along the course. A =Steeplechase= is confined to thoroughbred hunters
whose riders are bound to make for the winning-post straight across
the country, guided by flags displayed on the highest points along the
line, and to clear whatever ditches, fences, walls, or other obstacles
that may lie in their course. The term originated from the incident of
an unsuccessful hunting-party agreeing to race to the village church,
of which the steeple was just in sight; and he who touched the building
first with his whip was to be declared the winner. A =Scratched Horse=
is one whose name has been struck out of the final list of runners in
a particular race. A =Sweepstake= is a term used to denote the whole
amount staked by different persons upon one race, and cleared literally
“at one sweep” by the fortunate individual who has backed the winner.
_LONDON CHURCHES AND BUILDINGS._
In all probability the name of =Westminster Abbey= would never have
come into existence had it not been necessary to distinguish the
Abbey Church lying to the west of St. Paul’s (founded by Ethelbert
in 610) from another Abbey Church that stood upon the rising ground
now known as Tower Hill. Consequently, the one was described as the
_West Minster_, the other the _East Minster_; and when, in course of
time, the latter was swept away, the western edifice not only retained
the description of “The West Minster,” but gave its name also to the
district around. The earliest mention of West Minster occurs in a Saxon
charter dated 785.
The =Temple= comprised the chief seat in this country of the Knights
Templars after their return from the Holy Land. The =Savoy Chapel= is a
modern edifice built by the Queen to replace the original, destroyed by
fire July, 7, 1864, which formed the only remaining portion of the old
=Savoy Palace= erected by Peter of Savoy, the uncle of Eleanor, queen
of Henry III., in 1249, on land granted to him by that monarch.
The Church of =St. Clement-Danes= owes its compound title to the
fact of being dedicated to St. Clement, and of Harold, a Danish king,
together with several other Danes lying buried within its walls. The
Church of =St. Mary-le-Bow=, Cheapside, otherwise =Bow Church=, was so
denominated because it was the first church ever built upon bows or
arches. The Church of =St. Mary Woolnoth=, at the corner of Lombard
Street and King William Street, is supposed to be a corruption of St.
Mary Woolnough, so called by way of distinction from a neighbouring
church of “St. Mary of the Wool,” that stood beside the beam or
wool-staple. The Church of =St. Mary-Axe=, now vanished, received
this name from its situation opposite to a shop that displayed an axe
for its sign. The Church of =St. Catherine Cree=, Leadenhall Street,
is properly St. Catherine and Trinity, being originally a chapel
dedicated to St. Catherine in the churchyard of the priory church of
Holy Trinity, afterwards merged into the parishes of Christ Church, St.
Mary Magdalen, and St. Michael. The Church of =St. Catherine Coleman=,
Fenchurch Street, dedicated to St. Catherine, is so designated because
it was built in a large garden belonging to a person named Coleman.
The Church of =St. Margaret Pattens=, Rood Lane, did not receive
its denomination from the patten-makers who congregated in this
neighbourhood, but because its roof was formerly decorated with gilt
spots or _patines_; a patine being the name of a small circular dish
of gold used to cover the chalice at the altar. Lovers of Shakespeare
may recollect the passage in the _Merchant of Venice_ where Lorenzo,
referring to the stars, says:--
“Sit, Jessica: Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;
There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st,
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still quiring to the young-ey’d cherubins;
Such harmony is in immortal souls,
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.”
The original =Church of St. Sepulchre=, founded during the time of
the Crusades, was so denominated in honour of the Holy Sepulchre
at Jerusalem. The name of =St. Bride’s Church=, Fleet Street, is
a contraction of St. Bridget’s Church. The Church of =St. Andrew
Undershaft=, Leadenhall Street, dedicated to St. Andrew, was originally
so called because its steeple was of lesser altitude than the tall
shaft or maypole which stood opposite the south door. Hence, the church
was literally “under the shaft.” The parish of St. Mary-Axe is now
united to that of St. Andrew Undershaft. The Church of =St. Helen’s=,
Bishopsgate, was built and dedicated to St. Helena, the mother of
Constantine, in 1180, just thirty years before William Fitzwilliam, a
rich goldsmith, founded in connection therewith a priory of Benedictine
nuns, dedicated to the Holy Cross and St. Helena. The neighbouring
Church of =St. Ethelburga= was so named in honour of the daughter of
King Ethelbert. The Church of =Allhallowes Barking=, at the bottom of
Mark Lane, derived the second portion of its title from the fact that
it belonged to the ancient abbey and convent at Barking, in Essex. =St.
