Chapter Hell Gate to Henricans of H by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Hell Gate to Henricans

Hell Gate A dangerous passage between Great Barn Island and Long Island, North America. The Dutch settlers of New York called it Hoellgat (whirling-gut) corrupted into Hell-gate. Flood Rock, its most dangerous reef, has been blown up by U.S. engineers.

Hell Gates according to Milton, are nine-fold - three of brass, three of iron, and three of adamant; the keepers are Sin and Death. This allegory is one of the most celebrated passages of Paradise Lost. (See book ii. 643-676.)

Hell Kettles Cavities three miles long, at Oxen-le-Field, Durham. A, B, C communicate with each other, diameter, about 38 yards. The diameter of D, a separate cave, is about 28 yards.
   A is 19 feet 6 inches in depth.
   B is 14 feet in depth.
   C is 17 feet in depth.
   D is 5 feet 6 inches in depth.
   (See Notes and Queries, August 21, 1875.)

Hell Shoon In Icelandic mythology, indispensable for the journey to Valhalla as the obolus for crossing the Styx.

Hell or Connaught (To). This phrase, usually attributed to Cromwell, and common to the whole of Ireland, rose thus: When the settlers designed for Ireland asked the officers of James I. where they were to go, they were answered "to Hell or Connaught," go where you like or where you may, but don't bother me about the matter.

Hellanodicæ Umpires of the public games in Greece. They might chastise with a stick anyone who created a disturbance. Lichas, a Spartan nobleman, was so punished by them.

Hellenes (3 syl.). "This word had in Palestine three several meanings: Sometimes it designated the pagans; sometimes the Jews, speaking Greek, and dwelling among the pagans; and sometimes proselytes of the gate, that is, men of pagan origin converted to Judaism, but not circumcised" (John vii. 35, xii.20; Acts xiv. 1, xvii. 4, xviii. 4, xxi. 28). (Renan: Life of Jesus, xiv.)
   N.B. The present Greeks call themselves "Hellenes," and the king is termed "King of the Hellenes." The ancient Greeks called their country "Hellas;" it was the Romans who misnamed it "Græcia."

"The first and truest Hellas, the mother-land of all Hellenes, was the land which we call Greece, with the islands round about it. There alone the whole land was Greek, and none but Hellenes lived in it." - Freeman: General Sketch, chap. ii. p. 21.

Hellenic The common dialect of the Greek writers after the age of Alexander. It was based on the Attic.

Hellenistic The dialect of the Greek language used by the Jews. It was full of Oriental idioms and metaphors.

Hellenists Those Jews who used the Greek or Hellenic language. (All these four words are derived from Hellas, in Thessaly, the cradle of the race.)

Hellespont (3 syl.), now called the Dardanelles, means the "sea of Helle," and was so called because Helle, the sister of Phryxos, was drowned there. She was fleeing with her brother through the air to Colchis on the golden ram to escape from Ino, her mother-in-law, who most cruelly oppressed her, but turning giddy, she fell into the sea.

Helmet in heraldry, resting on the chief of the shield, and bearing the crest, indicates rank.
Gold, with six bars, or with the visor raised (in full face) for royalty! Steel, with gold bars, varying in number (in profile) for a nobleman; Steel, without bars, and with visor open (in profile) for a knight or baronet; Steel, with visor closed (in profile), for a squire or gentleman.
    "The pointed helmet in the bas-reliefs from the earliest palace of Nimroud appears to have been the most ancient ... Several were discovered in the ruins. They were iron, and the rings which ornamented the lower part ... were inlaid with copper." - Layard: Nineveh and its Remains, vol. ii. part ii. chap. iv. p. 262.