A Christmas Carol: Glossary, Commentary and Notes

1 A ChristmasCarol: glossary , CommentaryandNotesRich BowenChristmas,2004 Contents1 Introduction62 Stave One: Marley' .. upon'Change.. ourancestors.. 'sweakmind.. save you!.. stake of hollythroughhisheart.. ,theTreadmill,andthePoor Law .. Dunstan.. crown.. badlobsterin a darkcellar.. througha badyoungActof Parliament ..133 Stave Two : .. 'Security.. 'shisname?.. wig.. hourof seven.. benevolence.. Coverley.. undera counter.. thepoem..194 Stave Three: .. move or two .. thetime-of-day .. andtoss.. in it .. 'sshops.. ns.. day .. anironframe.. half-a-quartern.. andNo.. withallthelettersof thealphabet.. of Christmas ..245 Stave Four: .. -box .. child,andsethimin themidstof them..266 Stave Five : .. Miller..287 ..308 Victoriancurrency301 IntroductionI have endeavouredin thisGhostlylittleglossary, to risetheGhostof understandingof 'Ideas,such thatmy listenersarenotputoutof humourwiththetext,withtheseason,or , withthishumblecompanionto thereading,youmay understandwhy Scrooge'snamewas goodupon'Change,why the ddlerstruck upSirRogerdeCoverley, andwhy theyoungboy calledScroogeWalker whenasked to of thecontent comesfromWhatJaneAustenAte otherperiod literature,fromtheDickensSociety mailinglists,andfromreadingvariouscommen tariesover of thesimpletermde nitionscamefroma varietyof , nally, I obtaineda hugeamount of informationfrom\TheAnnotatedChristmasCar ol"by MichaelPatrick Hearn,which is a trulydelightfulbook,thesolefailingof which is thatit 1843.

2 AndCharlesDickensis strugglingonas a serialauthorfora tobe hismostpopular,andwillcatapulthimto internationalfame,as wellas to enormous is thisbook,morethanany other,forwhich Dickensis creditthisbookwiththerevival of thecelebrationof theChristmasholiday in much of 1678,JosiahKingwrotein \TheExaminationandTryal of OldFatherChristmas"thatFatherChristmas\o ftheTownof Superstition,in theCountryof Idolatry," now stood accusedof having\fromtimetotime,abusedthepeopleof thisCommon-wealth,drawingandinticingthem to Drunkenness,Gluttony, andunlawfulGambling,Wantonness,Uncleanne ss,Lasciviousness,Cursing,Swearing,abuse of theCreatures,someto oneVice,andsometo another;allto Idleness."Sowe seethatScroogedenouncingChristmasasa merely\Apoor excuseforpickinga man'spocket ever twenty- fthof December." criticizedforthisworkby many puritans,becausehepaintedChristmasas atimeformerrymaking,andbecausehe mentionedTheDemonLiquorjusta fewtoo many timesin devoutpersonscriticizedhisblasphemy and ippant referencesto God, modernear,we arehardpressedto heara a letterto oneo endedlady(March 25,1847)Dickensassuresherthatif hewereat Fecciwig'sball,\Ishouldhave takena littleNegus,andpossiblynota littlebeer.

3 "Hegoes onto remindher\ofa certainMarriagein Galilee,andof a certainsupper wherea cupwas lledwithWindandnotwithwater."2 Stave One: Marley'sGhostStave One,in which we meetEbenezerScroogeandBobCratchit,andin which theghostof JacobMarleyappearsto Scroogeto tellhimthathemay stillredeemhislife,andavoidaneternity of \sta ", a stanzaof a poemor anextensionof thethetitleof thebook,\AChristmasCarolin Prose."Thispuncontinuesin hisotherChristmasbooks,withTheChimesbein gdividedinto \quarters,"andTheCricketontheHearthbeing dividedinto \chirps." a moneylenderwhoseo ceis likelylocatedfairlycloseto the' themostfamousmiserin ,hisnamebecame,almostimmediatelyafterthe publishingof thisbook,a universalsynonymformiser,andremainsso to Scrooge' in lmby many well-knownactors,includingPatrickStewart ,Rich Little,MichaelCaine,ScroogeMcDuck, ReginaldOwen,Alas-tairSim,GeorgeC.

