Greeän,
_Spinster’s Sweet-Arts._
GIGGLESBY HINN.
Sa we boäth on us kep out o’ sight o’ the winders o’ Gigglesby
Hinn--
_Spinster’s Sweet-Arts._
GIGGLESBY WOOD.
By the claäy’d-oop pond, that the foälk be sa scared at, i’
Gigglesby wood,
_Spinster’s Sweet-Arts._
GILBERT BECKET.
A London merchant and a native of Rouen; father of Thomas Becket,
archbishop of Canterbury.
_Becket._
GILBERT FOLIOT.
Bishop of London, prior of Clugny and Abbeville and afterwards abbot
of Gloucester; created bishop of Hereford in 1147, and translated to
London in 1163; opposed election of Becket to the archbishoprick of
Canterbury, and refused to yield him obedience; excommunicated by
Becket in 1167, and again in 1169, but was absolved at Rouen in the
following year; consecrated Henry II’s eldest son for which act he was
again excommunicated and again absolved in 1172.
_Becket._
GILEADITE.
The daughter of the warrior Gileadite,
A maiden pure; as when she went along
From Mizpeh’s tower’d gate with welcome light,
With timbrel and with song.
Has reference to Jephthah, one of the Judges of Israel. _See Judges xi._
_Dream of Fair Women._
GILLYFLOWERS.
A name given by old writers to the clove pink.
_Aylmer’s Field._
GIOVANNA (The Lady).
_See_ =Federigo degli Alberighi=.
GLASTONBURY.
A city in Somerset, built in the form of a cross and situated on the
peninsula formed by the river Brue called the Isle of Avalon. It was
one of the earliest centres of Christianity in Britain; its abbey is
supposed to have been founded by Joseph of Arimathæa, and the place
where he is represented to have landed in his boat with the Holy Grail.
On setting foot on land he planted his pilgrim’s staff which took
root, and grew into a holy thorn which miraculously blossomed every
old Christmas-eve until it was cut down by a puritan soldier, who was
maimed in the act. A graft of the thorn is however supposed to exist.
King Arthur is supposed to have been buried in the abbey.
_Balin and Balan_;
_Holy Grail_.
GLIMMER-GOWK.
= An owl.
_Village Wife._
GLO’STER (Gloucester).
_Becket._
GLOW-WORM.
A beetle of the genus _Lampyris_, having phosphorescent structures on
the abdomen.
like a glow-worm in the night
The which hath fire in darkness, none in light:
Shakespeare: _Pericles, Act II. Scene iii._
_Vision of Sin_;
_The Princess_;
_Becket_;
_The Foresters_.
GNAT.
A genus of troublesome winged insects of numerous species.
_Caress’d or Chidden_;
_Day-Dream_;
_Merlin and Vivien_;
_Lancelot and Elaine_;
_Vastness_;
_Harold_.
GNOME.
An imaginary creature, represented as a protector of mines and
quarries.
_Merlin and the Gleam._
GOAN PADRE.
And when the Goan Padre quoting Him,
Issa Ben Mariam, his own prophet, cried
‘Love one another little ones,’ and ‘bless’
Whom? even ‘your persecutors’!
_Goan_: a place in India. _Padre_: a priest.
_Akbar’s Dream._
GOAT.
A ruminating quadruped, allied to the sheep.
_Œnone_;
_Morte d’Arthur_;
_Locksley Hall_;
_The Princess_;
_Merlin and Vivien_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Passing of Arthur_.
GODIVA.
Wife of Leofric, earl of Mercia and lord of Coventry. About 1040, in
order to save Coventry from excessive taxation, she consented to ride
naked through the streets of that city. The deed is commemorated by a
stained-glass window in St. Michael’s Church, Coventry, bearing the
inscription:
I Luriche, for the love of thee,
Doe make Coventre tol-free.
The legend of the prying, inquisitive tailor, who looked out of a
window being struck blind was also commemorated in an effigy of
‘Peeping Tom of Coventry’ which long protruded from an upper window in
High Street, adjoining the King’s Head Tavern.
_Godiva._
GODSTOW.
GODSTOW NUNNERY.
