Chapter D: =Dachshund.= German for “badger-dog.” (2)

=Free Church of Scotland.= The adherents of Dr Chalmers, who separated
from the Scottish Presbyterian Church to establish an independent
community, 18th May 1843.

=Free House.= A public-house, of which the landlord, being his own
master, is at full liberty to change his brewer if the quality of
the liquor supplied to him does not give complete satisfaction. See
“Tied House.”

=Free-lance.= An unattached journalist who sends out his literary wares
on approval. The term has been derived from those roving companies
of knights who, at the close of the Wars of the Crusades, were ready
to enlist under any banner for a monetary consideration. Like the
mercenaries of the Carthaginians and Romans, these were the first
paid soldiers.

=Free List.= A list kept by theatrical managers of Men about Town,
barristers, medical men, and others, who can be relied upon to
“dress the house” at short notice when business is bad, and so give
it an air of prosperity. These are not “Deadheads” in the ordinary
sense, because they render the management a service; but being well
able to pay for seats at all times they are apt to be obnoxious in
their demands when the entertainment really draws good houses. Hence
the notice “Free list entirely suspended” at such times.

=Freemasons.= A brotherhood of masons who in the Mediæval Ages built the
cathedrals which are even now lasting mementoes of their skill. They
travelled from one city to another, always employed in the same
devoted work, and, to prove that they were master craftsmen,
invented various symbols, by which they could be recognised.
Everywhere these masons enjoyed immunity from taxation and military
service. Hence they received the name of “free-masons.”

=Freeze on to him.= To cling to a man as hoarfrost clings to wood in
winter.

=Freight Train.= An Americanism for goods train.

=Freshman.= An undergraduate in his first year at a university.

=Friar.= Agreeably to the Latin _fratre_, brother. This term signifies a
member of a religious community as distinguished from a monk (Greek,
_monas_, alone), who was originally a hermit, and, except when at
meals or at prayers in the monastery, spends his time in a cell.

=Friar Street.= Marks the eastern boundary of the monastery of the
Dominicans or Black Friars anciently located south of Ludgate Hill.

=Friar Tuck.= So called because, like that of all friars, his habit was
_tucked_ or drawn up round the cord that encircled his waist.

=Friday.= In the Scandinavian mythology this day of the week was set
apart for the worship of Frigga, the wife of Odin.

=Friday Street.= The fish market of Old London, so called from the
weekly fast day, when it must have been particularly thronged.

=Friendly Islands.= So called by Captain Cook on account of the
peaceable disposition of the natives.

=Friesland.= Anciently _Friesia_, the country of the _Frisii_.

=Frisco.= An American abbreviation of San Francisco.

=Frith Street.= Originally Fryth Street, after the name of the builder
upon the land in 1680.

=Frobisher Strait.= Discovered by Sir Martin Frobisher, 1576.

=Frognal.= That portion of Hampstead once graced by Frognal Priory,
built by “Memory-Corner Thompson.”

=From Pillar to Post.= This had reference in olden times to the hooting
crowds who followed a public offender from the pillory to the
whipping-post. The “post,” however, was more usually a “cart’s
tail.”

=Fuchsia.= After Leonard Fuchs, the distinguished German botanist.

=Fudge.= A word derived from the sound produced by the nasal expression
of contempt, _futsch!_ among the Germans and Dutch.

=Fulham.= The _Fullenhame_ of Anglo-Saxon days, expressing the home or
habitation of water-fowl.

=Funeral.= Specifically a torchlight procession, from the Latin _funis_,
a torch. In ancient times burials always took place by night.

=Furnival Street.= A name left to remind us of Furnival’s Inn, on the
opposite side of Holborn, and where Charles Dickens wrote his
“Pickwick Papers.” Anciently this was the “Inn” or town mansion of
the Lords Furnival, a title which became extinct in the reign of
Richard II.

=Fusiliers.= Because originally armed with a light musket styled a
_fusil_.

=Fye Foot Lane.= A corruption of _Five Foot Lane_, the width of this
narrow thoroughfare when it led down to the Thames side.

G

=Gad-about.= The word “Gad” is Gaelic, signifying “to rove.”

=Gaelic.= See “Caledonia.”

=Gaff.= See “Penny Gaff.”

=Gaffer.= Provincial for an old man; a corruption of “grandfather.”

=Gag.= An actor’s interpolation of catch phrases at his own sweet will.
Originally, however, _gagging_ was a device to disconcert or stop
the mouth of another actor by the unexpected employment of words not
in the text of the play.

=Gallivanting.= An old English word for “doing the agreeable.” Its
derivation is clearly traceable to “gallant” and “gallantry.”

=Galoshes.= From the Spanish _galocha_, a patten or wooden shoe.

=Galvanism.= After Luigi Galvani, the eminent physician of Bologna in
the eighteenth century, the discoverer of electrical currents
produced by chemical agency.

=Gamboge.= Brought from Cambogia in Siam.

=Gamp.= After Mrs Gamp in “Martin Chuzzlewit,” who never went abroad
without her fat, pawky umbrella, and when at home gave it an
honoured position by the side of the fireplace. Charles Dickens must
have had the town of _Guingamp_ in his mind when he invented Mrs
Gamp. See “Gingham.”

=Gander Party.= An Americanism for a social party composed of men only.

=Ganges.= The sacred river of the Hindoos, thought by them to flow
through Gang, the earth, to heaven. The name they gave to it,
therefore, was _Ganga_.

=Garden of England.= The Isle of Wight. The mildness of the climate and
the luxuriance of the vegetation bespeak a perpetual summer.

=Garden Spot.= The fertile centre of Kentucky, whence the Indians, after
many a sanguinary encounter, were banished by the white settlers.

=Garden State.= New Jersey, from the fertility of its soil.

=Garden Town.= The name bestowed upon both Cheltenham and Leamington in
virtue of their spas, public gardens, and promenades tastefully laid
out.

=Gargantuan.= Anything out of all reasonable limits. We speak of a
“Gargantuan Feast,” a “Gargantuan Thirst,” to express a capacity for
enormous consumption. The word is derived from Gargantua, the hero
of Rabelais’s famous satire of this title.

=Garlick Hill.= Where garlic was anciently brought to land at
Queenhithe.

=Garrick Street.= From the Garrick Club, the premier rendezvous of the
leading members of the dramatic profession.

=Garrotters.= Street marauders of the latter part of the last century
who gripped their victim tightly round the neck while accomplices
rifled his pockets. Their designation was derived from the
_Garrotte_, with which malefactors are strangled in Spain.

