Sherlock Holmes Murder Most Foul (55 page)

[362]
Bonbons = chocolate coated confectionery

[363]
Coinage = money

[364]
Ain’t one t’ mince words = to say what you mean

[365]
She your tongue? = she speaks for you?

[366]
Gelt – Yiddish for money

[367]
E ’as a slate missin’, if not the whole roof – said about a person who is perceived to be acting extremely oddly

[368]
Ol’ ’abits die ’ard = existing habits are hard to change

Chapter 13: Hue and Cry

[369]
Put wood in the ’ole = close the door

[370]
Pasty = pale

[371]
First port o’ call = first place to stop to do something

[372]
Wreck me own livelihood? = damage the source of my income

[373]
That’s calmed ’im down = quietened, silenced or subdued

[374]
Tooting Common = large, open, grassy area in south London

[375]
Regent’s Park = located in central London and close to Baker Street

[376]
Hyde Park = located in central London and contains an artificial lake called the Serpentine

[377]
Wyndyate, Scarborough = located near the North Sea coast, North Yorkshire

[378]
Manacled by superiors = hundered from achieving a task by officialdom

[379]
Wot’s the bleedin’ ’old up? = why are we waiting

[380]
A bit of the beaten track = not one’s normal locale

[381]
Right carry-on innit? = a ridiculous situation, isn’t it?

[382]
A trick or two = effective way to do something

[383]
Fallowfield glass-plate camera = manufactured by J Fallowfield & Co., 35 & 36 Lower Marsh, Lambeth, London

[384]
Sallying forth = come forth in a sudden, energetic or violent manner

[385]
Throw up = vomit

[386]
Nosy parker = person who pries in the affairs of others

[387]
Princetown Prison = located a quarter of a mile from Princetown village on Dartmoor in Devonshire

[388]
Let the cat out of the bag = inadvertently disclose a secret

[389]
Tom-toms = message sent overland by the beating of drums

Chapter 14: Consequences

[390]
Constitution = health

[391]
Foot the bill = pay for something or a service

[392]
Charing Cross Hospital = located in Agar Street, London

[393]
Coup de grâce = final blow or shot which kills a wounded person or animal

[394]
Banged up = incarcerated

[395]
‘Et up = agitated, angry

[396]
Au revoir = French for farewell

[397]
Cock crows = male bird whose characteristic cry heralds dawn

[398]
Spare me face = do not injure my face

[399]
Charlatan = person who deceptively claims to have special knowledge or skill

[400]
Slammed up = incarcerated

[401]
Cortège = solemn procession, especially  a funeral

[402]
Carpet bag = travelling bag made from carpet-like material

[403]
Mulatto = person who has one white and one black parent

[404]
Tasmania = island off the southern coast of Australia

[405]
Shekels = Yiddish for money

[406]
Tight-lipped = unspoken. silent

[407]
Ferret out = find, discover

Chapter15: Reckoning

[408]
Bournemouth = resort town situated on the southern coast of England

[409]
Brighton = resort town situated on the southern coast of England, renowned for its West Pier

[410]
Bolted = fled, in this case, to escape arrest

[411]
Frogs = French

[412]
Devil’s Island = island penal colony in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of French Guiana

[413]
Thespian = theatre actor or actress

[414]
Prick up my ears = caught my attention

[415]
Keep the wolf from the door = avert poverty, prevent starvation

[416]
My tongue is tied, my lips are sealed = will not divulge what one knows

[417]
Wipe that grin off your face = reprimand for failing to show due respect to another person

[418]
I spilled me guts t’ a copper = told everything

[419]
Shadwell = a district near St Katherine’s Dock and less than a mile from Whitechapel

[420]
Wot yer drivin’ at, Inspector? = what do you mean Inspector

[421]
Peddling her wares = sexual service for money

[422]
Benefit of the doubt – will not judge a person until the facts are known

[423]
Ten yards = one yard equals three feet, ten yards is thirty feet

[424]
Cock and Bull = nonsense, rubbish

[425]
Ring true = be accepted as the truth

[426]
Blade = knife

[427]
Botany Bay = place in eastern Australia where the explorer, Captain James Cook first landed in 1770, now a British penal colony

[428]
Robinson Crusoe = fictitious character who was stranded on a remote tropical island for twenty-eight years.

Chapter 16: Retribution

[429]
Marston hearse = designed and built by John Marston & Co, Bradford Street, Birmingham

[430]
Friesian horses = breed of horse, predominantly black in colour

[431]
Westminster Abbey = where English Monarchs are crowned and buried

[432]
Portland stone = importand limestone rock used for masonary and architecture, obtained from the Isle of Portland, Dorset

[433]
I’ll ’ave his guts fer garters = severe punishment for a transgression

[434]
Cornish granite = hard, tough stone from Cornwall

[435]
‘Oratio Nelson = Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson commanded the British fleet which defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, during which he was mortally wounded and died

[436]
Quid pro quo = equal exchange

[437]
Scare the livin’daylights out o’ me = extremely frightened or alarmed

[438]
Prick my conscience = a sense of guilt

[439]
Turn a blind eye = deliberately ignore a person, particularly if he or she is doing wrong

[440]
Kali = Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy

[441]
Thugee = Indian religious cult whose members engaged in the multiple murder and robbery of travellers

[442]
Thurible = religious metal container in which incense is burned

[443]
Chance would be a fine fing = something you would like to see happen is probably never going to happen

[444]
I should bleedin’ coco = uttered sarcastically and means, I do not think so

Chapter 17: The Curtain Falls

[445]
Hardly a feather in your cap = hardly a laudable success

[446]
I will bite my tongue = remain silent

[447]
Coutts & Co = bank

[448]
Edgware Road = just around the corner from Praed Street, Paddington, London.

[449]
Cuckolded = husband who is duped by his adulterous wife

[450]
Bordeaux = city and region in the west of France, renowned for its wines

[451]
Ferrule = protective metal cap fixed to the end of a walking stick

[452]
Ode to Joy = latter part of the ninth symphony composed by Ludwig van Beethoven

[453]
Clarke’s Yard, Poplar = some two miles from Whitechapel and situated just off the south-side of Poplar High Street, between Simpson’s Row and Harrow Lane, near West India (import) Dock

[454]
Bounder = derogatory term for person who is held in low esteem

[455]
A new broom sweeps clean = newly appointed leader who brings fresh ideas and new personnel into an organisation or business

[456]
Hold my tongue = remain silent

[457]
Bit of a pickle = awkward situation

[458]
Out in the cold = neglected, ignored or forgotten

[459]
Pony and trap = a light two-wheeled vehicle pulled by a horse or pony

[460]
Reading = some forty miles west of London

[461]
Dropsy = swelling of the skin tissues caused by the accumulation of excess water in the body

[462]
Yer kindness is sum enough = your kindness is payment enough

[463]
Put two and two together = draw an accurate conclusion from existing evidence or an indication

[464]
Far From the Madding Crowd = title of a book written by Dorset born novelist Thomas Hardy and published in 1874

Chapter 18: Abdication

[465]
Cornish pasty = sealed pastry shell containing seasoned meat and vegetables, especially potatoes

[466]
The die is cast = an irrevocable decision has been made

[467]
Cox and Company = bank

[468]
Kid gloves = made of fine kid (young goat) leather

[469]
Waterloo station = railway terminus located near the southern bank of the River Thames. Originally known as Waterloo Bridge Station, it officially became Waterloo Station two years ago in 1886