which was inundated by the sea in 1100, and which has ever since been rendered memorable for the loss of life as well as property. GERMANY. Germany was originally called Allemania, from Alleman, i. e., in German, "every man," denoting, that all nations were welcome there. It derives the title of Germany from the celebrated Germanicus. GREENWICH. We have traces of a royal residence at this place so early as the year 1300, when Edward I. made an offering of 7s. at each of the holy crosses in the chapel of the Virgin Mary, Greenwich, and the prince made an offering of half that sum. Henry IV. dates his will 1408, from his manor of Greenwich. Henry VII. resided much at this place, where his second son (afterwards Henry VIII.), and his third son, Edmund Tudor (created Duke of Somerset), were born. Henry VIII., from his partiality to it, bestowed great cost upon Greenwich, till he made it, as Lambarde says, a pleasant, perfect, and princely palace." During his reign, it became one of the principal scenes of that festivity for which his court was celebrated. King Henry's marriage with his first queen, Katherine of Arragon, was solemnized at Greenwich, June 5, 1510. In 1512 he kept his Christmas here, "with great and plentiful cheer;" and again, 1513, "with great solemnity, dancing, disguisings, and mummers, in a most princely manner." At this celebrity was introduced the first masquerade ever seen in England. Edward VI. kept his Christmas at Greenwich in 1552-3; George Ferrers, Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, being "lorde of the merrie disporte." This amiable monarch closed his short reign at Greenwich palace on the 6th of July following. Queen Mary was born here, February 8, 1515, and Queen Elizabeth, September 7, 1533. The hospital founded by William and Mary, occupies the site of the old palace. HIGHBURY-BARN. Highbury-barn is a place noted for London tea-drinkers. It was in the olden time a barn belonging to the monks of Clerkenwell, now a tavern famed for its good cheer. HAG-BUSH LANE. Hag is the old Saxon word haeg, which became corrupted into haugh, and afterwards into haw, and is the name for the berry of the hawthorn; also, the Saxon word haga signified a hedge, or any enclosure. Hence Hag, or Hawthorn-Bush Lane. Ꮓ HERNE'S OAK. Every one who has seen Shakspeare's admirable comedy of the "Merry Wives of Windsor" represented on the stage, or even read it, has no doubt pictured to himself "Herne's Oak," where the fat and licentious knight is cleverly outwitted by the two dames of Windsor. Sir John Falstaff, whatever may be his situation, never loses his temper, or even his good-humour; and when at midnight he is approaching Herne's Oak, disguised with a buck's head on, to meet Mrs. Page and Mrs. Ford, he finds room for self-consolation. "Remember Jove," says he, "thou wast a bull for thy Europa: love set on thy horns. O powerful love! that, in some respects, makes a beast of a man; in some other, a man a beast. You were also, Jupiter, a swan, for the love of Leda ;O, omnipotent love! how near the god drew to the complexion of a goose." Herne's Oak, a tree thus immortalized by Shakspeare, stood on the south-east side of the little park of Windsor. The reason why it was selected for the frolic with Sir John Falstaff, is the tradition attached to it, which Mrs. Page thus relates:— "There is an old tale goes, that Herne the hunter, Walk round about an oak with great ragg'd horns; And makes milch kyne yield blood, and shakes a chain You have heard of such a spirit; and well you know, Received, and did deliver to our age, This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth." Herne is said to have been keeper of the forest in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and having been guilty of some offence, for which he expected to be discharged, hung himself upon this oak, HASTINGS. This town is on the eastern extremity of the coast of Sussex. Its Saxon name signified a town or castle, and owes its origin, according to Camden, to one Hasting, a Danish pirate, who, where he landed for booty, built sometimes little fortresses. This town is celebrated in English history for being the place where William the Conqueror first landed in this country; and also for the battle of Hastings, fought shortly after, by which the Norman duke gained the throne of England. HOLY ISLAND. The Isle of Lindisfarne, on the coast of Durham, is thus denominated, because of the number of saints there buried. HARMONY SETTLEMENT, N. AMERICA. This extraordinary and flourishing German colony was founded by a German enthusiast named Rapp, who, in order to promote harmony among those who settled there, laid certain restrictions upon marriage! These restrictions were to prevent more than a certain quantum of births within a certain number of years; which births (as Mr. Hulme says) generally arrive "in a little flock, like those of a farmer's lambs, all within the same month perhaps." These Harmonists (so called from the name of their settlement) are represented as a remarkably flourishing, pious, and quiet people. See the various recent writers on America. HINDOSTAN. Our empire in the East Indies, under this appellation, or Indostan more properly, is derived from the river Indus, which flows throughout the country. Hindostan extends from Cape Comorin to the Himalaya Mountains. HOLYROOD HOUSE. The name of an ancient palace and abbey which stands at the eastern extremity of the old town of Edinburgh. The Abbey of Holyrood is contiguous to the Palace of the same name, and according to tradition was founded by David I., in the year 1128. The traditionary accounts which occasioned its erection are thus related:-King David I., being on a hunting match in the forest of Drumselch, near Edinburgh, on a rood-day, was attacked by a large hart, and his life was in the utmost danger.