Part 8

The =Chartists= constituted an enormous body of the people of this country who, soon after the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832, loudly clamoured for “The People’s Charter,” of which the six principal points were these:--Universal Suffrage, Vote by Ballot, Annual Parliaments, Payment of the Members, Abolition of the Property Qualification, and the Equalization of Electorial Rights. William Lovett, the author of this document, died in August, 1877. The English war party, who sided with the Turks in the Russo-Turkish struggle of 1878 received the nickname of =Jingoes=, or =The Jingo Party=, from the chorus of Macdermott’s famous music-hall song, commencing--

“We don’t want to fight, but, _by Jingo_, if we do!”

“Jingo” is a corruption of _Jainko_, the Basque term for God. Hence the expression, “By Jingo!” is properly a direct appeal to the Deity. A =Protectionist= is one who advocates the protection of home-produce and manufactures against foreign competition by the imposition of import duties.

_FLOWERS._

The name of =Forget-me-not= originated in the following legend:--A German knight and his lady were walking on the bank of the Danube, when the fair one saw a beautiful tuft of _Myosotis palustris_ growing in the water, and expressed a wish to have it. With chivalrous alacrity the knight at once plunged into the river and gathered his prize; but before he could regain the steep and slippery bank, encumbered as he was by his heavy armour, he was drawn by the treacherous eddy into a deep pool. Finding he could not save himself, he threw the flowers ashore to his mistress as he sank, and uttered with his last breath the words “_Vergess mein nicht!_” (“Forget-me-not!”) Hence this flower has come to be universally regarded as the emblem of fidelity.

=Mignonette=, the diminutive of _Mignon_, the French for “darling,” is so called on account of its delicate fragrance. The =Carnation= owes its name to the Latin _caro_, flesh, in relation to its colour. =Geranium= comes from the Greek and Latin _geranos_, a crane; this genus of plants having a beak-like torus, or receptacle. It is also known as =Crane’s-bill= for the same reason. =Pansy= is an Anglicized form of the French _pensée_, “thoughts,” this being the sentiment expressed by the flower.

The =Camellia= was named after G. J. Camelli, the German botanist and missionary (died 1690), by whom it was introduced into Europe from the East; the =Dahlia=, after Andrew Dahl, the Swedish botanist, who discovered it in Mexico in 1784; and the =Fuchsia=, after Leonard Fuchs, who brought it from Mexico about the year 1542. The =Victoria Regia= was so called because it was introduced into this country from British Guiana soon after the accession of Queen Victoria. The =Adonis= is said to have sprung out of the blood of Adonis, the beautiful youth who was gored to death by a boar; and the =Hyacinth= is supposed to have originated in a similar manner after Hyacinth had fallen a victim to the jealousy of Zephyr. The =Aspasia= bears the name of Aspasia of Miletus, the mistress of Pericles. The term =Orchid= comes from the Greek _orchis_, a testicle, all plants of this family being distinguished by double testicles. The =Sweetbriar= is literally a “fragrant thorn”; the =Lilac= betrays its Eastern origin in the Turkish _leilak_, and Persian _lilaj_; while the term =Lavender= is derived from the Latin _lavere_, to wash, because the essential oil obtained from this shrub enters into the composition of a favourite scent.

The =Dog-rose= was so called by the Greeks from the belief that the root of this particular rose-tree was efficacious in curing the bite of a mad dog. The =Damask-rose= was brought to England from Damascus by Dr. Linacre in 1540. The =Cabbage-rose= is thick and compact like a cabbage. The =Christmas-rose= makes its appearance about Christmas-time. The word =Primrose=, agreeably to the Latin _prima rosa_, signifies the first rose, or flower, of spring.

The =Mayflower=, otherwise the =Hawthorn=, the Anglo-Saxon for “hedge-thorn,” appears in flower in the month of May, while =Gilly-flower= is merely a corruption of “July flower.” The =Tiger-flower= is streaked like a tiger. =Daffodil= is a corruption of “d’Asphodele,” the French name of this flower. =Hollyhock= is not “Holy Oak,” but the Anglo-Saxon _holi-hoc_, or marsh mallow. The =Noon-tide=, or =Noon-flower=, closes its petals at noon; the =Convolvulus=, so called from the Latin _con_, together, and _volvere_, to roll, does the like at sunset, in common with the ordinary field =Daisy=, which owes its name, a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon _doeges-eaye_, literally “the day’s eye,” to this circumstance. The =Buttercup= was originally so designated in accordance with an old-established idea that the yellow hue of butter was attributable to the fact of these flowers being eaten by cattle. However, as the buttercups are invariably avoided by the cattle, the proverbial wisdom of our forefathers must for once in a way be discredited. =Cowslip= is a corruption of “cows’ leek.”