=Gas Bag.= An Americanism for one who is always boasting of his own
importance.

=Gasconade.= To boast. The people of Gascony had an unenviable
reputation for boasting.

=Gate.= This old English word does not in all cases express a city gate,
as in London, but a road, street, or passage--_e.g._ Canongate, the
way past the House of the Canons of Holyrood Abbey at Edinburgh;
Lowgate, Whitefriargate, etc., at Hull; Harrowgate, the passage
through the hills; and Boulogne Gate, or entrance to Boulogne
Harbour.

=Gatling Gun.= Named after R. J. Gatling, its inventor.

=Gaul.= The _Gallia_ of the Romans, from the Celtic name of the country,
_Gal_, “western.”

=Gave him a Baker’s Dozen.= As much as he merited, and one blow over as
a finishing stroke. A drubbing that he little expected.

=Gave him a Roland for an Oliver.= Exactly what he gave me himself; a
tit for tat. Roland and Oliver were two knights in the train of
Charlemagne. Both were equally accomplished; what the one did the
other essayed also with success. In the matter of fighting too they
were exactly on a par, since, after having been put to the test in
single combat, for a long time neither of them gained the least
advantage.

=Gave him the Cold Shoulder.= Received him with scant ceremony. The
allusion is to the fare generally set before an unexpected visitor
who has not dined.

=Gave him the Grand Shake.= An Americanism for finally breaking off an
acquaintance.

=Gavelkind.= A custom among the Anglo-Saxons whereby all the sons of a
family inherited alike. Lord Coke traces it from the Teutonic _gif
eal cyn_, and translates it literally “give all kinde.” Inheritance
by Gavelkind obtained in Kent long after the Norman Conquest;
indeed, it is said that some Kentish lands are still held by this
ancient tenure.

=Gavotte.= A dance familiar to the Gavots in the French province of
Dauphiny.

=Gay Lothario.= A seducer. From the leading character in Nicholas Rowe’s
“The Fair Penitent,” produced in 1703.

=Gazette.= From the Italian _Gazzetta_, the name of a Venetian coin
valued at about ¾d. of English money, which was charged for the
individual reading, from hand-to-hand, of a written sheet at Venice
containing news of the war with Soliman II., _temp._ sixteenth
century.

=Geneva Gown.= The habit of Low Churchmen, so called from its
resemblance to the gown worn by the Calvinists of Geneva.

=Genre Painting.= One on a pastoral subject, with figures, that does not
properly come under the definition of a landscape. The word is
French for a kind, a sort.

=Gentleman in Black.= A chimney-sweep, who, like a clergyman, was
formerly saluted out of respect for “the cloth.”

=Gentleman Jack.= John Bannister, a favourite actor of Drury Lane
Theatre, respected by all for his integrity even more than for his
histrionic accomplishments.

=Gentleman Smith.= William Smith of Drury Lane, the _beau ideal_ of a
gentleman on the stage.

=Gentleman Turkey.= The Far Western description of a turkey cock.

=George.= An inn sign in honour of the patron saint of England. After
the Hanoverian Succession, by which time pictorial signs had for the
most part disappeared, and the name alone stood for a sign, the
omission of the “St” made the sign complimentary to the reigning
monarch. Reading of the execution of Charles I., we are told that
the ill-fated King handed his “George” to Juxon, the Archbishop of
Canterbury, who attended him on the scaffold. This was the badge of
the Order of the Garter, representing St George on horseback
piercing the fallen dragon with his lance.

=George and Dragon.= See “George.”

=George Ranger.= H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, who was appointed Ranger
of the Royal Parks.

=Georges Sand.= This literary pseudonym of Mademoiselle Dupin,
afterwards Madame Dudevant, arose out of her attachment to a young
student named Jules Sandeau, with whom she collaborated in the
production of her first novel, “Rose et Blanche.”

=Georgia.= In compliment to George II., the reigning monarch when this
state was colonised.

=German Silver.= See “Sterling Silver.”

=Germany.= Called by the Romans _Germania_, from a Gaulish or Celtic
word meaning “neighbours.”

=Gerrard Street.= After the family name of the Earl of Macclesfield, the
ground landlord, when it was first built upon at the close of the
seventeenth century.

=Gerrymandering.= An American political term for subdividing a
constituency in such a way as to give one party an unfair advantage
over all others. Its adoption was due to Elbridge Gerry, Governor of
Massachusetts. When a map of this new electoral distribution was
shown to an artist he remarked that it looked very much like a
salamander. “A salamander, you say? Why not a Gerrymander!” was the
reply. And a Gerrymander the name of the scheme remained.

=Get there all the same.= An Americanism meaning to succeed in any
enterprise, despite all obstacles or opposition.

=Ghost.= One employed by an author or an artist to do his work for him,
so called because, his name and personality being withheld from the
public, he is kept in the shade. In other words, he is a mere shadow
of his master. Originally, however, the term had reference to the
friend who had inspired or suggested the work.

=Ghost walking.= A theatrical phrase. Actors assembling at the theatre
for their weekly salaries generally put the question among
themselves: “Is the ghost walking?” While those about to accept an
engagement with a manager of whom they know nothing ask: “Does the
ghost walk?” Its origin is as follows:--Many years ago a manager of
the Bogus type had in his company a self-willed actor whose strong
part was the Ghost in “Hamlet.” If his salary was not forthcoming on
a Saturday morning he exclaimed: “Then the ghost won’t walk
to-night.” Indispensable actor as he was, the manager invariably
acceded to his demands. Sometimes it happened that he received only
a portion of his salary, with a promise of the remainder in the
course of the performance, in which case he refused to go on until
the money was actually paid. It is said that the other members of
the company would wait on a Saturday morning about the time for
“Treasury” until they received word by a messenger that the ghost
_would_ walk.

=Giaour.= From the Arabic _kiafir_, “unbeliever.” The Turks bestow this
name on all European Christians, enemies of the Mohammedan faith.
Readers of Lord Byron’s poem “The Giaour” may require to be informed
of its meaning.

=Gibberish.= After Geber, an Arabian alchemist of the eleventh century,
who employed an unintelligible jargon to mystify the ecclesiastics,
lest by plain speaking he might be put to death as a sorcerer.

=Gibraltar.= From the Arabic designation, _Jebel-al-Tarik_, the Mountain
of Tarik, in honour of Ben Zeyad Tarik, a Moorish General, to whose
prowess the conquest of Spain in the eighth century was due.

