in his “Advice to the Players.” The earliest London playhouses were
the inn-yards, whose galleries corresponded to our box tiers, while
the yard itself was given up to the audience generally.
=Growler.= A four-wheeled cab, so called from the surly manners of the
driver. Since the advent of the “Hansom” his vehicle is rarely in
request, save when the “fare” has much luggage to convey to a
railway station or when a patient is being driven to the hospital.
=Guadalquiver.= From the Arabic _Wad-al-Kebir_, “great river.”
=Guildford Street.= After Francis North, Lord Keeper, who resided in it.
=Guildhall.= The Hall of the City Guilds. The old word Guild expressed
the fee paid for membership in an association of artisans; from the
Anglo-Saxon _gild_, money, _gildan_, to pay.
=Guinea.= A West African term for “abounding in gold.” The English coin
of this name was first struck in 1663 out of gold brought from the
coast of Guinea.
=Guinea Fowl.= Originally brought from Guinea, West Africa.
=Guinea Pig.= A South American rodent, somewhat resembling a pig. Its
name is a corruption of _Guiana pig_.
=Gulf of Carpentaria.= Discovered by Captain Carpenter, a Dutch
navigator, in 1606.
=Gulf States.= Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas--all
bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.
=Gulf Stream.= The warm equatorial waters of the Amazon River, which,
after coursing round the coasts of South America and the Gulf of
Mexico, make their way across the Atlantic, direct for the British
Isles and Norway. This ocean stream, never less than forty miles in
breadth, is distinguished by a deep indigo colour.
=Gunnersbury.= The name of a Saxon village, after the Lady Gunylda, a
niece of King Canute, who took up her residence here while England
was under the sway of the Danes.
=Gutta-percha.= A Malay term, _gutta_, gum, and _percha_, the tree which
provides it.
=Gutter Lane.= A corruption of “Gutheron Lane,” from a Danish burgher
who resided in it.
=Guy’s Hospital.= The generous benefaction of Thomas Guy, a wealthy
Lombard Street bookseller, in 1722. His large fortune was chiefly
due to the buying up, at a large discount, of seamen’s prize-money
tickets, and investing the proceeds in South-Sea Stock.
=Gyp.= The college servitor at Cambridge, so called because he subsists
on the perquisites of those whom he waits upon. _Gyp_ expresses the
Greek for a vulture.
H
=Haberdasher.= Anciently one who sold Hapertas cloth, a mixture of silk
and wool. In modern times a haberdasher is a vendor of smallwares,
such as handkerchiefs, neckties, tapes, etc. The origin of the word
Hapertas has been traced to the Anglo-Saxon _Habihr das_: “Will you
buy this?” a trader’s exclamation similar to that of the London
’prentice of a later period: “What do you lack?” However this may
be, the German _tauschen_ stands for sale, exchange, barter.
=Hack Author.= See “Hackney Coach.”
=Hackney.= The whole of this district originally belonged to a Danish
Chief named Hacon. The suffix _ey_ expresses an island--_i.e._ land
intersected by rivulets (in this case of the Lea)--or low, marshy
ground. The suggestion that coaches were first let out for hire in
this neighbourhood is not correct. See “Hackney Coach.”
=Hackney Coach.= One let out for hire. In France a _coche-a-haquenée_
expresses a coach drawn by a hired horse. Originally the word
_haquenée_ meant any kind of horse but a thoroughbred. The Dutch
_hakkenei_ means hack horse, an ambling nag. From the French
_haquenée_ we have derived the term hack author, or literary hack,
one whose services are hired for poor pay by a bookseller.
=Haggerston.= A Saxon village called “_Hergotstein_,” “Our God’s Stone.”
The stone is believed to have had relation to a miraculous well,
beside which an altar was set up.
=Hague.= Properly, according to the Dutch name of the place,
_Gravenhaag_, the ancient seat of the _Gravs_ or Counts of Holland.
=Hail.= An exclamation of greeting derived from the Anglo-Saxon _hæl_,
“health.” The Scandinavian _heill_ expressed the same sentiment. See
“Wassail.”
=Halberd.= From two Teutonic words, _hild_, battle, and _bard_, axe.
=Halcyon Days.= Days of peace and tranquillity. This was the name
anciently given to the seven days before and after the shortest day,
because, according to fable, there were always calms at sea during
this period while the halcyon or kingfisher birds were breeding.
=Half-and-half.= Originally a mixture in equal proportions of strong ale
and small beer. In modern days it consists of half ale and half
porter. See “Entire” and “Porter.”
=Half Moon Street.= After an ancient tavern, “The Half Moon,” which
stood in this neighbourhood. This sign was derived from the crescent
or ensign of the Turks.
=Halfpenny.= The original penny pieces were deeply indented crosswise,
so that halfpennies and farthings (or fourthlings) could easily be
broken off, as occasion demanded.
=Half Seas Over.= A nautical phrase applied to a drunken man staggering
along, who is in danger of falling to the ground at any moment. When
a ship has all her sails spread a sudden change in the direction of
the wind often threatens to lay her on her side.
=Halifax.= A corruption of the Saxon “Haligfock,” from _halig_, holy,
and _fock_, people. For what reason the inhabitants of this place
were considered more saintly than people elsewhere local tradition
does not say. Halifax in Nova Scotia was named, on the foundation of
the city in 1749, by the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, after the Earl of
Halifax.
=Halifax Gibbet Law.= An ancient enactment for the protection of the
local woollen manufacture. Owing to the systematic theft by the
employées in the trade of material supplied to them, it was found
that the fabric lacked body and weight. To put a stop to this
pilfering a law was passed, making the theft of anything whatsoever,
to the value to thirteen pence halfpenny, subject to the death
penalty. On conviction before a magistrate the thief was publicly
executed on the next market day. The mode of execution was not by
hanging, but by beheading, the instrument used being a kind of
guillotine. Taylor, the Water Poet, speaks of this
“Jyn that wondrous quick and well,
Sends thieves all headless into heaven or hell.”
=Hallelujah.= From the Hebrew _halelu_, “praise ye,” and _Iah_,
“Jehovah.”
=Hallelujah Victory.= That gained by the newly baptised Bretons under
Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, in 429. As they marched to the attack
they cried “Hallelujah!”
=Hall Mark.= The test mark of Goldsmiths’ Hall stamped upon gold and
silver plate as a guarantee of its purity.
=Hamiltonian System.= A novel method of teaching languages, invented by
James Hamilton, a merchant, whose death took place at Dublin, 1831.
The peculiarity of this system was that it dispensed with the
initiatory grammatical stages.
=Hamilton Place.= After Colonel James Hamilton, Ranger of Hyde Park,
_temp._ Charles II.
=Hammer and Scourge of England.= The sobriquet of Sir William Wallace,
the Scottish warrior patriot.
=Hammer and Tongs.= A corruption of “Hammer and Tongues.” A wordy
warfare is well described as a hammering of tongues; hence the
saying: “They went at it hammer and tongs” (tongues).
=Hammer-cloth.= It has been suggested that this is the covering for the
box-seat of a coach that contained the hammer, bolts, nails, etc.,
useful to remedy a breakdown on a journey. The true meaning of the
term is, however, that it is properly “Hammock-cloth,” the driver’s
seat being formed of stout straps or webbing stretched upon
crutches, after the fashion of a sailor’s hammock.
=Hammered.= A stockbroker is said to be “hammered” when he is driven out
of the Stock Exchange on account of his failure to meet his
liabilities.
=Hammersmith.= Originally _Hammerschmiede_, literally Saxon for
blacksmith’s shop. In the early periods of its history this village
had a great number of smithies.
=Hampshire= (or =Hants=). The shire of the Hamptune, Hantone, or Anton,
which river gives its name to the county town and “Southampton
Water.”
=Hampstead.= From “Homestead,” signifying the enclosed property--_i.e._
farm buildings--of a rural mansion.
=Hampton.= From the Saxon _heim_, home, to which _ton_ or town was
added. “Hampton Wick” expresses the village home on a creek.
=Hampton Court.= In the thirteenth century the manor of Hampton belonged
to the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. Cardinal Wolsey built
himself a sumptuous palace here, and lived in luxurious style.
Eventually he presented it to Henry VIII., since whose time Hampton
Court has remained Crown property. The last monarch who resided here
was George II.
=Hand in your Checks.= An Americanism for dying, giving up the ghost;
meaning properly to make your will and settle your earthly affairs.
All over the United States it is the custom at German restaurants to
give a certain amount of credit to known regular patrons, who now
and again are asked to hand in their checks or vouchers for
settlement.
=Handkerchief.= Anciently a kerchief, which term was a corruption of
“Coverchef,” from the French _couvrir_, to cover, and _chef_, the
head, reserved for hand use in wiping the face, and carried in the
left sleeve of the garment. At a later period, until the reign of
Elizabeth, when pockets came into vogue, the handkerchief found a
place in the pouch worn on the left side of the girdle.
=Handsel Monday.= The first Monday in the New Year, when _handsels_ or
gifts were bestowed upon servants. The word “Handsel” is
Anglo-Saxon, meaning the delivery of something into another’s hands;
also the first instalment of a series of payments as an earnest of
good faith.
=Handyman.= The modern designation of a bluejacket or man-of-war’s-man.
Since 1882, when, after the bombardment of Alexandria, he was sent
ashore to cooperate with our troops in Egypt, he has proved himself
not only an expert fighting man with the cutlass and musket, but an
agile auxiliary to the artillery--in short, a handy man in all
respects.
=Hangbird.= The Baltimore oriole, which suspends its nest from a tree
branch.
=Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered.= The former capital sentence for treason.
The criminal was drawn to the place of execution upon a hurdle,
hanged, and his body was hewn into four quarters, each being spiked
in a public place as an example to the multitude. This quartering
was substituted, in the fifty-fourth year of the reign of George
III., for the disembowelling of the hanged criminal while he was yet
alive.
=Hang of the Thing.= An Americanism for the mechanism or the
understanding of a thing--_e.g._ “I can’t get the hang of the thing
nohow.”
=Hanover Square.= In honour of the Hanoverian Succession, because laid
out and built upon in the reign of George I.
=Hansards.= Parliamentary debates and papers, so called because they
were printed by Luke Hansard and his successors from the year 1752
until comparatively recent days.
=Hanse Towns.= Those towns of Northern Germany embraced by the Hansa or
Hanseatic League, as long ago as the thirteenth century, for the
protection of commerce against pirates at sea and marauders on land.
The word _Hansa_ is Gothic for a league, society, federation.
=Hans Place.= After Sir Hans Sloane, the original ground landlord. See
“Sloane Square.”
=Hansom Cab.= The “Safety Cab” patented in 1883 by Joseph Aloysius
Hansom. This was not so much an improvement upon the Four-Wheeler as
a horse-drawn adaptation of the invalids’ chair introduced at
Brighton at the commencement of the century. See “Fly.”
=Hants.= See “Hampshire.”
=Hanway Street.= Here resided Jonas Hanway, the founder of Magdalen
Hospital, who, newly arrived in England from Persia, and in delicate
health, excited much ridicule because he was the first male
pedestrian to carry an umbrella through the London streets as a
protection against the rain. Hackney coachmen were especially wrath
at this innovation, foreseeing that their business would be ruined
if it caught on with the public.
=Happify.= An Americanism for to make happy--_e.g._ “One ought to try to
happify mankind.”
=Hapsburg.= The name of the Imperial family of Austria, derived from
_Habichtsburg_, or “Hawk’s Castle,” built by Werner, Bishop of
Strasburg, on the right bank of the Aar, in the Swiss canton of the
Aargau--_i.e._ country of the Aar River.
=Hard pushed.= See “Hard up.”
=Hard-shell Baptists.= The American term for the hard and strait-laced
sect of Baptists; corresponding to that which in England is
designated the “Particular Baptists.”
=Hard up.= The allusion is to being pushed hard by circumstances into a
tight corner.
=Harem.= Expresses the Arabic for “Sacred Spot.”
=Harewood Square.= From the town house of the Earls of Harewood.
=Harlequin.= From the Italian _arlechino_, a satirist, a jester.
=Harlequinade.= The comic scenes of a pantomime. In the original form of
this entertainment the Harlequinade was by far the longer portion,
and the principal character was Harlequin, the lover of Columbine.
To his ingenuity in evading the clown and pantaloon, and confusing
them by wondrous changeful tricks brought about by his magic wand,
the success of the good old English pantomime was due. Speaking
clowns did not come into existence before the days of Grimaldi.
=Harley Street.= After Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the
ground landlord.
=Harmonium.= From the sustained harmonies produced on this wind
instrument by means of the keys and finger-board.
=Harold Harefoot.= Harold I., the Saxon King of England, surnamed
“Harefoot” because he was fleet of foot as a hare.
=Harpsichord.= An old form of pianoforte, so called because it was a
harp encased longitudinally, and its chords were produced by the
player on a key or finger board.
=Harpur Street.= After Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor in 1562, the owner
of a considerable estate in this neighbourhood.
=Harrier.= A dog specially suited for hunting the hare owing to his keen
scent; also one who engages in a foot race according to the rule
that each individual contestant makes for the goal by a different
route.
