Father of Believers. Mohammed, because he established and promulgated the faith of the Moslem, or “true believers.”
Father of the Music Halls. The late William Morton, manager of the Palace Theatre of Varieties, and founder of the earliest London Music Hall, “The Canterbury,” in the Westminster Bridge Road, which dates from the year 1848.
Fathers of the Church. The great doctors or theological writers of the period from the first to the seventh centuries of Christianity. See “[Apostolic Fathers].”
Faugh-a-Ballagh Boys. The 87th Foot, from their battle cry.
Feast of Lanterns. A Chinese festival which occurs on the fifteenth day of the first moon of the year. Walking by the side of a beautiful lake one night the daughter of a mandarin fell in, and was drowned. When her father heard of the accident he, attended by all his household, carrying lanterns, rushed to the spot. On the anniversary he caused fires to be lighted beside the lake, and invited all the people of the country round about to offer up prayers for the safety of her soul. In course of time the solemn character of the gathering was forgotten, and the day has ever since been observed as a national holiday.
Feast of Tabernacles. Commemorative of the forty years’ wandering of the Israelites in search of the Promised Land, during which long period they dwelt in temporary huts or tabernacles, formed of tree branches covered with leaves. Even at the present day the Jews at least take their meals in temporary structures covered with leaves throughout the nine days of the festival.
Feather in my Cap. An expression derived from a custom of the North American Indians, who stuck a fresh feather in their head-dress for every one of their enemies slain in battle.
Feathers. An inn sign originally, when the painted device appeared in place of the mere name, signifying the “Plume of Feathers,” or “Prince of Wales’s Feathers,” the crest of Edward the Black Prince.
February. From the Latin februare, to purify, this being the month appointed by the Romans for the festival of the Februalia of purification and expiation.
Federal States. During the American Civil War the Treaty States of the North, which resisted the Separatist or Confederate States in the South.