Part 14

The =Charterhouse=, originally a monastery of the Carthusians, is a corruption of _La Chartreuse_, the name of the district in France where this religious Order first came into existence. =Christ’s Hospital=, also known as the =Blue Coat School=, from the colour of the coats worn by the boys, retains the ancient designation of a church and school belonging to the Grey Friars. It is only in modern times, by the way, that the term =Hospital= has come to be exclusively applied in this country to a refuge for the sick. Properly understood, a hospital denotes a house intended for the reception and accommodation of travellers; the source of the word being the Latin _hospitalis_, pertaining to a guest, based upon _hospes_, a stranger, a guest, and from which we derive the word HOSPITALITY. The great Bernardine monastery on the summit of the Alps, devoted to the good work of rescuing snow-bound travellers, is appropriately denominated a =Hospice=, which answers to our Hospital. =St. Bartholomew’s Hospital= was founded by Rahare, a monk attached to the neighbouring Priory of St. Bartholomew in 1123; whereas =Guy’s Hospital= arose out of the bequest of £238,292, by the will of Thomas Guy, a benevolent bookseller of Lombard Street, who died in 1722. =Bedlam= is a contraction of =Bethlehem Hospital=, a lazar-house named after the Hospital of St. Mary at Bethlehem, and converted into a lunatic asylum in 1815. This was the common designation in ancient times for a refuge for the poor, the word =Bethlehem= expressing the Hebrew for “a house of bread”; but in more modern times the synonym =Lazar-house= was substituted in allusion to Lazarus, who picked up the crumbs under the table of Dives. A refuge for fallen women has always borne the name of a =Magdalen Hospital= in honour of Mary Magdalen.

=St. James’s Palace= marks the site of an ancient leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less, Bishop of Jerusalem. The present edifice was built by Henry VIII. in 1530. =Buckingham Palace= displaced old Buckingham House, the town mansion of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, in the year 1825. The total cost to the nation of this “desirable residence” was £1,000,000. =Marlborough House= was originally the town residence of John, Duke of Marlborough, erected by Sir Christopher Wren in 1709. =Somerset House= reverted to the Crown by the attainder of its owner, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, the Lord Protector of Edward VI., executed January 22, 1552. =Whitehall= received its name from the fresh appearance of its exterior as contrasted with the ancient buildings on the opposite side of the way. The present fabric, viz., =The Banquetting Hall=, is merely a vestige of the palace originally set apart by Cardinal Wolsey for the London See of York: whence he gave it the name of “York House.” The =Horse Guards= is so called because a troop of Horse Guards are regularly quartered here. =Dover House= was named after its owner, the Hon. George Agar Ellis, afterwards created Lord Dover; and =York House=, after the Duke of York and Albany who bought it in 1789. =Devonshire House=, Piccadilly, is the town residence of the Duke of Devonshire. =Apsley House=, Hyde Park Corner, well known as the residence of the Duke of Wellington, received its name from Henry Apsley, Lord Chancellor, afterwards created Lord Bathurst, who built it in 1784. =Chandos House=, Cavendish Square, was the residence of James Brydges, “the Princely Duke of Chandos.” The =Albany=, Piccadilly, perpetuates the memory of the Duke of York and Albany, who acquired it from Lord Melbourne in exchange for his older residence, York House, in Whitehall. =Burlington House=, the home of the Royal Academy of Arts and quite a number of learned societies, was built by Sir John Denham, the poet and judge, in 1718, and refronted by the celebrated amateur architect, Richard Boyle, Earl of Burlington and Cork, in 1731. This palatial edifice was purchased by the State in 1854. The =Soane Museum=, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, was the private collection of Sir John Soane, the architect and antiquary, who died in 1837. =The Rolls Chapel=, Chancery Lane, bears this name because it was annexed by patent to the office of the Master of the Rolls of Chancery after the banishment of the Jews from England in the year 1290. The history of the chapel dates from 1283, when Henry III. founded it for the reception of the Jewish rabbis converted to Christianity.

The =Painted Hall=, Greenwich Hospital, owes its name to its magnificently decorated ceiling. =Vanburgh Castle=, Blackheath, was built in the castellated style by Sir John Vanburgh, in 1717. =Rye House=, famous for being the scene of the conspiracy to assassinate Charles II., which was discovered June 12, 1683, is so called from the rye on which it stands; RYE being an Old English term for a common, derived from _ree_, a watercourse: hence PECKHAM RYE.

