HASHISH, or Hasheesh, the Arabic name, meaning literally “dried herb,” for the various preparations of the Indian hemp plant (Cannabis indica), used as a narcotic or intoxicant in the East, and either smoked, chewed or drunk (see [Hemp] and [Bhang]). From the Arabic hashīshīn, i.e. “hemp-eaters,” comes the English “assassin” (see [Assassin]).
HASLEMERE, a market-town in the Guildford parliamentary division of Surrey, England, 43 m. S.W. from London by the London & South-Western railway. It is situated in an elevated valley between the bold ridges of Hindhead (895 ft.) and Blackdown (918 ft.). Their summits are open and covered with heath, but their flanks and the lower ground are magnificently wooded. The hills are deeply scored by steep and picturesque valleys, of which the most remarkable is the Devil’s Punch Bowl, a hollow of regular form on the west flank of Hindhead. The invigorating air has combined with scenic attraction to make the district a favourite place of residence. Professor Tyndall built a house on the top of Hindhead, setting an example followed by many others. On Blackdown, closely screened by plantations, is Aldworth, built for Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who died here in 1892. George Eliot stayed for a considerable period at Shottermill, a neighbouring village. Pop. of Haslemere (1901), 2614; of Hindhead, 666.
HASLINGDEN, a market-town and municipal borough in the Rossendale and Heywood parliamentary divisions of Lancashire, England, 19 m. N. by W. from Manchester by the Lancashire & Yorkshire railway. Pop. (1901), 18,543. It lies in a hilly district on the borders of the forest of Rossendale, and is supposed by some to derive its name from the hazel trees which formerly abounded in its neighbourhood. The old town stood on the slope of a hill, but the modern part has extended about its base. The parish church of St James was rebuilt in 1780, with the exception of the tower, which dates from the time of Henry VIII. The woollen manufacture was formerly the staple. The town, however, steadily increasing in importance, has cotton, woollen and engineering works—coal-mining, quarrying and brickmaking are carried on in the neighbourhood. The borough, as incorporated in 1891, comprised several townships and parts of townships, but under the Local Government Act of 1894 these were united into one civil parish. The corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 8196 acres.
HASPE, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Westphalia, in the valley of the Ennepe, at the confluence of the Hasper, and on the railway from Düsseldorf to Dortmund, 10 m. N.E. of Barmen by rail. Pop. (1905), 19,813. Its industries include iron foundries, rolling mills, puddling furnaces, and manufactures of iron, steel and brass wares and of machines. Haspe was raised to the rank of a town in 1873.
HASSAM, CHILDE (1859- ), American figure and landscape painter, born in Boston, Massachusetts, was a pupil of Boulanger and Lefebvre in Paris. He soon fell under the influence of the Impressionists, and took to painting in a style of his own, in brilliant colour, with effective touches of pure pigment. He won a bronze medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1889; medals at the World’s Fair, Chicago, 1893; Boston Art Club, 1896; Philadelphia Art Club, 1892; Carnegie Institute, Pittsburg, 1898; Buffalo Pan-American, 1901; Temple gold medal, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Philadelphia, 1899; and silver medal, Paris Exhibition, 1900. He became a member of the National Academy of Design, the Society of American Artists, the Ten Americans, the American Water Colour Society, the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, and the Secession Society, Munich.