PREFACE (continued 6)

Pratt Street. After one of the family names of the Earl of Brecknock, Marquis of Camden, landlord of the estate.

Presbyterians. From the Greek presbuteros, an elder. The National Church of Scotland is governed not by prelates, as in England, but by elders, equal in office and power.

Press Yard. The open courtyard between the Sessions House and Newgate Prison. Those who refused to plead when put upon their trial were pressed to death with heavy weights.

Preston. A corruption of “Priests’ Town,” so called on account of its many ancient monastic establishments.

Pretoria. In honour of Pretorius, the first President of the Boer Republic in South Africa.

Pretty Kettle of Fish. Save that the second word should be “Kiddle,” expressive of a basket placed in a river for catching fish, this expression is very old. During the time of the Plantagenets the warder of the Tower claimed the right of trapping fish outside Traitors’ Gate in this way for his own benefit; but the citizens of London systematically made a raid upon his kiddles, 287and destroyed them. “A pretty kiddle of fish indeed!” he was wont to exclaim to the Beefeaters on discovering the damage done to his preserves.

Primitive Methodists. The original Methodists, those who resort to open-air preaching and singing, after the style of Wesley and Whitfield. On account of their “Camp Meetings” they are styled also Ranters.

Primrose. So far from expressing the first or spring rose, the term is a corruption of the Italian primerola, the first spring flower.

Primrose Day. The 19th of April bears this name because it is the anniversary of the death of Lord Beaconsfield, 1881. When the body of this great statesman was laid to rest his coffin was adorned by a wreath sent by Queen Victoria, and superscribed “His favourite flower.” This gave rise to the formation of the Primrose League and the annual decoration of the Beaconsfield Statue at Westminster with a wreath of primroses on this day.

Prince of Wales’s Feathers. See “Plume and Feathers.”

Prince of Wales Island. Named in compliment to the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV.

Princes Street. Laid out on the site of the old Westminster Mews, and so named on account of its proximity to King Street.

Printer’s Devil. When Caxton introduced printing into England many people regarded it as an invention of the devil. This idea was also fostered by his boys, whose hands and faces were besmeared with ink. They were accordingly called “Imps” and “Devils.” Since his day the boys engaged in feeding the printing press have not improved in their personal appearance. Young devils they are, and young devils they will remain until the end of time.

Printing House Square. This, the courtyard of The Times office, was formerly covered by the King’s Printing House, where King James’s Bible was printed, and which for centuries had the monopoly of turning out Bibles for the people.

288Priory. This term denoted a lesser house or branch establishment of an abbey, under the control of a Prior or Prioress, who had the prior claim to election as Abbot or Abbess of the mother community.

Private Boxes. The idea of these adjuncts to a theatre auditorium was derived from Spain, where plays were formerly performed in a public square, the ordinary spectators being accommodated on the ground, while the grandees looked on from the windows of the houses.

Privy. See “Petty.”

Pro-Cathedral. The beautiful Catholic Church in High Street, Kensington, erected as a provisional cathedral at the time when the present Westminster Cathedral was first mooted.

Profile. The outline of a side view, so called from the Italian profilo, and Latin filum, a thread.

Protectionist. One who advocates the protection of home industries by levying imposts on foreign merchandise.

Protestants. Those who, with the Lutherans of Germany, protested against the decree of the Emperor Charles V. This decree was ostensibly to invoke the aid of the German princes against the Turks, but really to restore peace and order after the disturbances caused by Martin Luther’s opposition to the Church of Rome. From this protest the Reformers received the name of “Protestants.”

Prussia. A Western corruption of Porussia, which expresses the Slavonic for “near Russia.”

Prussian Blue. After its inventor, Diesbach of Berlin, in 1710.

Prussic Acid. Originally the acid of “Prussian Blue,” but nowadays obtained from cyanide of iron.

Pye Street (Old and New). See “New Way.”

Pymmes Park. This new suburban “lung” at Edmonton comprised the grounds in connection with the lordly 289mansion built by William Pymme, which was mentioned in 1593 as the residence of the great Lord Burleigh, and in 1612 as that of Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury.

Pythagoreans. The school of philosophy founded by Pythagoras.

Public-house. A house of public resort for refreshment and conviviality. It may be either an inn or a tavern in the modern sense.

Pudding. From Stow’s description of “Pudding Lane” it would seem that the puddings of his day were scarcely edible productions. The word is derived from the Celtic poten, a bag, and was applied originally in the sense of a modern hog’s pudding or black pudding--to wit, a sausage.

Pudding Lane. Whether or not the Great Fire of London broke out in the house of the King’s baker, as generally stated, the lane did not receive its name from the royal bakery. Old Stow tells us it was so called “because the butchers of Eastcheap have their scalding-house for hogs there, and their puddings with other filth of beasts are voided down that way to their dung boats on the Thames.”

Pudding-time. The old name for “dinner-time,” because, as still is the custom in some parts of the country, the pudding was served before the meat.

Pueblo Indian. One who in the western states has been brought under Catholic influences, and lives in a village, where he subsists by agriculture. The word Pueblo is Spanish for village.

Pukes. A corruption of Pikes, generally applied to the natives of Missouri, who originally settled in Pike County of that state.

Pullman Car. After its inventor, Pullman of Chicago.

Pull up Stakes. An Americanism for to pack up one’s belongings and remove elsewhere. The expression has, of course, reference to dismantling a tent among a mining community.

290Pumps. Dancing shoes bear this name in allusion to the fashionable assemblies in the pump-room at the Western Spas when Beau Nash, styled “King of Bath,” presided over the ceremonies.

Punch. From the Hindoo panch, five, this beverage being composed of five ingredients: spirit, sugar, lemon juice, spice, and water.

Punch and Judy. A hybrid form of entertainment evolved out of an old mystery play, Pontius cum Judæis (“Pontius Pilate and the Jews”).

Punic Wars. Those waged between Rome and Carthage. By the Romans the Carthaginians were called the Puni, a corruption of Phœni, in allusion to their descent from the Phœnicians.

Punitive Expedition. A petty war with the set purpose of inflicting a well-merited punishment upon a rebellious tribe. The word “punitive” is derived from the Latin pœna, penalty.

Punjab. Expresses the Persian for “five rivers.”

Punkah. From the Hindoo pankha, a fan.

Puritans. Those who affected a greater degree of holiness or purity than their neighbours. They were to the Anglicans and Roman Catholics of the time of Charles I. and the Commonwealth what the Pharisees were to the Jews.

Purple. This dye, in which the people of Tyre excelled, was discovered in the following manner:--One day a favourite dog of Hercules of Tyre ate a species of fish known to the ancients by the name of purpura, and on returning to his master his lips were found to be tinged with the colour, which, after a few experiments, Hercules successfully imitated.

Purse Strings. In the days of our grandfathers, when hasp and clasp purses were unknown, the only kind of purse was a small money bag secured round its mouth by a tape or string. To “tighten one’s purse strings” was 291therefore to be proof against almsgiving or money-lending.

Putney. Described in ancient documents as Puttaney, or “Putta’s Isle.”

Q

Quack. The name borne by an itinerant trader, who makes a great noise in open market, quacking like a duck in his efforts to dispose of wares that are not genuine; hence anyone nowadays who follows a profession which he does not rightly understand. A “Quack Doctor” was formerly styled a Quack Salver, from the salves, lotions, and medicines he dispensed to the crowd at the street corners.

Quadragesima Sunday. The first Sunday of Lent, expressing in round numbers forty days before Easter.

Quadrant. The Piccadilly end of Regent Street, so called because it describes a quarter of a circle.

Quadrille. Expresses the French for “a little square,” in allusion to the positions taken up by the dancers.

Quadroon. A Mulatto being half-blooded, like a mule, the offspring of such a woman by a white man is black-blooded to the degree of one-fourth.

Quaker City. Philadelphia, the seat of the Quaker colony founded by William Penn.

Quaker Poet. The sobriquet of Bernard Barton.

Quakers. The origin of this designation of the “Society of Friends” is thus given by George Fox, the founder of the sect in his Journal: “Justice Bennet of Derby was the first to call us ‘Quakers,’ because I bade him quake and tremble at the word of the Lord.” This occurred in 1650.

Quarantine. Agreeably to the French quarantaine, the period of a ship’s detention outside a port in the circumstances of infectious disease should be forty days.

292Quarter Sessions. See “Petty Sessions.”

Quarto. In the printing and stationery trades this term expresses a sheet of paper which, when folded into quarters, makes four leaves or eight pages.

Quassia. A tonic obtained from the bark of a tree of South America, the virtues of which were discovered by a Negro of this name.

Quatemala. When the Indians who accompanied Alvarado into this region discovered the ruins of an ancient palace of the kings beside an old worm-eaten tree they assumed this to be the centre of the country, and gave it the name of Quahtemali, “a decayed log of wood.”

Quebec. Indian for “take care of the rock.”

Queen Anne’s Bounty. A perpetual fund raised by the augmentation of the tithes and first-fruits at the instance of Queen Anne for the benefit of the poor clergy whose incomes are insufficient for their proper maintenance.

Queen Anne’s Square. Like the gate and the street further west of the same name, this was built during the reign of Queen Anne.

Queen Charlotte Island. In honour of Queen Charlotte, the consort of George III.

Queen City of the Lakes. Buffalo, in the state of New York, situated at the junction of the Erie Canal with Lake Erie.

Queen City of the Mountains. Knoxville (Tennessee), admirably situated on the hills overlooking the Upper Tennessee River.

Queen City of the Plains. Regina, in the north-western territory.

Queen City of the West. Cincinnati (Ohio), so called in virtue of its fine situation, beautiful parks, and noble architectural features. Also styled “The Queen City” and “Queen of the West.”

293Queen Elizabeth’s Walk. In compliment to Queen Elizabeth, who often visited the Earl of Leicester when he resided in this portion of Stoke Newington.

Queenhithe. So called because the tolls collected at this hithe, or wharf, were appropriated by Eleanor, Queen of Henry II., for her pin money.

Queen of Hearts. Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, the daughter of James I., who by her amiable disposition endeared herself to all hearts.

Queen of Watering-places. Scarborough.

Queen’s College. At Oxford, founded by Robert de Eglesfield, the confessor of Philippa, queen of Edward III., in her honour. At Cambridge, founded by Margaret of Anjou, queen of Henry VI.

Queen’s Hall. Built on the site of the Langham Hall, and opened in 1893, this high-class concert hall was named after the late Queen Victoria.

