Vicar of Bray
Britishnoun
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a vicar (Simon Aleyn) appointed to the parish of Bray in Berkshire during Henry VIII's reign who changed his faith to Catholic when Mary I was on the throne and back to Protestant when Elizabeth I succeeded and so retained his living
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Also called: In Good King Charles's Golden Days. a ballad in which the vicar's changes of faith are transposed to the Stuart period
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a person who changes his or her views or allegiances in accordance with what is suitable at the time
Example Sentences
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"Peace at any price" was his motto, and this, of course, as with the famous Vicar of Bray, involved a good deal of insincerity.
From The Cathedral by Sir Hugh Walpole
When taxed with being a religious changeling, his shrewd answer was, "Not so, for I always keep my principle, which is this—to live and to die the Vicar of Bray."
From England, Picturesque and Descriptive A Reminiscence of Foreign Travel by Joel Cook
"The Vicar of Bray" is set to a tune originally known as "A Country Garden."
From The Pleasures of Life by Sir John Lubbock
I took up my bottle, disdaining to stay, And said—"Here's a health to the Vicar of Bray," And cocked up my beaver, and—strutted away.
From The Poems of Philip Freneau, Volume II (of III) by Philip Freneau
Who has not heard of the Vicar of Bray, and his turning, turning, and turning again?
From The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 17, No. 482, March 26, 1831 by Various
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