=Harringay.= Expresses a neighbourhood or district abounding in hares.
=Harrington Square.= The property of one of the Earls of Harrington,
whose daughter married the seventh Duke of Bedford.
=Hart Street.= Both these thoroughfares, in Bloomsbury and off Drury
Lane, received their names from an adjacent inn sign, “The White
Hart.”
=Harum-scarum.= One who is such a fright that he scares all beholders,
causing them to fly from him with the swiftness of a hare.
=Harvard University.= The foundation and endowment of the Rev. John
Harvard at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1638.
=Harvest Festival.= This distinctly religious observance by way of
thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth really originated in or
grew out of the Harvest Supper which landlords were accustomed to
give their tenants after the harvest had been gathered in, because
what was the ancient “Lammas Day” fell into abeyance at the
Reformation.
=Harz Mountains.= Both these mountain ranges are for the most part
forest clad. _Harz_ is Old Saxon for wood, forest.
=Hasn’t a Leg to stand on.= A figurative expression applied to one whose
argument has no support or firm basis.
=Has the true Ring.= A phrase generally applied to poetry, in allusion
to the common test of genuine or debased coin by “ringing” it on a
board or table.
=Hatton Garden.= Laid out across the extensive grounds attached to
Hatton House, in which resided Sir Christopher Hatton, the
Chancellor of Queen Elizabeth.
=Hauled over the Coals.= An expression dating back to the Ordeal by
Fire, where persons accused of a crime were made to walk barefooted
over red-hot iron shares or glowing embers. If they did so unharmed
that was considered a proof of their innocence.
=Hautboy.= From the French _hautbois_, literally “high wood,” being a
high-toned reed instrument.
=Havelock.= The white cloth forming part of the military cap as a
protection against the scorching rays of the sun, introduced by
General Havelock during the Indian Mutiny.
=Haversack.= Provincial English for Oatsack, derived from the German
_habersack_. The word _hafre_, oats, is Scandinavian.
=Haverstock Hill.= From a stockaded dwelling among the oats. See
“Haversack.”
=Havre.= Originally “Le Havre de Notre Dame de Grace,” the Harbour of
Our Lady of Mercy, afterwards shortened into “Havre de Grace.”
=Hawker.= From the German _hoken_, to carry on the back. A pedlar who
carried his wares in a sack over his shoulder.
=Hawkeye State.= Iowa, owing to the sanguinary conflicts with the savage
tribe led by the chief “Hawkeye.” Its people are called “Hawkeyes.”
=Hawthorn.= Expresses the Anglo-Saxon for “hedge thorn.”
=Haydon Square.= After the ground landlord, John Heydon, Alderman of the
city of London towards the close of the sixteenth century.
=Hay Hill.= Marks the situation, together with Hill Street and Farm
Street, of an old farm on the lands of John, Lord Berkeley of
Stratton, _temp._ Charles I.
=Haymarket.= Where hay was sold in open market prior to January 1831.
=Hayti.= West Indian for “mountainous country.”
=Hazing.= An Americanism for a mad sport or frolic. Specifically it
expresses the tricks played upon, and the ignominious treatment
meted out to, an unpopular comrade in the army and the Military
Schools; what in our own country is called “Ragging.” Like most
other Americanisms, the word cannot be explained on etymological
grounds.
=Hear, Hear.= A modern form of the ancient parliamentary exclamation
“Hear him!” to enjoin silence while a Member was addressing the
House.
=Hearse.= From the French _herse_ and German _hirsch_. Both these terms
expressed a harrow or triangular candlestick set at the head of a
coffin at a funeral service in church. At a later period they
implied a sepulchral mound temporarily distinguished by a triangular
stake setting forth a number or other identification mark. The
modern application of the term to a vehicle specially designed for
the conveyance of a body to the grave was an easy transition.
=Heart-breakers.= Artificial ringlets formerly worn by ladies to enhance
their beauty. It is said that the most inveterate woman-hater was
not proof against the attraction of these Heart-breakers.
=Heathen.= Literally a dweller on a heath in the open country. The
Romans applied the term to those who, having no communion with the
dwellers in cities, were cut off from all knowledge of their
complicated system of mythology. When Rome became converted to
Christianity the untutored inhabitants of the country at large were
the last to receive the Gospel. A heathen nation therefore, in a
religious sense, is one far removed from civilisation, which offers
a fruitful field for missionary work.
=Heaven-sent Minister.= William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham, one of the
most eminent statesmen that England has ever possessed. His intense
love of his own country prompted him to measures which made the
success of British arms pre-eminent. Had his colleagues during the
later portion of his career been actuated by the same patriotism as
himself, and heeded his warnings, our American colonies might never
have separated from the Mother Country.
=Heavy Hill.= Holborn Hill, because the hearts of those riding in the
fatal cart to the place of execution at Tyburn were heavily laden.
=“He” Bible.= The first edition of the Authorised Version, containing a
typographical error in Ruth iii. 15: “And _he_ went into the city.”
The subsequent edition, published in the same year, in which the
passage was rectified, became known as “The ‘She’ Bible.”
=Hebrews.= Said to be descendants of Eber, the great-grandson of Shem,
one of the ancestors of Abraham. The greater probability, however,
is that the term has been derived from the native _ebher_, the
region on the other side--_i.e._ of the Euphrates.
=Hebrides.= Expresses the “Western Isles” of the Norwegians.
=Hector.= To swagger, bully, treat with insolence, after Hector, the
celebrated Trojan warrior. From the known character of this hero of
antiquity it is not easy to conceive that he could ever have been a
braggart. The inference is rather that this word in its accepted
sense was derived from the brutal manner in which Achilles treated
the body of Hector after he had slain him in single combat.
=Hedge Priest.= Specifically in Ireland an itinerant cleric unattached
to any mission; one admitted to Holy Orders without having studied
theology.
=Hedge School.= An open-air school in the poor rural districts of
Ireland beside a hedge.
=Heel of Achilles.= When Thetis, the mother of Achilles, dipped her son
in the River Styx to make him invulnerable the water laved every
portion of his body save that by which she held him. It was
accordingly in the heel that he received his mortal wound.
=Heir Apparent.= The rightful heir to the crown, whose succession is
beyond a doubt provided he survives the reigning monarch.
=Heir-Presumptive.= The presumed heir to the crown provided no child in
the direct line of succession is born to supersede his claim.
=Heligoland.= Danish for “Holy Land,” which name was bestowed upon it
after the conversion of its people by St Willibrod in the seventh
century. A great many conventual establishments sprang up on the
soil, but the encroachments of the sea had swept them away by the
seventeenth century. Prior to their conversion the _Anglii_ were
wont to repair to this isle from the opposite mainland for the
worship of the goddess Hertha, also known as Foseta, of whose temple
it is said some ruins yet remain.
=Heliotrope.= From the Greek _helios_, sun, and _tropos_, to turn. The
flowers of this plant are said always to turn towards the sun.
=Hello Girls.= A nickname popularly bestowed upon the telephone girls in
the Post Office Department at St Martin’s-le-Grand.
=Hellespont.= The older name of the “Dardanelles,” where Helle in
fleeing from her stepmother was drowned. This occurred at the point
where Xerxes with his army had crossed the strait on a temporary
bridge.
=Hell Kettles.= Three very deep pits full of water at Oxenhall, Durham.
The people of the neighbourhood declare them to be bottomless. They
are really disused coal pits, the water in which cannot be drained
off.
=Helmuth the Taciturn.= The sobriquet of Count Von Moltke, Field Marshal
of the German Empire, on account of his habitual reserve.
=Helot.= The name given by the Spartans to a slave from the Greek town
of _Helos_, whose inhabitants they reduced to slavery.
=Henbane.= A plant which is poisonous to poultry.
=Henchman.= A corruption of “Haunchman,” the groom or servant who out of
doors was in constant attendance upon his master at the flank or
haunches of his horse. See “Flunkey.”
=Heneage Lane.= After the residence of Sir Thomas Heneage, Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster in the sixteenth century.
=Henrietta Street.= In Covent Garden, after Henrietta Maria, Queen of
Charles I. On the north side of Oxford Street, after Henrietta
Cavendish, who, by her marriage, carried not only a goodly portion
of the Cavendish estate, but also that of her father, Lord Holles,
into the Harley family.
=Henry Irving.= See “Irving.”
=Heptarchy.= The Saxon division of England comprising Kent, Sussex,
Wessex, Essex, East Anglia, Mercia, and Northumbria, each having
originally its own ruler.
=Herculaneum.= The foundation of this buried city was by the Romans
traditionally ascribed to Hercules.
=Hereford.= Expresses the Saxon for “army ford” over the River Wye.
During the Heptarchy this was the military headquarters of Mercia.
=Heroic Verse.= That usually selected for epic poetry, since the
exploits of Achilles at the siege of Troy were set forth by Homer in
hexameters.
=Hertford.= Originally “Hartford,” being the ford of the River Lea
crossed by harts.
=He’s a Brick.= This expression, if not quite as old as the hills,
carries us back to the time of Plutarch, who in his “Lives” gives
the following account of its origin:--“On a certain occasion, an
ambassador from Epirus paid a visit to Argesilaus, King of Sparta,
on a mission of diplomatic importance. By that monarch he was shown
over the capital. But the ambassador failed to see any massive walls
reared to defend the city, and openly expressed his astonishment to
the King. ‘Sire!’ he said, ‘I have visited most of your principal
towns, and find no walls reared for defence. Why is this?’ ‘Indeed,
Sir Ambassador,’ Argesilaus replied, ‘thou canst not have looked
carefully. Come with me to-morrow, and I will show thee the walls of
Sparta.’ On the following morning the King conducted his guest out
upon the plains, where his army was drawn up in full battle array,
and, proudly pointing to the serried host, he exclaimed: ‘There, Sir
Ambassador, thou beholdest the walls of Sparta--ten thousand men,
and every man a brick!’”
=He’s joined the Majority.= See “Gone over to the Majority.”
=Hessel Street.= The recent change from Morgan Street to Hessel Street
in Stepney is accounted for by the discovery that here a celebrated
character, in the person of Phœbe Hessel, was born. For many
years she served as a private soldier in the Fifth Regiment of Foot,
and fought at the Battle of Fontenoy, in which engagement she was
wounded. A long inscription on her tombstone in Brighton churchyard
would have us believe that she was at the time of her death, 21st
December 1821, no less than one hundred and eight years of age.
=Hessian.= An Americanism for a hireling, a fighter for pay, a mercenary
politician. The Hessian soldiers have always been ready to enlist in
a foreign service for pay.
=Hessian Fly.= An insect which has caused the utmost destruction among
young wheat in North America, so called because it was said to have
been introduced by the Hessian troops in their horse straw during
the Revolution.
=Hetman.= The Russian title of the general or headman of the Cossacks,
derived from the Tartar _Ataman_. This too supplies the origin of
the German _Hauptmann_, captain, chief, or headman of a village.
=Hibernia.= See “Ireland.”
=Hickory.= See “Old Hickory.”
=Hicksite Friends.= An American offshoot of the Society of Friends or
Quakers under Elias Hicks in 1827.
=Highbury.= From the _bury_ or enclosed land belonging to the Knights of
St John of Jerusalem in Clerkenwell. In 1271 they built a priory
here, of which the barn remained standing until modern days.
Compared with the low-lying district round about, this was elevated
ground.
=Highbury Barn.= Originally a cake and ale house contiguous to the
ancient barn of the Clerkenwell Priory. This place of public resort
developed into a theatre in 1865; subsequently it degenerated into a
dancing saloon, and was finally abolished in 1875.
=Highfalutin.= A corruption of “high-flighting.” This word originated in
the western states of North America.
=Highgate.= The village that sprang up around the ancient toll gate on
the road from London to Barnet. The tolls levied here were for the
benefit of the Bishop of London. Even in our time this elevated
situation commands a good view of London. The absurd ceremony of
“swearing on the horns” was formerly imposed on all travellers
passing through the gate.
=High Seas.= The great ocean highways out of sight of land and common to
mariners of all nations.
=High Tea.= A substantial meat tea towards the close of the day in place
of the fashionable set dinner. This is the invariable custom in
Germany. In English it is usual to designate such a meal as a “Knife
and Fork Tea.” See “High Time.”
=High Time.= A phrase employed in the same sense as High Street, High
Seas, Highway, etc.--_i.e._ great. The German word for wedding is
_Hochzeit_, literally a “high time.” In America the expression for a
festive occasion or a pleasurable trip is “a good time.”
=Hilary Term.= In law the sittings of the Courts from 11th to 13th
January, so called from the festival of St Hilary, Bishop of
Poitiers, on the latter date.
=Hill Street.= See “Hay Hill.”
=Himalaya Mountains.= From the Sanskrit _hima_, snow, and _alaya_,
abode.
=Hinde Street.= After James Hinde, a speculative builder, who more than
a century ago laid out many of the streets now covering what was the
estate of Marylebone Park.
=Hindustan.= Agreeably to the Persian _stan_, the country traversed by
the Hindu or Indus; both terms are derived from the Sanskrit
_Sindhu_, “great river.”
=Hippodrome.= Expresses the Greek for a race-course, from _hippos_, a
horse, and _dromos_, a course.
