green ginger was anciently landed from the river and sold in open
market. The name is, however, a corruption of “Greenhinger,” being
the land owned by Moses Greenhinger, a boat builder, who lived in
Whitefriargate in the seventeenth century. This is proved by a
letter of Sir Willoughby Hickman, a candidate for the borough in
1685. Therein he states that a coach took him from the waterside to
the George Inn, “at the corner of the land of Moses Greenhinger.”
=Land of Promise.= The name of a short street in Hoxton, so called,
sarcastically no doubt, because it leads to the workhouse.
=Land of Steady Habits.= Connecticut, so called on account of the
excellent moral character of the people.
=Land of Sundown Seas.= Alaska. “Sundown” is an Americanism for sunset,
just as “Sun-up” is for sunrise.
=Land o’ the Leal.= The Scottish heaven, or “Dixie’s Land”; according to
the Baroness Nairne’s ballad the word _Leal_ means faithful.
=Land of the Midnight Sun.= Norway.
=Landscaper.= Local slang in the eastern counties for a tramp, vagrant,
or “Loafer.”
=Land Shark.= The name given by sailors to a boarding-house keeper in a
seaport town who preys upon them by systematic overcharges.
=Landwehr.= The German equivalent for our volunteers, or soldiers for
land defence. The term _wehr_ means bulwark, defence.
=Lane.= Actors refer to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as “The Lane,”
the playhouse of London _par excellence_ since the palmy days of the
Drama.
=Langbourn Ward.= From the long bourn or stream, of which now no trace
remains.
=Langholm Place.= After the mansion and grounds of Sir James Langham,
which occupied what is now the street of the same name.
=Laodicea.= This ancient city was so called after Laodice, the queen of
Antiochus Theos, who founded it.
=Lap Dog.= One literally nursed in the lap of luxury. Mothers of
families are strangers to such pets.
=Lapsus Linguæ.= Latin for “a slip of the tongue.”
=Largess.= From the Latin _largitso_, to give freely, through the French
_largesse_. This word meant originally a fee or present bestowed
upon a butler or head servant by a departing guest. In its modern
acceptation it is a distribution of money amongst a number rather as
a matter of policy or necessity than from choice.
=Lascar.= The generic name for an East Indian seaman, though it really
expresses the Persian for a soldier, from _lashkari_, a
camp-follower. Lascars were first employed by the East Indiamen
homeward bound. Nowadays all Asiatic sailors, of whatever
nationality, are called Lascars.
=Lasso.= From the Spanish _lazo_, a noose.
=Latakia.= A Turkish tobacco, so called from the place (the ancient
Laodicea) where it is produced.
=Latch-string is always out.= An Americanism for a hearty welcome at all
times, without need for a formal invitation. The allusion to the
latch-string means: “You have only to walk in, like any member of
the family.”
=Lath.= A subdivision of land while certain portions of Eastern England
were held by the Danes, so called from the Norse “Lathing,” a law
assembly.
=Latins.= See “Italy.”
=Latin Vulgate.= The Roman Catholic Bible authorised by the Council of
Trent in 1546. This translation of the Scriptures was made by St
Jerome from the Greek into the Latin or vulgar tongue A.D. 405.
=Latitudinarians.= The opposers of the High Church party, and also of
the Puritans, during the Restoration period. Modern Latitudinarians
are those who hold very broad views in regard to orthodox doctrine.
=Laugh and grow Fat.= In allusion to Democritus, “The Laughing
Philosopher,” who waxed fat, and lived to be 109 years old.
=Laughing Philosopher.= Democritus of Abdera, from his habit of
humorously exposing the absurdities of his countrymen, whose
stupidity, he declared, was proverbial; the feeble powers of
mankind, contrasted with the forces of nature, likewise aroused his
contempt.
=Laugh in your Sleeve.= Anciently the sleeves of all outer garments were
very wide, and when a person covered his face with his hand there
was always a suspicion that he was making merry at someone else’s
discomfiture.
=Laugh on the wrong Side of your Face.= A person may preserve a grave
countenance while listening to a story, and at the same time wink
significantly to a bystander on the opposite side of the speaker.
The expression means that if, for his insolence, he received a
castigation, both his eyes would be made to wink or blink.
=Laundress.= The exclusive designation of a housekeeper or caretaker of
bachelor chambers in the Temple. This is because during the Crusades
a great many women of the town followed in the train of the Knights
Templars to the Holy Land for the purpose of washing their linen. It
afterwards transpired that, as a rule, they acted also as mistresses
to the Knights, and had tents set apart for them even within sight
of Jerusalem. Historians tell us too that, though a religious Order,
the Templars did not scruple to introduce these women into their
London house after their return from the seat of warfare, and this
irregularity, in fact, led to their suppression by Edward II. in
1313.
=Laundried.= An Americanism for “washed,” in relation to household or
personal linen. This, when one comes to look into the word, is
correct English, meaning _lawn dried_.
=Lavender.= From the Latin verb _lavare_, to wash, because this shrub
yields an essential oil employed in medicine and perfumery.
Laundresses also use it for preserving newly washed linen against
moths.
=Lavender Water.= A scent produced from the essential oil of lavender,
spirits of wine, and ambergris.
=Lawing.= An Americanism for “going to law.”
=Lawless Parliament.= See “Parliament of Dunces.”
=Lawn.= The finest linen, which has been bleached on a lawn instead of
the usual drying ground. The greensward called a lawn received its
name from the Celtic _allawnt_, a smooth, rising ground.
=Lawrence Lane.= From the Church of St Lawrence, at its foot, in Gresham
Street.
=Law Sakes.= An American corruption of the phrase “For the Lord’s sake!”
which, current among the Puritans of New England, found its way in
this new form into neighbouring states.
=Laws, Laws-a-me.= A corruption of “Lord, have mercy on me.”
=Lawyer.= From the old English _Lawwer_, literally “lawman”; the suffix
is allied to the Latin _vir_, man.
=Lawyer’s Treat.= A phrase implying that each shall pay for his own
drinks. A lawyer never treats his clients at a refreshment bar; they
defray the cost between them.
=Lay-by.= The name given to an article, generally clothing, purchased on
the weekly instalment system, and laid by on a shelf until the whole
amount has been paid off.
=Lazar-house.= The old name for a poor-house, in allusion to Lazarus,
who picked up the crumbs under the table at the mansion of Dives. On
the Continent such an institution is styled a “Lazaretto.”
=Lazarists.= An Order of missionaries founded by St Vincent de Paul, so
called from their headquarters in Paris, the Priory of St Lazare,
between 1632 and 1792.
=Lazzaroni.= The beggars of Naples, and originally all the poorest
people of that city who had no regular habitation save the streets.
Their name was derived from the common refuge, the Hospital of St
Lazarus.
=Leadenhall Street.= After the edifice known as the Leadenhall, the
first in London ever roofed with lead, built in 1419 by Sir Simon
Eyre, and presented to the city for the purposes of a granary in
time of scarcity.
=Leading Article= (or =Leader=). There are three reasons for this term
applied to a large-type newspaper article. It is supposed to be
written by the chief of the literary staff, the editor; it leads off
the foreign and all other important news on the inside pages of the
paper; and it is intended to lead public opinion according to the
party views maintained by the journal in question.
=League of the Cross.= The title of a modern crusade among the Roman
Catholics for the total suppression of drunkenness.
=Leamington.= The town in the meadow on the banks of the Leam.
=Leap Year.= That which every fourth year leaps to the total of 366 days
by adding a day to the month of February.
=Leather Lane.= From “The Old Leather Bottle,” now modernised, at the
corner of this lane and Charles Street.
=Leave some for Manners.= A dinner-table phrase, which had its origin in
the ancient custom of making an offering of a portion of the viands
to the gods.
=Lebanon.= From the Hebrew _laban_, white; expresses “the white
mountain.”
=Lee.= A variant of the Anglo-Saxon _lea_ and _ley_, “meadow” or
“pasture land.” This word enters into many river and place-names.
=Leech.= The old name for a medical man in the days when bleeding the
patient, no matter what his ailment might be, was the common
practice.
=L. E. L.= The literary pseudonym, formed from the initials of Letitia
Elizabeth Landon, the poetess.
=Leg and Star.= A corruption of “The Star and Garter.” This, of course,
arose when a painted device, instead of a mere title, served as an
inn and tavern sign.
=Legend.= An Americanism for a written or printed notice. The term has
latterly come into use in England relative to a tradesman’s shop
announcement.
=Legitimate Drama.= That which is dependent upon its intrinsic literary
and constructive merits, quite apart from scenic effects.
=Leg Stretcher.= A Far Western expression for a drink. This arose from
the common travellers’ exclamation while the stage coach was waiting
for the mails: “I’ll get off a bit, and stretch my legs.”
=Leicester.= The _Leirecastra_ of the Romans, being the fortified camp
on the Leire, now called the Soar.
=Leicester Square.= Originally Leicester Fields, from the town mansion
built on its east side by Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester, in 1636.
=Leipsic.= Expresses the Slavonic for linden or lime tree town, from
_lipa_, lime-tree.
=Leman Street.= Properly “Lemon Street,” from a wharf at the Thames
side, where, before the construction of the docks, lemons were
landed and sold.
=Lemon Sole.= The species of sole found on the south coast of England;
really a mud sole, from the Latin _lima_, mud.
=Lent.= From the Anglo-Saxon _lencten_, the spring. The word has the
same origin as “lengthen,” since at this season of the year the
lengthening of the days becomes perceptible.
=Lent Crocking.= A popular old-time diversion of the schoolboys on
Shrove Tuesday. The ringleader, having knocked at a house door and
recited a garbled set of verses, to the effect that he had come
_a-shroving_, his companions kept up an incessant din with old
saucepans and kettles until they were paid to go away.
=Leonine Verses.= Those which rhyme both in the middle and at the end of
each line, so called after Leoninus, a canon of St Victor in Paris
midway in the twelfth century.
=Let the Cat out of the Bag.= To disclose a trick unwittingly. The
illusion is to a very old device at country fairs of selling a cat
for a sucking pig. One pig only was exposed to view; all the others
were supposed to be ready tied up for carrying away. If, on
occasion, a purchaser insisted on untying the sack before paying for
it, the cat leapt out, and the fraud was discovered. As to the other
victims who had taken away theirs on trust, they were forced to
admit, because their sack contained no sucking pig, that they had
been “sucked in.”
=Levant.= An Italian term for the Orient or East--_i.e._ all those parts
of the Mediterranean eastward of Italy. The word is also used in the
sense of to depart, and a defaulter was said to have _levanted_, or
gone to the Levant. This was in allusion to the “Grand Tour” which
all scions of the nobility were expected to make on reaching their
majority.
=Levee.= A French word applied to a royal reception, from _lever_,
arising, because in former times such a function took place in the
King’s bed-chamber at the hour of rising.
=Levellers.= The primitive Radicals or Socialists of the time of Charles
I. and long afterwards; their plea was that all men should be on a
common level in regard to office-seeking. Also the original name of
the “White Boys” in Ireland, who commenced their agrarian outrages
by levelling the hedges and fences on enclosed lands.
=Leviticus.= That book of the Old Testament which sets forth the laws
pertaining to the priests or Levites, the descendants of Levi, the
third son of Jacob and Leah.
=Lewisham.= From _Leesham_, the home or family settlement in the meadow.
See “Lee.”
=Leyden.= Originally _Lugdunum_, the Latinised form of the Celtic
_llwch_, a morass, and _dun_, a hill, fortress.
=Leyton.= The town in the lea or meadow.
=Leytonstone.= A corruption of “Leytonstowe,” the stock or wooded place
in the vicinity of a meadow.
=Lhassa.= A Tibetan word for “full of gods.”
=Liberal.= The modern designation of the Progressive or “Whig” Party.
This arose out of Lord Byron’s political magazine, _The Liberal_, in
1828, though the name was not formally assumed until the agitation
for the Reform Bill in 1831.
=Liberator.= The surname of Simon Bolivar, who established the
independence of Peru.
=Liberia.= An independent republic of free Negroes on the west coast of
Africa. The word is derived from the Latin _liber_, free, and the
Celtic suffix _ia_, country.
=Library.= From the Latin _librarium_, a bookcase, through _liber_, a
book.
=Lifting.= This technical term in the printing trade, because type is
lifted out of the columns prior to distribution, or, as may happen
in a newspaper, to be held over until the next issue for want of
space, has come to be applied by journalists to literary theft.
Facts, anecdotes, or jokes stolen from a contribution submitted to
an editor on approval are said to have been “lifted.” One newspaper,
too, often “lifts” matter from another without acknowledgment.
=Light.= A journeyman printer’s term for “credit.” Derived from the old
saying: “He stands in a good light with his neighbours.” The boast:
“My light is good,” has about it little to find fault with.
