Читать книгу Tom Brown at Rugby - Thomas Smart Hughes - Страница 22

[1] Doyle: an English artist noted for his humorous and satirical designs.

[2] Matriculating: entering.

[3] Yeomen: small independent farmers. They have generally constituted the best part of the English army.

[4] Cloth-yard shaft: an arrow a yard in length.

[5] Cressy and Agincourt: English victories over the French in 1346 and 1415.

[6] Bill: a combined spear and battle-axe.

[7] Culverin and demi-culverin: ancient forms of cannon.

[8] Hand-grenade: a kind of bomb or shell thrown by hand.

[9] Rodney, etc.: famous English naval and military commanders.

[10] Talbots, etc.: noted family names of the English nobility.

[11] "Sacer vates": inspired bard or poet.

[12] Throw his stone, etc.: help to build their cairn or monument.

[13] Clanship: here, the holding together of a class, tribe, or family.

[14] Bout: contest.

[15] Curacy: parish.

[16] Chambers: law offices.

[17] Quixotic: romantic or visionary

[18] Crotchet: whim, notion, "hobby."

[19] Old man with a scythe: Father Time.

[20] Treadmill: a wheel on which prisoners were formerly compelled to work.

[21] Berks: Berkshire, a county west of London. It is called "Royal" because it is the seat of Windsor Castle. The Vale of the White Horse gets its name from the gigantic image of a horse cut through the turf in the side of a chalk hill. Tradition says it was done over a thousand year ago, to commemorate a great victory over the Danes by Alfred.

[22] Three pound ten (shillings): the English shilling is about twenty five cents, and the pound may be called five dollars.

[23] Dresden: a city of Germany, noted for its treasures of art.

[24] The Louvre: an ancient palace in Paris, containing vast collections of sculptures and paintings.

[25] Sauer-kraut: a German dish, prepared from cabbage.

[26] Bee-orchis (orkis): a wild-flower resembling a bee.

[27] Down: a barren hill of chalk or sand.

[28] Civil wars: those between Parliament and King Charles I., in the seventeenth century.

[29] Butts: targets for archery practice. Before the invention of gunpowder they were set up by law in every parish.

[30] Laid: dispelled by religious ceremonies.

[31] Dulce domum: sweet home.

[32] Black Monday: the end of the holidays.

[33] Cosmopolites: citizens of the world at large, familiar with all countries.

[34] Backsword play: the game of single-stick, or fencing with cudgels.

[35] Gorse: a thick, prickly, evergreen shrub, which grows wild and bears beautiful yellow flowers.

[36] Spinney: a small grove filled with undergrowth.

[37] Charley: a fox.

[38] Cover: a retreat, or hiding-place.

[39] Old Berkshire: an association of hunters.

[40] Thatched: roofed with straw or reeds.

[41] Richard Swiveller: a jolly character who lives by his wits. See Dickens's "Old Curiosity Shop."

[42] Mr. Stiggins: a hypocritical parson. See Dickens's "Pickwick Papers."

[43] Roman camp: the Romans, when they conquered England, about 78 A.D., built a stronghold here.

[44] Eyrie: the nest of a bird of prey; here, a gathering-place for Roman soldiers.

[45] Cairn: a heap of stones set up to mark a spot.

[46] Sappers and miners: usually, soldiers employed in working on trenches and fortifications or in undermining those of an enemy; here, engaged in surveying.

[47] Ordnance Map: an official or government map.

[48] Balak: see Numbers xxii.

[49] Alfred: Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, 871. He defeated the Danes, who had overrun most of England, at Ashdown, and compelled them to make a treaty of peace. He is justly considered one of the noblest and wisest of the English sovereigns; and the thousandth anniversary of his birth was celebrated in 1849, at Wantage, Berks.

[50] Asser: a contemporary of Alfred; he wrote his life.

[51] Saxons: a name given to certain German tribes who conquered Britain, in the fifth century. The name England came from the Angles, a people of the same stock, who settled in the east and north of the island. From these Anglo-Saxons the English have in great part descended.

[52] Alma: a river in the Crimea where a desperate battle was fought between the Russians and the allied English and French in 1854.

