children and domestics out at service visit their mothers to feast
upon MOTHERING CAKES, really owes its name of =Mothering Sunday= to
the ancient custom of making offerings to “Mother Church” on the
afternoon of this day. =St. Grouse’s Day= is a popular nickname given
to the 12th of August (=Grouse Day=), when grouse shooting commences;
and =St. Partridge’s Day=, to the 1st of September (=Partridge Day=),
which opens the season for partridge shooting; while =Sprat Day= (Nov.
9th) is the first day for selling sprats in London. The expression
=Red Letter Day=, signifying a past event generally referred to with
pleasure, found its origin in the old almanacks, where the Festivals
and Saints’ Days were printed in red ink and the rest in black. This
arrangement still obtains in Roman Catholic countries.
=Holiday= is a corruption of Holy Day, or a day originally set apart
by the Roman Catholic Church for the celebration of some feast in
commemoration of an important event, or in honour of a particular
saint. The word =Almanac=, also written =Almanack=, is derived from the
Arabic _al manah_, to count; whereas =Calendar= is a contraction of the
Latin _calendarium_, an account-book.
_TEXTILES, EMBROIDERIES, AND LACE._
Several of our textile fabrics are indebted for their names to the
places where they were first manufactured. As examples: =Damask Linens
and Silks= originally came from Damascus; =Muslin= from Moosul, in
Mesopotamia; =Nankeen= from Nankin, in China; =Calico= from Calicut,
on the Malabar Coast; =Cashmere= from the valley of Cashmere, in
India; =Dimity= from Damietta, in Egypt; =Valence= from Valencia, in
Spain; and =Holland= from the Netherlands. =Cambric= was first made at
Cambray; =Shalloon= at Chalons; and =Tarlatan= at Tarare: each of these
towns being situated in France. =Worsted= formerly comprised the staple
industry of a town of that name in Norfolk; =Cobourg= is brought from
Cobourg, in Germany; while =Angola= comes from the Portuguese territory
so called on the West Coast of Africa. The coarse woollen cloth known
as =Frieze= was originally imported from Friesland.
The name of =Cotton= is a modification of the Arabic _qoton_; =Silk= is
derived from the Latin _sericus_, soft; and =Satin= from the Italian
_seta_, a species of silk distinguished for its gloss and close
texture. Variegated silk or other stuff bears the name of =Brocade=
in accordance with the Italian verb _broccare_, to prick, to stitch,
to figure; =Damassin= is a damask cloth interwoven with flowers, or
silver, or gold; =Sarsanet= is a fine silk, originally made by the
Saracens; =Mohair= is properly Moorhair, or the hair of the Angola
goat introduced into Spain by the Moors; whereas =Moire Antique= is
the French description of a watered silk worked up in the manner of
that worn in the olden time. =Chintz= is a Persian word signifying
spotted or stained; =Taffety=, or =Taffeta=, is a modification of
the Persian _tâftah_, derived from _taftan_, to spin; =Linen= is an
Anglo-Saxon rendering of the Latin _linum_, flax; and =Lawn= is simply
fine linen bleached upon a lawn instead of the customary drying-ground.
=Pompadour= received its name from Madame le Pompadour, the mistress
of Louis XV. of France (born 1721, died 1764), who was the first to
introduce it.
=Swansdown= is, of course, made from the down of swans; =Moleskin=
is not the skin of the mole, but a strong cotton fabric or fustain
having a smooth surface like the mole-skin; =Merino= is manufactured
from the wool of the Merino sheep; and =Alpaca= from that of the
alpaca, a species of _llama_ found in Peru. =Kersey= is a corruption
of =Jersey=, indicative of the place where this favourite woollen
material was first produced. The dyed cotton stuff known as =Gingham=,
out of which umbrellas were formerly made--hence the slang term for
those articles--is so called after the native Javanese name pronounced
ginggang. We may also conveniently add here that =Blankets= received
their designation from Thomas Blanket, who first made them at Bristol
as long ago as the year 1340.