The very common supposition that the =Sunflower= inclines towards the sun is entirely erroneous, as has been proved by observation. This flower merely takes its name from its form and colour. On the other hand, if its etymology be correct, the =Heliotrope= does actually turn towards the sun, the word _helios_ being Greek for sun, and _tropos_, to turn. The =Goldylocks= is so called on account of its tufts of yellow flowers; whereas the =Marigold=, which bears yellow flowers, was named in honour of Queen Mary. Both these, with the Sunflower, belong to the =Chrysanthemum= (Greek _chrusos_, gold, and _anthemos_, flower) family. The word =Rhododendron=, we may add, comes from the Greek _rhodon_, rose, and _dendron_, tree.

The =Passion-flower= symbolizes in its tints and several parts the various attributes of Christ’s Passion, as follows:--The white tint, purity; the blue tint, heaven; the leaf, the spear; the five anthers, the five wounds; the tendrils, the whips and cords; the column of the ovary, the pillar of the cross; the stamens, the hammers; the three styles, the nails; the fleshy thorns within the flowers, the crown of thorns; the calyx, the nimbus, or glory. In addition to the foregoing the passion-flower remains open for three days, and this is supposed to correspond with the three years’ ministry of the Redeemer.

Lastly, the flower known as the =Stock= received its name from the fact that it was principally sold in the old STOCKS MARKET displaced by the building of the present Mansion House in the year 1737; the market itself having derived its title from a pair of stocks that stood there.

_THE BIBLE._

In the estimation of many millions of human beings the Bible is very properly regarded as the “Book of Books.” And a Book of Books it truly is; not only THE Book above all others, but comprising a number of distinct works from the pens of various Inspired Writers according to the Old Law and the New. For this reason precisely the earliest Saxon version of the Sacred Volume was called the =Bible= in accordance with the Greek and Latin word _biblia_, the plural of _biblion_, a book, derived from biblos, the inner bark of the papyrus, which was the first kind of writing material known. “Bible,” therefore, is a collective term for the =Scriptures=, which designation comes from the Latin _scriptura_, a writing, based upon the verb _scribere_, to write. Here, again, note the correct use of the plural.

The original translation of the Hebrew Testament into Greek, about the year 260 B.C., bore the title of the =Septuagint= because it employed the labours of seventy, or rather of seventy-two, translators. More than six hundred years afterwards, viz., in the Year of Our Lord 405, when St. Jerome (born 346, died 420) rendered the whole of the Scriptures--to be sure the New Testament had not an existence at the time of the Greek translation--into the Latin tongue, his performance was styled the _Vulgatus_, or =Vulgate=, from _vulgare_, to make known to the _vulgus_, the multitude. This =Latin Vulgate= constitutes the Bible of the Roman Catholics as authorized by the Council of Trent in the year 1546. It was first printed for the use of the Christian world generally in 1462. The English translation of the Old Testament portion of the Vulgate bears the title of the =Douay Bible= because it was first printed and published at the English College at Douay, in France, in 1609. The New Testament portion, known as the =Rheims Bible=, was issued at Rheims twenty-seven years earlier, viz., in 1582.

