WHY IS IT?

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume 4185, Issue 4185, 20 November 1934, Page 2

WHY IS IT?

QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK EACH OTHER That Surplices Are So Called?— The white linen garment known as a surplice is familiar to all, being worn by clergy, choristers, and others engaged in church ministry. The name is derived from the Latin super-pellicium, meaning “ above the fur,” the surplice being worn by ecclesiastics above the garments of dressed skins or fur robes worn in the winter by the northern nations.

That Beanfeasts Were So Called?— The annual dinner and holiday given by an employer to his work people was popularly known as a “ beanfeast ” or “ wayzgoose.” The name beanfeast is generally held to imply that originally beans were the principal dish on the table; but the term, which comes from the northern counties, where the beangoose is common, really refers to the bird, not to the vegetable bean. That We Read Sometimes of the Augustine Age?— The term “Augustan ” applies to Augustus Ctesar, and as literature in ancient Rome reached its highest development during the reign of Augustus Caesar the expression “ the Augustan Age ” of literature in any country means the period in which it is at its highest point. It was at one time common to regard the reign of Queen Anne as the Augustan age of English literature. That We Read of Barmecide Feasts? —The name is used to signify an illusion or disappointment of a tantalising nature, in allusion to one of the stories in ‘ The Arabian Nights Entertainments.’ In the story of ‘ The Barber’s Sixth Brother ’ an account is given of a dinner given by a rich Barmecide, where all the dishes are empty, and Shacabac, a starving wretch, has to pretend he is eating and enjoying what is not before him. That the Act of Oblivion Was Passed? —The Act of Oblivion was an English statute of 1660, entitled “ An Act of Free and General Pardon, Indemnity, and Oblivion,” by which all political offences committed during the time of the Commonwealth were pardoned, certain offenders mentioned by name in the Act being excepted, especially those engaged in the trial and execution of Charles I.

That the Indian Mutiny Started?— For some time before the outbreak of the mutiny in 1857 there had been a certain amount of native dislike to being ruled by the English, but the immediate cause of the revolt was the introduction into the Sepoy Army of a new ride whose use necessitated the touching of greased cartridges. _ This offended the religious susceptibilities of the soldiers, the report being spread among them that the cartridges were smeared with the fat of cows and pigs, thus defiling bith Hindoo and Mohammedan, and a number of regiments mutinied. . T . That the Order of Merit as Instituted?— The Order of Merit confers no precedence, but membership is designated by the suffix 0.M., which is authorised to follow the first class of the Order of the Bath and to precede all classes of Orders of Knighthood below that. The Order was instituted in 1902, with the design of forming a special distinction for eminent men and women without conferring a knighthood upon them. It is limited to twenty-four members, with the addition of foreign honorary members. That Counterfeits Are Called Bogus? —The word “ bogus ” is a cant teim applied to anything spurious. Its origin is doubtful, but is probably American. An American authority states that a man named Borghese became so noted in the Western States for his manufacture of counterfeit bills that in time all counterfeits came to be called “ Borghese.” This through constant usage became corrupted into That 8 the Sibylline Books Were So Called ?—The Sibylline Books were, according to tradition, nine volumes which a wise woman or Sibyl from the East offered to sell to Tarqum the Proud for a very high price. ihe volumes were said to foretell the future of Rome, but the monarch refused to buy The Sibyl departed, burned three of‘the volumes, and returned with the remaining six, for which she asked the same price as for the nine. Once again the monarch refused, and the Sibyl burned three more, finally asking the original price. Tarqum was astonished and bought the volumes, and the Sibyl was never seen again. The volumes were preserved with great care, and consulted when the State appeared to be in danger, but they were burned in the conflagration which destroyed the | capital in 84 n.c.