Лучшие расследования Шерлока Холмса / The Best of Sherlock Holmes - читать бесплатно онлайн полную версию книги автора О. Шаповалова (ч. 119)

Примечания

Cocaine was a legal drug at that time.

Trincomalee – a port in Sri Lanka

a spirit case and a gasogene – a spirit case (aka tantalus) was a Victorian locked cabinet to store spirits. A gasogene was a special decanter for making carbonated water.

Bohemia – a historical region in Central Europe; now it’s a part of Czech Republic. By the end of the 19th century Bohemia was a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire.

von Wallenstein , Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius (1583–1634) – Bohemian military leader who headed the armies of emperor Ferdinand II during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648). He was assassinated in Cheb (Eger) in 1634. The name “Egria” (mentioned above) is a variation from Eger.

brougham – a closed horse-drawn four-wheeled carriage with the driver’s seat outside in the front. It was named after Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux who is believed to invent it.

Boswell, James (1740–1795) – a biographer of famous English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. Boswell’s “Life of Samuel Johnson” is claimed to be the greatest life story ever written in English. The name of Boswell has become a household name for a very scrupulous diarist.

Astrakhan – a karakul lambskin. King’s clothes looked exotic and vulgar in Victorian Britain.

Langham – a luxury hotel founded in 1865 as the largest and most modern hotel in London. It still exists as a luxury hotel.

bijou villa – “bijou” is a French term for “jewel.” Bijou villa is a French-style small pretty cottage.

Chubb lock – a prominent British brand of locks. In the 19th century Chubb locks were widely known for their high security and were used by General Post Office and Her Majesty’s Prison Service.

ostlers – it’s a cockney pronunciation of “hostlers”

half-and-half – a cocktail, consists of half ale half bitter beer

Inner Temple – The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is one of four London professional associations for barristers providing education and training for its members. The headquarters of the Society are situated near the Temple Church. The area surrounding the Temple church is known as the Temple.

Hansom cab – a closed horse-drawn two-wheeled carriage with the driver’s seat above and behind the passengers. Hansom cab had a low centre of gravity to provide safer cornering. It was named after Joseph Hansom who patented it in 1834.

license – marriage license, a document issued by ecclesiastical or civil authorities permitting a couple to get married

John Hare (1844–1921) – a famous stage actor

Ulster – a long loose overcoat made of heavy fabric (tweed, herringbones etc), its name refers to Ulster where it was originally produced. In Victorian Britain it was an informal daytime overcoat.

Charing Cross – Charring Cross railway station, a railway terminus opened in 1864 in the City of Westminster. Now it is one of the busiest railway terminals in London.

née – born ( French ). The word is put before maiden name mentioned after the surname of a married woman.

shepherd’s check trousers – trousers made of fabric (usually wool) woven in small black-and-white checks

Albert chain – a kind of watch chain named after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband

Freemason (or Mason) – a member of the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons. Originated in the Middle Ages from the guilds of stonemasons that built cathedrals and castles, Freemasonry is now the largest worldwide “secret” society.

Omne ignotum pro magnifico – Everything unknown is taken for magnificent. ( Latin )

The Morning Chronicle – a daily newspaper famous for having among the staff Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew.

foolscap (folio) – a traditional large size of paper (8½ in x 13½ in)

de Sarasate y Navascu é s, Pablo Martín Melitón (1844–1908) – a famous Spanish violinist and composer who toured a lot and performed at the best stages

St. James’s Hall – a concert hall opened in 1858; till the 1900s it was the principal concert hall of London.

Aldersgate – one of the 25 wards of the City of London (about 3 miles from Baker Street)

Scotland-yard – a household name of the Metropolitan Police headquarters. When founded in 1829, the Metropolitan Police occupied the building 4 Whitehall Place which backed onto Great Scotland Yard Street.

napoleons – an informal name of French golden coins. In different periods of time their value varied from from 5 to 100 francs.

partie carr é e — foursome ( French )

L’homme c’est rien – l’œuvre c’est tout – The man is nothing, the work is everything! ( French )

as Gustave Flaubert wrote to Georges Sand – it is really a quotation from the letter of famous author Gustave Flaubert (1821–1880) to another famous author, Georges Sand (1804–1876, real name Aurore Dupin), though the original phrase was “L’homme n’est rien, l’oeuvre – tout.”

affaire de coeur – love affair ( French )

King’s Cross – an area of central London. The name of the district is due to a monument to George IV erected there in the 1830s. The monument was demolished in 1845, but the area still keeps its name. In 1852 there was opened King’s Cross railway station.

four-wheeler (aka the growler or the Clarence) – a closed four-wheeled carriage that seated four passengers. It was a standard cab in Victorian London.

Harris tweed – a type of tweed cloth woven from pure virgin wool on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland: Lewis, Harris, Uist and Barra. Harris tweed is handwoven and produced only of the wool dyed and spun on the Islands.

an action for breach of promise – in Victorian Britain it meant court proceedings when a man who had promised to marry changed his mind afterwards

Paddington = Paddington Railway station (aka London Paddington); it was opened in 1838. It served the eastern terminus for the Great Western Railway (from Bristol to London). In 1863 the first underground passenger-carrying railway (the Metropolitan Railway) was opened between Paddington and Farrington.

Herefordshire is a county in Western England

(The Courts of) Assizes were courts held by visiting judges at the principal towns of each county not to make the litigators travel to London. The Assizes dealt mainly with serious crime cases transferred by local county courts.

coroner’s jury — coroner is an official whose duty is to discover the cause of individual’s death in criminal or possibly criminal cases. In the 19th century British coroners conducted inquests with the help of a jury.

The River Severn is the longest river in the UK (about 354 km). It flows from Plynlimon, Wales through Shropshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, and discharges into the Bristol Channel.

Bermuda Dockyard — Her/His Majesty’s Dockyard on Ireland Island, Bermuda was established after the defeat of the UK in the American War of Independence. It served as an important strategic base of Royal Navy for about 150 years. In the 19th century the Dockyard was employing about 1000 Bermudians as well as using the labour of convicted criminals from the UK.

George Meredith (1828–1909) was an English Victorian poet and novelist.

Clark Russell’s – William Clark Russell (1844–1911) was a popular Anglo-American nautical and horror novels author.

Jackson’s army, and afterwards under Hood – Henry Rootes Jackson and John Bell Hood were Confederate generals during the American Civil War.

Lee – Robert Edward Lee commanded the Confederate Army. His surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865 ended the American Civil War.

Portsdown Hill is a chalk hill about 430 ft. high to the north of Portsmouth. In the 1860s along the crest of the Hill 6 forts were constructed to prevent an enemy from capturing the heights of the Hill and bombarding Portsmouth and the British fleet in Portsmouth harbour.

Waterloo Station located in South Bank was opened in 1848. It had been intended that Waterloo Bridge Station would serve only as a through station on the way to the City. As the Station became a terminus, it was rebuilt in 1853 and after that suffered a lot of rather hazard reconstructions.