=Gibraltar of America.= The city of Quebec, from its commanding and
impregnable position on the heights.

=Gibson Girl.= A new type of womanhood popularised in America by the
drawings of Charles Dana Gibson, and introduced to London by Miss
Camille Clifford.

=Gibus.= An opera or crush hat, so called after its inventor.

=Gift of the Gab.= “Gab” is a very old word; it was used by the
Anglo-Saxons for speech. The Scots employed it to describe the
mouth; hence to “gabble.” The French had it too in the forms of
“gaber,” to boast or talk wildly.

=Gig.= A term claiming the same origin as “Jig”--_i.e._ the French
_gigue_, a lively dance--because this vehicle moves lightly.

=Gilbertines.= An English religious Order of the twelfth century,
founded by St Gilbert of Sempringham, Lincolnshire.

=Gilly flower.= A corruption of _July flower_, from the month when it
blossoms.

=Giltspur Street.= Said to have received its name from the gilt spurs of
the knights riding to the tournaments in Smithfield. The greater
probability is that the makers of gilt spurs congregated in this
street.

=Gimnal Ring.= A love token of bygone days, so called from the Latin
_gemellus_, joined. This ring was composed of two separate bands
fitted into each other with little teeth. When lovers were betrothed
it was divided, only to be put together again at the nuptial
ceremony.

=Gin.= Short for Geneva. Not after Geneva in Switzerland, because this
is the national spirituous drink of the Dutch, called at first by
them _giniva_, from the French _genievre_, juniper. Juniper berries
were originally employed to flavour the spirit distilled from
unmalted rye. The native name for Dutch gin is now Schiedam, after
the town where it is made. Dutch gin brought to England is called
Hollands.

=Ginger.= Red-haired people are said to be _ginger_ because Guinevre,
the Queen at the Court of King Arthur, had red hair.

=Gingham.= A corruption of Guingamp in Brittany, where the cotton stuff
brought from Java, there called _gingang_, was dyed and made into
umbrella covers before silk and alpaca came into use for this
purpose. Hence the slang term for an umbrella. See “Gamp.”

=Gin Sling.= An American drink composed of equal parts of gin and water.
See “Sling.”

=Gipsies.= A corruption of _Egyptians_, because, when first heard of in
Europe, they spread themselves over Bohemia, and were thought to
have arrived there by way of Egypt.

=Giraldus Cambrensis.= The Latinised pen name of Gerald de Barri,
Archbishop of St David’s, and historian of Cambria or Wales.

=Girasole.= The Italian name of the sunflower, from the Latin _gyara_,
to turn, and _sol_, the sun.

=Girondists.= Deputies from the Department of the Gironde who formed the
Moderate Republican Party in the French Revolution.

=Girton Girl.= A student of Girton College, Cambridge.

=Give him Beans.= An expression derived from a French proverb: “If he
gives me peas I will give him beans”--_i.e._ I will be quits with
him.

=Give him plenty of Rope.= Let him do just what he thinks is best, and
everything will come out right in the end. Following in your train,
and, metaphorically, attached to your rope, the longer the rope the
wider will be the sweep he can command; he can always be pulled in
when it becomes necessary to check his movements.

=Given Name.= An Americanism for a Christian or forename.

=Gives himself Airs.= One who assumes a manner out of keeping with his
social position. “Air” was formerly synonymous with deportment.

=Give up the Ghost.= Literally to yield up the Spirit.

=Gladiator.= From the Latin _gladius_, a sword. A slave trained to
defend himself with a short sword in the mortal combats of the Roman
arena for the amusement of the Emperors and the populace.

=Glad Rags.= An Americanism for holiday clothes or festive garments.

=Gladstone Bag.= So called in compliment to Mr W. E. Gladstone when, as
leader of the Liberal Government, his name was “familiar in men’s
mouths as household words.”

=Glamorgan.= From _Gwlad-Margam_, “the territory of Margam,” a Welsh
chieftain of the tenth century. His name is correctly preserved in
Margam Abbey.

=Glenlivet.= Whisky distilled in the Vale of Glenlivet in Banffshire.

=Globe.= An inn sign, the name of which was derived from the arms of the
King of Portugal.

=Globe Trotter.= A tourist, a traveller in foreign lands.

=Glorious Fourth of July.= Another name for “Independence Day.”

=Gloucester.= The _Gloicastra_ of the Romans, in honour of Gloi, son of
the Emperor Claudius, who was born here.

=Gloucester Road.= From Oxford Lodge, the one-time residence of the
Duchess of Gloucester.

=Go ahead.= From the nautical phrase “The wind’s ahead”--_i.e._ blowing
from the stern towards the vessel’s head.

=Goat and Compasses.= A corruption of the Puritan motto “God encompass
us.”

=Goatee.= An Americanism for the typical Yankee chin tuft, in allusion
to the beard of a goat.

=Gobelin Tapestry.= Made under royal patronage in the house originally
occupied by Jean Gobelin, a wool dyer in Paris, _temp._ seventeenth
century.

=God help you.= Anciently an invocation on behalf of a person subjected
to the Ordeal of Fire.

=Godstone.= A corruption of “Good Stone,” relative to the excellence of
the stone quarried here.

=Goggles.= Shaded spectacles, so called in allusion to gig lamps.

=Go in for Banting.= See “Banting.”

=Gold Coast.= The coast of Guinea, West Africa, where gold was found.

=Golden Cross.= The device of the Crusaders, extensively adopted as an
inn sign.

=Golden Gate.= The entrance to San Francisco Harbour. This name had been
bestowed upon it by the Spaniards centuries before the outbreak of
the gold fever in 1847, from their own knowledge that this was the
gate to the Land of Gold.

=Golden Lane.= A corruption of “Golding Lane,” after the builder.

=Golden Square.= Properly “Gelding Square,” from an old inn of this
name.

=Go Marooning.= A southern state American expression for a picnicking
party on the shore or up country which is to last for several days.
See “Maroons.”

=Gone over to the Majority.= A Parliamentary phrase equally, if more
generally, applied to one who has passed from the scene of his
life’s labours to the spirit world. Ancient and modern authors
contain passages in the latter connection. The Rev. Robert Blair in
“The Grave” says: “’Tis long since Death had the majority.”

=Gone to Pot.= Vanished possessions. The reference is to the
metalliferous melting pot.

=Gone to Rack and Ruin.= A corruption of “wreck and ruin.”

