CHAPTER V
178- “the dear knows…” = God knows. The Irish words for “God” and “deer” were the same (Fiadh). To avoid speaking Gods name, deer or in this passage (dear) was used.
going for blue: working as hard as possible (alternatively, "bluing" is used in washing clothes)
180- sloblands: local term for a particular trashy area of tidal flatland
waistcoateers: prostitutes (Elizabethan term)
chambering: wanton sexual indulgence (Elizabethan term)
Synopsis Philosophiae. . .: A Synopsis of Scholastic Philosophy for the Understanding of St. Thomas (Aquinas)
181- MacCann is modeled on a contemporary of Joyces at the university. He was an ardent pacifist, feminist and believer in the possibility of universal peace. He was murdered by a British army officer in 1916.
hoardings: billboards
182- “It was a priestlike face, priestlike in its pallor…” Note the description of Cranly.
183- Ivory, ivoire, avorio, ebur: the same word in English, French, Italian, and Latin.
India mittit ebur: India sends (or produces) ivory
Contrahit orator... vates: "The orator summarizes; the poet [or prophet] amplifies [or transforms]"
in tanto discrimine: "in such a crisis"
implere ollam denariorum: to fill the jar with denarii (Roman silver coins)
184-Firbolgs were believed to be early inhabitants of Ireland, who were later invaded by the more cultivated Milesians.
“Davin” Davin is another student modeled on a contemporary of Joyce. He was a firm believer in resurrecting Gaelic (Celtic) traditions and supported the Gaelic Athletic association and the cause to hold onto the Gaelic (Irish) language. He will address Stephen later in a very casual manner, using his first name. The person on whom Davin was based became Lord Mayor of Limerick, but was murdered by a British army regiment in 1921.
“…curfew was still a nightly fear” curfew was a part of many of the Coercion Acts that were passed by the British for the administration of Ireland. 105 such acts were passed between 1800-1921.
Gael: Irishman or Celt
cycles: related groups of Irish myths and legends
***** tame geese: joke on "the wild geese," term for Irish who went into exile
185- hurling match: Irish game, a sort of field hockey
buff: skin
minding cool: playing safety
woeful wipe: huge blow to the ball
camaun: curved stick used in hurling
aims ace: very small amount or distance
yoke: any artifact
187- handsel: good luck omen or gift; also money, as in a tip
188- levite: subordinate priest
canonicals: prescribed vestments
ephod: Old Testament religious garment
189- Pulchra sunt quae visa placent: "That is beautiful which gives pleasure to the eye"
Bonum est in quod tendit appetitus: "That is good toward which the appetite is moved" [or which is desired]
190- Similiter atque senis baculus: "Like an old mans walking stick"
192- insufflation: breathing on someone or something to symbolize the coming of the Holy Ghost and the banishing of evil
spirits
193- Per aspera ad astra: "By rough ways to the stars" (a cliche )
194- Kentish fire: prolonged stamping or clapping to show impatience or disapproval
197- Closing time, gents!: How the end of legal drinking hours might be announced at a pub
Ego habeo: "I have," in "Dog-Latin," a humorous schoolboy imitation of Latin that translates English words literally and
is scattered throughout the following conversations.
Quod?: "What?"
198- Per pax universalis: "For universal peace"
Credo ut vos. . .estis: "I think you are a bloody liar, because your face shows you are in a damned bad humor"
Quis est. . . vos: "Who is in a bad humor, you or me?"
rescript: originally, an epistle issued by the pope regarding some question referred to him
cod: a joker or fool
201- Pax super. . .globum: "Peace over the whole bloody world"
Nos ad. . .jacabimus: "Lets go play handball"
202- matric men. . .second arts: referring to a set of four examinations to be passsed before a degree is granted
203- super spottum: "on the spot"
fianna: Irish (Gaelic) for Fenians
_______
205- league class: class in Irish language sponsored by the Gaelic League 204.20 eke: archaic for "also" [Cranly probably
means to say "e en"]
carmelite: order of nuns
Pulchra sunt. . .placent: see 186.1
Pange lingua gloriosi: "Tell, my tongue, in glorious. . .", part of the opening line of a hymn by Aquinas
Vexilla Regis: from "Vexilla Regis Prodeunt", "The Banners of the King Advance"
Impleta sunt. . .Deus: "Fulfilled is all that David told / In true prophetic song of old: / Amidst the nations, God, saith he, /
Hath reigned and triumphed from the Tree."
plucked: flunked
stewing: unintelligent, grinding study
Ego credo. . . Liverpoolio: "I believe that the life of the poor is simply awful, simply bloody awful, in Liverpool"
(Dog-Latin)
seraphim: the highest order of angels
villanelle: nineteen-line poem using only two rhymes, with rhymes and lines repeated according to a set pattern
censer: holder for incense, often roughly spherical
potboy: waiter who serves beer or ale
ashplant: Joyces term for a staff made of the wood of an ash
augur: Roman professional prophet
a touch: sexual play or intercourse
hack. . .hunter: ordinary horse. . . prize horse
Pernobilis et pervetusta familia: "Of a noble and venerable family"
paulo post futurum: grammatical term referring to the verb form used for an event about to happen
ballocks: set of testicles (figuratively, a clumsy oaf or a mess)
dual number: obsolete grammatical form for nouns indicating a pair
pavan: a formal kind of Elizabethan dance
sugan: rope made of straw (Irish)
jarvies: horse-cab drivers
easter duty: going to communion service on Easter
penal days: period (mostly in the eighteenth century) when especially repressive "penal laws" against Irish Catholics
were enforced
Mulier cantat: "The [or a] woman sings"
Et tu cum Jesu Galilaeo eras: "And you were with Jesus of Galilee"
proparoxyton: rhetorical term for a (Latin) word having the acute accent on the next to last syllable
Item: term used in wills in enumerating bequests
veronica: a cloth bearing the image of Jesus face
decollated: beheaded
B.V.M.: Blessed Virgin Mary
risotto alla bergamasca: a rice dish made as in Bergamo (Italian)
Tara. . . Holyhead: Tara is the traditional Irish seat of kings, Holyhead a Welsh port commonly used by Irish leaving the
country.