=Hippocras.= A cordial of spiced wine, so called by the apothecaries
because it was supposed to have been made from the prescription of
Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine.
=His Nibs.= A corruption of “His Nobs”; used ironically for “His
Highness” in reference to a parvenu or a conceited upstart.
=Hispania.= See “Spain.”
=Hoboken.= Indian for the “smoke pipe,” or pipe of peace. This was the
place where the chiefs first met the white settlers, and while
passing round the calumet entered into a friendly treaty.
=Hobson’s Choice.= In the seventeenth century Tobias Hobson kept a
livery stable at Cambridge. When the students at the University
wished to hire a horse for the day he led out the occupant of the
first stall. If they demurred, he said abruptly: “It’s this one or
none.” So Hobson’s choice settled the question.
=Hock.= The general name for Rhenish wines, but properly that made at
Hockheim on the Maine.
=Hockey.= Expresses the diminutive of _hook_, the club used in this game
being only slightly hooked at the end.
=Hocking.= See “Hock Tuesday.”
=Hockley.= Anglo-Saxon for a miry field. Clerkenwell was at one time
called “Hockley-in-the-Hole,” after a bear garden dating from the
Restoration period.
=Hock Tuesday.= Anciently a high festival throughout England, in
commemoration for the final expulsion of the Danes, who had ravaged
the eastern portions of our country for more than two centuries.
This occurred on Easter Tuesday 1074. Most of the Danes were
slaughtered off-hand by first hamstringing, or cutting their hams or
houghs, which prevented them from making for their boats; hence the
term _Hock_ for the festival. The English landlords levied what was
called “Hock Money” on this day from their tenants, in return for
which they treated them to a good supper. In modern times people
stopped pedestrians in the streets with ropes, and declined to
release them until they had parted with hock money.
=Hocus-pocus.= The gibberish of a conjurer when performing his tricks;
said to have been derived from one Ochus Bochus, a celebrated wizard
of Northern Europe, three centuries ago. The early conjurers were
thought to use these words as an invocation to this magician.
Nowadays our sleight-of-hand professors dispense with words, and
fire off a pistol, doubtless to prove that they can do the trick in
a crack.
=Hodge.= The generic name for a farm labourer; a corruption of _Hedger_.
=Hoist with his own Petard.= Caught in his own trap, blown up with his
own engine of destruction. The petard was an ancient infernal engine
filled with gunpowder; he who fired it stood in great danger of
sacrificing his own life.
=Holborn.= Anciently spelt “Holeburne,” the bourn or stream in a hollow.
This was the River Fleet, which had an outlet into the Thames.
Further north, in Clerkenwell, it was called “the River of Wells.”
=Holborn Bars.= The western limits of the city of London.
=Hold hard.= This exclamation, when the advice really means to stop or
“leave go,” sounds ridiculous. It originally meant, as it still does
in the Emerald Isle, to keep a firm hold with both hands on the back
rail of an Irish jaunting car lest the rider might be thrown out of
it.
=Hole in the Wall.= A tavern sign, derived from the fact that this house
was originally approached either through an opening made in the
ancient city wall or else through another house that stood in front
of it.
=Holiday.= The modern form of “Holy Day,” expressive of a great feast in
the Church calendar.
=Holland.= From the Danish _ollant_, “marshy ground.” The linen cloth of
the same name was first made in Holland.
=Holland Road.= From Holland House, the residence of Henry Rich, Earl of
Holland, _temp._ Charles I. By his marriage with the Dowager
Countess of Warwick, widow of Lord Holland, in 1710, Joseph Addison
became nominally master of this noble mansion, and here he died.
=Hollands.= See “Gin.”
=Holles Street.= In the West End, after John Holles, the last Duke of
Newcastle, whose only daughter by her marriage carried the entire
estate hereabouts into the possession of the Harleys. In Drury Lane,
the name given by Gilbert, Earl of Clare, whose house stood in what
became Clare Market, in honour of his uncle, Denzil, Lord Holles,
_temp._ Charles I.
=Holloway.= At one time a miry highway in a hollow between Highbury and
Highgate.
=Holloway College.= Founded in 1883 for the higher education of women at
Egham, Surrey, by Thomas Holloway, the pioneer of modern advertising
on a lavish scale.
=Hollyhock.= A species of mallow, called by the Anglo-Saxon _hoc_, and
first brought to Europe from the Holy Land. Hence _holy-hoc_.
=Holly Village.= A modern settlement at Highgate founded by the Baroness
Burdett Coutts-Bartlett but a short distance removed from her rural
retreat known as Holly Lodge.
=Holy Boys.= The regimental nickname of the 9th Foot, because they
sacked monasteries and sold Bibles in the street during the
Peninsular War.
=Holy Cross Day.= Otherwise the “Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross,”
14th September, commemorates, the restoration of the Cross of Christ
to Jerusalem, A.D. 628.
=Holy Land.= Palestine, the scene of the birth, life labours, and death
of the Redeemer.
=Holy Maid of Kent.= The name given to Elizabeth Barton, a poor Kentish
servant girl, who, subject to trances, foretold events, and
afterwards entered a convent at Canterbury. Her fame as a religious
enthusiast increased, until, for pronouncing sentence against the
divorce of Queen Catherine of Aragon, she, in company with five
monks, was hanged at Tyburn.
=Holyrood Palace.= This residence of the ancient kings of Scotland grew
out of the Abbey of the Holy Rood built by David I. as the permanent
abode of the Black Rood, brought to Scotland by St Margaret in 1070.
This precious relic was a piece of the true cross set in gold and
ebony. It fell into the hands of the English at the battle of
Neville’s Cross in 1344, after which all trace of it was lost. James
II. was born at Holyrood; here too he was buried. The foundations of
the new palace were laid by James IV. in 1500.
=Holywell.= From the miraculous well of St Winifred in Flintshire, the
scene of her martyrdom.
=Holywell Lane.= Here, in Shoreditch, stood an ancient Priory of Nuns of
St John the Baptist, in the grounds of which a “sweet, holy well”
was discovered.
=Holywell Street.= This now vanished thoroughfare, east of the Strand,
received its name from a Holy Well close to the Church of St Clement
Danes. That in Westminster marks the site of the town house of the
Grosvenors, whose rural estates lay around “Holywell” in Flintshire.
=Homely.= An Americanism for “plain,” “ugly;” applied to persons only.
=Home Office.= The official department of the Secretary for
Home--_i.e._, internal, Affairs.
=Homerton.= A corruption of “Heimathton,” which expressed the town that
grew out of the Saxon village styled _Heimath_, “home” or “native
country.”
=Honduras.= Spanish for “deep water.”
=Honey Lane.= In this lane stood an ancient market-house or hall for the
sale of honey. Owing to the dearness of sugar prior to the discovery
of America and the colonisation of the West Indies, honey was in
general request.
=Honeymoon.= From the custom of the Scandinavians, who drank Hydromel,
or diluted honey, for thirty days after a marriage feast.
=Honiton Lace.= A superior kind of “Pillow Lace” made at Honiton in
Devonshire. This industry was introduced into England by the
Lollards, _temp._ Elizabeth.
=Honor Oak.= From the famous boundary oak beneath which Queen Elizabeth
once dined. Prior to that event it bore the name of Gospel Oak,
under whose shade, in common with all other parish boundary oaks,
the Gospel was read there once a year.
=Hoodlum.= A street rough, originally a product of San Francisco,
but now common in New York and most cities of the American
Union. The origin of the term was thus accounted for by _The
Congregationalist_, 26th September 1877: “A newspaper man in San
Francisco, in attempting to coin a word to designate a gang of
young street Arabs under the beck of one named ‘Muldoon,’ hit
upon the idea of dubbing them _Noodlums_--that is, simply
reversing the leader’s name. In writing the word the strokes of
the _N_ did not correspond in height, and the compositor, taking
the _N_ for an _H_, printed it _Hoodlum_. ‘Hoodlum’ it is, and
probably ever will be.”
=Hoodman Blind.= The ancient form of the game of “Blind Man’s Buff.”
Instead of being bandaged the Blind Man had the hood, which everyone
wore, drawn over his eyes.
=Hook it.= A variant of “Sling your Hook.”
=Hook of Holland.= From the Dutch _hoek_, a cape, a corner. The same
perverted designation obtained in all the early Dutch settlements of
New York State, notably “Sandy Hook.”
=Hooligan.= A London rough. This term is of quite modern date, and
clearly an adaptation of that which has become common all over the
United States. See “Hoodlum.”
=Hooter.= A United States corruption of _iota_. The people of New York
State in particular are addicted to the saying: “I don’t care a
hooter whether I do or not.” “This note isn’t worth a hooter,” etc.
=Hoosier State.= Indiana, from the nickname given to its people.
“Hoosier” is really a corruption of _Husher_, touching the power of
a bully to silence a stranger. The Hoosiers are noted for their
brusque manners. The state is also called “Hoosierdom.”
=Hopkinsians.= An American Calvinistic sect named after their founder,
Samuel Hopkins of Connecticut.
=Hornbill.= A bird distinguished for a horny excrescence on its bill.
=Horn Book.= A primitive text-book for children. It was really no book
at all, but a piece of paper containing the alphabet, the nine
digits, and at times the Lord’s Prayer, mounted on a small flat
board, over which was stretched a transparent sheet of horn; below
was a handle to hold it by.
=Hornpipe.= A lively sailor’s dance, which had its origin in the west of
England to the accompaniment of a Welsh musical instrument of the
same name composed of a wooden pipe with a horn at each end.
=Hornsey.= A corruption of “Harringsey,” a watered meadow of hares.
=Horse Chestnut.= Some say this term is a corruption of “Coarse
Chestnut,” in contradistinction to the edible chestnut; others that
these chestnuts were formerly ground up and given to horses for
food.
=Horseferry Road.= Where horses were conveyed across the Thames on a
ferry boat in bygone times.
=Horse Latitudes.= A portion of the Atlantic distinguished for its
tedious calms, where old navigators were wont to throw overboard the
horses they had to transport to the West Indies in order to lighten
the ship.
=Horsleydown.= A corruption of “Horsadown”; formerly a down or hilly
ground used for grazing horses.
=Horse Marines.= There can be no Horse Marines; but the 17th Lancers
were at one time made to bear this opprobrious nickname from the
circumstance that two men of this regiment had originally served as
Marines on board the _Hermione_ in the West Indies.
=Horse Shoe.= A large public-house at the Oxford Street end of Tottenham
Court Road, this sign being derived from the trade mark of Messrs
Meux’s brewery adjoining.
=Hose.= From the Icelandic _hosa_, stocking.
=Hosier Lane.= From the hosiers who congregated in it.
=Hospice.= From the Latin _hospes_, a stranger, guest. This term is now
confined to an Alpine retreat for the reception of travellers.
Elsewhere the French word Hospital obtains for any establishment set
apart for the temporary accommodation of the poor. Formerly,
however, it implied a lazar-house or a refuge for fallen women; in
its modern sense a hospital is exclusively an institution for the
sick poor.
=Hospice of St Bernard.= See “Bernardine Hospice.”
=Hospital.= See “Hospice.”
=Hostelry.= From the old French _hostellerie_, an inn, through the Latin
_hospes_, a stranger, a guest. The modern French form is “Hotel,”
which implies not only an establishment for the entertainment of
travellers, but also a superior house or palace.
=Hotel.= See “Hostelry.”
=Hotel des Invalides.= A magnificent establishment in Paris, originally
designed as an asylum for invalided and disabled soldiers by Henry
IV. in 1596. Prior to that time no provision existed for warriors
who had spent their best energies in their country’s service save
the charity of the monastic institutions.
=Hotspur.= The surname of Harry Percy, on account of his mad courage
when mounted on his charger. A man of fiery, ungovernable temper is
said to be “a regular Hotspur.”
=Houndsditch.= The dry ditch outside the city wall which was made the
receptacle for all kinds of refuse, and dead dogs in particular.
=Houp la.= This exclamation on the part of a circus ringmaster as the
signal for an equestrienne to leap over horizontal barriers or
through paper hoops has been derived from the Californian stage
drivers’ ejaculation to their horses.
=Housemaids’ Knee.= Housemaids are specially liable to this affection of
the sac under the knee-pan through kneeling on hard or damp floors.
=House of Keys.= The Representative Council of the Isle of Man, so
called from the Manx _Kiare-as-feed_, four and twenty, this being
the number appointed by statute to form the “Court of Tynwald.”
Tynwald is an artificial mound in the centre of the island whence a
new law has from time immemorial been promulgated.
=Housewarming.= The name given to a party or reception of guests on
taking possession of a newly built mansion. This was of old a winter
function, when the lighting of large fires in all the rooms for the
occasion proved serviceable in drying the plastered walls and
ceilings.
=Howard Street.= From the town house and grounds of the Howards, Dukes
of Norfolk and Earls of Arundel and Surrey, that stood on the large
plot of ground now covered by the four streets bearing these names.
=Howitzer.= A German cannon, properly called a _haubitze_, from the
Bohemian term _haufnice_, a sling.
