the blues (for 'blue devils') - depression of spirits, despondency (colloq.) + dews.
moist - that which is moist; moisture
fear & phobos (Greek), Furcht (German), eagla (Irish), jishin (Japanese), paura (Italian) (child's pronunciation: 'palula') + SDV: inventing some excuses, anyone, with a sevenply sweat of nightfears over moist upon them — phopho, foorchtha, aggala, jeeshee, palloola, ooridiminy.
Furcht (ger) - fear
Joyce asked me "Aren't there 4
terrible things in Japan, "Kaminari" being one of them?" I counted for him:
ur idim (Assyrian) - 'The Mad Dog' (constellation equivalent to Lupus the wolf)
wonder at (Joyce's note)
crossroad - the place where two roads cross each other + (notebook 1924): 'crossroads' → Connacht Tribune 19 Apr 1924, 3/3: 'Maintenance Contracts. District Roads': 'To maintain 43 years, 678 perches, 12 ft wide, of road from Rockfield to Athenry between Royhill cross roads, and Gloves cross roads'.
puzzler - one who or that which puzzles + crossword puzzle - a puzzle in which a pattern of chequered squares has to be filled in from numbered clues with words which are written usu. horizontally and vertically, occas. diagonally + FDV: for fear of the kind of chap he was
breadth - width, extent across + (notebook 1924): '*V* has length breadth thickness'.
nonplus - to bring to a nonplus or standstill, to perplex
ell - a measure of length varying in different countries; The English ell = 45 in.
Conn "of the Hundred Battles" agreed with his southern rival Eoghan Mor (aka Mogh Nuadat) to divide Ireland along the line of the Eiscir Riada between Dublin and Galway. Henceforward the area North of this line was known as "Conn's Half" (Leath Cuinn) and the area South of it as "Mogh's Half" (Leath Mogha). Eoghan's own kingdom of Munster was itself divided (among his five sons) into 5 parts called "Eoghanacht" + (notebook 1924): 'N/S Conn Owen Mor'.
quarter - region, district, place, locality
descry - to catch sight of, esp. from a distance
spancel - to fetter or hobble with a spancel (a rope or fetter for hobbling cattle, horses, etc.) + pencilled.
blossomy - covered or adorned with blossoms, flowery + (notebook 1924): 'chained on bed of flowers' → Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol. II, ch. XVI.n65: 'Jerome, in his Legend of Paul the Hermit, tells a strange story of a young man, who was chained naked on a bed of flowers, and assaulted by a beautiful and wanton courtesan. He quelled the rising temptation by biting off his tongue'.
foule - a light woollen dress material with a glossy surface + at full stretch - reclining at full length.
daffydowndilly - a daffodil (the genus Narcissus) + (poppies).
narcosis - a state of stupor, drowsiness, or unconsciousness produced by drugs
fetter - to bind with or as with fetters; to chain, shackle
footlights - a row of lights placed in front of the stage of a theatre, on a level with the feet of the actors, and furnished with reflectors so as to throw all their light upon the scene + (notebook 1924): 'footlight flower'.
halo - the circle or disk of light with which the head is surrounded in representations of Christ and the Saints
spud - a potato (slang and dial.)
hover - to hang or remain suspended in the air over or about a particular spot
epicure - a philosopher of the school of Epicurus (obs.); the distinctive doctrines of Epicurus were, 1. That the highest good is pleasure, which he identified with the practice of virtue. 2. That the gods do not concern themselves at all with men's affairs. 3. That the external world resulted from a fortuitous concourse of atoms + Epicurus (342-270 B.C.) - Greek philosopher who taught in a garden.
waltz - to dance a waltz + FDV: [ells end upon ells [so many square feet] of him at one fair stretch among the daffydowndillies [with a halohedge of wild spuds hovering over him, mixodorian, epicures & garden fillers, a pair of puritan shoots and a posse of Aran chiefs,]]
shoot - a young branch which shoots out from the main stock of a tree, plant, etc.
Aran - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland + (notebook 1924): 'flounders epicures gardenfillers aran chiefs puritans } spuds' → Connacht Tribune 16 Feb 1924, 6/6: (advertisement) 'T. Naughton Ironmonger and Hardware Merchant Has just received a Large Supply of Best Seed Potatoes: Flounders Epicures Puritans Garden Fillers Aran Chiefs, Etc.'
pho - an exclamation expressing contemptuous rejection or making light of anything
meteor (Joyce's note) → Chateaubriand: Œuvres Choisies Illustrées II.63, Les Martyrs: 'The inflamed breath of a hundred thousand combatants, the heavy breath of the horses, the steam of the sweat and the blood, form on the battlefield a kind of meteor that crosses from time to time the flash of a sword, like the shining bolt of lightning in the livid clarity of a storm'.
pulp - the fleshy succulent part of a fruit
+ SDV: a halohedge of wild spuds hovering
over him, mixodorian, epicures & gardenfillers, a pair of puritan shoots and a
posse of Aran chiefs. Phopho! The meteorflesh of him, the
forbidden
seamless
rainbowskin
rainbowpeel!
