"Paul Clifford", Chapter 6, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

1 year ago
6

Bad events peep out o' the tail of good purposes.
-Bartholomew Fair.

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bustle: money

buzz gloak: pickpocket

I have no idea what "Parjured Villen" is supposed to mean. If you have a thought on that, please leave a comment below.

inexpressibles are a style of pants

Madame Vestris I believe is a reference to Lucia Elizabeth Vestris, an English actress and a contralto opera singer of the first half of 19th century, which I suppose for this story being written in 1830 would be a familiar reference to most English readers at the time. (There is a Rose Vestris from the second half of the 18th century who was a French actress and could potentially be the reference, but it seems more likely an English actress would be intended in a book by an English author.)

T.P. Cooke appears to be an English actor of the same time period as Madame Vestris.

jointure: in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the death of her husband for the life of the wife at least, if she herself be not the cause of determination or forfeiture of it'

Toby: the highway

tyro: newbie

So we learn that Long Ned (or at least his grandfather) is from Carlisle. That's in Cumbria, right close to the Scottish border. Finally we know what sort of accent I should have been using all along. Interestingly enough, Long Ned, at least here in this chapter, has no accent at all written into the text. And I have no idea what a Cumbrian accent even sounds like. So, no accent is attempted.

To any budding authors reading this, for the love of God, do NOT put into your text "Mr. ---" or "Mrs. ---" or what not, i.e. blank names. At least put an initial or SOMETHING. That's fine when you are reading a book to yourself that such appears, but for audiobooks, us narrators have no bloody idea what we're supposed to do with that. I handle it different depending on context, but there's just no good way to know what to do with it, so please do not write like that. A "Mr. P." or "Miss S.", while still weak and lame, would be vastly preferable. But a total blank... Stop it!!

The picture used is "Dandy PickPockets Diving: Scene Near St. James Palace" by Isaac Robert Cruikshank, published in The Caricature Magazine, or Hudibrastic Mirror, by G.M. Woodward, vol. 5, Folio 75.

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7735/7735-h/7735-h.htm#link2HCH0006

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