"Paul Clifford", Chapter 20, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Whackum. Look you there, now! Well, all Europe cannot show a knot of finer wits and braver gentlemen.

Dingboy. Faith, they are pretty smart men.

SHADWELL: Scourers.

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I love how the author in this chapter finally admits that Mauleverer is an annoyingly difficult name. I wonder if he regretted choosing that name and wished he had gone with something easier, or if he relished in how annoying a name that is...

"But in the interim caps are making" - I do not understand what this means. If it makes sense to you, please leave a comment below with an explanation.

devilled biscuits? I know what devilled eggs are, but what are devilled biscuits? Any Brits want to chime in here? Is this still a thing in the UK today?

Pomarian crudities is an even more obscure reference. Setting aside the Pomaria places in the USA and New Zealand, we're left with Pomaria as a Roman municipality in Algeria. Crudities (crudités?) are raw veggies served as an hors d'oeuvre, typically with a dipping sauce. So I can only guess vegetables with an Algerian style sauce? I have no idea what that sauce would be, but I can also imagine Algeria having such a sauce in their cuisine, so sure.

Fender: the only definition I can find that makes sense for this context is that of a low guard around a fireplace to prevent coal, etc. from falling out. But that seems an odd thing to put your feet up on. I wonder if 200 years ago it had some other meaning?

"and that ye may be drawn, quartered, and something else, too, in the very place of your desert!" - what the devil does "desert" mean in this context? I have no idea. What a bizarre use of the word. I mean, I recognize aside from the arid, sandy place, if you give it a slightly difference pronounce like in the phrase "just deserts", you get the meaning of reward or punishment, but "in the very place of" is not a fitting context for that meaning. I just have no idea. Gad, the language of this chapter is just killing me!

And there are several other points in the chapter where my book at the URL below agree to a wording that doesn't make sense to me, but since they agree, I just have to go with it. Like "Independence wrote letters for a ticket", or "a profession meeter for a bully than a man of genius", or "and then will the hangman have no petty chance of your own." Your own? Should that be his own? *shrug* I guess 200 years ago when editing and printing was way harder than it is today, even if something turns out to be wrong, you let it slide because it's too big a bother, or too expensive, to correct.

shiner: a sovereign, i.e. a gold coin with a value of one pound sterling

5 guineas in 1800 would still be of non-trivial value; depending on how you measure it, somewhere between about £450 and £6500. And that was just what Clifford had, the others had a bit more. Now I guess when you are renting a room and eating out every day and playing among high society, that won't last you too terribly long, so the sense of urgency to get more funds is understandable. Then again, with some care, they could probably make that last a long while if they really had to.

The picture used is of three dandies, I believe early 19th century, maybe 1829? Which is obviously a bit late relative to the setting of the story, but still vaguely in the ballpark. And there's three of them, so fancy them to be Long Ned, Augustus, and Clifford during their stay in Bath, where they have to pretend to be respectable.

To follow along: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/7735/7735-h/7735-h.htm#link2HCH0020