Pacʹolet

A dwarf in the service of Lady Clerimond. He had a winged horse, which carried off Valentine, Orson, and Clerimond from the dungeon of Ferragus to the palace of King Pepin, and afterwards carried Valentine to the palace of Alexander, Emperor of Constantinople, his father. (Valentine and Orson.)

It is a horse of Pacolet. (French.) A very swift one, that will carry the rider anywhere; in allusion to the enchanted flying horse of wood, belonging to the dwarf Pacʹolet. (See above.)

“I fear neither shot nor arrow, nor any horse how swift soever he may be, not though he could outstrip the Pegasus of Perseus or of Pacolet, being assured that I can make good my escape.”—Rabelais: Gargantua, bk. ii. 24.

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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.