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Things Not Generally Known
A Miss is as good as a Mile. This is handed down in a tale by Turpin, of two friends, Amis (or Amys) and Amile (or Amyle), who are supposed to have lived in the reign of King Pepin, Either was ready to die for the other at any time. Amile risked his life to save the life and fortune of his friend Amis; the latter sacrificed his children to cure Amile of leprosy by anointing him with their blood.
Apostle Spoons. Called also "Gossip Spoons," were gilt spoons given by sponsors or "gossips," to a child at christening. Each spoon had the figure of an apostle on the handle. Rich people gave the twelve apostles, others gave the four evangelists; poor people gave one, generally with the figure of the donor's or the childs' patron saint.
Before you can say Jack Robinson. This arose from the eccentricities of a very active gentleman named John Robinson, who would call upon his neighbors, and be off before his name could be announced, generally before the knocker was answered.
Called over the Coals. Originally "hauled over the coals," derived from the ordeal by fire in early days, one form of which consisted in making the accused walk over burning coals. This method of persuasion was often employed to get money from Jews by the kings and barons of early centuries.
Chemist's Bottles. Ancient Moorish chemists in Arabia and old Spain used bottles of similar shape as retorts, receivers, etc., and these vessels becoming connected in the minds of the people with the men who used them, became the signs of the dwelling-place of a chemist or alchemist.
Cock and Bull Story. This expression is derived from the Bulls issued by the pope, these documents being so named from the bulla or seal attached to them, which bore the impression of a figure of St. Peter, accompanied by a cock. Hence the term, a "cock and bull affair."
Crocodile's Tears. This expression seems to have originated in a tale of a crocodile, who, finding itself unable to swallow the head of a man after devouring the body, bewailed with big tears his inability to conclude the meal. Davy Jones' Locker. The sailor's name for the sea, because the dead are thrown there. Davy is a corruption of "duffy," by which name ghosts or spirits are known among the West Indian negroes, and Jones is a corruption of the name of Jonah, who was thrown into the sea. Locker, in seamen's parlance, means any receptacle for private stores.
Dixie. An imaginary place, somewhere in the Southern States of America, celebrated in a popular negro melody as a perfect paradise of luxurious ease and enjoy- The term is often used as a collective designation of the Southern ment.
States.
Don Juan. (Sp. Pron. Don Hoo-an.) A mythical personage who figures largely in drama, melodrama, and romance, as the type of refined libertinism. Dun. This expression originated from one Joe Dun, a famous baliff of the town of Lincoln, who so actively followed creditors that his name passed into a proverb.
Echo. (Lat. Pron. E'ko. Gr. and Rom. Myth.) An Oread who fell desperately in love with Narcissus. As her love was not returned, she pined away in grief until there remained nothing but her voice.
El Dorado. (Sp. the golden land.) A name given by the Spaniards to an imaginary country, supposed, in the sixteenth century, to be situated in the interior of South America, between the rivers Orinoco and Amazon, and to abound in gold and all manner of precious stones. Expeditions were fitted out for the purpose of discovering this fabulous region; and, though all such attempts proved abortive, the rumors of its existence continued to be believed down to the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Fair Maid of Kent. Joan, only daughter or Edmond Plantagenet, Earl of Kent, so called on account of her great beauty. She was married three times: first, to William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, from whom she was divorced; secondly, to Sir Thomas Holland; thirdly, after his death, to her second cousin, Edward, the Black Prince, under a dispensation from the Pope, rendered necessary by reason of their consanguinity. By the prince she was mother of Richard II., in whose reign she died.
Falstaff, Sir John. A famous character in Shakespeare's comedy of the "Merry Wives of Windsor," and in the first and second parts of his historical drama, "Henry the IV.;" the most perfect comic portrait that was ever drawn by the pen of genius.
Father of Ridicule. A name sometimes given to Francois Rabelais (1483-1553), the first noteworthy comic romancer of modern times, and the most original and remarkable of all humorists.
First Gentleman of Europe. A title given by many, during his lifetime, to King George IV. of England (1762-1830), on account of his position and personal attractions.
Flying Dutchman. The name given by sailors to a spectral ship, which is supposed to cruise in storms off the Cape of Good Hope, and the sight of which is considered the worst of all possible omens. She is distinguished from earthly vessels by bearing a press of sail when all others are unable, from stress of weather, to show an inch of canvas. The cause of her wanderings is variously explained. According to one account, a Dutch captain, bound home from the Indies, met with long continued head-winds and heavy weather off the Cape of Good Hope, and refused to put back, as he was advised to do, swearing a very profane oath that he would beat round the cape if he had to beat there until the day of Judgment. He was taken at his word, and doomed to beat against head-winds all his days. His sails are believed to have become thin and sere, his ship-sides white with age, and himself and crew reduced almost to shadows. He cannot heave to or lower a boat, but sometimes hails vessels through his trumpet, and requests them to take letters home for him. The superstition has its origin, probably, in the looming, or apparent suspension in the air, of some ship out of sight-a phenomenon sometimes witnessed at sea, and caused by unequal refraction in the lower strata of the atmosphere.
Fra Diavolo. (It. "Brother Devil.") A soubriquet of Michele Pezza (1760-1806), a native of Calabria. According to some accounts, he was in early life a goatherd, afterward a monk, under the name of Fra Angelo; he afterwards joined a band of robbers, of which he soon became the leader. Frey. (Scand. Myth) The god of the sun and of rain, and hence of fertility and peace. He was one of the most popular of the northern divinities. Garden of the World. A name frequently given to the vast country, comprising more than 1,200,000 square miles, which is drained by the Mississippi and its tributaries-a region of almost unexampled fertility. "Golden Age" and "Iron Age." The Elizabethan was the Golden Age of England, the Victorian is the Iron Age, the Silver Age was the reign of Queen Anne. The first named period was noted for giants of literature, simplicity of manners, integrity of conduct, honesty of intention, and domestic virtues. The second is an age of commerce and hard matter-of-fact. The third was noted for elegant refinement, delicacy of speech, luxurious living, politeness, and artificial manners. "Go to Halifax." Halifax law was, that the criminal should be "condemned first, and inquired upon after." Halifax also has the credit of inventing the rude guillotine of Maunaye, and easily became a place of terror to rogues. In the United
States it is now used as a coarse expletive, Halifax, i. e. Hell. Great or Grand Mogul. The title by which the chief of the Moguls, or of the empire founded in Hindostan by Baber in the fifteenth century, was known in Europe. The last person to whom this title of right belonged was Shah Allum, at whose death, in 1806, the Mogul empire came to an end. Grin like a Cheshire Cat. This is attributed to the fruitless attempts of a sign painter of Cheshire to represent a lion rampant, the crest of one of the leading families.
It is also said to be derived from cheese made in Cheshire being moulded in the form of a cat.
Heep, Uriah. A detestable character in Dicken's novel of "David Copperfield," who, under the garb of the most abject humility, conceals a diabolic hatred and malignity.
Heir of the Republic. A name given to Napoleon Bonaparte, "the plebeian child of the Revolution," who, in 1799, by a bold coup d'etat overthrew the Directory and made himself First Consul of France, with sovereign powers; and who, in 1804, assumed the title of Emperor, and destroyed the last vestiges of democracy and freedom. "Helter Skelter." Derived probably from the expression "There they go! Helder Skelder," referring to the Spanish Armada retreating north to the Helder, and south to the Schelt (Dutch, Skelder).