The =Authorized Version= of the Bible appointed to be read in the Church of England is called =King James’s Bible=, after James I., who ordered it to be prepared, and in whose reign (in the year 1611) it was first given to the people. The =Bishops’ Bible=, published in parts between 1568 and 1572, derived its name from the seven bishops that assisted Archbishop Parker with his revision of =Cranmer’s Bible=, otherwise =The Great Bible=, so called because Archbishop Cranmer’s version of the text, published in 1539, was of large size, specially printed for the purpose of being displayed and read by the people in the churches. To the 1540 edition of this version Cranmer prefixed a lengthy Introduction. One of the earliest Latin Bibles, printed by Gutenberg between the years 1450 and 1455, and, indeed, one of the earliest perfect printed books from separate types, is known as the =Mazarin Bible=, from a copy being discovered in Cardinal Mazarin’s library. The =Pearl Bible= was so called because it was printed in pearl type by Field in 1653. The =Geneva Bible=, printed at Geneva in 1560, also bears the singular title of the =Breeches Bible=, owing to the substitution of the word “breeches” for “aprons” in _Genesis_ iii. 7. Similarly, the =Vinegar Bible= is indebted for its title to the misprinting of the word “vineyard” in the running headline to _Luke_ xx. at the Clarendon Press in 1717; the =Beer Bible=, to the substitution of the words “the beer” for “strong drink” in the twenty-fourth chapter of _Isaiah_, ninth verse; the =Treacle Bible=, to the rendering of the passage, “Is there no balm in Gilead?” into “There is no more triacle at Gilaad” (_Jeremiah_ viii. 22); the =Whig Bible=, to the misprinting of the word “peacemakers,” so that the sentence reads, “Blessed are the placemakers”; the =Wicked Bible=, from the omission of a word in _Exodus_ xx. 14, which caused the verse to read, “Thou shalt commit adultery”; and the =Bug Bible=, printed by John Daye in 1551, from the peculiar rendering of the fifth verse in _Psalm_ xci., which reads, “So thou shalt not need to be afraid for any _bugs_ by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day.” The first edition of the Authorized Version is called the =“He” Bible=, because it contains a misprint in _Ruth_ iii. 15, the passage reading, “And he went into the city.” A subsequent issue published in the same year, in which the mistake is rectified, is known as the =“She” Bible=. The =Virginia Bible= is a rare version of the Scriptures translated into the native language of the North American Indians of Virginia. The first edition of this Bible was printed in 1661-3, copies of which are said to be worth £200.

The first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses bear the collective title of the =Pentateuch= on account of the two Greek words _penta_, five, and _teuchos_, an implement, a tool, alluding to the Books being the direct instrument of communication between God and His people. The titles of these five Books themselves are as follows:--=Genesis=, which expresses the Greek for origin or production, describes the history of the world from its beginning; =Exodus=, derived from _ex_, out, and _odus_, a way, narrates the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt; =Leviticus= sets forth the regulations affecting the priests and Levites; =Numbers= contains the census of the Israelites; and =Deuteronomy=, from the Greek _deuteros_, second, and _nomos_, law, comprises the second giving of the Law by Moses.

The designation =Apocrypha=, signifying hidden or spurious, is applied to those Books whose authenticity as Inspired Writings is not admitted; in other words, to those portions of the Scriptures which, inasmuch as they do not establish any doctrine, are not held to be canonical, yet are such as, in the words of the Prayer Book, “the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners.” On the other hand, the =Apocalypse=, signifying disclosure, is synonymous with the “Book of Revelation,” and specifically applies to the concluding Book of the Bible.

_WINES._

With one or two exceptions only, the different kinds of wines owe their names to the places where they are produced. Thus, =Burgundy= and =Champagne= respectively come from the French provinces, =Pontac= from the town, and =Moselle= from the vineyards extensively cultivated on the banks of the river, so designated. Rhenish wines are popular all over Europe; yet none are probably more celebrated than the =Johannisberg=, produced at the Castle of Johannisberg (literally, John’s Rock), near Wiesbaden, and =Hock=, produced at Hockheim. Among Italian wines, =Florence= comes from the historic “City of Flowers,” whereas =Falernian=, celebrated by Martial, Horace, and other Latin authors, was made from grapes grown in the district around the ancient city of Falernum. A justly celebrated Tuscan wine is the =Montepulciano=, produced at the old city so denominated. As its name implies, =Malaga= is imported from Malaga, in Spain; =Sherry= is our English rendering of the place-name Xeres, near Cadiz; while =Port= constitutes the native wine of Oporto, the capital of Portugal. Of Mediterranean wines, =Cyprus=, brought from the now British island of that name, and =Malmsey=, an English corruption of =Malvasia=, so termed after the district in the island of Candia, where it is produced, are the chief. =Madeira= and =Canary= are imported from the islands so called, situated on the great ocean highway to the Cape of Good Hope. An excellent wine greatly sought after on the Continent, though somewhat unknown in this country, is =Tokay=, produced from white grapes cultivated in the district of Tokay, Upper Hungary. =Claret= owes its designation to the French _clair_, clear, because it is a clarified wine; whereas =Tent Wine= is a mere corruption of the Spanish _vino tinto_, signifying a white wine coloured. The sparkling champagne known as =Sillery= popularizes the name of the Marquis de Sillery, the proprietor of the vineyards where this particular species is produced; just as =Pommery= is destined to perpetuate the memory of Madame Pommery, mother to the Duchess de Polignac, and sole proprietress of the vineyards and subterranean Pommery vaults near Rheims. =Moet and Chandon= similarly denotes the champagne brewed by the well-known French firm trading under the style of “Moet et Chandon.”