=Gone to Texas.= An American expression for one who has decamped leaving
debts behind him. It was (and is) no unusual thing for a man to
display this notice, perhaps only the initials “G.T.T.” on his door
for the information of callers after he has absconded.

=Gone to the Devil.= From the twofold circumstance that money lost
through lawyers would surely be spent by them at their regular
resort, the celebrated “Devil Tavern,” hard by Temple Bar, and the
not unusual answer tendered by a subordinate to a caller at a place
of business in Fleet Street that his master had “gone to the
‘Devil.’”

=Gone to the Dogs.= Money that has been squandered uselessly, as the
remains of a feast in Eastern countries are thrown to the dogs
instead of being given to the poor. A vicious man is said to have
gone to the dogs because in the East social outcasts are often
worried by ravenous dogs that prowl about the streets by night.

=Gone under.= One who has sunk in the social scale; never recovered from
financial embarrassments; who found it impossible to “keep his head
above water.” The allusion is, of course, to drowning.

=Gone up the Country.= An expression implying that a person is
insolvent; originally introduced into England from the Colonies.
When a man could not make ends meet in the coast cities he went
prospecting up the country.

=Gong Punch.= The American term for the bell ticket punch used by
conductors on tramcars.

=Gonville College.= The original name of Caius College, Cambridge,
founded by Edmund Gonville in 1348.

=Good enough Morgan.= An American phrase for an imposition, or any
person or thing likely to pass muster for the reality. This
originated during the Anti-Masonic riots in the state of New York,
when it was alleged that the Freemasons had drowned a man called
Morgan for having betrayed their secrets. A body was actually found
in the river near Fort Niagara, and identified by Morgan’s wife
chiefly on account of a missing tooth. It was, however, proved that
the whole story had been trumped up for political ends. A prominent
politician who had a hand in the affair indeed confessed that, when
reminded that the body would never pass for Morgan’s, he declared:
“It’s a good enough Morgan.” Hence the phrase.

=Goodge Street.= After the name of the builder.

=Goodman’s Fields.= After the owner of the lands upon a portion of whose
farm the Prioresses or Nuns of St Clare built their priory. This
name recurs in the “Life of David Garrick,” who established his fame
at the old Goodman’s Fields Theatre before he migrated to Drury
Lane.

=Good Old Town of Hull.= A name originally bestowed upon the “Third
Port” by tramps and beggars, who, in common with the deserving poor,
fared exceeding well out of the bounty of the Dominican and
Carmelite Friars. The streets Blackfriargate and Whitefriargate fix
the locality of these conventual establishments.

=Good Time.= An Americanism for a very pleasurable or festive time. See
“High Time.”

=Good Wine needs no Bush.= An ivy bush was in former times displayed at
the end of a stake wherever wine was sold, the ivy being sacred to
Bacchus. Travellers who had once tasted good wine took careful stock
of the place before leaving it; consequently they needed no bush to
direct them when next they visited the neighbourhood.

=Goodwin Sands.= At the time of the Norman Conquest this comprised the
estate of Earl Godwin, from whom it was filched and bestowed upon
the Abbey of St Augustine at Canterbury. Neglect of the repair of
the sea-wall caused the waves to rush in and overwhelm the land.

=Go off the Handle.= To lose one’s head or go insane. The allusion is to
the head of an axe flying off the handle.

=Go one better.= Originally a sporting expression, meaning that by
jumping farther a contestant would make a scratch on the ground
beyond the one just scored.

=Goose.= The tailor’s smoothing iron, from the resemblance of its handle
to the neck of a goose.

=Gooseberry.= A corruption of _Gorseberry_, rough or coarse, on account
of the hairs or diminutive prickles which distinguish this berry.

=Gordon Hotels.= Established by the late Frederick Gordon, a solicitor
of Bloomsbury. These middle-class hotels have supplied a long-felt
want in London and elsewhere.

=Gordon Square.= In compliment to Lady Georgina Gordon, wife of the
sixth Duke of Bedford, the ground landlord.

=Gospel.= From the Anglo-Saxon _God-spell_, “good news.”

=Gospel Oak.= From the oak-tree marking the juncture of St Pancras and
Hampstead parishes, beneath which the Gospel was annually read.

=Goswell Road.= From an ancient spring, styled “God’s Well,” discovered
in this neighbourhood.

=Gotham.= The city of New York. Washington Irving first gave it this
name in his “Salmagundi.” Its people in his time were anything but
fools, yet he may not have appreciated the singular wisdom
attributed to them. By referring to the city as Gotham he made a
playful allusion to Gotham in Nottinghamshire, England, which for
centuries had merited a reputation for being a town whose
inhabitants did and said the most foolish things.

=Go the whole Hog.= An expression derived from Cowper’s poem entitled
“Of the Love of the World reproved,” in which he discusses the
eating of pork by the Turks:

“But for one piece they thought it hard
From the whole hog to be debarred.”

=Got my Back up.= In allusion to cats, which set up their backs on being
confronted by their own species or by a ferocious dog.

=Got my Dander up.= The word _dander_ here is a corruption of dandruff,
which, though it means only the scurf on the head, has come to be
curiously applied to the hair itself; as when the fur of enraged
animals is raised.

=Got the Bullet.= Suddenly discharged from one’s occupation; “fired
out,” as it were.

=Got the Push.= Ousted from one’s place of employment. Metaphorically to
have been pushed off the premises.

=Got the Sack.= An expression derived from the sack in which mechanics
and artisans generally carried their own tools. When engaged to work
the tools were assigned to a proper place in the workshop, while the
master took possession of the sack. On discharging his men he
returned them the sack.

=Go to.= An Old English expression which leaves something to the
imagination. Originally it must have implied a place where there is
much caloric. In its popular acceptation it meant simply “Get along
with you!”

=Go to Bath.= An expression signifying that a person is talking
nonsense. When the west of England was the fashionable health resort
silly and slightly demented folk were recommended to “Go to Bath,
and get your head shaved.”

=Go to Bungay.= The curt answer received by persons who asked where they
could get the once fashionable leather breeches. Bungay, in Suffolk,
was the only place where they were made. This expression travelled
over to New England with the first emigrants, and is still common in
that portion of the United States.

=Go to Jericho.= Jericho was the name given by Henry VIII. to the Manor
of Blackmore, near Chelmsford, whither he often retired quite
suddenly from affairs of State. At such times his courtiers
suspected some fresh freak of gallantry, and said he had “gone to
Jericho.” Moreover, when in a testy mood, his Queen would tell him
to “go to Jericho!”

