(Iolanthe Lexicon)
Arcadian:
"Ideally rural or rustic; from Greek Arcadia [here "Arcady",
"Arcadee" KC], a mountainous district in the Peloponnesus,
taken as the ideal region of rural contentment."
[O.E.D.]
Arrest of Judgment:
"A stay of proceedings, after a verdict for the plaintiff or the
Crown, on the ground of manifest error therein."
[O.E.D.]
Badinage:
playful, teasing talk; banter. [French]
Banbury:
"A particularly pleasant form of cake, invented at Banbury, a small
... town not far from Oxford." [M.G.]
Baring:
An English family and financial and commercial
house. Included various nobles, statesmen, a bishop, etc.
Thomas George Baring, first Earl of Northbrook, was the First Lord of the
Admiralty when Iolanthe opened.
Bark:
a small sailing boat.
Bathing machine:
A small bathhouse on wheels used by bathers as a dressing room and also,
esp. by women, as a means of transportation between the beach and the water.
Beard
(verb): "To oppose openly and
resolutely, with daring or with effrontery; to set at defiance, thwart, affront.
[Partly from the idea of taking a lion by the beard, partly from the use
of 'beard' as = face.]" [O.E.D.]
Belgrave Square:
"The site of homes of many of the noble families of England."
[M.G.]
Blue blood:
"that which flows in the veins of old and aristocratic families, a
transl. of the Spanish sangre azul attributed to some of the oldest and
proudest families of Castile, who claimed never to have been contaminated by
Moorish, Jewish, or other foreign admixture; the expression probably originated
in the blueness of the veins of people of fair complexion as compared with those
of dark skin." [O.E.D.]
Borough: "A town which sends representatives to Parliament." [O.E.D.] Corresponding roughly to congressional districts in the U.S., boroughs varied greatly in size and population. Prior to the great Parliamentary Reform Act of 1832, some boroughs were so small that a single individual could, in effect, appoint whom the borough would send to Parliament, as, for example, when most of the electors in the borough were tenants of, or otherwise dependent on, one landowner. It is to such "pocket boroughs" that the Fairy Queen refers when she says, "I've a borough or two at my disposal." [CCP]
Canaille:
"Pack of dogs. (The
vile populace; the mob; the rabble.)"
[M.G.] [French]
Captain Shaw:
[see Shaw]
"Crumpled bands and rusty
bombazine":
an unkempt usher's uniform.
One definition of "bands" is "The development of a falling
collar into a pair of strips hanging down in front, as part of a conventional
dress, clerical, legal, or academical."
One definition of "rusty" is "Of (dark) clothes: Showing
signs of age or use; shabby, worn, or faded."
Bombazine is "A twilled or corded dress-material, composed of
silk and worsted.... In black the
material is much used in mourning." [all
from O.E.D.]
Chancellor:
(see Lord Chancellor)
Chancery (or Court of Chancery):
"The court of the Lord Chancellor of England, the highest court of
judicature next to the House of Lords."
[O.E.D.]
Chancery Lane:
The street where the Court of Chancery is located.
Chary:
careful; cautious.
Contradicente:
Contradicting [Italian]. ("Nobody
at all contradicente" would mean roughly "you'll all
agree".)
Counterpane:
a bedspread or coverlet.
"The Deuce to pay":
"Deuce" is a euphemism for "Devil".
The phrase is "supposed to refer to the alleged bargains made by
wizards, etc., with Satan, and the inevitable payment to be made to him in the
end." [O.E.D.]
[In other words, big trouble!]
Divide: (see Division)
Division: a vote by Parliament; "the separating of the members [of Parliament] into two groups, in order to count their votes, ... effected by their passing into separate lobbies, the numbers on each side being counted by tellers." [O.E.D]
Dolce far niente:
"Literally translated: 'sweet doing nothing.'
Here, I rather imagine, Gilbert means 'whispering sweet nothings'."
[M.G.] [Italian]
Equity draftsman:
"A barrister who draws pleadings [i.e. writes in advocacy of causes
or cases] in equity." In
jurisprudence, equity is "The recourse to general principles of justice to
correct or supplement the provisions of the law.
'Equity of a statute': the construction [i.e. 'construing' KC]
of a statute according to its reason and spirit, so as to make it apply to cases
for which it does not expressly provide."
[all from O.E.D.]
Espoused:
married.
"Exchequer, Queen's Bench,
Common Pleas, or Divorce":
"Various divisions of the High Court of Justice."
[M.G.]
Fay:
a fairy.
Festina lente:
"Make haste slowly. (Don't make rash and foolish statements. Think before
you speak. Look before you leap.)" [M.G.] [Italian]
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Flageolet |
Flageolet:
"A small wind instrument, having a mouthpiece at one end, six
principal holes, and sometimes keys."
[O.E.D.] [similar to a
recorder]
"Friday nights":
"Friday nights were reserved for the consideration of "private
members'" bills, as opposed to the Government's bills.
Why these...should be so cherished by the House of Lords I am unable to
say." [M.G.]
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Grenadier Guards |
Grenadier Guard:
"Originally, a soldier who threw grenades.