The name of =Velvet= traces its origin from the Latin _villus_, shaggy
hair; and =Plush= from _pilus_, a hair. =Velveteen= is a cotton velvet
or a cloth in imitation of velvet. =Fustian=, derived from the Spanish
_fustan_, is a generic term for the twilled cotton stuffs of which
velvet, corduroy, &c., are the chief. =Grogram= is a corruption of
the French _gros-grain_, meaning coarse-grained; whereas =Corduroy=
is properly _Cord du roy_, King’s Cord, so called because, owing to
its ribbed or corded surface, it was at one time considered superior
to any other kind of cloth intended for masculine wear. =Pina-cloth=,
a material much used for ladies’ dresses, is manufactured from the
fibres of the pine-apple leaf; just as =Grass-cloth= is extensively
worked up into light jackets for Indian wear from the Grass Cloth
plant which abounds in China, Assam, and Sumatra. =T-cloth= comprises
a special kind of cloth expressly manufactured in this country for
exportation to India, and distinguished by a _T_ marked upon it;
while =Broadcloth= simply bears its name on account of its unusual
width. The name of =Twill= is a modification of the German _Zwillich_,
signifying trellis-work, and founded upon _twillen_, to separate in
two, since this cloth presents the appearance of diagonal lines or
ribs upon its surface. =Tweed= is a cloth made in the neighbourhood
of the river Tweed; but it did not always bear this name. The cloth
is really _twill_, and the altered designation arose out of the word
being blotted in an invoice sent to James Locke, of London, who,
conceiving it to look like “Tweed,” suggested that it might as well
stand for the name of the cloth as any other. =Plaid= owes its name to
the Gaelic _peallaid_, a sheepskin out of which the over-garments of
the Highlanders were originally made. =Check= is but another name for
Plaid, meaning checkered, _i.e._, marked with variegated or crossed
lines; as, for example, a draught-board, of which the counters are, on
account of their cross movements, called CHECKERS or CHEQUERS.
The word =Embroidery= is a modern substantive evolved out of the old
verb “Embordering,” by which was meant the adornment of any material
with a border. =Tapestry= is derived, through the French _tapisserie_,
from the Latin _tapes_, a carpet. The celebrated =Bayeaux Tapestry=,
supposed to have been the work of Matilda, queen of William the
Conqueror, and her maidens, took its name from the Norman town where
it was discovered in 1728. =Gobelin Tapestry= preserves the memory of
the Brothers Gobelin, the great French dyers (flourished 1470) whose
house in Paris was acquired in 1662 by Louis XIV. for the production
of tapestry and other works of ornamental design suitable for the
adornment of palaces under the direction of M. Colbert. The more
ancient name for Tapestry was that of Arras, in allusion to the town
situated in the French Netherlands whence it chiefly came.
Having regard to Lace, it will suffice to observe that =Lisle=,
=Chantilly=, =Brussells=, =Honiton=, &c., severally identify the Lace
with the local centres where its manufacture is principally carried
on; that =Valenciennes= is made at Valenciennes, in France; and that
=Colbertine= derives its name from M. Colbert, the superintendent
of the French Royal Lace Factories established by Louis XIV. in the
seventeenth century. Lace is styled =Point-lace= when it is worked
with the point of a needle; and =Pillow-lace= when produced by twisted
threads around a series of pins arranged on a cushion. The latter,
which has so greatly superseded the more costly point-lace, is said
to have been the invention of Barbara Uttmann, of St. Annaberg, in
the year 1561. The word =Lace= itself comes from the Latin _laques_,
a noose or snare. =Tulle=, a species of network or lace, is indebted
for its designation to the French town of that name where it was first
made.
_LITERARY PSEUDONYMS._
So far from being chosen at random these are frequently the result of
much premeditation. =Voltaire= (born 1694, died 1778), whose proper
name was Arovet, composed out of this and the initials L. I. (_le
jeune_) the anagram by which all his writings are identified. Again,
=Barry Cornwall= is an imperfect anagram founded upon Bryan Waller
Procter (born 1790, died 1874), the poet’s real name; whereas =Yendys=,
the signature of Sydney Dobell (born 1824, died 1874), was merely the
Christian name reversed. To cite an instance of another class: Charles
James Apperley, of Denbighshire, author of “The Chase, the Turf, and
the Road,” and a regular contributor to _The Quarterly Review_ could
scarcely have hit upon a more fitting pseudonym than that of =Nimrod=,
who “was a mighty hunter before the Lord,” alluded to in _Genesis_ x.