He bad me put her into a nunnery--
Into Godstow, into Hellstow, Devilstow!
The Church! the Church!
God’s eyes!
A nunnery on the banks of the Isis, two miles from Oxford, the ruins
of which may still be seen. It was founded in the reign of Henry I
by Editha, a lady of Winchester. Rosamund de Clifford (_q.v._), the
mistress of Henry II, was buried here in 1177.
_Becket._
GODWIN.
Earl of the West Saxons, being appointed by Canute; married a daughter
of Ulf, Canute’s brother-in-law. In 1042 took a prominent part in
raising to the English throne Edward the Confessor, to whom he married
his daughter Edith, and headed the national party against the Norman
favourites. On the accession of Jumiéges to the See of Canterbury
the old charge of having caused the death of Alfred the Atheling was
revived, and in 1051 was, with his sons, outlawed and took refuge with
count Baldwin of Flanders. He returned in the following year and was
restored to favour, and died in 1054 of apoplexy while dining with the
king.
_Harold._
GOLDEN FLEECE.
and five days after that
He met the bailiff at the Golden Fleece,
The name of an Inn. Has reference to the fleece of a ram which
Phryxos, after he had sacrificed it to Zeus, gave to Æetes, king of
Colchis, who hung it on a sacred oak, and had it guarded by a dragon.
It was however stolen by Jason in his Argonautic expedition.
_The Brook._
GOLDEN FLEECE.
An order of knighthood instituted in 1429 by Philip, duke of Burgundy.
hanging down from this
The Golden Fleece--and round his knee, misplaced
Our English Garter,
_Queen Mary._
GOLD-LILY.
_Edwin Morris._
GOLDSMITHS (Immanuel).
_See_ =Immanuel Goldsmiths=.
GOLIATH.
There is one
Come as Goliath came of yore--he flings
His brand in air and catches it again,
He is chanting some old warsong.
Has reference to the landing in England of William, duke of Normandy.
_See 1 Samuel xvii._
_Harold._
GOOD FORTUNE.
Name of a ship.
prosperously sail’d
The ship ‘Good Fortune,’ tho’ at setting forth
The Biscay, roughly riding eastward,
_Enoch Arden._
GOOSE.
An aquatic fowl of the genus _Anser_.
_The Goose_;
_The Brook_;
_Maud_;
_Gareth and Lynette_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Becket_;
_The Foresters_.
GORGON.
A hideous looking creature with a hissing serpent on her head in place
of hair, the sight of whom turned the beholder to stone. Perseus, son
of Zeus and Danäe, being armed with a sharp sickle, discovered the
Gorgons asleep, cut off Medusa’s head, and thrusting it into a bag flew
away, being pursued by two other gorgons.
Lest Gorgon rising from the infernal lakes,
With horrors arm’d, and curls of hissing snakes,
Should fix me, stiffen’d at the monstrous sight,
A stony image, in eternal night!
Homer: _Odyssey, Book XI._
_Death of Œnone._
GORLOÏS.
Lord of Tintagel in Cornwall. He is by some authorities considered to
be the father of king Arthur. His daughter Bellicent became the wife of
Lot, king of Orkney.
Sir, for ye know that in King Arthur’s time
The prince and warrior Gorloïs, he that held
Tintagil castle by the Cornish sea,
Was wedded with a winsome wife, Ygerne:
_Coming of Arthur._
GORSE.
= the furze, a prickly shrub with yellow flowers.
_Voyage of Maeldune._
GRACES.
The Graces were three goddesses named Aglaïa, Thalia, and Euphrosyne,
representing Grace, Gentleness and Beauty.
_Vision of Sin_;
_The Princess_.
GRAIL.
_See_ =Holy Grail=.
GRAMERCY.
A word formerly used to express thanks.
_The Foresters._
GRASSHOPPER.
An insect that lives among grass, closely allied to the locust.
_Leonine Elegiacs_;
_Œnone_;
_Becket_.
GRANADA.
_Queen Mary._
GRAY (Edward).
_See_ =Edward Gray=.
GRAYHOUND.
A tall slender dog kept for the chase, remarkable for keen sight and
swiftness.
