a Scottish or northern English dialect for suffocated, stifled, smothered.
b Decorative folds of ribbon, fabric, or lace resembling a row of quills.
c In the order of precedence among titled aristocracy, earl and countess come between viscount and marquis.
d In England the train was introduced and rapidly spread in the 1830s.
e Term for Parisian working-class republicans during the French Revolution.
f Proper name for the common plant known as the sundew.
g That is, sit wedged between two others in a seat meant for two.
i Outdoor flight of stairs leading up to an entrance.
j Novel by Samuel Richardson published in 1753-1754; the hero comes to signify gentlemanliness.
k Rankings of the English titled aristocracy, known as “the peerage.”
l Physician’s office and examining rooms.
m Concealed love; from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (act 2, scene 4).
n Britain was engaged in the Napoleonic Wars against France (1800-1815).
o The doctrines of the Church of England.
p “Squire” is a term of regard for the foremost landowner of a borough or community.
q Slang for having been failed in the final examinations.
r Booby prize presented to the man coming in last in math.
s One of the colleges at Cambridge University.
t Or Punjab; region in British India, now between India and Pakistan.
u Written in Latin, a prescription consisting of modesty, domestic fidelity, and deference; mix in water and take three times a day.
v Female allegorical figure of truth, usually understood also as a symbol of the Church of England, in Edward Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590).
w In Greek mythology, Scylla and Charybdis were two monsters who lived on either side of the straits of Messina; in trying to avoid one, sailors often found themselves threatened by the other.
x Felicia Hemans (1793-1835), a contemporary popular poet.
y Scholarship; one of two prizes awarded for classics and English poetry.
z Important, widely read journal (1769-1862) that supported reform.
aa Walking stick that doubled as a digging implement. ‡Starting in 1784, a tax on houses having seven or more windows.
ab Novel by Walter Scott, published in 1819, that foreshadows Molly’s capacity for faithfulness.
ac Natural Sciences would be established as a course of study at Cambridge in 1848.
ad Alfred the Great (849-899), king of Wessex (871-899), considered the first king of England.
ae Highly contagious, sometimes fatal disease associated with nineteenth-century childhood mortality.
af Woe to the vanquished (Latin).
ag Problem that seems to have no resolution.
ai Cynthia is a name for the moon, which forebodes the character’s inconstancy in love.
aj Intimate meeting of two people (French).
ak Tool for collecting natural specimens in water.
al That is, between teacher/mentor and student; in Homer’s Odyssey, when Odysseus departed for the Trojan War, he left his son Telemachus in the care of Mentor.
am That is, unceremoniously; a colloquial early-nineteenth-century expression.
an Wrapping paper used to protect objects.
ao Dates that mark the start of hunting seasons: August 12 for grouse, September 1 for partridge.
ap To debut—that is, be introduced into society as a marriageable girl.
aq Popular novelist Maria Edgeworth (1767-1849).
ar The hero of Walter Scott’s novel of the same name (1819).
as Flourish or embellishment (French).
at Warwickshire dialect for unfamiliar and thus unpleasant.
au Bound by law to pass intact to the male heir; that is, it is a secure inheritance.
av In a low or soft voice (Italian).
aw See endnote 1 to chapter 17.
ay Scottish kinship is by marriage as well as blood.
az That is, a relation as close as if it were a blood relation.
ba See the Bible, 1 Corinthians 9:22.
bc Final examination for an honors B.A. degree.
bd Wrangler is the top division of honors; senior wrangler is the highest honor.
be That is, he’ll have a scholarship to remain and study; ironically, this is what Osborne meant to achieve.
bf Admiring of nothing; indifferent (Latin).
bg Not timid (Scottish dialect).
bh Prayer from the Bible, Psalm 31:9.
bi False or disingenuous shame (French).
bj That is, the clock at Whitehall in London, famed for its accuracy.
bk Fretful (Scottish dialect).
bl From the Bible, Luke 15:12; the words of the prodigal son.
bm The law courts in London; Osborne is contemplating studying the law.
bn Become a clergyman in the Church of England.
bo Slang for Napoleon Bonaparte.
bp Crapaud is French for “toad”; early slur for the French that later becomes “frog.”
bq Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine and Quarterly Review; influential monthly journals.
