Isle of Bourbon. A French settlement named in compliment to the House of Bourbon.
Isle of Desolation. When discovered by Captain Cook this island was utterly devoid of animal life.
Isle of Dogs. A corruption of “Isle of Ducks,” owing to the great numbers of water-fowl settled on the marshes. In our time it might well be described as the “Isle of Docks.”
Isle of Man. Properly “Mona Isle,” from the Celtic mæn, a stone; hence “Isle of Rocks.”
Isle of St Helena. Discovered on the Feast of St Helena, 1502.
Isleworth. Expresses a manorial dwelling beside the river. Sion House, in which Lady Jane Grey resided for a time, was built upon the ruins of an ancient nunnery. It is now the property of the Duke of Northumberland, who removed thither the famous lion on the top of the demolished Northumberland House at Charing Cross. The popular belief that when this lion heard the clock of St Martin’s Church strike it would wag its tail and turn round was on a par with that of the washing of the Tower lions on the first of April.
Islington. The family settlement of the Islings.
Is the Ghost walking? See “[Ghost walking].”
Italics. Thin sloping types, altogether different from the older Roman, first used in an edition of Virgil by Aldo Manuzio, the celebrated printer of Venice, in 1207.
Italy. The modern form of the Roman description of the country, Latium, or “broad plain.” This resulted in the designation of all the tribes of the conquered districts as Latini, or the Latins.