Bibliography.—The scientific study of the Gipsy language and its origin, as well as the critical history of the Gipsy race, dates (with the notable exception of Grellmann) almost entirely from Pott’s researches in 1844.I.Collections of Documents, &c.—Lists of older publications appeared in the books of Pott, Miklosich and the archduke Joseph; Pott adds a critical appreciation of the scientific value of the books enumerated. See alsoVerzeichnis von Werken und Aufsätzen ... über die Geschichte und Sprache der Zigeuner, &c., 248 entries (Leipzig, 1886); J. Tipray, “Adalékok a czigányokról szóló írodalomhoz,” inMagyar Könyvszemle(Budapest, 1877); Ch. G. Leland,A Collection of Cuttings ... relating to Gypsies(1874-1891), bequeathed by him to the British Museum. See also theOrientalischer Jahresbericht, ed. Müller (Berlin, 1887 ff.).II.History.—(a) The first appearance of the Gipsies in Europe. Sources: A. F. Oefelius,Rerum Boicarum scriptores, &c.(Augsburg, 1763); M. Freher,Andreae Presbyteri ... chronicon de ducibus Bavariae ...(1602); S. Munster,Cosmographia ... &c.(Basel, 1545); J. Thurmaier,Annalium Boiorum libri septem, ed. T. Zieglerus (Ingolstad, 1554); M. Crusius,Annales Suevici, &c.(Frankfurt, 1595-1596),Schwäbische Chronik ...(Frankfurt, 1733); A. Krantz,Saxonia(Cologne, 1520); Simon Simeon,Itineraria, &c., ed. J. Nasmith (Cambridge, 1778). (b) Origin and spread of the Gipsies: H. M. G. Grellmann,Die Zigeuner, &c.(1st ed., Dessau and Leipzig, 1783; 2nd ed., Göttingen, 1787); English by M. Roper (London, 1787; 2nd ed., London, 1807), entitledDissertation on the Gipsies, &c.; Carl von Heister,Ethnographische ... Notizen über die Zigeuner(Königsberg, 1842), a third and greatly improved edition of Grellmann and the best book of its kind up to that date; A. F. Pott,Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien(2 vols., Halle, 1844-1845), the first scholarly work with complete and critical bibliography, detailed grammar, etymological dictionary and important texts; C. Hopf,Die Einwanderung der Zigeuner in Europa(Gotha, 1870); F. von Miklosich, “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Zigeuner-Mundarten,” i.-iv., inSitzungsber. d. Wiener Akad. d. Wissenschaften(Vienna, 1874-1878), “Über die Mundarten und die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europas,” i.-xii., inDenkschriften d. Wiener Akad. d. Wissenschaften(1872-1880); M. J. de Goeje,Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Zigeuners(Amsterdam, 1875), English translation by MacRitchie,Account of the Gipsies of India(London, 1886); Zedler,Universal-Lexicon, vol. lxii., s.v. “Zigeuner,” pp. 520-544 containing a rich bibliography; many publications of P. Bataillard from 1844 to 1885; A. Colocci,Storia d’ un popolo errante, with illustrations, map and Gipsy-Ital. and Ital.-Gipsy glossaries (Turin, 1889); F. H. Groome, “The Gypsies,” in E. Magnusson,National Life and Thought(1891), and art. “Gipsies” inEncyclopaedia Britannica(9th ed., 1879); C. Améro,Bohémiens, Tsiganes et Gypsies(Paris, 1895); M. Kogalnitschan,Esquisse sur l’histoire, les mœurs et la langue des Cigains(Berlin, 1837; German trans., Stuttgart, 1840)—valuable more for the historical part than for the linguistic; J. Czacki,Dziela, vol. iii. (1844-1845)—for historic data about Gipsies in Poland; I. Kopernicki and J. Moyer,Charakterystyka fizyczna ludrości galicyjskiéj(1876)—for the history and customs of Galician gipsies;Ungarische statistische Mitteilungen, vol. ix. (Budapest, 1895), containing the best statistical information on the Gipsies; V. Dittrich, Anagy-idai czigányok(Budapest, 1898); T. H. Schwicker, “Die Zigeuner in Ungarn u. Siebenbürgen,” in vol. xii. ofDie Völker Österreich-Ungarns(Vienna, 1883), and inMitteilungen d. K. K. geographischen Gesellschaft(Vienna, 1896); Dr J. Polek,Die Zigeuner in der Bukowina(Czernowitz, 1908); Ficker, “Die Zigeuner der Bukowina,” inStatist. Monatschrift, v. 6,Hundert Jahre 1775-1875: Zigeuner in d. Bukowina(Vienna, 1875),Die Völkerstämme der österr.-ungar. Monarchie, &c.(Vienna, 1869); V. S. Morwood,Our Gipsies(London, 1885); D. MacRitchie,Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts(Edinburgh, 1894); F. A. Coelho, “Os Ciganos de Portugal,” inBol. Soc. Geog.(Lisbon, 1892); A. Dumbarton,Gypsy Life in the Mysore Jungle(London, 1902).III.Linguistic.—[Armenia], F. N. Finck, “Die Sprache der armenischen Zigeuner,” inMémoires de l’Acad. Imp. des Sciences, viii. (St Petersburg, 1907). [Austria-Hungary], R. von Sowa,Die Mundart der slovakischen Zigeuner(Göttingen, 1887), andDie mährische Mundart der Romsprache(Vienna, 1893); A. J. Puchmayer,Români Čib(Prague, 1821); P. Josef Ješina,Romáňi Čib(in Czech, 1880; in German, 1886); G. Ihnatko,Czigány nyelvtan(Losoncon, 1877); A. Kalina,La Langue des Tsiganes slovaques(Posen, 1882); the archduke Joseph,Czigány nyelvtan(Budapest, 1888); H. von Wlislocki,Die Sprache der transsilvanischen Zigeuner(Leipzig, 1884). [Brazil], A. T. de Mello Moraes,Os ciganos no Brazil(Rio de Janeiro, 1886). [France, the Basques], A. Baudrimont,Vocabulaire de la langue des Bohémiens habitant les pays basques-français(Bordeaux, 1862). [Germany], R. Pischel,Beiträge zur Kenntnis der deutschen Zigeuner(Halle, 1894); R. von Sowa, “Wörterbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner,” inAbhandlungen f. d. Kunde d. Morgenlandes, xi. 1, very valuable (Leipzig, 1898); F. N. Finck,Lehrbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner—very valuable (Marburg, 1903). [Great Britain, &c.], Ch. G. Leland,The English Gipsies and their Language(London and New York, 1873; 2nd ed., 1874),The Gipsies of Russia, Austria, England, America, &c.(London, 1882)—the validity of Leland’s conclusions is often doubtful; B. C. Smart and H. J. Crofton,The Dialect of the English Gypsies(2nd ed., London, 1875); G. Borrow,Romano lavo-lil(London, 1874, 1905),Lavengro, ed. F. H. Groome (London, 1899). [Rumania], B. Constantinescu,Probe de Limba şi literatura Ţiganilor din România(Bucharest, 1878). [Russia, Bessarabia], O. Boethlingk,Über die Sprache der Zigeuner in Russland(St Petersburg, 1852; supplement, 1854). [Russia, Caucasus], K. Badganian,Cygany. Nêskolĭko slovŭ o narêčijahŭ zakavkazskihŭ cyganŭ(St Petersburg, 1887); Istomin,Ciganskij Jazykŭ(1900). [Spain], G. H. Borrow,The Zincali, or an Account of the Gipsies of Spain(London, 1841, and numerous later editions); R. Campuzano,Origen ... de los Gitanos, y diccionario de su dialecto(2nd ed., Madrid, 1857); A. de C.,Diccionario del dialecto gitano, &c.(Barcelona, 1851); M. de Sales y Guindale,Historia, costumbres y dialecto de los Gitanos(Madrid, 1870); M. de Sales,El Gitanismo(Madrid, 1870); J. Tineo Rebolledo,”A Chipicalli” la lengua gitana: diccionario gitano-español(Granada, 1900). [Turkey], A. G. Paspati,Études sur les Tchinghianés, ou Bohémiens de l’empire ottoman(Constantinople, 1870), with grammar, vocabulary, tales and French glossary; very important. [General], John Sampson, “Gypsy Language and Origin,” inJourn. Gypsy Lore Soc.vol. i. (2nd ser., Liverpool, 1907); J. A. Decourdemanche,Grammaire du Tchingané, &c.