=Hoxton.= Little more than a hundred years ago this district bore the
name of _Hogsdon_ on account of the great number of pigs bred here.
Hog Lane still exists off the High Street.
=Hub.= The proud pet name of the city of Boston, the social centre of
the United States, in the same sense as the hub is a centre for a
wheel. The origin of the term is ascribed to Dr Oliver Wendell
Holmes who, in one of his books spoke of the State House at Boston
as “the hub of the solar system.”
=Hudibrastic Verse.= That which is in imitation of the measure and
doggerel style of Samuel Butler’s “Hudibras.”
=Hudson River.= After Captain Henry Hudson, who discovered it in 1609. A
year later, when searching for a north-west passage, he navigated
the bay and the strait named in his honour.
=Huggin Lane.= After Hugan, a wealthy citizen who resided here, _temp._
Edward I.
=Huguenots.= The name borne by the adherents of the Reformation in
France, after Hugh, a Genevese Calvinist, their leader, and the
German _eidgenossen_, confederates.
=Hull.= From the river upon which it stands. Its ancient name was
Kingston-upon-Hull, a town founded by Edward I. in 1299.
=Hull Cheese.= A strong ale for which the “Good Old Town of Hull” was at
one time famous. To “eat Hull cheese” was to get incontinently
drunk.
=Hull, Hell, and Halifax.= In olden times, before Kingston-upon-Hull
could be approached direct from the Humber, the River Hull was
navigable, as now, only at high water, and even then it required
very skilful pilotage on account of the many sandbanks at its mouth;
it was therefore dreaded by seafaring men. Taylor, the Water Poet,
wrote: “From Hull, Hell, and Halifax, good Lord, deliver us!” The
reference to Halifax arose out of the knowledge that in his day a
man could be executed there for stealing property to the value of
thirteen pence halfpenny. See “Halifax Gibbet Law.”
=Humanitarians.= Those who believe in the complete humanity of Christ,
namely--that He was capable of committing sin like any other mortal.
=Humble Bee.= A corruption of “Humming Bee.”
=Humbug.= The old mode of expressing approbation of a speech or at the
play was by humming, but since the sincerity of this form of
applause could not always be relied upon, intermingled as it may
have been with suppressed murmurs of disapproval, the word _Hum_
came to be applied to mock admiration or flattery, intended only to
deceive. Hence the saying: “That’s all hum.” The added word _Bug_ is
very old, signifying a frightful object, a thing to be shunned. To
humbug is to deceive; to prefer candour to humbug is to be proof
against flattery.
=Humming Bird.= So called from the sound caused by the rapid motion of
its wings in flight.
=Hummums.= A hotel in Covent Garden built on the site of a Persian or
Turkish sweating bath so called in the seventeenth century. The name
is Arabic.
=Hundred.= A Saxon subdivision of the English shires said to have been
introduced by Alfred the Great. Each hundred comprised a colony of
“ten times ten” families--that is to say, ten divisions of ten
freeholders and their dependents in each. In all then there were one
hundred champions to defend the common cause. In legal and
ecclesiastical documents relative to lands such property is still
said to be situate in a particular “hundred” as well as parish.
=Hungary.= The country of the Huns, who swarmed over from Asia and
expelled the Goths from this portion of Europe in the fourth
century. When first heard of in China, about a hundred years
previous, the natives designated them _Hiong-nu_, signifying
“Giants.” These Huns were really the Mongolian race still known as
the _Kalmucks_. The suffix _gary_ is a Western modification of the
Teutonic _gau_, district or country.
=Hungary Water.= A perfume, properly called “The Queen of Hungary’s
Water” from the circumstance that the recipe had been given by a
hermit to one of the queens of Hungary.
=Hung on Wires.= An American expression for one suffering from “nerves,”
a nervous or fidgety person.
=Huns.= See “Hungary.”
=Huntingdon.= Expresses the shire most favoured for hunting, this being
anciently a vast deer forest.
=Hurly-burly.= An expression derived from the tumult of ancient warfare,
with especial reference to the hurling of spears and battle-axes.
The witches in _Macbeth_ say:
“When the hurly-burly’s done,
When the battle’s lost and won.”
=Huron.= This lake was so called by the French settlers on account of
the profusion of hair of the Indian tribe, the Wyandots, whom they
encountered on its shores. _Hure_ is French for “head of hair.”
=Hurrah.= This exclamation is from the Scandinavian _Hurra_, said to
have been originally _Thor-aie_, an invocation to the god Thor for
aid in battle, just as the battle cry of the Normans was _Ha-Rou_,
in honour of Rollo.
=Hurricane.= From the West Indian _urican_, “a violent wind.” The word
was introduced to Europe by seamen, and so became incorporated in
various languages.
=Hurry up.= An exclamation derived, both in England and America, from
the custom of eating-house keepers anxious to expedite the service
from the kitchens below stairs.
=Husbands’ Boat.= The steamboat by which city men and others go down to
Margate for the week-end holiday in order to join their families who
are staying there for the season.
=Hussar.= Expresses the Hungarian for a “twenty-paid soldier”--_husz_
meaning twenty, and _ar_ the price of. When Matthias Corvinus
ascended the throne of the Magyars he decreed that, in order to
provide a regular cavalry, each twenty families must enrol and equip
one mounted soldier free of all cost to the State. An interesting
point in connection with the uniform of the Hussar regiments
everywhere was that they always allowed the right sleeve of the
upper jacket to hang loose on their backs. This was only in keeping
with the general custom of the Magyar peasantry, who had the right
arm free on all occasions.
=Hussites.= The Protestants of Bohemia, after John Huss, the Reformer.
=Hussy.= A corruption of “housewife.” The epithet now implies a
slatternly sort of woman.
=Hustings.= The ancient name for the Court of Aldermen in the city of
London. In modern days it came to imply the platform from which
candidates for election delivered their addresses to the populace.
The word _Husting_ expressed the Anglo-Saxon for a council-house:
from the Scandinavian _hus_, house, and _thing_, an assembly.
=Hustler.= An Americanism for a smart, energetic tradesman, more
especially a caterer or restaurateur, who hustles about and never
keeps his customers waiting. The word “Hustle” comes from the Dutch
_hutselen_, to shake together or to and fro.
=Hyacinth.= According to the Greek fable this flower sprang from the
blood of the beautiful youth Hyacinthus, who, having aroused the
jealousy of Zephyr, received his death-blow at her hands by casting
Apollo’s quoit at his head.
=Hyde Park.= Anciently described as the Hyde Manor belonging to the
Abbots of St Peter’s, Westminster.
=Hyde Park Corner.= Of old the western extremity of London, defined by a
toll gate.
=Hydro.= Short for a hydropathic establishment.
=Hythe.= From the Anglo-Saxon _hithe_, a haven.
I
=Iambic Verse.= Poetical satires written in _Iambics_, or two-syllable
foot measure, were originally so called after Iambe, an attendant
upon one of the queens of Sparta, who kept a commonplace book of
lively, free, and satirical pieces.
=Iberia.= The ancient name of Spain, from the _Iberi_, its original
inhabitants. These were maritime adventurers from Phœnicia who
penetrated the country by way of the River Ebro. When in course of
time the Celts descended upon them from the Pyrenees, they spread
themselves to the south and west. On reaching the sea at the
farthest limit of their wanderings they imagined themselves at the
end of the world, and so gave the name of _Iber_, a Phœnician
word of that import, to the country. Its principal eastern river,
the Ebro, retains the original name.
=Iceland.= So called because its north and west coasts are generally
blocked with ice that has drifted down from Greenland.
=Iceland Moss.= A lichen indigenous to Iceland and Greenland which is
said to be very efficacious in the treatment of consumption.
=Ice Plant.= Found in South Africa, and so called on account of its
glittering, watery vesicles which give it the appearance of being
covered with ice.
=Ich Dien.= German for “I serve.” The motto assumed by Edward the Black
Prince after he found it under the plume of John, King of Bohemia,
slain by him at the battle of Cressy.
=Iconoclast.= An image breaker, from the Greek _eikon_, image, and
_klazo_, I break.
=Idolater.= From the Greek _eidolon_, a figure, and _latres_,
worshipper. The root of this word, _eidein_, to see, furnishes the
key to its true meaning. An idolater is one who worships that which
he sees, not on account of its intrinsic worth, but because it is a
visible representation, or it may be merely a symbol, of the deity
that he is taught to venerate.
=Idol Lane.= Said to be a corruption of Idle Lane, because this was
perhaps the only thoroughfare in the neighbourhood not given up to
business--_i.e._ either as a market or a hive of industrious
artisans.
=Il Bassano.= See “Bassano.”
=Il Furioso.= The sobriquet of Jacopo Robusti, better known as
“Tintoretto,” owing to the rapidity with which he turned out his
wonderful paintings.
=Iliad.= The title of Homer’s epic treating of the destruction of Troy;
originally called _Illium_, after _Ilos_, the founder of the city.
=I’ll be through directly.= An Americanism for “I’ll be ready very
soon,” or “I’ll have it finished directly.”
=Illinois.= The Indian _illini_, men, with the French suffix _oix_, a
tribe.
=I’ll take my Davy on it.= The word “Davy” is a corruption of
“affidavit.”
=Il Perugino.= The better-known name of the celebrated Italian artist
Pietro Vanucci, who, born at Citta della Pieve in Umbria,
established himself and remained all his life in the neighbouring
city of Perugia.
=Il Tintoretto.= See “Tintoretto.”
=Imperial.= The name given to the once fashionable chin tuft, after
Napoleon III., who was the first to wear his beard in this
diminutive fashion.
=In a Crack.= Done instantly, in no more time than it takes for a gun to
go off.
=In a Jiffy.= The word “jiffy” is a corruption of the now obsolete
_gliff_--_i.e._ a mere glance.
=Inch of Candle.= In some parts of the country land is still disposed of
at auction by inch of candle. This was the ancient form of
auctioneering. Candles of inch length were provided, and when the
candle went out the bidding was closed.
=Inchcolm.= Expresses the _inch_ or isle of St Columba, who dwelt here
while labouring to convert the Picts to Christianity.
=In Clover.= In a contented frame of mind because provided with
everything necessary for the time being. Cattle always make for the
clover when turned out to graze.
=Incog.= Short for _Incognito_, an Italian word signifying “not known.”
Royal personages desirous of avoiding ceremony often travel
_incog._, or under an assumed title.
=Independence Day.= The fourth of July, in commemoration of the American
Declaration of Independence, 1776.
=Independents.= The same as “Congregationalists.”
=India.= From the Indus or Hindus, a Persian corruption of the Sanskrit
_Sindhu_, “great river.” By the Greeks this river was known as the
_Hindus_, which with the Persian suffix _stan_ gave the name
“Hindustan” to the whole country. In the time of Columbus, and long
afterwards, the Asiatic continent east of the Ganges was generally
styled India. This accounts for such names as “Indian Ink,” etc.,
products really of the Far East.
=Indiana.= From the great number of Indians that overran this state in
the early days of its history.
=Indianapolis.= The capital of the state of Indiana. _Polis_ is Greek
for city.
=Indian Corn.= Maize, brought from the West Indies.
=Indian File.= A march in single file, as is the custom of the North
American Indians.
=Indian Gift.= A reclaimed present. When a North American Indian gives
anything he expects a gift equivalent in value, or else his own back
again.
=Indian Ink.= Originally brought from China, but now made from
lamp-black and animal glue in England. See “India.”
=Indian Liquor.= See “Indian Whisky.”
=Indian Reservation.= A considerable tract of land on the plains
reserved for the Indian tribes.
=Indians of North America.= When Columbus discovered the “New World” he
was under the impression that he had happened on that vast tract of
country east of the Ganges vaguely known as India. This shows that,
sailing westward as he did, he must have regarded the earth as a
globe.
=Indian Summer.= The equivalent of what is called St Martin’s Summer in
England. The North American Indians always avail themselves of the
pleasant weather during the early part of November for harvesting
their corn; they say there is an unfailing nine days’ second summer
just before the winter sets in.
=Indian Whisky.= The name given to specially adulterated whisky for sale
to the Indians of North America.
=India Paper.= A special kind of paper, made of vegetable fibre in China
and Japan, on which the first impressions, called India proof, of
engravings are taken. See “India.”
=India Proof.= See “India Paper.”
=India-rubber.= Caoutchouc, first imported from China, but now found
elsewhere. See “India.”
=India-rubber Railway Sandwich.= The typical refreshment-room sandwich,
the bread slices of which are as a rule so stale that they defy
hasty mastication.
=Indigo.= A blue dye prepared from the _Indicus_, or Indian plant.
=Industrial Schools.= Also known as Ragged Schools, of which the
scholars are waifs and strays brought together for the acquirement
of some useful industry.
=Infra.= Latin for below, beneath. A word very generally met with in
library catalogues: “See _Infra_.” It is the antithesis of _Supra_,
above.
=Infra Dig.= Short for _Infra Dignitatem_, which expresses the Latin for
“beneath one’s dignity.”
=Infant.= In law, any person under the age of twenty-one.
=Infanta.= The title of princesses of the royal blood in Spain and
Portugal, except the heiress-apparent.
=Infante.= The corresponding title of the sons of the kings of Spain and
Portugal.