=Liguorians.= Another name for the Redemptorists or Preachers of the
Redemption, an Order founded by St Francis Liguori in 1732.
=Like a Thousand of Brick.= An Americanism for very heavily, as if a
waggon-load of bricks had been dumped down on one.
=Lille.= Properly _L’Isle_, the island.
=Lima.= A Spanish corruption of the Peruvian Rima, the name of the river
on which it is situated.
=Limavady.= From the Irish _Leim-a-madha_, “The Dog’s Leap.”
=Limehouse.= A corruption of _Limehurst_, or wood of lime-trees.
=Lime Street.= Where lime was sold in ancient times.
=Limoges.= Anciently called “Lemovica,” from the _Lemovices_, the people
who settled in this portion of Gaul.
=Lincoln.= Originally _Llyn-dun_, the Celtic for “Pool hill,” or the
town built on the eminence overlooking the Swanpool, which was not
drained until the eighteenth century. When the Romans established
themselves here they called it _Lindum Colonia_, or the colony
beside the pool. Of this name, therefore, Lincoln is a softened
abbreviation.
=Lincoln College.= Founded at Oxford by Richard Fleming, Bishop of
Lincoln, in 1427.
=Lincoln’s Inn.= Anciently the town mansion of the Earls of Lincoln,
built by Henry de Lacey, Earl of Lincoln, in the fourteenth century.
=Line of Business.= A theatrical phrase for the special kind of parts in
which an actor is experienced. One who plays the “Juveniles” would
not be entrusted with an “Old Man’s” part, and so forth.
=Liner.= A steamship belonging to a regular line or service of fast
sailers--_e.g._ the Cunard Line.
=Lingo.= Slang for language, derived from the Latin _lingua_, the
tongue.
=Lingua Franca.= A common language along the Mediterranean shores, being
a mixture of French and Italian. See “Lingo.”
=Linoleum.= A floorcloth, into the manufacture of which linseed oil
enters largely.
=Linseed Lancers.= The nickname of the Army Medical Corps.
=Lion.= An ancient inn sign derived from the heraldic device of a
particular monarch, or it might be, the Lord of the Manor. According
to the colour of the animal in that device, so the name of the inn,
after a mere name was substituted for the painted representation,
came to be designated. Hence “Red Lion,” “Black Lion,” etc.
=Lion and Key.= A corruption of “The Lion on the Quay,” by way of
distinguishing an inn or tavern from other Lions in the same
seaport.
=Lion Comique.= The name bestowed upon George Leybourne and other
music-hall vocalists of his class in days when comic singing was
very different to what it is now. The modern type of vocal comedians
is, happily, not “lionised” in the strict sense of the word.
=Lionise.= See “Lion of the Season.”
=Lion of the Season.= A distinguished musical executant or other
celebrity, generally a foreigner, at whose shrine society
metaphorically worships while his fame is at its zenith. The
expression is the outcome of the anxiety of the country folk in
former days to see the “London Lion” at the Tower. Hence to
“lionise,” make the most of a “stranger within our gates.”
=Lion Sermon.= This is delivered once a year at the Church of St
Katherine Cree in commemoration of Sir John Gayer’s miraculous
escape from death by a lion when he found himself separated from his
companions in the African desert. He bequeathed the sum of £200 a
year to the poor on condition of this sermon being annually
preached.
=Lisbon.= Anciently _Olisipo_ or _Ulyssippo_, after Ulysses, who,
visiting Portugal with Lucus, is traditionally stated to have laid
the foundations of the city.
=Lisson Grove.= Formerly Lidstone Green, a corruption of “Ossulton
Green,” the name of a Hundred cited in Domesday Book. Ossulton
Street in the Euston Road preserves the name in the original form.
=Litany.= See “Rogation Days.”
=Little Bit of All Right.= A popular expression meaning “Just the thing
I wanted,” or “It couldn’t have happened better.”
=Little Britain.= From the ancient residence of the Dukes of Brittany.
=Little Corporal.= The name bestowed upon Napoleon I., at the
commencement of his military career, from his rank and low stature.
=Little John.= The real name of this Sherwood forester was John Little,
but Robin Hood playfully inverted it because its owner was a tall,
strapping fellow.
=Little Man.= The affectionate sobriquet of the late Mr Alfred Beit, the
“Diamond King,” on account of his diminutive stature.
=Little Mary.= A modern euphonism for the stomach, popularised by J. M.
Barrie’s successful comedy of this title.
=Little too Thick.= The antithesis of a “thin” story; one so crowded
with extraordinary statements that it is hard to grasp or credit.
=Little Turnstile.= The lesser turnstile on the north side of Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, set up to prevent sheep from straying into Holborn.
=Live like Fighting Cocks.= From the days of the Greeks down to
comparatively modern times game-cocks were fed luxuriantly, so as to
increase their pugnacity; hence the application of the phrase to
good living.
=Live Man.= An Americanism for an energetic agent or canvasser.
=Liverpool.= From an extinct bird, somewhat resembling the heron, and
called the _liver_, that made the _pool_ on which this city was
built its home.
=Liverpool Landseer.= The sobriquet of William Huggins, who acquired an
equal celebrity for animal painting in his native place, as Sir
Edwin Landseer in the country at large.
=Liverpool Street.= After Lord Liverpool, one of the most popular
members of the Ministry at the accession of George IV. There is
another Liverpool Street named after him at King’s Cross.
=Liverymen.= Freemen of the city of London who on great special
occasions wear the distinctive livery of the companies to which they
belong.
=Llandaff.= Properly _Llan Taff_, the church on the Taff.
=Lloyd’s.= After Edward Lloyd, a coffee-house keeper in Abchurch Lane,
whose premises were first used by merchants and shippers as a sort
of club.
=LL Whisky.= That distilled by Messrs Kinahan of Dublin. When the Duke
of Richmond was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland between 1807 and 1813 he
in the former year sent to various distilleries for samples of good
whisky, and preferring that tendered by Messrs Kinahan, he ordered a
large vat of the same quality to be exclusively reserved for him.
This vat had LL painted on it, denoting “Lord-Lieutenant Whisky.”
=Lo.= An American term for an Indian. This originated in Pope’s “Essay
on Man,” a couplet of which reads:
“Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds or hears Him in the wind.”
=Loaded.= An Americanism for intoxicated or “primed.”
=Loafer.= This word is neither Dutch nor German, as generally stated; it
is distinctly Spanish-American. The early settlers of Mexico and
Texas gave the name of _gallofo_ to a vagrant, who, like the
_lazzaroni_ of Naples, hung about the churches begging for alms.
From the western states this word travelled to New York, and in the
process became changed into “Loafer.”
=Loan.= An Americanism for “lend.”
=Lock-out.= When artisans have struck for an advance of wages, and
afterwards decide to return to work on the former scale, the masters
retaliate by shutting them out of the works altogether and employing
fresh hands from elsewhere.
=Lock, Stock, and Barrel.= A sportsman’s phrase for the whole of a
thing, in allusion to the three parts of a gun. In the modern sense
it is used to imply the complete discomfiture of an adversary in
argument or of one utterly outwitted in his schemes.
=Loco-Focos.= The American term for lucifer matches. By a patent dated
16th April 1834 John Marck, a storekeeper of Park Row, New York,
brought out a self-lighting or friction cigar, which he called a
Loco-Foco. The first portion of this name was taken from the newly
introduced locomotive, which people generally thought to mean
self-moving; the latter half was a euphonism of his own. When
friction or self-firing matches came in they received the same
designation. The Democratic Party of the United States received the
name of “Loco-Focos” from the circumstance that at a great general
meeting held in Tammany Hall to confirm the nomination of Gideon Lee
as the Democratic candidate for Congress, a tumult arose, and the
lights were turned out; whereupon the adherents of the candidate,
who had provided themselves with loco-focos and candles, relighted
the hall in a moment.
=Loft.= An Americanism for storey. In the United States it is usual to
say a house contains so many “lofts” instead of storeys.
=Logger.= One employed in the North American forests cutting down trees
and sawing them into logs.
=Loggerhead.= A dull, stupid fellow with no more sense in his head than
a “logger” or lumberman. These loggers often quarrel for no visible
cause; hence the expression to be “at loggerheads.”
=Log-rolling.= Primarily a political term descriptive of mutual
co-operation on the part of individuals for the furtherance of a
general cause. It means: “You help me and I’ll help you”; “If your
party further my Bill through Congress I’ll pledge my party to push
yours along too.” The expression obtains also in a social and
journalistic sense: “If I propose a testimonial for you I expect you
to do the same for me”; “I’ll write you up in the Press if you
engage to return the compliment.” For the origin of the term we must
look to the lumber regions of the state of Maine, where the loggers
of different camps assist one another by turns to roll their logs
down to the river.
=Lollards.= Originally an association of pious people in Germany at the
commencement of the thirteenth century banded together for the
purpose of burying the dead. They were so called on account of the
solemn dirges they sang, from the Low German _lollen_, to sing
softly. After a time the same title was assumed by the followers of
one Walter Goilard, a dissolute priest, who was burned for heresy at
Cologne in 1322. The Wycliffites assumed this name still later, and
some of these it must have been who were imprisoned in the
“Lollards’ Tower,” Lambeth Palace.
=Lombard Street.= From the Jews of Lombardy, who here set up banks and
money-lending establishments, at the instance of Pope Gregory IX.,
as a means of assisting the people of England to raise money for the
payment of their taxes early in the thirteenth century.
=Lombardy.= Called by the Romans _Longobardi_ after its people, whom
they subdued. This name was not derived from their long beards, as
generally stated, but from the _longis bardis_, or long battle-axes,
with which they were armed.
=London.= This name claims the same origin as “Lincoln,” the first rude
habitations beside the Thames being situated on the rising ground
now known as Tower Hill.
=London Bridge was built on Woolpacks.= This expression had its origin
in the fact that, when the construction of Old London Bridge was
stopped for want of funds, Henry II. expedited its completion by
imposing a tax upon wool.
=Londonderry.= The town built by a company of London adventurers, to
whom it, with the county of the same name, was granted by a royal
charter of James I. _Derry_ is Celtic for a grove or oak forest.
=London Lion.= An expression derived from the Royal Menagerie at the
Tower of London ere the metropolis rejoiced in a Zoological Gardens,
and when travelling menageries were unheard of. Country visitors up
in town for a few days never failed at that period to feast their
eyes upon a real live lion, and on returning to their homes boasted
of having seen the London Lion.
=London Stone.= Marked the centre of Roman London, from which all the
great roads through the country radiated.
=London Wall.= From the Roman wall which here defined the northern
limits of the city. A portion of this old wall may yet be seen in
Cripplegate Churchyard.
=Lone Star State.= Texas, from the single star in her flag.
=Long Acre.= The Anglo-Saxon _acer_, like the modern German _acker_,
expresses a field. This was anciently a path across the fields
between Lincoln’s Inn and “Lomesbury Village,” or the manor now
known as Bloomsbury in the parish of St Giles’s-in-the-Fields.
=Long Friday.= The old name for Good Friday, both on account of the
length of the Church service and the long fast imposed on all good
Catholics.
=Longford.= The long ford on the River Camlin.
=Long Island.= So called from its shape.
=Long Lane.= This was a long, narrow lane extending from Barbican to
Farringdon Road before the greater portion of its one side was
cleared for the Smithfield Market.
=Long Lane that has no Turning.= An expression meaning that sooner or
later a turn of fortune must come, since no lane, however long,
exists that has no turning.
=Long Peter.= This name was merited by the celebrated Flemish painter,
Peter Aartsen, by reason of his abnormal stature.
=Long Parliament.= That which was dissolved by Oliver Cromwell after it
had lasted more than twelve years.
=Longshanks.= The surname of Edward I. on account of his spindle legs.
=Longshoreman.= Properly “Along-shoreman”--namely, a wharfinger, or one
employed in loading and unloading vessels.
=Look Daggers.= A phrase used when two persons look fixedly at each
other as if their eyes were dagger points ready to make a fatal
thrust.
=Loosen your Purse Strings.= See “Purse Strings.”
=Lord Bobs.= The later nickname of Lord Roberts since the close of the
South African War.
=Lord’s Cricket Ground.= After Thomas Lord, the founder of the earliest
private Cricket Club in London, in 1780. First in Dorset Square, and
eventually on its present site--his own landed property--he set up a
private pitch for genteel folk far from the haunts of the city
apprentices and other enthusiasts of the game.
=Lord’s Day.= The name given to Sunday by the Quakers.
=Lordship Lane.= From the Lord of the Manor of Dulwich.
=Loretto.= Called by the Romans _Lauretana_ after Laureta, the lady to
whom the country villa, and a large tract of land on which the town
was afterwards built, belonged.
=Lorraine.= Anciently Lotharingia, the duchy of Lotharius II., grandson
of the Emperor Lewis I.
