swains

• “The plain meaning, therefore, is, "To clear his doubts concerning Providence, and to obtain some knowledge of the world by actual experience; to see whether the accounts furnished by books, or by the oral communications of swains, were just representations of it; [I say, _swains_,] for his oral or”

  Life of Johnson, Volume 3 1776-1780

• “There the swains are the rarest and maids are the fairest,”

  The Sylvan Cabin A Centenary Ode on the Birth of Lincoln and Other Verse

• “Salvator's Massacre of the Innocents, or Michel Angelo's Last Judgment, and the next day recall the swains of Albano at repose in the landscapes of Claude; should one day advise his chiefs to wash their hands of the”

  The Life of William Ewart Gladstone, Vol. 1 (of 3) 1809-1859

• “Sydney Smith has said, with more truth than elegance, that in the infancy of all nations, even the most civilized, men lived the life of pigs; and if sanitary reporters had existed in times past as they do now, we should doubtless have received an account of the actual existence and domestic accommodation of the old English "swains" and”

  Thrift

• “For if we got enough of them over to have issue with our comely Caledonian maidens and swains then we would be qualifying for the European Championships round about 2040, which is roughly when Scotland will be getting rescued by the IMF and still getting gubbed by the Republic of Ireland's reserve team.”

  The Guardian: If we buy Taransay, we can save the Union | Kevin McKenna

• “Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead -- yes, the two former swains of the late Anna Nicole Smith -- dining together at downtown power-dining spot Tosca Tuesday night with four women.”

  The Washington Post: Hey, isn't that...?: Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead

• “They are the concorde to the Airbus A380 so loudly proferred by the portly swains of the N.Y.F.D. The blond ones are the epitome of all things youthfully blond: with not an ounce of excess fat or muscle, finely chiseled features, and a perfect tan — from the same firm, I suspect, that did the Kritios Boy.”

  Grand bal des sapeurs-pompiers

• “As for her mouth, the swains who bumbled about her likened it to a lush, ripe rose, which I suppose was fair enough.”

  Simon & Schuster: Secret History of Elizabeth Tudor, Vampire Slayer

• “Mr. Putrov doesn't mention that ballet companies also have hierarchies, and repertories dominated by princes and swains, of which he has danced his fair share.”

  The Wall Street Journal: Dancing to a New Tune

• “Tamara Drewe is a modern version of Hardy's headstrong Victorian heroine Bathsheba Everdene and Bathsheba's three swains have their present-day counterparts.”

  The Guardian: Tamara Drewe

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