POOLBEG - Deep anchorage (Irish, "the little hole") in Dublin Bay beyond the Pigeonhouse. The Poolbeg lighthouse is at the end of the South Wall. Before the lighthouse, a Poolbeg lightship marked the anchorage.
flasher - an automatic device for alternately lighting and extinguishing incandescent lamps, as in advertising and warning signs.
far + pharos (gr) - island, lighthouse.
coast - to proceed or travel by the coast of (sea, lake, river), esp. to sail by the sea coast.
Krishna - 8th incarnation of Vishnu, god of fire and storm. He went about with cowherd girls + Kish
honey - to make sweet + (notebook 1924): 'rising of moon'.
lune = luna - the moon
die (Gipsy) - mother + children's game: Die die little dog die (James Joyce: Ulysses.11.1019).
eve (Archaic) - evening
chart - a map
upset - set up, erected, raised up, etc.; overturned, capsized
pluck - to pull off (a flower, fruit, leaf, hair, etc.) from where it grows, to pick off or out.
watch - something to catch the eye, a signal (obs.)
forget me not - a plant which flourishes in damp or wet soil, having bright blue flowers with a yellow eye.
even (Archaic) - evening + lode - leading, guidance (obs.); a loadstone. Also fig. an object of attraction.
sight - a thing seen, a spectacle, a display of something; the pupil of the eye + FDV: My sight is getting thick now with shadows about me. I'll go home slowly my way. So will I too by mine.
swim - Of the eyes: to be troubled or blurred
Moyvally is on the Royal Canal, and Rathmines just south of the Grand Canal + MAP + (notebook 1924): 'Talweg deepest line along valley'.
towy - like or of the nature of tow + tooraloo - goodbye.
RATHMINES - District, South Dublin
squaw - a North American Indian woman or wife; Applied by Indians to white women + old skeowsha (Anglo-Irish) - old friend, old darling + FDV: But She was the queer old one skeowska anyhow, Anna Livia twinkletoes. And sure he was a queer old hunks buntz too Furry Humphrey dear Dirty Dumpling, father of [each &] all of us. Hadn't he the seven wives. He had paps too, big & large soft ones. The Lord save us and bless us! and The O Ho Lord. Twins of his chest. The O Ho Lord save us! And what all men have. His tittering Daughters of him. Amen. Bawk.
trinket - a small ornament or fancy article, usually an article of jewellery for personal adornment + (notebook 1924): '*A* twinkletoes'.
quare (Anglo-Irish Pronunciation) - queer
(notebook 1924): 'buntz = pal'
dumpling - a kind of pudding consisting of a mass of paste or dough, more or less globular in form, either plain and boiled, or inclosing fruit and boiled or baked; a dumpy animal or person, short and of rounded outlines + Dublin
fosterfather - one who performs the duty of a father to another's child + fooster (Anglo-Irish) - bungler; confusion; flurry, fluster, great fuss.
Fingal - Finn's name in Macpherson's Ossian poems. Fingal is a Scottish hero who comes to Ireland and fights the Danes. The Irish called certain Norse invaders, fingal or fingall, meaning "fair stranger."
gammer - A rustic title for an old woman, corresponding to gaffer for a man.
gangster - a member of a gang of criminals + (notebook 1924): 'gaffer robs gangster'.
dam - dame (a girl, woman, etc.) + Joyce's note: '7 dams to wive him' + Joyce's note: '7 wives (S Ives)' → nursery rhyme 'As I was going to Saint Ives, I met a man with seven wives, Each wife had seven sacks, Each sack had seven cats, Each cat had seven kits: Kits, cats, sacks and wives, How many were there going to Saint Ives?' (answer: 'one' or 'none').
wive - to marry, wed
crutch - a prop, a support
hue and cry - a proclamation for the capture of a criminal or the finding of stolen goods; the pursuit of a felon with such outcry.
sudd - a temporary dam constructed across the river + suds (Slang) - ale.