=Los Angeles.= Originally called by the Spaniards “Pueblo de los
Angeles,” the city of the angels, on account of its delightful
situation and climate.
=Lo Spagnoletto.= The surname of Guiseppe Ribera, the celebrated Spanish
painter. It means “Little Spaniard.”
=Lothbury.= A corruption of “Lattenbury,” where the workers in _latten_
ware, a species of bronze, had their shops in the Middle Ages. In
the modern sense latten is a kind of sheet brass.
=Loudoun Road.= After the name of the builder on the estate.
=Louis d’Or.= A gold coin first struck in the reign of Louis XIII. of
France. The name means a “Louis of gold.”
=Louisiana.= The name bestowed upon this State by M. de la Sale in 1682
in compliment to Louis XIV. of France.
=Louvre.= An adapted French word, from _l’ouvert_, “the opening,” which
expressed a kind of turret on the roof of a building by way of a
chimney to let out the smoke. A rude contrivance of this kind
distinguished the ancient hunting seat of Dagobert, on the site of
which Francis I. commenced the famous Parisian palace of this name
in 1528, completed twenty years later by Henry II. A _louvre_ window
partakes of the same character.
=Lower Berkeley Street.= See “Berkeley Street.”
=Lower Thames Street.= The eastern portion of Thames Street, from London
Bridge to the Tower.
=Lowndes Square.= After the ground landlord, lineally descended from
William Loundes, secretary to the Treasury, _temp._ Queen Anne.
=Low Sunday.= Not only was this Sunday at the bottom of the Lenten or
Easter Calendar, but prior to the alteration of New Year’s Day it
was frequently also the last Sunday of the year.
=Luciferians.= A sect of Christians in the fourth century, under
Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari in Sardinia, who separated from the
Orthodox Church on the ground that the reconverted “Arians” should
not again be admitted to the fold.
=Lucifer Matches.= Early friction matches, so called from the Latin
_lucis_, light, and _ferre_, to bring.
=Lucullus Feast.= A sumptuous banquet, so called after Licinius
Lucullus, a famous Roman general, who in the days of his retirement
was no less distinguished for the costly suppers he gave to the
greatest men of the Empire. The sums expended on those
entertainments were enormous. As an epicure he was unrivalled; he
could also be a glutton on occasion. There is a story told that
after the feast had been prepared no guests arrived. “Lucullus will
sup to-night with Lucullus” was the explanation of the host.
=Lud-a-massy.= A corruption of the old exclamation “Lord, have mercy!”
=Luddites.= A name borne by the wilful destroyers of machinery in the
manufacturing districts; said to have been adopted from Ned Lud, an
imbecile of Leicester, who being, chased by boys, took refuge in a
house, and there broke a couple of stocking frames. These rioters
caused great havoc during the second decade of the last century.
=Ludgate Hill.= The testimony of Old Stow notwithstanding, there is
grave doubt whether King Lud, the reputed builder of the western
gate of the city, ever existed. In much greater likelihood this gate
received its name from its situation near the River Fleet, and meant
simply _Flood Gate_. See “Fleet Street.”
=Lug.= Northern and Scottish for “ear.” In England generally this word
is regarded as slang except when employed in connection with
“Lugger” and “Luggage.”
=Luggage.= So called because it is lugged about in transit by the
handles, as a Lancashire man would pull another by the _lug_ or ear.
=Lugger.= A small craft having _lugs_, or drooping sails, like a dog’s
ear.
=Lumber.= An Americanism for timber sawn into logs and sent floating
down the rivers for eventual shipment.
=Lumber-room.= One set apart for odds and ends of no practical utility.
The name is derived from “Lombard Room,” in which the Lombards, who
were the first goldsmiths and money-lenders in England, stored the
articles pledged with them.
=Lunatic.= From the Latin _luna_, the moon. The Romans persistently
cherished the idea that a person’s mind was affected at the several
changes of the moon.
=Lupercalia.= A Roman festival in honour of _Lupercus_, the god of
fertility. This occurred on the 15th of February.
=Lupus Street.= This keeps alive the name of Henry Lupus, first Earl of
Chester, from whom the Grosvenors, the ground landlords, are
descended.
=Lurid Waistcoat Banquet.= The latest style of “Freak Dinner” in
America, each guest disporting himself in a waistcoat of startling
hue and design.
=Lutherans.= After Martin Luther, the German Reformer.
=Luxembourg.= This celebrated palace of the French capital stands on the
site of that purchased and enlarged in 1583 by the Duke of d’Epinay,
Luxembourg. The title of the Dukes of Luxembourg is very ancient,
having been derived from a beautiful chateau called _Luici burgum_,
which was acquired by Siegfried, Count of Ardennes, in 963.
=Lyceum Theatre.= Opened in 1834 as the English Opera House. This was
originally a lyceum or academical establishment connected with the
Society of Arts. The word _Lyceum_ was correctly applied in this
case from the academy formed by Aristotle in the temple of Apollo
Lyceus, near the River Illissus.
=Lych-Gate.= A large gateway at the entrance to the churchyard where the
coffin can be set down while the mourners await the arrival of the
clergyman to lead the funeral service. The word comes from the
Gothic _leik_, and German _leiche_, a corpse.
=Lyddite.= So called because experiments with this explosive were first
made at Lydd in Kent.
=Lying around Loose.= An Americanism for being out of a situation,
lounging about the town.
=Lyme Regis.= This little Dorsetshire seaport on the River Lym was
honoured with a royal charter and the title of _Regis_ because it
furnished Edward III. with three ships to aid in the siege of Calais
in 1346.
=Lynch Law.= The summary justice meted out to public offenders in the
western states of North America. This term was derived from James
Lynch, a farmer of Piedmont on the western frontier of Virginia.
There being no Court of Law for many miles around he was always
appealed to in cases requiring a legal decision, and his judgments
were so sound and impartial that the people gave him the name of
Judge Lynch. The death sentence was by hanging at the nearest tree.
To “lynch a man,” however, in the modern sense is to dispense with
legal formalities altogether.
=Lynn Regis.= See “King’s Lynn.”
=Lyon King at Arms.= The principal at Heralds’ College in Scotland, so
called from the lion rampant on the armorial bearings of the
Scottish kings.
=Lyre Bird.= So called from the resemblance of the sixteen feathers of
its tail when spread erect to a lyre.
M
=Ma’am.= An Americanism for mother. See “Madam.”
=Ma’am School.= The American term for a young ladies’ seminary, or an
infants’ school kept by a woman.
=Macadamised Road.= This system of road-making by means of broken stones
pressed down by a heavy roller was introduced by John Loudon
Macadam, a Scotsman, appointed Surveyor of Public Roads in 1827.
=Macaroni.= From the Italian _macare_, to crush, to bruise, through
_Macarone_, a mixture, a medley. This confection originally
consisted of cheese and bread paste squeezed into balls.
=Macaronies.= Fashionable dandies first heard of in London after the
accession of George III. Their leaders hailed from France and Italy,
where Macaroni Clubs abounded. These clubs arose out of Dilettante
Societies, formed for the cultivation of what was styled Macaronic
Verse, after a poetical rhapsody entitled “Liber Macaronicorum,” a
jumble of Latin and other languages published by a monk of Mantua in
1520. Subsequently everything in dress or taste received the name of
Macaroni.
=Macaroon.= A biscuit the name of which has the same etymology as
“Macaroni.”
=Macassar Oil.= So called because it was first exported from Macassar,
the Dutch capital of Celebes Island.
=Macclesfield Street.= After the Earl of Macclesfield, the landlord of
the estate when it was laid out in 1697.
=Macedonians.= A fourth century sect of Christians founded by
Macedonius, Patriarch of Constantinople.
=Machinaw.= A heavy blanket worn by Indians, and also nowadays in the
western states used as a travelling rug and bed pallet. The term is
derived from Machinac (pronounced _Machinaw_), the chief trading
station with the Indians formerly. Western settlers also describe an
overcoat as a Machinaw.
=Machine.= A bicycle is called a machine because it is a more or less
complicated piece of mechanism made up of many parts. In the United
States the term machine is applied both to a locomotive and a fire
engine.
=Mackenzie River.= After Alexander Mackenzie, by whom it was first
navigated in 1789.
=Mackerel.= From the Danish _mackreel_, “spots.”
=Mackintosh.= After the Scotsman who invented water-proofing material
for over-garments.
=Macklin Street.= After Charles Macklin, the celebrated actor of Drury
Lane Theatre. His name was really Maclaughlin shortened into
Macklin.
=Macmillanites.= An offshoot of the Presbyterians under John Macmillan;
also styled the “Reformed Presbytery.”
=Madagascar.= A corruption of the native name _Malagasay_, the island of
the Malagese or Malays.
=Madam.= In New England the term applied to the deceased wife of a
person of local distinction, such as the parson, doctor, etc. In the
southern states it expresses the mistress or master’s wife
universally among the Negroes. Elsewhere it is either _Madam_ or
_Ma’am_ for a mother.
=Mad Cavalier.= Prince Rupert, so called on account of his rash courage
and lack of self-control.
=Mad Dog.= A skull cap, from the old idea that keeping the head
impervious to air was a remedy against the bite of a dog.
=Mad Poet.= Nathaniel Lee, who wrote some of his finest pieces while
confined during four years at Bethlehem Hospital.
=Mad as a Hatter.= A corruption of “Mad as an atter.” _Atter_ expressed
the Saxon for a viper or adder. The word “Mad” was anciently used in
the sense of venomous; hence this expression really meant “venomous
as a viper.”
=Mad as a March Hare.= Being their rutting season, hares are very wild
in March.
=Made a bad Break.= An Americanism for having made a silly slip of the
tongue, a sad mistake, or a great blunder. The expression is, of
course, derived from a game of billiards.
=Made his Pile.= Although a Californian phrase for having amassed a
fortune, this originated at the gaming-tables throughout the States
generally.
=Madeira.= Expresses the Portuguese for “timber.” This island was at the
time of its discovery covered with forests. Also the name of a rich
wine imported therefrom.
=Madeleine.= The church at Paris dedicated to Mary Magdalen or Mary of
Magdala.
=Maddox Street.= After the name of the builder upon the land in 1720.
=Madras.= From the Arabic _Madrasa_, “university.” Originally Madrasa
Pattan, the name expressed “University town.” _Pattan_ is Sanscrit
for town.
=Madrid.= In the tenth century this was simply a Moorish fortified
outpost of Toledo, as expressed by its Arabic name, _Majerit_.
=Maelstrom.= Expresses the Norwegian for an eddy or whirlpool; literally
“whirling stream.”
=Maffiking.= A word used to denote the madness which may seize upon an
entire community on an occasion of great public rejoicing, as
happened when news of the relief of Mafeking, during the South
African War, reached England. Staid citizens--bankers, stockbrokers,
and others--assembled in front of the Mansion House, cheering
wildly, and losing all control over themselves to such a degree that
they threw their hats high in the air. For the remainder of that day
and far into the night all London went mad with joy.
=Magazine.= From the Arabic _Makhzan_, a depository for stores. In a
literary sense this originally expressed a periodical whose contents
were made up of elegant extracts from the best authors.
=Magdalen Hospital.= The old name of a penitentiary for fallen women, so
called after Mary Magdalen. The French form of this name is
Madeleine.
=Magdalen Smith.= The famous Dutch portrait painter, Gaspar Smitz, is
usually known by this name on account of his many “Magdalens,” in
which he excelled.
=Magdeburg.= German for “town on the plain.”
=Magenta.= This colour was so called because first produced after the
battle of Magenta in 1859.
=Magic City of the South.= Birmingham in the state of Alabama. Since its
foundation by the Elyton Land Company in 1871 it has bidden fair to
rival Pittsburg as the Birmingham of America.
=Magnolia.= In honour of the eminent French botanist, Pierre Magnol.
=Mahala.= The Californian term for an Indian squaw, derived from the
Spanish _muger_ (pronounced _muher_), a woman.
=Mahatma.= A Hindoo term for a Buddhist gifted with what appear to be
supernatural powers, as the result of the very highest intellectual
development.
=Mahogany.= A vulgar term very frequently heard in the Midland counties
for a man’s wife. This arose from the fact that the wood of the
Mahogany-tree (West Indian _Mahogan_, but botanically _Swietenia
Mahogani_) was for many years at first used exclusively for the
manufacture of domestic dining-tables; hence a man would say: “I’ll
discuss it with my wife over the Mahogany.” Eventually the phrase
was corrupted into “I’ll talk to the Mahogany about it,” and so the
term came to denote the man’s wife.
=Mahrattas.= The Hindoo term for “outcasts.” Although devout worshippers
of Buddha, this powerful Hindoo family does not recognise that fine
distinction of caste which obtains elsewhere.
=Maida Vale.= After the victory of Maida, 4th July 1806.