Baron Cuvier, Georges-Léopold-Chrétien-Frédéric-Dagobert (1769–1832) was a French naturalist, the establisher of paleontology.

D.D. stands for Doctor of Divinity (Divinitatis Doctor in Latin).

De Quincey’s description of his dreams and sensations – Thomas Penson De Quincey (1785–1859) was an English essayist, the author of the book “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.”

Dog-cart (aka trap) is a type of open horse-drawn vehicles popular in Victorian Britain. Dog-carts were used to carry passengers or to drive out with dogs to hunt. Dog-carts had many modifications, two-wheeled one-horse carriage with high seats was the most typical one.

Cannon Street station (aka London Cannon Street) is now a railway terminus and underground station in the City of London. It was opened in 1866 to serve as a central London terminus for the South Eastern Railway that chained London and Dover. Branch lines connected towns of Surrey and Kent with the main line.

10s — “S” stands for “stone”.

Vesta (the name taken from the Roman goddess of hearth and home) is the trade name for strike-anywhere wax matches patented by William Newton in 1832. Wax vesta had a cotton wax-covered wick tipped with phosphorus. Users carried special small boxes (vesta cases, match safes) to house vestas as they were prone to auto-ignition.

mousseline de soie is a fine lightweight semi-opaque crisp fabric made of silk

Gladstone bag was a suitcase built over a rigid frame which could separate into two equal sections. The manufacturer of the first Gladstone bag was a great admirer of William E. Gladstone, the four-times British Prime Minister who travelled a lot.

Bow Street Covent Garden, Westminster – a place where London Magistrates’ Court and the oldest police station of the Metropolitan Police were located

26s 4d. – “S” stands for “shilling” (from the Latin “solidus”), “d” – for pence (from the Latin “dinarius”).

disjecta membra – scattered fragments ( Latin )

the Museum = the British Museum, one of the most famous and comprehensive museums dedicated to human history and culture. It was established by the Act of British Parliament in 1753 and opened to public in 1759.

Pentonville – Her/His Majesty Prison Pentonville is a men’s prison in London. Opened in 1842, it is still in operation today.

jail-bird – an old-fashioned informal term for “prisoner”

The Regency (1811–1820) is a period when the Prince of Wales ruled the country as Prince Regent because King George III had been deemed incapable to rule due to mental illness. In 1820 King George III died and the Prince of Wales became King George IV.

baboons – actually baboons aren’t Indian animals, they are found only in Africa

“Jack-in-office” – an annoying self-important minor official

Doctors’ Commons – initially it was an association of lawyers who specialized in civil law, similar to the Inns of Court (though the Inn’s members specialized in common law). From 1565 to 1858 Doctors’ Commons resided in Paternoster Row, near St. Paul’s where civil records were stored. In 1858 the society was dissolved.

Eley is a British firm still manufacturing rimfire ammunition. It was started in 1820s by brothers William and Charles Eley. They specialized in patent cartridges, so Eley’s № 2 must refer to a cartridge, probably for Webley revolver.

Wilton carpet is a woven wool carpet noted for its original looped or cut-velvet texture and for having up to five colours in a pattern. Wilton carpets were first manufactured in Wilton, Wiltshire, England in 1740s. In Victorian Britain a Wilton carpet was a luxury.

William Palmer (1824–1856) aka Rugeley Poisoner was an English doctor convicted of poisoning his friend John Cook and suspected of poisoning his wife, mother-in-law and four infants.

Edward William Pritchard (1825–1865) was an English doctor convicted of poisoning his wife and mother-in-law.

A swamp adder (Proatheris superciliaris) is really a venomous snake, though it resides in East Africa, not India.

Carbolised bandages – that is, bandages with carbolic acid (phenol); in the 19th century it was used as antiseptic.

agony column is a newspaper’s column containing advertisements of missing people. The term can be also used for advice column.

The Times is the most famous British daily newspaper, founded in 1785. By the middle of the 19th century The Times gained reputation of the most influential British newspaper and was extremely popular.

Fuller’s earth is a fine-grained substance that consists mainly of hydrated aluminum silicates and absorbs fat, grease and oils. Initially Fuller’s earth was used in textile industry to clean raw wool.

Harmonium (aka Reed Organ aka Pipe Organ) is a small organ popular in Britain in the 19th century.

monomaniac – a person suffering from monomania. In the 19th century monomania was a diagnostic category in psychiatry. Monomaniacs were supposed to be partially insane, being quite normal people in every respect but for one idée fixe.

Jezail was a type of musket used by Afghan tribes in the Anglo-Afghan Wars.

Plantagenet – The House of Plantagenet was a royal dynasty which ruled England from 1154 until 1485.

Tudor – The House of Tudor was a royal dynasty that ruled England and its realms from 1485 until 1603.

distaff side is the female branch of a family

The Morning Post was a conservative daily newspaper published from 1772 to 1937.

peeress is a title of nobility applied to a woman. The British Peerage is an ancient still-existent legal system of nobility. In the 19th century peerage was inheritable.

St. George’s Hanover Square is a fashionable Anglican church in central London, place of many noble weddings.

basket-chair is a twigged curved armchair with back and arms in one. Basket-chairs were very popular in Victorian times.

Scandinavia is a historical region in Northern Europe. In the 19th century as well as today it included three Kingdoms: those of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

tomboy is a girl who behaves like a boy

fait accompli – accomplished fact ( French ), something that has already happened and can’t be reversed.

Thoreau, Henry David (1817–1862) – an American poet and practical philosopher, known as the author of the book “Walden” dedicated to nature-friendly simple lifestyle.

Рâté de foie gras is goose liver paste usually made of the liver of a specially fattened bird.

Union Jack is an informal name of the UK flag. It derives from a small British union flag flown as the jack of a ship. It symbolizes the union of crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland as it is formed of a combination of the crosses of St. George (England), St. Andrew (Scotland) and St. Patrick (Ireland).

Northumberland Avenue is a fashionable street named after the Dukes of Northumberland that stretches from Trafalgar Square to the Thames Embankment. In the 19th century its name was synonymous with luxury hotels: The Metropole Hotel, the Hotel Victoria, the Grand Hotel.

Morocco case is a case covered with morocco leather, which is leather made of goatskin and bearing a bird’s-eye pattern on the grain side.

Streatham is a South London district. It was a fashionable “dormitory” suburb of Victorian London.

Carriage-sweep is a semicircular drive for carriages in front of the manor entrance.

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Will-o’-the-wisp is a mysterious flickering light seen over bogs, marshes and swamps at night. It is believed to stay always out of reach advancing as approached.

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The Daily Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in London since 1855.

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causes célèbres — famous cases ( French )

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Nova Scotia is one of Canada’s provinces on the Atlantic coast. In the third quarter of the 19th century it was a part of the British Empire’s dominion in Canada. Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia.

