Chapter X

=X Ale.= The original significance of the X mark on beer barrels was
that the liquor had paid a ten shilling-duty. Additional X’s are
simply brewers’ trade marks, denoting various degrees of strength
over that of the first X.

=XL’ers.= See “Exellers.”

=XXX’s.= See “Three Exes.”

Y

=Yale University.= After Elihu Yale, formerly Governor of the East
Indian Company’s settlement at Madras, whose princely benefactions
to the Collegiate School of the State of Connecticut, founded by ten
Congregational ministers at Killingworth in 1701, warranted the
removal of that seat of learning to New Haven fifteen years later.

=Yang-tse-Kiang.= Chinese for “great river.”

=Yankee.= A term popularly applied at first to one born in the New
England states of North America owing to the fact that _Yankees_,
_Yangkies_ and similar perpetrations were the nearest approaches to
the word “English,” which the Indians of Massachusetts were capable
of. Afterwards it came to be applied to the people of the continent
generally.

=Yankee Jonathan.= The nickname of Jonathan Hastings, a farmer of
Hastings, Mass., on account of his addiction to the word “Yankee,”
used adjectively for anything American. Thus he would say “a Yankee
good cider,” “a Yankee good horse,” etc.

=Yankee State.= Ohio, so called by the Kentuckians on account of its
many free institutions.

=Yarmouth.= The port situated at the mouth of the Yare. See “Yarrow.”

=Yarn.= A spun-out story bears this name in allusion to the thread out
of which cloth is woven.

=Yarrow.= From the Celtic _garw_, rough, rapid.

=Yeddo.= Japanese for “river entrance.”

=Yellow Book.= A French Government report, so called from its yellow
cover.

=Yellow Boy.= Slang for a sovereign.

=Yellow Jack.= A yellow flag which is flown from a vessel in quarantine
and from naval hospitals as a warning of yellow fever or other
contagious disease on board. See “Union Jack.”

=Yellow Press.= By this term is meant that section of the Press which is
given up to creating a scare or sensation. It has been derived from
what in the United States bears the name of “Yellow-covered
Literature,” consisting of trashy sensation novels, published
chiefly for railway reading.

=Yellow Sea.= From the tinge imparted to its waters by the immense
quantities of alluvial soil poured into them by the Yang-tse-Kiang
River.

=Yendys.= The literary sobriquet of Sydney Dobell, being simply his
Christian name reversed.

=Yeoman’s Service.= Originally that rendered to the State in time of war
by volunteers of the Guilds or City Companies. The term “Yeoman” is
derived from the German _gemein_, common, and applied in the sense
of enlistment for the common good.

=Yokohama.= Japanese for “Cross Shore.”

=York.= The _Eboracum_ of the Romans, a Latinised rendering of the
British _Eurewic_ (pronounced _Yorric_), “a row of houses on the
Eure,” which river is now called the Ouse.

=York and Albany.= An omnibus stage in Camden Town named after
Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, the second son of George III.

=York Gate.= The water gate, still standing, built for York House, of
which no other vestige remains.

=York Road.= This long road, parallel to the Great Northern Railway at
King’s Cross, owes its designation to the circumstance that the line
in question was originally styled the “London and York Railway.”

=Yorkshire Stingo.= A public-house sign indicating that the celebrated
ale of this name, due to the sting or sharpness of its taste, is
sold on the premises.

=York Street.= In Covent Garden, after James, Duke of York, the second
son of Charles I., and brother of Charles II., subsequently James
II. In Westminster, from the erstwhile residence of Frederick, Duke
of York and Albany, son of George III.

=Young Buffs.= The 31st Foot, whose uniforms were very similar to those
of the Buffs, or 3rd Foot--viz. scarlet coats faced and lined with
buff, and the remainder wholly of buff-coloured material. Soon after
their formation in 1702 they distinguished themselves greatly in
action, whereupon the General rode up, exclaiming: “Well done, old
Buffs!” “But we are not the Buffs,” some of the men replied. “Then,
well done, young Buffs,” was the retort, and the name stuck to them
ever after.

=Young Nipper.= See “Nipper.”

=Yucatan.= From _Yuca tan_, “What do you say?” which was the only answer
the Spaniards were able to obtain from the aborigines when they
asked them the name of the country.

