By Kate Macdonald
interesting condition: a coy Victorian euphemism for being pregnant.
Cremorne: the old nineteenth-century Cremorne pleasure gardens, that lay between Chelsea Harbour and the King’s Road.
baked letters: letters from scarlet fever patients were baked in a low oven before being sent, to avoid spreading infection.
cotta: a short white surplice, worn over everyday clothes by choristers.
Lancer’s uniform: a striking black and red military uniform.
ADC: Amateur Dramatic Club, a Cambridge University student society, founded in 1855.
been eating dinners: part of the process of reading for the Bar and becoming a barrister at one of the Inns of Court.
St Mary Magdalene, Paddington: a late nineteenth-century Anglican church in north-west London, with a strong Anglo-Catholic or High Anglican history.
St Alban’s, Holborn: another nineteenth-century London parish church, with possibly even Higher leanings than St Mary Magdalene. The first Perpetual Curate of St Alban’s introduced elaborate Anglo-Catholic liturgical ritual and the hearing of confessions, as well as a strong programme of social work and poverty relief in the neighbouring slums.
Little Church Around the Corner: a nineteenth-century Episcopal church in New York City, strongly Anglo-Catholic in its ritual and service to the poor.
‘A bone in me leg’: a traditional English folk saying, often used in mockery of someone trying to avoid a task or effort.
shieling: in this context the Scots name for a shepherd’s hut in the hills, usually little more than one room and a fireplace.
frowst: a thick atmosphere contributed to by smoke from the fire, pipe smoke (shag) and humidity from drying garments and wet dogs.
Windsor chair: a cushionless wooden chair designed for sitting upright in at a table, rather than reclining in in comfort.
notorious: the Reverend Sandys Wason, on whom Father St John was based, had gained a reputation in the church for his notoriously single-minded Anglo-Catholic practices in an otherwise Low Church parish.
Eights Week: four days of boat races between the colleges of Oxford University, that always take place in the fifth week of Trinity term, in May.
hideous gargoyle: John’s rooms at Oxford were undoubtedly in an older part of his college where the gargoyles were less decorative than preventative.
Asperges: the ritual act of sprinkling with holy water.
half-ripe blackberry: a flushed deep red.
do it on purpose to annoy: quotation from Alice in Wonderland.
‘Up guards and at’ em’: an old saying associated with a command made by the Duke of Wellington at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, but is likely to have been in use before that.
LSD: abbreviation for pounds, shillings and pence (pre-decimal pennies were abbreviated to ‘d’).
towans: a Cornish term for sand dunes, but used more on the north coast than the south coast where Gunwalloe and Cury are.
redding up: dialect for cleaning and setting a room to rights.
mesembryanthemum: a desert-loving succulent with a brightly coloured, many-petalled daisy-like flower.
other cure: Father St John is responsible for two parishes.
rubber: Father St John and his dummy hand have won both games of bridge to win the rubber.
Band of Mercy , Band of Hope: the Band of Mercy was an early animal welfare organisation , whereas the Band of Hope was and still is a Christian charity working to end alcohol and drug abuse by young people.
The Duchy: the royal Duchy of Cornwall is the possession of the eldest child of the reigning monarch , with its own rights and legal privileges.
the jingle: the small open carriage driven by Miss Want.
Winsor and Newton: manufacturers and purveyors of fine art supplies for nearly two hundred years.
a fly: a covered carriage.
Bromo: a type of lavatory paper.
knocked her up: knocked at her door loud enough to wake her.
logorrhea: uncontrollable loquacity , of indifferent quality.
a budget: a large number of letters.
1 The Angle of Error
Spiaggia: An invented Italian seaside resort called ‘Beach’ , probably based on the author’s life in Capri.
cicale: Italian , cicadas.
jalousies: louvred windows , where the panes can be tilted to admit air.
giovannott’: Italian , young man.
buttarmi via: Italian , throw me away , cast me out.
figlio mio: Italian , my son.
Per Bene: Italian , For Good.
inglese pazzi: Italian , crazy English.
Vicin’ ‘o mare: the opening lines of the refrain to Vicin’ ‘o mare , ‘Near the sea’ , a traditional Neapolitan song.
gente per bene: Italian , good people.
antipatico: Italian , unfriendly.
Dio mio: Italian , my god.
Ebbene: Italian , well.
maresciallo: Italian , marshal or officer.
Lungo-lungo: Italian , Long-long.
Carin’ assai! Com’ ha fatto bene il Signorin’ Suicidio!: Italian , So lovely! How well Signor Suicide has done.
modo signorile: Italian , gentlemanly manner.
Oui , c’est moi – tel comme l’autre: French , Yes , that’s me. They say I was handsome at that age. That’s my sister – we were very alike.
Ma proprio un amore: Italian , Really , a darling.
Un ragazzo per bene: Italian , A good boy.
accanitamente: Italian , fiercely.
Ma, pero, fui contenta – del primo ordine: Italian, But I was happy about this, because he started to bore me, very, very much. Really annoying.
mortificata assai assai: Italian , Really , really mortified.
corteggiante: Italian , he who had been courting her.
brutta figura: Italian , a bad figure.
simpaticone: Italian , Appealing , a friendly guy.
E molto scrupuloso: Italian , And very scrupulous.
Un ragazzo molto fino: Italian , A very fine boy.
Ci piace assai: Italian , We like him a lot.
Magna Graecia: the Imperial Roman name for the Greek-speaking colonies in southern Italy , which included Calabria.
Il faut avoir toujours la bonne mine: French , You should always put a good face upon things.
Com’ é simpatico , quell’ signorin’: Italian , How nice he is , that gentleman.
Pardon pour hier soir: French , Apologies for yesterday evening.
casetta: Italian, cottage.
buona passeggiata: Italian , Have a good walk.
Ecco la signorina inglese: Italian , That’s the English lady.
marinaio: Italian , boatman.
Vieni sul mar! … tuo marinar!: refrain of an Italian song first recorded by Enrico Caruso in 1905 , ‘Come to the sea! Come for a row. Feel the intoxication of your sailor!’.
Two Lovely Black Eyes: Edwardian music-hall song.
Favorisca , signora!: Italian , Your favour , Madam.
salotta: Italian , the living-room.
Che bellezza: Italian , How beautiful.
Evviva il nostro caro Signorin’!: Italian , Long life to our dear Signor’.
Facciamo la festa del pov’ Angelo: Italian , Let’s celebrate poor Angelo.
Boje moy: Russian , My god.
terza rima: a complex form of verse in which the first and third lines of each three-line stanza rhyme , and the same rhyme travels to the next stanza in a different position.
Guy Hardlot: Guy d’Hardelot was the pen-name of Helen Guy , a French pianist and composer. Her then most famous song was ‘Because’ , which had been recorded by Enrico Caruso in 1912 and released as a record in 1913.
Mais , c’est épatant!: French , But , it’s amazing!
fairy: a Victorian name for a showgirl or a prostitute.
Piano, piano: Italian, very quietly.
tucked up: Roxy is lying in a deckchair on board an ocean liner, wrapped up warmly in rugs against the breeze.
The Green Hat: a celebrated bestseller of the 1920s by Michael Arlen.
Madame Blavatsky: a Russian-American mystic who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1975, and was revered by her followers.
ear pillow: a soft pillow with a hole in the centre, like a doughnut, to allow sleep without putting pressure on the ear.
Feazoly, Pity: Fiesole and the Pitti, one of the great Florentine art museums of the Renaissance.