(Paris, 1908)—fantastic in some of its philology; F. Kluge,Rotwelsche Quellen(Strassburg, 1901); L. Günther,Das Rotwelsch des deutschen Gauners(Leipzig, 1905), for the influence of Gipsy on argot; L. Besses,Diccionario de argot español(Barcelona); G. A. Grierson,The Pi’sāca Languages of North-Western India(London, 1906), for parallels in Indian dialects; G. Borrow,Criscote e majaró Lucas ... El evangelio segun S. Lucas ...(London, 1837; 2nd ed., 1872)—this is the only complete translation of any one of the gospels into Gipsy. For older fragments of such translations, see Pott ii. 464-521.IV.Folklore, Tales, Songs, &c.—Many songs and tales are foundin the books enumerated above, where they are mostly accompanied by literal translations. See also Ch. G. Leland, E. H. Palmer and T. Tuckey,English Gipsy Songs in Romany, with Metrical English Translation(London, 1875); G. Smith,Gipsy Life, &c.(London, 1880); M. Rosenfeld,Lieder der Zigeuner(1882); Ch. G. Leland,The Gypsies(Boston, Mass., 1882),Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune-Telling(London, 1891); H. von Wlislocki,Märchen und Sagen der transsilvanischen Zigeuner(Berlin, 1886)—containing 63 tales, very freely translated;Volksdichtungen der siebenbürgischen und südungarischen Zigeuner(Vienna, 1890)—songs, ballads, charms, proverbs and 100 tales;Vom wandernden Zigeunervolke(Hamburg, 1890);Wesen und Wirkungskreis der Zauberfrauen bei den siebenbürgischen Zigeuner(1891); “Aus dem inneren Leben der Zigeuner,” inEthnologische Mitteilungen(Berlin, 1892); R. Pischel,Bericht über Wlislocki vom wandernden Zigeunervolke(Göttingen, 1890)—a strong criticism of Wlislocki’s method, &c.; F. H. Groome,Gypsy Folk-Tales(London, 1899), with historical introduction and a complete and trustworthy collection of 76 gipsy tales from many countries; Katadá,Contes gitanos(Logroño, 1907); M. Gaster,Zigeunermärchen aus Rumänien(1881); “Ţiganii, &c.,” inRevista pentru Istorie, &c., i. p. 469 ff. (Bucharest, 1883); “Gypsy Fairy-Tales” inFolklore. TheJournal of the Gipsy-Lore Society(Edinburgh, 1888-1892) was revived in Liverpool in 1907.V.Legal Status.—A few of the books in which the legal status of the Gipsies (either alone or in conjunction with “vagrants”) is treated from a juridical point of view are here mentioned, also the history of the trial in 1726. J. B. Weissenbruch,Ausführliche Relation von der famosen Zigeuner-Diebes-Mord und Räuber(Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1727); A. Ch. Thomasius,Tractatio juridica de vagabundo, &c.(Leipzig, 1731); F. Ch. B. Avé-Lallemant,Das deutsche Gaunertum, &c.(Leipzig, 1858-1862); V. de Rochas,Les Parias de France et d’Espagne(Paris, 1876); P. Chuchul,Zum Kampfe gegen Landstreicher und Bettler(Kassel, 1881); R. Breithaupt,Die Zigeuner und der deutsche Staat(Würzburg, 1907); G. Steinhausen,Geschichte der deutschen Kultur(Leipzig and Vienna, 1904).
Bibliography.—The scientific study of the Gipsy language and its origin, as well as the critical history of the Gipsy race, dates (with the notable exception of Grellmann) almost entirely from Pott’s researches in 1844.
I.Collections of Documents, &c.—Lists of older publications appeared in the books of Pott, Miklosich and the archduke Joseph; Pott adds a critical appreciation of the scientific value of the books enumerated. See alsoVerzeichnis von Werken und Aufsätzen ... über die Geschichte und Sprache der Zigeuner, &c., 248 entries (Leipzig, 1886); J. Tipray, “Adalékok a czigányokról szóló írodalomhoz,” inMagyar Könyvszemle(Budapest, 1877); Ch. G. Leland,A Collection of Cuttings ... relating to Gypsies(1874-1891), bequeathed by him to the British Museum. See also theOrientalischer Jahresbericht, ed. Müller (Berlin, 1887 ff.).
II.History.—(a) The first appearance of the Gipsies in Europe. Sources: A. F. Oefelius,Rerum Boicarum scriptores, &c.(Augsburg, 1763); M. Freher,Andreae Presbyteri ... chronicon de ducibus Bavariae ...(1602); S. Munster,Cosmographia ... &c.(Basel, 1545); J. Thurmaier,Annalium Boiorum libri septem, ed. T. Zieglerus (Ingolstad, 1554); M. Crusius,Annales Suevici, &c.(Frankfurt, 1595-1596),Schwäbische Chronik ...(Frankfurt, 1733); A. Krantz,Saxonia(Cologne, 1520); Simon Simeon,Itineraria, &c., ed. J. Nasmith (Cambridge, 1778). (b) Origin and spread of the Gipsies: H. M. G. Grellmann,Die Zigeuner, &c.(1st ed., Dessau and Leipzig, 1783; 2nd ed., Göttingen, 1787); English by M. Roper (London, 1787; 2nd ed., London, 1807), entitledDissertation on the Gipsies, &c.; Carl von Heister,Ethnographische ... Notizen über die Zigeuner(Königsberg, 1842), a third and greatly improved edition of Grellmann and the best book of its kind up to that date; A. F. Pott,Die Zigeuner in Europa und Asien(2 vols., Halle, 1844-1845), the first scholarly work with complete and critical bibliography, detailed grammar, etymological dictionary and important texts; C. Hopf,Die Einwanderung der Zigeuner in Europa(Gotha, 1870); F. von Miklosich, “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Zigeuner-Mundarten,” i.-iv., inSitzungsber. d. Wiener Akad. d. Wissenschaften(Vienna, 1874-1878), “Über die Mundarten und die Wanderungen der Zigeuner Europas,” i.-xii., inDenkschriften d. Wiener Akad. d. Wissenschaften(1872-1880); M. J. de Goeje,Bijdrage tot de geschiedenis der Zigeuners(Amsterdam, 1875), English translation by MacRitchie,Account of the Gipsies of India(London, 1886); Zedler,Universal-Lexicon, vol. lxii., s.v. “Zigeuner,” pp. 520-544 containing a rich bibliography; many publications of P. Bataillard from 1844 to 1885; A. Colocci,Storia d’ un popolo errante, with illustrations, map and Gipsy-Ital. and Ital.-Gipsy glossaries (Turin, 1889); F. H. Groome, “The Gypsies,” in E. Magnusson,National Life and Thought(1891), and art. “Gipsies” inEncyclopaedia Britannica(9th ed., 1879); C. Améro,Bohémiens, Tsiganes et Gypsies(Paris, 1895); M. Kogalnitschan,Esquisse sur l’histoire, les mœurs et la langue des Cigains(Berlin, 1837; German trans., Stuttgart, 1840)—valuable more for the historical part than for the linguistic; J. Czacki,Dziela, vol. iii. (1844-1845)—for historic data about Gipsies in Poland; I. Kopernicki and J. Moyer,Charakterystyka fizyczna ludrości galicyjskiéj(1876)—for the history and customs of Galician gipsies;Ungarische statistische Mitteilungen, vol. ix. (Budapest, 1895), containing the best statistical information on the Gipsies; V. Dittrich, Anagy-idai czigányok(Budapest, 1898); T. H. Schwicker, “Die Zigeuner in Ungarn u. Siebenbürgen,” in vol. xii. ofDie Völker Österreich-Ungarns(Vienna, 1883), and inMitteilungen d. K. K. geographischen Gesellschaft(Vienna, 1896); Dr J. Polek,Die Zigeuner in der Bukowina(Czernowitz, 1908); Ficker, “Die Zigeuner der Bukowina,” inStatist. Monatschrift, v. 6,Hundert Jahre 1775-1875: Zigeuner in d. Bukowina(Vienna, 1875),Die Völkerstämme der österr.-ungar. Monarchie, &c.(Vienna, 1869); V. S. Morwood,Our Gipsies(London, 1885); D. MacRitchie,Scottish Gypsies under the Stewarts(Edinburgh, 1894); F. A. Coelho, “Os Ciganos de Portugal,” inBol. Soc. Geog.(Lisbon, 1892); A. Dumbarton,Gypsy Life in the Mysore Jungle(London, 1902).