=Infant Roscius.= William Henry Betty, the celebrated boy actor, named
after the greatest historian of antiquity. His public career was
brief--viz. five years only, 1803-1808--but during that period he
became the rage; so much so, that while at Covent Garden, where he
received a salary of fifty guineas a night, the military had to be
called out to maintain order.
=Infantry.= Foot soldiers, so called, not because, like children, they
have to be trained to walk, but for the reason that one of the
_Infantes_ of Spain collected a body of armed men, unmounted, to
rescue his father, the King, from captivity at the hands of the
Moors. Afterwards foot soldiers in Spain and Italy received the name
of _Enfanteria_.
=Infirmary.= The older and more correct description of an institution
for the sick and infirm. See “Hospice.”
=Inn.= The Anglo-Saxon word _Inne_ expressed a mansion. The Inns of
Court were originally the town houses of noble families, whose name
they still bear--_e.g._ Gray’s Inn. Our first inns set apart for the
entertainment of travellers were in all cases the mansions of the
nobility left in charge of the trusted servant, the gamekeeper,
during the prolonged absence, either in the wars at home or in the
Crusades abroad, of their owners. The family arms served as a sign.
After the return of his master the servant, now an innkeeper, set up
an inn of his own contiguous to the original, and adopted the same
sign. Here we have an explanation of such grotesque inn signs--now
that their names have taken the place of the painted device--as the
Blue Boar, the Red Lion, etc. At times the innkeeper preferred the
sign of the “Green Man.”
=Innocents’ Day.= December 28th, commemorating the massacre of the Holy
Innocents by Herod. Anciently children were soundly whipped in their
beds before rising on this day. Being undeserving of such
punishment, they were taught to suffer pain for Christ’s sake.
=Inns of Court.= See “Inn.”
=In Quad.= This is not altogether thieves’ slang, though the gipsy word
for prison is _quaid_. Boys at our public schools say they are “in
quad” when they are confined to their own quadrangle. The phrase
became popular in connection with a prison when debtors were
confined in the Fleet, the Marshalsea, and Whitecross Street,
because they were free to receive visitors in the exercise court or
quadrangle.
=Insect.= From the root _seco_, to cut, because this tiny species of the
animal world is, as it were, cut deeply into three distinct parts:
the head, thorax, and abdomen.
=Interlaken.= The Swiss village situated “between the lakes” Brienz and
Thun.
=In the Jug.= Slang for “in prison.” The term is derived from the
Scottish _joug_, a kind of iron yoke or pillory for the head
designed for the punishment of rogues and vagabonds. When at a later
period a round house of stone was set up in the market-place for
such offenders, this earliest prison was popularly called “The Stone
Jug.”
=In the Nick of Time.= This expression originated in the nicks or
notches made in a piece of wood called a Tally, both as an
acknowledgment of money paid and by way of registering a person’s
arrival at a place of assembly. If, in the latter case, he arrived
late, his tally would not be nicked, as evidence of having put in an
appearance.
=In the Odour of Sanctity.= The ancient idea was that the bodies of
saints after death emitted a peculiar fragrant odour. This
originated in the profuse employment of incense at the
administration of the last solemn rites of the Viaticum.
=In the Soup.= An Americanism for “out of the running.” This had
reference originally to the hunting field when a rider was pitched
into a ditch of foul water after leaping a hedge.
=In the Stone Jug.= See “In the Jug.”
=In the Straw.= An expression denoting that a woman has been brought to
bed with a child. Straw was the usual stuffing of a bed formerly
among the poorer orders of the people.
=In the Suds.= An Americanism for being unprepared to receive visitors.
The allusion is to a washerwoman with her hands in the soapsuds.
=In the Swim.= To be admitted to a certain professional or financial
clique. River fish generally keep together, and an angler’s object
is to get what he calls “in the swim.” By so doing he may hook fish
after fish without difficulty.
=In the wrong Box.= The origin of this expression is simply this: When
Vauxhall, Cremorne, Ranelagh, Highbury Barn, and similar alfresco
resorts were in existence, they had rows of cosy hutches or boxes
all around for the benefit of those who wished to do their courting
in private, while they could at the same time listen to the music
and see the illuminations. It was no easy matter for anyone to find
his own box again among the many if he left it; consequently on
returning to his partner after sallying forth, he rendered his
presence obnoxious to strangers by suddenly finding himself in the
wrong box.
=Intrepid Fox.= A historic tavern in Soho named after Charles James Fox,
the great Whig Minister. At the time of the famous election of 1784
the redoubtable Sammy House, the landlord, served all customers
free, and also entertained several notable Whigs.
=Invention of the Cross.= The name of this Church festival, 3rd May,
commemorative of the finding of the True Cross by those sent in
quest of it by St Helena, sounds peculiar, but the word “invent” is
really from the Latin _invenire_, to find, discover, come upon.
=Inverary.= The county town of Argyleshire, “at the mouth of” the River
Aray.
=Inverness.= Situate at the mouth of the River Ness.
=Invincibles.= See “Irish Invincibles.”
=Ionia.= The ancient name of Asia Minor, settled by the _Ionians_, so
called after Ion, the son of Apollo according to Greek fable.
=Ionic.= The style of architecture so called was peculiar to Ionia in
Greece. The earliest of the Greek philosophers so called too were
all natives of Ionia.
=Iota.= From the name of the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet.
“Jot” is a softened form of this word.
=Iowa.= Indian for “the sleepy-ones”; applied by the Sioux to the Pahoja
or Graysnow tribe.
=Ireland.= From _Ierne_, Gaelic for “western isle.” The Greeks, who
heard of it through the Milesians, called this remote land of the
west _Iernis_, and the Romans _Hibernia_.
=Ireland Yard.= This property in Blackfriars was made over by its owner,
William Ireland, to Shakespeare, as appears in the deed of
conveyance now preserved in the Guildhall Library.
=Irish Invincibles.= A secret society whose members made it their boast
that they defied extermination. Carey, the informer, openly declared
that their mission was “the making of history by killing tyrants.”
The Phœnix Park murders were the work of the “Invincibles.”
=Irishman’s Crossing.= An Americanism for the mode of many people
anxious to cut off corners by crossing and recrossing the street, by
which process one’s way is actually made longer.
=Irish Stew.= So called because among the Irish peasantry the beef is
generally absent, the stew consisting wholly of onions and potatoes.
=Iron Chancellor.= The sobriquet of Prince Bismarck, Chancellor of the
German Empire, on account of his iron will.
=Iron City.= Pittsburg, world renowned for its ironworks.
=Iron Devil.= An inn sign corrupted from “The Hirondelle,” or swallow.
=Iron Duke.= The Duke of Wellington, distinguished for his unbending
will.
=Ironmonger Lane.= Where the artificers in iron congregated during the
reign of Edward I. Later they removed into Thames Street.
=Ironside.= The surname of the Anglo-Saxon king, Edmund II., on account
of the iron armour that he wore as a preservative against
assassination.
=Ironsides.= The name given to the Cromwellian soldiers on account of
their heavy armour and iron resolution.
=Irrawaddy.= Hindoo for “the father of waters.”
=Irving.= The patronymic of the late Sir Henry Irving was Brodribb. When
he went on the stage he took the name of Irving, out of his
admiration of the writings of the American author, Washington
Irving. Half-a-century ago no one ever thought of entering the
dramatic profession under his own name. Now that the stage has
become fashionable actors need no longer be actuated to select a
_nom de theatre_ out of regard to family pride.
=Irvingites.= The followers of the Rev. Edward Irving, who maintained
the sinfulness of Christ’s nature in common with that of ordinary
mankind. Deposed from his living by the Presbytery of the Church of
Scotland in 1830, he founded the “Apostolic Catholic Church.”
=Isabel.= The name given to a yellowish brown colour from the
circumstance that at the memorable siege of Ostend in 1601 Isabella,
the wife of the Duke of Austria, vowed she would not change her
linen until the town was taken. Unhappily for her, it held out
nearly three years. Rash vows are always followed by leisurely
repentance.
=Isis.= From the Celtic _uisg_, water. The word enters into many English
river names, notably the “Thames.” The University of Oxford is
called _Isis_ from the river upon which it stands.
=Islam.= From the Arabic _islama_, to bend. This term expressed an
entire submission or resignation to the will of God. By the
Mohammedans “Islam” is described as the true faith.
=Isle of Bourbon.= A French settlement named in compliment to the House
of Bourbon.
=Isle of Desolation.= When discovered by Captain Cook this island was
utterly devoid of animal life.
=Isle of Dogs.= A corruption of “Isle of Ducks,” owing to the great
numbers of water-fowl settled on the marshes. In our time it might
well be described as the “Isle of Docks.”
=Isle of Man.= Properly “Mona Isle,” from the Celtic _mæn_, a stone;
hence “Isle of Rocks.”
=Isle of St Helena.= Discovered on the Feast of St Helena, 1502.
=Isleworth.= Expresses a manorial dwelling beside the river. Sion House,
in which Lady Jane Grey resided for a time, was built upon the ruins
of an ancient nunnery. It is now the property of the Duke of
Northumberland, who removed thither the famous lion on the top of
the demolished Northumberland House at Charing Cross. The popular
belief that when this lion heard the clock of St Martin’s Church
strike it would wag its tail and turn round was on a par with that
of the washing of the Tower lions on the first of April.
=Islington.= The family settlement of the Islings.
=Is the Ghost walking?= See “Ghost walking.”
=Italics.= Thin sloping types, altogether different from the older
Roman, first used in an edition of Virgil by Aldo Manuzio, the
celebrated printer of Venice, in 1207.
=Italy.= The modern form of the Roman description of the country,
_Latium_, or “broad plain.” This resulted in the designation of all
the tribes of the conquered districts as _Latini_, or the _Latins_.
=Ivan the Terrible.= Ivan IV., son of the founder of the Russian Empire,
who rose to power from the position of Grand Duke of Moscow. This
second Ivan, at the age of fourteen, during the regency of his
mother, had the triumvirate put to death; whereupon he assumed the
title of Czar. His reputation for cruelty soon began to assert
itself. In the space of six weeks he caused to be put to death no
less than 25,000 (some authorities say 60,000) persons at Novogorod,
from the idea that they were plotting to deliver up that city to the
King of Poland. To crown all, in a fit of passion he killed his own
son.
=Ivory Black.= A pigment originally obtained from calcined ivory, but
now from bone.
=Ivy Lane.= From the ivy-covered houses of the prebendaries attached to
St Paul’s Cathedral.
J
=Jackanapes.= Properly “Jack-of-apes,” an impudent fellow who apes the
manners of his social superiors.
=Jackass.= The male ass.
=Jack-boots.= When first worn by cavalry these high leather boots were
covered with metal plates as a protection for the leg. The term Jack
is derived from the Norman-French _jacque_, a leathern jerkin worn
over a coat of mail. At a later period the _jacque_ itself was made
sword-proof by metal plates on its under side.
=Jacket.= Expressed originally the diminutive of the _jacque_--viz. a
short or sleeveless coat of leather. See “Jack-boots.”
=Jack Ketch.= The name formerly given to the common hangman, after
Richard Jacquett, who owned the manor of Tyburn, where malefactors
were executed previous to 1783.
=Jack-knife.= The name formerly given to a large folding pocket-knife,
and now used by sailors, in contradistinction to a “Penknife.” See
“Jack Tar.”
=Jackson.= The name of a river and several towns of the United States,
after General Andrew Jackson, the seventh President.
=Jack Straw’s Castle.= A noted hostelry at Hampstead, said to have been
built on the spot where Jack Straw, one of the leaders in Wat
Tyler’s insurrection, made his habitation on the hillside.
=Jack Tar.= A sailor, because he wears tarpaulins in “dirty weather.”
Jack is a generic name for a man or servant.
=Jacobins.= The French designation of the Black Friars or Dominicans,
from the situation of their earliest convent in the Rue St Jacques,
Paris, 1219.
=Jacobites.= The Catholic adherents of James II. and his lineal
descendants after the accession to the English throne of William
III. _Jacobus_ was the Latinised form of the King’s name.
=Jacobus.= The Scottish sovereign, valued at 25s., which became current
in England also at the union of the two crowns in the person of King
James I.
=Jacquard Loom.= After its inventor, Marie J. Jacquard of Lyons, who
died in 1834.
=Jacquerie.= The name given to an insurrection of French peasants in
1358. _Jacques_ is the generic name for a member of the artisan
class in France, owing to the _jacque_, or sleeveless white cotton
jacket, worn by them. The leader of this insurrection called himself
Jacques Bonhomme, being of the artisan class himself.
=Jag.= An Americanism for drunkenness. The word is employed in a variety
of ways: “He’s got a jag on”--“He’s on a drinking bout”; “He’s on
his jags”--“He knows how it is to have the jags”; “He has the jags
just now,” etc. etc.
=Jail Bird.= So called because the earliest kind of prison in this
country was an alfresco iron cage.
=Jailed.= An Americanism for being put in jail, sent to prison.
=Jalap.= From _Jalapa_ in Mexico, whence the root of this plant was
first brought to Europe for medicinal purposes in 1610.