=Maiden.= An ancient instrument of capital punishment made in the form
of a woman, the front of which opened like a door, and, the victim
being imprisoned, sharp steel spikes pierced his body on every side.
This name was also given to an early species of guillotine in
Scotland. To be executed by its means was to “Kiss the Maiden,”
because she clasped him in a death embrace.
=Maidenland.= A Virginian term for the land which comes to a man by
marriage on his wife’s side, and which passes from him at her
decease.
=Maiden Assize.= So called when there are no charges for the jury, which
in the event of conviction merit capital punishment or the death
sentence. On such an occasion the sheriffs present a pair of white
gloves to the judges as the emblems of innocence.
=Maiden Lane.= Anciently skirting the garden of the Convent. This
thoroughfare had at its western corner a statue of “Our Lady” let
into the wall.
=Maid Marian.= So far from having any connection with Robin Hood and his
merry men in Sherwood Forest, this term is derived from the “Morris
Dance,” in which five men and a boy took part. On account of his
antics and the ill-fitting _morione_, or helmet, that this boy wore,
he came to be styled as the “Mad Morion,” of which Maid Marian was
an easy corruption.
=Maid of Orleans.= Joan of Arc, who led her countrymen against the
English, and effected the capture of the city of Orleans, 29th April
1429.
=Maid of Saragossa.= Augustina Zaragossa, who distinguished herself in
the heroic defence of the city of Saragossa during its eight months’
siege by the French in 1808-9.
=Maidstone.= From the Anglo-Saxon _Medwægeston_, the town on the
_Medwæge_, or Medway, which river runs through the middle of the
county of Kent.
=Mail.= The American term for “post”--_i.e._ a letter. This word is, of
course, derived from the mail bag in which letters are transmitted.
=Mail Stage.= The American form of “Stage-coach.”
=Maine.= The name given to the French settlement in the New World after
the city so called in the Mother Country. Maine, from the Celtic
_man_, expresses a district or region.
=Majorca.= Expresses the Latin for Greater, relative to the “Balearic
Islands.”
=Make Bricks without Straw.= To make something without the needful
materials. In the East bricks are made out of straw and mud dried in
the sun. The expression comes from the burdens laid upon the
Israelites in Egypt as related in Exodus v.: “Go therefore now, and
work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver
the tale of bricks.”
=Make Money out of a Shoe-string.= An Americanism for a capacity to make
money out of nothing--that is, without working capital.
=Make the Raise.= An Americanism for to “raise the loan.”
=Make the Sneak.= An Americanism for to sneak or run away.
=Make Tracks.= Originally a Far West expression when a squatter deserted
his claim and set out to explore an unknown region.
=Make Trade hum.= An Americanism for whipping up business by advertising
or extraordinary energy.
=Malaga.= From the Phœnician _malaca_, salt. The wine of the same
name is imported from this city of Spain.
=Malmsey.= Wine from Malvasia, an island in the Mediterranean
historically famous for its vineyards.
=Malta.= From the Phœnician _Melita_, “a place of refuge.”
=Mamelukes.= From the Arabic _mamluc_, a slave. The original standing
army of Egypt, composed of boy slaves purchased by the Sultan from
the Tartar Khan in the Caucasus in the thirteenth century.
=Mamma.= Latin for “breast”; hence all animals that are suckled by the
mother belong to the class of “Mammals.”
=Mammon.= From the Syriac _mamona_, “riches.”
=Manchester.= Expresses the Anglo-Saxon for a common on the site of a
Roman camp. The Friesic _man_ in this sense enters into many place
names also on the Continent.
=Manchester Square.= After the Duke of Manchester, the owner of the
estate.
=Manchuria.= The territory of the Manchus, the founders of the present
ruling dynasty of China.
=Mandarin.= Although this title is borne by officers of every grade in
China the word is really Portuguese, _mandar_, to command. It was
applied by the early settlers of Macao to the Chinese officials of
that colony, and has remained a European designation for a Chinaman
of rank ever since.
=Manhattan.= From the Indian _munnohatan_, “the town on the island.”
=Manicure.= The American mode of “Manicurist,” which, from the Latin
_manus_, hand, literally means one who undertakes the care of the
finger-nails.
=Manitoba.= After _Manitou_, the “Great Spirit” of the Alonquin Indians.
This name is pronounced Manito_bar_ not Mani_to_bar.
=Man in the Street.= A metaphorical expression for the average man, with
no more than a superficial knowledge of matters in general. Not
belonging to a club, he has small means of adding to his own store
of knowledge by daily communion with those better informed than
himself.
=Manlius Torquatus.= The Roman Consul Manlius received his surname
“Torquatus” through having wrested the golden torque or collar from
his adversary on the field of war.
=Mannheim.= German for “the home of men.” Until the Elector Palatine
Frederick IV. built a castle here, and a town grew up around it in
the seventeenth century, this was a village of refugees from
religious persecution in the Netherlands.
=Man of Kent.= A native of the county of Kent east of the Medway.
=Man of Ross.= The name given by Pope to John Kyrle of Ross,
Herefordshire. See “Kyrle Society.”
=Man of Straw.= One who, having nothing to lose, descends to mean
practices for gain, well knowing that his victims rarely go to the
expense of entering a prosecution against him, since they cannot
obtain damages. This term was derived from the hangers-on at the
Westminster Law Courts, who were ready to swear anything at the
instruction of counsel for a bribe. They were known by displaying a
wisp of straw in their shoes. If another witness was required while
a case was being heard, counsel generally sent out to look for “a
pair of straw shoes.”
=Man-of-War.= This term is a popular abbreviation of man-of-war
ship--_i.e._ the floating home of a man-of-war’s-man. Our national
prestige has from time immemorial been dependent on the supremacy of
the seas, therefore an English sailor, more than a soldier, was
regarded by our ancestors as a fighting man. Since the introduction
of ironclads, however, it has become the custom to speak of a
floating battery as a war vessel or battleship, and a sailor as a
bluejacket.
=Mansard Roof.= After its inventor, François Mansard, the French
architect of the seventeenth century.
=Mansfield Street.= From the town mansion of the Earls of Mansfield,
which stood here.
=Mansion House.= Expresses the “house of houses,” the official residence
of the Lord Mayor of London, the representative in the city of the
King, whose flag proudly waves in the breeze from the roof.
=Mantua.= A lady’s cloak or mantle, originally introduced from the
Italian city of this name.
=Maoris.= The aborigines of New Zealand. In the native tongue this means
“indigenous.”
=Maraboo Feathers.= Those plucked from the underside of the wings of the
stork of the same name. The stork being held sacred by the
Mohammedans, as it was by the ancient Egyptians, its name has the
same meaning as that of the “Marabuts.”
=Marabuts.= The priestly order of the Arabs in North Africa; those who
attend the mosques and call the people to prayers. Their name is
derived from the Arabic _Marabath_, sacred or devoted to God.
=Maraschino.= A liqueur distilled from delicate and finely flavoured
cherries, called _Marazques_, cultivated at Zara in Dalmatia.
=March.= In honour of Mars, the Roman god of war.
=Marconigram.= A wireless telegram, so called after Marconi, the
inventor of the system.
=Margate.= From the Anglo-Saxon _Mære_, the sea; expresses the road or
entrance to the Thames estuary from the sea. See “Gate.”
=Margaret Street.= After Lady Margaret Cavendish, wife of the second
Duke of Portland, landlord of the estate.
=Marigold.= This, golden flower, indigenous to Mexico, was dedicated by
the Spaniards to the Virgin. What are called “Marigold Windows,”
having these flowers represented on them, appear in Lady Chapels.
=Marine Store Dealer.= The legal description of what is now a rag and
bone merchant in a small way, because at one time old ships’ iron
and cables were not allowed to be disposed of in any other manner
save to such a registered dealer.
=Market Street.= The site of an ancient market on which at a later
period the annual May Fair was held. This district is now one of the
most fashionable in the West End of London.
=Mark Lane.= A corruption of “Mart Lane,” in which an ancient annual
fair or mart of Flemish merchants was held.
=Mark Twain.= The literary pseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens,
reminiscent of his early life as a pilot on a Mississippi steamboat.
“Mark Twain” in nautical phraseology means “mark two fathoms of
water.”
=Marlborough House.= This, the residence of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,
was built by Sir Christopher Wren for John Churchill, Duke of
Marlborough, in 1709 at a total cost of a million of money.
=Marlborough Road.= This, like the square of the same name off the
Fulham Road, was so called after the “Duke of Marlborough” at one
end of it. At Peckham, after the one-time residence of John
Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, before he removed to Pall Mall.
=Maroons.= Revolted Negroes in South America and the West Indies. The
term was derived from the Morony River, between Dutch and French
Guiana, where great numbers of these fugitives found a place of
safety.
=Marquee.= Originally the tent of a marchioness.
=Marquis.= From the Italian and French _Marchese_, pursuant to the root
_mark_, a boundary. Anciently expressive of an officer who had the
guardianship of the marches or boundaries of a duchy. At a later
period the owner of a slice of land bestowed upon him out of a
duchy. Nowadays the title next below that of duke.
=Marquis of Granby.= A tavern sign in honour of John Manners, the
British general during the Seven Years’ War in Germany, a soldier
beloved by his men and esteemed by his country.
=Marry.= A perverted form of the oath “By Mary” in days when people were
wont to swear by the Virgin.
=Marsala.= A light wine exported from Marsala in Sicily. This name was
bestowed upon the town by the Arabs, _Marsa Alla_, “Port of God,” on
account of its delightful situation.
=Marseillaise.= This was the composition of Rouget de Lisle, an
artillery officer stationed with the French garrison at Strasburg.
First sung at a banquet given by the mayor of that city, it became
immensely popular; and when in 1792 the Marseilles volunteers were
summoned to Paris, they sang it as they approached and entered the
capital. The words and music at once struck the popular ear, so that
“La Marseillaise” became the national war song.
=Marshal.= From the Teutonic _mare_, horse, and _schalk_, servant. This
term, through the French _maréchal_, originally signified the groom
of the horse; now it means in a civil sense the master of the horse
and head of the ceremonies in devising pageants and processions. The
Duke of Norfolk, as Earl Marshal of England, takes precedence over
all other noblemen.
=Marshal Forward.= General Blucher, on account of his eagerness to make
a dash in the campaign which terminated in the victory of Waterloo.
=Marshalsea.= The old Debtors’ Prison in Southwark, so called because
the Court of the Knight Marshal, for the settlement of disputes
between members of the Royal Household, was held within its walls.
This edifice was demolished in 1842.
=Marsham Street.= From the ground landlord, Charles Marsham, Earl of
Romney.
=Martel.= The surname of Charles, the son of Pepin d’Heristal, who
signalised himself in battle against the Saracens when, according to
the chronicler, “he knocked down the foe and crushed them between
his axe, as a martel or hammer crushes what it strikes.” This
exploit occurred during the attempted Saracenic invasion of France
A.D. 732.
=Martello Tower.= Originally built near the sea as a watch-tower for
protection of merchandise against pirates. The term arose from the
custom of the sentry striking a bell with a _martel_, or hammer, as
often as he discerned a pirate ship out at sea.
=Martin.= The common wall-swallow, corrupted from its Latin name
_Murten_, from _murus_, a wall.
=Martinet.= From the name of a strict officer under Louis XIV. of
France; hence the phrase “a regular martinet.”
=Martin’s Lane.= From St Martin’s Church in this lane.
=Martlemas.= A corruption of “Martinmas,” or Feast of St Martin, 4th
November, the usual time for the hiring of servants in the rural
districts of England.
=Maryland.= The name given by Lord Baltimore to the colony founded by
him, in honour of Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I.
=Maryland End.= An Americanism for the hock of the ham, as distinguished
from the other, the “Virginia End.”
=Marylebone.= A corruption of “St Mary of the Bourn”--_i.e._ the parish
church of St Mary beside the bourn or stream which descended from
near the hermitage at “Kilburn” to “Tyburn.”
=Masaniello.= The name of the leader of the Neapolitan insurrectionists
of the seventeenth century was Tommaso Aniello, of which
_Masaniello_ is a corruption.
=Masher.= From the Romany or gipsy _Masha_, “to fascinate the eye.”
Whether the overdressed fop, so designated in our day, really
possessed this enviable quality is open to question.
=Mason and Dixon’s Line.= An American expression for the old-time
boundary between the slave and the free states. This line was
defended between Pennsylvania and Maryland and Virginia by two
English surveyors, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, in 1763-7.
=Massage.= A Frenchised Hindoo word for rubbing. A male and female
practitioner of this new curative mode of friction treatment are
respectively styled a masseur and masseuse.
=Mattan Diamond.= This, the largest in the world, weighing 367 carats,
is the property of the Rajah of Mattan in India.
=Maudlin.= A word expressive of sentimentality or an inclination to shed
tears, more especially when in a state of intoxication. Old painters
always represented Mary Magdalen with swollen eyes, the result of
penitential tears; hence a corruption of “Magdalen.”
