GRAHAM LAND 



GRAIN 



Graham Land. Part of the 

 Antarctic continent. It lies clue S. 

 of Tierra del Fuego, N. of Alexan- 

 der I Land and S. of Danco Land. 

 Discovered by John Biscoe, a Brit- 

 ish mariner, in 1832, the islands 

 lying off its N. coast were named 

 after him. It is a mountainous 

 tract, desolate and ice-bound. 

 Nordenskj.6ld, the explorer, re- 

 mained two years here in 1901-3, 

 and it was visited by Charcot in 

 1904-5. On the W. coast a me- 

 teorological station was erected at 

 the expense of the Argentine Re- 

 public. See King Oscar II Land. 



Graham Prize. Prize for naval 

 history, founded in 1909 by Lady 

 Graham in memory of her husband 

 Admiral Sir Wm. Graham. It is 

 given to the cadet of the 4th, 5th, 

 or 6th term at the Royal Naval 

 College, Dartmouth, who obtains 

 highest place in a voluntary ex- 

 amination in a special period of 

 naval history. 



Grahamstown. City of S. 

 Africa. In the Cape prov., it is the 

 capital of its eastern portion, in 

 what is called the Albany district. 

 It stands on the slopes of the Zuur- 

 berg Mts., 40 m. by rail from the 

 sea at Port Alfred and 106 m. from 

 Port Elizabeth. The chief build- 

 ings are the Anglican and Roman 

 Catholic cathedrals, the town hall, 

 a Gothic building completed in 

 1882, with public library and art 

 gallery, and a museum. The Angli- 

 can cathedral in Church Square, 

 partly designed by Sir Gilbert 

 Scott, has some interesting decora- 

 tions. There are several other 

 churches, a synagogue, etc. The 

 Albany Hall, the court house, and 

 the botanic gardens covering 100 

 acres may be mentioned. 'Here 

 are the Albany General Hospital 

 and other hospitals. Educational 

 institutions include the Rhodes 

 university college, founded in 

 1904: and S. Andrew's College, a 

 public school for boys. L 



Oatlands is a suburb, and near 

 the town is a racecourse. Grahams- 

 town has a trade in wool, and is 

 also a health resort. Founded in 



Grahamstown, South Africa. The principal square with 

 the Town Hall, and, on the left, the Anglican cathedral 



1812, it wa,s for many years an 

 important military station. It was 

 named after Col. John Graham, a 

 leader among the early settlers. 

 Pop. 14,000. 



Graian Alps. Section of the 

 Western Alps, lying between S.E. 

 France and N.W. Italy. Running 

 from N. to S. from the valleys of 

 the Isere and Dora Baltea in the 

 N., to those of the Arc and Dora 

 Riparia in the S., they culminate 

 in the Gran Paradiso (13,324 ft.) 

 and the Grivola (13,022 ft.). 



Grail, THE HOLY. Name given 

 in legend to the cup used by Christ 

 at the Last Supper. Several ver- 

 sions of the story of this vessel 

 exist, some saying that it came 

 into the hands of Joseph of Ari- 

 mathea, who used it to collect the 

 Blood which flowed from Christ on 

 the Cross. By other authorities it 

 is described as the sacred cup from 

 which Christ drank while hanging 

 on the Cross. It is sometimes 

 called the San (Saint) Graal or 

 Greal. Joseph of Arimathea is re- 

 ported to have brought it to 

 England, but later it is said to have 

 been carried to India. 



In the Morte d' Arthur of Sir 

 Thomas Malory (15th century), the 

 Siege (seat) Perilous at the Round 

 Table is reserved for the perfect 

 sinless knight who shall achieve 

 that quest of the Grail ; and there 

 on the day on which that knight, 

 Galahad, who was of king's lineage 

 and of the kindred of Joseph of 

 Arimathea, took his seat it was 

 told to Arthur that: "This day 

 the San Grail appeared in thy 

 house, and fed thee and all thy 

 fellowship of the Round Table." 

 After the Holy Grail has appeared, 

 the knights set off on that quest 

 which but one can achieve, and 

 which marks the breaking up of 

 the fellowship. 



In another form of the legend 

 that of which Perceval (q.v.) is the 

 central figure the Grail is seen in 

 a chapel belonging to the castle of 

 King Fisherman, and evil falls 

 upon the king and his land because 

 the knights to whom a sight of it 

 is granted fail to 

 1 say a certain word. 

 1 In the Germanised 

 1 form of the story, 

 4 the Grail is not a 

 | dish or a cup, but 

 a stone, while in the 

 Welsh tale of Pere- 

 dur, which some 

 authorities regard 

 as the original 

 (Studies in the 

 Arthurian Legend, 

 J. Rhys, 1891 ; and 

 Myths of the Celtic 

 Race, T. W. Rol- 

 leston, 1912), there 



is no Grail at all, but only the 

 quest. 



In the 12th century Robert 

 de Borron treated the subject 

 in his Joseph of Arimathea. 

 About the same time Chretien 

 de Troyes wrote his poem, Perceval 

 le Gallois, and about the end 

 of the century came another 

 version in the Parzival of Wolfram 

 von Eschenbach, who said that he 

 had received the substance of his 

 story from a Provengal poet. In 

 the early part of the 13th century 

 an unknown author composed the 

 romance of Perceval le Gallois, ou 

 le Conte de Graal (Eng. trans. The 

 High History of the Holy Grail, 

 Sebastian Evans, 1898). The ety- 

 mology of the word grail (old Fr. 

 graal, greal) is uncertain. It is 

 suggested that it is a corruption of 

 late Lat. gradale or cratus (cf. 

 crater), both meaning bowl, dish. 

 San Greal was later corrupted 

 into Sang Real, the True Blood of 

 Christ. See Arthur; Morte d' Arthur. 



Bibliography. Un Probleme Lit- 

 teraire Resolu, Origine et Genese de 

 la Legende du Saint-Graal, A. T. 

 Vercoutre, 1901 ; The Legend of the 

 Holy Graal, A. Nutt, 1902; Die 

 Heimath der Legende von Heil 

 Gral, Wesselofsky, 1903. 



Grain (Lat. granum). Literally 

 a small, hard seed. From this it 

 has become a synonym for corn, 

 especially when used in a business 

 sense. See Barley; Oats; Wheat. 



Grain. Unit of weight. The 

 average weight of a grain of corn 

 taken from the middle of a ripe 

 ear ; the 1/7000 part of a pound 

 avoirdupois. In Troy weight, 480 

 grains equal an ounce, while 24 

 grains are called a pennyweight. 



Grain, ISLE OF, OR St. JAMES. 

 Parish and village of Kent, Eng- 

 land. Standing at the junction of 

 the Thames and the Medway, it 

 was formerly an island, but has 

 now roadway communication with 

 the mainland. Here fortifications 

 guard the approaches of the 

 Thames and the Medway. 



Grain, RICHARD CORNEY (1844- 

 95). British entertainer. Born Oct. 

 26, 1844, he was called to the bar 

 in 1866, but 

 four years 

 later joined the 

 German Reed 

 Company, with 

 which he was 

 associated un- 

 til his death, 

 March 16, 

 1895. He wrote 

 over fifty en- 

 tertainments 

 for the com- 



Ctorney Grain. 

 British entertainer 



Elliott & Fry 



pany, and many songs and sketches, 

 whilst Corney Grain, by Himself, 

 appeared in 1888. 



