ancient marineress

English

Etymology

A reference to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which an old mariner corners a reluctant wedding guest to tell a story of a horrific voyage.

Noun

ancient marineress (plural ancient marineresses)

1. An old woman who bears some resemblance to Coleridge's Ancient Mariner, especially one who has an unfortunate history or insists on telling her story.
   • 1879 March 5, [Rose Terry Cooke], “Dr. Parkers’ Patty”, in Nanaimo Free Press‎^[1], volume V, number 92, Nanaimo, B.C.:

     Further than this mystic demonstration none of them had gotten, so far, for Mrs. Parker kept her glittering eye on them like an Ancient Marineress and “The boldest held his breath for a time!”

   • 1881 October 14, “Aunt Sarah’s Fortune”, in Valley Sentinel, volume 18, number 23, Carlisle, Pa., page 1:

     Here’s to the health of my respected ancient mariner-ess—a veritable old maid, all forlorn, whose legacy is a long time coming, but sure to get here some time.

   • 1904 June 18, “The Girl Philosopher”, in Marion Daily Star, volume XXVII, number 173, Marion, Ohio, page six:

     “I’m all ready,’ announced the fluffy haired girl just then, thrusting the last long pin through her new hat. “So am I,” said the sallow young woman. “But the ancient marineress here—” “Sit down,” commanded the philosopher.

   • 1917 March 1, The Herald of Gospel Liberty, volume CIX, number 9, page 212 (20):

     Two humorous numbers were given. One by Mr. G. C. Donovan, Lexington, N. C., which was entitled, Breakers Ahead, and in which he depicted Elon life and society in the year of grace 1950. The other was an original impersonation by Esmond R. Riedel, Holland, Va., to which he gave the title, The Ancient Marineress. It was a graphic portrayal of one of our “evening sisters” making her maiden voyage to London.

   • 1952 February 25, Daily News, number 17,821, Los Angeles, Calif., page 17:

     But now it’s Shirley finally making her film debut as the slattern looking for her lost youth in “Come Back, Little Sheba” for Hal Wallis and she’s hailing the advent with: “The ancient marineress finally arrives in Hollywood. […]”

   • 1953 April 19, Fanny Butcher, “The Literary Spotlight”, in Chicago Sunday Tribune, volume CXII, number 16, part 4, page 11:

     The worst of this lot of frustrated authors was a trembling old woman who insisted that he must read her manuscript immediately or it would be stolen by her enemies. . . . Unable to shake off this Ancient Marineress, he took her into his office, opened the huge ribbon tied manuscript, and found only blank pages.

   • 1956 August, “Cave-Paintings and Camels”, in Blackwood’s Magazine, volume 280, number 1690, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons Ltd, page 139:

     But an hour later we observed what emphatically was a figure, seated under a bush with some camels round it. Hussein and I trotted over. It was an old, old woman, an Ancient Marineress of the desert, and she was cracking lice in the head of a small boy wrapped in a goatskin.

   • 1979, Financial Times‎^[2]:

     Jenny has the reputation of being an “ancient marineress” […]

   • 1998 June 7, Mark Rozzo, “The Writing Racket”, in Newsday, volume 58, number 278, page B11:

     For her part, as Ruth navigates her way through public readings, interviews and a cranky widow who keeps popping up like an unwelcome Ancient Marineress, she is, as Irving puts it, “almost pathologically afraid of her readers, because she’s associated all of them with the potential that lurks in her most obsessive and crazed fans.”

   • 2010, Terry Castle, “The Professor”, in The Professor and Other Writings, Harper, →ISBN, page 288:

     The latter had likewise been seduced by the Professor—likewise summarily dumped—and wished to revile the P. with some other local Ancient Marineress who might lend a sympathetic ear.

   • 2016, Mike Westphal, Cloud of Expectation; Book One: The In America Series, Xlibris, →ISBN:

     “Your father was the best baseball player anyone had ever seen.” Excited but halting, her voice ran on past all obstacles. “We watched him play shortstop, and my father said he was the best, and my brothers too. The Cardinals sent a man down to talk to him about one of their teams.” Like an ancient marineress, she would not let go. She meant the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm teams.