Part 26
=Theobalds Road.= So called because James I. was wont to pass along it on the way to his favourite hunting-seat at Theobalds in Hertfordshire. See “Kingsgate Street.”
=Thespian Art.= After Thespis, the Father of the Greek Drama.
=Thirteen Cantons.= A tavern sign off Golden Square, complimentary to the Cantons of Switzerland, at a time when Soho was as much a Swiss colony as it is now French.
=Thomas Street.= In honour of Thomas Guy, the founder of the Hospital, also named after him.
=Thomists.= Those who accepted the teaching of St Thomas Aquinas, in opposition to that of John Duns Scotus relative to the Immaculate Conception.
=Threadneedle Street.= A corruption of, first, “Thridneedle,” and later “Three-Needle” Street, so called from the arms of the Needlemakers’ Company.
=Three Chairmen.= A tavern sign in Mayfair, this house being the regular resort of gentlemen’s servants in the days when sedan-chairs were fashionable.
=Three Exes.= The nickname of the 30th Regiment of Foot (XXX).
=Three Kings.= An inn sign derived from the Magi or Three Wise Men who came to adore the new-born Saviour at Bethlehem.
=Three Men Wine.= The name borne by a very bad wine which requires two men to hold the victim, while a third pours it down his throat.
=Three Nuns.= A tavern sign in Aldgate, reminiscent of the neighbouring priory of the Nuns of St Clare in ancient times.
=Three Suns.= An inn sign derived from the device of Edward IV. as King of England.
=Throgmorton Street.= After the wealthy London banker, Sir Nicholas Throgmorton.
=Throw up the Sponge.= Originally a boxing expression. When a prize-fighter had been badly bruised in the first round he often declined the sponge offered to him by his second, or, in a sudden fit, threw it up in the air, declaring he had had enough of it; hence to “throw up the sponge” is to acknowledge oneself beaten.
=Thundering Legion.= The name ever afterwards borne by that Roman legion which, A.D. 179, overthrew the power of the Alemanni by defeating them during a thunderstorm, which was thought to have been sent to them in answer to the prayers of the Christians.
=Thurlow Place.= After Lord Chancellor Thurlow, whose residence was in Great Ormond Street, close by.
=Thursday.= The day of Thor, the God of Thunder, in the Scandinavian mythology.
=Tied House.= A public-house owned or financed by a firm of brewers, with the result that the nominal landlord is not allowed to replenish his stock from any other brewer.
=Tierra del Fuego.= Spanish for “land of fire,” so called from a volcano on the largest island which throws up flame and smoke visible a very great distance out at sea.
=Tight.= Intoxicated, because a person in this state generally clutches tight hold of a street lamppost or a convenient railing when unable to walk home after a debauch.
=Tighten your Purse Strings.= See “Purse Strings.”
=Tilbury.= The ancient form of the name of the village two miles west of Tilbury Fort was _Tillaburgh_, after one Tilla, a Saxon, of whom, however, nothing is now known. A small two-wheeled gig without a cover is called a Tilbury, after a London sportsman who introduced it nearly a century ago.
=Tinker.= A corruption of “tinner,” or tin-worker. This has given rise to the verb “to tinker,” which meant originally to hammer lightly at a thing after the style a tinman, without being able to repair it in a thoroughly workman-like manner.
=Tintoretto.= The better known name of the famous Italian painter, Jacopo Robusti, because his father was a _tintore_, or dyer.
=Tobacco.= From _tobaco_, the inhaling tube of the North American Indians. By the Spaniards alone has the original spelling of the name, now given universally to the fragrant weed itself, been preserved.
=Tobago Island.= So called by Columbus on account of its resemblance to the inhaling tube of the Indians, the _tobaco_.
=Toddy.= From the Hindoo _taudi_, a stimulating beverage made from the juice of various palm-trees.
=Toff.= A vulgar corruption of the University term “Tuft,” a young nobleman who pays high fees and is distinguished by a golden tuft or tassel on his cap.
=Toggery.= A term derived from the same source as “Togs.”
=Togs.= Slang for clothes, but originally derived from _toga_, the characteristic male garment of the Romans.
=Tokay.= An excellent white wine produced in the district of the same name in Upper Hungary.
=Tokenhouse Yard.= Marks the site of the ancient Token-House, which came into existence through the insufficiency of small copper coinage. A number of Nuremberg “tokens” having been introduced into this country, tradesmen imported large quantities of them for purposes of small (halfpenny and farthing) change, but instead of being kept in circulation such tokens were afterwards exchanged by the inhabitants of the city for their face value at the Token-House. About the same time various municipalities throughout the country manufactured their own tokens. The London Token-House was swept away by the Great Fire and never rebuilt.