=Go to Putney.= A very old expression, tantamount to consigning a person
beyond the pale of London society or civilisation.

=Got out of Bed the wrong Way.= From the old superstition that planting
the left foot on the ground first on rising in the morning was a
harbinger of ill luck for the day.

=Government Stock.= The origin of the word Stock is interesting. Down to
the year 1782, when the practice was abolished, public money
invested in Government securities was acknowledged on the two
opposite ends of a piece of wood called a stock, from the
Anglo-Saxon _stocc_, a trunk. The stock was then cut in two, one
portion being handed to the investor and the other consigned to the
Tally Office.

=Gower Street.= After the name of the builder on this portion of the
Bedford estate.

=Gowk.= The Scottish equivalent for an “April Fool,” signifying a
foolish person.

=Gracechurch Street.= From the herb market anciently held around the
Church of St Benet, called the Grass Church. This edifice has in
modern times been pulled down, and the money realised for the site
devoted to the erection of a new St Benet’s in the Mile End Road.

=Gramercy.= From _grand merci_, “great thanks,” a phrase introduced when
French was the language of the Court.

=Granby Street.= In honour of John Manners, Marquis of Granby, whose
name is also perpetuated by many a tavern sign.

=Grand Hotel.= Not in the sense of magnificence, but true to the French
meaning of the word “great”; hence Grand Theatre, the Grand Tour,
and the Grand Canal at Venice.

=Grand Old Man.= The name applied by Mr Labouchere to Mr W. E. Gladstone
on the occasion of Mr Bradlaugh’s expulsion from the House after his
election for Northampton because he refused to take the oath in the
prescribed manner. Referring to a conversation in the tea-room Mr
Labouchere said: “I told some friends that before I left Mr
Gladstone came to me, and that grand old man, with tears in his
eyes, took me by the hands, and said: ‘Mr Labouchere, bring me Mr
Bradlaugh back again.’”

=Grand Tour.= More than a hundred years ago each of the sons of
gentlemen in their turn made the Grand or Extended Tour through
France, Germany, and Italy, just as nowadays daughters are presented
at Court as a preliminary to moving in fashionable society.

=Grange Road.= Marks the situation of an old mansion called “The
Grange.” The word Grange expresses the French for a barn or granary.

=Granite State.= New Hampshire, from its staple product.

=Grapes.= An inn or public sign, denoting that the house contained a
vinery.

=Grass Widow.= A married woman separated from her husband, but not
divorced. In the eyes of the world she passes for a widow by grace
of courtesy. The correct description is, therefore, a “Grace Widow.”
The corruption came about quite easily.

=Grays.= Anciently the estate of the noble family who gave their name to
Gray’s Inn, their town mansion. Lady Jane Grey came of this stock.

=Gray’s Inn.= The Inn or mansion of the Earls Gray, made over to the law
students, _temp._ Edward III. See “Inn.”

=Gray’s Inn Road.= From Gray’s Inn, the eastern wall of which it skirts.

=Great Bear Lake.= On account of its situation under the northern
constellation of the Great Bear.

=Great Belt.= The great strait leading to the Baltic Sea. Both these
names are derived from the Norse _bält_, strait.

=Great College Street.= At the southern extremity of this thoroughfare
in Camden Town stands the Royal Veterinary College.

=Great Coram Street.= From the Foundling Hospital built and endowed by
Captain Thomas Coram in 1739.

=Great Dover Street.= The London portion of the old Roman highway to
Dover.

=Great George Street.= Stands on the site of the stable-yard of a famous
old coaching inn, “The George and Dragon.”

=Great Marlborough Street.= In honour of the Duke of Marlborough, the
people’s idol after the victory of Blenheim.

=Great Ormond Street.= After the British General, James Butler, second
Duke of Ormond.

=Great Peter Street.= Contiguous to Westminster Abbey, dedicated to St
Peter.

=Great Portland Street.= The business thoroughfare on the Duke of
Portland’s estate.

=Great Queen Street.= First laid out across the fields in the time of
Queen Elizabeth, and named after her.

=Great Russell Street.= In honour of the ill-fated Lord William Russell,
whose wife, Rachel, was the daughter of the Duke of Bedford, the
great ground landlord.

=Great St Helen’s.= Occupies the site of the ancient priory of St
Helen’s, of which the church remains.

=Great St Thomas Apostle.= Marks the site of a vanished church of this
name.

=Great Stanhope Street.= From the mansion of Philip Stanhope, Earl of
Chesterfield.

=Great Suffolk Street.= After Suffolk House, in which resided George
Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

=Great Sutton Street.= Perpetuates the memory of Thomas Sutton, the
founder of the Charter House.

=Great Titchfield Street.= After the Duke of Grafton and Marquis of
Titchfield, father of the Earl of Euston, the ground landlord.

=Great Winchester Street.= From Winchester House, the residence of the
first Earl of Winchester.

=Great Windmill Street.= A couple of centuries ago, when this district
was open fields, a large windmill stood hereabouts.

=Greece.= Called _Græcia_ by the Romans, after the _Graikoi_, a tribe of
settlers in Epiros.

=Greek Street.= At one time a colony of Greek merchants who contributed
to the erection of a Greek church here.

=Greenaway Gardens.= After the late Miss Kate Greenaway, the lady
artist, who resided in its vicinity.

=Greenbacks.= The paper currency of the United States, printed in green
and with a device of the same colour on the back. Mr Chase,
Secretary of the Treasury in 1862, claimed the honour of having
added this word to the American vocabulary.

=Green Dragon.= An inn sign anciently depicting the combat of St George
with the dragon.

=Greengage.= The greenish plum introduced to England by Lord Gage from
the monastery of La Chartreuse in France.

=Greengrocer.= See “Grocer.”

=Greenhorn.= A raw, inexperienced youth. The allusion here is to the
undeveloped horns of a young ox.

=Green Horse.= The nickname of the 5th Dragoon Guards, from their green
facings.

=Greenland.= From the moss which grows abundantly in this otherwise
sterile region. Iceland or Greenland moss is said to be very
efficacious in the treatment of consumption.

=Green Man.= An inn sign denoting that the house was kept by a retired
gamekeeper of the lord of the manor. Mediæval gamekeepers always
dressed in green. See “Inn.”

=Green Man and Still.= A tavern sign pointing to the existence on the
premises of a still where cordials were distilled from green herbs.
In this case the house was not kept by a gamekeeper, but by a
herbalist. It may, however, have belonged to an innkeeper or a
“Green Man” further afield on the same estate.