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Winchester is the county city of the county of Hempshire, South England.

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Bradshaw = Bradshaw’s Monthly Railway Guide, a book of railway’s timetables printed in the UK from 1839 to 1961. The first publisher was George Bradshaw, a famous English cartographer. By the third quarter of the 19th century there were about 150 railway companies in the UK that operated with no coordination with each other, so Bradshaw’s Guides were really useful for the passengers.

106

locus standi – point of view ( Latin ). Holmes means that he and Dr. Watson had no legal reason to stay in the Copper Beeches.

107

Dartmoor is a granite plateau covered with moors in south Devon (Devonshire), a county of South West England. It’s a wild and gloomy place. There are several racetracks and stables in Devon that could be the reason for using Dartmoor as the scene of action of the story.

108

Exeter is the county town of Devon.

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Reading is a town situated at approximately 40 miles west of London

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Telegraph and the Chronicle – The Daily Telegraph is a daily newspaper published in London since 1855. The Daily Chronicle is a daily newspaper that was published from 1872 to 1930 (since 1876 by Edward Lloyd a famous British publisher).

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Isonomy stock means descendant of Isonomy, a famous racehourse who sired several racewinners.

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rode in Colonel Ross’s colours – each stable had its own colours worn by the jockeys who rode for it

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touts – here: persons who buy and sell secret information about a racehorse

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Penang lawyer is a kind of walking stick made of areca, a palm from eastern Asia. The name was given by colonials. It is either a distorted Malay phrase ‘wild areca’ or a reference to the use of these canes as deadly crushing weapons. Penang, formerly a British colony, is today known as Negeri Pulau Pinang and is a state of Malaya.

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A.D.P. brier-root pipe – brier-root pipes are made of a very hard and heat-resistant wood of the tree heath (Erica arborea) and not from briars. A.D.P. was a common brand of Conan Doyle’s time.

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Weiss & Co. – John Weiss & Son was a London surgical instruments manufacturer

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A long shot means something that has only a slight chance of success, but provides a great prise if successful.

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(park) drag was a private covered coach; it was small and elegant.

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off-foreleg = right foreleg

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Pullman cars – in Great Britain these were luxury lounge cars where passengers could order food and drinks

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pulling jockey – a jockey who intentionally prevents his horse from winning

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Clapham Junction is a railway station in central London.

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Victoria Station (aka Victoria) is a railway terminus in central London on the same line as the Clapham Junction.

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the Park here refers to the Regent’s Park, one of the Royal Parks of London. Regent’s Park is the nearest to Baker Street.

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The Crystal Palace was a giant iron-and-glass hall built in Hyde Park to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. After the Exhibition the Crystal Palace was relocated and rebuilt in a South London suburb where it hosted art galleries, exhibits, concerts and so on.

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St. Vitus’s dance (aka Sydenham chorea, aka chorea minor, aka infectious chorea or rheumatic chorea) is a neurological disease characterized by involuntary and incontrollable jerks of different muscles.

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cockneys refers to the working class population of the East London

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Day’s Music Hall – Day’s Crystal Palace Concert Hall was a Birmingham concert hall named after its owner James Day and opened to public in 1862

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By Jove – a mild oath that expresses surprise, probably of the Roman origin. “Jove” could originate from the Latin “Jovis” (Jupiter), the Roman King of Gods.

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the City Police – the financial and business core of London, the City, has its own law enforcement body – the City of London Police (aka the City Police)

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Justice of the Peace (J.P.) is a local judge entitled to deal with minor civil and criminal cases

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Dungaree is a kind of sturdy cotton fabric used for working clothes. The term originates from a Hindi word.

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eight-knot tramp – eight knot is a type of knots used in sailing. Hudson means that he has been tramping here and there in difficult circumstances for two years.

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N. Lat. 15 degrees 20’, W. Long. 25 degrees 14’ – “N. Lat.” stands for “North latitude,” “W. Long.” stands for “West Longitude.”

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dibbs here refers to money

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We’ll make the coats of some of these soldiers redder – from the late 17th till the early 20th century British soldiers wore red uniform coats.

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the Ba y here refers to the Bay of Biscay

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brown sherry – aged strong sweet sherry wine of dark color (dark brown or black)

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a witness-box is a part of a courtroom reserved for witnesses.

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starboard quarter – the right part of the stern. “Starboard” is a nautical term indicating the right side of a ship when an observer faces the front.

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V. R. stands for “Victoria Regina,” Latin for “Queen Victoria.”

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recherché – out of the ordinary ( French )

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branch was a cadet one – the cadet branch is a line of descendents of a younger son of a patriarch

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mullioned windows – windows (commonly arch windows) divided vertically in two by a special architectural element called mullion

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I am member for my district – Musgrave means that he represents West Sussex in the Parliament

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café noir – black coffee ( French )

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blazonings and charges – blazoning refers to a coat of arms ( archaic ); charges are marks and devices placed on a shield of a coat of arms

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The Norman Conquest is the occupation of the British Isles by the army of William II the duke of Normandy (France) aka William the Conqueror. The way to the Conquest was opened at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066) when Saxons were defeated and Harold the King of England was killed.

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personal equation – the scientific term here refers to difference between the intelligence of Holmes and Brunton. Holmes means that the butler is as smart as the detective himself.

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Charles the First – Charles I (1600–1649), the King of England who came into conflict with the Parliament which resulted in the beginning of the English Civil War and the execution of the King.

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Cavalier – cavaliers were the Royalist party, supporters of Charles I and his son Charles II (1630–1685) who left the country during the English Civil War and became the King of England in 1660.

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this battered and shapeless diadem once encircled the brows of the royal Stuarts – the House of Stuart (also spelled Stewart or Steuart) is a royal House that ruled England since 1603 till 1714. The Stuart reign was interrupted in 1649 by the execution of Charles I and restored in 1660 when Charles II acceded to the throne. The crown of Stuart House is believed to be destroyed by the Parliament after Charles I’s execution.

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Pope’s ‘Homer’ – Alexander Pope (1688–1744) was an English poet best known for his translation of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. The translation was published by volumes during many years. It was absurd to steal only one piece of a Pope’s Homer set.

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to crack a crib – Conan Doyle loved criminal slang, and peppered his stories with it whenever the occasion arose. Francis Grose’s 1811 “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” defines “to crack a crib” as “to break open a house.”

155

parish is a political subdivision of a British county, usually corresponding in boundaries to an original ecclesiastical parish (church division)

156

Queen Anne – the queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (1702–1707), then the queen of Great Britain (1707–1714). During her reign the most popular architecture style was the English baroque.

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Malplaquet – the battle of Malplaquet (11 September 1709) took place during the War of the Spanish Succession

158

you will find it useful at the trial – in the 19th century ballistics technology level didn’t allow identification of a certain gun as the murder weapon. It was only possible to determine if the bullet in question could have been fired from a gun of that type.