=Bruce Castle=, Tottenham, has a history all its own. The present structure dates back to the latter part of the seventeenth century; but the original building was erected by Earl Waltheof, whose marriage with Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror, brought him portions of the earldoms of Northumberland and Huntingdon. Their only daughter, Maud, on becoming the wife of David I., King of Scotland, placed him in possession of the Huntingdon estates, and, as appended to that property, the manor of Tottenham, in Middlesex. Ultimately these possessions descended to Robert Bruce, the brother of William III., King of Scotland. The contention between Robert Bruce and John Baliol for the Scottish throne being decided in favour of the latter, the former retired to England, and settling on his grandfather’s estate at Tottenham, repaired the castle to which he gave the name of “The Castle Bruce.” =Lincoln House=, Enfield, was the residence of the second and third Earls of Lincoln in the seventeenth century. =Sandford House=, Stoke Newington, is interesting as having been the residence of Thomas Day, the author of “Sandford and Merton” (born 1748, died 1789). =Cromwell House=, Highgate, now a Convalescent Hospital for sick children, was occupied for some time by Oliver Cromwell, who built =Ireton House=, close by, for Henry Ireton, his son-in-law, in 1630; while =Lauderdale House=, lately a Convalescent Home in connection with St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, was the residence of the Earls of Lauderdale during the seventeenth century. WATERLOW PARK, in this neighbourhood--in fact, comprising among other valuable property the grounds appertaining to Lauderdale House--was generously presented to the London public by Sir Sydney Waterlow, in November, 1890. The =Clock House=, Hampstead, originally displayed a clock in place of the present sun-dial. =Rosslyn House=, Hampstead, which gives the name to ROSSLYN HILL PARK, was erected by Alexander Wedderburn, first Earl of Rosslyn and Lord Chancellor of England, in 1795. =Erskine House=, Hampstead, adjoining “The Spaniards,” was the residence of Lord Erskine, Lord Chancellor of England, who died here in 1823.

=Strawberry Hill=, the celebrated palace of curiosities built by Horace Walpole in 1750, received its name from the rising ground upon which it stood. The building was sold by public auction, and purchased by Baron H. de Stein, in July, 1883. =Orleans House=, Twickenham, now a club, was named after Louis Philippe of France, who resided in it when he was simply Duc d’Orleans. =Essex House=, Putney, was one of the many residences of Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the favourite of Queen Elizabeth. =Bristol House=, Putney, was, until recently, the property of the Bristol family. =Craven Cottage=, Fulham, was built by the Countess of Craven, afterwards created Margravine of Anspach. =Munster House=, Fulham, derived its title from its one-time resident, Melesina Schulenberg, created Duchess of Munster in 1716. =Peterborough House=, Parson’s Green, was formerly the mansion of the Mordaunts, Earls of Peterborough. =Sussex House=, Hammersmith, was the favourite residence of the late Duke of Sussex. =Holland House=, Kensington, owes its name to Henry Rich, Earl of Holland, by whose father-in-law, Sir William Cope, it was built in 1607. Here Charles James Fox, the eminent orator and statesman (born 1749, died 1806), passed many of his earlier years; here also Joseph Addison, the poet and essayist, died in the year 1719.

