Notes - Volume Two - Michaelmas
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Rank by Rank
- "Rank by Rank Again We Stand": words J. H. Skrine (1848-1933), tune Trebetherick by C. S. Lang (1891-1971) as it appears in The Public School Hymn Book.
- Carol Service: traditional Advent service comprising nine lessons and nine carols
- Worsted-stocking knave: King Lear (II, ii) by William Shakespeare
- Capping: raising a finger to the forehead when passing a master’s wife
- A Boy’s Own Paper: A weekly magazine published 1879-1967, with generally uplifting, heroic content
- Disce, aut discede...the third option: see note in "Why Does He Deserve It?"
A World Gone Mad
- The Wright brothers: Orville and Wilbur Wright
- Defer no time; delays have dangerous ends: Henry VI, part 1 (III, ii, 37) by William Shakespeare
- Icarus: son of Daedalus; died by falling into the sea after flying too close to the sun
Something in Their Midst
- Six, boundary: In cricket, a batsman scores six points (the maximum allowed for one shot) when a ball goes over the boundary.
- Mens sana in corpore sano: healthy mind in a healthy body
- Aurea mediocritas: the golden mean
- First XV: Rugby football teams have fifteen players. The First XV is the top-level team.
- Suppressio veri: suppression of the truth
- First you learn to spell a little bit…: from "Try to Learn to Love" (1927) by Noel Coward.
- extra-tu: extra tuition, i.e. compulsory extra help
- Ici le ciel est clair….: Adapted from Courrier Sud, ibid.
Ici le ciel est clair Here the sky is clear Jamais l’aquarium Never has the aquarium Ne fut si lumineux Been so luminous Ne fut si vaste, si vaste or so vast Ciel bleu, mer bleu, col bleu, yeux bleus blue eyes, blue sea, blue hill, blue eyes Congé lumineux luminous holiday Trente mille lettres ont passé 30,000 letters have passed Le courrier précieux the precious mail Courrier plus précieux mail more precious Que la vie, oui, oui than life itself, yes, yes De quoi faire vivre trente mille amants? What can 30,000 lovers do? Patience, patience amants! Patience, patience lovers! Dans les feux, les feux du soir In the fires of evening On vous arrive! We come to you!
- Le pilote: the pilot
- Darwall’s 148th: a tune used with many hymns, including "Ye Holy Angels Bright"
- De-bagged: bags=trousers, thus de-bagged=relieved of trousers
- He came from his blest throne…: from "Love Unknown," ibid. Recording.
Hounded by His Adversary
- Jack Lewis: C. S. Lewis, known to family and close friends as Jack
- Dyson: Hugo Dyson, a friend of Lewis
- Lewis quotes from Surprised by Joy: the shape of my early life (1955) by C. S. Lewis
- Tolkien: J. R. R. Tolkien
- "Sleepers Wake! a Voice is calling": words Philipp Nicolai (1597), trans. G. E. Troutbeck as in The Public School Hymn Book
Ely
 Octagonal Tower of Ely Cathedral |
 Choir of Ely Cathedral |
 Staircase at the Traveller's Club |
 Smoking Room at the Traveller's Club |
 Winchester College Chapel |
 Westminster School, London |
 Charterhouse School Cloisters |
 Wellington College |
- The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1930) by Rudolph Besier, adapted into film in 1934
- fini – finished
- verboten – forbidden
- végetzem veled – I’ve finished with you
- cordon sanitaire: lit. quarantine line, a phrase used by Clemenceau in 1919 to refer to buffer states which might contain the spread of Soviet communism
Lamentation of Swans
- Say night-y-night and kiss me…: "Dream a Little Dream" (1931), lyrics by Gus Kahn
- The Travellers Club: a gentlemen’s club in Pall Mall, founded in 1819, thus the oldest of the Pall Mall clubs; a meeting place for gentlemen who’ve traveled abroad and who wish to entertain distinguished visitors from overseas
- Winchester, Westminster, Charterhouse: three of Our Great Public Schools
- Salome (1891) by Oscar Wilde
- Wellington: another of Our Great Public Schools, with a military bent
Venture
- Thinking parts: non-speaking roles
- All newspaper references and quotes from The London Times: September 29, 1931 and October 5, 1931
Chariot of Fire
- News items from The London Times, October 6, 1931
- Bow of gold…: "Bring me my bow of burning gold! Bring me my arrows of desire! Bring me my spear! Oh, clouds unfold! Bring me my chariot of fire!" from "And Did Those Feet" (1804) by William Blake, popularly known in hymn form as "Jerusalem", tune Jerusalem by C.H.H. Parry.