=Green Mountain State.= Vermont, as its name implies.

=Green Park.= On account of its delightful grassy surface.

=Green-room.= From the green-coloured walls of the room set apart by
David Garrick behind the scenes of Drury Lane Theatre for members of
the company in the intervals of playing their parts. This colour was
chosen as a relief to the eye after the glare of the stage lights.

=Green Sea.= From the aspect of its waters looking towards the shores of
Arabia.

=Greenwich.= Expresses the Saxon for “green village.”

=Grenadiers.= Anciently a company of soldiers who marched in front of
every regiment of foot, it being their function to throw
hand-grenades into the ranks of the enemy.

=Gresham Street.= After Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal
Exchange. His residence in Old Broad Street, on the site of the
present Gresham House, was converted by him into a college, which in
1843 was removed into Gresham Street. The word Gresham comes from
the German _Grassheim_, “grass home”; hence the grasshopper on the
summit of the Royal Exchange.

=Greville Street.= Marks the site of the mansion of Fulke Greville, Lord
Brooke, one of the ministers of James I.

=Grey Friars.= See “Franciscans.”

=Greyhound.= An inn sign derived from the badge of Henry VII. The dog of
this name originally came from Greece, and was accordingly styled a
_graihund_, after the _Graikoi_, the people of that country.

=Gripsack.= An Americanism for a travellers’ hand-bag, corresponding to
an English carpet bag.

=Grisette.= A generic name for a Parisian shop or work girl, from the
_gris_, or grey cloth, which was at one time generally worn by the
inferior classes in France.

=Grocer.= A term derived from the same root as _Gross_, “the great
hundred,” and applied to a provision dealer who in former times was
the only trader rejoicing in the monopoly of dealing in large
quantities.

=Grocery.= An Americanism for a grocer’s store or shop. Also used in the
plural sense for commodities dealt in by a grocer; corresponding to
our “groceries.”

=Grog.= The name originally given by the sailors under Admiral Edward
Vernon to the rum diluted with water he served out to them on board
ship. They called him “Old Grog” because he always appeared on deck
in a long grogram cloak when the weather was “dirty.”

=Groggery.= An Americanism for a “grog shop” where spirituous liquors
only are purveyed; answering to our “Gin Palace.”

=Grosvenor Square.= The centre of the London estate of the Grosvenor
family. Sir Richard Grosvenor was Grand Cup-bearer to George II. The
word Grosvenor is Norman-French--_i.e._ _Le Gros Veneur_, “the chief
hunter.”

=Groundlings.= The common spectators at the plays referred to by Hamlet
in his “Advice to the Players.” The earliest London playhouses were
the inn-yards, whose galleries corresponded to our box tiers, while
the yard itself was given up to the audience generally.

=Growler.= A four-wheeled cab, so called from the surly manners of the
driver. Since the advent of the “Hansom” his vehicle is rarely in
request, save when the “fare” has much luggage to convey to a
railway station or when a patient is being driven to the hospital.

=Guadalquiver.= From the Arabic _Wad-al-Kebir_, “great river.”

=Guildford Street.= After Francis North, Lord Keeper, who resided in it.

=Guildhall.= The Hall of the City Guilds. The old word Guild expressed
the fee paid for membership in an association of artisans; from the
Anglo-Saxon _gild_, money, _gildan_, to pay.

=Guinea.= A West African term for “abounding in gold.” The English coin
of this name was first struck in 1663 out of gold brought from the
coast of Guinea.

=Guinea Fowl.= Originally brought from Guinea, West Africa.

=Guinea Pig.= A South American rodent, somewhat resembling a pig. Its
name is a corruption of _Guiana pig_.

=Gulf of Carpentaria.= Discovered by Captain Carpenter, a Dutch
navigator, in 1606.

=Gulf States.= Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas--all
bordering on the Gulf of Mexico.

=Gulf Stream.= The warm equatorial waters of the Amazon River, which,
after coursing round the coasts of South America and the Gulf of
Mexico, make their way across the Atlantic, direct for the British
Isles and Norway. This ocean stream, never less than forty miles in
breadth, is distinguished by a deep indigo colour.

=Gunnersbury.= The name of a Saxon village, after the Lady Gunylda, a
niece of King Canute, who took up her residence here while England
was under the sway of the Danes.

=Gutta-percha.= A Malay term, _gutta_, gum, and _percha_, the tree which
provides it.

=Gutter Lane.= A corruption of “Gutheron Lane,” from a Danish burgher
who resided in it.

=Guy’s Hospital.= The generous benefaction of Thomas Guy, a wealthy
Lombard Street bookseller, in 1722. His large fortune was chiefly
due to the buying up, at a large discount, of seamen’s prize-money
tickets, and investing the proceeds in South-Sea Stock.

=Gyp.= The college servitor at Cambridge, so called because he subsists
on the perquisites of those whom he waits upon. _Gyp_ expresses the
Greek for a vulture.

H

=Haberdasher.= Anciently one who sold Hapertas cloth, a mixture of silk
and wool. In modern times a haberdasher is a vendor of smallwares,
such as handkerchiefs, neckties, tapes, etc. The origin of the word
Hapertas has been traced to the Anglo-Saxon _Habihr das_: “Will you
buy this?” a trader’s exclamation similar to that of the London
’prentice of a later period: “What do you lack?” However this may
be, the German _tauschen_ stands for sale, exchange, barter.

=Hack Author.= See “Hackney Coach.”

=Hackney.= The whole of this district originally belonged to a Danish
Chief named Hacon. The suffix _ey_ expresses an island--_i.e._ land
intersected by rivulets (in this case of the Lea)--or low, marshy
ground. The suggestion that coaches were first let out for hire in
this neighbourhood is not correct. See “Hackney Coach.”

=Hackney Coach.= One let out for hire. In France a _coche-a-haquenée_
expresses a coach drawn by a hired horse. Originally the word
_haquenée_ meant any kind of horse but a thoroughbred. The Dutch
_hakkenei_ means hack horse, an ambling nag. From the French
_haquenée_ we have derived the term hack author, or literary hack,
one whose services are hired for poor pay by a bookseller.

=Haggerston.= A Saxon village called “_Hergotstein_,” “Our God’s Stone.”
The stone is believed to have had relation to a miraculous well,
beside which an altar was set up.

=Hague.= Properly, according to the Dutch name of the place,
_Gravenhaag_, the ancient seat of the _Gravs_ or Counts of Holland.