=Toledo.= From the Hebrew _H’toledoth_, “generations,” “families,” relative to the Jewish founders of the city.
=Tom Folio.= The sobriquet of Thomas Rawlinson, the bibliomaniac.
=Tommy Atkins.= This general designation of an English soldier arose out of the hypothetical name, “Thomas Atkins,” which at one time figured in the Paymaster-General’s monthly statement of accounts sent to the War Office. So much money claimed by “Thomas Atkins” meant, of course, the regular pay for the rank and file.
=Tom Tidler’s Ground.= A corruption of “Tom the Idler’s Ground.”
=Tontine.= The name given to a system of reducing the State Loans in France in 1653 after Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan protegé of Cardinal Mazarin, its projector. According to this system, when one subscriber dies, the money accredited to him passes to the others, until the last survivor inherits the whole amount.
=Tooley Street.= Originally “St Olaff Street” after the parish church dedicated to St Olaff or Olave. This thoroughfare was in the time of the Commonwealth known as “St Tulie Street,” of which its modern name is an easy corruption.
=Toothpicks.= A nickname borne by the people of Arkansas on account of the Bowie Knives carried by the early settlers.
=Topaz.= From _topazios_, after _Topazos_, the Greek name of an island in the Red Sea where this gem was anciently
=Tories.= Originally, during the Restoration period, the nickname bestowed by the Protestants on their religious and political opponents. This was in derisive allusion to a band of outlaws that infested the bog districts of Ireland, the word _toree_ being Gaelic for a robber.
=Toronto.= Indian for “oak-trees beside the lake.”
=Torquatus.= See “Manlius Torquatus.”
=Torres Strait.= After the Spanish navigator, L. N. de Torres, who discovered it in 1606.
=Torrington Square.= After the family name of the first wife of John, the sixth Duke of Bedford, the ancestor of the great ground landlord.
=Tothill Street.= A name which recalls the ancient manor of Tothill, properly Toothill--_i.e._ beacon hill. Wherever _toot_ or _tot_ appears in a place-name, it points to the one-time existence of a beacon.
=Totnes.= A corruption of “Toot Ness,” the beacon on the headland.
=Tottenham.= From “Totham,” a corruption of _Toot ham_, the house or hamlet by the beacon.
=Tottenham Court Road.= So called ever since the days of Elizabeth because it then led to “Tottenham Court.” This was an ancient manor, originally belonging to St Paul’s, and held in the reign of Henry III. by William de Tottenhall.
=Touched him on the Raw.= Reminded him of something which hurt his feelings. This expression arose out of an ostler’s solicitude to avoid a sore place on a horse while grooming him.
=Toulon.= The _Telonium_ of the Romans, so called after Telo Martius, the tribune who colonised it.
=Tractarians.= Those Oxford men who assisted Dr Pusey with the composition of the famous “Tracts for the Times,” as well as those who accepted the opinions expressed therein.
=Trafalgar Square.= From the Nelson Column, set up in 1843, two years before the square itself was laid out as it now exists.
=Traitors’ Gate.= The riverside entrance to the Tower of London reserved for State prisoners convicted of high treason.
=Tramway.= An abbreviation of “Outram way,” after Benjamin Outram of Derbyshire, who was the first to place his sleepers end to end the whole length of the rails, instead of crosswise, as on our railways. Long before this, however, the word “Tram” had been applied to a coal waggon or truck in the colliery districts, while the rails on which a vehicle ran bore the name of a “Tramroad.”
=Transformation Scene.= So called because in the good old days of Pantomine the Fairy Queen was at this juncture of the entertainment supposed to transform the chief characters of the “opening” into Clown, Pantaloon, Harlequin, Columbine, and Policeman.
=Transvaal.= Expresses the territory beyond the Vaal River.
=Transylvania.= From the Latin _trans_, beyond, and _sylva_, wood; this name was given by the Hungarians to the country beyond their wooded frontier.
=Trappists.= A strict Order of Cistercian Monks, so called from their original home at La Trappe in Normandy, established during the twelfth century.
=Treacle Bible.= A rare version of the Scriptures, so called on account of the rendering of the passage (Jeremiah viii. 22): “Is there no balm in Gilead?” as “There is no more traicle at Gilead.”
=Trent.= Celtic for “winding river.”
=Tried in the Balance and Found Wanting.= An expression founded on the belief of the ancient Egyptians that the souls of men were weighed after death.
