JFAU
tH)
VKA
f ATUARII, in Antiquity, were Perfons,' who appear- ing infpir'd, foretold Things to come.
The Word is form'd of Fatua, Wife of the God Fail- tins, who was fuppos'd to infpire Women with the Know- ledge of Futurity 5 as Faunus himfelf did the Men.
Patua, had her Name from Fari, q- d. Vaticinari, to prophefy.
pATUUS Ignis, a kind of fiery Meteor, popularly call'd ffill-with-a-lVtJf. See Meteor.
The Ignis Fatuus is a Vapour, mining without Heat ; and is there not the fame Difference between this Vapour, and Flame, as between rotten Wood, mining without Heat, and burning Coals of Fire? Newt. Opt. p.%\6.
FAUCON, a fort of Cannon, whofe Diameter at the Bore is 5$ Inches ; Weight, 750 Pound; Length, 7 Foot; Load, 2-i Pound ; Shot, 2^ Inches D&meter ; and it Pound weight. See Canon.
FAUCONET, a piece of Ordnance, whofe Diameter at the Bore is 4! Inches ; Weight, 400 Pounds; Length, tf Foot ; Load, 1 \ Pound ; Shot, fomething more than two Inches diameter, and 1-4 Pound Weight. See Canon.
FAVISSA, among Antiquaries, A Hole, Pit, or Vault under Ground, wherein is kept fomething of rare Value.
The Favijfa, according to A. Gellius, and Varro, was much the fame, with what the antient Greeks and Romans called ©HJ-iiDp©-, Thefaurus ; and what in fome of the mo- dern Churches is called the Archives and Treafury.
In the Capitol there were divers Faviffis. They were fubterraneous Places, wall'd, and vaulted ; having no En- trance, or Light, but by a Hole a-top, which was ftop'd up with a huge Stoae.
They were chiefly deftined for keeping the old, worn Sta- tues, and other antient Moveables, formerly us'd in the Temple ; fo religioufly did the People refpedt, and preferve whatever was confecrated. Catulus would have low- erd the Floor of the Capitol 5 but that the Favifjts pre- vented him.
Feflus, however, gives us a different Account of the Fa- <D[ff£. According to that Author, they were Wells, or Pits of Water, near the Temples, and for the Ufe thereof: The fame with what the Greeks call'd 'Op<pth&, Navel, as being round, g?r . Gellius likcwife gives them the Name of Ciflerns, as well as Feftus ; but 'tis apparently, for no other Reafon, than that they bore a Refemblance there- to in figure.
In effect, the two Notions are pretty eafily reconciled : It being certain, that the Treafuries of fome of the anti- ent Greek Churches were Ciflerns, or Refervoirs of Wa- ter, wherein People us'd to wafh themfelves, e're they en- ter'd the Temple.
The Word Faviffa, feems form'd of Fovi/fa, a Dimi- nutive of Fovea, Pit or Ditch.
FAUNALIA, in Antiquity. Feafls celebrated by the Romans, in honour of the God Famus. See Feast.
The Faunalia were held on the Day of the Nones of December, i. e. on the fifth Day of that Month. The principal Sacrifice was a Roe-buck ; or rather, according to Horace, a Kid, attended with Libations of Wine, and burning of Incenfe.
It was properly a Country Feftival ; being perform'd in the Fields and Villages with peculiar Joy and Devotion.
Horace gives us a very gay Defcription thereof, in the XVIII"> Ode of his 3-1 Book.
— ' — T'eneor plcno cadit htfdus anno Larga nee defiint Veneris fodali Vina Craters, vctus ara multo
Fumat odore.
Struvius, in his Roman Calendar, marks the Feaft of Faunus on the Day of the Ides of February, which is the 13 th Day of that Month ; and the Faunalia he places on the 5 th of the Ides of December, or the 9 th of that Month. And in C. IX. he fhews, that there really were two Fau- n&lia ; the one in February, mention'd by Ovid, Fajl. L. VI, v. 146 ; the other, on the 9 th of December, mention'd hy Horace,- in the Place juft cited.
The Deity Faunus, to whom the Solemnity was devoted, and from whom it was denominated, was the fame among •he Romans, with the "Pan of the Greeks.
FAUNS, Fauni, among the Antients, were a Species °f Demi-Gods, inhabiting the Forefls ; call'd alfo Silvans, Sdvani. See Silvans.
The Fauns are reputed pure Roman Deities; unknown
- ° the Greeks. They were reprefented as half Men, half
Goats; having the Horns, Ears, Feet, and Tail of a Goat, a very flat No'fe ; and the reft human.