4 Scott,andmany thecentralcharacterof ourstory, andso youshouldgetto deep,andhashada primarilyas a resultof hisowndecisions,butalsohasa lotto dowiththetreatment he timesinthisstory. Much of himcomesthroughin thecharacterof Scrooge,althoughperhapsmoreof himappearsin upon'ChangeThe'Change,or theExchange,was (andis)theequivalent of Londonis conductedonTheStrand, theRoyal Exchangeburnt downin 1839,andA ChristmasCarolwas writtenin 1843,so thenewExchangewouldhave 'changeis also,coloquially, a moneychanger'so ce,which is probablywhy Scroogeis typicallypicturedas a moneylender,in additionto thescenein Stave Fourwhentheyoungcoupleis unexpectedlyreleasedfromtheirmortgageby Scrooge' a man'snameto be good upon'Changemeant thathiswordwas as good as a contract,or as good as otherwords,if he saidit, it was ,TheVisionof PiersPlowman(1362)might betheoriginof thephrase\dedas a dore-nayle.

5 "Orit might dateearlierthanthat,toanancient Britishballad\ "ButGeorgehe didthedragonkill,Asdeadas any ,of course,Shakespeareusedthephrasein HenryIVpartII,andin ,if youreadany abridgedversionof thebook,thatthispartis ,he erent versionsof this,andoneof themis typicallyusedin mod-ernabridgedprintings,althougha handfulof publishershave madetheirownabridgements in recent ourancestorsA sarcasticreferenceto EdmundBurke'sspeech in March of 1775,in which heappealedto thewisdomof ourancestorsas beingtheprimaryreasonthattheAmericanColo niesshouldremainpartof GadHill,Dickenshadanextensive libraryof fake books,which was a particularjoke thesebooksweretitled\TheWisdomof OurAncestors,"withindividualvolumestitle d\Ignorance,"\Superstition,"\TheBlock,"\ TheStake,"\TheRack,"\Dirt,"and\Disease." whomproperty whomtheremainderof theestatepassesafterpayment of 'sweakmindIn manuscript,laterstruck, appearstheextendedversion.

6 AlthoughperhapsyouthinkthatHamlet'sintel lextswerestrong,I youcouldhave such a sontomorrow,dependuponit,youwould ndhima a mostimpracticablefellow to dealwith;andhow ever creditablehemight be to thefamilyafterhisdecease,hewouldprove a specialencumberancein hislifetime, \Nutstosomeone" - A sourceof pleasureor delight to \good luck." to August11,whenSirius,theDogStar, of \tolay downmoney." Thus,\comedownhandsomely"meansto be generouswithone' theyoftencamedownhandsomely, andScroogenever didApparentlyDickenswas concernedthataudiencesin theUnitedStateswouldnotgetthisjoke, buthisfearswereallayed when,at his rstpublicreadingin Bu alo(March 13,1868)\theapplausebroke forthfromallpartsof thehouse."(Bu aloCommercialAdvertiser) save you!Upuntil1968,everywordspokenona stagein Londonhadto be approvedby theLordChamberlain'sexaminerof plays,whodeterminedif it wasappropriate.

7 \God save you"wasnotappropriate, ,thephrase\Heaven save you!"was substitutedin trueof the nalline,\God blessus everyone." , a hoax,imposition,fraud,or sham;usedinterjectionallyto mean\stu andnonsense";in slang,to deceive or stake of hollythroughhisheartUpto 1623,it was customfora murdereror a suicideto be buriedwitha stake hispublicreadingversionof thiswork,after1867,thisphraseis changedto \Fellow-travellers,"a phrasewhich featuresalsoin ,job,or employment. Alsoin stave weekactuallywasn'tsuch a badwage,althoughit wouldmake thingsa littletight make moneyat writing,hewas making laborerwouldgenerallymake eight shillingsa , in fact,paintedin much moredirestraitsby moderninterpretationsof thestory(televisionandmovies)thanis reallywarrantedby Bethlehem,foundedas a prioryin 1247;by 1402,it was a hospitalor asylumforlunatics;by extension,any madhouse;hence,any sceneof ,wheretheinmatesweresubjectedto allsortsof horribletortureswhich werecalled\treatments.

