1 year ago

Begirt with many a gallant slave,
Apparelled as becomes the brave,
Old Giaffir sat in his divan:
. . . . . . .
Much I misdoubt this wayward boy
Will one day work me more annoy.

Bride of Abydos.

----

John Schweighäuser: a French classical scholar and professor of philosophy at the University of Strasbourg, and who was decorated by the Royal Society of London in 1826.

Footnote from the author: "Murphy's face," unlearned reader, appeareth, in Irish phrase, to mean "pig's head."

I don't know what that "laus-a-me" is supposed to mean. Poll is apparently the top or back of the head, although that's a new one to me.

snuggery: a cozy or comfortable place

alguazil: an officer of the law in Spain or Latin America

'disrespectability' is another mysterious term of no obvious definition. Perhaps if we could be so fortunate that a British legal historian should watch this, they can leave a comment on what is likely to have been meant by this term.

Bridewell was originally built by King Henry VIII as a residence. Edward VI gave it up for use as an orphanage and a place of correction for wayward ("disorderly") women. Later it served as a prison, hospital, and poorhouse, and much later even as a school. It was shut down in 1855 and partially demolished in 1863, and a hotel erected.

file - a cunning or deceitful person

One thing is for sure, this chapter has some scathing commentary of the English judicial system!

The picture used is "The Old Bailey, Known Also as the Central Criminal Court" by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin, 1808. Source: Ackermann, Rudolph; Pyne, William Henry; Combe, William (1904) [1808] "Old Bailey" in The Microcosm of London: or, London in Miniature, Volume 2, London: Methuen and Company Retrieved on 9 January 2009.

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7735/7735-h/7735-h.htm#link2HCH0007

Loading comments...