_Harold._
GRAYLING.
And here and there a lusty trout,
And here and there a grayling.
A silvery-gray fish of the salmon genus.
_The Brook._
GREAT SEAL.
The principal seal of England with which all state documents are
stamped.
_Becket._
GREAT SILENCE.
Ay, sir,
Inherit the Great Silence.
= be killed.
_Queen Mary._
GREECE.
_Œnone._
GREENWICH.
_Queen Mary._
GREGORY.
I, true son
Of Holy Church--no croucher to the Gregories
That tread the kings their children underheel--
Refers to the popes in general, more particularly to Gregory VII, pope
of Rome from 1073 to 1085 +A.D.+
_Becket._
GREGORY.
Did not Great Gregory bid St. Austin here
Found two archbishopricks, London and York?
= Gregory I, pope of Rome from 590 to 604 +A.D.+
_Becket._
GREGORY.
Not to a Gregory of my throning! No.
_Becket._
GRENVILLE (Sir Richard).
_See_ =Richard, Richard Grenville=.
GRESHAM (Sir Thomas).
_See_ =Thomas Gresham=.
GREYS.
The Scots Greys, who, with the 2nd squadron of Inniskillings made the
famous charge at Balaclava.
_Charge of the Heavy Brigade at Balaclava._
GRIFFIN.
A fabulous monster represented as half lion and half eagle.
_Holy Grail_;
_Merlin and the Gleam_.
GRIFFYTH.
A king of Wales; joined with Elfgar, earl of East Anglia, and gathering
a large army of Welshmen and Irishmen invaded England. The earl of
Hereford, king Edward’s nephew, met him, but was defeated, and Griffyth
sacked the city of Hereford and burnt the Cathedral to the ground.
Harold, earl of Wessex, afterwards king of England, was sent by Edward
the Confessor to avenge this disaster, and with earl Tostig succeeded
in suppressing the rebellion (1063). In the same year Griffyth was
slain by his own men and his head brought to Harold who sent it to the
king.
_Harold._
GRIM (Edward).
Thou art but yesterday from Cambridge, Grim;
What say ye there of Becket?
A monk of Cambridge. Was cross-bearer to Thomas Becket. When the four
knights--murderers of Becket--entered Canterbury Cathedral, Grim stood
by the archbishop during his altercation with them, and shielded him
from their violence until his own arm was nearly cut off by a stroke
aimed at the primate. Falling to the ground, he crawled away to the
altar where the other clerks had taken refuge, and escaped with his
life. He was the author of a biography of Becket.
_Becket._
GUANAHANI.
An island in the West Indies on which Columbus first landed on October
12, 1492, and to which he gave the name of San Salvador.
and last the light, the light
On Guanahani! but I changed the name;
San Salvador I call’d it;
_Columbus._
GUERNSEY.
Second in size and population of the Channel Islands.
_Queen Mary._
GUILDFORD DUDLEY.
Fourth son of the first duke of Northumberland. At the instigation
of his father--whose object was to get the succession of the crown
transferred from Mary--he married lady Jane Grey, daughter of the
duke of Suffolk. The plot however failed, and upon the accession of
Mary, Dudley was committed to the Tower, and thence to trial at the
Guildhall, where he was condemned, sentenced to death and beheaded on
Tower Hill, February 12, 1554.
_Queen Mary._
GUINEA-HEN.
An African bird of the pheasant family, having dark-gray plumage
variegated with small white spots.
_The Brook._
GUINEVERE.
Daughter of Leodogran, king of Cameliard.
Leodogran, the King of Cameliard,
Had one fair daughter, and none other child:
And she was fairest of all flesh on earth,
Guinevere, and in her his one delight.
After king Arthur had assisted king Leodogran in clearing his kingdom
of wild beasts and heathen hordes, he sent three of his knights to
Leodogran to ask for the hand of Guinevere, and Leodogran consenting
they were married by Dubric, at Camelot, in the church of St.