III.Linguistic.—[Armenia], F. N. Finck, “Die Sprache der armenischen Zigeuner,” inMémoires de l’Acad. Imp. des Sciences, viii. (St Petersburg, 1907). [Austria-Hungary], R. von Sowa,Die Mundart der slovakischen Zigeuner(Göttingen, 1887), andDie mährische Mundart der Romsprache(Vienna, 1893); A. J. Puchmayer,Români Čib(Prague, 1821); P. Josef Ješina,Romáňi Čib(in Czech, 1880; in German, 1886); G. Ihnatko,Czigány nyelvtan(Losoncon, 1877); A. Kalina,La Langue des Tsiganes slovaques(Posen, 1882); the archduke Joseph,Czigány nyelvtan(Budapest, 1888); H. von Wlislocki,Die Sprache der transsilvanischen Zigeuner(Leipzig, 1884). [Brazil], A. T. de Mello Moraes,Os ciganos no Brazil(Rio de Janeiro, 1886). [France, the Basques], A. Baudrimont,Vocabulaire de la langue des Bohémiens habitant les pays basques-français(Bordeaux, 1862). [Germany], R. Pischel,Beiträge zur Kenntnis der deutschen Zigeuner(Halle, 1894); R. von Sowa, “Wörterbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner,” inAbhandlungen f. d. Kunde d. Morgenlandes, xi. 1, very valuable (Leipzig, 1898); F. N. Finck,Lehrbuch des Dialekts der deutschen Zigeuner—very valuable (Marburg, 1903). [Great Britain, &c.], Ch. G. Leland,The English Gipsies and their Language(London and New York, 1873; 2nd ed., 1874),The Gipsies of Russia, Austria, England, America, &c.(London, 1882)—the validity of Leland’s conclusions is often doubtful; B. C. Smart and H. J. Crofton,The Dialect of the English Gypsies(2nd ed., London, 1875); G. Borrow,Romano lavo-lil(London, 1874, 1905),Lavengro, ed. F. H. Groome (London, 1899). [Rumania], B. Constantinescu,Probe de Limba şi literatura Ţiganilor din România(Bucharest, 1878). [Russia, Bessarabia], O. Boethlingk,Über die Sprache der Zigeuner in Russland(St Petersburg, 1852; supplement, 1854). [Russia, Caucasus], K. Badganian,Cygany. Nêskolĭko slovŭ o narêčijahŭ zakavkazskihŭ cyganŭ(St Petersburg, 1887); Istomin,Ciganskij Jazykŭ(1900). [Spain], G. H. Borrow,The Zincali, or an Account of the Gipsies of Spain(London, 1841, and numerous later editions); R. Campuzano,Origen ... de los Gitanos, y diccionario de su dialecto(2nd ed., Madrid, 1857); A. de C.,Diccionario del dialecto gitano, &c.(Barcelona, 1851); M. de Sales y Guindale,Historia, costumbres y dialecto de los Gitanos(Madrid, 1870); M. de Sales,El Gitanismo(Madrid, 1870); J. Tineo Rebolledo,”A Chipicalli” la lengua gitana: diccionario gitano-español(Granada, 1900). [Turkey], A. G. Paspati,Études sur les Tchinghianés, ou Bohémiens de l’empire ottoman(Constantinople, 1870), with grammar, vocabulary, tales and French glossary; very important. [General], John Sampson, “Gypsy Language and Origin,” inJourn. Gypsy Lore Soc.vol. i. (2nd ser., Liverpool, 1907); J. A. Decourdemanche,Grammaire du Tchingané, &c.(Paris, 1908)—fantastic in some of its philology; F. Kluge,Rotwelsche Quellen(Strassburg, 1901); L. Günther,Das Rotwelsch des deutschen Gauners(Leipzig, 1905), for the influence of Gipsy on argot; L. Besses,Diccionario de argot español(Barcelona); G. A. Grierson,The Pi’sāca Languages of North-Western India(London, 1906), for parallels in Indian dialects; G. Borrow,Criscote e majaró Lucas ... El evangelio segun S. Lucas ...(London, 1837; 2nd ed., 1872)—this is the only complete translation of any one of the gospels into Gipsy. For older fragments of such translations, see Pott ii. 464-521.
IV.Folklore, Tales, Songs, &c.—Many songs and tales are foundin the books enumerated above, where they are mostly accompanied by literal translations. See also Ch. G. Leland, E. H. Palmer and T. Tuckey,English Gipsy Songs in Romany, with Metrical English Translation(London, 1875); G. Smith,Gipsy Life, &c.(London, 1880); M. Rosenfeld,Lieder der Zigeuner(1882); Ch. G. Leland,The Gypsies(Boston, Mass., 1882),Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune-Telling(London, 1891); H. von Wlislocki,Märchen und Sagen der transsilvanischen Zigeuner(Berlin, 1886)—containing 63 tales, very freely translated;Volksdichtungen der siebenbürgischen und südungarischen Zigeuner(Vienna, 1890)—songs, ballads, charms, proverbs and 100 tales;Vom wandernden Zigeunervolke(Hamburg, 1890);Wesen und Wirkungskreis der Zauberfrauen bei den siebenbürgischen Zigeuner(1891); “Aus dem inneren Leben der Zigeuner,” inEthnologische Mitteilungen(Berlin, 1892); R. Pischel,Bericht über Wlislocki vom wandernden Zigeunervolke(Göttingen, 1890)—a strong criticism of Wlislocki’s method, &c.; F. H. Groome,Gypsy Folk-Tales(London, 1899), with historical introduction and a complete and trustworthy collection of 76 gipsy tales from many countries; Katadá,Contes gitanos(Logroño, 1907); M. Gaster,Zigeunermärchen aus Rumänien(1881); “Ţiganii, &c.,” inRevista pentru Istorie, &c., i. p. 469 ff. (Bucharest, 1883); “Gypsy Fairy-Tales” inFolklore. TheJournal of the Gipsy-Lore Society(Edinburgh, 1888-1892) was revived in Liverpool in 1907.