=Trilbies.= Colloquial for feet, because Trilby in the novel and the play named after the heroine appears in bare feet.
=Trilby.= A soft felt hat of the kind popularised by the heroine of the famous Haymarket Theatre play, _Trilby_, founded upon the late George du Maurier’s equally famous novel of the same title.
=Trinidad Island.= The name given to it by Columbus as an emblem of the Trinity, relative to its three mountain peaks which, when seen from afar, he at first imagined rose from three different islands.
=Trinitarians.= Those who accept the doctrine of the Holy Trinity as opposed to the Unitarians; also the original designation of the “Crutched Friars,” or Friars of the Holy Trinity.
=Trinity House.= This had its origin in an ancient guild incorporated in 1529 under the title of “The Master-Wardens and Assistants of the Guild, or Fraternity, or Brotherhood, of the Most Glorious and Undivisible Trinity, and St Clement, in the parish of Deptford, Stroud, in the County of Kent.” The present building dates from 1795.
=Trinity Sunday.= That which follows Whitsunday, pursuant to the good old Catholic custom of allowing religious exercises, specifically the partaking of the Holy Communion, to be performed within the octave, or eight days, of a great feast.
=Tristan d’Acunha.= After the Portuguese navigator who discovered this island in 1651.
=Trithing.= See “Riding.”
=Trump Street.= After the makers of trumpets, who, in the days of public pageants and processions, here had their workshops.
=Trust.= Another word for a “Combine” or “Corner,” with this difference that its members are pledged to stand by one another, and faithfully maintain the high prices their action has brought about.
=Tudors.= This royal house received its name from Owen Tudor, a Welsh soldier, who while stationed at Windsor, contracted a secret marriage with Catherine, the widowed queen of Henry V.
=Tuesday.= In the Scandinavian mythology the day set apart for the worship of _Tiw_, the God of War.
=Tuft.= See “Toff.”
=Tulle.= From the French town of the same name, where this fabric was first made.
=Tumble to it.= This phrase is a vulgar perversion of “stumble upon it”--_i.e._ the meaning or comprehension of a thing.
=Tunis.= Anciently _Tunentum_, after the _Tunes_, who peopled the country.
=Turin.= Called by the Romans _Augusta Taurisonum_, the capital of the _Taurini_.
=Turkestan.= Conformably to the Persian _stan_, the country of the Turks.
=Turkey.= From “Turkia,” the Celtic suffix expressing the country of the Turks. The bird of this name was long thought to be a native of Turkey; it was, however, introduced to Europe from North America early in the sixteenth century.
=Turnagain Lane.= So called because it ends at a high brick wall, and the pedestrian has no alternative but to retrace his steps.
=Turnmill Street.= A name which recalls the days when an old mill, whose sails turned with the wind, stood in the pleasant meadow.
=Turpentine State.= North Carolina, from the turpentine found in its great pine forests.
=Turquoise.= From Turkey, the country where this precious stone was first found.
=Tuscany.= The territory of the Etruscans.
=Tweed.= It is perfectly true that this cloth is fabricated in the vicinity of the River Tweed, but the name is really a corruption of “Twill,” which word, in an invoice sent to James Locke in London, being blotted, looked like “tweed,” and the customer thought the cloth might as well be called by that name as by its original.
=Twelfth Night.= That which brought the Christmas holidays and festivities to a close in former days. In the morning the people went to church to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, afterwards they gave themselves up right merrily to indoor amusements.
=Twickenham.= When Pope resided in this pretty up-river village its name was “Twitnam” for short, but it meant the same as of yore, a hamlet located between two rivulets of the Thames. The word is Anglo-Saxon, cognate with the modern German _zwischen_, between, and _heim_, a home.
=Twill.= From the German _zwillich_, “trellis work,” so called from the diagonal ribs distinguished on the surface of this cloth.
=Two Fours.= The 44th Regiment of Foot.
=Two Sevens.= The 77th Regiment of Foot.
=Two Twos.= The 22nd Regiment of Foot.
=Tyburn.= A corruption of _Twa-burne_, “two streams,” the one from Bayswater, the other from Kilburn, which met on the spot where the public executions formerly took place and the Marble Arch now stands.
=Tyne.= Another variant of the Celtic _tain_, river.
U
=Uisquebaugh.= From _uisge_, water, and _beatha_, life, the national drink of the Irish people. Out of this we have derived the English term “Whisky.”
=Ukase.= From the Russian _ukasat_, to speak.