=Hail.= An exclamation of greeting derived from the Anglo-Saxon _hæl_,
“health.” The Scandinavian _heill_ expressed the same sentiment. See
“Wassail.”

=Halberd.= From two Teutonic words, _hild_, battle, and _bard_, axe.

=Halcyon Days.= Days of peace and tranquillity. This was the name
anciently given to the seven days before and after the shortest day,
because, according to fable, there were always calms at sea during
this period while the halcyon or kingfisher birds were breeding.

=Half-and-half.= Originally a mixture in equal proportions of strong ale
and small beer. In modern days it consists of half ale and half
porter. See “Entire” and “Porter.”

=Half Moon Street.= After an ancient tavern, “The Half Moon,” which
stood in this neighbourhood. This sign was derived from the crescent
or ensign of the Turks.

=Halfpenny.= The original penny pieces were deeply indented crosswise,
so that halfpennies and farthings (or fourthlings) could easily be
broken off, as occasion demanded.

=Half Seas Over.= A nautical phrase applied to a drunken man staggering
along, who is in danger of falling to the ground at any moment. When
a ship has all her sails spread a sudden change in the direction of
the wind often threatens to lay her on her side.

=Halifax.= A corruption of the Saxon “Haligfock,” from _halig_, holy,
and _fock_, people. For what reason the inhabitants of this place
were considered more saintly than people elsewhere local tradition
does not say. Halifax in Nova Scotia was named, on the foundation of
the city in 1749, by the Hon. Edward Cornwallis, after the Earl of
Halifax.

=Halifax Gibbet Law.= An ancient enactment for the protection of the
local woollen manufacture. Owing to the systematic theft by the
employées in the trade of material supplied to them, it was found
that the fabric lacked body and weight. To put a stop to this
pilfering a law was passed, making the theft of anything whatsoever,
to the value to thirteen pence halfpenny, subject to the death
penalty. On conviction before a magistrate the thief was publicly
executed on the next market day. The mode of execution was not by
hanging, but by beheading, the instrument used being a kind of
guillotine. Taylor, the Water Poet, speaks of this

“Jyn that wondrous quick and well,
Sends thieves all headless into heaven or hell.”

=Hallelujah.= From the Hebrew _halelu_, “praise ye,” and _Iah_,
“Jehovah.”

=Hallelujah Victory.= That gained by the newly baptised Bretons under
Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, in 429. As they marched to the attack
they cried “Hallelujah!”

=Hall Mark.= The test mark of Goldsmiths’ Hall stamped upon gold and
silver plate as a guarantee of its purity.

=Hamiltonian System.= A novel method of teaching languages, invented by
James Hamilton, a merchant, whose death took place at Dublin, 1831.
The peculiarity of this system was that it dispensed with the
initiatory grammatical stages.

=Hamilton Place.= After Colonel James Hamilton, Ranger of Hyde Park,
_temp._ Charles II.

=Hammer and Scourge of England.= The sobriquet of Sir William Wallace,
the Scottish warrior patriot.

=Hammer and Tongs.= A corruption of “Hammer and Tongues.” A wordy
warfare is well described as a hammering of tongues; hence the
saying: “They went at it hammer and tongs” (tongues).

=Hammer-cloth.= It has been suggested that this is the covering for the
box-seat of a coach that contained the hammer, bolts, nails, etc.,
useful to remedy a breakdown on a journey. The true meaning of the
term is, however, that it is properly “Hammock-cloth,” the driver’s
seat being formed of stout straps or webbing stretched upon
crutches, after the fashion of a sailor’s hammock.

=Hammered.= A stockbroker is said to be “hammered” when he is driven out
of the Stock Exchange on account of his failure to meet his
liabilities.

=Hammersmith.= Originally _Hammerschmiede_, literally Saxon for
blacksmith’s shop. In the early periods of its history this village
had a great number of smithies.

=Hampshire= (or =Hants=). The shire of the Hamptune, Hantone, or Anton,
which river gives its name to the county town and “Southampton
Water.”

=Hampstead.= From “Homestead,” signifying the enclosed property--_i.e._
farm buildings--of a rural mansion.

=Hampton.= From the Saxon _heim_, home, to which _ton_ or town was
added. “Hampton Wick” expresses the village home on a creek.

=Hampton Court.= In the thirteenth century the manor of Hampton belonged
to the Knights of St John of Jerusalem. Cardinal Wolsey built
himself a sumptuous palace here, and lived in luxurious style.
Eventually he presented it to Henry VIII., since whose time Hampton
Court has remained Crown property. The last monarch who resided here
was George II.

=Hand in your Checks.= An Americanism for dying, giving up the ghost;
meaning properly to make your will and settle your earthly affairs.
All over the United States it is the custom at German restaurants to
give a certain amount of credit to known regular patrons, who now
and again are asked to hand in their checks or vouchers for
settlement.

=Handkerchief.= Anciently a kerchief, which term was a corruption of
“Coverchef,” from the French _couvrir_, to cover, and _chef_, the
head, reserved for hand use in wiping the face, and carried in the
left sleeve of the garment. At a later period, until the reign of
Elizabeth, when pockets came into vogue, the handkerchief found a
place in the pouch worn on the left side of the girdle.

=Handsel Monday.= The first Monday in the New Year, when _handsels_ or
gifts were bestowed upon servants. The word “Handsel” is
Anglo-Saxon, meaning the delivery of something into another’s hands;
also the first instalment of a series of payments as an earnest of
good faith.

=Handyman.= The modern designation of a bluejacket or man-of-war’s-man.
Since 1882, when, after the bombardment of Alexandria, he was sent
ashore to cooperate with our troops in Egypt, he has proved himself
not only an expert fighting man with the cutlass and musket, but an
agile auxiliary to the artillery--in short, a handy man in all
respects.

=Hangbird.= The Baltimore oriole, which suspends its nest from a tree
branch.

=Hanged, Drawn, and Quartered.= The former capital sentence for treason.
The criminal was drawn to the place of execution upon a hurdle,
hanged, and his body was hewn into four quarters, each being spiked
in a public place as an example to the multitude. This quartering
was substituted, in the fifty-fourth year of the reign of George
III., for the disembowelling of the hanged criminal while he was yet
alive.

=Hang of the Thing.= An Americanism for the mechanism or the
understanding of a thing--_e.g._ “I can’t get the hang of the thing
nohow.”

=Hanover Square.= In honour of the Hanoverian Succession, because laid
out and built upon in the reign of George I.

=Hansards.= Parliamentary debates and papers, so called because they
were printed by Luke Hansard and his successors from the year 1752
until comparatively recent days.