=Maund.= The Saxon for an alms-basket employed in the distribution of
bread to the poor by the Lady of the Manor.
=Maundy Thursday.= So called from _Maundé_, the French form of
_Mandatum_, the first word in the New Commandment or mandate given
by our Lord to His disciples after washing their feet at the Last
Supper. The essence of this mandate was to love one another; hence
the washing of feet of poor persons and distribution of doles by the
reigning sovereign on this day. See “Maund.”
=Mauritius.= A Dutch colony named in honour of Maurice, Prince of
Orange.
=Mausoleum.= After the magnificent sepulchral monument erected by his
widow, Artemisia, to Mausolus, King of Caria, at Halicarnassus, 353
B.C.
=May.= The budding or shooting of plants in this month caused the Romans
to give it the name of _Magius_, afterwards shortened into _Maius_,
from the Sanskrit mah, to grow. Eventually this month was held
sacred to _Maia_, the mother of Mercury, to whom sacrifices were
offered on the first day.
=Maydew Cherries.= A corruption of Medoc cherries, from the district in
France where they are cultivated.
=Mayfair.= On the site of this fashionable district Edward III.
established a six days’ fair in the month of May for the benefit of
the leper hospital of St James the Less, where St James’s Palace now
stands.
=May Meetings.= The annual meetings of the many religious, missionary,
and philanthropic bodies of the United Kingdom are held in London,
generally at Exeter Hall, during the month of May.
=Mazarin Bible.= A very rare edition of the Scriptures, being one of the
earliest printed by Gutenberg with separate metal types, between
1450 and 1455. It received this name from the fact that a copy was
discovered in the library of Cardinal Mazarin.
=Mecklenburg Square.= One of the many names about London which, when new
streets were built upon, complimented the Hanoverian Succession.
=Medina.= Expresses the Arabic for “City.” Its full name is _Medinat al
Nabi_, “City of the Prophet.”
=Mediterranean Sea.= The sea “in the middle of the earth” is that
between the two great continents, Europe and Africa.
=Medway.= See “Maidstone.”
=Meerschaum.= Expresses the German for “sea foam,” the fine white clay
out of which pipes are made being at one time thought to be the
petrified scum or foam of the sea.
=Meistersingers.= Literal German for “Master Singers”; master craftsmen
who in the Middle Ages revived the national minstrelsy, which had
been allowed to fall into decay.
=Melbourne.= In honour of Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister in 1837,
when this Australian colony was founded.
=Melodrama.= Modern drama, distinguished by incidental music as an
accompaniment to the action.
=Memorial Day.= The United States mode of expressing a great
commemorative occasion, such as Independence or Decoration Day.
=Memorial Hall.= This building, in Farringdon Road, commemorates the
issue of the famous “Act of Uniformity,” whereby 2000 ministers of
the Church of England were deprived of their livings on 24th August
1662. The site was formerly occupied by the old Fleet Prison.
=Memory-Corner Thompson.= The name borne by John Thompson of the parish
of St Giles’s-in-the-Fields. Seated in a corner of a coffee-house,
he was wont for the amusement of regular habitues to display his
astounding powers of memory in regard to the topography of London.
=Memory Woodfall.= The sobriquet of William Woodfall, brother to the
reputed author of the celebrated “Letters of Junius.” His mnemonical
powers differed from that of “Memory-Corner Thompson” in that, after
listening to a debate, Parliamentary or otherwise, overnight, he
could repeat it word for word the next morning.
=Mentor.= A “guide, philosopher, and friend,” so called after Mentor,
the faithful friend and counsellor of Ulysses.
=Mercenaries.= From the Latin _mercer_, wages, reward. These hired
soldiers of antiquity figured largely in the Punic Wars.
=Mercer.= The old name for a dealer in silks and woollen fabrics, so
called from the Latin _mercis_, wares, merchandise. Nowadays such a
one styles himself a “Draper.”
=Merino.= A fabric of wool from the sheep of the same name, which
expresses the Spanish for an inspector of sheep walks.
=Merioneth.= After Merion, an early British saint.
=Merrimac.= Indian for “swift water.”
=Merry Andrew.= A buffoon or clown, said to have been so called after
Andrew Borde, a noted physician of the time of Henry VIII., whose
witticisms were on a par with his medical skill. His sayings were
widely repeated, and since it happened that Andrew was then the most
common name for a man-servant, facetious fellows came to be dubbed
Merry Andrews.
=Merry Monarch.= Charles II., who from the time of coming to the throne
never knew care, but made his life one round of pleasure.
=Mesopotamia.= The ancient description of the region situate between the
Tigris and the Euphrates. The name is Greek, from _mesos_, middle,
and _potamos_, river.
=Messe Rouge.= Expresses the French for “Red Mass.” At the resumption of
their duties at the Law Courts after the Long Vacation all the
Catholic judges and barristers attend a Mass of the Holy Ghost to
invoke the Spirit for the gift of wisdom. Like the masses of the
Feast of the Holy Ghost, the vestment worn by the officiating priest
is red, in allusion to the tongues of fire that descended upon the
Apostles on Whit Sunday.
=Methodists.= This name was first given by a fellow-student of Christ
Church, Oxford, to the Brothers Wesley and a few friends who were in
the habit of meeting on certain evenings for religious conversation.
They also visited the inmates of Oxford Jail at stated times, always
faithfully kept their engagements, and acted up to their Christian
principles in a strictly methodical manner. The new sect was
afterwards styled by John Wesley “The First Methodist Society.”
=Metz.= This city was styled by the Romans _Mettis_, from the _Medio
matrici_, the people of the country, whom they conquered.
=Mexico.= Expresses the seat or place of _Mexitli_, the Aztec god of
war.
=Michaelmas Day.= The feast of St Michael, prince of the heavenly host,
and patron saint of the Catholic Church. This is properly described
as “St Michael and all Angels” (29th September).
=Michaelmas Goose.= Stubble geese being at their best about this time,
the rural tenantry always brought their landlords a goose with their
Michaelmas rent. Since the latter usually received more geese than
they could consume themselves, they passed them over to friends, and
thus the goose became a standing Michaelmas dish.
=Michigan.= Indian for “a weir for fish.”
=Middlesex.= Expresses the territory of the Middle Saxons, situate
between that of the East and West Saxons under the Heptarchy.
=Middling.= North of England, and also American, for medium or passable
in the sense of feeling well.
=Mignonette.= Expresses the diminutive of _Mignon_, the French for
“darling.”
=Mildmay Park.= The estate of the Mildmays, whose ancestor, Sir Henry
Mildmay, came, by marriage, into possession of Mildmay House and its
park in the time of Charles I.
=Mile End Gate.= From a toll gate which at this point of the highroad
marked the eastern limits of London town and the parish of
Whitechapel, distant one mile from the city boundary at Aldgate.
=Miles Lane.= After Miles Coverdale, a famous preacher at the
Weigh-House Chapel hard by in former days.
=Milford Lane.= From an old mill that stood here in the fields. The lane
itself led to a ford across the river at low water.
=Milking the Street.= An Americanism for the operations of stockbrokers
who, by alternately raising and depressing shares, capture all the
floating money in the market. The allusion is, of course, to Wall
Street, the financial centre of New York city.
=Milk Street.= The ancient milk and butter market in connection with
Cheapside.
=Millbank.= From an old mill that stood on the Thames bank, on the site
of which the Grosvenors built a mansion, subsequently displaced for
the gloomy prison of the same name.
=Millerites.= An American religious sect, whose founder, William Miller,
prophesied the millennium or first judgment of the world by Christ
and His angels to take place on 23rd February 1843. Many of his
followers went mad through excitement as this date approached.
Subsequent days assigned for the fulfilment of the prophesy proved
alike misleading.
=Milliner.= A corruption of _Milaner_, after the city of Milan, which at
one time set the fashion throughout Europe for elegance and taste
not only in matters of dress, but of art. A milliner is one who
deals in hats, feathers, and ribbons. See “Mercer.”
=Mill Street.= From a mill that stood hereabouts when the scene was one
of peaceful rusticity.
=Milton Street.= After the author of “Paradise Lost,” who resided here
for a time, and was buried in the parish church of St Giles’s,
Cripplegate. This was the famous Grub Street of tradition.
=Milwaukee.= Indian for “rich land.”
=Mincing Lane.= A corruption of “Mynchen Lane,” denoting the property of
the Minchery, the Saxon term for a nunnery of St Helen’s in
Bishopsgate Street.
=Minden Boys.= The 20th Foot, so called from the conspicuous bravery
displayed by them at the battle of Minden.
=Mind your P’s and Q’s.= This had reference originally to the pints and
quarts chalked up against a rustic at the village alehouse. When his
score threatened to become too disproportionate to his prospective
wages, the alehouse-keeper generally administered a timely warning
in these set terms. It was a polite way of saying he would very soon
decline to serve him with more until the next settling day.
=Miniature.= So called because this early species of hand-painted
portraiture originated in the head of the Madonna or of a saint that
formed the initial letter of the beautifully illuminated rubrics
produced by the monks styled the “Miniatori,” because their paints
were made out of _minium_, or red lead.
=Minnesingers.= Expresses the Old German for “love singers,” the
troubadours of the Fatherland in the Middle Ages.
=Minnesota.= Indian for “smoky water.”
=Minorca.= Expresses the lesser of the “Balearic Islands.”
=Minories.= This thoroughfare was laid out across the lands belonging to
the Minoresses or Nuns of St Clare after their priory had been
demolished at the Reformation. The Order of the Minoresses
corresponded to the Friars Minor of the Franciscans founded by St
Francis de Paula.
=Minster.= The distinction between a minster and a cathedral lies in
this: the former is the church in connection with a monastery,
whereas the latter contains the _kathedra_, or chair, of a bishop.
=Minstrel Boy.= A favourite page whose duty it was to attend a knight in
peace and war. On his return from “feats of arms” he recited the
doughty deeds of his master to the accompaniment of a lute, harp, or
lyre in the banqueting-hall. In times of peace his theme was the
bravery of the knight in the lists at tournaments or his prowess in
defence of fair maidens.
=Minstrel of the Border.= The name bestowed upon William Wordsworth by
Sir Walter Scott.
=Mint.= On the spot where Manlius Capitolinus had built himself a
sumptuous residence the Romans set up a temple to Juno Moneta, or
“The Monitress,” since Manlius had been apprised of the Gallic
invasion through the cackling of the sacred geese. Subsequently this
temple of Moneta was converted into an establishment for the coinage
of money. Both mint and money therefore come from _Moneta_.
=Mint Street.= From the old mint established at Suffolk House by Henry
VIII. when that property was sequestered to the Crown.
=Minuet.= So called from the Latin _minutus_, small, on account of the
short, graceful steps which distinguish this dance.
=Miserere.= The name given to a mediæval choir stall of which the seat
could be turned up so as to form a ledge for the support of the aged
monks while kneeling. Its name, _miserere_, “Have mercy,” was
singularly appropriate.
=Misluck.= An Americanism for misfortune or ill luck.
=Misses’ Tailors.= An Americanism for “Ladies’ Tailors.”
=Mississippi.= Indian for “great and long river.”
=Missouri.= Indian for “muddy water.”
=Mitre.= An inn sign most generally to be met with in a cathedral city,
having reference, of course, to the mitre worn by a bishop.
=Mitre Court.= So called after an ancient Fleet Street tavern hard by.
=Mitre Square.= From an old inn, “The Mitre.”
=Mob.= From the Latin _mobile vulgus_, “the vulgar crowd.”
=Mobtown.= The name given to the city of Baltimore on account of the
lawlessness of a certain section of its inhabitants.
=Mocha.= Coffee brought from the district of the same name in Arabia.
=Mocking Bird.= A species of thrush that mocks or imitates the notes
produced by other birds.
=Moet and Chandon.= A favourite brand of champagne from the vineyards of
the French firm trading under the name of “Moet et Chandon.”
=Molasses.= The American term for syrup or treacle, derived from the
French _melasse_, the root of which is the Latin _mellis_, honey.
=Money.= See “Mint.”
=Mohair.= From the Arabic _Mukhayyar_, “goatskin hair,” through the
French _moire_, the fine silken hair of the Angora goat.
=Mohawks.= Night marauders who in the days of the “Old Charlies”
terrorised peaceable London citizens, self-styled after the fierce
Indian tribe of the same name. “Mohawk” means “man-eater” or
“live-eater,” this term being applied to the Iroquois by the eastern
Indians of North America.
=Moire Antique.= The French description of watered silk worked in the
style of the olden times. See “Mohair.”
=Moldavia.= The country traversed by the River Moldau.
=Moleskin.= A superior fabric of fustian or strong cotton distinguished
for a smoothness like the hair of the mole.