=Yuletide.= Christmastide, from the Norse _juul_, Christmas.

Z

=Zadkiel.= The literary sobriquet of Lieutenant Richard James Morrison,
author of “The Prophetic Almanack,” after the angel of the planet
Jupiter in the Jewish mythology.

=Zantippe.= After the wife of Socrates, whose name has become proverbial
for a bad-tempered spouse.

=Zanzibar.= A European inversion of the Arabic _Ber-ez-Zuig_, the coast
of the Zangis, or Negroes.

=Zeeland.= Expresses the Dutch for “Sea-land,” land reclaimed from the
sea.

=Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas.= Duluth, so called from its
picturesque situation at the western extremity of the Great Lakes.

=Zoroastrianism.= The religious system of the “Parsees” or
Fire-worshippers, introduced into Persia by Zoroaster _circa_ B.C.
500.

=Zounds.= A corruption of “His Wounds,” or the Five Sacred Wounds on the
Body of the Redeemer. This oath was first employed by John Perrot, a
natural son of Henry VIII. Queen Elizabeth was much addicted to the
exclamation “His Wounds,” but the ladies of her Court softened it
into “Zounds” and “Zouterkins.”

=Zurich.= From the Latin _Thuricum_, in honour of Thuricus, the son of
Theodoric, who rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by
Attila.

=Zuyder Zee.= Properly _Zuider Zee_, the Dutch for “Southern Sea,”
relative to the North Sea or German Ocean.

THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.

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Transcriber’s Note

Hyphens in words that occur on line-breaks are retained or removed based upon the preponderance of other instances in the text.

There are numerous cross-references in this text. There are several reference to an entry for “Wassail”, which is not present as a separate entry. The entry for “Pig and Whistle”, provides a description of the word. Similarly, the reference to “Cop” in the entry for “Fair Cop” likely refers to “Copper”.

Where odd spellings are encountered without any other occurences, allowances are made for the author’s possibly idiosyncratic manner, and these are merely noted, but retained.

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.

21.27 Verses w[r]itten in praise or dispraise Inserted.

37.27 an officer in the First Del[e/a]ware Regiment Replaced.

40.30 From the way in which [b/h]e adjusts Replaced.

43.33 generally a hired assas[s]in Inserted.

94.30 After William Farrin[g]don Inserted.

101.5 [w/t]hen Prince of Wales Replaced.

117.13 in the river near[ near] Fort Niagara Removed.

123.34 [I/A]n inn sign anciently depicting Replaced.

134.28 Harvard U[u/n]iversity Inverted.

138.9 It was according[ing]ly in the heel Removed.

157.22 Maize, brought f[r]om the West Indies Inserted.

163.30 at the memorable s[ei/ie]ge of Ostend Transposed.

169.11 appl[i]ed to dried beef Inserted.

172.37 the great [lexocographer] _Sic_:
lexicographer

179.12 K[ah/ha]n. Transposed.

199.3 from the Lat[a/i]n _liber_ Replaced.

201.7 A distingu[i]shed musical executant Inserted.

208.37 in the manufacturing dist[r]icts Inserted.

216.4 in the her[io/oi]c defence of the city Transposed.

223.30 After the magnific[i]ent sepulchral monument Removed.

224.1 Maydew Che[e/r]ries. Replaced.

254.23 wore a grogram clo[c/o]ak Replaced.

277.3 From the Spanish _[pegueno] nino_ _sic_:
pequeno

285.22 and other public announc[e]ments Inserted.

309.32 his invention of [“]Prince Rupert’s Drops,” Added.

320.36 to the queen of[ of] Henry III. Removed.

327.9 A corruption of [“]St Chad’s Well,” Inserted.

329.33 being an abbrev[i]ation of “Companionship.” Inserted.

337.31 Called by the Ca[r]thaginians “Hispania,” Inserted.

340.27 Al[g]onquin for an Indian woman. Inserted.

354.27 A tavern sign off[,] Golden Square Removed.

358.15 the nickname be[s]towed by the Protestants Inserted.

366.5 Ur[a/u]guay. Replaced.

374.12 by weep[l/i]ng over the folly of mankind Replaced.

377.36 The [othordox/orthodox] or strict members Replaced.

381.26 and similar pe[r]petrations Inserted.

383.37 [Y]uletide. Restored.