br Rustic long pipe for smoking tobacco.
bs Long poem by Lord Byron, written in 1816.
bt Somewhat deprecatory term for a female intellectual.
bv William Cowper, “The Diverting History of John Gilpin” (1782), an English comic narrative poem.
bw You will repent if you take a wife, Colin (French).
bx Inappropriate (French).
bz It was the custom to wear new clothing in symbolic celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
ca Mrs. Gibson reads Burke’s General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom, published by John Burke in London in 1826; known as the Peerage or Burke’s Peerage.
cb Special trains scheduled for holidays; popular starting in the 1840s.
cc Strong-mindedness (French).
cd Piece of jewelry consisting of a loved one’s tiny portrait.
ce Choice; exquisite (French).
cf Like a child (French); the duchess wears an inappropriately girlish dress.
cg Eighteenth- and nineteenth-century science of facial expression and features.
ch The Animal Kingdom (1817), by Georges Cuvier, French pioneer of modern zoology and paleontology.
ci The Age of Louis XIV (1751), by Voltaire.
cj Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1772-1844), important French zoologist and comparative anatomist.
ck See endnote 4 to chapter 1.
cl Scholar; scientist (French).
cn Colloquial term for the Peerage (see footnote on p. 274).
co Reference to The Thousand and One Nights, a.k.a. The Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, in which Alnaschar concocts unreahzed dreams of riches and marrying a wealthy woman.
cp Star used in navigation.
cs Letter folded rather than contained in an envelope.
ct University fellows could not marry.
cu Eagerness; willingness (French).
cv See endnote 1 to chapter 17.
cw Improved technology of using tiles to drain marshy soil.
cy From Lycidas (1637). a poem by John Milton.
cz In London, church courts that handled civil legal business such as wills.
da Tiny stinging darts sent by the miniature Lilliputians in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels (1726).
db Lord Bridgewater endowed a prize for essays connecting science and religion.
dc Allusion to the biblical account of the time Jacob waited and worked for Rachel (Genesis 29).
dd In such a serious vein (French).
de In French, tapis is “carpet”; mettre sur le tapis means “to bring up for discussion.”
df Those who are away are always wrong (French).
dg The eastern horn of Africa; site of exploration by Europeans in the 1830s.
dh Important classical writers on natural history.
dj Armed escorts to judges.
dk Annual painting exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts.
dl Improved type of road surface common starting in the 1820s.
dm The Malvern Hills are located in the county of Worcestershire in England.
dn Half-year (French); term at school.
do Literally, “always partridge” (French); that is, monotonous, always the same.
dp Inappropriate (French).
dq Literally, apropos of nothing (French idiom); akin to “out of the blue.”
dr Chimney sweep; a humble occupation.
ds Inconsistency; thoughtlessness (French).
du Awkwardness; clumsiness (French).
dv Reference to Cervantes’s Don Quixote (1605), with Lady Harriet as the knight and Miss Phoebe as the faithful squire.
dw Talk of the ass and you’ll see its ears (French idiom); akin to “speak of the devil.”
dx Well dressed; correct in detail (French).
dy Whipping boy, underdog (French); on the receiving end of annoyances.
dz The Cape of Good Hope; Roger has traveled the length of eastern Africa.
ea Language from the Bible, Genesis 27:34: “And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry...” (King James Version; henceforth, KJV).
eb Bread and milk (French) .
ec Allusion to the Bible, Job 14:14: “If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come” (KJV).
ed From Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem Christabel (1816).
ee Happy medium (French).
ef A new railway line, actually opened in 1838.
eg Barristers, unlike solicitors, could represent clients in the high courts.
eh Gaius Marius (157-8 B.C.); Roman general turned politician.
ei Literally, “I do not know what”; that is, “something” (French).
ej Without heed to consequence (French).
ek “Crossing” was a frugal custom of writing the second “page” of a letter at a right angle to the first.
el Allegorical figure of falsehood (the daughter of Deceit and Shame) in Edward Spenser’s The Faerie Queene (1590).
em Suitor, admirer (French).
en First published in the Cornhill Magazine from November 1863 to February 1864.
eo Gaskell novel published in 1863.
ep Gaskell’s first novel, published in 1848.