9. Such a choice will be the better understood, perhaps, when it is
mentioned that out of regard for the sporting tastes of his esteemed
contributor, Mr. Pittman, the proprietor of the _Quarterly_ kept a stud
of hunters for his especial use. Equally appropriate was the pseudonym
=Zadkiel=, denoting the angel of the planet Jupiter, adopted by
Lieutenant Richard James Morrison, author of “The Prophetic Almanack,”
which still survives as an annual publication.
Washington Irving selected the _nom de plume_ of =Knickerbocker= for
his “History of New York,” in allusion to the wide breeches worn by the
original settlers of that city. The true account of how Charles Lamb
(born 1775, died 1834) adopted the name of =Elia= for his “Essays” is
as follows:--His first contribution to the “London Magazine” being a
description of the Old South Sea House, in which he had spent several
months of his noviciate as a clerk, he at the very moment of appending
his signature, bethought himself of a gay, light-hearted foreigner
who used to flutter about there; and, as a mere matter of whim, he
wrote down the name of that individual instead of his own. =Boz=,
the early _nom de plume_ of Charles Dickens (born 1812, died 1870),
arose out of the nickname of Moses conferred by him upon a younger
pet brother in honour of Moses Primrose in the “Vicar of Wakefield.”
The other children of the family, however, found it impossible to
utter a nearer pronunciation to the name than “Bozes,” which presently
became shortened in “Boz”; and the latter hit the fancy of our young
author sufficiently to lead him to its adoption at that period of his
literary career when he lacked the confidence to appear before the
world under his own name. Out of an analogous incident sprang =Ouida=,
the pseudonym of one of the most widely-read lady novelists of the
present day. Her actual name is Louise de la Ramée (born in 1840);
but remarking the infantile conversion of Louise into “Ouida,” she was
struck by the novelty of such a _nom de plume_, and immediately adopted
it. Another lady novelist of probably higher attainments assumed the
name of =George Sand= (born 1804, died 1876) as the outcome of her
attachment to a young student named Jules Sand, or rather Sandeau, with
whom she collaborated in the production of “Rose et Blanche,” her first
novel. The real name of this lady was Mdlle. Dupin, afterwards changed
by marriage to Madame Dudevant.
It may be deemed interesting to learn also that =Artemus Ward= was an
actual name borne by an eccentric showman with whom Charles Farrar
Browne, the American humorist (born 1834, died 1867) often came into
personal contact; and, further, that Samuel Langhorne Clemens (born in
1835) owes his singular pseudonym to the fact of having been employed
in early life as a pilot on one of the Mississippi River steamboats.
The nautical phrase for taking soundings, =Mark Twain=, or, in other
words, “mark two fathoms,” suggested the name under which the works of
the latter have become widely popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
Finally, not every one is aware that =F. M. Allen=, the pseudonym of
Mr. Edmund Downey, author of “The Voyage of the Ark,” “Through Green
Glasses,” and some other books of Irish humour, was his wife’s maiden
name.
_COUNTERFEIT PRESENTMENTS._
A =Portrait=, so called from the Latin _protrahere_, to draw forth, is
produced by the individual skill of an artist; whereas a =Photograph=,
conformably to the two Greek words _photos_, light, and _graphein_, to
write, is obtained by the action of sunlight upon a chemically prepared
surface, such as silver, zinc, copper, glass, or paper.
The earliest examples of portraiture were styled =Miniatures= because
they originated from the head of the Virgin or of some well-known
saint introduced into the initial letters of illuminated rubics by the
_Miniatori_, a number of monks noted for their skill in painting with
_minium_, or red lead. The reason why the portraits of monarchs are
represented on coins and medals in =Profile= dates back to Antigonus,
one of the generals of Alexander the Great, who, having lost one eye,
ordered his likeness to be drawn from a side view. This occurred in the
year 330 B.C. The term is a corruption, by way of the French _profil_,
of the Latin _perfilum_, compounded out of _per_, through, by, and
_filum_, a line, a thread. A profile cut out of black paper bears the
name of a =Silhouette= in honour of Etienne de Silhouette, the French
Comptroller of Finance under Louis XV. (born 1709, died 1767), who was
the first to have his features outlined in this manner.