Queen’s Head Street. From the ancient inn, “The Queen’s Head,” now modernised, at its juncture with Essex Road. Queen Elizabeth is said to have slept at this hostelry on several occasions.

Queensland. This portion of Australia received its name in honour of Queen Victoria, when in 1859 it became an independent colony.

Queen’s Square. After Queen Anne, in whose reign it was laid out.

Queen Street. In Cheapside, from a permanent wooden balcony situated between Bow Church and this corner for the accommodation of the reigning queen and her ladies when jousts and tournaments were held here. In Mayfair, after the queen of Charles II., in whose reign it was built.

Queen’s Tobacco Pipe. The name given to the furnace at the London Docks where contraband tobacco was formerly consumed. This custom obtained down to within the last few years of the reign of Queen Victoria.

294Queenstown. Originally styled “The Cove of Cork,” this Irish seaport received its present name on the occasion of the visit of Queen Victoria in 1850.

Queen’s Weather. Throughout the long reign of the late Queen Victoria it was remarkable that, whenever she appeared abroad on the occasion of a public function, glorious weather favoured her invariably; hence the expression “Queen’s Weather” came to be applied to a fine day for a summer outing.

Queen Victoria Street. A modern thoroughfare, named after the late Queen Victoria.

Queue. Expresses the French for a tail, like that of a periwig or peruke. In the sense of a line of people waiting outside the doors of a theatre the term has latterly become popular on both sides of the English Channel.

Quick Lunch. An American stand-up luncheon served with expedition.

Quicksilver. Living or moving silver. Quick is old English for “living”; hence “The Quick and the Dead.”

Quidnunc. One who is always inquiring after news. “What news?” is the literal interpretation of the term. As a personal designation, it originated in the name of the chief character in Murphy’s farce, “The Upholsterer, or What News?” A kind of political Paul Pry.

Quid of Tobacco. A corruption of “Cud,” because it is used for chewing. The allusion is to the cud chewed by ruminating animals.

Quids. The slang term for cash, properly restricted to gold. A sovereign is called a “Quid” in allusion to the Latin phrase, Quid pro quo, something of equal value, which change for a sovereign truly is.

Quill-driver. The popular designation of a clerk. Quill pens having been supplanted by those of steel, it is scarcely appropriate in our time.

295Quinquagesima Sunday. The name given in the Church calendar to the Sunday preceding Ash Wednesday or the commencement of Lent; approximately fifty days before Easter.

Quit Rent. A rental anciently paid by a tenant to a baron with a view of being relieved or quit of feudal service.

Quod. The slang term for prison; also “Quad.” See “In Quad.”

R

Rabbi. The title of a Jewish expounder of the Law. The word is Greek for “My Master,” through the Hebrew rabi, from the root rab, lord, chief.

Rack. From the Saxon wrocan and German recken, to stretch. The word is therefore correctly applied to the instrument of torture of former days.

Rack Rent. A term expressing the actual full annual value of land as paid from the earliest times, not modified by circumstances. See “Rack.”

Radcliffe Library. Founded at Oxford by the celebrated physician, Dr John Radcliffe, in Radcliffe Square, also named after him.

Radicals. That advanced section of the Liberal party, whose set purpose it is to root out the evils, according to their view, of our constitutional system which are systematically maintained by the Conservatives. The term first came into notice in 1818, when a strenuous effort was made to institute a radical change in the Parliamentary representation of the country. This paved the way for the Reform Act of 1832.

Radnor. The modern form of Rhiadnwr-Gwy, signifying “The Cataract of the Wye.” This is in reference to the beautiful cascade, with a fall of seventy feet, called “The Water-break-its-Neck,” the great natural feature in the vicinity of the county town.

296Rag. Theatrical slang for the curtain, having originally reference to the green baize. Also military slang for the national flag, and the members’ colloquial term for the Army and Navy Club.

Rag Fair. The name given to the old clothes mart in Petticoat Lane, now Middlesex Street, Aldgate, on Sunday mornings.

Ragged Regiment. Dilapidated waxen effigies of several English monarchs and persons of note that were borne through the streets at the obsequies of the subjects represented. They are located in Islip’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey.

Ragging. In military parlance this word expresses the system of persecution by which an unpopular man suffers indignities at the hands of his comrades. It has the same meaning as the North Country “Rag,” to enrage or make angry, and “Bullyrag,” to administer a severe scolding. The latter, however, of which the former is an abbreviation, has not been derived from the Dutch bulderen, to scold or bully, as is generally supposed, but from the custom of the Spanish bullfighters of waving a red cloak in front of the bull in order to excite him to fury. This is the rag referred to. The corresponding United States term for “ragging” is “Hazing.”

Rag Money. American slang for paper money.

Rag Time. An Americanism for a dancing frolic of the “go-as-you-please” order, in which musical time and rhythm are, as it were, torn into shreds; a ragged, loose, disconnected, unconventional time. The term has been well explained by an authoritative writer in The Referee as follows:--“Rag time is the outcome of ‘Rag Speech,’ a speech that casts tradition, balance, beauty, elegance, and refinement to the winds, and that believes that more effect can be made by punching certain syllables into the brain of the listener. Technically speaking, ‘Rag Time’ shifts the strong accent from the first to the second beat of the bar. Against this there is a cross-rhythm with a kind of 297halting contrapuntal ornamentation in the accompaniment, which sometimes brings a stress on to the fourth beat of the bar. The result of this irregularity and false quantity is to destroy the rhythm to an extent that often makes it difficult to say whether the music is in duple or triple measure. The musical consequence is the breaking down of symmetrical form, and the tendency is to reduce the organised structure to its component parts.”

Railroad City. Indianapolis, a junction of the great trunk lines.

Railway King. The sobriquet of George Hudson, Chairman of the Midland Railway Company, who amassed a huge fortune by successful speculations in the early days of railway enterprise.

Rains Cats and Dogs. This expression is traceable to two distinct sources--popular superstition and Scandinavian mythology. Witches who rode the storm on broomsticks were believed to have the power of transforming themselves into cats at will, while the dog or wolf is represented as the attendant of Odin, the Storm King of the northern nations.

Rainy Day Smith. John Thomas Smith, the antiquary, whose chatty volume, “A Book for a Rainy Day,” brought him more money and reputation than all his other works put together.

Raise your Screw. This expression arose out of the custom of masters paying their employées’ wages screwed up in a tiny paper of uniform size. The more money it contained the less tightly the paper could be screwed; hence an advance of wages implied metaphorically giving the screw one turn backwards.

Rake the Pot. An American gambling phrase meaning to seize the stakes.

Ram and Teazle. A tavern sign common to the woollen manufacturing districts, this being the device of the Clothworkers’ Company.

298Ranch. From the Spanish rancho, a hut of posts, covered with branches or thatch, in which herdsman or farm labourers in the western states of North America lodge by night.

Rand. Expresses the Dutch, specifically in South Africa, for a mining district.

Ranelagh Gardens. This fashionable public resort, now built over, occupied the site of Ranelagh House and its grounds, owned by an Irish peer, whose title it bore.

Ranters. Another name for the “Primitive Methodists.”

Rape. The name given to a division under the Danes of the county of Sussex, from the Norse repp, a district.

Rapier. This species of sword being eminently adapted for rapid thrusting and withdrawing, its name, from the Latin rapere, to snatch away, is appropriate.

Rappahannock. Indian for “quick-rising waters.”

Rapparee. The name given to an Irish plunderer, because he was armed with a rapera, or half pike.

Rascal. From the French racaille, “the scum of the people.”

Ratcliff Highway. Originally a manor belonging to the parish of Stepney, this highway for sailors ashore, where they found lodgings and entertainment of a low class in days prior to the provision of “Seamen’s Homes,” received its name from the multitudes of water rats that congregated on the Thames wall by night. On account of the evil reputation which this neighbourhood bore in former days, its name was changed to “St George’s in the East.”

Rathbone Place. After Captain Rathbone, its builder, in 1718.

Rat Hole. A printers’ term for a non-society house. Since rats are known to desert a sinking ship, so a journeyman who refuses to take advantage of a trades union is stigmatised as a “Rat,” because he forsakes 299the general cause of his craft. Hence also the term “Rattening,” by which is meant the taking away of or destroying a workman’s tools consequent upon his desertion of the union or accepting work in a house opposed to its principles.

Rationalism. The kind of religion (if it deserved such a name) set up during the French Revolution, when Reason took the place of Faith. The worship of the “Goddess of Reason,” in the person of an actress installed in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, was a fitting illustration of the unreasoning tenet that public worship was opposed to the natural instincts of mankind.

Rattening. See “Rat Hole.”

Ray Street. After the victim of an old-time Clerkenwell sensation, Miss Ray, who, on becoming the mistress of Lord Sandwich, was shot by her jilted lover, Hackman.

Ready. Short for ready money, cash always on hand, in readiness for emergencies.

Rechabites. The name borne by total abstainers in the United States, after the followers of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who lived in tents and abstained from the use of wine.

Reckon without your Host. When putting up at an inn the cost is often greater than the traveller anticipates; therefore it is always wise to be well prepared with funds, lest, when the host presents his bill, discomfiture may arise.

Recluse. From the Latin reclusus, shut up; one who voluntarily cuts himself off from communion with his fellow-men, a solitary.

Rector. A clergyman who enjoys a living in his own right, as distinguished from a “Vicar,” who holds the appointment at the pleasure of the Lord of the Manor. The former also receives the tithes direct, whereas the latter passes them on to a layman, a college, or 300a chapter, by whom he is paid a proportion thereout as a stipend.

Red Cent. An Americanism for a copper coin.

Redcross Street. From the red stone cross anciently set up by the Knights Hospitallers to define the limits of the land belonging to them in the direction adjacent to that of the Knights Templars, indicated by a white cross of stone in what is now “Whitecross Street.”

Red Dragon. An inn sign, complimenting Henry VII., whose device it was.

Redemptorists. Also called “Redemptorist Fathers.” See “Liguorians.”

Red Eye. The Far West term for fiery new whisky, which is well calculated to make the eyes of the toper look red.

Red-hot Time. An Americanism for a jolly time, because the proceedings were conducted with the utmost warmth.

Red-Letter Day. A phrase used to express a pleasurable event in one’s past life. This had its origin in the old calendars and almanacks, in which high Church festivals were printed in red ink, and all the other days in black.

Red Lion Court. After an ancient tavern, “The Red Lion.”

Red Lion Square. After a famous old coaching-house, “The Red Lion.”

