Brewer's: Callipolis

A character in the Battle of Alcazar (1594) by George Peele. It is referred to by Pistol in 2 Henry IV., act ii. 4; and Sir W. Scott uses the word over and over again as the synonym of lady-love, sweetheart, charmer. Sir Walter always spells the word Callipolis, but Peele calls it Calipolis. The drunken Mike Lambourne says to Amy Robsart—

“Hark ye, most fair Callipolis, or most lovely countess of clouts, and divine duchess of dark corners.” —Kenilworth, chap. xxxiii.

And the modest Roland Græme calls the beautiful Catherine his “most fair Callipolis.” (The Abbot, chap. xi.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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