The earlier descriptions of photographs were respectively styled
=Talbotypes=, =Daguerreotypes=, and =Ferriertypes=, after the names
of their inventors. The smaller-sized photographs at present in use
were originally described as =Cartes-de-Visite= from the practice of
the Duc de Parma, who, while staying at Nice in the year 1857, had his
photograph produced on the back of his visiting cards. The designation
=Vignette=, which expresses the French diminutive of vine or tendril,
owes its origin to the vine-leaves or branches that properly surround
the photographs produced in this style. A photograph of the larger size
is called a =Cabinet= because it forms a picture suited to the walls
of a cabinet or very small room. A three-quarter-length photograph
or portrait is styled among artists a =Kit-Kat=, in allusion to the
portraits of the original members of the “Kit-Kat Club,” which were
painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller for Jacob Tonson, the secretary, to
suit the dimensions of the room in which the Club was latterly held at
his villa at Barn Elms. Similarly, a canvas measuring 28 inches by 36
inches is styled a =Kit-Kat Canvas= because this was the uniform size
of the famous “Kit-Kat Club portraits.” We may as well add here that
the KIT-KAT CLUB derived its name from Christopher Kat, a pastrycook
of King Street, Westminster, in whose house the thirty noblemen
and gentlemen who formed themselves into a Club for the purpose of
promoting the Protestant Succession in the year 1703 held their first
meetings.
_LONDON INNS AND GARDENS._
In our article on TAVERN SIGNS we confined ourselves to a general
survey of the subject; we now purpose to consider the significance of
a few Inn Signs that are, or were once, peculiar to London. Commencing
with the celebrated =Tabard=, in Southwark, so dear to the memory
of Chaucer and his Canterbury Pilgrims, that sign was derived from
the rich tunic or mantle of the same name worn by military nobles
over their armour and emblazoned with heraldic devices. The Tabard
still forms part of the costume of the heralds. =La Belle Sauvage=,
on Ludgate Hill, was, as is evident from a legal document dated the
thirty-first year of the reign of Henry VI., known both as “Savage’s
Inn” and “The Bell and the Hoop.” The latter was the actual sign,
representing a bell within a hoop, of the Inn which was kept by
Isabelle Savage; and the combination of these two names resulted in
the punning title of “La Belle Sauvage.” =The Swan with Two Necks=,
in Lad Lane, was a corruption of “The Swan with Two Nicks.” As most
Londoners are aware, it has long been the custom of the Vintners’
Company, in their annual “swan-upping” expeditions on the Thames, to
mark their swans with a couple of nicks or notches in the bill, so
as to distinguish them from the royal swans, whose nicks are five in
number, viz., two lengthways and three across on the bill. That this
characteristic mark of the Vintners’ Company should have been chosen
for a London Inn Sign is scarcely extraordinary.
The sign of =The Elephant and Castle=, on the south side of the river,
was adopted from the crest of the Cutlers’ Company, into whose trade
ivory, and consequently elephants’ tusks, enters very considerably.
With regard to the “Castle,” this was in mediæval times inseparable
from the idea of an elephant, owing to the part which these huge
animals anciently took in the Punic wars. Another “Elephant and Castle”
exists in the parish of St. Pancras, near King’s Cross; but this sign
originated from the discovery, in 1714, of the skeleton of an elephant
in the neighbourhood of Battle Bridge. A flint-headed spear lay beside
the remains, and from this it is reasonable to conjecture that the
animal must have been killed by the Britons who were led by Queen
Boadicea against the Romans in the year 61 A.D.
=The Horse Shoe=, Tottenham Court Road, came into existence as a sign
from the large horse-shoes nailed up at the entrance of Messrs. Meux’s
brewery adjoining. The shoes are also conspicuous on the trappings
of the dray-horses belonging to that establishment; in short, they
comprise the trade-mark of the firm. =The Blue Posts=, at the corner
of Hanway Street, nearly opposite the “Horse Shoe,” arose out of the
fancy of an old innkeeper to distinguish his hostelry from all others
by causing the chain-posts abutting on the road to be painted blue
instead of white, which eccentricity fully served the purpose of a
sign. There is another “Blue Posts” in Cork Street, Piccadilly, and
yet another in Southampton Buildings, Holborn; but the first-named
is the oldest of the three, and therefore the original. =The Black
Posts=, Bond Street, may also be regarded as a modified imitation of
the example set by the original “Blue Posts.” =The Three Chairmen=, at
the foot of Hay Hill, Berkeley Square, and =The Running Footman=, in
Hayes’ Mews, close by, were so denominated from being the resort of
gentlemen’s servants in the days when SEDAN CHAIRS (these chairs were
first made at Sedan, in France, which accounts for their name, exactly
as BATH CHAIRS were originally introduced at Bath during the last
century, when fashionable invalids flocked to the West of England to
drink the Bath and Cheltenham waters) and Running Footmen preceded the
use of private carriages by the wealthy.
