Deʹlia,

of Pope’s line, “Slander or poison dread from Delia’s rage,” was Lady Deloraine, who married W. Windam of Carsham, and died 1744. The person said to have been poisoned was Miss Mackenzie. (Satires and Epistles, i. 81.)

Delia is not better known to our yard-dog—i.e. the person is so intimate and well known that the yard-dog will not bark at his approach. It is from Virgil, who makes his shepherd Monalcas boast “That his sweetheart is as well known to his dog as Delia the shepherdess.” (Eclogues, iii. 67.)

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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.