Hyacinth. According to the Greek fable this flower sprang from the blood of the beautiful youth Hyacinthus, who, having aroused the jealousy of Zephyr, received his death-blow at her hands by casting Apollo’s quoit at his head.
Hyde Park. Anciently described as the Hyde Manor belonging to the Abbots of St Peter’s, Westminster.
Hyde Park Corner. Of old the western extremity of London, defined by a toll gate.
Hydro. Short for a hydropathic establishment.
Hythe. From the Anglo-Saxon hithe, a haven.
I
Iambic Verse. Poetical satires written in Iambics, or two-syllable foot measure, were originally so called after Iambe, an attendant upon one of the queens of Sparta, who kept a commonplace book of lively, free, and satirical pieces.
Iberia. The ancient name of Spain, from the Iberi, its original inhabitants. These were maritime adventurers from Phœnicia who penetrated the country by way of the River Ebro. When in course of time the Celts descended upon them from the Pyrenees, they spread themselves to the south and west. On reaching the sea at the farthest limit of their wanderings they imagined themselves at the end of the world, and so gave the name of Iber, a Phœnician word of that import, to the country. Its principal eastern river, the Ebro, retains the original name.
Iceland. So called because its north and west coasts are generally blocked with ice that has drifted down from Greenland.
Iceland Moss. A lichen indigenous to Iceland and Greenland which is said to be very efficacious in the treatment of consumption.