Though grenades went out of general use in the 18th Century [they
certainly came back in in the 20th, after G&S and after this definition was
written. KC], the name of 'grenadiers' was retained for a company of
the tallest and finest men in the regiment. Now, however, in the British army,
the word is retained only in the name of the Grenadier Guards, the first
regiment of [royal] household infantry [specially employed to guard the person
of the sovereign]." [O.E.D.]
"Grouse and salmon
season":
"...coincides with the Parliamentary summer recess!"
[M.G.]
Harwich:
"A smallish seaport in England. Pronounced 'Harrich'."
[M.G.]
Head: In Gilbert's day, for someone to do something on her head was for her to do it with ease, effortlessly. At the same time, today's more literal meaning -- to do it upside down -- was also current. Several Gilbert and Sullivan fans recently engaged in an illuminating, if somewhat inconclusive, discussion of on her head. [CCP]
Hoi polloi:
The common people. [Greek]
Lobby: "One of the two corridors to which members retire to vote when the House [of Commons] divides." [O.E.D.] (See division)
Lord Chancellor
(also Lord High Chancellor) of England:
"Originally the King's Chancellor, who has in course of time become
the highest officer of the crown, and an important member of the cabinet.
He is the highest judicial functionary in the kingdom, and ranks above
all peers spiritual and temporal, except only princes of the blood, and the
archbishop of Canterbury; he is keeper of the Great Seal, is styled 'Keeper of
his Majesty's conscience', and is president and prolocutor of the House of
Lords; he presides in...the Chancery division of the Supreme Court; appoints all
justices of peace; is the general guardian of infants, lunatics, and
idiots...." [O.E.D.]
M.P.: Member of Parliament
Maravedi:
"A former Spanish coin...valued at about 1/2 of a penny
sterling." [O.E.D.]
Minx:
a pert, saucy girl or young woman.
Misconstruction:
mis-construing; incorrect interpretation; misunderstanding.
Ovidius Naso:
the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso, known today to English speakers as Ovid. "The allusion, of
course, is to the poet's dissertations in 'The Art of
Love'." [M.G.]
Peer:
[The House of Peers is simply another name for the House of Lords, the
upper chamber of the British Parliament. Membership
was by hereditary title rather than by election as in the House of Commons.]
Penny ice: cheap ices, mostly sold by street vendors. [Richard Ogden]
Peri
(pronounced "peery"): "In
Persian mythology, one of a race of super-human beings, originally
represented as of evil or malevolent character, but subsequently as good genii,
fairies, or angels, endowed with grace and beauty."
[O.E.D.]
Pickford:
"Pickford's Ltd. were, and still
are, a well-known firm of
carriers whose slogan was 'We carry everything'."
[M.G.]
"Pipe [our] eye":
"A colloquialism: to shed tears."
[M.G.]
Pipes and tabors:
Pan-pipes and small drums. [M.G.]
(i.e. symbols of rustic life)
Plebs:
Plebeians; the common people. [Latin]
Queen Bess:
Queen Elizabeth I.
Round game:
"Any game, esp. at cards, in which each of a number of persons plays
on his own account." [O.E.D.]
Rothschild:
A prominent family (originally German) of financiers; included various
nobles, etc. Sir Nathan Mayer, 1st
Baron Rothschild, served in the House of Commons when Iolanthe premiered,
and later in the House of Lords.
Seven Dials:
"A district in ... London. In the days of Gilbert,
almost on a par with the Bowery." [M.G.]
[i.e. a very poor neighborhood.]
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Captain Shaw |
Shaw
(Captain): "The Chief of the
London Fire Brigade at the time (Captain Eyre Massey
Shaw).
He was...at the opening of Iolanthe..., right in the center of the
front row..., where the Fairy Queen...had the opportunity of stretching her arms
out toward the gallant captain when she reached the appropriate words." [M.G.]
"Sloan Square and South
Kensington stations":
"Two stations on the London Metropolitan [train] line."
[M.G.]
St. James's Park:
"Originally the private grounds of St. James's Palace, at one time
the official residence of the King. It
is now a public park." [M.G.]
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St. James's Park |
String: "A bowstring. ... In figurative phrase, To have two strings to one's bow: to have two alternative resources. ... Hence second string, a second resource available if the first should fail." [O.E.D.]
Swain:
a country youth; a young rustic lover or gallant.
Ticking:
the heavy cloth outer case or covering of a mattress.
Tory:
a member of the more conservative of the two major British political
parties of the day.
"Toss up":
to flip a coin.
Type:
here used in the sense of a person that represents or symbolizes another;
symbol; emblem.
Vagary:
an odd, eccentric, or unexpected action or bit of conduct.
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The Lord Chancellor |
Ward in chancery /
ward of court: "A minor for whom a guardian has been appointed by the
Court of Chancery, or who has become directly subject to the authority of that
Court." [O.E.D.]
Whig: a member of the more liberal of the two major British political parties of the day.
Woolsack:
"A seat made of a bag of wool for the use of judges when summoned to
attend the House of Lords; also the usual seat of the Lord Chancellor in the
House of Lords, made of a large square bag of wool without back or arms and
covered with cloth. Often
allusively with reference to the position of the Lord Chancellor as the highest
judicial officer; hence, 'the woolsack', the Lord Chancellorship; 'on the
woolsack', in this office." [O.E.D.]