Olave’s Church=, Tooley Street, is properly described as =St. Olaf’s
Church=, being dedicated to Olaf, a Norwegian prince of great renown,
who came over to this country at the invitation of the King Ethelred,
and rendered good service in expelling the Danes.
The central portion of the Tower of London, supposed to have been built
by Julius Cæsar, is known as the =White Tower= on account of the white
stone employed in its construction. In the =Bloody Tower= the Infant
Princes were murdered by order of their uncle, Richard III.; and in the
=Beauchamp Tower=, Thomas de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, was imprisoned
by Richard II. for leading the conspiracy of the Barons for the removal
of Sir Simon de Burley, the young King’s favourite. At the accession
of Henry IV. the Earl obtained his liberty. =Traitors’ Gate= denotes
the river gate by which all State prisoners convicted of high treason
were admitted into the Tower. =Newgate Prison= derived its name from
its original situation next to the newest of the five principal gates
of the City. The prison is first mentioned in history under date 1207.
The present gloomy edifice was built in 1782. The open space between
the prison and the Old Bailey was formerly known as the =Press Yard=,
because here it was that prisoners who refused to plead upon trial were
barbarously pressed to death. The =Old Bailey= Sessions House received
its name from the street in which it stands [_see_ OLD BAILEY in the
article “LONDON STREETS AND SQUARES.”] The old =Marshalsea Prison=,
Southwark, abolished and pulled down in 1842, was so called because it
contained the Court of the Knight-Marshal, whose duty it was to settle
disputes occurring between the members of the Royal Household. This
office now belongs to the Steward of the Royal Household. =Bridewell=
was a corruption of “St. Bridget’s Well,” discovered in the grounds
attached to an ancient hospital, afterwards converted into a house
of correction for females. An iron pump let into the wall of the
churchyard at the upper end of Bride Lane indicates the exact spot
where the dames of old were wont to drink the virtuous waters. The
=Fleet Prison= took its name from the river, now a common sewer, near
which it stood. The northern boundary of the prison is now defined by
=Fleet Lane=, which runs from Farringdon Street to the Old Bailey.
=St. John’s Gate=, Clerkenwell, is the sole remaining portion of the
priory of St. John of Jerusalem, the seat in this country of the
Knights Hospitallers, instituted by Godfrey de Boulogne. The Gate now
forms the headquarters of the St. John’s Ambulance Association. =Temple
Bar= was not one of the City fortifications, but the ordinary gateway
of the Temple. It was popularly known as =The City Golgotha=, owing to
the spiked heads of traitors exposed thereon--_Golgotha_ being Hebrew
for “the place of skulls.” The Bar was taken down in 1878. =London
Bridge=--that is to say, the original structure--was the first bridge
over the Thames. The present structure was thrown open August 1, 1831.
=Billingsgate= traces its origin to Belin, one of the early kings of
Britain, who built a gate on the site of the present market and gave it
his name. =St. Katherine’s Docks= received their title from an ancient
hospital dedicated to St. Katherine, swept away by their construction
in the year 1828. =The Mint= is so called in accordance with the
Anglo-Saxon _mynet_, coin [_see_ MONEY]. The =Trinity House=, the seat
of the Trinity Corporation, which controls the pilotage of the Thames
and the various lighthouses, buoys, harbour-dues, &c., around our
coast, owed its foundation to Sir Thomas Spert, Comptroller of the Navy
of Henry VIII., and commander of the _Harry Grace de Dieu_, originally
situated at Deptford; it was incorporated in 1529 under the style of
“The Master-Wardens and Assistants of the Guild, or Fraternity, or
Brotherhood, of the most glorious and undivisible Trinity, and St.
Clement, in the parish of Deptford, Stroud, in the County of Kent.”
The present edifice was built in 1795. =Crosby Hall=, Bishopsgate,
at one time a palace, but now converted into a restaurant, was built
by Sir John Crosby about the middle of the fifteenth century. The
=Congregational Memorial Hall=, Farringdon Road, which occupies part
of the site of the old Fleet Prison, was built in 1872 to memorate
the ejection of more than two thousand Church of England ministers
from their charges, August 24, 1662, consequent upon their refusal
to subscribe to the “Act of Uniformity” [_see_ NONCONFORMISTS]. The
=Guildhall= is the hall of the City guilds; the word GUILD being
derived from the Anglo-Saxon _gildan_, to pay, alluding to the fee
paid for membership. =Doctors’ Commons=, originally established as a
college for the Professors of Canon and Civil Law, received its name
from the rule which required the Doctors to dine at a common table.
