GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
by JONATHAN SWIFT
GULLIVER'S TRAVELS
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| h | as a note on pronounciation, the letter 'h' appears to be silent at the beginning of most words, evidenced by the use of 'an' (rather than 'a') as a preceding article; e.g. 'an Hundred' 'an Half'; the written "an hundred" is pronounced, one assumes, "an 'undred"; one exception I have noted is 'a hedge'; otherwise the 'h' seems to be silent in half, handsome, harmless, hatred, hearty, historian, hole, Hollander, hospitable, house, humble, hundred, husbandman
while there are some notable surviving cases in modern English, such as 'hour' 'honest' and 'honor' and dropping 'h's is common in some English dialects still, from Swift's use in the Travels it seems to have been the practice among educated people at that time; Swift was college educated and a 'man of letters' who was welcome in literary and political circles; he was also an advocate for careful usage and pronounciation.
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| Hales, Stephen | 1677-1761, English clergyman and amateur botanist and chemist; Hales is considered one of the founders of plant science; some of his studies on plant and animal metabolism, reported by the Royal Society and elsewhere, possibly inspired episodes reported in Gulliver's visit to the Academy of Lagado (III:5); Hale's "Experiment CXIV" in his Vegetable Staticks; or, an acount of some Statical Experiments on the Sap in Vegetables... (1726), contains the passage
I tied down a middle sized Dog down alive on a table, and having layed bare his windpipe, I cut it asunder just below the Larynx, and fixed fast to it the end of a common fosset; the other end of the fosset had a large bladder tied to it....additional sources
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| hanger | "a sword worn at the side;
especially, in the 18th century, a short, curved sword." Webster's Unabridged Dictionary
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| Harley, Robert | (1661-1724); 1st Earl of Oxford; British lord treasurer 1711-4, headed Tory government with St. John, briefly under Queen Anne; made Earl of Oxford, 1711; dismissed by Anne in 1714, who died soon after; on ascension of George I, the deposed Tory leaders were tried for treason by the Whigs under Walpole; Oxford was eventually acquited; Swift was aligned with the Tory leaders and Gulliver's experiences in Lilliput mirror those of Harley and St. John. Gulliver mentions Oxford by name in "A Letter from Capt. Gulliver, to His Cousin Sympson," added later to the text. "she did govern by a chief Minister...the second the Lord of Oxford" (letter;1) As lord treasurer, Harley was involved in the South Sea Bubble scheme; Case [Four Essays] contends Lord Munodi's water mill in Part III is a parable about the South Sea Bubble, in which case Munodi would be Harley. see also: |
| Hhnm Yahoo | Houy; not defined specificially; provided as an example of Houyhnhnm use of "Yahoo" as a adjective or adverb modifying other words;
... the Houyhnhnms have no Word in their Language to express any thing that is Evil, except what they borrow from the Deformities or ill Qualities of the Yahoos. Thus they denote the Folly of a Servant, an Omission of a Child, a Stone that cut their Feet, a continuance of foul or unseasonable Weather, and the like, by adding to each the Epithet of Yahoo. For Instance, Hhnm Yahoo, Whnaholm Yahoo, Ynlhmndwihlma Yahoo, and an ill-contrived House, Ynholmhnmrohlnw Yahoo. (IV:9;11)
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| Hekinah Degul | Lill. undefined: in context, appears to be expression of amazement; "What in the Devil!" [Clark]
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| Hhuun | Houy.beckoning term
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| hlunnh | Houy.; oats
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| Hnea-Yahoo | Houy; "Yahoo's Evil"; Houyhnhnm name for diseases of Yahoos; may be derived from Latin negative, ne [Clark]
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| Hnhloayn | Houy.; exhortation; decree by general assembly of Houyhnhnms
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| Hnuy illa nyha majah Yahoo | Houy; "Take care of thyself, gentle Yahoo" (IV:12;1); Clark deciphers as "not ill nigh, my Yahoo" or "let not ill come nigh thee, my Yahoo"
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| hogshead | a large cask holding about 50 gallons
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| Houyhnhnm | Houy.; commonly pronounced "whinnim"; one of the rational, horse-like race featured in Part IVof the Travels; Houyhnhnms are the dominant species of an island in the South Pacific (therefore known as the Country of the Houyhnhnms or Houyhnhnm Land); Gulliver is left on shore by mutineers and his stay with the Houyhnhnms makes up the core of Part IV and the climax of the work ; the Houyhnhnms are ruled, individually and collectively, by strict adherence to dispassionate reason and Gulliver becomes enthralled with their philosophy and way of life, so much so he attempts to emulate them and desires to remain there, only leaving when he is banished by their assembly; the Houyhnhnms share their island with the Yahoos, a degraded human species, who they despise and treat as cattle and slaves;
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Houyhnhnm Land  |
island inhabited by the Houyhnhnms, a race of intelligent horses, and the Yahoos, bestial, de-evolved humans, featured in Part IV of the Travels;
Location:Houyhnhnm Land is probably south of the southwest tip of Australia; there has been some scholarly speculation about the location of Houyhnhnm Land based upon confusion in Gulliver's descriptions of his journeys to and from Houyhnhnm Land (see IV:1;2 and especially IV:11;3) which places it at 45 degrees south Latitude somewhere east of Madagascar, so far east to be able to reach the "South East Point of New Holland" (Australia) after sailing in a small boat for only two days. Since what we now know as the southeast point of Australia (Victoria) had not been explored or mapped in Gulliver's day, we can assume that the point he reached is somewhere much further east, probably within the Great Bight; this coincides roughly with the original map accompanying this part of the Travels which orients Houyhnhnm Land with landmarks of the southwest coast of Australia. Government: "Every fourth Year, at the Vernal Equinox, there is a Representative Council of the whole Nation," or Assembly (IV:8;16)
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| Hnhloayn | Houy; "a Decree of the general
Assembly in this Country, is expressed by the Word Hnhloayn, which
signifies an Exhortation; as near as I can render it:" (IV:10;7)
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| Mrs. Howard | Henrietta Howard; Countess of Suffolk; mistress of George II; correspondent of Swift's
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| Hurgo | Lill.; Gulliver translates as "a great lord" (I:1); per Clark "willful" or "will go";
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