Aggala! His bellyvoid of nebulose and his neverstop navel!
seamless - without a seam; of a garment, woven without a seam; The word was used very freely by 17th c. divines in such phrases as Christ's seamless coat, garment, vest, etc. with reference to John xix. 23, as typifying unity in the Church + (notebook 1924): 'seamless robe = skin'.
nebulose - resembling a cloud or mist; inclined to be foggy or misty + nebula (Astronomy) + FDV: arrowroot meteor flesh & rainbowskin [a belly bellyvoid of nebulose under a neverstop navel,] phosphor phosphor & melanite [shooting] veins of phosphor & melanite & arrowroot knuckles, [ribs & members, all] obversable.
melanite - a velvet-black variety of andradite + The visible path of a meteoroid that enters Earth's (or another body's) atmosphere is called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star or falling star.
cream - cream-coloured, yellowish white + (notebook 1924): 'cream to custard'.
custard - a dish made with eggs beaten up and mixed with milk to a stiff consistency, sweetened, and baked + SDV: Palloola! And his veins of shooting melanite phosphor and his creamycumulous creamcumuling comet's hair and his arrowroot knuckles, ribs & members!
comet - a relatively small extraterrestrial body consisting of a frozen mass that travels around the sun in a highly elliptical orbit + (notebook 1924): 'milk & comet hair'.
members - a part or organ of the body; chiefly, a limb or other separable portion (as opposed to the trunk) (arch.)
lentiginous - full of freckles or small, flat, pigmented spots on the skin + lattiginoso (Italian) - milky + SDV: Oorididimininy! His electro lattiginous twisted entrail belt!
twisted entrail belt (notebook 1924) → Edward Gibbon: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol. II, ch. XVI.n1: (of Jews under Roman rule) 'In Cyrene, they massacred 220,000 Greeks; in Cyprus, 240,000; in Egypt, a very great multitude. Many of these unhappy victims were sawn asunder, according to a precedent to which David had given the sanction of his example. The victorious Jews devoured the flesh, licked up the blood, and twisted the entrails like a girdle round their bodies'
FDV: The four claymen came clumb together to hold their sworn inquiry to the mead by Esker ridge, the son's rest. Matthew Gregory through the deep field, Mark Marcus Tarpey Lyons, following tailing in his the wavy line of partition footsteps (they had been there before), [then His Reportership], Luke Tarpey, after honourable sleep, and old Johnny Mac, Johnny Mac Dougal, the hiker, in the rere on the run from his prompt corner [to make a quorum], roping their [skygrey] globetrotting ass, in an by way of an afterthought and tumbling on legs of uneven length to hear with [the] unaided ear the concert harp in the air, wild as wild, the bugleblowing, the mockingbird whose word is misfortune, so 'tis said, the bulbul down the wind.
clay - earth as the material of the human body; hence, the human body (living or dead) as distinguished from the soul; the earthly or material part of man
clomb (Archaic) - climbed + Joyce's note: 'clomb'.
sworn - affirmed or promised by an oath + Joyce's note: 'hold a sworn inquiry' → Irish Times 7 Nov 1922, 3/6: 'Film censorship': 'Alderman Lawlor... would move that a full sworn inquiry be held, instead of submitting the matter to a committe of the whole house'.
Star Chamber - a court, chiefly of criminal jurisdiction, developed in the 15th c. from the judicial sittings of the King's Council in the Star Chamber at Westminster. The judges were the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, and any peers that chose to attend. The rules of procedure of the court rendered it a powerful instrument in the hands of a sovereign or a ministry desirous of using it for purposes of tyranny, and the abuse of it under James I and Charles I have made it a proverbial type of an arbitrary and oppressive tribunal. It was abolished by an Act of the Long Parliament in 1641 + (notebook 1924): 'Star Chamber *X*'.
quiry = equerry - an officer in the service of a royal or other exalted personage, charged with the care of the horses + inquiry - a systematic investigation of a matter of public interest.
bodiment - giving of form or body; embodiment
bug - schoolboys' slang for 'boy'
notion - an idea or concept
nought - nothing + midnight
esker - 'the name given in Ireland to the elongated and often flat-topped mounds of post-glacial gravel which occur abundantly in the greater river-valleys of that country' + (notebook 1924): 'esker (gravelly hillocks) ridge - Dub - Gal'.
ridge - a long and narrow stretch of elevated ground; a range or chain of hills or mountains + Eiscir Riada (eshkir riede) (gael) - Riada's ("cunning" [?]) Ridge; ridge of sandhills, E. to W. accross Ireland from Dublin to Galway, border between Leath Cuinn and Leath Mogha.
