1 year ago

Many things fall between the cup and the lip!
Your man does please me
With his conceit.
...............
Comes Chanon Hugh accoutred as you see
Disguised!
And thus am I to gull the constable?
Now have among you for a man at arms.
...............
High-constable was more, though
He laid Dick Tator by the heels.
BEN JONSON—Tale of a Tub.

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Another chapter where the author decided to blank out a place name. An annoying habit in these older authors. I did my best to reword it to something viable for an audio recording.

queer cuffin: magistrate

glimflashy: figurative of someone's eyes flashing with anger

Dick Hatteraick: a fictional character from the novel "Guy Mannering" by Sir Walter Scott (although it looks like Bulwer-Lytton got the name wrong here, it should be Dirk, not Dick), who was a Dutch smuggler.

"sharp in the quarters": I have no idea what this means, and a google search suggests this book is literally the only place on all the internet where this phrase exists. Any equestrians in the audience want to fill us in on what this could be? Please leave a comment below with your best guess!

There is a footnote from the author on his use of the word "fey" in this chapter: "Fey-A word difficult to translate; but the closest interpretation of which is, perhaps, 'the ill omen.'"

post-chaise: a fast carriage that usually had a closed body on four wheels, sat two to four persons, and was drawn by two or four horses

quod: prison

scrouge: to crowd or squeeze

placeman: a political appointee to a public office, typically used disparagingly

accepting the hundreds: I can't get an exact meaning of this, it's just a bit too obscure. We can only go with what the context has to suggest. If you do recognize this expression, leave a comment below with its meaning.

herring-pond: the sea. This relates to Ned's suggestion that they would be transported, which is to say, shipped off across the sea to a penal colony (in this time period, Australia).

to make gallows apples of: to hang

numprels: nonpareils, not the tasty chocolate treat, but a person or thing that has no equal, or a paragon, clearly here used with extreme irony.

Scratchland: Scotland

stretched for smashing queer screens: hung for uttering forged notes

I don't know what distinguishes a Norfolk accent (or any British accents, really), so I didn't attempt any accent at all.

The picture used is Highwayman holds up a coach, by illustrator E. A. Holloway

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7735/7735-h/7735-h.htm#link2HCH0031

It was raining when I recorded this, and at times when the rain got a bit heavier, you can hear some noise in the background of the recording, such as around minute 21. Oh well. Hopefully it doesn't annoy you too much.

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