=Ukraine.= Expresses the Slavonic for a “frontier country.”
=Ultramarine.= Another name for “Saunders Blue,” introduced to England from beyond the sea.
=Umber.= From Umbria in Italy, where this pigment was first obtained.
=Umbrella.= From the Latin _umbra_, a shade. The original function of such an article was to act as a shelter against the scorching rays of the sun, similar to those monster white or coloured umbrellas one sees in a Continental market-place. It was Jonas Hanway who first diverted it from its proper use. See “Hanway Street.”
=Uncle.= How this name came to be applied to a pawnbroker was as follows:--Before the “spout” was introduced all those pledges which consisted of clothing were attached to a very large book, or _uncus_ as it was called, conformably to the Latin description of the article, since the Lombards were the earliest pawnbrokers of history. When this _uncus_ could accommodate nothing more, the rope from which it depended was unslung from the ceiling, and laid across the shoulders of an assistant, who then carried the whole collection to the store-rooms overhead. Hence an article which had been pledged was said to have “Gone to the Uncus,” or, as the modern phrase has it, “Gone to my Uncle’s.”
=Uncle Sam.= The national nickname of the United States. This arose out of the initials “U.S.,” which the Government caused to be painted or branded on all its stores just as the Government property in this country is marked with a broad arrow. Since it happened that the official whose duty it was to see this marking properly carried out was known among his numerous acquaintance as “Uncle Sam,” the general impression obtained that the letters really applied to him, as evidence that the goods had passed through his hands. In this way “Uncle Sam” bequeathed his name to a great nation.
=Uncle Sam’s Ice-box.= Alaska, so called on account of its northern situation. Prior to the year 1867 this territory belonged to Russia.
=Undertaker.= Specifically one who in former days undertook to be responsible for the custody of a corpse until the moment that it was lowered into the grave. This was the _raison d’être_ of the two “mutes” stationed by him at the door of the house by day and by night as guards.
=Underwriter.= One who accepts the responsibility of insuring a vessel or its merchandise by signing his name at the foot of the policy.
=Unionists.= Those who are opposed to Home Rule for Ireland; now identified with the Conservative Party.
=Union Jack.= The first part of this name has, of course, reference to the Union of England and Scotland in the person of James I., but the application of the word “Jack” to our national flag is not so easily disposed of. Nevertheless, reference to our note on “Jack-boots” will afford the reader a key to the question. Twenty-six of such “Jacques,” emblazoned with the arms of St George, were ordered by Edward III. for one of his warships. Designed primarily for the defence of his soldiers when in fighting array, they were placed in a row along the low bulwarks while the vessel was sailing, just as the Romans and the hardy Norsemen disposed of their shields at sea. After this statement it should not be difficult to see how the Cross of St George displayed on a _jacque_ lent its name at first to the staff from which the English flag was flown, and later to the flag itself.
=Unitarians.= Those who are opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity, denying, as they do, the Godhead or divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost. This tenet was promulgated by Lælius Socinus, an Italian theologian, in 1546.
=United Brethren.= Another name for the religious sect styled the “Moravians.”
=University.= From the Latin _universitatis_, the whole. This word expresses the various distinct colleges and halls at Oxford, Cambridge, and elsewhere, incorporated by a royal charter as one great educational centre.
=Unlearned Parliament.= See “Parliament of Dunces.”
=Unready.= See “Ethelred the Unready.”
=Up a Tree.= Completely cornered, yet defiant; the allusion is to the refuge of a tree-branch against the attack of a bull stationed beneath it.
=Upper Berkeley Street.= See “Berkeley Street.”
=Upper Crust.= A modern term for the aristocracy, because it was formerly considered a mark of high honour to allow the most distinguished guest to cut off the top of the loaf at table.
=Upper Seymour Street.= After the Seymours, from whom the Portmans, owners of the estate, are descended.
=Upper Ten.= Short for “The Upper Ten Thousand,” which, at the time when N. P. Willis first made use of the term, was the approximate number of fashionables or really well-to-do in the city of New York.
=Uppertendom.= An Americanism for the aristocracy.
=Upper Thames Street.= The western portion of Thames Street between London and Blackfriars Bridges.
=Up the Spout.= This expression requires no elucidating. Nevertheless, there was a time when a pawnbroking establishment had not the convenience of a “spout,” and because this was so, the matter-of-fact tradesman earned for himself the endearing title of “My Uncle.” See “Uncle.”
=Up to Snuff.= Said of one who has a keen scent for reckoning up his neighbours.
