Nutcrackers. The 3rd Foot, so called because they boasted of having broken the heads of the Polish Lancers at the battle of Albuera.
Nutcrack Night. Another name for All Hallows’ Eve, when nuts are laid on the fire bars to crack, as a relic of an ancient kind of divination.
Nutmeg State. Connecticut, whose people were believed to manufacture wooden nutmegs for exportation.
O
Oak Apple Day. Another name for Royal Oak Day (29th May), when people formerly wore oak leaves or oak apples in their hats to commemorate the manner in which the partisans of Charles II. welcomed his return to England on his birthday, 1651. This was, of course, in allusion to his concealment in an oak-tree near Boscobel House, Shropshire, after the battle of Worcester, on 3rd September previous.
Oakley Square. After Oakley House, near Bedford, one of the country seats of the Duke of Bedford, the ground landlord.
Oaks Stakes. So called from a Lodge or Club-House built among the oaks by the Hunters’ Club, and afterwards converted into an inn, known as “Lambert’s Oaks,” after the name of its landlord.
Obiter Scripta. Latin for a thing written in passing, a note by the way.
Observants. The name borne by those monastic orders whose members adhere to the strict rule laid down by their pious founders in contradistinction to others styled “Conventuals,” who, like the secular clergy, take upon themselves the performance of parochial duties.
Obstropulous. A corruption of the word “obstreperous,” inclined to quarrelling.