The =Albert Hall=, =Albert Memorial=, =Albert Bridge=, and =Albert Palace=, each preserve the memory of the Prince Consort, whose death took place in 1861. The =Crystal Palace=, opened by the Queen, June 10, 1854, derived its title from its glass structure, which, when the sun shines upon it, glistens like crystal. The =Alexandra Palace= was named after the Princess of Wales, who was to have opened the original building, May 24, 1873; but, for some unexplained reason, she did not perform that ceremony. =Olympia=, opened December, 1886, is an appropriate designation for a huge edifice eminently adapted for every variety of popular amusement. The allusion is to Olympia, in Greece, where the celebrated “Olympian Games” were anciently held every fourth year. The =Polytechnic Institution=, Regent Street (now the Y. M. C. A.), was designated in strict conformity with its set purpose as an educational establishment, viz., from the two Greek words _polus_, many, and _techne_, an art. =St. George’s Hall= was originally, when opened in 1867, St. George’s Opera House, so styled because situated in the fashionable parish of St. George’s, Hanover Square. The =Egyptian Hall=, built in 1812, is a particularly well-chosen title; at least, it appears so at the present day, since the regular performances of those modern magicians, Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke, have long ago become one of the institutions, if not actually one of the sights, of the Metropolis. =St. James’s Hall= was named after the parish church just opposite. =Willis’s Rooms=, so called after their late proprietor, were originally opened by a Scotsman named Almack, under the style of =Almack’s Assembly Rooms=, February 12, 1765. =Exeter Hall= was built in the year 1830 in the grounds of Exeter House, which also gave the name to =Exeter ’Change=, erected in 1680 and pulled down in 1829 [_see_ EXETER STREET]. The world-famous waxworks exhibition known as =Madame Tussaud’s= retains the name of its foundress (born 1760, died 1850) who first set up her figures at the old Lyceum Theatre in 1802, and after undergoing a variety of misfortunes settled down permanently in Baker Street in the year 1833.

=Scotland Yard=, the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, received its name from an ancient palace erected on this spot for the accommodation of the Scottish kings in the days when they were annually required to pay homage to the Crown of England at Westminster. The first monarch so accommodated was Kenneth II. (died 854); the last was Margaret, Queen of Scots, the sister of Henry VIII. =Lord’s Cricket Ground=, familiarly styled =Lord’s=, owes its existence to Thomas Lord, who established, upon land of his own, first on the site of Dorset Square in 1780, and subsequently on its present site, the only cricketing ground where genteel players could meet to enjoy this game without fear of rubbing shoulders with the City apprentices. Previous to his enterprise the formation of a private Cricket Club had never been thought of. =Tattersall’s=, the well-known rendezvous for the sale of horses, was opened by Richard Tattersall near Hyde Park Corner in 1766, and removed to Knightsbridge April 10, 1865.

=Lloyd’s Rooms=, better known as =Lloyd’s=, derived this title from Edward Lloyd, a coffee-house keeper in Abchurch Lane, whose premises became the regular resort of merchants and others interested in shipping. The original location of a special office for the transaction of mercantile business over the Royal Exchange took place in 1775; but the name of the genial coffee-house keeper was by common consent transferred with it. On the destruction by fire of the first Royal Exchange, in 1838, “Lloyd’s” was temporarily removed until the completion of the present building in 1844.

The entrance to the privileged precincts of the Stock Exchange is called =Capel Court=, because it marks the residence of Sir William Capel, Lord Mayor of London in the year 1504. The term =Exchange= owes its origin to the French _echanger_, to trade, to barter. The object of the original =Royal Exchange=, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1506 and opened by Queen Elizabeth amid sundry public rejoicings over the event (which accounts for the prenomen “Royal”), January 31, 1571, was to provide a convenient place where the merchants, bankers, and brokers of the City could meet throughout the day for the transaction of business. The =Stock Exchange= is the great money mart of the world [_see_ STOCK in the article “MONEY”].

The =Bankers’ Clearing House=, in Lombard Street, is the establishment where all cheques, drafts, and bills drawn upon the various bankers are sorted, distributed, and balanced up. The =Railway Clearing House=, adjoining Euston Railway Station, is a similar establishment devoted to the adjustment of the value represented by the tickets issued by the different Railway Companies. In conclusion, the title of =Mansion House=, though somewhat suggestive of tautology, may be accepted as denoting _the_ house of all other houses, since it is the official residence of the Lord Mayor.