Stephen’s. She entertained a guilty passion for sir Lancelot (_q.v._)
and was in consequence condemned to be burnt. When she was at the
stake she was rescued by Lancelot, who carried her off to his castle
at Joyous Guard, which castle was besieged by Arthur. Ultimately
Guinevere was given up by Lancelot, and received back by Arthur, who,
on the advice of Gawain waged a second war on Lancelot in Benwick.
During the absence of Arthur on his expedition against the Romans,
Modred, nephew of Arthur, who had been left in charge of the kingdom,
traitorously proclaimed himself king, and seized Guinevere whom he
kept prisoner. Upon receiving the news, Arthur hurriedly returned, and
defeating Modred rescued Guinevere. After the battle, she with two
other queens received Arthur in a barge and conveyed him to the Isle of
Avalon, where he died, after which Guinevere retired to the nunnery at
Almesbury.
And when queen Guenever understood that king Arthur was slain ... she
went to Almesbury, and there she let make herself a nun, and wore
white clothes and black.
Malory: _Morte d’Arthur, Book XXI, chap. vii._
and on the death of the Abbess was chosen as her successor, and
remained head of the establishment for a period of three years.
And likewise for the high rank she had borne,
Was chosen Abbess, there, an Abbess lived
For three brief years, and there, an Abbess, past
To where beyond these voices there is peace.
Her death being revealed to Lancelot in a dream, he proceeded to
Almesbury, and taking the body of the queen he laid it by the side of
king Arthur in the chapel of Glastonbury.
_Sir Launcelot and Queen Guinevere_;
_Coming of Arthur_;
_Marriage of Geraint_;
_Balin and Balan_;
_Merlin and Vivien_;
_Lancelot and Elaine_;
_Pelleas and Ettarre_;
_Last Tournament_;
_Guinevere_.
GUISNES.
A town near Calais. The garrison commanded by lord Grey was besieged
and surrendered to the duke of Guise in the reign of Mary.
_Queen Mary._
GULISTAN.
A Persian word for rose-garden.
‘O Bulbul, any rose of Gulistan
Shall burst her veil:
_The Princess._
GULL.
A web-footed sea-fowl of the genus _Larus_.
_Pelleas and Ettarre._
GURNION.
The scene of king Arthur’s eighth battle against the Saxons:
where Arthur bore the image of the Holy Virgin, Mother of God, upon
his shoulders, and through the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
the holy Mary, put the Saxons to flight, and pursued them the whole
day with great slaughter.
Nennius: _Six Chronicles._
It is however supposed to have been the head of the Virgin Mary
engraven on the shield borne by Arthur.
and again
By castle Gurnion, where the glorious King
Had on his cuirass worn our Lady’s Head,
Carved of one emerald center’d in a sun
Of silver rays, that lighten’d as he breathed;
_Lancelot and Elaine._
Athwart his brest a bauldrick brave he ware,
That shind, like twinkling stars, with stones most pretious rare.
And in the midst thereof one pretious stone
Of wondrous worth, and eke of wondrous mights,
Shapt like a Ladies head, exceeding shone,
Like Hesperus amongst the lesser lights,
And strove for to amaze the weaker sights:
Spenser: _Faerie Queene, Book I. Canto vii._
Amazement runs before the towering casque
Of Arthur, bearing through the stormy field
The virgin sculptured on his Christian shield:--
Wordsworth: _Ecclesiastical Sonnets, Part I. Stanza x._
The Castle of Gurnion is generally considered to have been in Wales.
_Lancelot and Elaine._
GURTH.
Earl of East Anglia and son of earl Godwin; accompanied his father in
exile in 1052, and returned with him the following year; succeeded to
the earldom of East Anglia in 1057. He accompanied his brother Harold
to the battle of Stamford-bridge. Gurth advised Harold not to appear
in person against William, but to stay and guard the city of London.
Fought by the side of Harold at the battle of Senlac, where he threw a
spear at the charger ridden by the Conqueror and killed it; but William
rushed forward on foot and slew Gurth with his own hand.
_Harold._
GUY.
