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The district immediately surrounding the Fleet, the old debtors* prison in the City of London, in which prisoners were sometimes allowed to reside, and beyond which they were not allowed to go. They included the north side of Ludgate HiU and the Old Bailey to Fleet Lane, down the lane to the market, and on the east side along by the prison wall to the foot of Ludgate Hill.
Someone appears to be aware or active but is actually not intelligent or responsive
God's smile of approbation and love. Lift up the light of Thy countenance on us. — Ps, iv, 6.
In the British Army all regular infantry regiments except the Foot Guards, the Rifle Brigade, and the Marines are line regiments.
A Bible issued in 1804 contains a great number of printers* errors of which the following are typical: Numbers xxxv, 18, "The murderer shall surely be put together" instead of "to death"; 1 Kings viii, 19, "but thy son that shall come forth out of thy lions" instead of "loins"; Galatians v, 17, "For the flesh lusteth after the Spirit" instead of "against the Spirit".
A new-born infant. The stranger that is within thy gates. See PROSELYTES.
The part of the year when the Court and fashionable society generally is in town — May, June, and July.
The extra quantity of beer sup- plied by a publican to his customer over and above the pint or half-pint ordered and paid for. Under the restrictions imposed during World War I this was abolished by order, as it is a form of "treating.
Every difficult situation will eventually come to an end
Major accomplishments begin with small initial efforts
The final part of a journey is often the most difficult
Synonym of money is the root of all evil.
The small bone of a sheep's head; prized by beggars and tramps, as it is supposed to bring luck for the whole day on which it is received.
People who are unqualified or irrational are in charge
Prince Rupert (1619-82), noted for his rash courage and impatience of control He was a grandson of James I, through his mother, Elizabeth, and was famous as a cavalry leader on the Royalist side during the English Civil War.
A well-known character in Goldsmith's Citizen of the World1, supposed to have been drawn from the author's father.
Some say it is a man leaning on a fork, on which he is carrying a bundle of sticks picked up on a Sunday. The origin of this fable is from Numb, xv, 32-36. Some add a dog also; thus the prologue in Midsummer Night's Dream says, "This man •with lantern, dog, and bush of thorns, presented* moonshine"; Chaucer says "be stole tfee bush" (Test, of Cresseide).
The name given in derision by Disraeli to the Cobden-Bright group of Free Trade economists in 1848. Hence, Free Traders, and Free Trade prin- ciples generally.
To set the "mark of the beast" on an object or pursuit (such, for instance, as dancing, theatres, gambling, etc.) is to denounce it, to run it down as unortho- dox. The allusion is to Rev. xvi, 2; xix, 20.
In compliment to John Manners (1721-70), eldest son of John, third Duke of Rutland— a bluff, brave soldier, generous, and greatly beloved by his men.
Walking. The leg- bone is the marrow-bone of beef and mutton, and the play is on Marylebone (London), formerly pronounced "Marrybun.
The head of the Public Record Office, an ex-officio Judge of the Court of Appeal and a member of the Judicial Committee, ranking next after the Lord Chief
This ancient London landmark, referred to more than once by 18th-century writers, stood on a spot now occupied by St. Mary-le-Strand, where formerly stood a cross.
The first printed Bible (an edition of the Vulgate), and the first known book to be printed from movable type. It contains no date, but was printed probably in 1455, and was certainly on sale by the middle of 1 456. It was printed at Mainz, probably by Fust and SchoerTer, but as it was for long credited to Gutenberg — and it is not yet agreed that he was not responsible — it is frequently called the Gutenberg Bible.
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
Othello, iii, 3. A greenish complexion was formerly held to be indicative of jealousy; and as cats, lions, tigers, and all the green-eyed tribe "mock the meat they feed on," so jealousy mocks its victim by loving and loathing it at the same time.
The famous meeting- place (in Bread Street, Cheapside) of the wits, literary men, and men about town in the early 17th century. Among those who met there at a sort of early club were Ben Jonson, Sir Walter Raleigh, Beaumont, Fletcher, John Selden, and in all probability Shakespeare.
Nimrod is so called (Gen. x, 9). The meaning seems to be a con- queror. Jeremiah says, "I [the Lord] will send for many hunters [warriors], and they shall hunt [chasej them [the Jews] from every mountain . . . and out of the holes of the rocks" (xyi, 16).