Red Republicans. The extreme Republican party of the French Revolution, which adopted the red cap, the Roman symbol of Liberty. The lower orders of the people, to whom the cap meant everything, were likewise only too ready to follow the behest of their leaders, and steep their hands in the blood of the aristocrats.

Red Skins. The name first given by the white settlers to the Indians of North America.

Red Rose. An inn sign, in compliment to the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses.

301Red Sea. Three reasons are assigned for the name of this sea: the red sandstone which forms its bottom, the red rocks which in some parts border its shores, and the colouring imparted to its waters by coral reefs, animaculæ, and sea-weed.

Red Tape. That leisurely officialism which refers a matter from one department to another, until at length the highest authority is reached to take it in hand. The term has been derived from the red tape with which all legal and official documents are tied together.

Reel. A whirling dance by a single person, peculiar to the Scots, so called in allusion to the winding of cotton on a reel.

Reformed Presbytery. See “Macmillanites.”

Reform School. An Americanism for an institution for the reformation of juvenile offenders.

Refresher. The legal term for an extra fee paid to a barrister by a client while the latter’s case is pending, in order to refresh the former’s memory concerning the interests at stake.

Regent Diamond. See “Pitt Diamond.”

Regent’s Park. Part of the general scheme of John Nash, the royal architect, when he projected the building of Regent Street, was to provide a magnificent palace for his patron, the Prince Regent, in the park named after him. This was not realised, and the site of the intended palace was appropriated to the Zoological Gardens.

Regent Street. In honour of the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV.

Regiomontanus. The name assumed by Johann Müller, a celebrated German mathematician of the fifteenth century, being a Latinised rendering of “Konigsberg,” his native place.

Regius Professor. The professorial chair in various departments of learning at Oxford and Cambridge Universities founded by Henry VIII.

302Regular Brick. See “He’s a Brick.”

Regular Clergy. Those who in the Catholic Church are attached to monasteries and friaries, living by rule; in contradistinction to the “Secular Clergy,” who are appointed to parochial work by a bishop, and move among the people.

Regular Zantippe. See “Zantippe.”

Rehan. See “Ada Rehan.”

Rendezvous. Literally an individual haunt or resort, and in no sense a place of public meeting. The word is French for “betake yourself.”

Republican Marriage. The name given by the Red Republicans during the French Revolution to their atrocious procedure, instigated by Jean Baptiste Carrier, of tying a young man and woman together and drowning them.

Resurrection Men. Body snatchers, who “resurrected,” as the Americans say, bodies from the graves in order to sell them to the medical faculty for dissection. Since the general institution of public hospitals, the last refuge of so many “unknowns,” whose dead bodies are never claimed, the demand for subjects snatched from the grave has entirely ceased.

Revolver. The modern type of pistol, in which the breach which contains the cartridges revolves. In the earlier stage of this invention it was the barrel that revolved.

Rheims. The capital of the Remi, a Gallic people referred to by Cæsar.

Rhine. From the Celtic rhe, “rapid.” This name was given by the Swiss to rivers generally.

Rhinoceros. Greek for “nose-horned.”

Rhode Island. A corruption of “rood,” red, the name given to it by the Dutch settlers on account of its reddish appearance.

Rhodes. From the Greek rhodon, a rose; expresses “the isle of roses.”

303Rhododendron. From the two Greek words rhodon, rose, and dendron, tree.

Rhody. The American designation of Rhode Island on account of its limited area; also called “Little Rhody.”

Rhone. Derived from the same root as “Rhine.”

Ribbonmen. The name borne by the members of a Catholic political association in Ireland early in the last century on account of the distinctive badge or ribbon worn in the button-hole. The Ribbonmen were violently opposed to the “Orangemen.”

Ribston Pippins. The name given to a fine species of Normandy apple grown at Ribstone, Yorkshire, from pips originally planted on his estate by Sir Henry Goodriche.

Richmond. When Edward I. built himself a sumptuous palace on the south bank of the Thames he gave it the name of Sheen, the Saxon for “resplendent.” This being consumed by fire in 1479, Henry VI., rebuilt it, and then called it Richmond, after the beautiful seat in Yorkshire whence he took the title of his earldom. Richmond signifies a rich prospect from the hill occupied by its ancient castle.

Riding. A Danish division of the county of Yorkshire corresponding to the Lincolnshire Trithing, of which it is a corruption, signifying a third part.

Riff-raff. Expresses the Anglo-Saxon, from the Danish rip-raps, for “sweepings”; hence the scum of society.

Right off the Reel. To do a thing without stopping until it is finished. The allusion is to unwinding the entire length of cotton off a reel or bobbin.

Right Foot Foremost. A phrase derived from the old Roman superstition that if a visitor crossed the threshold with the left foot foremost he would be certain to bring ill luck upon the household.

Rile. A provincial corruption of “Rail,” to anger or tease.

304Ring. A professional term for a charmed circle--e.g. “The Dramatic Ring.”

Ring him up. A telephone phrase, really borrowed from the theatrical profession, in which the prompter’s “Ring up” and “Ring down”--i.e. the curtain--have obtained favour since the “Palmy Days of the Drama.”

Rink. An American variant of “Ring.” In the sense of a skating rink the term has become popular in England.

Rio de Janeiro. This city takes its name from the river discovered by Alfonso de Sousa on the Feast of St Januarius, on which it stands.

Rio de la Plata. Spanish for “river of silver.”

Rio Grande. Spanish for “great river.”

Rip. A corruption of “Rep.” See “Old Rep.”

Ritualists. The extreme High Church party, who for many years past have revived the ancient ritual to such a degree that they may be said to be Roman Catholics in everything save in name.

Riviera. Literally “coast,” “sea-shore.”

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul. An expression derived from the following circumstance:--By Royal Letters Patent, dated 17th December 1540, the abbey church of St Peter, Westminster, was constituted a cathedral, with a resident bishop. Ten years afterwards this order was revoked, the diocese of Westminster being united to that of St Paul’s Cathedral, and its revenues were granted towards the repairs of the city fane; hence what was taken away from St Peter’s went to benefit St Paul’s.

Robert. The generic name for a policeman, after Sir Robert Peel, who introduced the modern constabulary system.

Robert Street. In the Adelphi, after the Christian name of one of the three brothers Adam, its builders. In Camden Town, after one of the family names of the Marquis of Camden, the ground landlord.

305Robert the Devil. The surname of the first Duke of Normandy, the father of William the Conqueror, merited by his outrageous cruelty and daring in war.

Robin Hood. The proper name of this renowned leader of the Sherwood Foresters was Robert Fitzooth. The first he euphonised into Robin and the second into Hood, leaving out the Fitz, which is Norman for “son,” altogether, since having been declared an outlaw, he was not unwilling to renounce his claims to Norman descent. Whether or not he was really Earl of Huntingdon, as some historians assert, cannot be proved.

Robinson. The French popular name for an umbrella, in allusion to Robinson Crusoe.

Rob Roy. The popular name of the Scottish outlaw Robert Macgregor, meaning simply “Robert the Red” on account of his beard.

Rochester. From Hrofoceaster, after Hrop, a Saxon chieftain, who built a castle on the site of a castra, or Roman encampment.

Rochester Row. A name which recalls the fact that, prior to the time of George III., the Deanery of Westminster was included in the Bishopric of Rochester.

Rock Day. Another ancient name for “Distaffs’ Day,” 7th January, the word rock being the Anglo-Saxon for a distaff.

Rogation Days. So called from the Latin rogare, to beseech, and also from the Greek litaneia, supplication. These being the three days preceding the Feast of the Ascension, the Litany of the Saints is chanted by way of preparation and supplication for the joyful event.

Rogation Sunday. That which ushers in the “Rogation Days.”

Roger de Coverley. The correct description of this surname is Roger de Cowley, or Roger of Cowley, near Oxford. The dance of this name was invented by an ancestor of the country squire, Sir Roger de Coverley, mentioned by Addison in The Spectator.

306Rogues’ Gallery. The name given to the collection of criminals’ photographs in the State Prison of New York.

Roland for an Oliver. See “Gave him a Roland for an Oliver.”

Roll Call. The list of names called out in the army. The term “Roll” is a survival of those far-off days when not only a list, but writing of all kinds, was set forth on one long roll of paper. We still speak of a “Burgess Roll,” while to belong to any society is said to be “enrolled” among its members; hence also the phrase “Roll of Honour.”

Rolls Chapel. This ancient edifice, now incorporated in the New Record Office, was built by Henry III. for a number of Jewish rabbis who, had been converted to Christianity. Into it Edward III. caused all the accumulated rolls or records to be stored, and there they remained in the custody of the Master of the Rolls, until in more modern days they were overhauled and catalogued.

Roman Catholic Church. The ancient original fold of “The Holy Catholic Church,” which acknowledges the authority of the Pope of Rome. The recognised head of the English Catholic Church is the King, represented by the Archbishop of Canterbury, just as that of “The Greek Catholic Church” in Russia is the Czar, represented by the Metropolitan of St Petersburg.

Rome. After Romulus, its mythical founder.

Romeo Coates. Robert Coates was a fashionable amateur actor during the early part of the last century; surnamed Romeo Coates on account of his very many appearances in the character of the ill-fated hero in Romeo and Juliet.

Romford. The ford over the Bourne, anciently called the Rom, this being the Roman highway between London and Colchester.

Romney Street. After Charles Marsham, Earl of Romney, the owner of the estate.

307Rood Lane. From an ancient holy rood or cross, on which was a figure of the dying Saviour, that stood in this thoroughfare as a boundary mark of the landed property of the nuns of St Helen’s. See “Mincing Lane.”

Rosary. A string of beads, and also the prayers said in connection therewith, so called because the Virgin appeared in a vision to St Dominic, who instituted this Catholic devotion, holding out to him a garland of red and white roses. The ancient rosaries, or “pater-nosters” as they were called, bore an impression of a rose on each bead.

Rose. An inn and tavern sign which, as a painted device, red or white, displayed a partisanship for the Lancastrians or the Yorkists. After the union of the two royal houses nothing was easier to quench the former partiality for either the red or white rose than to exhibit in place of the coloured design the name of “The Rose,” as a general compliment to the Crown.

Rose and Crown. This inn and tavern sign symbolised the cessation of the Wars of the Roses by the marriage of Henry VII. to Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV.

Rosebery Avenue. After Lord Rosebery, the erstwhile leader of the Liberal party in our time.

Rosoman Street. Perpetuates the memory of Mr Rosoman, who converted Sadler’s Musick House into a regular theatre in 1765.

Rosslyn Hill Park. From Rosslyn House, the residence of Alexander Wedderburn, Earl of Rosslyn, and Lord Chancellor of England.

