235. When is “Ground Hog Day”?
Candlemas day (Feb. 2). In Germany’s folklore there is a superstition that the badger, on that day, peeps out of his hole, and when he finds snow, walks abroad; but if he sees the sun shining, draws back into his hole. This latter action, so the legend goes, signifies that the winter weather is not over, the sun’s rays being too prematurely warm for the season. Doubtless the superstition concerning the ground hog in this country is derived from the above source.
236. Where are our Presidents buried?
Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, Va.; John Adams, at Quincy, Mass.; Jefferson, at Monticello, Va.; Madison, at Montpelier, Va.; Monroe, at Richmond, Va.; John Quincy Adams, at Quincy, Mass.; Jackson, at the Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn.; Van Buren, at Kinderhook, N. Y.; Harrison, at North Bend, Ind.; Tyler, at Richmond, Va.; Polk, at Nashville, Tenn.; Taylor, at Washington, D. C.; Fillmore, at Buffalo, N. Y.; Pierce, at Concord, N. H.; Buchanan, at Lancaster, Pa.; Lincoln, at Springfield, Ill.; Johnson, at Greenville, Tenn.; Garfield, at Cleveland, Ohio; and Grant, at Riverside Park, New York City; Arthur, at Albany, N. Y.
237. Which is the “Modern Athens”?
This name is often given to Edinburgh, on account of its many noble literary institutions, the taste and culture of the people, the many distinguished men who have issued from it or resided in it, and the high character of its publications; and also on account of a marked resemblance to Athens in its topographical position and its general appearance.
The same epithet is applied to Boston, Mass., a city remarkable for the high intellectual character of its citizens, and for its many excellent literary, scientific, and educational institutions and publications.
238. What was the origin of the term “Old Harry”?
It has been suggested that this vulgar appellation for the devil comes from the Scandinavian Hari or Heira, names of Odin, who came in time to be degraded from his rank of a god to that of a fiend or evil spirit.
According to Henley, the hirsute honors of the Satan of the ancient religious stage procured him the name Old Hairy, corrupted into Old Harry.