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You may not be aware that the deduction of a man’s age from his writing is one which has brought to considerable accuracy by experts. In normal cases one can place a man in his true decade with tolerable confidence. – It was widely believed in the 19th century that a competent handwriting-expert could determine gender, age, character and so on from handwriting, but nowadays this manner of reading personality is proved to be impossible.

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The Guild of St. George was founded in 1871 by John Ruskin (famous English art critic, philosopher and philanthropist of Victorian era) to reduce the grave social effects of the industrial capitalism. The Guild still exists in the form of a charitable Education Trust.

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in the dock – a dock is a part of a courtroom where a person charged with a crime stands

162

Warrant is a legal document issued in order to authorise a restriction of individual’s rights, such as a search or an arrest.

163

Street Arab is a homeless child.

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harum-scarum refers to an irresponsible person

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marked for the sword-belt – that means that Barclay was going to be granted a knighthood

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the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba – Holmes refers to the Bible story of King David’s seduction of Bathsheba who was the wife of a soldier named Uriah. King David fell in love with Bathsheba and in order to get rid of Uriah sent him in the first lines of the battle where Uriah was killed.

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tour de force – feat of strength ( French )

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Scylla and Charybdis are two sea monsters of Greek mythology. They threatened Odyssey from the opposite banks of narrow waters. The proverb “between Scylla and Charybdis” has the meaning of “having to choose between two evils.”

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a ramble means a walk for pleasure without a certain aim

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general practitioner is a doctor who deals with acute and chronic illnesses and treats patients of all ages and sexes

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sanctum – holy place ( Latin ). Here it means a private place.

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London University – founded in 1836, the University of London is the third oldest university in England and the second largest university in the UK. It incorporates several Colleges that are the main educational and research bodies.

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King’s College Hospital was opened in 1840 in one of the poorest areas of London in order to train medical students of King’s College, one of the two Colleges that formed the original University of London.

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Lady-day is the day of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (march 25). Lady-day is one of the four days in which traditionally rents are paid in England.

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Fool’s errand (aka snipe hunt) is a type of joke that consists in giving an impossible, imaginary or useless task.

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Imp is a mythological creature of a nasty character. Here it refers to a naughty child.

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Vernet was the surname of three French painters of the same dynasty: Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714–1789), a landscape and marine painter; Claude-Joseph’s son Antoine-Charles-Horace Vernet (1758–1836), a battle painter; and Claude-Joseph’s grandson Émile-Jean-Horace Vernet (1789–1863), sport and military painter.

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Whitehall is a street in the City of Westminster where the buildings of His/Her Majesty Government of the UK are placed. It is also a metonym for the Government itself.

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bona-fide – good faith ( Latin ). Here: real.

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common – common land is an area on which people have certain traditional collective rights such as to let their livestock graze freely or to collect firewood and so on

181

The Daily News was a national British newspaper published from 1846 to 1960 (since 1912 under different names). Its founder and first editor was Charles Dickens.

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X2473 – in Victorian Britain most newspapers maintained anonymous post-boxes with identification numbers for personal use. Communication through such a newspaper box allowed both the poster and the respondent to conceal their identity.

183

A life preserver is a self-defense weapon, for example a bludgeon.

184

Mesmeric refers to hypnotic. The term derives from the name of Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) a German physician, the author of the “animal magnetism” theory. Mesmer was a skilled hypnotist.

185

The Triple Alliance was a secret military alliance of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy opposed to Triple Entente Alliance between Russia, the UK and France. The Triple Alliance was formed in 1882 and lasted until the start of World War I in 1914.

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Paisley shawl – Paisley is a town in Scotland where copies of Indians Kashmir shawls were woven during the 19th century

187

Coldstream Guards – Her Majesty’s Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards is a still-existing Foot Guard regiment of the British Army. In the 19th century it took part in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, Egypt expeditions, the Second Boer War.

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Bertillon system of measurements named after its inventor, French police official Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914), aimed to reliably identify individuals by physical measurements of body parts. Bertillon system was widely used by European police forces during the late 19th century.

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The big game hunt refers to hunting dangerous and/or exotic animals, such as lions, tigers, leopards, elephants etc.

190

Reuters , a world known news agency, was founded in London in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter. Reuter used telegraph, radio and even carrier pigeons to report the news to newspapers.

191

“Not let the grass grow under one’s feet” is a proverb that has the meaning of “not waste time by delaying doing something.”

192

The Lowther Arcade is a toy-market gallery located at the Strand opposite Charing Cross Station.

193

carpet-bags – in the 19th century travelling bags made of carpet were very popular for their durability. It was believed that a good carpet-bag could last a lifetime.

194

coup-de-maître – a master stroke ( French )

195

Salle-à-manger is a French term for a dining room at the train station.

196

Grosvenor Hotel is a luxury hotel located near Buckingham Palace.

197

The Reichenbach Falls – a range of five cascades on the River Aar in Bern canton, Switzerland. The Reichenbach Falls are among the highest waterfalls in the Alps.

198

the Honourable – the title is used before the names of children of peers

199

the Earl of Maynooth is a fictitious title of nobility. Maynooth, a village in County Kildare, Ireland, was the stronghold of the FitzGeralds, one of the noblest families of Ireland (the Earls of Kildare from the 14th century and the Dukes of Leinster from the 18th century).

200

Australian Colonies – in the 19th century Australia was divided in 6 British colonies: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. The Colonies formed a British Commonwealth in 1901.

201

Park Lane is running along the eastern boundary of Hide Park from Oxford Street on the north to Green Park on the south. In the 19th century Park Lane was a residential address for British aristocrasy.

202

Carstairs is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.

203

a rubber of whist – whist is a trick-taking card game played by 4 players who play in 2 partnerships. A rubber is a full round of the game.

204

baritsu – misspelled “bartitsu,” a martial art developed in Britain during 1898–1902. Bartitsu combined elements of different Japanese and European fighting styles.

205

Lhassa is the ancient capital of Tibet and the residentional city of the Dalai Lama. In the19th century foreigners weren’t welcome in Tibet, especially the British. For an Englishman to travel in Tibet would have been an extremely difficult and dangerous task.

206

the head Llama – misspelled “Lama.” Sherlock Holms means the Dalai Lama, the head of the dominant branch of Tibetan Buddhism. Till 1959 the Dalai Lama was both spiritual and temporal ruler of the country.

207

Hansom cab was a two-wheeled cab for two passengers drawn by one horse. It got its name after Joseph Hansom who designed and patented the carriage that combined safety with speed.

208

I trust that age doth not wither nor custom stale my infinite variety – it’s a paraphrase of William Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” Act II, scene 2: “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale / Her infinite variety....”