_CLASS NAMES AND NICKNAMES._

An unmarried female originally received the designation of =Spinster= from her employment at the distaff or spindle. According to the practical notions of our Anglo-Saxon forefathers, a female was not considered fit to enter the married state until she had made for herself a complete set of body, bed, and table-linen. Hence the significance of the term =Wife=, derived from the Anglo-Saxon _wif_, by virtue of the verb _wyfan_, to weave. The designation =Widow= is an Indo-European importation, derived from the Sanskrit _vid-hava_, without husband. =Grass Widow=, denoting a woman temporarily separated from her husband, is a corruption of “Grace Widow”--in other words, a widow by grace, or courtesy. The word =Chaperon= is French, derived from the chapeau, or cap, worn by the duennas of Spain. =Duenna=, signifying a guardian, is Spanish, founded upon the Latin _domina_, a mistress. The title of =Dowager=, which distinguishes a widow left with a jointure from the wife of her late husband’s heir, comes from the French _douairière_, built upon the verb _douaire_, to dower. The name of =Blue Stocking= arose from the colour of the stockings worn by the members of the lady clubs in England during the days of Boswell. Gentlemen were not excluded from these assemblies, but the wearing of blue stockings was a _sine quâ non_ of admittance. The last surviving member of the original BLUE STOCKING CLUB, founded by Mrs. Montague in 1780, died in 1840. The earliest Blue Stocking assembly came into existence at Venice, under the title of _Della Calza_ in the year 1400. A lady’s-maid is familiarly styled an =Abigail=, in allusion to the handmaid who introduced herself to David (1 _Samuel_ xxv. 23). This class-name came into particular prominence during the early part of the eighteenth century, in compliment to Abigail Hill, the maiden name of Mrs. Mashem, the waiting-woman of Queen Anne. A Parisian shop or work-girl is known as a =Grisette= on account of the grey cloth of which her dress is made. In olden times all inferior classes in France were expected to be clad in _gris_, _i.e._, grey. =Colleen= is the native Irish for girl; and =Colleen Bawn= for a blonde girl. How little the latter expression is understood by actresses is shown by the way in which some of them essay to impersonate (?) the heroine of Dion Boucicault’s well-known drama whilst wearing their own dark hair or a dark wig. Truly, a little knowledge is a useful thing!

As nowadays comprehended, a =Milliner= is one who retails hats, feathers, bonnets, ribbons, and similar appurtenances to female costume. The name is really a corruption of _Milaner_, alluding to the city of Milan, which at one time set the fashion to the north of Europe in all matters of taste and elegance. =Haberdasher= is a modern form of the Old English word _Hapertaser_, or a retailer of hapertas cloth, the width of which was settled by Magna Charta. =Grocer= is a contraction and modified spelling of =Engrosser=, the denomination of a tradesman who, in the Middle Ages, claimed a monopoly for the supply of provisions. A vendor of vegetables is appropriately called a =Greengrocer=. An innkeeper is facetiously styled a =Boniface= in honour of a devout and hospitable man whom St. Augustine caused to be canonized, and who subsequently became the patron saint of Germany. Shakespeare, Dante, Bacon, and Lamb never tired of referring to Boniface. =Ostler= is a corruption of the French _hostelier_, an innkeeper; hence we sometimes speak of an inn as a HOSTELRY. The term =Carpenter=, from the Latin _carpentum_, a waggon, originally denoted a mechanic who constructed the wooden body of a vehicle of any kind, as distinguished from the =Wheelwright=; but in process of time the same term came to be applied to artificers in timber generally. The provincial name for such a one is a =Joiner=, literally a joiner of wooden building materials. In some districts of England a shoemaker still bears the name of =Cordwainer=. Formerly all shoemakers were styled Cordwainers, because they were workers in CORDWAIN, a corruption of CORDOVAN, which was the name of a particular kind of leather brought from Cordova. The designation =Tailor= is an Anglicized form of the French _Tailleur_, derived from the verb _tailler_, to cut. [For =Tallyman= _see_ TALLY, in the article “MONEY.”] A Pawnbroker is familiarly called =Uncle=, in perpetuation of an ancient pun on the Latin word _uncus_, a hook. For, whereas in modern times the spout is employed as a means of communication between the pawnshop and the store-rooms overhead, the Roman pawnbrokers used a large hook; and accordingly, the expression “Gone to the _uncus_,” was equivalent to our slang phrase “Up the spout.” A =Barber= derives his class-title from the Latin _barba_, a beard. Rude and semi-civilized tribes were anciently called =Barbarians=, because they belonged to no order of society. Between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries the hairdressers of this country combined the practice of surgery, and were accordingly styled =Barber-Surgeons=. The surviving “Barber’s Pole” attests this fact. The separation of the two professions took place in 1540.

