GAFF 



3394 



GAILLARDIA 



the centre of considerable trade, 

 coasting, and fishing. Near it was 

 the Formian villa of Cicero, and 

 tradition points to the spot where 

 he was murdered. 



On the fall of the Roman Em- 

 pire Gaeta became an independent 

 centre of culture and commerce. 

 It held out against the Austrians 

 in 1815 and 1821, and afforded an 

 asylum to pope Pius IX in 1848- 

 49. The last Bourbon king of 

 Naples was besieged in the town and 

 forced to surrender to Victor Em- 

 manuel, Feb. 13, 1861. Pop. 5,344. 



Gaff (Fr. gaffe}. A spar which 

 stretches out the upper end of a 

 sail. The forked part of the gaff 

 which fits upon the mast is called 

 the jaws. At the back of the mast 

 these jaws are joined by a parrel, 

 a cord or rope with balls of wood 

 upon it, so that the jaws slide up 

 and down the mast easily. The 

 other end of the gaff is termed the 

 peak, and the sail is attached to it 

 by ropes known as halyards. Sails 

 with which a gaff is used are gaff 

 sails. Gaff top sails are sails set 

 above the mainsail. 



Gaff. Stick armed with an iron 

 hook for landing large fish, especi- 

 ally salmon. The use of the gaff is 



Gaff. 1. With handle. 2. For trout. 

 3. Folding gaff. 4. With point-pro- 

 tector. 5. Telescopic gaff 



By courtety of S. Allcock & Co. 



prohibited in the Tweed after the 

 close of the net fishing, and in the 

 Helmsdale while kelts are in the 

 water. See Bone Implements, illus. 



Gage (Fr., pledge). Security 

 given for the performance of an 

 act, to be forfeited in the event of 

 non-performance. Hence some- 

 thing, such as a gauntlet, flung 

 down in token of challenge, the 

 challenger pledging himself to fight 

 the man who shall pick it up. 



Gage, VISCOUNT. Irish title 

 borne since 1720 by the family of 

 Gage. In the 15th century, or 



earlier, it was settled at Firle in 

 Sussex, and its early members 

 included Sir John Gage (c. 1479- 

 1556), who led 

 the English 

 forces when 

 they beat the 

 Scots at Sol- 

 w a y Moss, 

 1542. Joseph 

 Gage (c. 1678- 

 mL~- i c. 1754) be- 



. ^llwMkJ came a general 



6th Viscount Gage in the Spanish 

 British soldier service and a 



swain grandee of 



Spain. At one time he had vast 

 wealth in shares of the Mississippi 

 Company, and offered large sums 

 to become king of Poland and then 

 of Sardinia. His elder brother, 

 Thomas, who inherited the baron- 

 etcy dating from 1622, was made 

 an Irish baron and viscount in 

 1720, and was a courtier in the 

 time of George II. His younger 

 son was the soldier, Thomas Gage 

 (1721-87). The 2nd viscount was 

 made a peer of the United King- 

 dom in 1780, with a remainder 

 to his nephew Plenry (d. 1808), 

 ancestor of the 6th viscount (b. 

 1895), who succeeded to the title 

 in 1912. 



Gage, THOMAS (1721-87). Bri- 

 tish soldier and administrator. 

 Entering the army in 1741, he dis- 

 tinguished 

 himself in 

 Braddock's 

 e xpeditibn 

 against Fort 

 D u quesne. 

 1755. In 1760 

 he became 

 governor of 

 Montreal, and 

 in 1774 was 

 appointed 

 governor of Massachusetts. Here 

 he lacked tact in dealing with 

 the admittedly difficult situa- 

 tion which led to the collision be- 

 tween his troops and the colonists 

 at Lexington on April 18, 1775. 

 This was followed by the battle of 

 Bunker's Hill on June 17, and 

 though Gage was appointed com- 

 mander of the forces in America in 

 Aug., he shortly afterwards re- 

 signed and returned to England. 

 He died April 2, 1787. 



Gagern, HEINRICH WILHELM 

 AUGUST VON (1799-1880). German 

 statesman. The son of a diplomat, 

 he was born at Baireuth, Aug. 20, 

 1799, studied law at Gottingen 

 and Jena, and became prominent 

 as a liberal in the chamber of 

 Hesse. Elected president of the 

 Frankfort parliament in May, 1848, 

 and chief of the imperial ministry 

 from Dec., 1848, to May, 1849, he 

 stood for a moderate liberal con- 



stitution and a united imperial 

 Germany. An opponent of Prus- 

 sian policy, he fought for Slesvig- 

 Holstein in 1850. He died at 

 Darmstadt, May 22, 1880. He 

 wrote a Life of his brother Fred- 

 erick, a distinguished soldier. 



Gahnite. One of the spinel 

 group of minerals. An oxide of 

 zinc and aluminium, it is dark 

 green in colour. It is associated 

 with franklinite (q.v.). See Spinel. 



Gaiety Theatre. London 

 theatre at the corner of the Strand 

 and W. Aldwych. Built from de- 



Gaiety Theatre, London. The main 

 entrance of the new building 



signs by Norman Shaw, it was 

 opened by George Edwardes with 

 The Orchid, Oct. 26, 1903. It is 

 successor to an older Gaiety 

 Theatre, an enlargement of the 

 Strand Music Hall, opened Dec. 

 21, 1868, under the management 

 of John Hollingshead with On the 

 Cards, by F. C. Burnand, and 

 Robert the Devil, a burlesque by 

 W. S. Gilbert. In the 'eighties and 

 'nineties the old Gaiety was famous 

 as the home of burlesque, with 

 Nellie Farren, Edward Terry, and 

 Fred Leslie as the most brilliant 

 of its many stars. 



Demolished to make room for 

 the Strand improvements, its cur- 

 tain rang down finally July 3, 1903, 

 on The Linkman. Under George 

 Edwardes's control the new Gaiety 

 was devoted almost exclusively to 

 musical comedy. The theatre was 

 acquired in 1920 by Grossmith and 

 Laurillard. The Gaiety at Man- 

 chester was run as a repertory 

 theatre by MissHorniman, 1908-20. 



Gaillardia. Genus of annual 

 and perennial herbs of the natural 

 order Compositae. They are 

 natives of America. The leaves 

 are lance-shaped and rough, the 

 flower-heads yellow or purple, and 

 the ray florets broad, but cut at 

 the end into three or five teeth. 

 Several of the species are favourite 

 garden flowers. 