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garroter is someone using garrote, a weapon (most often a chain, cord or wire) used for strangling a person

210

Jew’s harp is a mouth-harp

211

‘journeys end in lovers’ meetings,’ – it’s a quotation from William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” (Act II, scene 3)

212

shikari is a native professional hunter in India

213

1st Bengalore Pioneers – a fictional regiment of the British Indian Army

214

Jowaki Campaign (1877–1878) is an expedition of the British Indian Army against Pathan tribes inhabiting the mountains on the Peshawar border of the British India.

215

Afghan Campaign or the Second Afghan war aka Second Anglo-Afghan war (1878–1880) was a part of confrontation of British Empire and Russian Empire in the region. It was ended by the Treaty of Gandamak; the British forces withdrew from Afghanistan but Britain gained control over its international affairs.

216

Charasiab (despatches), Sherpur, and Cabul – Holmes means battles of Charasiab, Sherpur, and Cabul fought during the Second Anglo-Afghan war.

217

the Scotland Yard Museum – the Prisoner Property Act of 1869 authorized the retention of prisoners’ property in order to help the police to study crime and criminals. The collection of criminal items formed the Scotland-yard Museum aka Black Museum that came into existence in 1874–1875.

218

Freemason (or Mason) is a member of the secret fraternal order of Free and Accepted Masons. Originated in Middle Ages from the guilds of stonemasons that built cathedrals and castles, Freemasonry is now the largest worldwide secret society.

219

Lower Norwood (now West Norwood) is a residentional suburb of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth.

220

The Daily Telegraph is a large format daily newspaper founded in 1855.

221

London Bridge Station is a railway station in Southwark, London. It is one of the oldest stations of the London railway.

222

Blackheath is a suburb of South-East London, part of the London Borough of Lewisham.

223

The Anerley Arms is a real pub (former railway hotel) still in existance situated in Anerley London Borough of Bromley.

224

Manor – in the Middle Ages “manor” was a legal term denominating an estate in land that entitled a right to hold a court. In the 19th century “manor” became the name for an old house of a landlord with a great area of land around it.

225

The Jubilee here refers to The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (22 June 1897) that marked the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty’s reign.

226

Liverpool Street – Liverpool Street Station (aka London Liverpool) opened in 1847 served as London terminus for the London – Norwich line of the Great Eastern Railway.

227

East Anglia is a traditional region in the East of England. It includes counties Norfolk and Suffolk, parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles.

228

The German Ocean refers to the North Sea (a part of the Atlantic Ocean located between the UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway). The North Sea provided a waterway access to the British Isles for European conquerors (Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes among them) and traders for ages. It was known as the German Ocean till the World War I when the name became politically unacceptable in the UK.

229

squire – initially a mediaeval term “squire” referred to a page-boy of a knight, and later to a landlord in feudal system. In Victorian Britain squires were landlords who lived in their manors but hadn’t any feudal rights. The word was also a polite form to address an unfamiliar gentleman.

230

The New York Police Bureau is the erroneous for The New York Police Department

231

Crook is a slang term for a “criminal.”

232

Johannesburg is a city in South Africa founded in 1866 after the discovery of gold in its area.

233

ménage refers to a household

234

by the living Jingo! – it is a mild oath of an unknown origin. It is believed to be the corruption of “Jesus, Son of God.”

235

from Kimberley to Johannesburg – Kimberley is a city in South Africa founded in 1870s as a diamond-mining camp. It is 478 km south-west from Johannesburg.

236

M.A., Ph.D. – M.A. stands for “Master of Arts” (from Latin “Magister Artium”). Ph.D. stands for “Doctor of Philosophy” (from Latin “Philosophiae Doctor”). M.A. and Ph.D are high academic degrees awarded by European Universities.

237

Cabinet Minister is a member of Her/His Majesty Cabinet, the supreme decision-making body in the British government.

238

The Globe was a conservative daily newspaper issued from 1803 to 1921.

239

K.G., P.C. – K.G. stands for “Knight of the Garter,” a member of The Most Noble Order of the Garter founded by King Edward III in 1348. The membership of the Order is strictly limited, can be granted only by the monarch and so is regarded to be the greatest honour in the UK. P.C. stands for “Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council,” a private council of the British monarch. Initially it was a consulting and executive body of the Crown but it lost its powers and became a formal one in the 18th century.

240

Lord-Lieutenant is a representative of the Crown in a county or similar circumscription of the UK. They are appointed by the King/Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister.

241

Lord of the Admiralty refers to a member of the Board of Admiralty, governing body for the Royal Navy till 1960.

242

Chief Secretary of State is a high-ranked civil cervant, a Cabinet Minister that heads a government department.

243

his grace – “your Grace” is a form of address to a Duke or Duchess who isn’t a member of the Royal family of the UK.

244

A preparatory school is a part of private (also called independent) educational system. Preparatory schools are attended by children aged from 7-8 to 13 in order to prepare them for the secondary education.

245

Eton jacket (aka mess jacket aka spencer) is a formal single-breasted jacket that looks like a tailcoat without tails. Eton jacket is believed to be invented by the second Earl Spencer in the end of the 18th century. The style was adopted by Eton college and soon became a standard boys’ uniform in private schools in England.

246

The Peak country refers to the hill area in the North of England.

247

Dunlop, Palmer’s – Dunlop and Palmer were common tyre brands of those days

248

Puritans were members of a religious reform movement within the Church of England in the 16th and 17th centuries. They were famous for self-restriction and virtuous lifestyle.

249

“Weald” is an Old English word that means “woodland.”

250

Norfolk jacket became popular in the second half of the 19th century as a short coat suitable for sport activities, especially for hunting. A Norfolk jacket is loose, belted and single-breasted. It has box pleats on the back and front and a belt or half-belt.

251

Brambletye Hotel is a real still-existing hotel opened in 1866 in the village of Forest Row.

252

Shetland is a subarctic archipelago that includes about 100 islands and forms the northern extremity of the United Kingdom. Shetland Islands lie approximately 210 km to the north of the Scottish mainland.

253

Mr. Pickwick is the protagonist of the first Charles Dickens’s novel, “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.” Dickens described Samuel Pickwick as round-faced plump gentleman wearing spectacles.

254

by turning her diamonds into paste – paste here refers to glass copies of precious stones. The advice is to sell real diamonds and replace them with fake ones.

255

plethoric sleeper – Holmes means that Milverton snores while sleeping

256

Skeleton keys are keys shaped to unlock a variety of different locks.

257

view-halloa – a cry of alarm

258

A glass-strewn coping is the top part of a wall with bits of glass embedded in it in order to make the wall less scalable.

259

Hooliganism derives from “hooligan,” a word that appeared (initially in the British newspapers) at the end of the 19th century. Its etymology is uncertain. It is believed to originate from Irish surname Hoolihan that was used as a characteristic Irish family-name in comic songs and papers in the second part of the 19th century.

260

High Street Station here refers to High Street Kensington, a London Underground station at Kensington High Street. Built in 1867, it is still in operation today.

