackney-cab stand, till he reached the Rue Froid-Manteau, a dirty, poky, disreputable street—a sort of sewer tolerated by the police close to the purified purlieus of the Palais-Royal, as an Italian major-domo allows a careless servant to leave the sweepings of the rooms in a corner ...
— Gambara • Honore de Balzac
... when the king's illness had made him tremble for his greatness, and perhaps for his life. He kept the monarch shut up in his room, refusing entrance to even the superior officers of the palace. [Memoires de St. Simon, t. xv.] "The Marquis of Villena, major-domo major, having presented himself there one afternoon, one of the valets inside half opened the door, and told him, with much embarrassment, that he was forbidden to let him in. 'You are insolent, sir,' replied the marquis; 'that cannot be.' He pushed; the door against the valet and ...
— A Popular History of France From The Earliest Times - Volume VI. of VI. • Francois Pierre Guillaume Guizot
... though green, isn't young enough to plead its youth. It is time that it, too, were learning Old World manners in dealing with Old World peoples. I do not know whether we need a Bureau, or a Major-Domo, or a Master of Ceremonies at Washington, but we need somebody to prompt us to act as polite as we really are, somebody to think of those gentler touches that we naturally forget. Some other governments ...
— The Life and Letters of Walter H. Page, Volume I • Burton J. Hendrick
... the east coast, there landed a man of whom the Corsican's had never heard. He came out of nowhere with a single ship and less than a score of attendants—to be precise, two officers, a priest, a secretary, a major-domo, an under-steward, a cook, three Tunisian slaves, and six lackeys. He had sailed from Algiers, with a brief rest in the port of Leghorn, and he stepped ashore in Turkish dress, with scarlet-lined cloak, turban, and scimetar. He called himself Theodore, a baron of Westphalia, and ...
— Sir John Constantine • Prosper Paleologus Constantine
... imagined of Madame Christophor had prepared Julien for the subdued yet manifest magnificence of her dwelling. He passed through that small postern gate beneath the watch of a butler who relieved him of his stick and gloves and handed him over to a sort of major-domo. Afterwards he was conducted across a beautiful round hall, lit with quaint fragments of stained-glass window, through a picture gallery which almost took Julien's breath away, and into a small room, very daintily furnished, entirely and characteristically French of the Louis ...
— The Mischief Maker • E. Phillips Oppenheim
... Phil. I'm not looking for trouble. You're major-domo of this outfit What you say goes—except about this girl. I'm a white ...
— Bucky O'Connor • William MacLeod Raine
... unusual in Leif's manner at that time which rather perplexed his friends, and quite puzzled Anders, his major-domo. ...
— The Norsemen in the West • R.M. Ballantyne
... precious letters for the ranches on the road to the Golden Gate, he departs. These are entrusted to the veteran sergeant, major-domo and shadow of his beloved master. Miguel bounds into the saddle. He gayly salutes the Governor and General with a graceful sweep of his sombrero. He threads the crowded plaza with adroitness, swaying easily from side to side as he greets sober friend or demure Donna. He smiles kindly on ...
— The Little Lady of Lagunitas • Richard Henry Savage
... as major-domo, had chosen her imperiously for his assistant and underling in the house of the priest, had informed her that she was to receive twenty-five lire a month for her services, besides food and lodging, and plenty of the good, red wine of Amato. To Lucrezia such wages seemed prodigal. She had never yet ...
— The Call of the Blood • Robert Smythe Hichens
... major-domo, or head butler, by his wooden leg, of which I had already heard; he was of low stature, round, fat, and rosy, and his knees seldom coming within an easy range of his eyesight; a nose red and bulbous like a ripe ...
— The Man-Wolf and Other Tales • Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
... the round table of silver, flowers, cloth—all, save glasses and decanters—stepped noiselessly, and I knew the terror of the Iroquois name had sharpened their dull ears. Then came old Cato, tricked out in flame-colored plush, bearing the staff of major-domo; and the servants in their tarnished liveries marshalled behind him and filed out, leaving us seated before a bare table, with only our glasses and bottles to break the expanse of polished mahogany and ...
— The Maid-At-Arms • Robert W. Chambers
... arbiter &c (judge) 967; boss [U.S.], political dictator. board &c (council) 696. secretary, secretary of state; Reis Effendi; vicar &c (deputy) 759; steward, factor; agent &c 758; bailiff, middleman; foreman, clerk of works; landreeve^; factotum, major-domo^, seneschal, housekeeper, shepherd, croupier; proctor, procurator. ...
— Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases: Body • Roget
... him aware they were loading the camels and preparing for departure. In the course of these preparations, the last person who was disturbed, excepting the physician himself, was the knight of Scotland, whom, about three in the morning, a sort of major-domo, or master of the household, acquainted that he must arise. He did so, without further answer, and followed him into the moonlight, where stood the camels, most of which were already loaded, and one only remained kneeling until its ...
— The Talisman • Sir Walter Scott
... was announced by the major-domo of the household. Ignoring the houris of the occasion, the polite governor escorted Mrs. Belgrave to the table, and seated her on his right, while the captain of the Guardian-Mother conducted the princess. Those of the gentlemen who could speak French were requested by Mr. Froler to attend ...
— Four Young Explorers - Sight-Seeing in the Tropics • Oliver Optic
... the extent of the ability in his office possessed by this tutor, or major-domo, as we should rather call him. The lads, who had already gathered in their harvest, since they had laid hands upon four hundred gold crowns which were in the major-domo's keeping, begged that he would let them remain ...
— The Exemplary Novels of Cervantes • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
... through grief. He is eyes, and ears, and hands, to the whole household. A draught of wine cannot go round to the mourners, but he must minister it. A chair may hardly be restored to its place by a less solemn hand than his. He takes upon himself all functions, and is a sort of ephemeral major-domo! He distributes his attentions among the company assembled according to the degree of affliction, which he calculates from the degree of kin to the deceased; and marshals them accordingly in the procession. He himself is of a sad and tristful ...
— The Works of Charles Lamb in Four Volumes, Volume 4 • Charles Lamb
... retainers of the Esmond family." So he scattered about his gold pieces to right and left, and as if he had been as rich as Gumbo announced him to be. There was no one who came near him but had a share in his bounty. From the major-domo to the shoeblack, Mr. Harry had a peace-offering for them all. To the grim housekeeper in her still-room, to the feeble old porter in his lodge, he distributed some token of his remembrance. When a man is in love ...
— The Virginians • William Makepeace Thackeray
... in this world that went upon no other account than I did. I had three women-servants to wait on me, one whereof was an old Madame ——, who thoroughly understood her business, and managed everything as if she had been major-domo; so I had no trouble. They had one coach to themselves, and the prince and I in the other; only that sometimes, where he knew it necessary, I went into their coach, and one particular gentleman of ...
— The Fortunate Mistress (Parts 1 and 2) • Daniel Defoe
... granted, for Anton was an honest, faithful servant, and sincerely attached to the family, and it was accordingly arranged that he should receive a small monthly salary, and occupy an intermediate position between those of major-domo ...
— Russia • Donald Mackenzie Wallace
... stairs together, each critically surveying the decorations of the rooms below, Prince Michael himself appeared from the direction of the great dining-room, accompanied by his major-domo, to whom he was giving some final orders concerning the reception ...
— The Genius • Margaret Horton Potter
... groups of servants were ranged in the Orsetti livery. Also a magnificent personage, not to be classed with any of the other domestics, wearing a silver chain with a key passed across his breast. The personage called a major-domo, in the discharge of his duty, divested the ladies of their shawls, and ...
— The Italians • Frances Elliot
... altogether disappointed by this unhappy accident; and I shuddered at the prospect of losing Serafina for ever, either by this mysterious malady, or by her marriage with Mendoza, which I now despaired of being able to defeat. The major-domo having waited several hours for his lord's return, without seeing him appear, thought proper to despatch a messenger to Don Manuel, with an account of what had happened; and that nobleman arriving in the morning, took possession of the house. About four o'clock in the ...
— The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom, Complete • Tobias Smollett
... could not very well have left your sister in the middle of your visit: All the grand folks were there, of course. Lurida and her young man—Gabriel is what she calls him—were naturally the objects of special attention. Paolo acted as major-domo, and looked as if he ought to be a major-general. Nothing could be pleasanter than the way in which Mr. and Mrs. Kirkwood received their plain country neighbors; that is, just as they did the others of more pretensions, as if they were really glad to see them, as I ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)
... The major-domo looked at her as if such lese majeste deserved hanging. In fifteen minutes more she was conducted into an anteroom, where she was turned over to a secretary. Her business was explained to him. In due course of time word came out that Mr. Frohman would be through in ten minutes. She was moved, ...