=Jamaica.= From the West Indian _Caymaca_, signifying “a country
abounding in springs.”
=Jamaica Road.= See “Cherry Gardens Pier.”
=James Bay.= After James I., in whose reign this arm of Hudson’s Bay was
completely explored.
=James River.= After James I., in the fourth year of whose reign it was
navigated, and the English settlement called Jamestown, thirty-two
miles inland, formed.
=James Street.= In Covent Garden, in compliment to the Duke of York,
afterwards James II. That on the south side of the Strand received
the Christian name of one of the Brothers Adam, builders of the
Adelphi.
=Jamestown.= See “James River.”
=Jamie Duff.= The Scottish designation for a mourner or weeper at a
funeral. So called after an Edinburgh eccentric of this name;
nothing pleased him better than to attend a funeral, perhaps because
he enjoyed the ride in the coach.
=Jane Hading.= This famous French actress was christened Jeanne, but,
appearing on the stage while she was quite a child, her parents
habitually called her Jane, because, as she has herself explained,
being shorter, it would admit of the family name appearing in larger
letters on the playbill.
=Janissaries.= A militia of Turkish footguards originally composed of
the sons of Christian subjects, this being the tribute levied upon
the parents for allowing them to live in peace and safety. The
native term is _Jeniaskari_, new soldier.
=Janitor.= The American description of a caretaker or doorkeeper. This
term has long been obsolete in England; it was derived from the
Latin _janua_, door.
=Jansenists.= A religious sect headed by Cornelius Jansen, Bishop of
Ypres, France, early in the seventeenth century.
=January.= Called by the Romans _Januarius_, after Janus, the sun god,
who presided over the beginnings of things. In the temple of Janus
the figure of this god had two faces: one supposed to look on the
past, the other on the future.
=Japan.= A Western corruption, through the Portuguese _Gepuen_, of the
native name _Niphon_, or “land of the rising sun.” The brilliant
black varnish called “Japan” was first made by the people of the Far
East.
=Jarvey.= A cabman or car driver, so called after the name of a hackney
coach driver who was hanged.
=Jaunting Car.= The characteristic light vehicle in Ireland in which the
people enjoy a jaunt or excursion. English folk newly arrived in the
Emerald Isle do not always appreciate it. See “Hold hard.”
=Java.= A Malay word meaning “the land of nutmegs.”
=Jayhawker State.= Kansas, from the nickname borne by the soldiers of
Colonel Jennison of New York, who, being a jovial fellow, was called
a “Gay Yorker,” afterwards corrupted into “Jayhawker.” The people of
this state in process of time came to be styled “Jayhawkers.”
=Jedburgh.= A royal burgh situate at the confluence of the Rivers Tefy
and Jed. The ancient form of justice meted out here of hanging a man
first and trying him afterwards is frequently alluded to as
“Jedwood” or “Jeddart” justice.
=Jefferson.= The name of a river, a city, and a mount in the United
States, after Thomas Jefferson, the third President.
=Jeffreys Street.= After one of the family names of the Earl of
Brecknock, Marquis of Camden, the ground landlord.
=Jehu.= A cabman, in allusion to Jehu, the son of Nimshi, who, we are
told in 2 Kings ix. 20, drove furiously.
=Jeremiad.= A tale of woe, a doleful story. So called after the Prophet
Jeremiah, who wrote the “Book of Lamentations.”
=Jerked Meat.= Dried meat, more particularly beef dried in the open air.
The term is derived from the Chilian _charqui_, applied to dried
beef throughout Spanish America.
=Jerkin.= Expresses the diminutive of the Dutch _jurk_, coat, frock;
hence a short coat or jacket.
=Jermyn Street.= From the town house of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St Albans.
=Jerry Builder.= A speculative builder who runs up whole streets of
houses as cheaply as possible in order to sell them. The word
“Jerry,” derived from the French _jour_, day, is a corruption of
_joury_, meaning temporary, unsubstantial.
=Jersey.= From Czar’s-ey, or “Cæsar’s Isle,” so called by the Romans in
honour of Julius Cæsar. The close-fitting rowing shirt and female
bodice received the name of a Jersey because it was first worn by
the inhabitants of this isle.
=Jersey Lily.= The punning pet name of Mrs Langtry, when, as a society
star, she first adopted the stage as a profession. Her Christian
name is Lillie, and she was born in Jersey.
=Jerusalem.= Expresses the Hebrew for “habitation of peace.”
=Jerusalem Artichoke.= A corruption of “Girasole Artichoke,” from the
resemblance of the leaf and stem of this flower to the “Girasole,”
or sunflower.
=Jerusalem Chamber.= This apartment of Westminster Abbey, in which Henry
IV. died, received its name from the pictures of the Holy Land, in
connection with the Crusades, that adorned its walls.
=Jesuits.= The members of a powerful missionary order styled “The
Society of Jesus” which was founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola, on a
military basis, having himself been a soldier.
=Jesuits’ Bark.= Another name for the Peruvian or Cinchona Bark, because
discovered by the Jesuit missionaries in Peru.
=Jewin Street.= The ancient burying ground of the Jews while they were
permitted to reside within the city walls--viz. in the Old Jewry.
The suffix _in_ is a corrupt form of the Anglo-Saxon _en_,
expressing the plural, as in Clerken or clerks’ well.
=Jewry Street.= All that remains of the old name given collectively to
the Jewish quarter of London after this oppressed race had been
driven eastward of the city proper. This street was the Jews’ later
burial ground. The suffix _ry_ denotes a place or district.
=Jews’ Harp.= A corruption of “Jaws’ Harp,” because it is held between
the teeth.
=Jezebel.= A daring, vicious woman, so called after the wife of Ahab,
King of Israel.
=Jig.= From the French _gigue_, a lively dance, and the Italian _giga_,
a romp.
=Jilt.= From the Scottish _gillet_, a giddy young woman. This word
expressed the diminutive of Jill or Julia, a name used in a
contemptuous sense after Julia, the daughter of Augustus Cæsar, who
disgraced herself by her dissolute conduct.
=Jimmy.= A crowbar used by house burglars. The word is not so much
thieves’ slang as a corruption of _Jenny_, expressing the diminutive
of gin or engine, the general term formerly for a machine or
mechanical appliance.
=Jimpson Weed.= Properly “Jamestown Weed,” from the place in Virginia
where it was introduced.
=Jingo.= See “By Jingo.”
=Jingoes.= The British war party during the Russo-Turkish struggle of
1877-8, when there was grave likelihood of this country interfering.
The term became popular through the refrain in G. H. Macdermott’s
famous song:
“We don’t want to fight, but, by Jingo, if we do,
We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, we’ve got the money too.”
For a time the Jingo Party was in the ascendant.
=Joachims-Thaler.= See “Thaler.”
=Jockey.= The diminutive of Jock, which is the Scottish form of Jack or
John, expressive of a servant. The first jockeys engaged in horse
racing were boys, on account of their light weight; hence the term.
=Joe Miller.= A stale joke, corresponding to the modern “Chestnut.” Joe
Miller was a witty comedian whose sayings were compiled by John
Mottley in the reign of James II. Until about a hundred years ago
this was the only book of jests extant, and everyone who wished to
“set the table in a roar” freely drew upon it.
=Joey.= The popular nickname of Mr Joseph Chamberlain, of Fiscal Policy
fame.
=Johannis.= From Johannisberg, near Wiesbaden. This name is literally
“John’s Rock,” on which stands the famous castle.
=John Audley.= An old showman’s phrase, which still obtains in what is
called a portable theatre. As soon as a sufficient crowd for another
“house” has collected outside, the money-taker, or the showman
himself, calls out at the door “John Audley!” (originally it was the
question “Is John Audley here?”) as a hint to the performers to
finish quickly and dismiss the audience. This, it is said, was the
invention of Shorter, the comedian, while he was playing in booths
at country fairs.
=John Bull.= The Representative Englishman, bluff, long-suffering, and
open-hearted. This national nickname was derived from a satire of
the same title published by Dr John Arbuthnot in 1721.
=John Carpenter Street.= After the founder of the City of London School,
which occupies one side of this modern thoroughfare, having been
removed hither from Bow Lane in 1882. John Carpenter was town clerk
of the city of London in the reigns of Henry V. and VI.
=John Chinaman.= Ever since the outbreak of the gold fever in California
a Chinaman in that part of the United States has been addressed as
“John,” the Transatlantic generic name for a man-servant,
corresponding to the old English Jack.
=John Doe and Richard Roe.= Fictitious names, which prior to 1852, when
they were abolished, appeared in every legal process of ejectment in
place of the names of the real parties.
=John Dory.= The name of this fish is a corruption of the French
_Jaune-dorée_, yellow, golden, relative to the colour.
=Johnnies.= Overdressed, empty-pated scions of good families who spent
their surplus cash upon burlesque actresses, and hung about for them
at the stage door when the “sacred lamp of burlesque” burned
brightly at the Gaiety Theatre. Since “Jack” was the generic name
for a man or servant, so one distinguished for the possession of
more money than brains was, and is still, dubbed a “Johnnie.”
=John of Gaunt.= Properly of Ghent, his birthplace, in Flanders.
=John o’ Groat’s House.= Formerly the most northern habitation on the
mainland of Scotland, said to have been that of Johnny Groat, for
the accommodation of travellers who wished to cross the ferry to the
Orkney Isles. Its site may now be recognised by a green knoll.
=Johnson’s Court.= Although the great lexocographer, Dr Johnson, spent
ten years of his life in this Fleet Street court, it was not named
after him, but after another Johnson, whose property it was, and who
also resided in it.
=John Street.= In the Adelphi, after the Christian name of one of the
brothers Adam. In Piccadilly, after one of the family names of the
Berkeleys, the ground landlords.
=Joiner.= The provincial term for one who in London is called a
“Carpenter.” Literally a joiner of wooden building materials.
=Joint Ring.= Another name for a “Gimnal Ring.”
=Joint-Stock Company.= So called because the stock is vested jointly in
many persons.
=Jonathan’s.= The original name of the Stock Exchange, after a
coffee-house keeper whose house was the rendezvous of the earliest
dealers in stock.
=Jollies.= The sailors’ nickname for the Marines, because they are about
as useful to a ship as the “Jolly Boat” which floats behind it.
=Jolly Boat.= A corruption of “Jawl boat,” from the Danish _jolle_, a
small boat.
=Jordan.= Expresses the Hebrew for “the flowing.”
=Journeyman.= An artisan who hires himself out to labour, conformly to
the French _jour_, day, a day labourer.
=Juan Fernandez.= After the navigator, who discovered it in 1567. On
this isle Alexander Selkirk was the sole inhabitant from September
1704 until February 1707. Daniel Defoe made this adventurer the hero
of his celebrated story “Robinson Crusoe.”
=Jubilee Plunger.= The sobriquet of Ernest Benzon, who lost £250,000 on
the turf in two years after embarking upon his betting career in
1887, the Jubilee year of Queen Victoria’s reign.
=Judd Street.= The property of Sir Andrew Judd, Lord Mayor of London in
1551. By his will he bequeathed it to the endowment of a school at
Tonbridge, his native place.
=Judges’ Walk.= So called because a number of judges and barristers of
the King’s Bench made themselves temporary habitations in tents on
this breezy height of Hampstead during the Great Plague.
=Jug.= Thieves’ slang for prison. See “In the Jug.”
=Juggins.= A fool, a reckless fellow, so called after a noted character
of this name, who about twenty years ago squandered his whole
fortune by reckless betting on the turf.
=Juggler.= From the French _jougleur_, a jester or miscellaneous
entertainer who was the invariable companion of a troubadour during
the Middle Ages.
=Julep.= An American spirituous beverage, also a preparation to make
medicines less nauseous. The word is derived from the Arabic
_julab_, rose-water.
=July.= In honour of Julius Cæsar, who was born in this month.
=Jump a Claim.= A Far West expression meaning to deprive another of his
lawful claim; literally to jump into his diggings and take
possession.
=Jump on it with both Feet.= The Transatlantic mode of saying “I’ll
denounce it to the utmost of my power.”
=Jump the Game.= An Americanism for running away from one’s creditors.
=June.= The sixth month of the year; that of growth, agreeably to the
Latin _juvenis_, young. The Romans dedicated it to the “Juniores,”
or young soldiers of the State.
=Jungfrau.= Two reasons are assigned for the name (German, “The Maiden”)
given to this, one of the highest peaks of the Bernese Alps.
Firstly, because of the unsullied purity and dazzling whiteness of
the snow with which it is eternally clad; secondly, owing to the
fact that, its summit being inaccessible, no man has ever conquered
or ravished this mountain maiden.
=Junk.= A seaman’s term for rope ends and also the salt beef served out
on board ship. The word is derived from the Latin _Juncus_, a
bulrush, out of which ropes were anciently made. In the second sense
of the term the toughness of the meat is sarcastically implied.
=Jury.= From the Latin _jurare_, to swear.
=Jury Mast.= Properly “Joury Mast,” from the French _jour_, day, because
it is only a temporary mast put up to replace one carried away by
stress of weather.
=Justice is Blind.= An expression derived from the allegorical
representation of Justice, who, holding the scales, is blindfolded.
