E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Vincent de la Rosa.
The son of a poor labourer who had served as a soldier. According to his own account, “he had slain more Moors than ever Tunis or Morocco produced; and as for duels, he had fought a greater number than ever Gantë had, or Luna either, or Diego Garcia de Paredez, always coming off victorious, and without losing a drop of blood.” He dressed “superbly,” and though he had but three suits, the villagers thought he had ten or a dozen, and more than twenty plumes of feathers. This gay young spark soon caught the
affections of Leandra, only child of an opulent farmer. The giddy girl eloped with him; but he robbed her of all her money and jewels, and left her in a cave to make the best of her way home again. (Cervantes: Don Quixote, pt. i. iv. 20.)