261

Nihilist is a follower of the Russian philosophical doctrine of nihilism (the term originates from Latin “nihil” – nothing) which implies the negation of generally acknowleged values or social institutes such as moral, religion or state.

262

Teutonic = German. The term is generally used to denominate a quality that is believed to be typical for German people. The word originates from Latin “Teutonicus,” the name of a German tribe.

263

Italian quarter of London (aka the Italian Hill) – historical quarter that occupied the area of Saffron Hill between Clerkenwell Road, Rosebery Avenue and Farringdon Road. In the 19th century it was one of the most notorious areas in London.

264

ne’er-do-well refers to a lazy useless person

265

black pearl of the Borgias – black pearls (aka Tahitian pearls) are grown in French Polinesia. They are characterised by black colour and big size. The Borgias were a noble Italian family with Spanish origin.

266

Thucydides was an ancient Greek historian, the author of “The History of the Peloponnesian War.”

267

Johann Faber was a worldwide famous pencil brand of the time.

268

Parlour game is a game played in-door (usually in reception or sitting rooms). Parlour games were very popular in Victorian Britain.

269

Rhodesian Police – Rhodesia was the name of territory in South Africa (now Zimbabwe and Zambia), controlled by the British South Africa Company. The Company had it own police forces officially named British South Africa Police.

270

the Order of the Legion of Honour – The National Order of the Legion of Honour is French military and civil order of merit, founded in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte.

271

Uppingham , established in 1584, is one of the oldest independent (private) boarding schools in the UK.

272

Crimean man here refers to a participant of the Crimean War of 1853–1856, a conflict between the Russian Empire and the alliance of the French Empire, the British Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

273

Sealing-wax knifes were knives used for cutting off pieces of sealing-wax sticks and for opening letters.

274

magnum opus – great work ( Latin ); refers to the best and most important masterpiece of a scientist or an artist.

275

Coptic – referring to the Coptic Orthodox Church; Copts are Egyptian Christians.

276

Right wing three-quarter in the game of rugby is a back player positioned near the right edge of the field.

277

Trinity College, Cambridge – Trinity College founded in 1546 by Henry III is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is among the biggest and oldest colleges of the UK.

278

three-quarter line – there are four three-quarter players in the game of rugby: two wingers (right and left) and two centres (there was only one centre till 1886). Wingers should be speedy and capable of carrying out long runs as their main goal is to get into the rival team’s part of the field and score tries. At the same time wingers are responsible for the defence of their field.

279

Scrum in the game of rugby is a method of restarting the game when the ball left the field. Players of both teams push together in three circles with their heads down and fight for the ball.

280

Touch-lines bound the longer sides of playing area in the games of rugby and soccer.

281

Place-kick here refers to a player who is responsible for kick offs and kicks for goal.

282

the twenty-five line – two twenty-five yard lines (now called twenty-two meters lines) are located at twenty-five yards from each goal-line on the rugby pitch.

283

A skipper is a capitan of a sport team.

284

Red tape refers to excessive regulation that seems unnecessary and bureaucratic. The etymology of the term is uncertain. It is believed to originate from the red tape used to tie official documents.

285

Grange is a mediaeval term for a small farm. It could derive from mediaeval Latin word “granica” – grain storage.

286

London reek here refers to smog, mixture of fog and air pollution from the burning of large amounts of coal.

287

Palladio – Andrea Palladio, original name Andrea di Pietro della Gondola (1508–1580) was one of the greatest Italian architects of the 16th century, the author of “The Four Books of Architecture.” Palladio’s works influenced the Western architecture for centuries and gave rise to the English baroque style.

288

your ladyship is the form of addressing a woman holding the title of Lady.

289

The window is a long French one – French window is a large door size lattice window. French windows are generally used in pairs and overlook terraces or lawns.

290

beeswing – filmy substance that forms in bottles containing old wines

291

de novo — anew ( Latin )

292

We have not yet met our Waterloo, Watson, but this is our Marengo – the Battle of Waterloo (June 18, 1818) resulted in Napoleon Bonaparte final defeat and exile. The Battle of Marengo (June 14, 1800) was successful for Napoleon, but at first his forces were overpowered by the the Austrian army and the French got a very narrow victory.

293

vox populi, vox dei – the voice of the people is the voice of God ( Latin )

294

Right Honourable is a title that is applied to certain high-ranked persons in the UK, such as members of Her/His Majesty Privy Council.

295

Despatch-box is a lockable wooden box for keeping important papers.

296

The great Chancelleries of Europe — the phrase refers to the governments of the most influential European countries of the time: the Russian Empire, the German Empire, France.

297

The Abbey here refers to Westminster Abbey where coronations and other ceremonies of great importance take place. Westminster Abbey is lockated right to the West of the Houses of Parliament.

298

The great Tower of the Houses of Parliament refers to the Victoria Tower, one of the tallest and largest stone square towers in the world. The Houses of Parliament (aka The Palace of Westminster) are located on the Thames River, just south of Westminster Bridge.

299

alibi – elsewhere ( Latin ); a legal term that refers to the evidence that a person was in another place at the time the crime was commited and therefore couldn’t have done it.

300

Creole is a term that generally denominates a mixed-race person, often of French or Spanish origing. In Victorian Britain people of races other than Caucasian were believed to be prone to emotional extremes.

301

hearth-rug is a thick rug laid nearby a fireplace, of which “hearth” is the basis.

302

M.R.C.S. – Member(ship) of the Royal College of Surgeons; it is a professional qualification for surgeons in the UK and Ireland.

303

Family practitioner or family doctor is a physician who does not have any medical speciality but covers a variety of medical problems in patients of all ages instead.

304

Ferrule is a metal ring or cap placed around a pole or shaft for reinforcement or to prevent splitting.

305

Hunt is a club or party of hunters.

306

Charing Cross Hospital was started as hospital for the poor (West London Infirmary and Dispensary) in 1818, but by the end of the century it grew much bigger, treating about 20 000 patients a year.

307

house-surgeon or a house-physician – in the UK, a house surgeon is the senior member of the surgical house staff responsible for execution of the orders of the attending surgeon, and who also substitutes when the attending surgeon is not present. House here refers to hospital. A house-physician is a resident physician of a hospital who cares for patients under the direction of the attending staff.

308

Grimpen is a fictitious place. The name probably consists of words “grim” (dark, dangerous) and “pen” (fence for keeping cattle, sheep etc / prison, penitentiary facility).

309

Dartmoor is a county in Devonshire. The name contains the words “to dart” (to move quickly) and “moor” (type of swamp, containing peat, partially carbonized vegetable matter, usually mosses, used as fertilizer and fuel); hence, it is a “swiftly growing swamp.” Today Dartmoor is a national park.

310

High Barrow is a fictitious place. The name is probably used to make gloomy impression of the scene of action, since a barrow is a large mound of earth or stones placed over a burial site.