That sombre-looking structure, the =College of Arms=, otherwise
=Heralds’ College=, is the office where the records of the genealogical
descent of all our noble families are preserved, and where searches
for coats-of-arms may be instituted. The Corporation of the College
dates back to the year 1484. The General Post Office is officially
denominated =St. Martin’s-le-Grand= because it occupies the site of a
collegiate church and sanctuary of that name founded by Within, King of
Kent in 750, and chartered by William the Conqueror in 1068.
The =Charterhouse=, originally a monastery of the Carthusians, is a
corruption of _La Chartreuse_, the name of the district in France where
this religious Order first came into existence. =Christ’s Hospital=,
also known as the =Blue Coat School=, from the colour of the coats
worn by the boys, retains the ancient designation of a church and
school belonging to the Grey Friars. It is only in modern times, by
the way, that the term =Hospital= has come to be exclusively applied
in this country to a refuge for the sick. Properly understood, a
hospital denotes a house intended for the reception and accommodation
of travellers; the source of the word being the Latin _hospitalis_,
pertaining to a guest, based upon _hospes_, a stranger, a guest,
and from which we derive the word HOSPITALITY. The great Bernardine
monastery on the summit of the Alps, devoted to the good work of
rescuing snow-bound travellers, is appropriately denominated a
=Hospice=, which answers to our Hospital. =St. Bartholomew’s Hospital=
was founded by Rahare, a monk attached to the neighbouring Priory of
St. Bartholomew in 1123; whereas =Guy’s Hospital= arose out of the
bequest of £238,292, by the will of Thomas Guy, a benevolent bookseller
of Lombard Street, who died in 1722. =Bedlam= is a contraction of
=Bethlehem Hospital=, a lazar-house named after the Hospital of St.
Mary at Bethlehem, and converted into a lunatic asylum in 1815. This
was the common designation in ancient times for a refuge for the poor,
the word =Bethlehem= expressing the Hebrew for “a house of bread”;
but in more modern times the synonym =Lazar-house= was substituted in
allusion to Lazarus, who picked up the crumbs under the table of Dives.
A refuge for fallen women has always borne the name of a =Magdalen
Hospital= in honour of Mary Magdalen.
=St. James’s Palace= marks the site of an ancient leper hospital
dedicated to St. James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem. The present
edifice was built by Henry VIII. in 1530. =Buckingham Palace=
displaced old Buckingham House, the town mansion of John Sheffield,
Duke of Buckingham, in the year 1825. The total cost to the nation
of this “desirable residence” was £1,000,000. =Marlborough House=
was originally the town residence of John, Duke of Marlborough,
erected by Sir Christopher Wren in 1709. =Somerset House= reverted
to the Crown by the attainder of its owner, Edward Seymour, Duke of
Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI., executed January 22,
1552. =Whitehall= received its name from the fresh appearance of its
exterior as contrasted with the ancient buildings on the opposite
side of the way. The present fabric, viz., =The Banquetting Hall=,
is merely a vestige of the palace originally set apart by Cardinal
Wolsey for the London See of York: whence he gave it the name of “York
House.” The =Horse Guards= is so called because a troop of Horse
Guards are regularly quartered here. =Dover House= was named after
its owner, the Hon. George Agar Ellis, afterwards created Lord Dover;
and =York House=, after the Duke of York and Albany who bought it in
1789. =Devonshire House=, Piccadilly, is the town residence of the
Duke of Devonshire. =Apsley House=, Hyde Park Corner, well known as
the residence of the Duke of Wellington, received its name from Henry
Apsley, Lord Chancellor, afterwards created Lord Bathurst, who built it
in 1784. =Chandos House=, Cavendish Square, was the residence of James
Brydges, “the Princely Duke of Chandos.” The =Albany=, Piccadilly,
perpetuates the memory of the Duke of York and Albany, who acquired it
from Lord Melbourne in exchange for his older residence, York House,
in Whitehall. =Burlington House=, the home of the Royal Academy of
Arts and quite a number of learned societies, was built by Sir John
Denham, the poet and judge, in 1718, and refronted by the celebrated
amateur architect, Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, in
1731. This palatial edifice was purchased by the State in 1854. The
=Soane Museum=, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was the private collection of
Sir John Soane, the architect and antiquary, who died in 1837. =The
Rolls Chapel=, Chancery Lane, bears this name because it was annexed
by patent to the office of the Master of the Rolls of Chancery after
the banishment of the Jews from England in the year 1290. The history
of the chapel dates from 1283, when Henry III. founded it for the
reception of the Jewish rabbis converted to Christianity.
