Portrait Chapter 5 Notes

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.