[53] Chronicler: Asser, from whom this is quoted.

[54] St. George: the patron saint of England.

[55] More by token: as a sign or proof that this is so.

[56] Privet: a shrub much used for hedges.

[57] Keeper: the gamekeeper, a man kept on great estates to look after the game.

[58] Cromlech: a rude tomb built by the first inhabitants of Britain.

[59] Wayland Smith's Cave: a "supernatural smith" who shod horses on payment of sixpence.

[60] Sir Walter: Sir Walter Scott.

[61] Inigo Jones: a celebrated architect of the 17th century.

[62] Lord Craven: the owner of the estate on which the "White Horse" is located.

[63] Sheep-walks: sheep pastures, for which the "downs" are much used.

[64] Barrows: ancient burial mounds.

[65] Public: a public house.

[66] Toby Philpot jug: a large brown pitcher, shaped like a jolly old gentleman of the olden time.

[67] Antediluvian: before the deluge.

[68] Un: it; also him or her.

[69] Grewsome: frightful.

[70] Um: they.

[71] Fiery cross: a cross, the ends of which had been fired and then extinguished in blood. It was sent round by the chiefs of clans in time of war, to summon their followers.

[72] Plantations: groves of trees set out in regular order.

[73] Squire: a country gentleman.

[74] 'E: thee or you.

[75] Malignant: The Parliamentary or Puritan party during the civil wars of Charles I. called those who adhered to the king "malignants."

[76] Tighe: this legend relates a conspiracy by which young Tighe was led into the thick of a fight and killed.

[77] Pusey horn: the Pusey family hold their estate not by a title deed, but by a horn, given, it is said, to William Pecote (perhaps an ancestor of the Puseys) by Canute, a Danish king of England in the eleventh century. The horn bears the following inscription: "I, King Canute, give William Pecote this horn to hold by thy land."

[78] Freeholders: landowners.

[79] Moated grange: a farm or estate surrounded by a broad deep ditch for defence in old times.

[80] Marianas: Mariana, a beautiful woman, one of the most lovable of Shakespeare's characters. See "Measure for Measure."

[81] West-countryman: a west of England man.

[82] Angular Saxon: a play on the words Anglo-Saxon.

[83] Adscriptus glebæ: attached to the soil.

[84] Chaw: "chaw bacon," a nickname for an English peasant.

[85] Vools: fools.

[86] Whum: home.

[87] J. P.: justice of the peace.

[88] Calico: white cotton cloth called calico in England, to distinguish it from print.

[89] Smock frocks: coarse white frocks worn by farm laborers.

[90] Yule-tide: Christmas. Clubs are formed by the poor several months in advance, to furnish coal, clothes, and poultry for Christmas time,—each member contributing a few pence weekly.

[91] Mummers: maskers, merrymakers in fantastic costumes.

[92] Vernacular: one's native tongue.

[93] Ten-pound doctor: a quack doctor.

[94] Mysteries: rude dramatic plays of a religious character, once very popular.

[95] Lieges: loyal subjects.

[96] Jobbers: speculators or members of corrupt political rings.

[97] Assizes or Quarter Sessions: sessions of courts of justice.

[98] Yeomanry review: a review of the county militia.

[99] Don: a nickname for a university professor.

[100] Sirens: sea-nymphs who enticed sailors into their power by their singing, and then devoured them.

[101] Clement's Inn: formerly a college and residence for law students in London. It is now given up to law offices.

[102] Hop-picking: all the vagabonds of London go to Kent and Surrey in the autumn to pick hops for the farmers, regarding the work as a kind of vacation frolic.

[103] Courier: a person hired by wealthy travellers to go in advance and engage rooms at hotels, etc.

[104] Imperial: the best seat on a French diligence or stage-coach.

[105] Comme le limaçon, etc.: like the snail, carrying all his baggage, his furniture, and his house.

[106] Chalet (shal-ay'): a Swiss herdsman's hut.

[107] Kraal: a Hottentot hut or village.

[108] "Sar' it out": deal it out.

[109] "Holus bolus": all at once.