311

Visiting-card was a rectangular piece of paper used to inform the host of the house of the arrival of card’s owner. In the 19th century the standard visiting card in the United Kingdom was a plain card with nothing more than a bearer’s name on it. Sometimes the name of a gentlemen’s club might be added, but addresses were not otherwise included. Visiting cards were kept in highly decorated card cases.

312

A frock coat was a man’s coat popular during the Victorian period. It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back and knee-length skirts all around the base. Some features of it are quite unusual for post-Victorian dress: reverse collar and lapels, and also high degree of waist suppression (that is, coat’s diameter round the waist is much less than round the chest).

313

so dolichocephalic a skull or such well-marked supra-orbital development – Dr. Mortimer means that Holmes has a long head with prominent forehead. He applies the terms of phrenology, a pseudoscience widely practised in the 19th century, based on the concept that various parts of brain domain certain skills and qualities of the individual and the shape of brain reflects in the shape of skull, so that personality could be read from it.

314

shrewd – here: characterized by keen awareness, sharp intelligence, and often a sense of the practical; in its negative meaning: tricky and cunning.

315

of the long s and the short – the long, medial or descending s (ſ) is a form of the minuscule letter s, derived from Roman handwriting, used in the middle or in the beginning of a word, or in double s occurrences. The modern letterform was called the terminal, round, or short s. It fell out of use in Britain between 1795 and 1810, due to being confused with minuscule f.

316

to be circumspect means to think carefully about possible risks before doing or saying something

317

undoing – here: the downfall of family

318

The Great Rebellion refers to the Irish Rebellion of October 23, 1641, aimed to overthrow English authorities while massacring English and Scottish Protestants settled in Ulster. After several months of violent chaos the Irish Catholic upper classes and clergy formed the Catholic Confederation (summer of 1642). Ulster was reclaimed for UK by Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army in 1650s.

319

Lord Clarendon – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (1609–1674), English historian and statesman. During the events of the Rebellion and English Civil Wars he was an informal advisor to the King Charles I. Lord Clarendon is the author of the “History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England.”

320

Manor – in the Middle Ages “manor” was a legal term denominating an estate in land that entiled a right to hold a court. In the 19th century “manor” became the name for an old house of a landlord with a great area of land around it.

321

By-word is one that personifies a type, especially ill-known or notorious.

322

Yeoman refers chiefly to a free man owning his farm, especially from in the 16–17th centuries.

323

Michaelmas is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, usually September, 29.

324

betwixt – between ( archaic )

325

hath a devil – possessed by evil spirits; hath is the archaic form of “has.”

326

wench – girl ( archaic , often derogatory)

327

Liberal candidate – candidate from the Liberal party, one of the main political parties in the UK; during the 19th century the Liberal Party supported laissez-faire economic policies, such as free trade and minimal government interference in the economy. The Liberal Party favoured social reform, personal liberty, reducing the powers of the Crown and the Church of England and an extension of the electoral franchise.

328

nouveaux riches – the new rich ( French ). Nouveau rich is a person who has recently become rich (unlike those having hereditary fortune) and who likes to spend a lot of money. In the 19th century these were people who would be referred to as “success stories” in the XX century, raising money on some newly-invented industries or by trade and, of course, considered opportunists or foul-players.

329

Frankland, of Lafter Hall, and Mr. Stapleton – both surnames have some meaning: Frankland could mean “one who tells his opinion outright, frank person.” Stapleton sounds like “to staple,” that is “to pin down insects.”

330

gig (aka chaise aka chair) is a light 2-wheeled one-horse carriage.

331

wicket gate is a small gate or door (especially one that is part of a larger door).

332

wire – here: a telegram

333

parish vestry is a local church counsil.

334

shag tobacco (aka rolling tobacco or loose tobacco) is fine-cut tobacco used for self-made cigarettes made by rolling the tobacco into rolling paper or injecting it into filter tubes.

335

Baronet is the sixth-degree nobility title, put between the baron (which is a peer, a full-fledged noble, able to enter the House of Lords in the Parliament, unlike baronet) and the knight (which is still considered a commoner), thus being a noble and a commoner at the same time, and can be a tenant of an estate. Note that a baronet is not the heir to a baron, but a different title.

336

hobby – the word (nowadays it means “a leisure activity”) originates from XIX centuries idiom “to ride one’s favourite hobbyhorse,” which meant unnecessary entertainment, like child’s rocking on one’s wooden horse – hobbyhorse. The naming came from nickname “hoby” referring to living ponies and farm horses.

337

gum – gum arabic, a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal (both are species of the acacia tree). In the 19th century it was exported mostly from British trading colonies in modern Senegal and Mauritania.

338

“Dime novel” is a term supposedly originated from the first book in Beadle & Adam’s Beadle’s Dime Novel series (June 9, 1860). The name has become a catch-all term for the U.S. popular fiction. “Dime novels” are stories about dangerous adventures, detective fiction and spy stories.

339

The coal owners did not own the coal, but the equipment and buildings used in mining.

340

A foil is a light fencing sword having usually a circular guard and flexible blade of rectangular section tapering to a blunted point.

341

lady of attractions = attractive lady ( archaic )

342

The Museum of the College of Surgeons is a real museum still opened to the public. Its collections include preserved specimens, fossils, medical instruments, etc.

343

Cob is a stocky short-legged riding horse.

344

Sinister means “threatening, ill-promising.” The word comes from Latin “sinister” meaning “left” or “left-hand,” which was considered to be unlucky.

345

Hart’s-tongue fern is a type of fern reminiscent of a deer’s tongue (hart is an old word for deer).

346

Bracken is a fern with fronds that may reach as high as 15 ft.

347

Scrub oak is a shrubby and small-sized oak.

348

Princetown – Her/His Majesty Prison Dartmoor is a men’s prison located in Princetown. It was opened in 1809 to house prisoners of the Napoleonic Wars. In the second part of the 19th century it became a civil prison. Due to notorious conditions the mortality rate was considerably high and escapes were often.

349

cairns and tors – cairn is a heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark. Tor is a natural stone, f. i., granite outcropping that can reach size of a hill. Tors can be of different shape (from craggy to egg-like) depending on weather and windy conditions of the region.

350

Swan – Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828–1914) was a British physicist and chemist, an inventor of an incandescent light bulb (he and Thomas Edison invented it independently). Here “Swan” means electricity lights.

351

Edison – Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931) was an American inventor and businessman. Among many other devices he invented a long-lasting electric light bulb. Here “Edison” means electricity lights.

352

Crenellated means “having battlements, stony ‘teeth’ on a wall or tower top.”

353

A minstrels’ gallery is a sort of inner balcony situated in the great hall of a castle or manor house. It was the place where minstrels (and other musicians later on) used to perform, hidden from the eyes of the guests below. The minstrel’s gallery is mentioned to underline the mediaeval origins of the building.

354

Copses are bunches of trees, gardened via method of coppice, that is, cutting trees repeatedly to the basic stool, whence many new sprouts emerge, making a copse denser.