The =Painted Hall=, Greenwich Hospital, owes its name to its
magnificently decorated ceiling. =Vanburgh Castle=, Blackheath, was
built in the castellated style by Sir John Vanburgh, in 1717. =Rye
House=, famous for being the scene of the conspiracy to assassinate
Charles II., which was discovered June 12, 1683, is so called from the
rye on which it stands; RYE being an Old English term for a common,
derived from _ree_, a watercourse: hence PECKHAM RYE.
=Bruce Castle=, Tottenham, has a history all its own. The present
structure dates back to the latter part of the seventeenth century; but
the original building was erected by Earl Waltheof, whose marriage
with Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror, brought him portions
of the earldoms of Northumberland and Huntingdon. Their only daughter,
Maud, on becoming the wife of David I., King of Scotland, placed him
in possession of the Huntingdon estates, and, as appended to that
property, the manor of Tottenham, in Middlesex. Ultimately these
possessions descended to Robert Bruce, the brother of William III.,
King of Scotland. The contention between Robert Bruce and John Baliol
for the Scottish throne being decided in favour of the latter, the
former retired to England, and settling on his grandfather’s estate
at Tottenham, repaired the castle to which he gave the name of “The
Castle Bruce.” =Lincoln House=, Enfield, was the residence of the
second and third Earls of Lincoln in the seventeenth century. =Sandford
House=, Stoke Newington, is interesting as having been the residence
of Thomas Day, the author of “Sandford and Merton” (born 1748, died
1789). =Cromwell House=, Highgate, now a Convalescent Hospital for sick
children, was occupied for some time by Oliver Cromwell, who built
=Ireton House=, close by, for Henry Ireton, his son-in-law, in 1630;
while =Lauderdale House=, lately a Convalescent Home in connection
with St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, was the residence of the Earls of
Lauderdale during the seventeenth century. WATERLOW PARK, in this
neighbourhood--in fact, comprising among other valuable property the
grounds appertaining to Lauderdale House--was generously presented to
the London public by Sir Sydney Waterlow, in November, 1890. The =Clock
House=, Hampstead, originally displayed a clock in place of the present
sun-dial. =Rosslyn House=, Hampstead, which gives the name to ROSSLYN
HILL PARK, was erected by Alexander Wedderburn, first Earl of Rosslyn
and Lord Chancellor of England, in 1795. =Erskine House=, Hampstead,
adjoining “The Spaniards,” was the residence of Lord Erskine, Lord
Chancellor of England, who died here in 1823.
=Strawberry Hill=, the celebrated palace of curiosities built by Horace
Walpole in 1750, received its name from the rising ground upon which it
stood. The building was sold by public auction, and purchased by Baron
H. de Stein, in July, 1883. =Orleans House=, Twickenham, now a club,
was named after Louis Philippe of France, who resided in it when he
was simply Duc d’Orleans. =Essex House=, Putney, was one of the many
residences of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the favourite of Queen
Elizabeth. =Bristol House=, Putney, was, until recently, the property
of the Bristol family. =Craven Cottage=, Fulham, was built by the
Countess of Craven, afterwards created Margravine of Anspach. =Munster
House=, Fulham, derived its title from its one-time resident, Melesina
Schulenberg, created Duchess of Munster in 1716. =Peterborough House=,
Parson’s Green, was formerly the mansion of the Mordaunts, Earls of
Peterborough. =Sussex House=, Hammersmith, was the favourite residence
of the late Duke of Sussex. =Holland House=, Kensington, owes its name
to Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, by whose father-in-law, Sir William
Cope, it was built in 1607. Here Charles James Fox, the eminent orator
and statesman (born 1749, died 1806), passed many of his earlier years;
here also Joseph Addison, the poet and essayist, died in the year 1719.