=Uruguay.= Expresses the Brazilian for “the golden water.”
=Ural.= A Tartar word for “belt.”
=Usher.= From the old French _huisher_, door, signifies a doorkeeper.
=Usk.= A variant of the Celtic _uisg_, water.
=Ursulines.= An Order of nuns named after St Ursula, who suffered martyrdom at Cologne in the tenth century.
=Utah.= After an Indian tribe, the Yuta or Utes, encountered in the region so named.
=Utilitarianism.= A word implying “the happiness of the greatest number.” In this sense it was first popularised by John Stuart Mill, after Jeremy Bentham had promulgated a similar ethical religion under the style of “Utility.”
=Utopia.= From the Greek _ou_, not, and _topos_, place, this compound term signifies “nowhere,” “no such place.” Ideas and Systems are said to be “Utopian” when they cannot be accepted by the average reasoning mind.
V
=Valance.= From Valencia in Spain, where bed drapery was at one time made for the supply of the world’s markets.
=Valencias.= Raisins grown in the Spanish province of Valencia, which name, relative to the capital city, means “powerful, strong.”
=Valenciennes.= Lace made at the French town of the same name.
=Valentines.= See “St Valentine’s Day.”
=Valparaiso.= Expresses the Spanish for “Vale of Paradise.”
=Vamoose.= An Americanism for “decamp,” “run along,” “be off.” This had its origin in the Spanish _vamos_, “let us go.”
=Vanbrugh Castle.= This castellated mansion at Blackheath was built by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1717.
=Vancouver Island.= Discovered by Captain Vancouver while searching for an inlet on the west coast of North America in 1792.
=Van Diemen’s Land.= The name first given by Tasman, its discoverer, in 1642, to what is now “Tasmania,” in compliment to the daughter of the Dutch Governor of Batavia.
=Vandyke.= A pointed lace collar, always distinguished in the portraits painted by Sir Anthony Vandyck. Also a peculiar shade of brown colour used by him for his backgrounds.
=Vassar College.= Founded in the state of New York by Matthew Vassar in 1861 for the higher education of women. This might be said to constitute the Girton College of the New World.
=Vaudeville.= The name given to a short, bright dramatic piece interspersed with songs set to familiar airs, after Vaudevire, a village in Normandy, where Olivier Basselin, the first to compose such pieces, was born. The Vaudeville Theatre in the Strand was built for entertainments of this class.
=Vauxhall.= After Jane Vaux, the occupant of the manor house in 1615. This name, however, would seem to have been corrupted in modern times, since the manor was originally held soon after the Norman Conquest by Fulka de Breante. The manor house might consequently have been in those far-off days described as “Fulkes Hall.”
=Venerable Bede.= The Saxon historian merited the surname of “Venerable” because he was an aged man and also an ecclesiastic.
=Venezuela.= Finding that the Indian villages in this country were uniformly built upon piles in the water, the Spaniards gave it their native term for “Little Venice.”
=Venice.= After the _Veneti_, the early inhabitants of the district.
=Vernier.= After Pierre Vernier, the inventor of the instrument.
=Vere Street.= After the De Veres, owners of the estate before it passed to the Harleys.
=Verger.= From the French _verge_, a rod, the name borne by the custodian of a cathedral or minster, because in common with official attendants, he formerly carried a rod or staff of office.
=Vermicelli.= Italian for “little worms.”
=Vermont.= A corruption of “Verd Mont,” in allusion to its green mountains.
=Vermuth.= The white wine tinctured with bitter herbs appropriately bears this name derived from the Anglo-Saxon _wermod_, wormwood.
=Verulam Buildings.= This portion of Gray’s Inn was named in honour of Lord Bacon, created Baron Verulam and Viscount St Albans.
=Veto.= This word is Latin for “I forbid.”
=Vicar.= From the Latin _vicarius_, in place of another. See “Rector.”
=Vichy Water.= So called because drawn from the celebrated springs at Vichy in France.
=Victoria.= The carriage of this name was introduced in 1838, the coronation year of the late Queen Victoria. Much about the same time the Australian colony so designated in her honour was first colonised.
=Victoria Regia.= So called because it was brought to England from Guiana soon after the accession of Queen Victoria.
=Victoria Street.= After Queen Victoria, in the early years of whose reign it was cut through and built upon.
=Vienna.= From a small stream, the Wien, from which the city received its German name.
=Vignette.= Expressing the French for a “little vine,” this name was given to an early style of photograph, and also to a book engraving that faced the title-page, on account of the vine leaves and tendrils that surrounded it.