A decree made by Napoleon, dated "Milan, Dec. 27th, 1807," declaring "the whole British Empire to be in a state of blockade, and forbidding all countries either from trading with Great Britain or from even using an article of British manufacture.
Retribution may be delayed, but it is sure to overtake the wicked. The Adagia of Erasmus puts it, Sero molunt deorum molce, and the sentiment is to be found in many authors, ancient and modern.
They produce flour of themselves, whence the proverb, "Grace comes from God, but millstones from Montisci." (Boccaccio: Decameron, day viii, novel 3.
A printing establish- ment in Leadenhall Street, London, famous in the late 18th century for its trashy, ultra- sentimental novels, which were characterized by complicated plots, and the labyrinths of difficulties into which the hero and heroine got involved before they could be married.
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Micah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, whose writings are less exten- sive than those of the four Great Prophets.
One of the books in Don Quixote's library, a Spanish romance (Cavallero del Febo, "The Knight of the Sun"), one of the Amadis group. It was at one tune very popular.
A popular term for the hypothetical being that is supposed, according to the theory of evolution, to bridge the gap between man and the anthropoid apes. Haeckel held it to be Pithecanthropus erectus; but scientists are not agreed, either on this or on the number of "missing links" there may be.
This old song is about the daughter of a Lord Lovel who, on her wedding-day, was playing at hide and seek, and selected an old oak chest for her hiding- place. The chest closed with a spring lock, and many years later her skeleton was dis- covered.
The tuberose is so called because it emits its strongest fragrance after sunset.
Ancient Rome was so called, because all the known world gave her allegiance.
A place of resort in the time of Shakespeare; it was in Mitre Court, leading south of Cheapside, and was in existence from before 1475 till the Great Fire (1666), when it was destroyed and not rebuilt. There are several other taverns of the same name in London (see Barrey's Ram Alley f v 1611).
A crowd can have many ideas, but lack wisdom or sense.
Something is obviously untrue or absurd
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
A larger number of people makes an event or activity more enjoyable
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
Fundamental aspects remain unchanged despite superficial changes
Excessive flattery or attention can provoke pride or hostility
The religious system revealed by God to Moses and set forth in the Old Testament.
The key factor or consideration
Among Moham- medans, Ayeshah, the second and favourite wife of Mohammed, who was called the "Father of Believers.
The extreme democratic party in the French Revolution, the members of which were known as Les Montagnards because they seated themselves on the highest benches of the hall in which the
A mighty effort made for a small effect. The allusion is to the celebrated line "Parturiunt monies , nascetur ridiculus mus (Ars Poetica, 139), which Horace took from a Greek proverb preserved by Athenaeus.
The Phoenicians, Egyp- tians, Hindus, Japanese, and many other ancient nations maintained that the world was egg-shaped, and was hatched from an egg made by the Creator; and in some mythologies a bird is represented as laying the mundane egg on the primordial waters.
An edition of 1801 in which the misprint murderers for murmeret y makes Jude, 16, read: 'These are murderers, complainers, walking after their own lusts, etc.
See SPHERES. To face the music. See FACE. Musical Notation. See DOH.
Conformity is enforced, and nonconformists are punished
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
The plain, unvarnished truth ; truth without trimmings. The fable says that Truth and Falsehood went bathing; Falsehood came first out of the water, and dressed herself in Truth's garments. Truth, unwilling to take those of Falsehood, went naked.
American republic means The Silver Republic and is akin to that of its principal river, Rio de la Plata, turned into English as the River Plate. Buenos Aires, the capital city, was founded in 1535, and direct Spanish rule lasted until 18-16, when a republic was declared.
Dunstan's is now intimately associated with work for the blind, on account of the institution founded during World War I, and for many years run by Sir Arthur Pearson (himself blind), at St. Dunstan's House, Regent's Park, for the welfare and training of blinded soldiers and later of blind civilians.
In Trafalgar Square,, London; was erected in 1843. The four lions,, by Landseer, were added in 1867. It is a Corinthian column of Devonshire granite on a square base, copied from a column in the temple of Mars Ultor (the avenging god of war) at Rome; it stands 145 ft. high, the statue surmounting it (by E. H. Baily, R.A.) being 17 ft. high.