Rotherhithe. Properly Roth-hithe, the Anglo-Saxon for “red haven.” See “Rutland.”

Rotten Row. This name is a survival of the days when French was the language of the Court. Properly route du roi, it is literally “route of the King,” and meant the King’s drive across the park.

Rouge et Noir. French for “red and black,” the alternate 308colour of the diamonds that distinguish the spaces on the gaming-table.

Roughriders. The name borne by expert horsemen in Natal, who dispense with saddles.

Roulette. Expresses the French for “a little wheel.”

Roumania. As its name implies, this was anciently a Roman province.

Roumelia. A Turkish corruption of Roumania, “the country of the Romans.”

Roundheads. The Parliamentary soldiers under Cromwell, so called from the custom of the Puritans of cropping the hair close to the head, as opposed to that of the Cavaliers, who wore it long.

Rouser. An Americanism for what we in this country style a “Pick-me-up.”

Rout. A fashionable assembly, so called from the German rotte and Celtic “rhauter,” a crowd. The name is now never heard, but what are called “Rout Seats,” generally requisitioned for such gatherings, are still let out on hire.

Rowton Houses. The name given to large blocks of tenements exclusively designed for the accommodation of unmarried clerks and others employed in the city. The foundation of the late Lord Rowton.

Roxburgh. From the Celtic ross, a headland, the castle on the promontory.

Roxburghe. A superior style of bookbinding, so called from that uniformly adopted by the Roxburghe Club, a society established for printing rare books, and named after John, Duke of Roxburghe, a famous collector of works of art and literature.

Royalists. The adherents of Charles I. in the Civil War.

Royal Maunds. The name given to doles of money corresponding to the years of life attained by the reigning monarch to the poor on “Maundy Thursday.” 309This custom has been in vogue ever since the time of Edward III.

Royal Oak. An inn sign which had its origin during the Restoration period, in compliment to Charles II. See “Oak Apple Day.”

Royal Oak Day. Another name for “Oak Apple Day.”

Rufus. The surname of William II. on account of his florid complexion; rufus is the Latin for “ruddy.”

Rugby. A corruption of the Saxon Rothby, “red village,” in allusion to its soil.

Rum. A West Indian word for spirit distilled from cane juice.

Run. An Americanism used as a verb for “finance,” whether in relation to a person or a business enterprise. “Who’s running him?” means who is it that keeps him going, or on his feet?

Run Amuck. To run foul of a person or thing. The phrase is derived from the Malays, who, while under the influence of opium, rush through the streets with drawn daggers, crying: Amog! amog! (“Kill! kill!”), and threaten the lives of everyone they encounter.

Running Footman. A tavern sign in Mayfair, reminiscent of the days when running footmen, carrying a short staff of office, preceded the carriages of the wealthy. The object of this custom was to give timely notice of the impending arrival of their masters. The tavern in question, situated in Hayes’ Mews, was formerly the regular resort of running footmen and sedan chairmen.

Rupert’s Land. After Prince Rupert, one of the founders of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Rupert Street. After Prince Rupert, who introduced his invention of “Prince Rupert’s Drops,”“Prince Rupert’s Drops,” or glass bubblers, into England.

Russell Square. After Lord William Russell, the patriot, whose wife, Rachel, was the daughter of Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, Marquis of Tavistock, 310Duke of Bedford, the ancestor of the present great ground landlord. The several streets of the same name are included in the estate.

Russell Street. In Bermondsey, after Richard Russell, a noted benefactor to the parochial charities during his life, and after his death in 1784. For other streets so denominated on the Bedford estate see “Russell Square.”

Russia. The country of the Russ, the tribe that first overran it.

Rutland. A corruption of the Anglo-Saxon Rothland, “red land,” so called on account of the colour of its soil.

Rutland Gate. After the town mansion of the Dukes of Rutland.

Rye Lane. Leads to “Peckham Rye.”

Ryot. A Hindoo peasant or cultivator of the soil, so called from the Arabic raaya, to pasture.

S

Sabbatarians. The followers of Brabourne, a Baptist minister, who held that the real Sabbath was the seventh day of the week, as enunciated in the Book of Genesis. This sect arose in 1628. Also known as “Seventh Day Baptists.”

Sabeans. The first idolaters, worshippers of the sun, moon, and stars as the visible representations of the Deity; so called after Sabi, the son of Seth.

Sack. A dry wine of great repute in Elizabethan times, so called from the French sec, dry.

Sackville Street. Built upon in 1679--that is, twenty years after “Air Street”--this thoroughfare was named in honour of Charles Sackville, Earl of Dorset, one of the favourites of Charles II.

Sacramentarians. The designation of the Calvinists, 311or those who denied the Real Presence in the Eucharist.

Sacrilege. Literally the act of despoiling that which is sacred.

Sadler’s Wells Theatre. Originally a “Musick House” in connection with a Spa opened by Mr Sadler, who, after digging for gravel in his garden in 1683, discovered an ancient “holy well” that had been stopped up since the Reformation.

Saffron Hill. From the saffron which grew abundantly in the grounds attached to Ely House, the town mansion of the bishops of Ely.

Sahara. Expresses the Arabic for “desert.”

Sailor King. William IV., who, having been bred to the sea in his youth, worked up his way from a midshipman to the position of Lord High Admiral. In his case promotion was no doubt easy.

St Albans. The scene of the martyrdom of St Alban, A.D. 297, in honour of whom Offa, King of Mercia, founded a Benedictine abbey.

St Andrew Undershaft. The Church of St Andrew in Leadenhall Street, so called from the tall shaft or Maypole which, bedecked with garlands on high festivals, stood within a few yards of its door. Since this shaft towered high above the steeple the church was said to be “under the shaft.” After the Reformation the shaft was taken down and kept in an adjacent alley, now called “Shaft Alley.” Thirty-two years later the popular voice declared it to be a relic of superstition, whereupon it was “raised off the hooks,” sawn into pieces, and burnt.

St Andrews. After St Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, whose bones are enshrined in the Cathedral.

St Andrew’s Hill. From the church of St Andrew, at its south-western extremity.

St Bees. From an ancient nunnery founded in the seventh century by an Irish saint named Bega. Partly destroyed by the time of Henry I., it was then reconstituted 312as a priory by Randulp, Earl of Cumberland. This village is known chiefly on account of its college, the foundation of Dr Law, Bishop of Chester in 1806.

St Bride Street. From the neighbouring parish church of St Bride or Bridget.

St Clement Danes. Dedicated to St Clement, this parish church received the bones of Harold I. and many of his countrymen during the Danish occupation of England.

St David’s Day. The birthday (1st March) of St David, the patron saint of Wales, who when archbishop advised his countrymen to wear a leek in their caps, to distinguish them from their foes. In consequence of the precaution they won a decisive victory over the Saxons on this day, and the leek became the national emblem.

St Ethelburga’s. This, one of the most ancient churches in the city, was dedicated to St Ethelburga, the daughter of King Ethelbert, and a paragon of all the Christian virtues.

St Ethelreda’s. This beautiful city church in Ely Place, after having gone through many vicissitudes since the Reformation, is now once more a Roman Catholic place of worship. St Ethelreda was the daughter of Ethelred, King of the East Angles; her name is often corrupted into St Audrey. See “Tawdry.”

St George and Dragon. An inn sign after the patron saint of England.

St George’s Hall. This place of entertainment, now occupied by Messrs Maskelyne & Devant, was opened in 1867 as St George’s Opera House, so called on account of its location in the parish of St George, Hanover Square.

St George’s in the East. The modern designation of “Ratcliff Highway,” from the parish church dedicated to St George, patron saint of England.

St George’s Square. After the neighbouring church, dedicated to St George.

313St Grouse’s Day. The jocular term for the twelfth of August, when grouse shooting begins.

St Helena. This island was discovered on the Feast of St Helena, 1502.

St Helen’s Place. From the adjacent church of St Helen’s, dedicated to St Helena, the mother of Constantine. Thirty years later in 1180, William Fitzwilliam, a wealthy goldsmith, founded a priory of nuns in connection therewith.

St James’s Palace. Stands on the site of an ancient hospital for lepers dedicated to St James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem. The original palace was built by Holbein for Henry VIII.

St James’s Square. Like the street of the same name, after St James’s Palace.

St John’s Gate. The last vestige of the ancient priory of St John of Jerusalem, the English seat of the Knights Hospitallers. The gateway now forms the headquarters of the St John’s Ambulance Association. Here William Cave, the printer, projected and published The Gentleman’s Magazine.

St John’s Wood. From the ancient “Abbey of the Holy Virgins of St John the Baptist,” which nestled among the now vanished woods in this neighbourhood.

St Katherine Coleman. Dedicated to St Katherine, this city church received its second name on account of its location in the garden of one Coleman, the builder of the street called after him.

St Katherine Cree. Originally a chapel dedicated to St Katherine in the parish of Holy Trinity (in the Minories). This on the abolition of the neighbouring benefices of Christ Church, St Mary Magdalen, and St Michael was made into a separate parish of Christ Church, and, while retaining the old name, came to be known as “St Katherine Christi,” of which “Cree” is a corruption.

St Katherine’s Docks. From an ancient hospital of St 314Katherine, displaced when these docks were constructed in 1828.

St Kitt’s Island. Discovered by Columbus, it was named by him after St Christopher, his patron saint.

St Lawrence. The gulf of this name was first entered, and the navigation of the great river embarked upon, on the Feast of St Lawrence, 1500.

St Lawrence Jewry. The church dedicated to St Lawrence in the Jewry. See “Old Jewry.”

St Leger Stakes. See “Doncaster St Leger.”

St Lubbock. The popular nickname of Lord Avebury, formerly Sir John Lubbock, to whom our countrymen are indebted for the introduction of legalised Bank Holidays.

St Margaret Pattens. This church received its name from the gilt spots, or patines, with which its roof was anciently decorated. A paten is the circular gold dish which covers the chalice at the altar.

St Martin’s Lane. From the parish church of St Martin in the Fields.

St Martin’s-le-Grand. The official designation of the buildings collectively comprised in the headquarters of the General Post Office. This is because the original edifice occupies the site of an ancient college church dedicated to St Martin-le-Grand, the foundation of Within, King of Kent in 750, and invested with the privilege of sanctuary under a charter of William the Conqueror.

St Mary-Axe. From a vanished church of St Mary that stood opposite to a shop which had an axe for its sign. Originally “St Mary-by-the-Axe.”

St Mary-le-Bow. See “Bow Church.”