An Muileann Cearr (un mwilin kyar) (gael) - The Left-handed Mill; town, Co. Westmeath, central Ireland; anglic. Mullingar + '10 miles W of Mullingar' → Gwynn: The History of Ireland 13: 'the Hill of Usnach, the central point of Ireland, about ten miles west of Mullingar'.
(notebook 1922-23): 'The Sons' Rest (Cunniam)' (Captain Thomas Cunniam was a pub owner, raconteur and drinking companion of John S. Joyce; hence, pub name?).
clatter - to rattle; to move rapidly with such a noise + klettert (ger) - climbs.
Seanadoir (shanador) (gael) - Senator
spoor - the trace, track, or trail of a person or animal, esp. of wild animals pursued as game
timefield (Joyce's note)
trail - to follow the trail or track of, to track. Also in gen. use, to follow.
wavy - fig. Fluctuating, wavering, changing.
partition - each of the parts into which any whole is divided, as by boundaries or lines + (notebook 1924): 'partition - Donegal wavy line' (dash dittoes 'part'; a line joins first word and last two words) → Partition of Northern Ireland and Irish Republic (the exact boundary of which was much debated in newspapers in 1924-25, when a Boundary Commision, eventually to have no effect, was deliberating).
blister - a local swelling of the skin that contains watery fluid and is caused by burning or irritation
(notebook 1923): 'Been here before (to I)' (i.e. Ireland)
recordership - the office of a recorder (someone responsible for keeping records) + SDV: then His Recordership, Luke Tarpey, hot on the aniseed after honourable sleep.
dure (Irish Pronunciation) - door + FDV: Matthew Gregory through the deep field, Mark Marcus Tarpey Lyons, following tailing in his the wavy line of partition footsteps (they had been there before), [then His Reportership], Luke Tarpey, after honourable sleep,
caper - to prance as a horse + caper (l) - goat + chase - to pursue with a view to catching + paperchase - children's game of 'hare and hounds' using paper scraps as trail.
aniseed - a liqueur flavoured with aniseed + Joyce's note: 'aniseed'.
prompt corner or prompt box in a theatre is the location at the side of the stage where the prompt (usually the Stage Manager or Deputy/Assistant Stage Manager) is located in order to coordinate the performance and prompt the performers when required + Joyce's note: 'prompt corner' → Campbell (Cornwallis-West): My Life and Some Letters 47: 'Ben Greer told me that... I must play the nun... and that he would say the words loudly from the prompt corner. All I had to do was to open and shut my mouth... I did so, and it was a success'.
Sionnach Mac Sionnaigh (shinokh mok shini) (gael) - Fox son of Fox; anglic. Shunny + Seanach Mac Sionaigh (shanokh mok shuni) (gael) - Old/Wise son of Old/Wise; anglic. Shunny + shunny (Irish Pronunciation) - sunny + Johnny.
hiker - one who hikes or goes on a hike + FDV: and old Johnny Mac, Johnny Mac Dougal, the hiker, in the rere on the run from his prompt corner [to make a quorum]
rere - obs. form of rear + in the rear - at or from the back, behind.
rope - to tie, bind, fasten, or secure with a rope
skygrey (Joyce's note) → Metchnikoff: La Civilisation et les Grands Fleuves Historiques 344n: 'The first words that Chinese children learn to read in the famous Book of a Thousand Characters are: "Blue is the colour of the sky, yellow is the colour of the earth". The first of these propositions would be accepted in all parts of the world, even those where the sky is most often grey'.
globetrotter - someone who travels widely and often + (notebook 1924): 'globetrotting cat'.
by way of - as an instance of, somewhat under the form of
afterthought - a subsequent or second thought
legless (Slang) - drunk + FDV: roping their [skygrey] globetrotting ass, in an by way of an afterthought and tumbling on legs of uneven length
sprout - a shoot of a plant
legs of uneven length (notebook 1924)
'The favourite scorched away to win by four lengths' + SDV: Roping their ass he was, the skygrey globetrotting, by way of an afterthought, and the legs on him they were that uneven it was tumbling he was by their 4 lengths to hear with the unaided ear the harp in the air, wild as wild, the bugle dianablowing, the mockingbird whose word is misfortune, so 'tis said, the bulbul down the wind.
bawl - a shout at the top of one's voice, a loud prolonged rough cry + within the bawl of an ass (Irish phrase) - too near.
mascot - a person, or a thing, animate or inanimate, supposed to bring luck
Kuss (ger) - kiss + cos dheas (kus yas) (gael) - right foot.
Klee (ger) - clover + cos cle (kus kle) (gael) - left foot.
patsy - a person who is ridiculed, deceived, blamed, or victimized
kapros (gr) - wild boar + caper (l) - he goat + kapr (Esperanto) - goat + kapr (Czech) - carp.
Kabis (Swiss German) - cabbage + salvare capra e cavoli (Italian phrase) - have one's cake and eat it too (literally 'save the goat and the cabbages').
unaided ear (Joyce's note)