See “Scales of Justice.” This really had its origin in the custom of
the ancient Egyptians, who conducted their trials in a darkened
chamber, in order that the prisoner, the pleader, and the witnesses
being alike unseen, the judges could not be moved to undue sympathy,
and their judgment might be the more impartial.
=Justice Walk.= In this portion of Chelsea resided a London magistrate
whose name has not been handed down to posterity.
=Juteopolis.= The name given to Dundee on account of its staple
industry.
=Jutland.= The land of the Jutes.
=Juveniles.= In theatrical parlance the lovers’ parts. The principal
stage lover’s part, such as _Romeo_, is called the “juvenile lead.”
Other young men’s parts, that do not call for love making on the
stage, are styled “walking gentlemen.”
K
=Kaaba.= The stone building inside the great Mosque at Mecca; said to
have been erected over the spot where Adam first worshipped after
his expulsion from the Garden of Eden. The name is Arabic for
“square house.”
=Kaffraria.= The country of the Kaffirs or “unbelievers,” from the
Mohammedan standpoint. This term was applied not only to the natives
south of Abyssinia and the desert regions of Africa, but also to the
people of a country in Central Asia east of the Hindu Cush known
accordingly as Kafiristan. _Kaifer_ is Arabic for “infidel,” and the
suffix _stan_ expresses the Persian for “country.”
=Kailyard.= Scottish for cabbage garden.
=Kaisar.= The German form of the title of the Roman Emperors, “Cæsar.”
=Kalmucks.= A Western corruption of the native _Khalmick_, or
“Apostates,” the name given to this large family of the Mongolian
race because they rejected the doctrines of Buddha. It was these
Kalmucks who, under the name of “Huns,” descended upon Europe in the
fourth century.
=Kamptulicon.= From the Greek _Kampto_, to bend.
=Kansas.= The Indian name for the river, signifying “smoky water”;
afterwards applied also to the state.
=Keble College.= A memorial college at Oxford of the Rev. John Keble,
author of “The Christian Year,” whose death took place in 1866.
=Keelhaul.= To haul under the keel of a vessel from stem to stern by
means of ropes on either side. This was the most dreaded, because
the most dangerous, punishment meted out to seamen or apprentices by
tyrannical captains in former times. Readers of Captain Marryat’s
“Snarleyyow, or the Dog Fiend” will recollect what that meant to the
hapless victim.
=Keeping Crispin.= An old phrase for the shoemakers’ annual holiday on
the Feast of St Crispin, their patron saint, 25th October. In some
parts of the country we hear of it in connection with what passes
elsewhere under the name of “Cobblers’ Monday.”
=Keep it Dark.= The reference was originally to treasure kept in a place
of concealment.
=Keep on Pegging at it.= See “Peg Away.”
=Keep the Ball Rolling.= An expression derived from the game of Bandy,
in which the two sets of players, armed with hooked sticks,
continually sent the ball rolling to opposite goals.
=Keep the Pot Boiling.= The antithesis of a hand-to-mouth existence;
meaning the command not only of something for the stock pot but also
needful fuel.
=Keep the Wolf from the Door.= By paying one’s way others will prosper
likewise, and ravenous creditors clamouring at the door for their
just demands will be non-existent. The wolf is represented by a
greedy landlord hungering for his rent, or, failing that, the
household goods.
=Keep your Nose to the Grindstone.= To continue hard at work without
cessation. If a tool is not held close to the grindstone the stone
will go round all the same, but the tool does not get sharpened. So
a man may loiter over his work, but the actual accomplishment is
nil.
=Keep your Pecker up.= Have courage, and hold your head erect. _Pecker_
is slang for the mouth, in allusion to fowls which peck their
food--in other words, they strike at it with the _beak_.
=Keep your Weather Eye open.= Be on a sharp look-out in the right
direction. A sailor looks towards the wind in order to forecast the
weather.
=Kendal.= Expresses the dale of the River Ken.
=Kendal Green.= Green cloth made at Kendal in Westmoreland, for which
this town was long famous. The cloths produced here still bear the
name of “Kendals.”
=Kennington.= The town which grew up in the king’s meadow. Henry VIII.
had a rural retreat erected here.
=Kensington.= Described in Anglo-Saxon records as _Kynsington_, or
king’s meadow town.
=Kensington Gore.= After Gore House, the residence of the Countess of
Blessington, that occupied part of the site of the Royal Albert
Hall.
=Kent.= Called by the Romans Cæsar Cantium after the _Cantii_, who
peopled this _Kenn_, headland or corner, of Albion’s Isle.
=Kentish Fire.= The name given to rapturous volleys of cheers, such as
that which distinguished the Kentish men when they applauded the “No
Popery” orators in 1828-9.
=Kentish Man.= A native of the county of Kent, west of the Medway.
=Kentish Town.= A corruption of “Kantelowes Town,” built upon the manor
of the same name. The modern spelling of this family name is
“Cantlowes,” which is that given to a street on the south side of
Camden Road.
=Kent Street.= Leads out of London to the great Kentish highway to
Dover. At one time the landlords in this street took away the front
doors of tenants who were more than a fortnight in arrears of paying
their rent. This, styled a “Kent Street Ejectment,” was found
effectual in getting rid of unprofitable tenants.
=Kentucky.= Indian for “long river.”
=Keppel Street.= From the “Admiral Keppel” at the corner of this street
and Fulham Road.
=Kerchief.= See “Handkerchief.”
=Kersey.= From Kersey, in Suffolk, once famed for its woollen
manufacture.
=Kettledrum.= A rounded drum, so called from its shape; also the name
given to a tea party, both on account of the noise made by the
guests, and because the hostess metaphorically beats them up at the
time of sending out her invitations. See “Drum.”
=Kettle of Fish.= See “Pretty Kettle of Fish.”
=Kew.= Styled in ancient documents Kay-hoo, meaning a quay on a _hoo_ or
_oe_, which expressed the Danish for an island; also a spit of land
at the mouth of a river or creek.
=Keystone State.= Pennsylvania, geographically considered as seventh
among the thirteen original states of the Union.
=Khaki.= Expresses the Hindoo for “colour of cow dung.” This term came
into prominence during the South African War, when all British
uniforms were made of materials of this hue, so as to make our
troops less conspicuous to the enemy.
=Khan.= Expresses the Persian, from a Tartar word, for a lord or prince.
=Khedive.= From the Persian _khidiw_, a king. In the Turkish _khadiv_
the title expresses a ruler one grade removed from a Sultan.
=Kicker.= An Americanism for one who at a public meeting objects to a
proposal.
=Kick the Bucket.= An expression derived from the primitive mode of a
man hanging himself by standing on a bucket, and then kicking it
aside. The “drop” in this case could not have been a long one.
=Kidnap.= Not only is this word accepted English in the absence of a
more refined equivalent, but it is also made to do service in the
case of an adult taken away against his will. Kid, of course,
expresses a young goat, and is slang for a child. The second portion
of the term is likewise slang, from _nab_, to steal.
=Kidney Bean.= The coarse bean shaped like a kidney.
=Kiel.= From the Danish _keol_, a ship.
=Kilbride.= The church of St Bride or Bridget.
=Kilburn.= Expresses the _kil_, or cell, of “one Godwynne, a holy
hermit,” beside the _bourn_, or brook.
=Kildare.= From the Celtic _kildara_, the cell or hermitage among the
oaks. A monastery was founded here by St Bridget towards the close
of the fifth century.
=Kilkenny.= The _kil_, or church, of St Kenny or Canice in connection
with the ancient abbey dedicated to St John.
=Killarney.= A corruption of “Killeaney,” from the church of the
Dominican monastery on the banks of the River Leane.
=Kindergarten.= Expresses the German for a children’s garden or
playground. The system of juvenile education so called aims at
self-tuition by means of toys and games.
=Kinetoscope.= The name originally given to our modern “living
pictures,” from the Greek _kinetikos_, “putting in motion.” See
“Mutoscope.”
=King Charles Spaniel.= The small species of “Spaniel” which was such a
favourite with Charles I.
=King Edward’s Grammar School.= A superior academical institution
founded and endowed for the tuition of Latin and Greek grammar by
Edward VI.
=King Edward Street.= After Edward VI., the “Boy King,” founder of
Christ’s Hospital, or Blue Coat Grammar School, hard by.
=Kingfisher.= The king of fisher birds that dive into water for their
prey, so called on account of its gay plumage.
=King James’s Bible.= The Authorised Version ordered to be prepared and
given to the people by James I.
=King-maker.= Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, so called because he was
instrumental in placing both Edward IV. on the Yorkist and Henry VI.
on the Lancastrian side on the throne after espousing their
individual cause.
=King of Bath.= The sobriquet of Richard Nash, also known as Beau Nash,
who for more than half-a-century was Master of Ceremonies at the
fashionable Assembly Rooms of Bath.
=King’s Arms.= An inn sign, originally representing the counterfeit
presentment or royal arms of an individual sovereign, but now a mere
name, which must have done duty alike in honouring a long line of
monarchs.
=King’s Bench.= Anciently the superior Court of Law presided over by the
King in person, when he sat on an oaken bench. Wherever he went in
state this Court followed him. Judges and magistrates are still said
to occupy the Bench.
=King’s College.= At Cambridge, founded in 1441 by Henry VI. In London,
the foundation by a royal charter of George IV. in 1828.
=King’s County.= In honour of Philip of Spain, the husband of Queen
Mary. The original name was Ossaly.
=King’s Cross.= So called from a statue of George IV. set up here at the
accession of that monarch, and taken down in 1842 to make way for
the Great Northern Railway terminus. It is highly probable that an
ancient cross stood on the same spot, since, quite apart from the
fact that Queen Boadicea was defeated by the Romans at Battle Bridge
hereabouts, it was in this neighbourhood too that King Alfred waged
a sanguinary conflict with the Danes.
=King’s Evil.= The name given to scrofula, from the old superstitious
idea that it could be cured by the touch of a king or queen.
=Kingsgate Street.= So called from the gate through which James I.
passed across the meadows to Theobalds in Hertfordshire, his
favourite hunting seat.
=King’s Head.= See “King’s Arms.”
=Kingsland.= This district marked the southern limits of the ancient
royal domain of Enfield Chase.
=King’s Lynn.= Anciently called “Lynn Episcopi,” being the property of
the Bishop of Norwich. At the dissolution of the monasteries Henry
VIII. sequestered this estate, and gave the town the name of Lynn
Regis, or King’s Lynn. The word _Lynn_ is Celtic for “pool.”
=King’s Own Men.= The 78th Foot, so called from their Gaelic motto:
“Cuidichr Rhi” (Help the King).
=King’s Road.= In compliment to Charles II., who caused this highway
between Chelsea and Fulham Palace to be made passable.
=Kingston.= The capital of Jamaica, after William III., in whose reign
(1693) it was founded.
=Kingston-on-Thames.= From the ancient stone on which seven of the
Anglo-Saxon kings were crowned. This interesting relic is now
enclosed with iron railings near the Town Hall.
=Kingstown.= Originally “Dunleary,” the name was changed in honour of
the visit of George IV. in September 1821.
=King Street.= That in Covent Garden, after Charles I., in whose reign
it was laid out. In St James’s, after James I. In Cheapside, in
honour of Henry IV., who passed down it to open the new Guildhall.
At Westminster, because this was the direct road between the Court
and the Abbey.
=Kingsway.= The name given by the London County Council to the new
thoroughfare from Holborn to the Strand opened by King Edward VII.
in 1905.
=King William Street.= In the city, after William IV., who performed the
inaugural ceremony of declaring the London Bridge open for traffic,
1st August 1831. The street of the same name west of the Strand was
newly laid out in his reign as a direct thoroughfare to Leicester
Square.
=Kirkcudbright.= Expresses the Celtic for “the Church of St Cuthbert.”
=Kirkdale.= The church in the dale or vale of Pickering.
=Kirke’s Lambs.= The nickname bestowed upon the 2nd Foot, under the
command of Captain Kirke, during the “Bloody Assizes,” and having
for their badge the Paschal Lamb.
=Kirschwasser.= German for “Cherry Water,” this beverage being distilled
from the juice of the black cherry.
=Kiss-me-Quick.= The name of a small bonnet popular in England midway
during the last century. Though of the “coal scuttle” pattern it did
not extend beyond the face, and was chiefly worn by ladies going to
parties or the play.
=Kiss the Place and make it better.= The expression, commonly employed
by mothers and nurses to pacify children when they have hurt
themselves, is a survival of the days of the sorcerers, who
pretended to cure a disease by sucking the affected part.
=Kiss the Scavenger’s Daughter.= See “Scavenger’s Daughter.”
=Kit.= A soldier’s outfit, which he carries on his person when on the
march. The name is derived from the Dutch _kitte_, a wooden beer-can
strapped on the soldier’s belt.
=Kit-Cat.= The name given by artists to a three-quarter length portrait,
and also to a canvas measuring 28 by 36 inches, in allusion to the
portraits of uniform size, and all painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller,
to suit the dimensions of the apartments occupied by the famous
Kit-Cat Club. This club was long held at the house of a pastrycook
called Christopher Cat in Shire Lane, Fleet Street (now Serle’s
Place), after whom, familiarly styled “Kit-Cat,” it took its name.