St Mary Woolnoth. Dedicated to the Virgin; this church was so called because it stood nough, or nigh, to the ancient wool beam or staple.

St Michael’s Mount. Anciently the seat of a religious 315house, to the monks of which, as tradition states, St Michael once appeared on the crag, where in later years a castle was built, the exact spot being indicated by a stone lantern, since known as “St Michael’s Chair.”

St Olave’s. A corruption of “St Olafs,” this church having been dedicated to Olaf, King of Norway, who Christianised his country, and at the invitation of Ethelred came over to England to render aid in the work of expelling the Danes.

St Pancras. This parish takes its name from the ancient church in Old St Pancras Road dedicated to the boy saint who was martyred by Diocletian. A representation of this youth being attacked by wild dogs may be seen on the stone bridge over the Regent’s Canal, which serves as a boundary mark to the parish.

St Partridge’s Day. A popular nickname for “Partridge Day.”

St Paul of the Cross. See “Passionists.”

St Petersburg. Founded by Peter the Great, and dedicated to St Peter, whose church is situated within the citadel.

St Sepulchre’s. The foundation of this church was the outcome of the Crusades, in honour of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. Appropriately enough, the bell of the modern edifice gave warning to the unhappy inmates of the condemned cell in Newgate Prison over the way of their approaching last hour.

St Sophia. This beautiful mosque at Constantinople, although originally a Christian cathedral, so far from having been dedicated to any St Sophia, was called Hagia Sopia, “Holy Wisdom”--i.e. the eternal wisdom of God manifested in the Second Person of the Trinity.

St Stephen’s. The House of Commons bears this name because, in the absence of a separate building, its members held their sittings in the Chapel of St Stephen’s, Westminster Abbey, until that edifice was burned down, 16th October 1834.

316St Swithin’s Day. The day of the attempted reinterment (15th July) of the body of St Swithin, preceptor of King Ethelwulf and Bishop of Rochester, whose death took place 2nd July 862. Not regarding himself worthy to be “laid” within the sacred edifice, he requested that he might be buried just outside the door in the churchyard, so that the faithful would walk over his grave. Although they acceded to this last wish, the monks decided afterwards to lay him inside the church; but their design was frustrated for forty successive days by a pouring rain, until at last they desisted from the attempt. This circumstance gave rise to the saying that “If it rains on St Swithin’s day it will rain for forty days.”

St Valentine’s Day. The connection between St Valentine and the poetical epistles that were formerly interchanged between young lovers on the 14th of February is somewhat remote. On this day the good Christian Bishop was beheaded at Rome in the year 278. Long before this, however, Roman youths and maidens had followed the custom of selecting a lover for the year by shaking up the names of their favourites, written on separate tablets, in a box. This arose out of the old notion that birds begin to pair on the 14th of February. The martyrdom of Bishop Valentine on this day therefore actuated the Christians to style their selected lover their Valentine, and the presents they exchanged in modern times bore the same name.

Salic Law. The ancient Frankish law by which females were excluded from the throne. This was originally confined to what were called “Salic Lands,” either, as some say, from the salle, or hall of the owner, or, according to others, from the Salian Franks, those bordering on the Sale or Yssel River; the enactment eventually applied to the heritage of the Frankish kingdom.

Salisbury Square. This, like the street and court of the same name, marks the site of the town mansion and grounds of the bishops of Salisbury.

317Salop. See “Shropshire.”

Salt Lake City. The hot-bed of the Mormons, founded on the borders of the Great Salt Lake, so called on account of the saline character of its waters.

Salutation. An inn sign in honour of the Salutation of the Virgin.

Salviati. See “Del Salviati.”

Salzburg. The fortified town on the Salza River.

Samaria. After Shemer, the owner of the hill which, as we are told in 1 Kings xvi. 24, Omri bought for two talents of silver, “and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.”

Sambo. The generic name of a North American Negro; derived from the native Zambo, the offspring of a black and a Mulatto.

Sanci Diamond. One of the great gems of the world, weighing 106 carats, originally the property of a French nobleman of this name, and purchased in 1835 by the Czar of Russia for half-a-million roubles.

Sandbaggers. A modern street terror in American cities while the police are looking the other way, so called because they stun their victims with elongated bags of hard, wet sand, and then rob them at leisure.

Sandhillers. A name given in America to the descendants of the white labourers, who, ousted from their employment when slavery came in, sought the sand-hills amid the pine forests of Georgia and South Carolina.

Sandow Girl. A physical culture girl trained at the Academy of Eugene Sandow, or at home by means of appliances advertised in connection therewith. Also known as the “Symmetrion Girl” from the name on the familiar posters. The Sandow or Symmetrion Girls proved a great attraction in the Athletic Scene of The Dairymaids at the Apollo Theatre.

Sandwich. The sand village.

Sandwiches. After John Montague, Earl of Sandwich, 318whose chief claim to celebrity lay in the fact that he was an inveterate gamester. It is on record that he often remained engrossed in play for thirty hours at a stretch without partaking of a meal. From time to time, however, he would ask the waiter to bring him a slice of meat between two pieces of bread, as a stay to the appetite. The waiter called this improvised meal a “Sandwich,” and by that name it has ever since been known.

Sandwich Islands. Named by Captain Cook in honour of Lord Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty, at the time when they were discovered by him.

Sandy. The nickname of a Scotsman, being short for Alexander, the most common Christian name to be met with in North Britain.

San Francisco. Dedicated to St Francis, this Spanish-American city really received its name from a coast settlement of missionaries styled “San Francisco de Costa Dolores” as far back as September 1776.

Sankey’s Horse. The regimental nickname of the 39th Foot. This was merited in India, when they were called upon to do temporary service on horseback under Colonel Sankey.

Sansculottes. The lowest orders of the people during the French Revolution. This, literally “without breeches,” was the scornful title at first bestowed by the aristocrats upon the Democratic party on account of their neglectful attire. A little while later the Red Republicans accepted it with pride as the password for patriotism.

San Salvador. This being the first land sighted in the New World by Columbus, he honoured it with the name of the “Holy Saviour,” as a perpetual expression of thanksgiving.

Sans Souci. This, the French for “free and easy,” or “without care,” was the name borne by a famous place of amusement originally built by Dibdin as a bijou theatre in Leicester Square.

Santa Fe. Spanish for “Holy Faith.”

319Santa Cruz. Spanish for “Holy Cross.”

Santiago. From the cathedral (in the city of Spain so named) containing the bones of St Jago, or James the Less, the national patron saint.

Saraband. After Zarabanda, a celebrated dancer of Seville, who invented it.

Saracens. From the Arabic sharkeyn, “eastern people”; originally the designation of the Bedouins of Eastern Arabia. By the Crusaders it was applied to the Mohammedans generally. See “Moors.”

Saracen’s Head. An inn sign of the time of the Crusades. Lest it might be thought that this was complimentary to the enemies of Christianity, mention may be made of the fact that the head of the Saracen was represented as severed.

Saragossa. A corruption of the Roman name Cæsarea Augusta.

Saratoga. Indian for “miraculous waters from the rock,” touching the famous mineral springs.

Saratoga Trunk. The popular type of travelling trunk in the United States, so called because it was first used by visitors to Saratoga Springs.

Sarcophagus. A Greek compound of sarkos, flesh, and phargo, to eat. The term was originally applied to a receptacle for the dead, because the early examples were made out of a kind of limestone which was thought to possess the property of consuming a corpse in a very short time.

Sardines. From Sardinia, in the waters of which island the true species of this fish abound.

Sardinia. Called Sandaliotis by the Greeks on account of its resemblance to a human footprint; this name was changed by the Romans to Sardo. At a later period the island was called Sardonion, from a poisonous herb, transplanted from Sardis in Asia Minor, which brought about a twitching of the muscles of the face 320resembling laughter; hence the phrase to “Smile sardonically.”

Sardinia Street. From the Sardinian Chapel built in 1648 in connection with the residence of the Sardinian Ambassador at the time when the island of Sardinia was nominally a kingdom, but really in the possession of Spain.

Sardonic Smile. See “Sardinia.”

Sarsenet. A fine silk originally of Saracenic manufacture.

Saturday. This, the seventh day of the week, was dedicated by the Romans to Saturn. As, however, all the other week-days were named by the people of Northern Europe in accordance with Scandinavian mythology, one must incline to the opinion that this was named after Sæter, a water deity. Its Anglo-Saxon designation was Sæterdæg.

Saturnalia. The great winter festival of the Romans in honour of Saturn, the god of agriculture.

Saunders Blue. An easy corruption of the French Cendres bleus, “blue ashes,” calcined bluestone being the substance from which this pigment is obtained.

Sauterne. A French wine produced at the place of the name, in the department of Gironde.

Saved my Bacon. This expression originated during the Civil War, when housewives took extraordinary measures to save the bacon stored up for winter consumption from the greedy appetites of soldiers on the march.

Savile Row. After Dorothy Savile, who, marrying into the Burlington family, received this portion of the estate as her separate property.

Savoy. A cabbage originally introduced from the French department of this name.

Savoy Street. From the Savoy Chapel, the original of which, prior to its destruction by fire, 7th July 1864, was the only remaining portion of the ancient Savoy Palace built by Peter of Savoy, uncle to the queen ofof Henry III., in 1249.

321Sawney. A variant of “Sandy.”

Saxons. From the seax, the short crooked knife with which this tribe were armed. Sahs is the Old German for knife. Since the days of Daniel O’Connell Irish patriots have been fond of referring to the English people as Saxons, the natural enemies of the Celts.

S’Blood. A trooper’s corruption of “His Blood,” or the precious blood of the Redeemer. This species of profanity survives in the vulgar swear-word “Bloody.”

Scales of Justice. The ancient Egyptians believed that the good deeds of a soul after death would be weighed against his evil deeds. The Koran likewise teaches that the merits and demerits of departed souls are balanced in the scales of the Archangel Gabriel; hence the phrase now popular all the civilised world over.

Scalper. An Americanism for one who speculates in railroad tickets, and consequently obtains them at a reduction of their top prices.

Scaramouch. A character in the old Italian comedy, the prototype of the modern clown, so called from scaramuccia, a skirmish.

Scarborough. The fortified scar or precipitous cliff, so called on account of the castle built about 1136.

Scarborough Warning. A warning given too late to be taken advantage of. In 1557 Thomas Stafford seized Scarborough Castle before the townsfolk had the least intelligence of his approach. After taking possession he advised them to fly from the town and leave their belongings.

Scarlet. From the Persian sakarlat, “bright red.”

