tain well, much frequented by the monks of Clerkenwell Priory before the Reformation, for the many cures ascribed to the waters. At the Reformation the well was stopped up on account of the superstitious use made of it in 1683. Sadler discovered it; and after his decease, one Francis Forcer, a musician, became proprietor of the wells and music, whose son succeeded him, and here first exhibited rope-dancing, tumbling, &c.

Vegetables first eaten in England.

Vegetables were imported from the Netherlands, about the year 1509, there being no kitchen gardens in England. Before this time sugar was eaten with meat, to correct its putrescency.

Origin of the title Poet Laureat.

The title, Poet Laureat, was first invented by the Cæsars of Germany, and has since been perpetuated by custom or vanity in the English court, and conferred at dif ferent times on men of various and unequal merit. They receive a yearly stipend, and are bound to furnish, twice a year, a measure of praise in verse, which is sung in the presence of the sovereign and his court.

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Derivation of the word Gazette.

One of the smallest pieces of money at Venice is called gazetta; and all the litera ry newspapers which were published at Venice in single sheets so early as the sixteenth century, were sold for a gazetta a piece : all kinds of newspapers were from thence called gazette, or gazettes.

Gazette is derived from the Greek word gaza, (a treasure,) and the paper bearing this name, is by most people considered a treasure of news.

Origin of the names Whig and Tory.

These names were first used in the year 1680. The first was a name of reproach given by the court party to their antagonists, for resembling the principles of the whigs, or fanatical conventicles in Scotland; and the other was given by the country party to that of the court, comparing them to the tories or popish robbers in Ireland. They formerly were called whigs from Whiggamors, a name given to the Scots in the South West, who for want of corn in that quarter, used annually to repair to Leith, to buy stores that came from the north, and all that drove were called Whiggamors, or

Whigs, from the term "Whiggam," which they used in driving their horses. In the year 1648 the presbyterian ministers incite an insurrection against the court, and

m

hed with the people to Edinburgh ; this wasalled "the Whiggamors' inroad;" and, after this, all that opposed administration in Scotland, were called whigs, and from hence the term was adopted in England.

"Hobson's Choice, This or None."

This saying is derived from one Hobson, who formerly let out horses to hire at Cambridge, and who obliged every person who wanted one, to take that next the stable door, being the one which had taken the most rest, from whence originated the saying, "Hobson's choice, this or none."

Origin of Pancakes at Shrovetide.

This custom originated from the meagre food, such as eating eggs, milk, &c. at Shrive, which was the general time of confession in days of popery.

Formerly, in the time of popes, on Shrove Tuesday, the people in every parish throughout England were obliged one by one, to

confess their sins to their own parish priests, in their own parish churches. And that this might be done more regularly, the great bell in every parish was rung at ten o'clock, or perhaps sooner, that it might be heard by all, and that they might attend according to the customs then in use. And though we are now protestants, yet the custom of ringing the great bell in an ancient parish church still continues, and has the name of the pancake-bell; probably, because after the confession it was customary to dine on pancakes or fritters; and many people even now have these articles as part of their dinner on this day.

Grog, derivation of the word.

This is a sea-term for rum and water, and originated from Admiral Vernon, who first introduced it on board ship; he was called by the seamen Old Grog, from his wearing a grogram coat in bad weather.

The Bull and Mouth.

Henry the Eighth, having taken the town of Boulogne, in France, the gates of which he brought to Hardes, in Kent, where they

are still remaining, the flatterers of that reign highly magnified this action, which Porto Bello like, became a popular subject for signs; and the port or harbour of Boulogne, called Boulogne Mouth, was accordly set up at a noted Inn in Holborn. The name of the Inn long out-living the sign and fame of the conquest, an ignorant painter, employed by a no less ignorant landlord to paint a new one, represented it by a bull and a large gaping human mouth, answering to the vulgar pronunciation of bull and mouth.

The Bull and Gate.

The same piece of history as the prece ding gave being to the Bull and Gate, originally meant for the Boulogne Gate, and represented by an embattled gate, or entrance into a fortified town.

The Bell Savage Inn.

The Spectator has explained the sign of the Bell Savage Inn plausibly enough, in supposing it to have been originally the figure of a beautiful female, found in the woods, called in French, la belle sauvage. But another reason has been since assigned for