E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Dan.
A title of honour, common with the old poets, as Dan Phœbus, Dan Cupid, Dan Neptune, Dan Chaucer, etc. (Spanish, don.)
“Dan Chaucer, well of English undefiled,
On Fame’s eternal beadroll worthy to be filed.”
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Spenser: Faërie Queene, book iv. canto ii. 32.
From Dan to Beer’sheba. From one end of the kingdom to the other; all over the world; everywhere. The phrase is Scriptural, Dan being the most northern and Beersheba the most southern city of the Holy Land. We have a similar expression, “From John o’ Groats to the Land’s End.”