Scavenger’s Daughter. A corruption of Skevington’s Daughter, this instrument of torture being the invention of William Skevington, Lieutenant of the Tower, temp. Henry VIII. He called it his daughter because it emanated from his own brain. Those who were fated to suffer by it sadly consented, as the saying was, to “Kiss the Scavenger’s Daughter.”

322Schaffhausen. Literal German for “sheep-houses” or pens.

Schiedam. Another name for Hollands, or Dutch gin, from the place where this native spirit is distilled.

Schooner. This kind of vessel received its name from the exclamation of a spectator at the time when its earliest example was launched: “Look, she schoons!”

Schottische. Expresses the German for a Scottish dance, a variation of the polka, in three-quarter time. The Scots, however, repudiate its invention. It is not improbable that a Scotsman, sojourning in the Fatherland, blundered into this step through his inability to dance the polka correctly.

Scilly Isles. After the name of one of the smallest, in proximity to a very dangerous rock similar to that of Scylla in Sicily which, according to Homer, was the abode of a monster so denominated.

Scissors-tail. A South American bird which in the course of its flights opens and shuts its tail for the purpose of entrapping the flies that constitute its prey.

Scorching. A bicycling term which, curiously enough, only came into vogue after the possibility of realising it had been removed. In the days of the old “Bone-shaker,” before rubber tyres were heard of, there would have been great likelihood of setting the wooden machine on fire by furious riding on the part of an expert.

Scotch Reel. See “Reel.”

Scot-free. A phrase derived from the old legal exaction “Scot and Lot,” the former being derived from the Anglo-Saxon sceat, pay, and the latter meaning a tribute allotted to every man according to his means. It was rare indeed that anyone got off “Scot-free” in ancient times.

Scotia. From the Celtic scot, wanderer, with the suffix ia, country; the ancient designation of the Highlands, now, with the Lowlands, called “Scotland.”

323Scotists. Those who accepted the doctrine of John Duns Scotus relative to the Immaculate Conception, in opposition to the “Thomists.”

Scotland. See “Scotia.”

Scotland Yard. On the site of the original Scotland Yard stood an ancient palace appropriated to the Scottish kings, who were required to pay homage once a year to the English sovereign at Westminster Abbey. The last Scottish monarch so accommodated was Margaret, the sister of Henry VII.

Scots. See “Scotia.”

Scottish Covenanters. See “Covenanters.”

Scottish Hogarth. The surname of David Allan of Alloa, whose portraits and historical paintings occupy a high position in the esteem of his countrymen.

Scottish Presbyterians. The successors of the Scottish Covenanters, and founders of the Established Church of Scotland. See “Presbyterians.”

Scowerers. Eighteenth-century rakes who scoured the streets of London by night, overturning the “Old Charlies” in their boxes, and molesting peaceable citizens.

Scratched Horse. One that has its name struck out of the final list of runners in a race. Those who have backed their money on it swear a little, but no one else cares a jot for their discomfiture.

Screw. Colloquial for “wages.” See “Raise your Screw.”

Screwed. Drunk. This is simply a play on the word “Tight.”

Screw of Tobacco. So called because it is screwed up in a paper.

Scriptures. Expresses the plural of the Latin scriptura, a writing, from the verb scribere, to write. The Bible is a collection of books or writings.

Scroll of Fame. The word “Scroll” is a corruption of 324“Roll,” relative to paper, although from “scroll” we have derived the term “Schedule.” See “Roll Call.”

Scullery. The annexe to a kitchen, where the dishes and pots are washed up, so called from the Norman-French esculle, a porringer or dish. The man-servant or boy whose work lay in the scullery was in former days called a “Scullion.”

S’Death. A softened form of the profane oath “His Blood,” in reference to the Saviour.

Sea of Marmora. From the Latin marmor, marble, which for centuries has been quarried on a small island at its western extremity.

Sebastopol. From the Greek Sebastopolis, “august city.”

Secretary Bird. A South African bird distinguished by a tuft of feathers on each side of its head which form a fanciful resemblance to quill pens stuck behind the ear.

Sectarians. The general name for Dissenters attached to any one of the numerous sects or denominations outside the Established Church.

Secular Clergy. See “Regular Clergy.”

Secularist. From the Latin seculum, an age, a generation; one who advocates the happiness or well-being of the community during the present life, leaving the future completely out of count.

Sedan-chairs. First made at Sedan, France.

See how it pans out. Originally a miners’ phrase in the Far West. To separate the gold grains from the earth in which they are found a pan of water is brought into service; when the pan is shaken the gold collects at the bottom.

Seekers. The original designation of the Quakers, because they sought the truth with the solicitude of Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler (John iii. 1-21).

Seething Lane. A corruption of Sidon Lane, after the name of the first builder on the land.

325Selkirk’s Island. Also called the isle of “Juan Fernandez.”

Seltzer Water. A corrupted spelling of “Seltsers,” the name of a village near Limburg in Prussia famous for its mineral springs.

Senate. The Upper House of the United States Congress. The term properly implies an elder, from the Latin senis, an old man.

Senegambia. The territory situated between the Senegal and Gambia Rivers.

Sent to Coventry. As its name implies, Coventry was in olden times a great centre of religious life, touching the number of its conventual establishments. Soldiers sent to the garrison there soon discovered that no woman would speak to them. Hence to be sent to Coventry was a great hardship, since it meant being cut off from “life” in every form, and female intercourse particularly.

Separatists. Another name for the Home Rulers during the lifetime of Mr Parnell. It implied virtual separation from English rule.

Sepia. Greek for “cuttle-fish,” from the inky secretion under the glands of which this pigment is obtained.

September. The seventh month of the Roman year, counting from March.

Serjeants’ Inn. Anciently the inn or mansion of the “Freres Serjens,” a brotherhood of Servitors to the Knights Templars hard by. It was these who performed the ordinary household duties in the Temple.

Serle Street. After Henry Serle of Lincoln’s Inn, the owner of considerable property in this neighbourhood when the parish of St Clement Danes was very different to what it is now.

Sermon Lane. Anciently “Sheremoniers’ Lane,” so called from the money shearers or clippers’ office adjacent to the first London Mint.

326Serpentine. An artificial winding lake formed out of the pools and the Tyburn in Hyde Park in 1733. See “Bayswater.”

Servia. The country of the Suevi, a people driven by the Romans into that portion of Germany now called “Suabia,” until after further migrations northward they settled in Sweden.

Servites. This religious Order grew out of the pious example of seven Florentine merchants who in 1283 assembled each evening for devotional exercises in a lady chapel and styled themselves “The Religious Servants of the Holy Virgin.” The London house of the Community is in the Fulham Road.

Set her Cap at him. With the coquetry peculiar to her sex, a female always put on her most becoming cap to attract the male visitor whom she favoured. Now that caps are no longer worn she resorts to other devices, but the old expression survives.

Set the Thames on fire. A “temse” was the old name for a sieve, agreeably to the French tamis and the Italian tamiso, which terms express the same implement. A sifter would require to work very hard indeed to ignite his sieve. Accordingly a bystander often said to him touching his apparent laziness: “You’ll never set the temse on fire!” Its punning

Seven Dials. A once notorious thieves’ neighbourhood, which received its name from a stone column presenting seven dials or faces, from which the same number of streets radiated. This, originally set up to mark the limits of St Giles’s and St Martin’s parishes, was removed in 1763, owing to the erroneous idea that a large sum of money lay buried beneath it.

Seven Sisters’ Road. This long road, extending from Holloway to Tottenham, received its name from seven trees planted in Page Green in the latter parish by the Sisters Page. Local tradition has it that one of these was a cripple, and the tree planted by her grew up deformed.

327Seventh Day Baptists. See “Sabbatarians.”

Saxagesima Sunday. Approximately the sixtieth day before Easter.

Seymour Place. After one of the family names of the Portmans, owners of the estate.

Seymour Street. Far removed from Seymour Place, this has no connection with the Portman family, having received its name from the first builder on the land.

Shadwell. A corruption of “St Chad’s Well,”“St Chad’s Well,” a reputed holy well discovered hereabouts in ancient days.

Shaft Alley. See “St Andrew Undershaft.”

Shaftesbury Avenue. After Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, who performed the opening ceremony of this new thoroughfare shortly before his death in 1885.

Shah Diamond. A gem weighing 86 carats, long the property of Chosroes I., Shah of Persia, who, dying in 579, presented it to a Khan of the Tartars, from whom it descended to Ivan III., the grandfather of Ivan the Terrible, the first Czar of Russia.

Shakers. An American sect, first heard of in 1774, at Albany in the state of New York, so called from the convulsive movements of the hands and arms as part of their peculiar form of worship. Its founder was Ann Lee, self-styled “Mother Ann,” of Manchester, who, receiving little encouragement for her religious tenets in her native land, emigrated with a few disciples to the New World.

Shalloon. Originally manufactured at Chalons in France.

Shanty. This term for a hut or cabin first obtained currency in Canada, having been derived from the French settlers, who gave the name chantier to a hut erected in a dockyard under construction.

Shattered Prices. An Americanism for “reduced prices.”

“She” Bible. See “‘He’ Bible.”

Sheen. See “Richmond.”

328Sheet Anchor. A corruption of “Shote Anchor,” an extra heavy one, that can be expeditiously shot out for the greater security of a vessel under stress of weather. To act as a sheet anchor to a man is to be his mainstay or chief dependence.

Sheffield. From the River Sheaf, on the confluence of which and the Don the town stands.

Shekel Day. The day (27th May) set apart every year throughout the Jewish world for the collection of a shekel--a shilling, franc mark, half rouble, or “quarter,” according to the currency of the individual country--in support of the Zionist Movement for the re-colonisation of Palestine. The word “shekel” is from the Hebrew shekal, to weigh.

Shepherdess Walk. A name reminiscent of the days when the entire district between Finsbury and “Merrie Islington” was open fields.

Shepherd’s Bush. Pleasantly pastoral as the name is, this district is now wholly built over. A “Shepherd’s bush” was a hillock covered with soft vegetation on which he reclined while tending his flocks.

Shepherd’s Market. The site of a former weekly market, the land of which, like that of Market Street and Shepherd Street, was owned by a person of this name.

Shepperton. A corruption of “Shepherd’s Town”; whether derived from the name of the landowner, or because the district was originally given up to sheep-folds, is not known.

Sherbet. The national beverage in Arabia, so called from shariba, to drink, because it is taken at a single draught; hence the same name applied to effervescing liquors in this country.