The =Albert Hall=, =Albert Memorial=, =Albert Bridge=, and =Albert
Palace=, each preserve the memory of the Prince Consort, whose death
took place in 1861. The =Crystal Palace=, opened by the Queen, June
10, 1854, derived its title from its glass structure, which, when the
sun shines upon it, glistens like crystal. The =Alexandra Palace= was
named after the Princess of Wales, who was to have opened the original
building, May 24, 1873; but, for some unexplained reason, she did
not perform that ceremony. =Olympia=, opened December, 1886, is an
appropriate designation for a huge edifice eminently adapted for every
variety of popular amusement. The allusion is to Olympia, in Greece,
where the celebrated “Olympian Games” were anciently held every fourth
year. The =Polytechnic Institution=, Regent Street (now the Y. M. C.
A.), was designated in strict conformity with its set purpose as an
educational establishment, viz., from the two Greek words _polus_,
many, and _techne_, an art. =St. George’s Hall= was originally, when
opened in 1867, St. George’s Opera House, so styled because situated in
the fashionable parish of St. George’s, Hanover Square. The =Egyptian
Hall=, built in 1812, is a particularly well-chosen title; at least,
it appears so at the present day, since the regular performances of
those modern magicians, Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke, have long ago
become one of the institutions, if not actually one of the sights, of
the Metropolis. =St. James’s Hall= was named after the parish church
just opposite. =Willis’s Rooms=, so called after their late proprietor,
were originally opened by a Scotsman named Almack, under the style of
=Almack’s Assembly Rooms=, February 12, 1765. =Exeter Hall= was built
in the year 1830 in the grounds of Exeter House, which also gave the
name to =Exeter ’Change=, erected in 1680 and pulled down in 1829
[_see_ EXETER STREET]. The world-famous waxworks exhibition known as
=Madame Tussaud’s= retains the name of its foundress (born 1760, died
1850) who first set up her figures at the old Lyceum Theatre in 1802,
and after undergoing a variety of misfortunes settled down permanently
in Baker Street in the year 1833.
=Scotland Yard=, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police,
received its name from an ancient palace erected on this spot for the
accommodation of the Scottish kings in the days when they were annually
required to pay homage to the Crown of England at Westminster. The
first monarch so accommodated was Kenneth II. (died 854); the last was
Margaret, Queen of Scots, the sister of Henry VIII. =Lord’s Cricket
Ground=, familiarly styled =Lord’s=, owes its existence to Thomas
Lord, who established, upon land of his own, first on the site of
Dorset Square in 1780, and subsequently on its present site, the only
cricketing ground where genteel players could meet to enjoy this game
without fear of rubbing shoulders with the City apprentices. Previous
to his enterprise the formation of a private Cricket Club had never
been thought of. =Tattersall’s=, the well-known rendezvous for the sale
of horses, was opened by Richard Tattersall near Hyde Park Corner in
1766, and removed to Knightsbridge April 10, 1865.
=Lloyd’s Rooms=, better known as =Lloyd’s=, derived this title from
Edward Lloyd, a coffee-house keeper in Abchurch Lane, whose premises
became the regular resort of merchants and others interested in
shipping. The original location of a special office for the transaction
of mercantile business over the Royal Exchange took place in 1775;
but the name of the genial coffee-house keeper was by common consent
transferred with it. On the destruction by fire of the first Royal
Exchange, in 1838, “Lloyd’s” was temporarily removed until the
completion of the present building in 1844.
The entrance to the privileged precincts of the Stock Exchange is
called =Capel Court=, because it marks the residence of Sir William
Capel, Lord Mayor of London in the year 1504. The term =Exchange= owes
its origin to the French _echanger_, to trade, to barter. The object
of the original =Royal Exchange=, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in
1506 and opened by Queen Elizabeth amid sundry public rejoicings over
the event (which accounts for the prenomen “Royal”), January 31, 1571,
was to provide a convenient place where the merchants, bankers, and
brokers of the City could meet throughout the day for the transaction
of business. The =Stock Exchange= is the great money mart of the world
[_see_ STOCK in the article “MONEY”].
The =Bankers’ Clearing House=, in Lombard Street, is the establishment
where all cheques, drafts, and bills drawn upon the various bankers are
sorted, distributed, and balanced up. The =Railway Clearing House=,
adjoining Euston Railway Station, is a similar establishment devoted
to the adjustment of the value represented by the tickets issued by
the different Railway Companies. In conclusion, the title of =Mansion
House=, though somewhat suggestive of tautology, may be accepted as
denoting _the_ house of all other houses, since it is the official
residence of the Lord Mayor.
_CLASS NAMES AND NICKNAMES._