GIRDLERS- COMPANY 



3537 



GIRL. GUIDES 



Girdlers' 

 Company arms 



Girdle. Examples from Brasses : left to right, Sir Simon 



de Felbrigg, 1351, Felbrigg Church ; Sir Richard Wil- 



loughby, 1329, Willoughby Church; Sir Thomas Boken- 



ham, 1460, S. Stephen's Church, Norwich 



costumes and makes ephemeral 

 reappearances at the caprice of 

 fashion. See Baldric ; Costume. 



Girdlers' Company. London 

 city livery company. Originally a 

 fraternity of girdle makers in S. 



Laurence, Old 



Jewry, it was in- 



corporated in 



1449 and united 



with the Pinners 



and Wire-drawers 



in 1568. Thomas 



Button, founder 



of the Charter- 

 house, was a 

 member. The hall, 39, Basinghall 

 Street, E.C., burnt with the ar- 

 chives in 1666, was rebuilt in 

 1681-82 and restored and altered 

 in 1878-79. See Historical Account 

 of the .... Girdlers, W. D. 

 Smythe, 1905. 



Girgeh. Town, prov., and dist. 

 of Egypt. The town is on the W. 

 bank of the Nile, 313 m. S. of Cairo 

 by rly. Its pop. is 19,893, of whom 

 5,443 are Copts. The prov. has an 

 area of 576 sq. m. and a pop. of 

 863,234. 



Girgenti. Maritime prov. of 

 Italy, in the S.W. of Sicily. Area, 

 1,175 sq. m. Mountainous, it is 

 drained by several rivers, of which 

 the Platani is the chief. Well 

 served by rlys., it produces sulphur, 

 fish, oil, grain, and fruits. Pop. 

 409,133. Pron. Jeer-jenty. 



Girgenti (anc. Agrigentum). 

 City of Sicily, capital of the prov. 

 of Girgenti. Situated on an emin- 

 ence near the coast, 84 m. by rly. 

 S. of Palermo, it has medieval 

 walls, strengthened by towers and 

 pierced by four gates, and is noted 

 for its catacombs. Besides a 14th 

 century cathedral, with a wealth of 

 artistic and historic relics, it has a 

 museum of antiquities and a 

 library, but its chief glories consist 

 in its numerous remains of Greek 

 temples. (See Agrigentum. ) There 

 is a large trade in sulphur, salt, 

 grain, oil, fruit, etc., which is ex- 

 ported through Porto Empcdocle. 

 Founded as Acragas in 582 B.C., it 



was in the hands 

 of the Saracens 

 from 828 to 1086. 

 Pop. 27,106. 



Giriama OB 

 GIBYAMA. Tract 

 of country S. of 

 the Sabaki river 

 in the British 

 colony of Kenya. 

 It extends in- 

 land for 40 m. 

 behind the 

 coastal fringe, 

 over a length 

 of 55 m., hav- 

 ing water com- 

 munication with 



Kalifi Bay. It is occupied by 

 the Wagiriama, a Bantu-speaking 

 agricultural people allied to the 

 Kikuyu and Pokomo. Their graded 

 system of initiation, under tribal 

 elders, is directed by a paramount 

 council of the highest degree, who 

 are called Hyenas. The S. pasture- 

 land has been adversely affected by 

 Masai raids. The cereal produce of 

 the central region is now of great 

 economic importance. 



Girl Guides. Organization for 

 the training and welfare of girls. 

 Founded by Sir R. Baden-Powell 

 (q.v. ), it was developed by his 

 sister Agnes Baden-Powell. Girls 

 are eligible for membership be- 

 tween the ages of 8 and 18, those 

 from 8 to 11 years being known as 

 Brownies. The girls are trained in 

 good and happy citizenship and 

 encouraged to retain their woman- 

 liness so that they may be good 

 " guides " to the next generation. 

 Physical training and instruction 

 in useful arts and crafts are impor- 

 tant features. Recruits having had 

 a month's attendance at the guide 

 meetings and learnt the guide law 

 become " tenderfoots " and have 

 then to pass a test in intelligence, 

 handicraft, service, and health be- 

 fore being promoted to the posi- 

 tion of second class guides. To 

 qualify for first class, certain pro- 

 ficiency badges must be gained. 



Girgenti. Ruins of the temple of Castor and Pollux 



Girl Guides. Left, dress of Brownie; 

 right, First Class Guide 



Guides work in patrols of 6 or 8 

 girls under a patrol leader, who 

 must have been three months in 

 the company and have passed her 

 second class guide test. A com- 

 pany may consist of from two to 

 five patrols under the guidance of a 

 captain and a lieutenant. These 

 officers are known as guiders ; cap- 

 tains must be over 21 years of age 

 and lieutenants over 18. As in the 

 Boy Scout movement, rallies, dis- 

 plays, exhibitions of handiwork are 

 held, and camps are organized. 

 Proficiency and good conduct 

 badges are awarded, the highest 

 distinction being the Nurse Cavell 

 badge, awarded for life-saving. 

 Guides have a law, one clause of 

 which is, "A Guide is a friend to 

 all, and a sister to every other 

 guide "; and an official song. 



During the Great War they 

 equipped hostels and first-aid sta- 

 tions, helped in canteens and hos- 

 pitals, acted as orderlies in govt. 

 offices, while a number of them 

 acted as orderlies in offices in con- 

 nexion with the Peace Conference 

 -i in Paris, 1919. 

 ] The membership 

 ; in 1920 was about 

 321,000, including 

 jjisSfe ' the Girl Scouts 



I of America, who 

 have the same 

 rules and law. 

 The headquarters 

 are in the same 

 building as those 

 of the Boy Scouts 

 at 25, Bucking- 

 ham Palace Road, 

 London. Princess 

 Mary is president 

 and Lady Baden- 

 Powell chief guide. 

 See Scouting. 



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