Ruddigore – Glossary of Obscure Terms

A lot of the fun of Gilbert and Sullivan is in savoring Gilbert’s use of unusual language. Some was more common then, and some obscure even to Gilbert’ audiences. Coupled with the usual 19^th century references, Gilbert set this opera in Cornwall, and had Richard Dauntless speak in a particularly difficult Cornish-nautical dialect.

Baronets	Baronets are members of the lowest hereditary titled order in Britain.
Old Adam	A caricature of faithful servants, modeled on Adam in As You Like It
Oakapple	The gall or swelling on oak leaves.
Revenue Sloop	A patrol boat used to deter smuggling
Cape Finistere	The most westerly point in Spain.
Belay	Make fast, or more commonly, “Stop!”
Topgallant-mast	The highest portion of the mast above the topsail.
Binnacle light	Compass light
A Crichton of early romance	Sir James Crichton was a 16^th century Scottish scholar and adventurer.
Ovid and Horace	Latin poets. Ovid was noted for his love poems and Horace for his odes.
Swinburne and Morris	Algernon Swinburne (1837-1909) a languid pre-Raphaelite poet, who served as one of the models for Bunthorne in Patience. William Morris was the shaggy revolutionary socialist poet who may have been a model for Grosvener.
Parbuckle	Raise or lower objects such as casks or guns using a sling.
Dead-eye	A rounded block of wood with 3 holes drilled. Used as a block and tackle to apply tension to a mast.
Cytherean posies	Cythera was the island where Aphrodite rose from the sea.
Elysian	The Elysian fields were the abode of the blessed.
Amaryllis	A rustic sweetheart. First appeared in poems of Virgil and Theocritus.
Chloe and Phyllis	Common names for shepherdesses, to symbolize rustic maidenhood.
Taradiddles	Lies or fibs.
Opossum	Possums are common in the US and Australia, but were never seen except as rhyme schemes in Cornwall.
Valley-de-sham	Corruption of French valet de chamber, meaning personal manservant.
Poltroon	A spiritless coward
Alas, poor ghost	Note this is a quote from Hamlet Act I Scene 5.
A National School	Church schools, set up by the National Society For the Education of the Poor