Sherry. An English corruption of “Sherris,” a dry wine exported from Xeres in Spain.

Sherry Cobbler. An American drink which, in addition to the ordinary ingredients of a “Cobbler,” contains a dash of sherry.

329Shetland Isles. Anciently described as Hyaltland, the Norse for “Viking Land,” the name was softened into Zetland, and finally as we now have it.

She Wolf of France. A name that will ever cling to the memory of Isabella, the queen of Edward II., whom she caused to be murdered most foully through the instrumentality of her paramour, the Earl of Mortimer. This monster of iniquity lies buried in Christ Church, Newgate Street.

Shift. An old name for a chemise, denoting a shift or change of linen; also an industrial term for a change of men at certain hours, so that work can be carried on uninterruptedly by day and night.

Shillelagh. A oaken sapling fashioned into a cudgel for self-defence, so called from a wood in Ireland celebrated for its oaks.

Shilling. This silver coin was of considerable value to our ancestors, who always sounded it as a test of its genuineness. Hence, as the “ringing coin,” the Anglo-Saxons gave it the name of scilling, which, like the modern German schilling, is derived from the verb schallen, to sound.

Shinplaster. An Americanism for a bank-note. During the Civil War paper money was so much depreciated in value that its possessors could not easily negotiate it at any price. Finding this to be his own case, an old soldier philosophically used his bank-notes as plasters for a wounded shin.

Ship. A tavern sign commemorative of the circumnavigation of the globe by Sir Francis Drake; also a technical term in the printing trade for the compositors working together in a particular room or department, being an abbreviationabbreviation of “Companionship.”

Shire. A portion of land scired or sheared off under the Saxon Heptarchy for the creation of an earldom.

Shoe Lane. This name has no connection with shoemakers, or cordwainers as they were anciently called. As an offshoot of Fleet Street, the great thoroughfare 330of taverns, this was anciently “Show Lane,” lined with booths and shows like a country fair.

Shooter. An Americanism for a revolver.

Shooters’ Hill. A corruption of “Suitors’ Hall,” so called from the suitors or place hunters who came this way when Henry VIII. had his Court at Greenwich.

Shooting Iron. A Far West term for a rifle.

Shop. Theatrical slang for an engagement.

Shop-lifting. This phrase for abstracting goods from a shop counter had its origin in the printer’s technical term “Lifting.”

Shoreditch. All other suggested derivations notwithstanding, this district really received its name from the manor of Sir John Soerditch, a wealthy citizen, and a favourite of Edward the Black Prince, by whose side he fought at Crecy and Poitiers.

Show. Theatrical slang for a performance.

Shrewsbury. See “Shropshire.”

Shropshire. This name expresses in a roundabout way the shire of Shrewsbury, the Anglo-Saxon Scrobbesburgh that grew up around an ancient castle among the scrubs or shrubs, softened by the Normans into Sloppesbury, which lent its name to what is now “Salop,” and finally corrupted into Shrewsbury.

Shrove Tuesday. A corruption of “Shrive Tuesday” when all good Catholics confessed their sins in preparation for receiving the blest ashes on the following morning.

Siberia. The country ruled from the ancient town of Sibir, the capital of the Tartars, and which contained the palace of the renowned Kutsheen Khan, the ruins of which are still visible.

Sicily. From the Siculi, a tribe who became masters of the island, expelling the Sicanii, its ancient inhabitants.

Sick. A word uniformly used throughout the United States in the place of “ill,” as in our own country. This is not an Americanism, but good honest English, having been introduced to the New World by the Pilgrim Fathers who sailed in the Mayflower. Both 331in the Bible and in Shakespeare sick, not ill, is employed. This is one of the few instances in which the Americans have preserved a word true to its original meaning.

Sidmouth Street. After Lord Sidmouth, a popular Minister at the accession of George IV., when this street was first built upon.

Side Walk. An Americanism for the English “pavement” and the Scottish “causeway.”

Siedlitz Powders. From Siedlitz in Bohemia, whence, like the celebrated mineral waters of the same name, they are obtained.

Sienna. A pigment obtained from the native Terra di Sienna in Italy.

Sign on. An industrial phrase for signing one’s name in a book on arriving to commence the day’s work. The like procedure at the day’s close is styled “Sign off.”

Silhouette. After Etienne de Silhouette, Comptroller of Finance under Louis XV., who was the first to have his features outlined from a side view on black paper.

Sillery. A champagne produced from the extensive vineyards of the Marquis de Sillery.

Silver Captain. The sobriquet of Admiral Sir Henry Digby from the large haul he on 15th October 1799 made by the capture of a Spanish treasure ship laden with dollars, his own share of the prize money amounting to £40,730, 18s. This he attributed to a fortunate dream, in which he repeatedly heard a voice exclaim: “Digby! Digby! steer to the northward!”

Silver-tongued Sylvester. John Sylvester, the translator of Du Barta’s “Divine Week and Works,” so styled on account of his harmonious verse.

Simple Life. A term which has come into vogue, both in England and America, since the publication of the Rev. Charles Wagner’s remarkable book “The Simple Life,” in advocacy of plain living, three or four years ago.

332Single-speech Hamilton. The sobriquet of William Gerard Hamilton, Chancellor of the Exchequer in Ireland. He delivered on 13th November 1775 a speech which electrified the House, but after that memorable first effort he never spoke again.

Sing Small. A corruption of “Sink Small,” meaning to be lowered in the estimation of those to whom one has made a vain boast.

Sinking Fund. One that provides for the annual reduction of a National Debt.

Sinner-saved Huntingdon. William Huntingdon, the theologian and preacher, who, having led a wild life in his youth, made amends for these delinquencies in the full vigour of manhood.

Sirree. A vulgar American corruption of “Sir,” corresponding to the old English “Sirrah.” Originating at New York, it is now quite a common thing for people in the States generally to answer: “Yes, sirree,” and “No, sirree.”

Sise Lane. A corruption of St Osyth’s Lane, after an ancient church in it, now removed.

Sixteen String Jack. Jack Rann, the highwayman, hanged in 1791, so called from the sixteen tags he wore on the knees of his breeches.

Six-shooter. An Americanism for a six-chambered revolver.

Skagerrack. Expresses the crooked strait between the Skagen, the plural of the Gothic skaga, a promontory, between Jutland and Norway.

Skald. An ancient northern bard or minstrel. The word is Scandinavian for “poet.”

Skied. An artists’ term for a picture hung on the highest row, just under the ceiling, at any exhibition, where no one can look at it closely.

Skinner Street. Stands on land belonging to the Skinners’ Company.

333Skylarking. Originally an American seaman’s term for rough sport among the ship’s rigging and tops.

Sky Parlor. An Americanism for an attic.

Sky Pilot. An American naval expression for a ship’s chaplain. The allusion is obvious.

Sky-scraper. The name given in the United States to a building of lofty proportions, often running to as many as thirty storeys. Viewing these from Brooklyn Bridge it would really seem as if the New Yorkers were anxious to scour the heavens out of their top windows.

Sky Sign. A structure on the roof of a house of business for the purposes of a bold advertisement. This Transatlantic innovation has within the last few years been interdicted by order of the London County Council.

Slacker. An Eton term for one who never takes part in games; he cannot be coerced, and declines to exert himself in any way.

Slate Club. Originally a parochial thrift society whose members met in the schoolroom, their contributions being pro tem entered on slates, conveniently at hand.

Slick into it. To do a thing right away, never pausing until it is finished. As a variant of “Polish it off” this expression is rightly employed, slick being derived from the German schlicht, polished, clean.

Sling. An American mixed drink, so called on account of the different ingredients slung into it.

Sling your Hook. Originally an abbreviated angler’s phrase: “Sling your hook a little farther along, and then we shall both have more room.”

Slipper. A shoe into which the foot is easily slipped, more particularly among the Orientals, who dispense with the back leather clasping the heel.

Sloane Square. After Sir Hans Sloane, the original owner of the estate, whose daughter became by marriage the first Countess of Cadogan.

334Slope. To run away with expedition, as it were down the slope of a hill.

Smile. An Americanism for a “drink.” Unlike the common run of Americanisms, there is warranty for the term. When drinking their native beverage, “pulque,” the Mexicans look at one another, and smile. This custom has obtained with them ever since Montezuma gulped down this tipple offered to him by the hand of his daughter. See “Cocktail.”

Smithfield. A corruption of “Smoothfield,” a fine tract of meadow land on which mediæval tournaments were held, likewise horse races.

Smith of Antwerp. Quentin Matsys, the celebrated painter, who began life as a blacksmith.

Smalls. In theatrical parlance “the small towns.”

Smart Set. Originally an Americanism for the exclusive fashionable set of Boston society. The term has latterly travelled over to these shores, and the Smart Set of West End London does not appear to be beloved by Father Bernard Vaughan.

Snapshot. An Americanism for a photograph taken instantaneously with a portable camera. “Snap” is, however, a good old English word. We speak of a person being “snapped off” by disease--i.e. carried off suddenly.

Sneesh-box. Scottish for a snuff-box.

Snob. This term arose out of the expressions on the part of the vulgar whenever a conceited person who aped gentility was encountered: “He’s a nob,” “He’s not a nob,” or “He wants to make people believe he’s a nob,” until they resulted in the simple exclamation “Snob.” Such a word having once been established as the antithesis of “Nob,” a shoemaker merited the description of a Snob because his work was confined to the pedal extremities instead of the person’s head.

Snow Hill. A corruption of “Snore Hill,” so called because travellers by the stage-coach from Guildford 335were generally snoring by the time they reach their destination at the hill foot, “The Saracen’s Head.”

Soaker. Both in England and America this term denotes a habitual drunkard, soaked in liquor.

Soane Museum. This magnificent but little known collection of works of Art was acquired by Sir John Soane, the antiquary, at his residence in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where, subject to certain seasonal restrictions, it may be visited by anyone.

Sociable. An open carriage with two seats, thus admitting of its riders being face to face.

Socialists. A term of wide meaning, but according to its modern acceptation synonymous with “Levellers,” the adopted name of the malcontents of the time of Charles I., who sought to reduce society to a common level.

Society Islands. Named by Captain Cook in compliment to the Royal Society.

Society of Jesus. See “Jesuits.”

Socinians. The followers of Lælius Socinus, an Italian theologian of the sixteenth century. They held the same views as the modern “Unitarians.”

Sock and Buskin. The drama, alluding to the low and high shoe or sandal worn respectively by comic and tragic actors in the theatre of the ancients. The soccus was a simple shoe, whereas the brossquin, a term remotely derived from the Greek bursa, a hide, extended to the knee, and was, moreover, two or three inches thick in the sole to increase the height of the performer.