— While he was endeavouring to defend himself with his hands against the furious assaults of the animal, a miraculous cross from heaven slipped into his hand, which so frightened the stag that he retreated immediately. This wonderful circumstance having of course put an end to the chase, David repaired to the castle of Edinburgh, where, in a dream, he was instructed to erect an abbey, or house, for canons regular, on the place where the celestial cross was put into his hands. In obedience to this visionary command, the king erected an abbey for the said purpose, and dedicated it to the Holy-Rood, or Holy-Cross, and deposited the same therein, where it is said to have remained till the reign of David II. HELLESPONT. These Straits, famed in classic lore, and more especially as the scene of a feat performed by our immortal bard, Lord Byron,* derives its original name (now Dardanelles) from Helle, the *Who himself swam across the widest part. daughter of Athamas, king of Thebes, who, with her brother Phryxus, flying from their stepmother, ventured to pass a narrow part of this sea, where she was drowned, and left her name to the straits thereof, which was after called the Hellespont. a ST. HELENA. This island, which will be particularly noticed in the pages of future history as the sepulchre of one of the most extraordinary men the world ever produced, was first discovered by the Portuguese in the year 1502, on St. Helen's day, and her name was given to it, according to the universal practice of early navigators, of naming their discoveries from the Roman Calendar. Helena was daughter of Coilus, wife of Constantius, and mother of Constantine the Great. She first walled the city of London. ISLE OF MAN. The name of Man, is supposed to refer to its situation as to the surrounding kingdoms, from the Saxon word mang, signifying among; others suppose the word to originate from Maune, the name of St. Patrick, the apostle of the island, before he assumed that of Patricius. By Caesar, it is called Mona. All late writers agree that Mona Cæsaris is Man; but Mona Taciti belongs to Anglesey. Early writers call it Monada Menavia Secunda (to distinguish it from Anglesey), Eubonia, &c. The monks derive it traditionally from "Manna Man Maclea," an early king, who first conquered the island. By the inhabitants the island is called Manning, and by the people in general Man. KINGSTON. So called, from the Kings of England having their residence and being anciently crowned there. The rude stone on which they were anciently crowned formerly stood against the old townhall, and on the rebuilding of the town-hall in 1837, it was removed to the yard of the assize-court; but a few years ago it was placed on a septagonal block of stone, standing in the centre of seven pillars, connected together by an iron railing. The inauguration of the monument took place on the 19th September, 1850, in the presence of the mayor and corporation, and a large number of visiters. KENT. The name of Kent is probably Celtic, and is called by the Latins Cantium. Lambarde derives it from the Welsh Caine, a leaf, because the country formerly abounded in woods; but Camden, from Canton, a corner, " because England in this place stretcheth out itself in a corner to the north-east." Kent being situate nearest the Continent of Europe, has often been the theatre of great actions. It was in this county that Julius Cæsar landed, when he came to invade Britain; it was the place first seized by the Saxons after they had defeated the northern barbarians; and Christianity was first preached at Canterbury by Augustine and his followers. At the period of the arrival of the Romans, it was governed by four British chiefs, and it was the first, although not the largest, kingdom of the heptarchy. MONTMARTRE. A village and height near Paris. By some it is supposed to derive its name from a temple of Mars, which formerly stood on its summit; it was afterwards called Mons Mercurii (probably because the temple was converted to his service), and at a later period, in consequence of the death of St. Denis and his disciples here, it acquired its present name. MAURITIUS. The Mauritius, or Isle of France, is 400 miles east of Madagascar. Discovered by the Portuguese in 1505; but the first who settled here were the Dutch, in 1640. They called it Mauritius, in honour of Prince Maurice, their Stadtholder; but on their acquisition of the Cape of Good Hope, they deserted it, and it continued unsettled till the French landed here in 1720. They remained in the undisturbed possession of it to the year 1810, when it was taken from them by the British, who since the peace of 1814 have retained it in their possession. MASSACHUSETS. One of the States of North America. It was so named from a tribe of Indians who formerly inhabited this quarter. It is 150 miles long and 90 broad; bounded on the north by New Hampshire, and west by New York. The first settlement was formed in 1620, at Plymouth, by about 120 families of Nonconformists. The first constitution was formed in 1780, and was revised and modified in 1820. MARSEILLES. The history of Marseilles is full of interest. Its origin borders on romance. Six hundred years before the Christian era, a band of piratical adventurers from Ionia, in Asia Minor, by dint of superior skill in navigation, pushed their discoveries to the mouth of the Rhine. Charmed with the white cliffs, green vales, blue waters, and bright skies, which they here found, they returned to |