=Molly Maguires.= An Irish Secret Society in the United States, more
especially Pennsylvania, composed of young men dressed in women’s
clothes, and with blackened faces, who did not hesitate to murder in
connection with the agrarian outrages that they committed. The
execution of ten of the ringleaders in June 1877 at length put an
end to their reign of terror.
=Monastery.= From the Greek _monos_, alone. This term expresses an
establishment of monks, secluded from one another in cells except
when at prayers or at meals; recluses who never go into the outer
world at all. A Friary, on the contrary, is a convent whose inmates
live in community and go forth to preach among the people.
=Monday.= A term derived from Scandinavian mythology when, after the
first day of the week given up to sun-worship, the second was set
apart for the worship of the moon.
=Money makes Money.= This is a truism which it were vain to deny.
Without capital a man cannot possibly set up in business for
himself, even as a costermonger. The command of money makes its
possessor doubly rich.
=Monger.= This word enters into various designations of the trading
community, such as Fishmonger, Costermonger, being derived from the
Anglo-Saxon _mongere_, “one who trades.”
=Monk.= From the Greek _monachos_, “one who lives alone.” See
“Monastery.”
=Monkey.= From the Italian _monicchio_, the diminutive of _monna_, an
ape. This word is often used as a verb--_e.g._ “Don’t monkey about
on there,” meaning “Don’t play about or be up to monkeyish pranks.”
=Monkey Board.= The platform at the back of an omnibus, so called on
account of the capers usually indulged in by the conductor. On a
vehicle of the old-fashioned kind this platform was so small that he
had to jump off it in order to allow a passenger to enter or alight.
=Monk Lewis.= The sobriquet of Matthew Gregory Lewis after he had
published his celebrated novel, “The Monk,” in 1795.
=Monmouth.= The mouth of the Mon, the ancient description of which was
_Mynwy_, “the border river.”
=Montague Place.= This, like the street close by, received its name from
Montague House, the town mansion of the Dukes of Montague, in which
the treasures of the British Museum were at first deposited pending
the erection of the present edifice.
=Montague Square.= Like the street of the same name, this was designated
in compliment to Mrs Montague of the “Blue Stocking Club,” who after
the death of her husband resided in Portman Square.
=Mont Blanc.= French for “white mountain,” because it is eternally
snow-clad.
=Montenegro.= Literally “black mountain.”
=Montepulciano.= A famous Italian wine produced at the ancient city of
the same name.
=Montgomery.= After Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, who
obtained forcible possession of the castle erected on the height by
the Lord of the Marshes in the time of William the Conqueror.
=Montreal.= So called from the admiring exclamation of Jacques Coutier,
when in 1534 he viewed the surrounding country from its summit. The
name is French for “Royal Mount.”
=Montserrat.= Expresses the Latin for a mountain serrated or jagged like
a saw.
=Monumental City.= Baltimore, so called on account of its one hundred
and four churches, the obelisk, etc., which it contains.
=Moonshiners.= The name given in the western states of America to
illicit whisky distillers.
=Moonshine Whisky.= American whisky distilled under cover of night by
“Moonshiners.”
=Moorfields.= See “Moorgate Street.”
=Moorgate Street.= From the postern gate in the Roman Wall leading to
the moor beyond the fen lands or marshes of Finsbury known as
Moorfields.
=Moors.= From the Latin _mauri_, and Spanish _moros_, “black.” Elsewhere
denominated “Saracens,” these Arab conquerors of the peninsula were
called by the Spaniards “Moriscoes.”
=Mop Fair.= The name given to a fair held a few days after the
periodical Statute Fair for the hiring of farm servants. The dregs
of the Statute Fair are then mopped or swept up.
=Moravia.= From the _Morava_, which name expresses a marsh or boundary
river.
=Moravians.= The followers of John Huss, driven out of Bohemia and
Moravia by religious persecutions early in the eighteenth century.
=Morgan Horse.= A favourite breed of American sporting horse descended
from the animal owned by Justin Morgan, a schoolmaster of Randolph,
Vermont, nearly a hundred years ago.
=Morgue.= So far from denoting a mortuary, this term really means the
inner wicket of a prison, where the identification marks of new
arrivals are taken before they have their cells and tasks assigned
to them. It is therefore not incorrectly applied to the place of
public examination and identification of the unknown dead.
=Morisonians.= A religious sect which separated from the Scottish
Presbyterians in 1841, under the leadership of James Morison.
=Mormons.= A sect whose founder, Joseph Smith, claimed to have received
a new revelation in “The Book of Mormon,” written on gold plates by
the angel Mormon, the last of the Hebrew line of prophets, in 1827.
=Mornington Crescent.= After the Earl of Mornington, Governor-General of
India, the brother of the Duke of Wellington.
=Morocco.= The territory of the Moriscoes or “Moors.”
=Morris Dance.= An ancient military dance of the Moriscoes or Moors of
Spain introduced to England by John of Gaunt after his return from
that country, _temp._ Edward III. Hence the companions of the “Jack
in the Green” at the May Day festival always blackened their faces,
and disported themselves in extravagant costumes, imitative of the
flowing robes of the original dancers. See “Maid Marian.”
=Mortimer Street.= After Edward Harley, Earl of Wigmore and Mortimer,
landlord of the estate in 1717.
=Mosaics.= So called because such inlaid work of stones was originally
employed in the pavements of the temples of the Muses. The word is
French _mosaique_, derived from the same Greek root as _Museum_.
=Moscow.= From the River _Moskwa_, on which the city was built.
=Moselle.= Wines produced at the vineyards on the banks of the French
river of the same name.
=Moslem.= From the Arabic _Muslim_, “true believer,” through _Salama_,
“to submit.” This term expresses the plural of “Mussulman” among the
Persians. By the Turks “true believers” are styled “Moslemin.” There
is no such word as “Mussul_men_” or “Mussul_mans_.”
=Mosquito.= From the Spanish _mosca_, a fly.
=Mosquito Coast.= A territory in Central America which, on account of
its climate and the swampy nature of the land, is infested by
mosquitoes.
=Mothering Sunday.= The Sunday in Mid-Lent when the members of a family
in domestic service visit their parents and enjoy “Mothering Cakes”
for tea. These cakes had their origin in offerings made to the
“Mother Church” on the afternoon on this day.
=Mother Black Cap.= A public-house sign in Camden Town set up in
opposition to the “Mother Red Cap” over the way. There never was a
noted character of this name.
=Mother of Believers.= The name bestowed by Mohammedans upon Ayesha, the
favourite wife of “The Prophet,” styled “The Father of Believers.”
Mohammed himself declared that Ayesha was the only member of his
family who cherished the slightest faith in his mission. His
preference for his second wife, therefore, can be readily
understood.
=Mother of Presidents.= Virginia, on account of the many Presidents
which this state has given to the American Republic.
=Mother of South-Western Statesmen.= Tennessee, from the seventeen
eminent Congressmen which this state has given to the Union.
=Mother of States.= Virginia, the pioneer British colony in the New
World.
=Mother Red Cap.= An omnibus stage in Camden Town, the sign of which
perpetuates the memory of a notorious London poisoner during the
Commonwealth.
=Mother Shipton.= A noted hostelry at Haverstock Hill, built when the
prophecies of this Welsh sorceress were the common talk of the day.
Some of her less baneful predictions were actually verified; notably
those as to ships ploughing the ocean without sails and vehicles
careering along the road without horses. Is it possible that she had
the motor car in her mind?
=Moulin Rouge.= Expresses the French for “Red Mill.”
=Mound City.= St Louis, on account of the numerous artificial mounds
occupying its site at the time when the city was built.
=Mountain.= The extremists of the Democratic party in France during the
Reign of Terror, so called because they occupied the elevated
benches in the House of Convention.
=Mountain Dew.= An Irishman’s term for whisky, because it was often
secretly distilled among the mountains in order to escape excise
duty; hence the expression: “A drop o’ the cratur.”
=Mount Street.= On a natural mound the Parliamentary forces here erected
a fort or bastion when the Royalists were expected to make an attack
upon London from the west.
=Mrs Grundy.= A term expressive of the prudishness of the English
character. It arose out of the line: “What will Mrs Grundy say?” in
Thomas Morton’s drama, “Speed the Plough,” produced in 1798.
=Mudlarks.= The nickname of the Royal Engineers, whose function it is to
throw up entrenchments.
=Muff.= This term was at first applied to an effeminate dandy who at one
time, like the ladies, carried a muff to keep his hands warm in
winter. This incapacitated him from defending himself with his sword
against an unexpected attack at the hands of a street bully, and
hence, as now, a _muff_ was easily taken advantage of, or likely to
become a prey to the sharp-witted.
=Muff Dogs.= Small dogs carried by ladies in their muffs during the
seventeenth century. A “muff dog” figures in an engraving by Hollar.
=Mug.= Slang for a man’s face. This arose out of the rude portraiture of
Lord Shaftesbury or some other political celebrity which from the
time of the Restoration to the middle of the eighteenth century
adorned the yellow chinaware beer mugs at an alehouse, or Mug-House
as it was called. These Mug-Houses were the first political clubs;
out of them sprang the popular “Free and Easies” of modern times,
and more recently the Music Halls.
=Muggletonians.= A religious sect headed by Ludovic Muggleton, a tailor,
who proclaimed himself a prophet, in 1651.
=Mugwump.= An Indian word for “wise chief.” The Mugwumps of North
America are the Democrats, whose political aims are above cliques or
parties; therefore they refuse to be influenced by a “Caucus.”
=Mulatto.= From the Spanish _mulato_, a mixed breed, through _mulo_, a
mule, the offspring of a white and a Negro.
=Mumm.= A strong German beer named after Christian Mumme, who first
brewed it.
=Mummer.= Slang for an actor. This old English term, derived from the
German _mumme_, a mask, was applied to the performers in a Christmas
masque or buffoonery.
=Mummock.= An Americanism for handle, disarrange, or play with--_e.g._
“Don’t mummock things about.” The word is really obsolete provincial
English for “maul.”
=Munich.= From the German _monchen_, monks. On the spot where the city
stands some monks built a warehouse for the salt which they obtained
in the neighbourhood. In the twelfth century Henry the Lion made
this _Villa Minichen_, as it was then called, into a mint, and a
town grew up around it.
=Munster Road.= From Munster House, the residence of Melesina
Schulenberg, created Duchess of Munster by George II.
=Munster Square.= In honour of the eldest son of William IV., created
Earl of Munster.
=Murphies.= Potatoes, the chief articles of consumption among the Irish
peasantry. This term is current also in America.
=Muscadel.= French and Italian wines, so called from the Italian
_muscado_, musk, nutmeg. Variants of this name are Muscatel and
Muscadine.
=Muscatels.= Raisins exported from Muscat in the Gulf of Oman, Arabia.
=Muscovy Duck.= A corruption of “Musk duck,” a species larger than the
common duck.
=Mush.= An Americanism for an umbrella.
=Musical Comedy Artiste.= The new pet name for a chorus girl.
=Musical Small-Coal Man.= The lifelong sobriquet of Thomas Britton of
Aylesbury Street, Clerkenwell, where was his coal shed. He
inaugurated Thursday evening concerts, that attracted fashionable
enthusiasts from the West End. This worthy, though he earned his
livelihood by crying small coals in the street, was a scholar, a
musician, and a companion of gentlemen.
=Muslin.= Called by the French _Mousseline_, from Mosul in Asiatic
Turkey, whence during the Middle Ages this fabric was sent to supply
all the markets of Europe.
=Muss.= An Americanism for “mess,” used in the sense of a confusion or
disorder. It is used also to imply a squabble or a reprimand--_e.g._
“I got into a dreadful muss this morning.”
=Mussulman.= See “Moslem.”
=Muswell Hill.= Properly “Mustwell Hill,” from the Latin _mustus_,
fresh. On this hill there was discovered an ancient well of clear,
fresh water, that belonged to the prior of St John’s Clerkenwell and
Highbury, who had a dairy farm hereabouts.
=Mutes.= See “Undertaker.”
=Mutoscope.= A modern peep show, in which the figures move; living
pictures, so called from the Latin _mutatis_, to change, and the
Greek _skopein_, to view.
=Myddleton Square.= After Sir Hugh Myddleton, who at his own cost
embarked upon the ruinous enterprise of constructing the New River
from Chadwell in Hertfordshire, nearly forty miles distant, to
London. One of the reservoirs occupies the enclosed portion of this
square.
=My Eye.= An exclamation signifying “You dazzle me,” “You make me blink
with astonishment.” Its American equivalent is briefly “My!”
=My Lady Nicotine.= The pretty name now generally applied to tobacco
since the republication in book form of J. M. Barrie’s essays on
smoking which originally appeared in the _St James’s Gazette_. See
“Nicotine.”
=Mythology.= From the Greek _muthos_, a fable, and _logos_, a discourse.
This was essentially a religion built upon fable.