=The Mother Red Cap=, Camden Town, perpetuates the memory of a
notorious poisoner known as “Mother Damnable, the Consort of the
Devil,” who lived at Hungerford Stairs during the period of the
Commonwealth. =The Mother Shipton=, Haverstock Hill, was built at
the time when the prophecies of Mrs. Evan Preece, of Glamorganshire,
South Wales, were in everybody’s mouth. This old woman was said to
have had a son by the devil, whereupon, in return for the sacrifice of
her honour, she was accorded the gift of prophecy. When we state that
she correctly predicted the deaths of Lord Percy, Wolsey, and other
historical personages, the existence of Mother Shipton in this country
must be regarded as a time-honoured if not exactly as a well-founded
institution. =The Adelaide=, Haverstock Hill, was named in honour of
the consort of William IV., and =The York and Albany= after the title
of Frederick, the second son of George III.
=Jack Straw’s Castle=, Highbury, as also the celebrated hostelry of
the same name on Hampstead Heath, was so called after Jack Straw,
one of the leaders in Wat Tyler’s insurrection, who pulled down the
Priory of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem at the former place, and
whose habitation was a hole formed out of the hill-side on the site of
the present Inn at the latter place. =The Spaniards=, Highgate, was
originally the private residence of the Spanish Ambassador to James I.
=The Whittington Stone=, Highgate Hill, took its sign from the stone
upon which the world-famous Dick Whittington sat down to rest the while
he listened to the bells of Bow Church pleasantly chiming across the
open fields. The stone is still to be seen on the edge of the pavement
exactly opposite the public-house.
The sign of =The Thirteen Cantons=, King Street, Golden Square,
was adopted in compliment to the thirteen Protestant cantons of
Switzerland, and to the numerous natives of that country who at one
time took up their residence in the parish of Soho. During the last
decade or two the Swiss population has given way in a large degree to
French immigrants. =The North Pole=, Wardour Street, dates back to
the time when our national interest in Arctic discovery was at its
height; exactly in the same manner as =The South Australian=, Hans
Place, Chelsea, was established in the year that first witnessed the
colonization of Southern Australia.
=The World’s End=, in the King’s Road, Chelsea, a favourite house
of entertainment during the Restoration period, received its name
on account of its distance from town. =The Fulham Bridge=, at
Knightsbridge, recalls the original name of the structure which
crossed the Westbourne in this neighbourhood (_see_ KNIGHTSBRIDGE).
=The Devil=, Fleet Street, received its name from its situation,
nearly opposite the Church of St. Dunstan, and the traditional account
of that saint having seized the Evil One by the nose with a pair of
hot pincers. =The Three Nuns=, Aldgate, well serves the purpose of
reminding us of the existence of an ancient priory inhabited by the
nuns of St. Clare in this neighbourhood (_see_ MINORIES). =The White
Conduit Tavern=, Islington, occupies the site of the famous old =White
Conduit House=, a popular place of resort previous to its demolition in
1849. This was the Conduit which had served the Carthusian Friars with
water from ancient times. The prenomen “white” applied to the house
and was derived from the appearance of its exterior. =The Belvedere=,
Pentonville Hill, originally contained a small structure on the roof
known by this name for sitting under and enjoying the prospect across
the fields. The term _Belvidere_ is Italian, signifying “a fine
prospect,” and is equally applicable to a summer arbour and the flat
roof of a house. =The Clown Tavern=, St. John Street Road, Clerkenwell,
owes its sign to the fact that it was formerly kept by a clown engaged
at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, in its immediate vicinity. The well-known
=Hummuns’s Hotel=, generally alluded to as =Hummuns’s=, Covent Garden,
derived this title from its erection on the site of a _Hummuns_, the
Arabic name for a sweating bath, kept by a Mr. Small some time during
the seventeenth century.