Arundel Street. That in the Strand from the town mansion and extensive grounds of the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk and Earls of Arundel and Surrey. That in the Haymarket after the ground landlord, Lord Arundel of Wardour.
Ascension Island. Discovered by the Portuguese on the Feast of the Ascension, 1501.
As Cross as Two Sticks. Two sticks held together in the centre like the letter X form a cross.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch. The home among the ash-trees of the De La Zouches. By expresses the Anglo-Saxon for a dwelling.
Asia. From the Sanskrit Ushas, “land of the dawn.” By the Western nations Asiatics were anciently styled “the people of the sun.”
Asia Minor. Lesser Asia, called by the Turks and Greeks “Anatolia.”
Aspasia. A flower named after Aspasia of Miletus, the mistress of Pericles.
As Poor as a Church Mouse. A church is one of the very few buildings that contain neither kitchen nor larder. Church mice, therefore, have a hungry time of it.
As Rich as a Jew. The Jews in England were the first usurers, bankers, and bill-brokers. They only had the command of ready money, the wealth of the nobility consisting in the possession of broad lands.
Assumptionists. A modern religious Order, founded fifty years ago, whose full title is the Augustinians of the Assumption.