• u R-°man Faunus, we have obferv'd, was the fame with the Greek 'Pan. Now, in the Poets, we find frequent Mention of Fauns and Panes in the plural Number; in all probability therefore, the Fauns were the fame with the SWj. See Panes.
The Reafon was, that there were fcveral Fauniis's and Van's ; tho' all defcended from one principal one. Thus Ovid :
Aut quas femide£ Dryades, Fauniquc VicorHeS Numine cont atlas attonuere fuo.
The Romans call'd them Fauni, Ficarii, and Fauni Fi- carii.
The Denomination Ficarii was deriv'd, not from tho Latin Ficus, ficHs, a Fig, as fome have imagin'd; but from ficus, fici, a fort of flefliy Tumor, or Excrefcencej growing on the Eyelids and other Parts of the Body ; with which the Fauns were reprefented.
Tho' the Fauns were held for Demi-Gods; yet wera they fuppos'd to dye, after a long Life. Amobius fhewsj that their Father or Chief, Faunus himfelf, only liv'd no Years.
FAVOUR, in Commerce, fee Grace.
¥A\JSSn.-braye, in Fortification, fee False braye. . _
FAWN, among Hunters, is a Buck, or Doe, of the firtl Year ; or the young one, of the Buck's Breed, in its firft Year.
FEALTY, an Oath, taken at the Admittance of every Tenant, to be true to the Lord, of whom he holds his Land.
He that holds Land by this only Oath of Fealty, holds in the freeft manner ; for all, even thofe that have Fee,- hold fer fidem $3 fiduciam, that is, by Fealty at the leaft.
This Fealty is alfo us'd in other Nations; as in Lombar- dy, and Surgundy.
Indeed, as the very firft Creation of this Tenure grew from the Love of the Lord, towards his Followers; fo did it bind the Tenant to Fidelity; as appears by the whole Courfe of the Feuds ; and the Breach thereof is Lofs of the Fee.
Hotoman, in his Commentaries He Verbis Fcudalibusi fhews a double Fealty ; one General, to be perform'd by e- very Subject to his Prince ; the other Special, requir'd only offuch, as in refpect of their Fee, are tied by this Oath towards their Landlords. We read of both in the Grand Cuftomary of Normandy, &c.
Fealty Special, is with us perform'd, either by Freenietii or Villains.
The Form of both, fee Anno it Ed. 2. in thefe Words : When a Freeman lhall do Fealty to his Lord, he fhall hold his right Hand upon a Book, and fhall fay thus : Hear you { my Lord R. that J P. fhall be to you, both faithful and true, and fhall oiie my Fealty to you, for the Land that I hold of you, on the Terms affigned. So help me GOD; and all his Saints.
When a Villain fhall do Fealty to his Lord, he fhall hold his right Hand over the Book, and fay thus : Hear yoilj my Lord A. that J B. from this Day forth, unto you fhall be true and faithful, and fhall owe you Fealty, for the Land that I hold of you in Villainage, and fhall be jufti-. fied by you in "Body and Goods. So help me GOD, and all his Saints.
Fealty is ufually mention'd as fynonomous, with Homage 3 but it differs from it.
Homage coniifts in taking an Oath, when the Tenant comes to his Land ; and is done but once ; being an Obli- gation, which is permanent, and binds for ever: which Fealty does not. See Homage.
They differ alfo in the manner of the the Solemnity ; for the Oath of Homage is taken by the Tenant kneeling ; but that of Fealty is taken (landing, and includes fix Things, which are comprifed in the Words, Incolume, Tutum, Uti- le, Honeftum, Facile, Pofftbile.
Incolume, that he do no bodily Injury to the Lord : 1*11- tum, that he do him no fecret Injury in any thing, which is for his Defence ; as in his Houfe, or Caftle : Honeflum, that he do him no Injury in his Reputation : Utile, that he do not damage him in his Pofleffions: Facile, and PefJiblCj that he make it eafy, and not difficult for the Lord to do any good, which otherwife he might do ; all which is like- wife compris'd in Leg. H. 1. cap. 5.
FEAST, or Festival, a Church-Solemnity, or Rejoyc- ing, in Honour of God, or a Saint.
The Word is form'd of the Latin Feftum, which fome derive aferiari, to keep Holiday. Others derive it from the Greek 'sitiv, which fignifies the fame Thing, and is form'd of en'*, Hearth, and Vcfta. See Festvm, and Fe-
B-IJE.
Feasts, and the Ceremonies thereof, have made a great Part of the Religion of almoft all Nations andSeits: Wit- nefs thofe of the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Chrifiians, and Mahometans.
Feafts, among us, are either immoveable, or Moveable.
Immoveable Feasts, are thofe conflantly celebrated on the fame Day of the Year: The principal are, Qhriftmas-day,
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