His own mutton pies were the staple refreshment, from which
circumstance such pies were until quite modern times also called
“Kit-Cats.”
=Kleptomania.= The name given to an impulsive desire to steal or
appropriate that which is ready to hand; so called from the Greek
_kleptes_, thief, and _mania_, madness.
=Knacker.= From the Icelandic _knakkr_, a saddle; hence a dealer in and
slaughterer of old horses.
=Knapsack.= From the Dutch and German _knappen_, to bite or chew, and
_zak_, a sack. Like the original German and Dutch forms of this
receptacle for a soldier’s necessaries on the march, the Swiss still
carry a bag made of goatskin.
=Knave.= From the German _knabe_, a boy. The tricks peculiar to a boy no
doubt caused this term to be applied to a deceitful or otherwise
reprehensible fellow. The knave in a pack of cards represents, of
course, the knight or servant to the king and queen.
=Knife-board.= The advertisement-board on either side of an omnibus
roof, so called on account of its fancied resemblance to the
domestic knife-sharpener. On the old-fashioned omnibuses the roof
passengers sat back to back, with their feet touching the
“knife-board,” and it was facetiously said they thereon sharpened
their wits.
=Knife and Fork Tea.= See “High Tea.”
=Knight.= From the Saxon _knicht_, a servant, which is the origin also
of the modern German _knecht_, a man-servant.
=Knight Bachelor.= One who in the days of chivalry forswore marriage
until he had performed some feat of valour, and so merited renown.
=Knight Banneret.= A knight hastily created on the field of battle in
recognition of signal bravery. This was done by tearing off a
streamer from a banner and handing it to him as a token of
investiture.
=Knight Errant.= One who went forth in quest of adventures, more
particularly to win the admiration of fair ladies, by rescuing them,
in common with the weak and oppressed, from the feudal lords whose
rapacity in those barbarous ages knew no bounds. The word _errant_,
like its modern equivalent _errand_, was derived from the Latin
_errare_, to wander. It was in ridicule of this system of
knight-errantry that Cervantes wrote his immortal romance “Don
Quixote.”
=Knight of the Yard Stick.= An Americanism for a draper’s assistant or a
retail dry-goods salesman; what in England people often style a
“Counter Jumper.”
=Knightrider Street.= The place of assembling of the knights of old on
their way in procession to the Smithfield tournaments.
=Knightsbridge.= Tradition has it that two knights who went to receive a
blessing from the Bishop of London at Fulham Palace suddenly
quarrelled, and fought a deadly combat on the bridge which anciently
spanned the Westbourne where now stands Albert Gate. A public-house
close by, demolished within the last three years, bore the sign of
“The Fulham Bridge.”
=Knights Hospitallers.= The Second Order of Knights of the Crusades, who
founded and protected the hospital at Jerusalem for the
accommodation of pilgrims to the Holy Places. When at a later period
they erected a larger hospital in connection with the church
dedicated to St John the Baptist, they assumed the title of “Knights
of St John of Jerusalem.”
=Knights of Malta.= The Knights Hospitallers who, having taken Rhode
Island, were at length expelled therefrom by the Turks, and took up
their establishment permanently at Malta.
=Knights of St John of Jerusalem.= See “Knights Hospitallers.”
=Knights of the Road.= Highwaymen, who were always good horsemen.
=Knights Templars.= The military Order of Knights of the Crusades,
styled “Soldiers of the Temple.” Their aim was to wrest the Holy
Sepulchre from the hands of the Saracens, and maintain it through
futurity.
=Knights Teutonic.= An independent Order of Knights of the Crusades
composed of nobles from the cities of Bremen and Lubeck for the
protection of German pilgrims to the Holy Land.
=Knickerbockers.= The people of the city of New York. When Washington
Irving wrote his “History of New York” he assumed the name of
Diedrich Knickerbocker, in allusion to the wide breeches worn by the
early settlers of the colony, then called by them New Amsterdam;
hence the application of the term “Knickerbockers” to knee-breeches
generally. New York is known as “The Knickerbocker City.”
=Knocked into a Cocked Hat.= Prostrated or completely flattened out like
a cocked hat, which, as its name implies, could be cocked or carried
under the arm.
=Know-nothings.= A secret society in the United States pledged to the
checking of foreign immigration and political influence by
foreigners which came into existence about the year 1848, and
finally split upon the slavery question in 1860. When asked what its
party or political aims were, all the members merely replied: “I
don’t know; I know nothing.”
=Knows the Ropes.= Said of one who thoroughly understands his calling. A
naval phrase, since a sailor must know all the ropes belonging to
his ship.
=K’nucks.= In Canada the name given to French Canadians; elsewhere to
Canadians generally. It has been stated on the authority of an
intelligent French Canadian, by way of accounting for the origin of
this term, that “the word ‘Cannuck’ is a corruption of ‘Connaught,’
the name we usually apply to the Irish, who are mostly emigrants
from that province of Ireland.”
=Kohinoor.= A famous diamond which came into the possession of Queen
Victoria on the annexation of the Punjaub in 1849. Its name
expresses the Hindoo for “Mountain of Light.”
=Kolis.= The nickname of the 51st King’s Own Light Infantry, from the
initials of their regimental name.
=Koordistan.= Pursuant to the Persian _stan_, the country of the Koords,
“fierce, strong.”
=Kopeck.= A Russian copper coin of the value of three-eights of an
English penny. So called from _kopye_, the native term for a lance,
because this coin originally had upon it the representation of a
lancer on horseback.
=Kops Ale.= A non-alcoholic ale brewed from the best Kentish hops, and
not to be distinguished by appearances from the intoxicant. The name
was chosen as a near approach to Hops Ale.
=Koran.= Properly _Al Koran_, Arabic for “the book,” “the reading,” or
“the thing to be read.”
=Koumiss.= A Mongolian term for an intoxicating beverage made by the
Kalmucks from camels’ or mares’ milk by fermentation and
distillation. “Koumiss” is the popular Russian beverage.
=Kraal.= The Kaffir term for a collection of huts shaped like a beehive
and arranged in circular form, a native South African village.
=Kremlin.= The citadel of Moscow, so called from the Russian _krem_, a
fortress.
=Krems White.= A pigment extensively produced at Krems in Austria.
=Kreuzer.= A copper coin of Germany conspicuous for a _kreuz_, or cross,
on its reverse side. Its value was the sixtieth part of a gulden or
florin.
=Krupp Gun.= After its inventor, and made at the famous Krupp Steel
works at Essen in Germany.
=Kümmel.= The German name for a beverage, expressive of “Carraway,” from
the seeds of which it is made.
=Kummerbund.= A Hindoo term for waistband. It became current in England
two or three years ago during the excessively hot weather, when
waistcoats were discarded, and the trouser tops concealed by a
brilliant blue or scarlet sash.
=Kurdistan.= See “Koordistan.”
=Kursaal.= A place of entertainment at Southend-on-Sea. The name is
German, literally “Cure-hall,” expressive of the public
assembly-room at a “Kurhaus,” or hydropathic establishment,
corresponding to the pump-room at a west of England health resort.
=Kyrle Society.= A modern society having for its aims the improvement of
the homes of the poorer orders. It originated with the Misses M. and
O. Hill in 1875, and was formally inaugurated by Prince Leopold a
couple of years later. The title of the society was derived from
John Kyrle of Ross, Herefordshire, whose artistic tastes and
benevolent disposition contributed to the happiness and well-being
of the people on his estate and all the country round about.
L
=Labadists.= A sect of Protestant mystics founded in the seventeenth
century by Jean Labadic of Bourg, Germany.
=La Belle Sauvage Yard.= The yard of the famous coaching inn of the same
name. The history of this sign was curious. Kept by Isabelle Savage,
it bore the name of “The Bel Savage”; but its sign was a bell
suspended within an iron hoop at the top of the usual “Ale Stake.”
Hence its proper name was “The Bell in the Hoop.” When in the year
1616 John Rolfe brought his Virginian bride Pocohontas to London,
the story of his remarkable adventures had anticipated his arrival,
and people spoke of this Indian heroine as “La Belle Sauvage.” It
was odd that these strangers within our gates should put up at the
“Bell Savage,” and the association resulted in the change of title
on their account.
=Labrador.= Called by the Portuguese navigators _Tierra Labrador_,
“cultivatable land.”
=Lackland.= The surname of King John, who, owing to his thriftlessness,
was left entirely without provision at the death of his father,
Henry II.
=Laconics.= Terse and pithy replies, so called from the Lacons, which
was the name applied to the Spartans, from the country whence they
came. When Philip of Macedon sent this message to the Spartan
magistrates: “If I enter Laconia I will level Lacedæmon to the
ground,” the reply was briefly: “If.”
=Lacrosse.= This name was given to the game by Charlevoix, who, seeing
it played by some Alonquin Indians with a stick between Quebec and
Three Rivers, called it _le jeu de la Crosse_.
=Ladbroke Grove.= This, with the square of the same name, was built upon
by the Ladbroke family, who acquired the lease of the land for the
purpose.
=Lad Lane.= A name frequently met with in connection with the old
coaching inn, “The Swan with Two Necks.” It was a corruption of “Our
Lady Lane,” so called from a statue of the Virgin.
=Ladrones.= Expresses the Spanish for “thieves,” the name given to those
islands by Magellan because the natives made off with the stores he
had landed.
=Ladybird.= A pretty species of beetle resembling a bug, and anciently
called “Our Lady’s Bug.” _Bug_ is the accepted American term for a
beetle.
=Lady Day.= The Feast of Our Lady, otherwise of the Annunciation to the
Virgin (25th March). Prior to 1752 this was also the first day of
the New Year; now it figures as Quarter Day, when rents and taxes
have to be paid.
=Lady Freemason.= The Hon. Elizabeth St Leger, niece of Sir Anthony St
Leger, who founded the stakes named after him at Doncaster Races,
and daughter of Lord Doneraile of Dublin. Chancing to overhear the
proceedings at a Lodge held at her father’s mansion she was
discovered, and, as the only way out of an unprecedented dilemma,
initiated to the craft. No other female has ever been made a
“Freemason.”
=Lager Beer.= The German “lager bier” is simply stock beer, the liquor
being kept in a _lager_, or cellar, until it is sufficiently ripened
for consumption. All over the United States the demand for “Lager”
is enormous.
=Laid on the Shelf.= A phrase implying that one’s period of usefulness
has been passed. The allusion is to books read and clothes laid
aside as of no further use.
=Laid up in Lavender.= Something put away very carefully, as a good
housewife preserves linen strewn with lavender in a press against
moths. At times we hear the expression allusive to an article put in
pawn.
=Lake Erie.= See “Erie.”
=Lake Huron.= See “Huron.”
=Lake Ontario.= See “Ontario.”
=Lake School of Poets.= A term applied by _The Edinburgh Review_ to the
imitators of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Southey, who communed with
Nature in the Lake District of Cumberland and Westmoreland.
=Lake Superior.= The uppermost and principal of the five great lakes of
North America.
=Lake Winnipeg.= See “Winnipeg.”
=La Marseillaise.= See “Marseillaise.”
=Lambeth.= A corruption of “Lamhithe,” the Anglo-Saxon for mud haven, or
a muddy landing-place.
=Lambeth Palace.= The historic residence of the Archbishops of
Canterbury.
=Lamb’s Conduit Street.= After William Lambe, a wealthy clothworker, who
at his own cost built “a faire conduit and standard” in the fields
here off Holborn in 1577.
=Lamb’s Wool.= A rural beverage of roasted apple juice and spiced ale.
It received its name from the Saxon _La Mæs Ubhal_, or “Feast of the
Apple Gathering.” From _lammas ool_ its further corruption was easy.
=Lame Duck.= The name given to a member of the Stock Exchange who cannot
meet his liabilities on settling day. Instead of walking erect, like
a man of strict integrity, he ducks his head, and waddles off, well
knowing that he has been black-boarded and struck off the list of
members.
=Lammas Day.= The ancient name for the first of August, when every
parishioner brought to church a loaf made of new wheat. The name
expresses the Anglo-Saxon for “loaf mass,” and the bread was a gift
of first-fruits to the clergy. Its modern equivalent is the “Harvest
Festival.”
=Lamp-black.= So called because this pigment was at first obtained by
burning resinous matter over the flame of a lamp.
=Lancaster.= The Roman _Lunecastra_, or fortified camp on the Lune.
=Lancaster Gun.= After the name of its inventor.
=Lancastrians.= During the Wars of the Roses the partisans of the House
of Lancaster in the contest for the crown of England as opposed to
the House of York.
=Lancers.= This dance received its name from a company of Lancers who
went through the evolutions of a quadrille on horseback about the
year 1836.
=Landau.= After Landau in Germany, where it was first made.
=Landes.= Expresses the French for heaths. The people of this marshy
and, in parts sandy, district walk on long stilts.
=Landgrave.= The Anglicised form of the German _landgraf_, count, a
ground landlord.
=Land o’ Cakes.= Scotland, which has always been celebrated for its
oatmeal cakes.