Experiences
- Summer-Time: daylight savings time
- There are Gentlemen and there are Players: Gentlemen = respectable amateur cricket players; Players = uncouth professionals;
- Reason not the need: King Lear (II, iv) by William Shakespeare
The Contract
- "Wake, O Wake! with tidings thrilling": words Philipp Nicolai (1597), trans. Francis Crawford Burkitt (1906) The same hymn as "Sleepers Wake", different translator
- Oh, who is Sylvia…: from Two Gentlemen of Verona (IV, ii) by William Shakespeare
- The Green Fairy: absinthe. Notes on preparation.
- Dr. Faustus: The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus (1604 or 1616) by Christopher Marlowe is based on the Faust story, in which a man sells his soul to the devil for knowledge and power.
Hypnos and Son
- Entente cordiale: lit. friendly understanding, first used to describe a series of agreements between France and England in 1904
Crime and Punishment
- News items from The London Times, October 29-31, 1931
The Passage of Time Vexed Them
- Theatre Weekly: fictional
- The Classical Players: existed in 1931, but the actors discussed and the production of Hamlet are fictional
- I loved the garish day…: "Lead Kindly Light", tune Alberta by William Henry Harris (which he composed in 1924 on a long train journey in Alberta), text from John Henry Newman’s "The Pillar of the Cloud" (1833).
- Headlines from The London Times, November 13, 1931
- To be or not to be…: Hamlet (III, i)
The Encircling Gloom
| “ | Lead, kindly light, Amid the encircling gloom! Lead thou me on. The night is dark, And I am far from home. Lead thou me on. Keep thou my feet I do not ask to see The distant scene One step enough for me. | ” |
| —John Henry Newman, Lead Kindly Light | ||
- Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom…: "Lead Kindly Light," ibid.
- Good night sweet prince…: Hamlet (V, ii)
Orders of Magnitude, II
- So do be good…: "Encouragement," ibid.
- Oh deck her forth…: "To Spring," ibid.
- Actress’s death from burns…: adapted from a news item in The London Times, November 13, 1931.
The Pillar of the Cloud
- Latin Unseens (1898) by William Henry Auden
- "The Pillar of the Cloud" see Newman's account of how he came to write the poem.
The World as We Know it
- In congo: in the congregation
- "Come Thou Long-expected Jesus"(1744): words Charles Wesley (1707-1788), is traditionally sung to Stuttgart by Christian F. Witt (1715), but Dr. Kardleigh insists upon Cross of Jesus by John Stanier (1887).
The World as It Has Known Itself
This Howling Insanity
Exeat
- Shakleton: Ernest Shakleton, Antarctic explorer, 1874-1922
An Approximation of the Moon
Night, II
- Dis aliter visum: the gods decreed otherwise
- Stroppy: touchy, belligerent
Another Gift
The Ninety-Second Day of Michaelmas Term, 1931
- Knock-on: in rugby, a type of fumble where a player knocks the ball forward, often while trying to catch it, resulting in a penalty. Rugby Union Football "Know the Game" says: A "knock-on" occurs when the ball travels in the direction of the opponents' deadball line, after striking a player's hand or arm, whether or not the player propelled the ball.
Keeper of a Hundred Secrets
- "Once in Royal David’s City" (1848): words Cecil Francis Alexander, tune Irby by Henry John Gauntlett (1805-1876). The Carol Service often begins with this carol, its first verse sung by a treble solo.
- Oh miserable power…: "Dreams" (1833) by John Henry Newman.
- "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day": first published in Sandys’ Christmas Carols (1833), but probably goes back to medieval times.
- The widening gyre…: cf. "The Second Coming" (1920) by W. B. Yeats
A Kind of Mercy
- "Lo, He Comes with Clouds Descending" (1752): words John Cennick, tune Helmsley (Martin Madan, 1726-1790).
- Marley was dead, to begin with: from A Christmas Carol (1843) by Charles Dickens
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Lewis Stevenson
- Quid pro quo: something for something
- In loco parentis: in the place of parents
- I write this not for the many…: cf. chapter "I Write This Not for the Many, but to You". Seneca: (Epistulae VII) I [say/write] this for you, not for the many because we are large enough an audience for each other.
The Coming Storm
- "Adam Lay yBounden": fifteenth century English carol
- David Copperfield (1849-50) by Charles Dickens
Ice
- Have you seen the well-to-do…: "Puttin’ on the Ritz" (1929) by Irving Berlin. Berlin later revised the lyrics.
- Here comes a candle to light you to bed…: from "Oranges and Lemons" ibid.