=Hanse Towns.= Those towns of Northern Germany embraced by the Hansa or
Hanseatic League, as long ago as the thirteenth century, for the
protection of commerce against pirates at sea and marauders on land.
The word _Hansa_ is Gothic for a league, society, federation.

=Hans Place.= After Sir Hans Sloane, the original ground landlord. See
“Sloane Square.”

=Hansom Cab.= The “Safety Cab” patented in 1883 by Joseph Aloysius
Hansom. This was not so much an improvement upon the Four-Wheeler as
a horse-drawn adaptation of the invalids’ chair introduced at
Brighton at the commencement of the century. See “Fly.”

=Hants.= See “Hampshire.”

=Hanway Street.= Here resided Jonas Hanway, the founder of Magdalen
Hospital, who, newly arrived in England from Persia, and in delicate
health, excited much ridicule because he was the first male
pedestrian to carry an umbrella through the London streets as a
protection against the rain. Hackney coachmen were especially wrath
at this innovation, foreseeing that their business would be ruined
if it caught on with the public.

=Happify.= An Americanism for to make happy--_e.g._ “One ought to try to
happify mankind.”

=Hapsburg.= The name of the Imperial family of Austria, derived from
_Habichtsburg_, or “Hawk’s Castle,” built by Werner, Bishop of
Strasburg, on the right bank of the Aar, in the Swiss canton of the
Aargau--_i.e._ country of the Aar River.

=Hard pushed.= See “Hard up.”

=Hard-shell Baptists.= The American term for the hard and strait-laced
sect of Baptists; corresponding to that which in England is
designated the “Particular Baptists.”

=Hard up.= The allusion is to being pushed hard by circumstances into a
tight corner.

=Harem.= Expresses the Arabic for “Sacred Spot.”

=Harewood Square.= From the town house of the Earls of Harewood.

=Harlequin.= From the Italian _arlechino_, a satirist, a jester.

=Harlequinade.= The comic scenes of a pantomime. In the original form of
this entertainment the Harlequinade was by far the longer portion,
and the principal character was Harlequin, the lover of Columbine.
To his ingenuity in evading the clown and pantaloon, and confusing
them by wondrous changeful tricks brought about by his magic wand,
the success of the good old English pantomime was due. Speaking
clowns did not come into existence before the days of Grimaldi.

=Harley Street.= After Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, the
ground landlord.

=Harmonium.= From the sustained harmonies produced on this wind
instrument by means of the keys and finger-board.

=Harold Harefoot.= Harold I., the Saxon King of England, surnamed
“Harefoot” because he was fleet of foot as a hare.

=Harpsichord.= An old form of pianoforte, so called because it was a
harp encased longitudinally, and its chords were produced by the
player on a key or finger board.

=Harpur Street.= After Sir William Harpur, Lord Mayor in 1562, the owner
of a considerable estate in this neighbourhood.

=Harrier.= A dog specially suited for hunting the hare owing to his keen
scent; also one who engages in a foot race according to the rule
that each individual contestant makes for the goal by a different
route.

=Harringay.= Expresses a neighbourhood or district abounding in hares.

=Harrington Square.= The property of one of the Earls of Harrington,
whose daughter married the seventh Duke of Bedford.

=Hart Street.= Both these thoroughfares, in Bloomsbury and off Drury
Lane, received their names from an adjacent inn sign, “The White
Hart.”

=Harum-scarum.= One who is such a fright that he scares all beholders,
causing them to fly from him with the swiftness of a hare.

=Harvard University.= The foundation and endowment of the Rev. John
Harvard at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1638.

=Harvest Festival.= This distinctly religious observance by way of
thanksgiving for the fruits of the earth really originated in or
grew out of the Harvest Supper which landlords were accustomed to
give their tenants after the harvest had been gathered in, because
what was the ancient “Lammas Day” fell into abeyance at the
Reformation.

=Harz Mountains.= Both these mountain ranges are for the most part
forest clad. _Harz_ is Old Saxon for wood, forest.

=Hasn’t a Leg to stand on.= A figurative expression applied to one whose
argument has no support or firm basis.

=Has the true Ring.= A phrase generally applied to poetry, in allusion
to the common test of genuine or debased coin by “ringing” it on a
board or table.

=Hatton Garden.= Laid out across the extensive grounds attached to
Hatton House, in which resided Sir Christopher Hatton, the
Chancellor of Queen Elizabeth.

=Hauled over the Coals.= An expression dating back to the Ordeal by
Fire, where persons accused of a crime were made to walk barefooted
over red-hot iron shares or glowing embers. If they did so unharmed
that was considered a proof of their innocence.

=Hautboy.= From the French _hautbois_, literally “high wood,” being a
high-toned reed instrument.

=Havelock.= The white cloth forming part of the military cap as a
protection against the scorching rays of the sun, introduced by
General Havelock during the Indian Mutiny.

=Haversack.= Provincial English for Oatsack, derived from the German
_habersack_. The word _hafre_, oats, is Scandinavian.

=Haverstock Hill.= From a stockaded dwelling among the oats. See
“Haversack.”

=Havre.= Originally “Le Havre de Notre Dame de Grace,” the Harbour of
Our Lady of Mercy, afterwards shortened into “Havre de Grace.”

=Hawker.= From the German _hoken_, to carry on the back. A pedlar who
carried his wares in a sack over his shoulder.

=Hawkeye State.= Iowa, owing to the sanguinary conflicts with the savage
tribe led by the chief “Hawkeye.” Its people are called “Hawkeyes.”

=Hawthorn.= Expresses the Anglo-Saxon for “hedge thorn.”

=Haydon Square.= After the ground landlord, John Heydon, Alderman of the
city of London towards the close of the sixteenth century.

=Hay Hill.= Marks the situation, together with Hill Street and Farm
Street, of an old farm on the lands of John, Lord Berkeley of
Stratton, _temp._ Charles I.

=Haymarket.= Where hay was sold in open market prior to January 1831.

=Hayti.= West Indian for “mountainous country.”

=Hazing.= An Americanism for a mad sport or frolic. Specifically it
expresses the tricks played upon, and the ignominious treatment
meted out to, an unpopular comrade in the army and the Military
Schools; what in our own country is called “Ragging.” Like most
other Americanisms, the word cannot be explained on etymological
grounds.

=Hear, Hear.= A modern form of the ancient parliamentary exclamation
“Hear him!” to enjoin silence while a Member was addressing the
House.