Count of Ponthieu. Earl Harold sailing one day in a fishing boat in
the English Channel was driven by storm on the coast of Ponthieu, and
was taken prisoner by Guy, count of Ponthieu. Harold, however, sent a
message to duke William of Normandy complaining of the treatment he
had received, and asking his interference. William ordered his release,
and invited him to his court, when it is said he persuaded Harold to
swear to assist him to the crown of England upon Edward’s death.
drave and crack’d
His boat on Ponthieu beach; where our friend Guy
Had wrung his ransom from him by the rack,
_Harold._
GWYDION.
Who, after, turn’d her daughter round, and said,
She never yet had seen her half so fair;
And call’d her like that maiden in the tale,
Whom Gwydion made by glamour out of flowers,
The tale is that of ‘Math,’ son of Mathonwy, who, with Gwydion sought
to form, by enchantment, a wife for Llew.
So they took the blossoms of the oak, and the blossoms of the broom,
and the blossoms of the meadow-sweet, and produced from them a
maiden, the fairest and most graceful that man ever saw.
Guest: _The Mabinogion: Math the Son of Mathonwy._
_Marriage of Geraint._
GYNÆCEUM.
The women’s quarters in a Greek house.
_The Princess._
HALCYON.
= the kingfisher.
_Progress of Spring._
HALE (Francis).
_See_ =Francis, Francis Hale=.
HALL (Everard).
_See_ =Everard, Everard Hall=.
_The Epic_;
_Morte d’Arthur_.
HAMAN.
but all those that held with him,
Except I plead for them, will hang as high
As Haman.
Has reference to Haman, king Ahasuerus’ chief minister, who was hanged
on the gallows which he had erected for Mordecai. _Esther vii._
_The Foresters._
HAMILTON (Lady).
The daughter of a labourer, born at Ness, Cheshire, in 1763. For some
years she lived under the protection of sir William Hamilton, whom
she married in 1791. She was a woman of extraordinary beauty, and is
immortalized in many portraits by Romney.
What! the Lady Hamilton?
Good, I am never weary painting you.
She subsequently became the mistress of lord Nelson, and although a
widow with a fortune, fell into debt and died in poverty in 1815.
_Romney’s Remorse._
HAMPDEN.
The single note
From that deep chord which Hampden smote
Will vibrate to the doom.
Has reference to John Hampden who withstood the illegal exaction of
Charles I in 1627, and whose refusal to pay ship money in 1635 to his
being tried before the court of exchequer; and although judgment was
given against him, the country expressed itself strongly on the side of
Hampden and the Long Parliament reversed the decision of the court.
_England and America._
HAMPTON COURT.
A palace situated on the Thames erected by Cardinal Wolsey in 1515,
and presented by him to Henry VIII in 1526. Mary, Elizabeth, Cromwell,
the Stuarts, William III, and other monarchs have resided there, but
since the time of George II it has ceased to be a royal residence, and
is now occupied by pensioners of the crown.
_Queen Mary._
HANNIE (Annie).
Eldest child of the village squire, disliked by the village wife.
Hes fur Miss Hannie the heldest nes now be a-grawin’ sa howd,
I knaws that mooch o’ sheä es it beänt not fit to be towd!
_Village Wife._
HANOVER SHIP.
And curse me the British vermin, the rat;
I know not whether he came in the Hanover ship,
But I know that he lies and listens mute
In an ancient mansion’s crannies and holes:
Has reference to the Norwegian rat, which came to England during the
eighteenth century. This rat infests ships and thus was carried into
countries where they were unknown. The Jacobites claimed that this rat
had come to England with the House of Hanover in 1714, when George
Ludwig, elector of Hanover, succeeded Anne on the English throne, hence
it was called the ‘Hanoverian rat.’
_Maud._
HAPPY ISLES.
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
The Isles of a happy abode for the departed, identified with the
Canaries and the Azores.
_Ulysses._
HARDRADA.
Harold Hardrada, king of Norway, who, at the invitation of earl Tostig
(_q.v._) came to England and defeated Edwin and Morcar at the battle of
Fulford in Yorkshire, but was in turn defeated by Harold at the battle
of Stamford-bridge, Hardrada and Tostig being among the slain.
May all invaders perish like Hardrada!
All traitors fail like Tostig!
_Harold._
HARE.
