/ · 1894 Brewer’s · R · Redmain
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Magnus, Earl of North-umberland, was so called not from his red or bloody hand, but on account of his long red beard or mane. He was slain in the battle of Sark (1449).
“He was remarkable for his long red beard, and was therefore called by the English Magnus Redbeard; but the Scotch in derision called him ‘Magnus with the Red Mane.ʹ”—Godscroft, fol. 178.
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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.