8 "It alsoseemsthatmany wealthy peoplewouldhave inconvenient persons- a spouse,servant, or enemy -declaredinsaneandcommittedto asylyms,wheretheywouldbe keptin a druggedstate,or wheretheiraccusationswouldsimplybe , by ThomasCarlyle(1840)we readthesesarcasticwords:Dowe notpasswhatActsof Parliament areneedful;as many as thirty ninefortheshootingof partridgesalone?Aretherenottreadmills,gi bbets;even hospitals,poor-rates,New-Poor Laws?So answersAristocracy,astonisment in ,theTreadmill,andthePoor LawScroogesuggeststhatthepoor go to theUnionworkhouses,or to theTreadmill,or thattheybe taken careof by thePoor 'lltryto summarizewhathe'stalkingabout,butit'slon gandcomplicated,so I'mleavingoutsomeof thought of as thewelfaresystemof thetime,althoughthat' to theworkhouse,thiswasreferredtoas\goingon theparish."Peopleweresent thereif theywerepoor,orin debt, theseworkhousesvariedfromoneplaceto another,butit was always be thelowest,andevenpoor peopleheldthemincontempt,knowingthatthey , too, werea week'swagesaway fromgoingto childthatgrewupin theworkhouse,like Oliver Twist,wouldoftengetthedisparagingnicknam eof \Work'us"or \Parish.

9 "TheTreadmill,ontheotherhand,was moreof a meansof punishment. A criminalwouldbe forcedto walkonthetreadmill,which consistedof a mechanicaldevicelike a keepupwiththemovingstairscouldresultin seriousinjury. Nasty Law was was ostensiblyto helpthepoor,butwas moree ectivein makingpoverty a veryoutspokenopponent of thePoor Law,andboththisbookandOliver Twistwereanembarassment to ,a stdent of Malthus appearingin Dickens'book\TheChimes"putsit thisway:\Thepoor have noeartlyright or businessto be know theyhaven' reducedit to amathematicalcertainty longago!" the1840s,everybodyburnedcoalto headtheirhomesandbusinesses,andto turnstheairbrown,andputsa nelayer of black was startingto replacecoal,Londonwas thedirtiestcity in ,or DunstanApparentlyfolksat thetimewouldhave beenfamiliarwiththestoryof Saint ,amongotherthings,Archbishopof Canturburyin number of interestinglegendsaroundhim,butoneof themsays thathe was approachedby thedevilin thedisguiseof a beautifulwoman,andhe grabbedhernosewithmetal-worker' ,thereferencetoSaint DunstannippingtheEvilSpirit'snosewiththe coldweatheris 19this Saint Dunstan'sday.

10 Heis thepatronsaint of crownTwo shillingsandsixpence,thiswas onesixthof Bob'sweeklysalary, sincehewouldhave workedsixdaysa badlobsterin a darkcellarRottingcray sh,it turnsout,emita phosphorescent a referenceto Marley' througha badyoungActof ParliamentActsof Parliament werefrequentlyso looselywordedthatany determinedlawyer wouldbe sureto ndaloopholethroughwhich theycouldgettheirclient to front of a carriagewhich candlemadeby dippinga wick in thana waxcandle,which is ,to theVictorian,theseatof anotherpunmadeby Scroogeinanattemptto regainmasteryof shademeans\fora ghost,"whileto a shademeans\toa degree."Scroogewiselydecidesnotto makea bandageto keeptheirmouthclosedandprevent a number of themovierenditionsof thisscene,withMarkey removingthebandageandhisjaw fallinghorriblyto comesfromotherregions,andis conveyed by otherministersAsa damnedsoul,Marleycannotspeakthenameof Christ,norcanhe speakof consistentwiththespiritof Virgilin thefourthcanto of Dante' otherparallelsbetweenDante' Virgilto Scrooge' ,as Scroogewouldhave beensent to thefourthcircleof Hell,wherehewouldbe forcedto rollgreatweights, of theseparallels,andtherearemany othersthattheynoted,butwhich I , it is theScroogeof Stave Onethatremainsimprintedonthemindsof \Scrooge"hasbecomesynonymouswithmiser,an deveryoneknowsthatEbenezerScroogesays \Bah!