Sod. A north country term for a mean, ignorant fellow, no better than a lout or clodhopper, in allusion to the sod of agriculture.

Soft Soap. Flattery, because, unlike the ordinary kind, soft soap is easily rubbed in.

Soho. A name pleasantly recalling the days when, prior to the sixteenth century, the whole of London westward of Drury Lane was open country. So ho was the 336cry of the huntsmen when a hare broke cover, expressing the Norman-French for “See! Hie! (after him).”

Soirée. A sociable evening party, so called from the French soir, evening.

Soldier of Fortune. A soldier without fortune who seeks to make one by enlisting in any service which holds out the prospect of good pay.

Solid Straight. Another name for a “Straight Drink.”

Somerset. Described in Anglo-Saxon days as Suthmorset, the “South Moor Settlement.”

Somerset House. Covers the site of the palatial residence of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI. On the sequestration of his estates in 1552 this passed to the Crown, and became a virtual royal residence. Here the body of James I. lay in state; here too the queens of Charles I. and Charles II. took up their abode. The present edifice dates from 1766.

Somers Town. From Lord Somers, the owner of the estate.

Sorbonne. After its founder Robert de Sorbon, a canon of Cambrai in 1252.

Souchong. A species of black tea called by the Chinese se-ou-chong, “small, good quality.”

Soudan. Properly “Suden,” from the Arabic Belad-ez-Suden, “district of the blacks.”

Southampton. The south town on the Ant or Hantone. See “Hampshire.”

Southampton Buildings. Marks the site of Southampton House, in which lived and died the last Earl of Southhampton, Lord Treasurer of Charles II.

Southampton Street. After one of the family titles of the Duke of Bedford, the great ground landlord.

South Audley Street. See “Audley Street.”

Southgate. See “New Southgate.”

337Southwark. A name which points to the Danish rule in England. The earliest London bridge of wood having been built in 1014, or two years before Canute seized upon the throne, this monarch took up his residence on the south bank of the Thames, and holding his Court there, styled it Sydrike, the Norse for “South Kingdom.” His successors also affected the Surrey side; as we know, Hardicanute died of a surfeit at Lambeth. By the Anglo-Saxons under Edward the Confessor the Danish Sydrike was rendered Suthwerk, or South Fortification, whence we have derived the name in its present form.

Southwick Crescent. After Southwick Park, the country seat of the Thistlewaytes, at one time joint lessees of the manor of Paddington.

Sovereign. So called because when first struck, in the reign of Henry VIII., this gold coin had upon it a representation of that sovereign in his royal robes.

Sovereign Pontiff. The superior title of the Pope. See “Pontiff.”

Spa. From the town of the same name (which expresses the Flemish for “fountain”) in Belgium, the fashionable Continental resort during the seventeenth century.

Spa Fields. From an ancient public resort known as the “London Spa,” in connection with a medicinal well discovered during the thirteenth century. An account of the “Spa Fields Chapel,” originally a theatre, purchased by the Countess of Huntingdon, the name has survived to our own time.

Spagnoletto. See “Lo Spagnoletto.”

Spain. Called by the CarthaginiansCarthaginians “Hispania,” from the Punic span, rabbit, on account of the wild rabbits which abounded in the peninsula. See “Iberia.”

Spaniards. This famous “house of call” for pedestrians across Highgate Heath was originally the private residence of the Spanish Ambassador to the Court of James I.

338Spaniel. From Hispaniola, the old name of Hayti Island, in the West Indies, whence this breed of Spanish dog was introduced to Europe.

Spanish Main. The ancient designation of the waters around the West Indian Islands in the Caribbean Sea that rightly belonged to Spain.

Spanish Place. From the residence of the Spanish Ambassador during the eighteenth century. The private chapel attached to this mansion formed the nucleus of the present Catholic church.

Sparking. An Americanism for “courting.” There may be warranty for this in relation to “the spark of affection.”

Spa Road. From a long-forgotten spa or mineral well in this portion of Bermondsey.

Spa Water. Natural mineral waters drawn from a “Spa” or well.

Speaker. The official designation of the President of the House of Commons, to whom technically, the Members address themselves, though as a matter of fact, they address the country at large through the medium of the Press. Since he never speaks himself, except to rule a point of order, his title is a misnomer.

Spencer. A short overjacket introduced by the Earl of Spencer. This nobleman made a wager that he would set a new fashion by appearing abroad in any style of garment, however hideous it might be. He won his bet, for “Spencers” became popular.

Specs. Short for “spectacles.”

Spelling Bee. The name given to a competitive examination, in spelling in American schools, and later introduced in the cities as a fashionable pastime. From the States it reached England about a quarter of a century ago. The term “Bee” is essentially Transatlantic, being employed in the sense of a “hive” for any assemblage of workers--e.g. “a Sewing Bee.”

339Spindle City. Lowell in Massachusetts, so called on account of its numerous cotton factories.

Spinet. An early form of pianoforte, so called because it was played upon exclusively by unmarried females, as a relaxation from the labours of the spindle.

Spinster. A maiden lady, so called from the distaff or spindle, the regular occupation of an unmarried female.

Spiritualist. One who cherishes a belief in the power of communicating with departed spirits through the instrumentality of a Medium.

Spitalfields. The derivation of this name is generally given as from an ancient priory of “St Mary of the Spittle.” This is wrong. There may have been such a priory, but if so, like the present parish church, its designation arose out of the “spital,” or hospital in the sense of an almshouse, founded in the fields for the poor by Walter Brune and his wife during the reign of Richard Cœur de Lion.

Spithead. This famous roadstead, so eminently adapted for naval reviews, received its name from being situated at the head of the “spit” or sandbank which extends along the coast for three miles.

Spitzbergen. Danish for “sharp-pointed mountains,” relative to the mountain peaks in these islands.

Spook. Expresses the Dutch for “ghost.” Introduced to the United States by the early settlers of New York, this term has obtained currency on both sides of the Atlantic in connection with Spiritualism.

Spooning. This word is a play on “billing and cooing.” Courting couples in the act of whispering “soft nothings” have their mouths in such close contact that it resembles the manner of a mother bird feeding her young brood.

Sporting Women. An Americanism for “gay women.”

Spouting. Colloquial for public speaking, because the orator indulges in a constant flow of rhetoric, like water issuing from a pump spout.

340Sprat Day. 9th November, the opening of the London sprat-selling season.

Spread Eagle. An inn sign adopted from the arms of Germany, indicative of the fact that the wines of that country were to be had on the premises.

Spreads himself. Said of one in America who makes an ostentatious display of self-conceit. The allusion is to a peacock spreading its tail feathers to their utmost capacity.

Spring Gardens. So called because at this north-eastern entrance to St James’s Park unwitting pedestrians were suddenly drenched by a spray of water through stepping on a hidden spring. This was considered fine sport for the gallants who looked on during the Restoration period.

Spring Heel Jack. The sobriquet of the eccentric Marquis of Waterford, who about a century ago cultivated the habit of frightening people after nightfall by springing upon them out of obscure corners and alleys. It was said that terror of the streets had steel springs fitted to his heels for the purpose.

Square Meal. An Americanism for a full meal, which can only be enjoyed at the table, in contradistinction to a snack at a luncheon bar.

Squatter. Literally one who squats down on land to which he has no legal title.

Squaw. AlgonquinAlgonquin for an Indian woman.

Stafford. The county town of the shire derived this name from the ancient mode of fording the River Sow, upon which it stands, by means of staves or stilts.

Stage-coach. So called from the stages or degrees of the whole journey, at each of which the coach pulled up to change horses and refresh the travellers.

Staines. From the Saxon stane, stone, the boundary mark set up beside the Thames, bearing date 1280, and the inscription: “God preserve the City of London.” 341This defined the western limits of jurisdiction claimed by the Thames Conservancy or Water Board.

Stand Sam. An Americanism for to “stand treat,” which originated among the soldiers during the Civil War. When billeted upon the people they demanded liquor by wholesale, saying that “Uncle Sam” would pay for it, and it was everyone’s duty to stand Sam. See “Uncle Sam.”

Stanhope. An open carriage named in compliment to the Earl of Stanhope, author and politician.

Stanhope Gate. This entrance to Hyde Park, in Park Lane, received its name from Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, residing at Chesterfield House close by.

Staples Inn. Properly “Staplers’ Inn,” the ancient Hall of the Woolstaplers, styled Merchants of the Staple.

Star and Garter. An inn or tavern sign commemorative of the institution of the Order of the Garter by Edward III.

Star Chamber. This historic court received its name not from the stars decorating the ceiling, as generally stated, but because it was the ancient depository of the Starra, or Jewish records, at the order of Richard I.

Start your Boots. An Americanism for “Be off!” “Walk away.”

Starvation Dundas. The sobriquet of Henry Dundas, created Lord Melville, owing to his constant repetition of the word “Starvation” in the course of a debate on American affairs in 1775.

State of Spain. New Jersey. After the battle of Waterloo Joseph Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon I., fled to New Jersey, and, settling on an estate at Borderstown, gathered so many Frenchmen and Spaniards around him that the Philadelphians regarded the people of this state generally as Spaniards and foreigners. At this time Joseph Bonaparte was nominally King of Naples and of Spain.

Stationer. This term was not derived from “Stationery,” 342since the latter grew out of the former. Ancient so-called booksellers were of two kinds: the itinerants, and the stallholders in open market. Both dealt in such books as were known at the time--hornbooks and the like--but principally in writing materials, and as the stationery booksellers had a more varied assortment than the pedlars, pen, ink, and paper eventually received the name of “stationery,” and their vendors that of “stationers.”

Steelyard. The name given to a weighing machine on which a single weight is moved along a graduated beam. This has no reference to a “yard” measure, but to the ancient Steelyard near London Bridge, where the German merchants of old landed, weighed, and sold their fine steel.

Steeplechase. This term originated in a race by a party of unsuccessful fox hunters, who agreed to run a race to the village church, the steeple of which was visible a couple of miles away, the one who touched its stones with his whip first being declared the winner.

Stepney. A corruption of “Stebenhithe,” after the owner of a hithe or wharf on this portion of the Thames bank in Anglo-Saxon days.

Sterling Money. That originally coined in this country by the “Esterlings,” the name given to the people of the Hanse Towns in the eastern portion of Germany, at the invitation of King John. The purity of the Esterling coinage was above reproach, whereas that of England anterior to the mission of the Hansa merchants to reform it had long become debased.