V.Legal Status.—A few of the books in which the legal status of the Gipsies (either alone or in conjunction with “vagrants”) is treated from a juridical point of view are here mentioned, also the history of the trial in 1726. J. B. Weissenbruch,Ausführliche Relation von der famosen Zigeuner-Diebes-Mord und Räuber(Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1727); A. Ch. Thomasius,Tractatio juridica de vagabundo, &c.(Leipzig, 1731); F. Ch. B. Avé-Lallemant,Das deutsche Gaunertum, &c.(Leipzig, 1858-1862); V. de Rochas,Les Parias de France et d’Espagne(Paris, 1876); P. Chuchul,Zum Kampfe gegen Landstreicher und Bettler(Kassel, 1881); R. Breithaupt,Die Zigeuner und der deutsche Staat(Würzburg, 1907); G. Steinhausen,Geschichte der deutschen Kultur(Leipzig and Vienna, 1904).
(M. G.)
GIRAFFE,a corruption ofZarāfah, the Arabic name for the tallest of all mammals, and the typical representative of the familyGiraffidae, the distinctive characters of which are given in the articlePecora, where the systematic position of the group is indicated. The classic term “camelopard,” probably introduced when these animals were brought from North Africa to the Roman amphitheatre, has fallen into complete disuse.
In common with the okapi, giraffes have skin-covered horns on the head, but in these animals, which form the genusGiraffa, these appendages are present in both sexes; and there is often an unpaired one in advance of the pair on the forehead. Among other characteristics of these animals may be noticed the great length of the neck and limbs, the complete absence of lateral toes and the long and tufted tail. The tongue is remarkable for its great length, measuring about 17 in. in the dead animal, and for its great elasticity and power of muscular contraction while living. It is covered with numerous large papillae, and forms, like the trunk of the elephant, an admirable organ for the examination and prehension of food. Giraffes are inhabitants of open country, and owing to their length of neck and long flexible tongues are enabled to browse on tall trees, mimosas being favourites. To drink or graze they are obliged to straddle the fore-legs apart; but they seldom feed on grass and are capable of going long without water. When standing among mimosas they so harmonize with their surroundings that they are difficult of detection. Formerly giraffes were found in large herds, but persecution has reduced their number and led to their extermination from many districts. Although in late Tertiary times widely spread over southern Europe and India, giraffes are now confined to Africa south of the Sahara.
Apart from the distinct Somali giraffe (Giraffa reticulata), characterized by its deep liver-red colour marked with a very coarse network of fine white lines, there are numerous local forms of the ordinary giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis). The northern races, such as the NubianG. c. typicaand the KordofanG. c. antiquorum, are characterized by the large frontal horn of the bulls, the white legs, the network type of coloration and the pale tint. The latter feature is specially developed in the NigerianG. c. peralta, which is likewise of the northern type. The BaringoG. c. rothschildialso has a large frontal horn and white legs, but the spots in the bulls are very dark and those of the females jagged. In the KilimanjaroG. c. tippelskirchithe frontal horn is often developed in the bulls, but the legs are frequently spotted to the fetlocks. Farther south the frontal horn tends to disappear more or less completely, as in the AngolaG. c. angolensis, the TransvaalG. c. wardiand the CapeG. c. capensis, while the legs are fully spotted and the colour-pattern on the body (especially in the last-named) is more of a blotched type, that is to say, consists of dark blotches on a fawn ground, instead of a network of light lines on a dark ground.
For details, see a paper on the subspecies ofGiraffa camelopardalis, by R. Lydekker in theProceedings of the Zoological Society of Londonfor 1904.
For details, see a paper on the subspecies ofGiraffa camelopardalis, by R. Lydekker in theProceedings of the Zoological Society of Londonfor 1904.
(R. L.*)
GIRALDI, GIGLIO GREGORIO[Lilius Gregorius Gyraldus] (1479-1552), Italian scholar and poet, was born on the 14th of June 1479, at Ferrara, where he early distinguished himself by his talents and acquirements. On the completion of his literary course he removed to Naples, where he lived on familiar terms with Jovianus Pontanus and Sannazaro; and subsequently to Lombardy, where he enjoyed the favour of the Mirandola family. At Milan in 1507 he studied Greek under Chalcondylas; and shortly afterwards, at Modena, he became tutor to Ercole (afterwards Cardinal) Rangone. About the year 1514 he removed to Rome, where, under Clement VII., he held the office of apostolic protonotary; but having in the sack of that city (1527), which almost coincided with the death of his patron Cardinal Rangone, lost all his property, he returned in poverty once more to Mirandola, whence again he was driven by the troubles consequent on the assassination of the reigning prince in 1533. The rest of his life was one long struggle with ill-health, poverty and neglect; and he is alluded to with sorrowful regret by Montaigne in one of hisEssais(i. 34), as having, like Sebastian Castalio, ended his days in utter destitution. He died at Ferrara in February 1552; and his epitaph makes touching and graceful allusion to the sadness of his end. Giraldi was a man of veryextensive erudition; and numerous testimonies to his profundity and accuracy have been given both by contemporary and by later scholars. HisHistoria de diis gentiummarked a distinctly forward step in the systematic study of classical mythology; and by his treatisesDe annis et mensibus, and on theCalendarium Romanum et Graecum, he contributed to bring about the reform of the calendar, which was ultimately effected by Pope Gregory XIII. HisProgymnasma adversus literas et literatosdeserves mention at least among the curiosities of literature; and among his other works to which reference is still occasionally made areHistoriae poëtarum Graecorum ac Latinorum;De poëtis suorum temporum; andDe sepultura ac vario sepeliendi ritu. Giraldi was also an elegant Latin poet.
HisOpera omniawere published at Leiden in 1696.
HisOpera omniawere published at Leiden in 1696.
GIRALDI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA(1504-1573), surnamedCynthius,CinthioorCintio, Italian novelist and poet, born at Ferrara in November 1504, was educated at the university of his native town, where in 1525 he became professor of natural philosophy, and, twelve years afterwards, succeeded Celio Calcagnini in the chair of belles-lettres. Between 1542 and 1560 he acted as private secretary, first to Ercole II. and afterwards to Alphonso II. of Este; but having, in connexion with a literary quarrel in which he had got involved, lost the favour of his patron in the latter year, he removed to Mondovi, where he remained as a teacher of literature till 1568. Subsequently, on the invitation of the senate of Milan, he occupied the chair of rhetoric at Pavia till 1573, when, in search of health, he returned to his native town, where on the 30th of December he died. Besides an epic entitledErcole(1557), in twenty-six cantos, Giraldi wrote nine tragedies, the best known of which,Orbecche, was produced in 1541. The sanguinary and disgusting character of the plot of this play, and the general poverty of its style, are, in the opinion of many of its critics, almost fully redeemed by occasional bursts of genuine and impassioned poetry; of one scene in the third act in particular it has even been affirmed that, if it alone were sufficient to decide the question, theOrbecchewould be the finest play in the world. Of the prose works of Giraldi the most important is theHecatommithiorEcatomiti, a collection of tales told somewhat after the manner of Boccaccio, but still more closely resembling the novels of Giraldi’s contemporary Bandello, only much inferior in workmanship to the productions of either author in vigour, liveliness and local colour. Something, but not much, however, may be said in favour of their professed claim to represent a higher standard of morality. Originally published at Monteregale, Sicily, in 1565, they were frequently reprinted in Italy, while a French translation by Chappuys appeared in 1583 and one in Spanish in 1590. They have a peculiar interest to students of English literature, as having furnished, whether directly or indirectly, the plots ofMeasure for MeasureandOthello. That of the latter, which is to be found in theHecatommithi(iii. 7), is conjectured to have reached Shakespeare through the French translation; while that of the former (Hecat.viii. 5) is probably to be traced to Whetstone’sPromos and Cassandra(1578), an adaptation of Cinthio’s story, and to hisHeptamerone(1582), which contains a direct English translation. To Giraldi also must be attributed the plot of Beaumont and Fletcher’sCustom of the Country.
GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS(1146?-1220), medieval historian, also calledGerald de Barri, was born in Pembrokeshire. He was the son of William de Barri and Augharat, a daughter of Gerald, the ancestors of the Fitzgeralds and the Welsh princess, Nesta, formerly mistress of King Henry I. Falling under the influence of his uncle, David Fitzgerald, bishop of St David’s, he determined to enter the church. He studied at Paris, and his works show that he had applied himself closely to the study of the Latin poets. In 1172 he was appointed to collect tithe in Wales, and showed such vigour that he was made archdeacon. In 1176 an attempt was made to elect him bishop of St David’s, but Henry II. was unwilling to see any one with powerful native connexions a bishop in Wales. In 1180, after another visit to Paris, he was appointed commissiary to the bishop of St David’s, who had ceased to reside. But Giraldus threw up his post, indignant at the indifference of the bishop to the welfare of his see. In 1184 he was made one of the king’s chaplains, and was elected to accompany Prince John on his voyage to Ireland. While there he wrote aTopographia Hibernica, which is full of information, and a strongly prejudiced history of the conquest, theExpugnatio Hibernica. In 1186 he read his work with great applause before the masters and scholars of Oxford. In 1188 he was sent into Wales with the primate Baldwin to preach the Third Crusade. Giraldus declares that the mission was highly successful; in any case it gave him the material for hisItinerarium Cambrense, which is, after theExpugnatio, his best known work. He accompanied the archbishop, who intended him to be the historian of the Crusade, to the continent, with the intention of going to the Holy Land. But in 1189 he was sent back to Wales by the king, who knew his influence was great, to keep order among his countrymen. Soon after he was absolved from his crusading vow. According to his own statements, which often tend to exaggeration, he was offered both the sees of Bangor and Llandaff, but refused them. From 1192 to 1198 he lived in retirement at Lincoln and devoted himself to literature. It is probably during this period that he wrote theGemma ecclesiastica(discussing disputed points of doctrine, ritual, &c.) and theVita S. Remigii. In 1198 he was elected bishop of St David’s. But Hubert Walter, the archbishop of Canterbury, was determined to have in that position no Welshman who would dispute the metropolitan pretensions of the English primates. The king, for political reasons, supported Hubert Walter. For four years Giraldus exerted himself to get his election confirmed, and to vindicate the independence of St David’s from Canterbury. He went three times to Rome. He wrote theDe jure Meneviensis ecclesiaein support of the claims of his diocese. He made alliances with the princes of North and South Wales. He called a general synod of his diocese. He was accused of stirring up rebellion among the Welsh, and the justiciar proceeded against him. At length in 1202 the pope annulled all previous elections, and ordered a new one. The prior of Llanthony was finally elected. Gerald was immediately reconciled to the king and archbishop; the utmost favour was shown to him; even the expenses of his unsuccessful election were paid. He spent the rest of his life in retirement, though there was some talk of his being made a cardinal. He certainly survived John.
The works of Giraldus are partly polemical and partly historical. His value as a historian is marred by his violent party spirit; some of his historical tracts, such as theLiber de instructione principumand theVita Galfridi Archiepiscopi Eborecensis, seem to have been designed as political pamphlets. Henry II., Hubert Walter and William Longchamp, the chancellor of Richard I., are the objects of his worst invectives. His own pretensions to the see of St David are the motive of many of his misrepresentations. But he is one of the most vivid and witty of our medieval historians.
See the Rolls edition of his works, ed. J. S. Brewer, J. F. Dimock and G. F. Warner in 8 vols. (London, 1861-1891), some of which have valuable introductions.
See the Rolls edition of his works, ed. J. S. Brewer, J. F. Dimock and G. F. Warner in 8 vols. (London, 1861-1891), some of which have valuable introductions.
GIRANDOLE(from the Ital.girandola), an ornamental branched candlestick of several lights. It came into use about the second half of the 17th century, and was commonly made and used in pairs. It has always been, comparatively speaking, a luxurious appliance for lighting, and in the great 18th-century period of French house decoration the famousciseleursdesigned some exceedingly beautiful examples. A great variety of metals has been used for the purpose—sometimes, as in the case of the candlestick, girandoles have been made in hard woods. Gilded bronze has been a very frequent medium, but for table purposes silver is still the favourite material.
GIRARD, JEAN BAPTISTE[known as “Le Père Girard” or “Le Père Gregoire”] (1765-1850), French-Swiss educationalist, was born at Fribourg and educated for the priesthood at Lucerne. He was the fifth child in a family of fourteen, and his gift for teaching was early shown at home in helping his mother with theyounger children; and after passing through his noviciate he spent some time as an instructor in convents, notably at Würzburg (1785-1788). Then for ten years he was busy with religious duty. In 1798, full of Kantian ideas, he published an essay outlining a scheme of national Swiss education; and in 1804 he began his career as a public teacher, first in the elementary school at Fribourg (1805-1823), then (being driven away by Jesuit hostility) in the gymnasium at Lucerne till 1834, when he retired to Fribourg and devoted himself with the production of his books on education,De l’enseignement régulier de la langue maternelle(1834, 9th ed. 1894; Eng. trans. by Lord Ebrington,The Mother Tongue, 1847), andCours éducatif(1844-1846). Father Girard’s reputation and influence as an enthusiast in the cause of education became potent not only in Switzerland, where he was hailed as a second Pestalozzi, but in other countries. He had a genius for teaching, his method of stimulating the intelligence of the children at Fribourg and interesting them actively in learning, and not merely cramming them with rules and facts, being warmly praised by the Swiss educationalist François Naville (1784-1846) in his treatise on public education (1832). His undogmatic method and his Liberal Christianity brought him into conflict with the Jesuits, but his aim was, in all his teaching, to introduce the moral idea into the minds of his pupils by familiarizing them with the right or wrong working of the facts he brought to their attention, and thus to elevate character all through the educational curriculum.
GIRARD, PHILIPPE HENRI DE(1775-1845), French mechanician, was born at Lourmarin, Vaucluse, on the 1st of February 1775. He is chiefly known in connexion with flax-spinning machinery. Napoleon having in 1810 decreed a reward of one million francs to the inventor of the best machine for spinning flax, Girard succeeded in producing what was required. But he never received the promised reward, although in 1853, after his death, a comparatively small pension was voted to his heirs, and having relied on the money to pay the expenses of his invention he got into serious financial difficulties. He was obliged, in 1815, to abandon the flax mills he had established in France, and at the invitation of the emperor of Austria founded a flax mill and a factory for his machines at Hirtenberg. In 1825, at the invitation of the emperor Alexander I. of Russia, he went to Poland, and erected near Warsaw a flax manufactory, round which grew up a village which received the name of Girardow. In 1818 he built a steamer to run on the Danube. He did not return to Paris till 1844, where he still found some of his old creditors ready to press their claims, and he died in that city on the 26th of August 1845. He was also the author of numerous minor inventions.