— Bambi • Marjorie Benton Cooke
... announced. In the meantime, you will find my mother and sisters in yonder room. As the windows look up the river, they did not perceive your arrival.—Go and tell the ladies that Captain Kearney and his son have arrived," said Carlos to one of the blacks, who appeared to be a butler or major-domo. ...
— In the Wilds of Florida - A Tale of Warfare and Hunting • W.H.G. Kingston
... major-domo here who regulates every department: his word is law, and his fiat immoveable, and he presumes not a little upon his power; a circumstance not to be surprised at, as he is as much courted and is as despotic as all the lady patronesses of Almacks ...
— Diary in America, Series One • Frederick Marryat (AKA Captain Marryat)
... the doctor make what sketches he desires. There we will kill the cows and calves and send back their skins. For this purpose we can pick up porters on the spot, but I must have three or four reliable men to bring them back. Also, I want a good cook who can act as a sort of major-domo over the ...
— The Rogue Elephant - The Boys' Big Game Series • Elliott Whitney
... conversation right on tap to show that the government couldn't feed its army if it wasn't for a few big cowmen like them. There's a strange corporal over the three herds and they're working on five horses to the man. But the major-domo's the whole works; he's a windy cuss, and intimates that he has a card or two up his sleeve that will put these quarantine guards to sleep when he springs them. He's a new man to me; at least he wasn't with ...
— The Outlet • Andy Adams
... had gone the waiters of the cafe began their most disagreeable daily task. All the silver was assembled on one of the long tables in an inner room, where, as at a solemn conclave, the servants took their seats, and, presided over by the major-domo of the establishment, they polished the knives and forks, spoons, and sugar-tongs, filled the salt-cellars, replenished the pepper-boxes and other paraphernalia of the dining art. The gabble in this close apartment was terrific. Joseph, the maitre d'hotel, rapped in vain a dozen ...
— Visionaries • James Huneker
... the open door which led to the garden, so that the October sunshine fell full on the spotless linen and quaint old plate, and the fresh balmy air filled the room with the scent of sweet herbs. Louis served us with the mien of a major-domo, and set on each dish as though it had been a peacock or a mess of ortolans. The woods provided the larger portion of our meal; the garden did its part; the confections Mademoiselle had cooked with her ...
— Under the Red Robe • Stanley Weyman
... major-domo informed him that luncheon was ready, and retired cat-like, and closed the door so softly ...
— The Woman-Hater • Charles Reade
... with a cold smile, and begged leave to withdraw, that he might make the necessary preparations for his wedding. "We will both make our preparations," said the king, as he bade the prince farewell—"you with your major-domo, and I with Baron Pollnitz, whom I shall ...
— Frederick The Great and His Family • L. Muhlbach
... elaborate affairs, contrasting strangely with Hoover's earlier experiences in America and Australia. The Chinese major-domo in charge insisted that the make-up and appearance of the outfit should reflect the high estate of the Director of Mines, so that every movement involved the organization of a veritable caravan of ponies, mules, carts, ...
— Herbert Hoover - The Man and His Work • Vernon Kellogg
... her; so she stood and watched for him one day at the door of her chamber and straining him to her bosom, bussed him on the breast and kissed him on either cheek. At this moment, behold, out came the major-domo of the king's household and seeing her embracing the youth, started in amazement. Then he asked to whom that chamber belonged and was answered, "To Shah Khatun, wife of the king," whereupon he turned back, ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 1 • Richard F. Burton
... Josef Street, he reached the hotel, which was near the Carsija, and made hurried inquiries of the Turkish porter, who smiled and professed ignorance, but said to the Excellency that he would diligently inquire, bringing Renwick at last to the major-domo, who informed him that a note bearing the name of Herr Renwick had been left at the hotel an hour before, but that not twenty minutes ago, Herr Renwick ...
— The Secret Witness • George Gibbs
... spy, enormous, bearded and with the half-lion badge of the Privy Seal hanging round his neck from a gilt chain, walked up and down behind the guests, bearing the wand of a major-domo, affecting to direct the servers when to fill goblets and listening at tables where much wine had been served. Once he looked up at the gallery, and his scrutinising and defiant brown eyes remained for a long time ...
— The Fifth Queen • Ford Madox Ford
... spelled home. For him and for Alice. This should be his Christmas gift. Old Antonio, his former major-domo, lingered still in San Francisco. He would send him out this very day to set the place in order. Tomorrow he and Alice would ride—his brow clouded. He should have to borrow two horses. No matter. ...
— Port O' Gold • Louis John Stellman |