=My Uncle.= The popular designation of a pawnbroker. See “Uncle.”
N
=Nailed.= Slang for “caught,” in allusion to being pinned down by the
captors. Also a thing seized and made off with; a punning reference
to “driving” a nail.
=Naked Possessor.= The Far West description of the possessor of a piece
of land for a long period without a legal title to it. He is the
naked possessor because his title is not clothed in a set form of
words recognised by the Courts of Law.
=Nankeen.= Cotton stuff originally made at _Nankin_, in China.
=Nankin.= Expresses the Chinese for “Southern Capital.”
=Nanny Goats.= The nickname of the 23rd Foot on account of their
regimental pet goat.
=Nantes.= A native brandy exported from Nantes in Brittany. The name is
the Celtic for “valley.”
=Nap.= A game of cards, originally named after Napoleon I.
=Naples.= Called by the Greeks _Neapolis_, “New City.” The ancient name
is better expressed when speaking of the inhabitants as
“Neapolitans.”
=Napoleon.= A gold coin of France issued during the Consulate of
Napoleon Bonaparte. This superseded the “Louis d’Or.”
=Narcissus.= This flower is fabled to have sprung up on the spot where
the beautiful Grecian youth so called died of love-sickness.
=Naso.= The nickname given to Ovid on account of the length of his nose;
hence “Ovidius Naso.”
=Nassau Street.= After the royal House of Nassau, to which William III.,
as Prince of Orange, belonged.
=Natal.= So called because the Portuguese navigator Vasco di Gama landed
upon its shores on Christmas Day, or the Feast of the Nativity,
1498.
=Nation.= An Americanism for “damnation.”
=National Democrats.= Those in the United States whose principles are
national as opposed to sect or party.
=Navvy.= Originally the name of a labourer employed in the construction
of canals for inland navigation. An alehouse set up beside one of
the earliest canals bore the sign of the “Navigation Inn,” and those
who frequented it were called _Navigators_. This term soon became
shortened into _Navvies_.
=Nazarenes.= Semi-converted Jews who, while nominally Christians,
believed “Jesus of Nazareth” to be the long-promised Messiah, and
still conformed to the rites and ceremonies prescribed by the Jewish
law.
=Nebraska.= Indian for “water valley.” This fertile region is traversed
by several shallow rivers.
=Neckerchief.= A kerchief for the neck. See “Handkerchief.”
=Neckwear.= An American term for neckties, scarves, or mufflers.
=Needle in a Bottle of Hay.= See “Bottle of Hay.”
=Needle’s Eye.= The postern gate in the wall of an Eastern city, so
called because with some difficulty a camel is able to thread its
way through it.
=Negus.= Hot spiced wine, originally concocted by Colonel Negus in the
reign of Queen Anne.
=Nemesis.= From the goddess of vengeance, who bore this name.
=Nepaul Paper.= India paper made in the district of Nepaul, Northern
India. The original India paper came from the Far East.
=Nest Egg.= The nucleus of a banking account, so called because if a
china egg be placed in a hen’s nest it is an inducement for her to
lay eggs of her own there. When a person has a trifle put by he is
anxious to increase it.
=Nestorians.= A sect of heretics of the fifth century under Nestorius,
Patriarch of Constantinople.
=Netherlands.= Literally the Low Countries, now comprised in the kingdom
of Holland.
=Netop.= Indian for “my friend.” In saluting a friendly Indian a white
in North America always makes use of this word.
=Nevada.= Spanish for “snowy,” in allusion to the snow-clad mountain
ridges of this state.
=New Amsterdam.= The name given by the Dutch settlers to their colony at
the mouth of the Hudson River, now “New York.”
=New Bond Street.= See “Bond Street.”
=New Bridge Street.= Leads to Westminster Bridge, opened in 1862. This
name was chosen in contradistinction to Bridge Street, Blackfriars.
=New Brunswick.= On assuming its independence of Nova Scotia in 1784
this British colony was named after the House of Brunswick.
=New Burlington Street.= See “Burlington Street.”
=Newcastle-under-Lyme.= The name of the river on which the town stands
is the Lyne, not the Lyme. To take the place of an ancient castle at
Chesterton-under-Lyne a new castle was built in this neighbourhood,
but of such a stronghold no vestige now remains.
=Newcastle-upon-Tyne.= Originally Moncaster or Monkchester, so called
from a colony of monks on the site of a Roman camp. Robert, Duke of
Normandy, the son of William the Conqueror, built a castle here for
the defence of the town against the incursions of the Scots. This
castle was afterwards rebuilt by William II.; whereupon the town
assumed the title of Newcastle.
=New Cavendish Street.= See “Cavendish Square.”
=New Compton Street.= See “Compton Street.”
=New Christians.= Portuguese Jews of the fifteenth century who, having
embraced Christianity under compulsion, secretly conformed to the
Mosaic rites and ceremonies.
=New Cross.= The district which grew up around an old coaching-house,
“The Golden Cross,” afterwards rebuilt, and renamed “The New Cross.”
=New England.= The collective name given to the six eastern states of
the American Union--Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,
Rhode Island, and Connecticut--because the people are descended from
the Puritans of England and Scotland, and therefore may be regarded
as the only true “Yankees.”
=Newfoundland.= The name bestowed by Sebastian Cabot upon all the new
land that he discovered, but now confined to this British
possession.
=Newfoundland Dog.= A native breed of dog from Newfoundland.
=Newgate Street.= From the newest of the city gates, first alluded to in
history in 1207. The gateway having for centuries been used for the
confinement of debtors, it gave its name to the prison erected on
its south side. The gloomy edifice which has been demolished within
the last few years dated from 1782, after the burning of its
predecessor by the Gordon rioters in 1780.
=New Hampshire.= This state having been granted to Captain John Mason,
he in 1629 named it after his native county in England.
=New Holland.= The name given to what is now Australia by its Dutch
settlers in 1606 after their Mother Country.
=Newington.= Expresses the new settlement in the meadow.
=Newington Butts.= The site of the archery butts in South London
corresponding to those of Moorfields in the north.
=Newington Causeway.= This was the first road or causeway across the
swampy fields of South London beyond the “Borough.”
=New Jersey.= In honour of Sir George Cartaret, the gallant defender of
Jersey Island against the Parliamentary forces in 1664.
=Newman Street.= After the builder on the site.
=New Orleans.= The name given to the French settlement in the New World
after the city in the Mother Country.
=New Pye Street.= See “New Way.”
=New Scotland Yard.= The new headquarters of the Metropolitan Police,
occupying a site which has not the slightest connection with its
name, and devoid of all historic interest further than that its
foundations were laid for a Metropolitan Opera House, the building
of which went no further. With the transference of the Police
Department from “Scotland Yard” the old name was retained.
=New Southgate.= The modern residential district in the vicinity of the
entrance to the enclosed hunting ground extending northward to
Enfield, anciently known as Enfield Chase.
=New Spain.= The name given by Cortes to “Mexico.”
=News-stand.= An Americanism for a railway bookstall.
=New Way.= A modern extension of Old and New Pye Streets, named after
Sir Robert Pye, who had his residence on its site.
=New Woman.= A term which came into vogue during the early days of the
modern bicycling craze. The New Woman disported herself abroad in
knickerbockers, and generally made herself ridiculous in the eyes of
all sensible men. Latterly she has returned to the obscurity whence
she sprang.
=New York.= Originally New Amsterdam. When taken from the Dutch in 1664
it received the name it now bears in compliment to the Duke of York,
afterwards James II.
=New Zealand.= Named by the Dutch after their native Zeeland, or
“Sea-land,” of the Low Countries.
=Niagara.= From the Indian _On-aw-garah_, “the thunder of waters.”
=Nicaragua.= So called by Gil Gonzales de Avila in 1521, after a Haytian
chief called Nicaro, who gave him a friendly reception on the shores
of the lake, which also bears this name.
=Nicholas Lane.= After the wealthy banker, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton, who
also gave his name to Throgmorton Street.
=Nickel.= An American five-cent piece, so called because it is coined
out of nickel silver.
=Nick of the Woods.= The first word in this American designation is a
corruption of “neck,” denoting a settlement or habitation in the
wooded regions of the south-western states.
=Nicotiana.= The tobacco-producing regions of the United States. See
“Nicotine.”
=Nicotine.= After Jean Nicot, who introduced tobacco, which he had
purchased at Lisbon, into France in 1560.
=Nigger.= A corruption of Negro, which term is derived from the Latin
_niger_, “black.”
=Nightcap.= Since everyone in the days of our grandfathers wore a
nightcap, and fancied he could not go to sleep without one, so the
modern substitute is a glass of spirits just before retiring, with a
view to making him feel drowsy; hence such a drink is called a
“nightcap.”
=Nightingale.= Literally a bird that sings in the night.
=Nihilist.= Originally a member of a Russian society whose members
recognised no law save their own happiness. They sought to
annihilate all ideas of God and government, as also of the rights of
property. These ultra-Socialists sprang into existence in 1848.
=Nimrod.= Charles James Apperley, the sporting contributor to _The
Quarterly Review_, and author of “The Chase, The Turf, and The
Road,” adopted this pseudonym after Nimrod, the son of Cush, who is
mentioned in Genesis x. 9 as the “mighty hunter before the Lord.”
=Nincompoop.= A dull-witted person, so called from the Latin phrase _non
compos mentis_, “of unsound mind.”
=Nine Days’ Wonder.= Puppies and kittens remaining blind for nine days
after birth, they are during this period a subject of much wonder to
the young members of the household. A sensational event or a piece
of public scandal arouses uncommon interest for a few days, and then
it gradually subsides.
=Nine Elms.= From nine fine elm-trees on this portion of the south bank
of the Thames.
=Nine Tailors make a Man.= The second word in this expression is a
corruption of _Tellers_. A “Teller” was in olden times a stroke of
the “passing bell” of the parish church. Three tellers gave warning
of the death of a child, six of a woman, and nine of a man. As the
parishioners counted the strokes they would say: “Nine tellers make
a man.”
=Ninny.= Short for “Nincompoop.” In America this term is generally
thought to be derived from “Pickaninny.”
=Niphon.= The native name of “Japan.”
=Nipped in the Bud.= While a flower is in the bud it may be destroyed by
a mere nip of the fingers. Afterwards its leaves would have to be
plucked separately. To curb mischief or a bad habit at the very
commencement is therefore the easier plan.
=Nipper.= Originally in thieves’ slang a boy trained to pick purses and
pockets, and nip off unobserved; hence the expression “A Young
Nipper.”
=Nitrate King.= The sobriquet of the late Colonel J. T. North, who
amassed a fortune by the nitrate industry in South America.
=Nob.= Short for “noble” or “nobleman.” From University slang the term
has come to imply among the vulgar anyone of aristocratic
pretensions.
=Noctes Ambrosianæ.= A characteristic feature of _Blackwood’s Magazine_
in its early days. This, “The Ambrosial Nights,” was contributed as
a regular series by Professor Wilson, being for the most part the
actual conversations of the author, John Gibson Lockhart, and Mr
Blackwood at a small Edinburgh tavern kept by one Ambrose. Although
Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, also figured in those dialogues, he was
not present at the meetings.
=Nocturne.= A quiet, dreamy species of musical composition, suggestive,
as its name denotes, of peaceful night.
=Noddy.= A kind of jaunting car peculiar to Dublin, so called because
its jolting motion makes its riders nod their heads.
=No Flies on me.= An Americanism expressive of individual energy. The
meaning is: “I am so active that no flies can ever settle on me.”
=No Hat Brigade.= Modern faddists who walk abroad bare-headed and
shelter themselves against the elements under an umbrella.
=Nonconformists.= Those ministers of the Church of England who refused
to subscribe or conform to the “Act of Conformity,” and thereby lost
their livings. The term is now generally applied to all Dissenting
congregations.
=No Quarter.= When the battle cry of “No Quarter,” consequent on an
order, goes forth, no lives are spared by the victors. To give
quarter means to spare the vanquished. This had its origin in
ancient European warfare, when, by way of earning prize-money, a
soldier refrained from dealing the death blow to a fallen foe on
condition of receiving a quarter of the latter’s pay.
=Norfolk.= The northern of the two districts or counties on the east
coast settled by the Angles, the north folk and south folk
respectively.
=Norfolk Howards.= An excess of refinement has caused this term to be
substituted for bugs. This originated in the action of Joshua Bugg
of the Swan Tavern, Norwich, who by deed poll, as advertised in _The
Times_ 26th June 1862, changed his name to Norfolk Howard. In
America all beetles are commonly styled bugs.
=Norfolk Street.= From the town house and grounds of the Howards, Dukes
of Norfolk and Earls of Arundel and Surrey.
=Norland Square.= Built on the site of Norland House, the residence of
one of the Drummonds, bankers of Charing Cross, _temp._ William IV.