GIRARD, STEPHEN(1750-1831), American financier and philanthropist, founder of Girard College in Philadelphia, was born in a suburb of Bordeaux, France, on the 20th of May 1750. He lost the sight of his right eye at the age of eight and had little education. His father was a sea captain, and the son cruised to the West Indies and back during 1764-1773, was licensed captain in 1773, visited New York in 1774, and thence with the assistance of a New York merchant began to trade to and from New Orleans and Port au Prince. In May 1776 he was driven into the port of Philadelphia by a British fleet and settled there as a merchant; in June of the next year he married Mary (Polly) Lum, daughter of a shipbuilder, who, two years later, after Girard’s becoming a citizen of Pennsylvania (1778), built for him the “Water Witch,” the first of a fleet trading with New Orleans and the West Indies—most of Girard’s ships being named after his favourite French authors, such as “Rousseau,” “Voltaire,” “Helvétius” and “Montesquieu.” His beautiful young wife became insane and spent the years from 1790 to her death in 1815 in the Pennsylvania Hospital. In 1810 Girard used about a million dollars deposited by him with the Barings of London for the purchase of shares of the much depreciated stock of the Bank of the United States—a purchase of great assistance to the United States government in bolstering European confidence in its securities. When the Bank was not rechartered the building and the cashier’s house in Philadelphia were purchased at a third of the original cost by Girard, who in May 1812 established the Bank of Stephen Girard. He subscribed in 1814 for about 95% of the government’s war loan of $5,000,000, of which only $20,000 besides had been taken, and he generously offered at par shares which upon his purchase had gone to a premium. He pursued his business vigorously in person until the 12th of February 1830, when he was injured in the street by a truck; he died on the 26th of December 1831. His public spirit had been shown during his life not only financially but personally; in 1793, during the plague of yellow fever in Philadelphia, he volunteered to act as manager of the wretched hospital at Bush Hill, and with the assistance of Peter Helm had the hospital cleansed and its work systematized; again during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798 he took the lead in relieving the poor and caring for the sick. Even more was his philanthropy shown in his disposition by will of his estate, which was valued at about $7,500,000, and doubtless the greatest fortune accumulated by any individual in America up to that time. Of his fortune he bequeathed $116,000 to various Philadelphia charities, $500,000 to the same city for the improvement of the Delaware water front, $300,000 to Pennsylvania for internal improvements, and the bulk of his estate to Philadelphia, to be used in founding a school or college, in providing a better police system, and in making municipal improvements and lessening taxation. Most of his bequest to the city was to be used for building and maintaining a school “to provide for such a number of poor male white orphan children ... a better education as well as a more comfortable maintenance than they usually receive from the application of the public funds.” His will planned most minutely for the erection of this school, giving details as to the windows, doors, walls, &c.; and it contained the following phrase: “I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary or minister of any sect whatsoever, shall ever hold or exercise any duty whatsoever in the said college; nor shall any such person ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appropriated to the purposes of the said college.... I desire to keep the tender minds of orphans ... free from the excitements which clashing doctrines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce.” Girard’s heirs-at-law contested the will in 1836, and they were greatly helped by a public prejudice aroused by the clause cited; in the Supreme Court of the United States in 1844 Daniel Webster, appearing for the heirs, made a famous plea for the Christian religion, but Justice Joseph Story handed down an opinion adverse to the heirs (Vidalsv.Girard’s Executors). Webster was opposed in this suit by John Sergeant and Horace Binney. Girard specified that those admitted to the college must be white male orphans, of legitimate birth and good character, between the ages of six and ten; that no boy was to be permitted to stay after his eighteenth year; and that as regards admissions preference was to be shown, first to orphans born in Philadelphia, second to orphans born in any other part of Pennsylvania, third to orphans born in New York City, and fourth to orphans born in New Orleans. Work upon the buildings was begun in 1833, and the college was opened on the 1st of January 1848, a technical point of law making instruction conditioned upon the completion of the five buildings, of which the principal one, planned by Thomas Ustick Walter (1804-1887), has been called “the most perfect Greek temple in existence.” To a sarcophagus in this main building the remains of Stephen Girard were removed in 1851. In the 40 acres of the college grounds there were in 1909 18 buildings (valued at $3,350,000), 1513 pupils, and a total “population,” including students, teachers and all employes, of 1907. The value of the Girard estate in the year 1907 was $35,000,000, of which $550,000 was devoted to other charities than Girard College. The control of the college was under a board chosen by the city councils until 1869, when by act of the legislature it was transferred to trustees appointed by the Common Pleas judges of the city of Philadelphia. The course of training is partly industrial—for a long time graduates were indentured till they came of age—but it is also preparatory to college entrance.
See H. A. Ingram,The Life and Character of Stephen Girard(Philadelphia, 1884), and George P. Rupp, “Stephen Girard—Merchant and Mariner,” in1848-1898: Semi-Centennial of Girard College(Philadelphia, 1898).
See H. A. Ingram,The Life and Character of Stephen Girard(Philadelphia, 1884), and George P. Rupp, “Stephen Girard—Merchant and Mariner,” in1848-1898: Semi-Centennial of Girard College(Philadelphia, 1898).
GIRARDIN, DELPHINE DE(1804-1855), French author, was born at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 26th of January 1804. Her mother, the well-known Madame Sophie Gay, brought her up in the midst of a brilliant literary society. She published two volumes of miscellaneous pieces,Essais poétiques(1824) andNouveaux Essais poétiques(1825). A visit to Italy in 1827, during which she was enthusiastically welcomed by the literati of Rome and even crowned in the capitol, was productive of various poems, of which the most ambitious wasNapoline(1833). Her marriage in 1831 to Émile de Girardin (see below) opened up a new literary career. The contemporary sketches which she contributed from 1836 to 1839 to the feuilleton ofLa Presse, under thenom de plumeof Charles de Launay, were collected under the title ofLettres parisiennes(1843), and obtained a brilliant success.Contes d’une vieille fille à ses neveux(1832),La Canne de Monsieur de Balzac(1836) andIl ne faut pas jouer avec la douleur(1853) are among the best-known of her romances; and her dramatic pieces in prose and verse includeL’École des journalistes(1840),Judith(1843),Cléopâtre(1847),Lady Tartufe(1853), and the one-act comedies,C’est la faute du mari(1851),La Joie fait peur(1854),Le Chapeau d’un horloger(1854) andUne Femme qui déteste son mari, which did not appear till after the author’s death. In the literary society of her time Madame Girardin exercised no small personal influence, and among the frequenters of her drawing-room were Théophile Gautier and Balzac, Alfred de Musset and Victor Hugo. She died on the 29th of June 1855. Her collected works were published in six volumes (1860-1861).
See Sainte-Beuve,Causeries du lundi, t. iii.; G. de Molènes, “Les Femmes poètes,” inRevue des deux mondes(July 1842); Taxile Delord,Les Matinées littéraires(1860);L’Esprit de Madame Girardin, avec une préface par M. Lamartine(1862); G. d’Heilly,Madame de Girardin, sa vie et ses œuvres(1868); Imbert de Saint Amand,Mme de Girardin(1875).
See Sainte-Beuve,Causeries du lundi, t. iii.; G. de Molènes, “Les Femmes poètes,” inRevue des deux mondes(July 1842); Taxile Delord,Les Matinées littéraires(1860);L’Esprit de Madame Girardin, avec une préface par M. Lamartine(1862); G. d’Heilly,Madame de Girardin, sa vie et ses œuvres(1868); Imbert de Saint Amand,Mme de Girardin(1875).
