Part 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Greengrocer.= See “Grocer.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Grey Friars.= See “Franciscans.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

H

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

=Hack Author.= See “Hackney Coach.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=Hants.= See “Hampshire.”

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

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

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

=Hard pushed.= See “Hard up.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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