Among concoctions of the vinous order we have =Hippocras=, so called because it is said to have been first made according to the recipe of Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine; =Badminton=, originally prepared at Badminton, the seat of the Duke of Beaufort; and =Negus=, named after Colonel Francis Negus, who invented it. Formerly, our countrymen set great store by =Sack=, which was simply the designation of a dry wine, derived from the French word _sec_, dry. Wine is said to be a =Dry Wine= when it is neither sweet nor sparkling. It cannot be sweet because, the fermentation being complete, the sugar contained in it is fully decomposed; moreover, it is dry because the carbonic acid has escaped. For the like reason, a certain evidence that port wine has completed the process of fermentation is the collection of tartar in the interior of the bottle, forming a crust; hence the term =Crusted Port=. A very bad wine of whatever kind usually bears the name of =Three Men Wine=, owing to the idea that it requires one man to hold the drinker, and another to pour it down his throat, while the third is the unfortunate individual himself. The derivation of the term =Wine= is the Anglo-Saxon _vin_ from the Latin _vinum_, allied to _vinea_, a vine.

_LITERARY SOBRIQUETS._

Gildas, the earliest chronicler of British history (born 511, died 570), was surnamed =The Wise= on account of his learning, which must have excited the wonder of the semi-barbarian inhabitants of these islands in the sixth century. Later, the Saxon historian Beda, incorrectly called Bede (born 673, died 735), was surnamed =The Venerable= because he was also an ecclesiastic. Approaching more modern times, we meet with John White, a Nonconformist lawyer, who, in consequence of being the author of a work entitled “The First Century of Scandalous, Malignant Priests, made and admitted into Benefices by the Prelates, &c.,” merited the popular description of =Century White=. Still nearer our own day, Matthew Gregory Lewis (born 1775, died 1818) became the recipient of the name of =Monk Lewis=, after the publication of his famous novel, “The Monk”; just as John Thomas Smith, the antiquary (born 1766, died 1833), was indebted to his chatty, albeit valuable work, “A Book for a Rainy Day,” for his sobriquet of =Rainy-Day Smith=.

Turning to the poets, John Sylvester, the translator of Du Barta’s “Divine Weeks and Works” (born 1563, died 1613), is popularly referred to as =Silver-tongued Sylvester= on account of the sweet melody of his verse. John Taylor, =The Water Poet= (born 1580, died 1654), was a Thames waterman; James Hogg, =The Ettrick Shepherd= (born 1772, died 1835), followed the employment of a shepherd in the forest of Ettrick, Selkirkshire; and Edward Capern, =The Bidëford Postman= (born 1819), was for several years a letter-carrier in the little town of Bidëford, Devonshire. Nathaniel Lee (born 1655, died 1691) received the name of =The Mad Poet= from the fact of his four years’ confinement in a mad-house. =The Quaker Poet= was Bernard Barton, the friend of Charles Lamb (born 1784, died 1849); while Samuel Rogers, =The Banker Poet= (born 1763, died 1855), divided his time pleasantly between the counting-house and the study. Thomas Moore (born 1779, died 1852) merited the style of =Anacreon Moore= by his translations from the Greek poet Anacreon, and the circumstance that his own original verses were constructed upon the same classic model. Richard Horne, the poet and critic (born 1802, died 1884), was known as =Orion Horne=, and also as =The Farthing Poet=, on account of his principal work “Orion,” published at one farthing, as a satire on the poverty of the book-buying public.

Sir Walter Scott (born 1771, died 1832) was surnamed =The Wizard of the North= owing to the magic influence which he exerted over all classes of the people, and the widespread fascination of his novels; while Henry Mackenzie, the author of “The Man of Feeling” (born 1745, died 1831), enjoyed the signal honour of being designated =The Addison of the North=, owing to the purity and excellence of his style. No more flattering recognition of the genius of William Wordsworth (born 1770, died 1850) could ever have been desired than the title of =The Minstrel of the Border=, bestowed upon him by Sir Walter Scott. =The Corn Law Rhymer= was Ebenezer Elliott (born 1781, died 1849) who, by the dedication of his numerous versified philippics to the opponents of Free Trade, indirectly, if not directly, prepared the way for the repeal of the obnoxious Corn Laws in the year 1846. Reference to the word “Philippics” carries us back in imagination to Demosthenes, who directed one of his most famous orations against Philip, King of Macedon; hence, any indignant invective or vehement denunciation is characteristically styled a PHILIPPIC.

_THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES._

=Northumberland= originally denoted the land north of the Humber; =Cumberland=, the land occupied by the Cymri; and =Westmoreland=, the land of the Westmorings, or people of the Western moors. =Durham= is a corruption of _Dunholm_, signifying a hill-fort on an island in the river; _dun_ being Celtic for a hill, or fort on a hill, and _holm_ the Scandinavian for an island. The Shire, or County, of =York=, in common with the majority of the Midland and Welsh counties, is named after its chief town; or rather, in this case, the ancient city described in documents as _Eurewic_, but pronounced _Yorric_, from its position on the river Eure, now known as the Ouse.

=Lancashire= indicates the Shire of =Lancaster=, the _caester_, or camp-town, on the Lune. This Anglo-Saxon word _Caester_, derived from the Latin _castra_, a camp, fortress, appears also in the names of =Cheshire=, a contraction of _Caestershire_, the Shire of =Chester=, the town built on the site of the old Roman _castra_, or camp; in =Leicestershire=, the Shire of the camp-town on the river _Leire_, now called the Soar; in =Worcestershire=, the Shire of _Hwic-ware-shire_, or fortress-town, of the Huiccii; and in =Gloucestershire=, the Shire of the camp-town in which _Gloi_, a son of the Emperor Claudius, was born during the Roman occupation of Britain.

=Lincoln= is a contraction of the Latin _Lindumcolonia_, signifying the colony formed by the Romans on the _Llyn-dun_, literally “the fortified hill by the pool,” originally occupied and so called by the ancient Britons [_see_ LONDON]. The names =Norfolk= and =Suffolk= respectively indicate those portions of the eastern coast settled by the Angles, who separated into two distinct tribes, viz., the north folk and the south folk. =Essex= is a contraction of _East-seaxe_, denoting the territory occupied by the East Saxons; =Sussex=, of _Suth-seaxe_, or South Saxons; and =Middlesex=, of _Middle-seaxe_, or the inhabitants of the district between Essex and =Wessex=, the land of the West Saxons, which, under the Heptarchy, extended to the westward as far as Devon. =Surrey= is a modification of the Anglo-Saxon _Suth-rey_, south of the river, _i.e._, the Thames. =Kent= was formerly _Cantium_, indicating the land bestowed upon Canute, one of the companions of Brute, an early King of Britain, who, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth, settled in England and eventually founded the Danish dynasty.

=Hampshire=, also written =Hants=, expresses the Shire of _Hantone_, or _Hantune_, now known as =Southampton=, the south town on the river Ant, or Southampton Water. =Dorset= was originally _Dwrset_, a compound of the Celtic _dwr_, water, and the Anglo-Saxon _set_, a settlement, alluding to the early settlement of this district by a tribe of Britons who styled themselves _Dwr-trigs_, or “water-dwellers.” =Somerset= is a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon _Suthmorset_, literally “the south-moor-settlement.” =Devon= is a modified form of _Dwfuient_, the Celtic for “the deep valleys.” An earlier name for this portion of Britain was _Damnonia_, the territory of the Damnonii, a Celtic tribe. =Cornwall= denotes the territory of the “foreigners in the horn,” agreeably to the Latin _cornu_, a horn, referring to its numerous promontories, and its inhabitants the _Wahl_, the Saxon term for “foreigners.” Like Wales, this portion of our island was never invaded by the Anglo-Saxons; consequently its people, the Cymri, a branch of the Celts, were left in undisturbed possession [_see_ WALES]. The Duchy of Cornwall is still included in the Principality of Wales. =Wiltshire= only partly expresses the Shire of =Wilton=, a contraction of _Willy-town_, or the town on the river Willy. =Berkshire= is a modern spelling of the Anglo-Saxon _Bearoc-scire_, “forest shire,” in allusion to the forest districts of Bagshot and Windsor; while =Buckingham= was originally described as _Boccenham_, the Anglo-Saxon for “beech-tree-home,” this county being especially noted for its beeches.