GIRARDIN, ÉMILE DE(1802-1881), French publicist, was born, not in Switzerland in 1806 of unknown parents, but (as was recognized in 1837) in Paris in 1802, the son of General Alexandre de Girardin and of Madame Dupuy, wife of a Parisian advocate. His first publication was a novel,Émile, dealing with his birth and early life, and appeared under the name of Girardin in 1827. He became inspector of fine arts under the Martignac ministry just before the revolution of 1830, and was an energetic and passionate journalist. Besides his work on the daily press he issued miscellaneous publications which attained an enormous circulation. HisJournal des connaissances utileshad 120,000 subscribers, and the initial edition of hisAlmanach de France(1834) ran to a million copies. In 1836 he inaugurated cheap journalism in a popular Conservative organ,La Presse, the subscription to which was only forty francs a year. This undertaking involved him in a duel with Armand Carrel, the fatal result of which made him refuse satisfaction to later opponents. In 1839 he was excluded from the Chamber of Deputies, to which he had been four times elected, on the plea of his foreign birth, but was admitted in 1842. He resigned early in February 1847, and on the 24th of February 1848 sent a note to Louis Philippe demanding his resignation and the regency of the duchess of Orleans. In the Legislative Assembly he voted with the Mountain. He pressed eagerly in his paper for the election of Prince Louis Napoleon, of whom he afterwards became one of the most violent opponents. In 1856 he soldLa Presse, only to resume it in 1862, but its vogue was over, and Girardin started a new journal,La Liberté, the sale of which was forbidden in the public streets. He supported Émile Ollivier and the Liberal Empire, but plunged into vehement journalism again to advocate war against Prussia. Of his many subsequent enterprises the most successful was the purchase ofLe Petit Journal, which served to advocate the policy of Thiers, though he himself did not contribute. The crisis of the 16th of May 1877, when Jules Simon fell from power, made him resume his pen to attack MacMahon and the party of reaction inLa Franceand inLe Petit Journal. Émile de Girardin married in 1831 Delphine Gay (see above), and after her death in 1855 Guillemette Joséphine Brunold, countess von Tieffenbach, widow of Prince Frederick of Nassau. He was divorced from his second wife in 1872.
The long list of his social and political writings includes:De la presse périodique au XIXe, siècle(1837);De l’instruction publique(1838);Études politiques(1838);De la liberté de la presse et du journalisme(1842);Le Droit au travail au Luxembourg et à l’Assemblée Nationale(2 vols., 1848);Les Cinquante-deux(1849, &c.), a series of articles on current parliamentary questions;La Politique universelle, décrets de l’avenir(Brussels, 1852);Le Condamné du 6 mars(1867), an account of his own differences with the government in 1867 when he was fined 5000 fr. for an article inLa Liberté; Le Dossier de la guerre(1877), a collection of official documents;Questions de mon temps, 1836 à 1856, articles extracted from the daily and weekly press (12 vols., 1858).
The long list of his social and political writings includes:De la presse périodique au XIXe, siècle(1837);De l’instruction publique(1838);Études politiques(1838);De la liberté de la presse et du journalisme(1842);Le Droit au travail au Luxembourg et à l’Assemblée Nationale(2 vols., 1848);Les Cinquante-deux(1849, &c.), a series of articles on current parliamentary questions;La Politique universelle, décrets de l’avenir(Brussels, 1852);Le Condamné du 6 mars(1867), an account of his own differences with the government in 1867 when he was fined 5000 fr. for an article inLa Liberté; Le Dossier de la guerre(1877), a collection of official documents;Questions de mon temps, 1836 à 1856, articles extracted from the daily and weekly press (12 vols., 1858).
GIRARDON, FRANÇOIS(1628-1715), French sculptor, was born at Troyes on the 17th of March 1628. As a boy he had for master a joiner and wood-carver of his native town, named Baudesson, under whom he is said to have worked at the château of Liébault, where he attracted the notice of Chancellor Séguier. By the chancellor’s influence Girardon was first removed to Paris and placed in the studio of François Anguier, and afterwards sent to Rome. In 1652 he was back in France, and seems at once to have addressed himself with something like ignoble subserviency to the task of conciliating the court painter Charles Le Brun. Girardon is reported to have declared himself incapable of composing a group, whether with truth or from motives of policy it is impossible to say. This much is certain, that a very large proportion of his work was carried out from designs by Le Brun, and shows the merits and defects of Le Brun’s manner—a great command of ceremonial pomp in presenting his subject, coupled with a large treatment of forms which if it were more expressive might be imposing. The court which Girardon paid to the “premier peintre du roi” was rewarded. An immense quantity of work at Versailles was entrusted to him, and in recognition of the successful execution of four figures for the Bains d’Apollon, Le Brun induced the king to present his protégé personally with a purse of 300 louis, as a distinguishing mark of royal favour. In 1650 Girardon was made member of the Academy, in 1659 professor, in 1674 “adjoint au recteur,” and finally in 1695 chancellor. Five years before (1690), on the death of Le Brun, he had also been appointed “inspecteur général des ouvrages de sculpture”—a place of power and profit. In 1699 he completed the bronze equestrian statue of Louis XIV., erected by the town of Paris on the Place Louis le Grand. This statue was melted down during the Revolution, and is known to us only by a small bronze model (Louvre) finished by Girardon himself. His Tomb of Richelieu (church of the Sorbonne) was saved from destruction by Alexandre Lenoir, who received a bayonet thrust in protecting the head of the cardinal from mutilation. It is a capital example of Girardon’s work, and the theatrical pomp of its style is typical of the funeral sculpture of the reigns of Louis XIV. and Louis XV.; but amongst other important specimens yet remaining may also be cited the Tomb of Louvois (St Eustache), that of Bignon, the king’s librarian, executed in 1656 (St Nicolas du Chardonneret), and decorative sculptures in the Galerie d’Apollon and Chambre du roi in the Louvre. Mention should not be omitted of the group, signed and dated 1699, “The Rape of Proserpine” at Versailles, which also contains the “Bull of Apollo.” Although chiefly occupied at Paris Girardon never forgot his native Troyes, the museum of which town contains some of his best works, including the marble busts of Louis XIV. and Maria Theresa. In the hôtel de ville is still shown a medallion of Louis XIV., and in the church of St Rémy a bronze crucifix of some importance—both works by his hand. He died in Paris in 1715.
See Corrard de Breban,Notice sur la vie et les œuvres de Girardon(1850).
See Corrard de Breban,Notice sur la vie et les œuvres de Girardon(1850).
GIRART DE ROUSSILLON,an epic figure of the Carolingian cycle of romance. In the genealogy of romance he is a son of Doon de Mayence, and he appears in different and irreconcilablecircumstances in many of thechansons de geste. The legend of Girart de Roussillon is contained in aVita Girardi de Roussillon(ed. P. Meyer, inRomania, 1878), dating from the beginning of the 12th century and written probably by a monk of the abbey of Pothières or of Vezelai, both of which were founded in 860 by Girart; inGirart de Roussillon, a chanson de gestewritten early in the 12th century in a dialect midway between French and Provençal, and apparently based on an earlier Burgundian poem; in a 14th century romance in alexandrines (ed. T. J. A. P. Mignard, Paris and Dijon, 1878); and in a prose romance by Jehan Wauquelin in 1447 (ed. L. de Montille, Paris, 1880). The historical Girard, son of Leuthard and Grimildis, was a Burgundian chief who was count of Paris in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair against Charles the Bald. He fought at Fontenay in 841, and doubtless followed Lothair to Aix. In 855 he became governor of Provence for Lothair’s son Charles, king of Provence (d. 863). His wife Bertha defended Vienne unsuccessfully against Charles the Bald in 870, and Girard, who had perhaps aspired to be the titular ruler of the northern part of Provence, which he had continued to administer under Lothair II. until that prince’s death in 869, retired with his wife to Avignon, where he died probably in 877, certainly before 879. The tradition of his piety, of the heroism of his wife Bertha, and of his wars with Charles passed into romance; but the historical facts are so distorted that inGirart de Roussillonthetrouvèremakes him the opponent of Charles Martel, to whom he stands in the relation of brother-in-law. He is nowhere described in authentic historic sources as of Roussillon. The title is derived from his castle built on Mount Lassois, near Châtillon-sur-Seine. Southern traditions concerning Count Girart, in which he is made the son of Garin de Monglane, are embodied inGirart de Viane(13th century) by Bertrand de Bar-sur-l’Aube, and in theAspramonteof Andrea da Barberino, based on the Frenchchanson of Aspremont, where he figures as Girart de Frete or de Fratte.1Girart de Vianeis the recital of a siege of Vienne by Charlemagne, and inAspramonteGirart de Fratte leads an army of infidels against Charlemagne.Girart de Roussillonwas long held to be of Provençal origin, and to be a proof of the existence of an independent Provençal epic, but its Burgundian origin may be taken as proved.
