"Paul Clifford", Chapter 12, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

1 year ago
17

Up rouse ye then,
My merry, merry men!
-JOANNA BAILLIE.

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If you followed along in chapter 11, the events of this chapter come as no surprise at all. But regardless, the details of the telling are good!

This chapter has a "footnote" that spans 3 pages of the book! It's too long for me to include here, you'll have to check the link below to give it a read. But it's not a very interesting footnote, kind of tedious and boring, actually. A bit of a head-scratcher why it was included.

crupper: a strap buckled to the back of a saddle and looped under the horse's tail to prevent the saddle or harness from slipping forward.

Oliver: the moon

duns: debt collectors

repeater: a feature of a mechanical watch or clock that chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button

sang froid: composure or coolness, sometimes excessive, as shown in danger or under trying circumstances

dickey: a rumble seat! Or it would be in an automobile. We're talking pre-automobile here, so probably a storage space in the carriage.

The picture used is "Captain Hind robbing Colonel Harrison in Maidenhead Thicket". James Hind was 17th century, but meh, it's a highwayman robbery so close enough.

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7735/7735-h/7735-h.htm#link2HCH0012

There's two spots in this chapter where there is almost certainly an error in the wording, but since they are what is actually written into my text, I left them as is:
1) "What force?" asked Ned. should almost certainly be "What for?", and
2) "air of the blood" should almost certainly be "stir of the blood".

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