A rodent of the genus _Lepus_, with long ears, a short tail, soft hair,
and a divided upper lip.
_Aylmer’s Field_;
_The Foresters_.
HAREBELL.
A small branching plant with pale blue bell-shaped flowers.
_The Princess_;
_Promise of May_.
HARFLEUR.
A French village on the estuary of the Seine. In the Hundred Years’
War it was taken after a six months’ siege by the English under Henry
V (1415), and during the succeeding twenty years changed hands three
times. The town was lost to England on November 4, 1435.
_Harold._
HAROLD.
King of England, second son of earl Godwin. Was in 1051 along with
his father banished, and took refuge with count Baldwin of Flanders.
He returned the following year, and on Godwin’s death became earl of
Wessex, and the right hand of king Edward the Confessor. In 1064 he was
shipwrecked on the coast of Ponthieu and taken prisoner by Guy (_q.v._)
count of Ponthieu. Harold complained to duke William of Normandy of the
treatment he was receiving at the hands of the count, and asked his
interference. William ordered his release, invited him to his court,
where it is said he made him swear that he would, on the death of
Edward the Confessor, help to make him king of England. On the death of
Edward Harold was proclaimed king. His younger brother Tostig (_q.v._)
rebelled, and invited over to England Harold Hardrada (_q.v._), king
of Norway. Hardrada sailed up the Humber and with Tostig defeated the
English troops at Fulford Bridge in Yorkshire. Harold however marched
to meet them, and joined forces with them at Stamford-bridge, where,
after a bloody struggle, he won a complete victory on September 25,
1066, Tostig and Hardrada being among the slain. Four days later, news
arrived that duke William of Normandy had landed at Pevensey. Harold
marched southward, and with his troops occupied the hill of Senlac,
near Hastings. There he was visited by a monk who urged him to yield
to the pope, who had given encouragement to the claims of William.
Harold in anger repudiated Rome’s authority:
Back to that juggler,
Tell him the Saints are nobler than he dreams,
Tell him that God is nobler than the Saints,
And tell him we stand arm’d on Senlac Hill,
And bide the doom of God.
The battle, which lasted from nine o’clock in the morning until after
sunset was fought on October 14, 1066, and after a desperate struggle
the English were defeated, owing to their allowing the pretended flight
of the Normans to draw them from their impregnable position on the
hill, Harold himself being slain by an arrow which pierced his eye.
Harold’s body was found upon the field of battle, and was, by William,
ordered to be buried there, saying ‘He guarded the shore when living,
let him guard it now he is dead,’ but afterwards he permitted it to be
interred at Waltham Abbey.
_Harold._
HAROLD (King of Norway).
_See_ =Hardrada=.
HAROLD (Mr. Philip Edgar).
_See_ =Eva=.
_Promise of May._
HAROLD THE SAXON.
_See_ =Harold (King of England)=.
_The Foresters._
HAROUN ALRASCHID.
(Aaron the Orthodox.) The most renowned of the Bagdad caliphs,
succeeded to the Caliphate in 786 +A.D.+ He maintained a magnificent
court where he gathered round him a company of poets and scholars. He
was a contemporary of Charlemagne, and figures as the chief character
in the _Arabian Nights_.
_Recollections of the Arabian Nights._
HARRY.
‘Ere yet, in scorn of Peter’s-pence
And number’d bead, and shrift,
Bluff Harry broke into the spence
And turn’d the cowls adrift:
Has reference to the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII.
_Talking Oak._
HARRY.
One of the sons of an old woman, who outlived all her children. She
fancied they were not dead, but were all about her yet.
While Harry is in the five-acre and Charlie ploughing the hill,
And Harry and Charlie, I hear them too--they sing to their team:
He died at the age of sixty.
_Grandmother._
HARRY.
Husband of Ellen, with whom she quarrelled on account of a letter
written him by a girl in Dorsetshire. Harry wrote his wife assuring
her that all would come right again. He left for Jersey, stating he
had found work there, but while crossing the boat went down and he was
drowned. His wife, who had refused to say good-bye to him, felt she was
to blame.
_First Quarrel._
HARRY BOLINGBROKE.