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Maiden Assize (A)

.

One in which there is no person to be brought to trial. We have also the expressions maiden tree, one never lopped; maiden fortress, one never taken; maiden speech; etc. In a maiden assize, the sheriff of the county presents the judge with a pair of white gloves. White gloves symbolise innocence. Maiden primarily means unspotted, unpolluted, innocent; thus Hubert says to the king

“This hand of mine

Is yet a maiden and an innocent hand.

Not painted with the crimson spots of blood.”


 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Mahoun
Mahound
Mahu
Maid Marian
Maid of Athens
Maid of Norway
Maid of Orleans
Maid of Perth (Fair)
Maid of Saragossa
Maiden
Maiden Assize (A)
Maiden King (The)
Maiden Lane (London)
Maiden or Virgin Queen
Maiden Town
Maiden of the Mist
Maidenhair
Main-brace
Main Chance (The)
Mainote
Maintain