Chapter Heart of England to Heimdall of H by Brewer's Readers Handbook

And it came to pass…that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took them wives of all whom they chose.—Gen. vi.2.

Heven-sent Minister (The), William Pitt (1759–1806).

Hebe , goddess of youth, and cup-bearer of the immortals before Ganymede superseded her. She was the wife of Herculês, and had the power of making the aged young again. (See Plousina.)

Hebês are they to hand ambrosia, mix
The nectar.
   —Tennyson: The Princess,, iii.

Hebreorum Contubernium, the Ghetto of Rome; so called because it was the quarter assigned to the Jews. It was guarded by Roman halberdiers, who opened the five massive gates at sunrise to let the Jews into the city, and closed them at sunset. In London the Jews’ quarter was Jewry.

Hebrew Melodies, a series of twenty-three poems, by lord Byron: the last but one is that exquisite poem. The Destruction of [the army of] Sennacherib.

Hebron, in the first part of Absalom and Achitophel, by Dryden, stands for Holland; but in the second part, by Tate, it stands for Scotland. Hebronite similarly means in one case a Hollander, and in the other a Scotchman.

Hecate (2syl), called in classic mythology Hec-a-te; a triple deity, being Luna in heaven, Diana on earth, and Proserpine in hell. Hecate presided over magic and enchantments, and was generally represented as having the head of a horse, dog, or boar, though sometimes she is represented with three bodies, and three heads looking different ways. Shakespeare introduces her in his tragedy of Macbeth (act iii. sc. 5), as queen of the witches; but the witches of Macbeth have been largely borrowed from a drama called The Witch, by Thom. Middleton (died 1626). The following is a specimen of this indebtedness:—

Hecate. Black spirits and white, red spirits and grey,
Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may…
Ist Witch, Here’s the blood of a bat.
Hecate. Put in that, oh put in that.
2nd Witch. Here’s libbard’s bane.
Hecate. Put in again, etc., etc.
   —Middleton: The Witch.

And yonder pale-faced Hecate there, the moon,
Doth give consent to that is done in darkness.
   —Kyd: The Spanish Tragedy (1597)

Hector, one of the sons of Priam king of Troy. This bravest and ablest of all the Trojan chiefs was generalissimo of the allied armies, and was slain in the last year of the war by Achillês, who, with barbarous fury, dragged the dead body insultingly thrice round the tomb of Patroclos and the walls of the beleagured city.—Homer: Iliad.

Hector de Mares , or Marys, a knight of the Round Table, brother of sir Launcelot du Lac.

The gentle Gawain’s courteous love,
Hector de Mares, and Pellinore.
   —Sir W. Scott: Bridal of Triermain, ii. 13(1813).

Hector of Germany, Joachim II. elector of Brandenburg (1514–1571).

Hector of the Mist, an outlaw, killed by Allan M’Aulay.—Sir W. Scott: Legend of Montrose (time, Charles I.).

Hectors, street bullies. Since the Restoration, we have had a succession of street brawlers, as the Muns, the Tityre Tus, the Hectors, the Scourers, the Nickers, the Hawcubites, and, lastly, the Mohawks, worst of them all.

Hedge-hog, i.e. the edge-hog—the “hog” with spines or sharp points.