A shepherd or an ideal farmer bears the poetical description of an =Arcadian=, in allusion to the Arcadians, who were a pastoral people. A friendly adviser is designated a =Mentor=, in memory of the wise and faithful counsellor of Telemachus so named. The word =Usher= signifies a doorkeeper, agreeably to the Old French _huisher_, a door. =Bachelor= comes from the Welsh _bach_, small, young. This name originally meant one inexperienced in anything. The title of =Bachelor of Arts= denotes a degree next below that of =Master of Arts=.

=Beefeaters= is a vulgar perversion of _Buffetiers_, as the Yeoman of the Guard were styled during the reign of Henry VIII., on account of their attendance upon the King’s _Buffet_, or side-table. The word BUFFET is French, derived from the Spanish _búfia_, a wineskin. The civic guardians of law and order are denominated =Police= in accordance with the Greek _polis_, the city. For many years after the establishment of the Police through the measures of Sir Robert Peel (in Ireland, as the national constabulary in 1814; in London as a regular force in 1829), all =Policemen= were nicknamed =Bobbies= and =Peelers=, in allusion to their founder. =Bow Street Runners= were the original London detective force; so called because their headquarters was Bow Street, whence they were despatched to any part of the country in quest of the perpetrator of a particular crime. The predecessors of the Police were a set of decrepit old watchmen whose regular habit was to fall asleep in their boxes with their lanthorns beside them. These were derisively nicknamed =Old Charlies=; while their natural enemies, who loved nothing so much as to turn their boxes upon them, to molest defenceless females, mutilate males, and in many other ways to terrorize the peaceable inhabitants of the Metropolis, styled themselves first of all =Scourers=, and at a later date =Mohocks=, after the North American Indian tribe of that name. During the years 1859 and 1860 an even more grievous terror haunted the streets of London in the persons of =The Garrotters=, so called from the _Garrotte_, the instrument with which condemned malefactors are strangled in Spain. The punishment of the “cat o’ nine tails” for “Garrotting,” which came into operation July 13, 1861, gradually put an end to the practice. The latest terror of the streets which, unhappily, abounds in American cities, are the =Sandbaggers=, so called because they stun their victims with an ordinary sand-bag, such as is used to keep the draught from penetrating between a pair of window-sashes; after which robbery becomes an easy matter.

Pleasanter it is to turn from the birds of night to the fops and dandies by day. The word =Fop= comes from the German _foppen_, to make a fool of; and =Dandy= from the French _dandin_, a ninny. Between these two poor specimens of humanity there is no perceptible difference. The =Macaronies= of the last century derived their designation from the fashionable “Macaroni Clubs” to which they belonged. The modern class-title of =Masher= finds its origin in the Romany or gipsy word _mâsha_, signifying “to fascinate the eye.” _En passant_, the term =Gipsy= is a corruption of _Egyptian_, so called because the original family or tribe of low caste Hindoos expelled by Timour about the year 1399 eventually travelled into Europe by way of Egypt. The =Gipsies= were also in former times known as =Bohemians=, from the district in which they first attracted popular attention before they scattered themselves over Western Europe. Hence, any individual whose habits are unconventual, and to a certain extent nomadic, is styled a =Bohemian=. The name of =The Upper Ten= applied to the aristocracy, is short for “The Upper Ten Thousand,” a term originally applied by N. P. Willis, the American poet (born 1807, died 1867), to the fashionables of New York who, at the time he introduced it, numbered about ten thousand. A distinctly latter-day expression conveying much the same signification is =The Four Hundred=, by which we are left to conclude that the “select” society of New York must have undergone a considerable weeding-out during the last twenty years.

The temperance terms =Teetotal= and =Teetotaler= originated in the stuttering exhortation of one Richard Turner, an artizan of Preston, who, while addressing a meeting of abstainers in September, 1833, observed that “Nothing but t-t-t-total abstinence will do!” Several bodies of total abstainers from alcoholic beverages in England and America style themselves =Rechabites=, after the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who lived in tents and foreswore wine. Others rejoice in the name of =Good Templars=, after the Templars of old. The =Good Templar Movement= cannot be accurately described as a _crusade_ against drink; but the =League of the Cross=, established by the Roman Catholics for the total suppression of drunkenness, is, in title and in fact, one of the most powerful crusades ever distinguished in modern times.