See F. Michel,Gerard de Rossillon ... publié en français et en provençal d’après les MSS. de Paris et de Londres(Paris, 1856); P. Meyer,Girart de Roussillon(1884), a translation in modern French with a comprehensive introduction. ForGirart de Viane(ed. P. Tarbé, Reims, 1850) see L. Gautier,Épopées françaises, vol. iv.; F. A. Wulff,Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard(Lund, 1874).
See F. Michel,Gerard de Rossillon ... publié en français et en provençal d’après les MSS. de Paris et de Londres(Paris, 1856); P. Meyer,Girart de Roussillon(1884), a translation in modern French with a comprehensive introduction. ForGirart de Viane(ed. P. Tarbé, Reims, 1850) see L. Gautier,Épopées françaises, vol. iv.; F. A. Wulff,Notice sur les sagas de Magus et de Geirard(Lund, 1874).
1It is of interest to note that Freta was the old name for the town of Saint Remy, and that it is close to the site of the ancient town of Glanum, the name of which is possibly preserved in Garin de Monglane, the ancestor of the heroes of the cycle of Guillaume d’Orange.
1It is of interest to note that Freta was the old name for the town of Saint Remy, and that it is close to the site of the ancient town of Glanum, the name of which is possibly preserved in Garin de Monglane, the ancestor of the heroes of the cycle of Guillaume d’Orange.
GIRAUD, GIOVANNI,Count (1776-1834), Italian dramatist, of French origin, was born at Rome, and showed a precocious passion for the theatre. His first play,L’Onestà non si vince, was successfully produced in 1798. He took part in politics as an active supporter of Pius VI., but was mainly occupied with the production of his plays, and in 1809 became director-general of the Italian theatres. He died at Naples in 1834. Count Giraud’s comedies, the best of which areGelosie per equivoco(1807) andL’Ajonell’ imbarazzo(1824), were bright and amusing on the stage, but of no particular literary quality.
His collected comedies were published in 1823 and hisTeatro domesticoin 1825.
His collected comedies were published in 1823 and hisTeatro domesticoin 1825.
GIRDLE(O. Eng.gyrdel, fromgyrdan, to gird; cf. Ger.Gürtel, Dutchgordel, fromgürtenandgorden; “gird” and its doublet “girth” together with the other Teutonic cognates have been referred by some to the rootghar—to seize, enclose, seen in Gr.χείρ, hand, Lat.hortus, garden, and also English yard, garden, garth, &c.), a band of leather or other material worn round the waist, either to confine the loose and flowing outer robes so as to allow freedom of movement, or to fasten and support the garments of the wearer. Among the Romans it was used to confine thetunica, and it formed part of the dress of the soldier; when a man quitted military service he was said,cingulum deponere, to lay aside the girdle. Money being carried in the girdle,zonam perderesignified to lose one’s purse, and, among the Greeks, to cut the girdle was to rob a man of his money.
Girdles and girdle-buckles are not often found in Gallo-Roman graves, but in the graves of Franks and Burgundians they are constantly present, often ornamented with bosses of silver or bronze, chased or inlaid. Sidonius Apollinaris speaks of the Franks as belted round the waist, and Gregory of Tours in the 6th century says that a dagger was carried in the Frankish girdle.
In the Anglo-Saxon dress the girdle makes an unimportant figure, and the Norman knights, as a rule, wore their belts under their hauberks. After the Conquest, however, the artificers gave more attention to a piece whose buckle and tongue invited the work of the goldsmith. Girdles of varying richness are seen on most of the western medieval effigies. That of Queen Berengaria lets the long pendant hang below the knee, following a fashion which frequently reappears.
In the latter part of the 13th century the knight’s surcoat is girdled with a narrow cord at the waist, while the great belt, which had become the pride of the well-equipped cavalier, loops across the hips carrying the heavy sword aslant over the thighs or somewhat to the left of the wearer.
But it is in the second half of the following century that the knightly belt takes its most splendid form. Under the year 1356 the continuator of the chronicle of Nangis notes that the increase of jewelled belts had mightily enhanced the price of pearls. The belt is then worn, as a rule, girdling the hips at some distance below the waist, being probably supported by hooks as is the belt of a modern infantry soldier. The end of the belt, after being drawn through the buckle, is knotted or caught up after the fashion of the tang of the Garter. The waist girdle either disappears from sight or as a narrow and ornamented strap is worn diagonally to help in the support of the belt. A mass of beautiful ornament covers the whole belt, commonly seen as an unbroken line of bosses enriched with curiously worked roundels or lozenges which, when the loose strap-end is abandoned, meet in a splendid morse or clasp on which the enameller and jeweller had wrought their best. About 1420 this fashion tends to disappear, the loose tabards worn over armour in the jousting-yard hindering its display. The belt never regains its importance as an ornament, and, at the beginning of the 16th century, sword and dagger are sometimes seen hanging at the knight’s sides without visible support.
In civil dress the magnificent belt of the 14th century is worn by men of rank over the hips of the tight short-skirted coat, and in that century and in the 15th and 16th there are sumptuary laws to cheek the extravagance of rich girdles worn by men and women whose humble station made them unseemly. Even priests must be rebuked for their silver girdles with baselards hanging from them. Purses, daggers, keys, penners and inkhorns, beads and even books, dangled from girdles in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Afterwards the girdle goes on as a mere strap for holding up the clothing or as a sword-belt. At the Restoration men contrasted the fashion of the court, a light rapier hung from a broad shoulder-belt, with the fashion of the countryside, where a heavy weapon was supported by a narrow waistbelt. Soon afterwards both fashions disappeared. Sword-hangers were concealed by the skirt, and the belt, save in certain military and sporting costumes, has no more been in sight in England. Even as a support for breeches or trousers, the use of braces has gradually supplanted the girdle during the past century.
In most of those parts of the Continent—Brittany, for example—where the peasantry maintains old fashions in clothing, the belt or girdle is still an important part of the clothing. Italian non-commissioned officers find that the Sicilian recruit’s main objection to the first bath of his life-time lies in the fact that he must lay down the cherished belt which carries his few valuables. With the Circassian the belt still buckles on an arsenal of pistols and knives.
Folklore and ancient custom are much concerned with the girdle. Bankrupts at one time put it off in open court; French law refused courtesans the right to wear it; Saint Guthlac casts out devils by buckling his girdle round a possessed man; an earl is “a belted earl” since the days when the putting on of a girdle was part of the ceremony of his creation; and fairy tales of half the nations deal with girdles which give invisibility to the wearer.