=Normandy.= The country peopled by the Northmen or Danes.
=Northampton.= Anciently described as “Northavontown,” having been built
on the north of the River Avon, now called the Nen.
=North Audley Street.= See “Audley Street.”
=North Britain.= Scotland. In conjunction with England and Wales it
becomes Great Britain.
=North Pole.= A tavern sign in Wardour Street up at the time when
Captain Parry’s Arctic Expedition was the common topic of interest.
=North Star State.= Minnesota, so called on account of its northern
situation in the Union and the motto on its arms: “L’Etoile du
Nord.”
=Northumberland.= The north-east portion of that vast tract of land
described as “Northumbria,” because situated north of the River
Humber under the Heptarchy.
=Northumberland Alley.= This name in Fenchurch Street is reminiscent of
the original town house of the Dukes of Northumberland before they
took up their residence at Charing Cross in 1607.
=Northumberland Avenue.= From Northumberland House, the town mansion of
the Dukes of Northumberland, demolished in 1874 to make way for this
fine broad thoroughfare.
=Norton Folgate.= A corruption of “Northern Falgate”; expressive of the
fine barred gate leading from Bishopsgate without the city limits
into the open fields.
=Norway.= Called in the native tongue _Nordrike_, “the north kingdom.”
This country was long thought to be wholly surrounded by water, on
which account it received the name of _Nordee_, “north island.” This
the Saxons modified in _Norea_, and later Norway.
=Norwich.= So called from the castle erected by the East Anglian kings
as a “North wic,” or northern fortified village, relative to
Caistor, to resist the invasion of the Danes.
=Norwood.= This was formerly the northern portion of the vast wooded
district situated between London and Croydon.
=None of my Funeral.= An American mode of saying “Nothing to do with
me,” or “It’s no affair of mine.” Being an Americanism, the
expression is devoid of etymology.
=Nosey.= The nickname borne by Cervetto, the violoncellist of Drury Lane
Theatre, and John Wilson, the painter, both of whom had
exceptionally long noses. The Duke of Wellington was also popularly
referred to under this name by his soldiers on account of his Roman
nose.
=Nothing succeeds like Success.= When a man is successful the world bows
before him. Each fresh enterprise is crowned with success, because
there is an abiding public faith in the man who has made money or
hit the popular taste. His intrinsic merits may be no greater than
those of the poor devil who has systematically failed; yet what he
lacks himself he readily finds in his subordinates, whom he can
afford to pay, while the credit is all his own.
=Notions.= An Americanism for small wares or trifles in regard to dress.
=Not much.= An Americanism for “of no consequence.”
=Not quite the Cheese.= A saying which originated with those who
insisted on being served with prime Stilton or double Glo’ster.
=Nottingham.= Called by the Anglo-Saxons _Snottengaham_, “a place of
caves.” The name is partly Celtic, and little doubt exists that the
Britons made their habitations in the caverns with which this county
abounds.
=Nottingham Place.= After the county estates of the Duke of Portland,
the great ground landlord. A goodly portion of Sherwood Forest is
included in this ducal possession.
=Notting Hill.= Properly “Knolton Barn Hill,” the ancient description of
a manor of the De Veres, which in the time of Henry VIII. was held
by Robert Fenroper, an alderman of the city of London.
=Not worth a Dam.= See “Don’t care a Dam.”
=Not worth a Rap.= A rap was an Irish copper coin issued early in the
eighteenth century to supply a long-felt need for very small money.
Nominally worth a halfpenny, its metal was so thin and base that it
never passed for more than a farthing. Its infinitesimal value
consequently gave rise to this expression.
=Not worth a Song.= A song is worth nothing at all after its popularity
has waned. The good old songs live on account of their intrinsic
merits, but they were not pushed into public favour by adventitious
methods at the time of publication. Those of our day are ground out
of street pianos and sung everywhere for a brief season, then heard
no more.
=Nova Scotia.= This name, expressive of “New Scotland,” was bestowed
upon the island by Sir William Alexander, a Scotsman, to whom James
I. granted a charter of colonisation in 1621.
=Nova Zembla.= From the Slavonic _Nowaja Zemlja_, “new land.”
=November.= From _novem_, nine, the ninth month of the Roman calendar
when the year commenced with March.
=Noyau.= Expresses the French for the stone or nut of a fruit; hence the
name given to a cordial flavoured with the kernel of the bitter
almond or peach stone.
=Nun.= From the Italian _nonna_, a grandmother. Those who retired into
convents originally were aged women. It was only in modern times
that seminaries for girls were established in convents; this opened
the way to maidens becoming deeply imbued with religious ideas and
secluding themselves from the world by taking the veil.
=Nunhead.= From a tea garden and holiday resort known to Londoners as
“The Nun’s Head” ever since the days of James I.
=Nutcrackers.= The 3rd Foot, so called because they boasted of having
broken the heads of the Polish Lancers at the battle of Albuera.
=Nutcrack Night.= Another name for All Hallows’ Eve, when nuts are laid
on the fire bars to crack, as a relic of an ancient kind of
divination.
=Nutmeg State.= Connecticut, whose people were believed to manufacture
wooden nutmegs for exportation.
O
=Oak Apple Day.= Another name for Royal Oak Day (29th May), when people
formerly wore oak leaves or oak apples in their hats to commemorate
the manner in which the partisans of Charles II. welcomed his return
to England on his birthday, 1651. This was, of course, in allusion
to his concealment in an oak-tree near Boscobel House, Shropshire,
after the battle of Worcester, on 3rd September previous.
=Oakley Square.= After Oakley House, near Bedford, one of the country
seats of the Duke of Bedford, the ground landlord.
=Oaks Stakes.= So called from a Lodge or Club-House built among the oaks
by the Hunters’ Club, and afterwards converted into an inn, known as
“Lambert’s Oaks,” after the name of its landlord.
=Obiter Scripta.= Latin for a thing written in passing, a note by the
way.
=Observants.= The name borne by those monastic orders whose members
adhere to the strict rule laid down by their pious founders in
contradistinction to others styled “Conventuals,” who, like the
secular clergy, take upon themselves the performance of parochial
duties.
=Obstropulous.= A corruption of the word “obstreperous,” inclined to
quarrelling.
=Ocean Greyhound.= A fast Atlantic steamer belonging to one of the great
lines.
=Octavo.= A sheet of printing paper which, when folded and cut, makes
eight leaves or sixteen pages.
=October.= The eighth month of the Roman calendar when the year began
with March.
=Octroi.= The name given to a toll or tax levied upon market produce
passing through the gates of a town. It comes from the Latin
_auctoritas_, authority.
=Odder.= Colloquial for one who obtains a livelihood by doing odd jobs.
=Oddfellows.= This friendly society originated with five Manchester
shoemakers who in 1812 were accustomed to meet after the day’s work.
It having occurred to one of them how his family would fare if,
through sickness, he should be unable to follow his occupation, and
thinking it would be wise to make some provision against such a
contingency, he proposed that each of them should subscribe a few
pence weekly towards a common sick fund. The idea was at once taken
up. They called themselves Oddfellows because they numbered five.
Others soon joined the little society, and from these humble
beginnings it grew into a powerful organisation.
=Odd rot it.= A perversion of the Crusaders’ curse: “God rot them!”
meaning the Saracens, the enemies of Christianity.
=Odds Bodkins.= A perversion of “God’s Body,” in allusion to the
Eucharist. This oath was not considered profane during the Ages of
Faith.
=Odds Fish.= A favourite exclamation of Charles II. It was a corruption
of “God’s Flesh,” or the Body of Christ.
=Odds Splutter.= A corruption of the Dutch oath _Got’s plut_, “God’s
Blood,” introduced into England during the reign of William III.
=Odd Zounds.= A corruption of “God’s Wounds.” See “Zounds.”
=Off Colour.= To look pale and sickly.
=Off the Hooks.= An expression meaning “beyond hope of requisition for
further service,” “completely done for,” whether on the score of
chronic ill health, lunacy, or old age. This originally had
reference to the Maypole stored away in Shaft Alley, Leadenhall
Street, and perhaps other Maypoles elsewhere of post-Reformation
days. As long as it rested “on the hooks” there was a likelihood of
its being once more called into service. See “St Andrew Undershaft.”
=Ohio.= Indian for “beautiful.”
=O.K.= This arose out of an Irishman’s endorsement for goods passed by
him, as he would have spelt out the words “Orl Korrect.”
=Old Bags.= The nickname of Lord Eldon, because he always carried about
with him, in separate brief bags, the cases on which he had to pass
judgment.
=Old Bailey.= From the Latin _ballium_, a rampart, through the French
_baille_. The term “Bailey” expressed the open space or court
between a castle and the embattlements. Seeing that Lud Gate stood
in line with this street at its southern extremity, there must have
been a keep or fortification behind the Roman Wall where the
Sessions House came to be built. The name was therefore retained
after the wall was demolished.
=Old Bold Fifth.= The 5th Fusiliers, which regiment has distinguished
itself for valorous deeds in many campaigns.
=Old Bond Street.= See “Bond Street.”
=Old Broad Street.= With the exception of Cheapside, this was the widest
thoroughfare in Old London, all the others being similar to what Old
Change is at the present day. During Elizabeth’s reign Old Broad
Street constituted the residence of the wealthiest citizens.
=Old Buffer.= The colloquial term for a short, thick-set elderly man,
whose big paunch suggests a railway buffer.
=Old Bullion.= See “Bullion State.”
=Old Burlington Street.= See “Burlington Street.”
=Old Carthusians.= Old scholars of the “Charter House.”
=Old Catholics.= The followers in Germany of the late Dr Döllinger, who
separated from the Roman Catholic Communion after the promulgation
of the dogma of Papal Infallibility in 1870.
=Old Cavendish Street.= See “Cavendish Square.”
=Old Change.= So called from “The King’s Exchange,” where the bullion
was anciently stored prior to being sent to the shearers or clippers
at the neighbouring Mint. See “Sermon Lane.”
=Old Charlies.= See “Charlies.”
=Old Christmas Day.= Twelfth Day, because, according to the old style
calendar, Christmas Day fell on what is now 6th January.
=Old Compton Street.= See “Compton Street.”
=Old Dominion.= Virginia, on account of its documentary description,
“the Colony and Dominion of Virginia.”
=Old England.= This term was first applied to the Mother Country after
the colonisation of New England in North America.
=Old Fogey.= A term derived from the Danish _fjog_, a stupid old man,
one in his dotage.
=Old Fox.= The sobriquet of Marshal Soult on account of his strategic
cunning.
=Old Grog.= The nickname of Admiral Edward Vernon, who always wore a
grogram cloak in foul weather.
=Old Harry.= A corruption of “Old Hairy,” as applied to the Devil.
=Oldham.= Expresses the old home or settlement.
=Old Hat.= A country tavern sign which must have been the original when
the same premises was devoted to some other business, in days
characterised by the display of signs by tradesmen generally.
=Old Hickory.= “Hickory” is an Americanism used adjectively for anyone
who is tough, obstinate, or hard, after the tree of the same name.
General Andrew Jackson merited the nickname of “Old Hickory” from
his own soldiers on account of his tough, unyielding disposition.
Its origin is thus explained by Parton, the author of the
President’s “Life”: “The name of ‘Old Hickory’ was not an
instantaneous inspiration, but a growth. First of all, the remark
was made by some soldier, who was struck with his commander’s
pedestrian powers, that the General was tough. Next it was observed
that he was as tough as hickory. Then he was called ‘Hickory.’
Lastly, the affectionate ‘Old’ was prefixed, and the General
thenceforth rejoiced in the completed nickname, usually the
first-won honour of a great commander.”
=Old Jewry.= The original Jewish quarter of the city of London. See
“Jewin Street.”
=Old Kent Road.= The South London portion of the Roman highway to Dover.
=Old Lady of Threadneedle Street.= The popular name of the Bank of
England. There is a tradition that towards the end of the eighteenth
century a demented old lady wandered up and down Threadneedle Street
day by day for a long period until she suddenly disappeared. It was
generally assumed that this old lady of Threadneedle Street must
have been waiting for someone who had passed into the Bank, and,
according to her idea, never came out again. When, therefore, in
1797 the Bank threatened a temporary stoppage of payment, and
one-pound notes were issued, John Gilray, the artist, published a
caricature entitled “The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street in Danger.”
Since that time the Bank has been colloquially referred to by this
title.
=Old Line State.= Maryland, whose famous regiment, the Old Maryland
Line, saved the prestige of the army when Lord Cornwallis’s
Grenadiers broke the American lines at Loughland.
=Old North State.= North Carolina, from its relative position to South
Carolina.
=Old Paulines.= Old scholars of St Paul’s School.
=Old Pye Street.= See “New Way.”
=Old Quebec Street.= Laid out and built upon soon after the capture of
Quebec by General Wolfe in 1759.