Joyce's note: 'John Joe'
to make one's market - to do one's bargaining or dealing
cheek by jowl - side by side; in the closest intimacy
pinky - small, tiny + pink
creamy - cream-coloured: often as a qualification of white, yellow
birnie = byrnie - a cuirass (a close-fitting (sleeveless) bodice, often stiffened with metal trimmings or embroidery, worn by women), corslet, coat of mail (a piece of defensive armour covering the upper part of the body, composed of a linen or leathern jacket, quilted with interlaced rings or overlapping plates of steel).
turquoise - a precious stone found in Persia, much prized as a gem, of a sky-blue to apple-green colour + turkis (Danish) - turquoise (light blue).
mauve - a bright but delicate purple dye
Michaelmas - the feast of St. Michael (29 September)
spouse - a wife; a bride
tys (Danish) - hush!
elven - Originally, a female elf, but in later use applied to both sexes + elve (Danish) - small river + elvenland (Dutch) - fairyland.
teem - a 'pour'
seim = seem - to think, deem, imagine + same
anew - over again, once more
Ordovices (l) - a people of Roman Britain
vi ricordo (it) - I remember you; I remind you of something
Northman - an inhabitant or native of Norway or of Scandinavia; a native or inhabitant of the north, or of the northern part of any country.
quam multi (l) - how many + quam multi pluratores (l) - how many multipliers (O Hehir, Brendan; Dillon, John M. / A classical lexicon for Finnegans wake).
Latin - to render or turn into Latin
scholar - a student who receives emoluments, during a fixed period, from the funds of a school, college, or university, towards defraying the cost of his education or studies, and as a reward of merit.
eure - destiny, fate, whatever good or evil
Sanscrit - the ancient and sacred language of India, the oldest known member of the Indo-European family, in which the extensive Hindu literature from the Vedas downward is composed.
oure = our
hircus (l) - goat + civis (l) - citizen + hircus civis Eblanensis (l) - the goat citizen of Dublin (goat: thing, citizen: person, Dublin: place).
Ellmann: James Joyce 464n: 'Joyce remarked that he liked women to have breasts like a she-goat's' + (notebook 1924): '*E* has paps'.
ho - excl. of surprise or to attract attention + ho (Chinese) - river.
"What all men" refers to the fact that all men have nipples, which are one referent of "Twins of his bosom." The washers use the nursing image to realize that HCE is feminine.
tittering - giggling, laughing with suppressed mirth
chitter - Of birds: To utter a short series of sharp thin sounds, to twitter + chittering (Anglo-Irish) - constantly complaining + FDV: I can't Can't hear with the waters of. The Them chittering waters of. Flittering bats and mice all bawking bawk talk. Are you not gone home goneahome? Is that That Mrs Malone What wrong Malone? Can't hear the bawk of bats, all the liffeying waters of. Old talk save us! My feet won't move. I feel as old as yonder elm. A tale told of Shaun and or Shem? All Livia's daughtersons. Dark hawks hear us. Night night. My old head falls. I feel as heavy as yonder stone. Tell me of John or Shaun? Who were Shem or and Shaun the living sons or daughters of? Night now? Tell me, tell me, elm. Nighty night! Tell me a tale of stone. Beside the rivering waters of, hither & thither waters of. Night!
flitter - Of birds, etc.: To flit about, to fly with low or short flights; to flutter [(notebook 1922-23): 'a bat flitters'].
back talk - a retort or reply which is regarded as superfluous or impertinent.
Malone, Tom - Thomas Malone Chandler is the protagonist of "A Little Cloud" (Dubliners). In one recension of "Finnegan's Wake," Tim Malone is the mourner at whose head the bucket of whisky is thrown.
thim (Anglo-Irish Pronunciation) - them
Fuss (ger) - foot
moos = moss + Moos (ger) - moss + move
hawk - any diurnal bird of prey used in falconry
hall- (ger) - to resound, echo
rivering - flowing in river form
to hither and thiter - to go to and fro, to move about in various directions.