355

scullery-maid was an assistant to a kitchen maid. Her duties were to clean the scullery (dishes etc) as well as stoves, sinks, and the kitchen floor, and to assist the cook. As the work was really hard, scullery-maids were usually young girls.

356

ruse = trickery, deception; originally it was a hunting term that meant a roundabout path taken by fleeing game (from ruser ( Old French ))

357

Undulating means terrain having a wavy surface.

358

Rollers are parallel wavy gentle hills and slopes; similar to undulating, but more arranged.

359

surge – terrain with rougher waves of hills and pits

360

yonder = being at a distance within view or at a place or in a direction known or indicated; over there.

361

By George – the phrase is a mild oath or exclamation that dates from the early 1600s. The word “George” here is a substitute for “God,” as are words like “golly,” “ginger,” “gosh,” and so on in other similar euphemistic oaths.

362

Neolithic man – no date . – Although Neolithic humans did inhabit the moors, Dartmoor stone ruins date back to the Bronze Age (2,300 to 700 B.C.).

363

Cyclopides – Cyclopide ( Latin ) is a skipper butterfly, known for its quick darting movements. Isn’t known to be found in Dartmoor.

364

Mare’s-tail is a creeping perennial herb found in shallow waters and mud flats. It roots underwater, but most of its leaves are above the water surface. It is not very high and has a multitude of small, spiky leaves along the stem.

365

Lepidoptera ( Latin ) means moths and butterflies, generally.

366

And yet the course of true love does not run quite as smoothly as one would under the circumstances expect. – The paraphrase of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”: “The course of true love never did run smooth.”

367

Spoil-sport is one who ruins a pleasure.

368

At one’s wit’s end means clueless, not knowing what else to think.

369

worldly position means “social status” ( archaic )

370

Lattice window is a type of window with a framework into which (coloured) pieces of glass are fitted.

371

scaffold – here: mechanized gallows with a stage and a trapdoor, used for common capital punishment in the UK

372

hue and cry – in common law, it is a process by which the bystanders are summoned to assist in the apprehension of a criminal who has been witnessed in the act of committing a crime. Simply it means that anyone who knows about an escapee should note the authorities or provide an arrest themselves.

373

Guttering candle is a nearly burnt out candle with its wick almost flowing in a pool of wax.

374

Felony is a type of crime for which the punishment in federal law may be death or imprisonment for more than one year. The name originates from an act on the part of a feudal vassal involving the forfeiture of his fee.

375

Coombe Tracey is a fictional name that contains a name of one of hamlets in Devon, Coombe , which comes from cwm ( Welsh ) meaning a type of valley. Tracey probably comes from real old town Bovey Tracey, situated on edge of Dartmoor, at the river Bovey, and founded by a Tracy. Town’s slogan is, “The Gateway to the Moor,” so it is an obscure reference to our story.

376

Écarté is a two-player card game originating from France, the word literally meaning “discarded.” It is a trick-taking game, similar to whist, but with a special and eponymous discarding phase.

377

Remington typewriter was invented in 1867 by C. Sholes, C. Glidden, and S. Lewis. It was the first one that allowed to type notably faster that to write by hand, although not the first typewriter. Became commercialized by “E. Remington & Sons” since 1873, and introduced the QWERTY layout, as well as “Shift” button for switching upper– and lower-case letters (1878 model).

378

clean breast – to make a clean breast means to confess. Note that “breast” there is the seat of one’s emotions and secrets, one’s “heart.” To disclose the facts was to clean one’s heart of impurity.

379

The law is upon his side – in Victorian Britain a married woman had no means to defend herself against her cruel husband. She couldn’t even obtain a divorce without proof of both the extreme cruelty and adultery. A husband was entitled to get his wife back by force if she left him.

380

Confound them! = shame on them!, ruin them!

381

(Devon) County Constabulary was the Home Office (a Ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for immigration, security, and law and order) police force for the county of Devon until 1966.

382

Frankland v . Regina means a case of action “Frankland against the UK.” V. stands for “versus” (Latin word for “against”). Regina means “queen” ( Latin ), here: Queen Victoria who was to represent the UK as a monarch.

383

thumbed – to thumb = to leaf through the pages with one’s thumb

384

Schoolmaster could mean a male teacher in school, not necessarily an owner. If a schoolmaster owned the school, it was obviously a small private one, aimed for intense classical education, since boarding schools were large enough to have a headmaster and several schoolmasters. There were a few such schools those days.

385

Profession – here: teaching; to profess = to educate ( archaic )

386

Hark! = hear this!, listen! (from “hearken”)

387

Somersault is a gymnastic jump with full turn head over heels.

388

jaunty = lively, confident, cheerful

389

at close grips refers to hand-to-hand fighting, or wrestling in tight contact with the opponent

390

Sir Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723) – the leading portrait painter in England in his lifetime, even the court painter to monarchs from Charles II to George I.

391

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792) – famous English portrait painter, promoter of the so-called “Grand Style” (idealization of the imperfect).

392

William Pitt (1708–1778) aka William Pitt the Elder – British Whig statesman who led Britain in several wars and tried to seek out diplomatic solution to American War of Independence. It is generally said that much of his power over the House of Commons resulted from his brilliant oratory.

393

Chief of the staff – here: prime military helper to a high-ranked officer, f. i. an adjutant to a general

394

Dewlap is hanging neck-skin of an animal or human.

395

Phosphorus is poisonous and caustic. It could had burned the dog’s flesh through if used as described.

396

Tuft is a set of gasses growing together.

397

Quagmire is miry ground that gives up and sinks at stepping on it.

398

Bog-girt means rounded by bog or providing an illusion of being supported by it.

399

By Jove – a mild oath that expresses surprise, probably of the Roman origin. “Jove” could originate from the name of “Jovis” (Jupiter), the Roman King of Gods.

400

purloined – to purloin means to obtain by betrayal of trust

401

consumptive is sick with lung tuberculosis

402

R oss and Mangles – probably the name of the company came to author’s mind from one of the two notable names of his days, Ross Lowis Mangles, a civilian hero of war in Bengal, or Ross Donnelly Mangles, the Chairman of the East India Company.

403

North Devon line is a still-existing railroad line, originally connecting Devon and Exeter until being connected with London and South Western Railway in the mid-XIX century and largely reconstructed. Now all these lines are parts of Southern Railway.

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outré – bizarre, outlandish ( French )

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outhouse – primarily, the structure over the pit toilet, but can also be a small shed in the yard of a house

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box – here: enclosed lodge with seats in a theatre, quite secluded and expensive

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Les Huguenots (The Huguenots) is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, being among the most popular and spectacular by size of act, orchestra and decorations.

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De Reszke – a family of Polish opera singers, performing as well in “Les Huguenots”: Josephine de Reszke, the elder sister, the soprano, Jean de Reszke, the middle brother, the tenor, and Édouard de Reszke, the junior brother, the bass.