“In your patience possess ye your souls” (King James Version; henceforth, KJV).
bm Strong and hard punishment (French).
bn Conan Doyle’s mangled attempt to recreate an Irish endearment; what this word actually means is “O diarrhea” (per the Oxford edition of The Valley of Fear).
bo Reference to the Bible, Galatians 6:7: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (KJV).
bp An Irish girl.
bq Daily exchanges; at the time the word carried no sexual connotation.
br Reference to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night (act 2, scene 5): “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ‘em.”
bs Candidate for admission to an order or fraternity.
bt Division Master of Ancient Order of Freemen; the organization is probably part of or related to the secret fraternal order the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons.
bu That is, live under the oppressive tyranny of Czar Alexander II.
bv Medicine; remedy.
bw Loud wailing over the dead.
bx Power-operated hammer lifted by a lever and then dropped.
by Reference to the early Holmes story “The Red-Headed League.”
bz Reference to another early story, “The Five Orange Pips.”
ca The beginning of a quarter of a year; some payments are made on such days.
cb Reference to Shakespeare’s Henry V (act 3, scene 1): “The game’s afoot!”
cc One of the outer buildings of the main house (not a toilet).
cd State of deep thought or reverie.
ce In A Study in Scarlet Holmes expresses a decidedly different opinion.
cf Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840), Italian composer and virtuoso violinist.
cg Handcuffs.
ch Not drinking alcohol.
ci Enlisted men lived in the forecastle; officers, in the poop deck.
cj Large barrel.
ck Again Holmes misquotes Twelfth Night (scene 2, scene 3); Shakespeare wrote: “Journeys end in lovers meeting.”
cl Secret political society in France and Italy in the early nineteenth century.
cm Covent Garden Theatre is London’s world-renowned opera house.
cn Mycroft functions as what we call today a relational database.
co Train-track rails.
cp Yes, Holmes quotes “Humpty Dumpty.”
cq Lantern with a panel for blocking the light.
cr European term for what Americans call the second floor.
cs Legal term for the return of an estate to its grantor after the grant has terminated.
ct The name may ring a bell: Count Dracula rented Carfax Abbey.
cu A savage—a veritable savage! (French).
cv Workman (French).
cw Big, high cap trimmed with frills and ribbons.
cx South African gold mining town.
cy Reference to Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II (act 3, scene 2): “Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just.”
cz Call sounded during a fox hunt to let the riders know a fox has been sighted.
da Relating to the Chaldeans, an ancient Semitic people who once ruled Babylo nia.
db Germany declared war on Russia to start World War I on that day.
dc Four-horse team controlled by a single driver.
dd Usually sweet, white wine from the Tokay district of Hungary.
de Franz Josef (1830-1916) was emperor of Austria and king of Hungary.
df Strait 15 miles long between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
dg George Lewis (1833-1911), the most prestigious solicitor (lawyer) of the age.
dh Charlie Peace (1832-1879), a violinist and burglar who was hanged for several murders.
di Thomas Griffiths Wainwright (1794-1852), painter and poisoner.
dj Prison on the Isle of Wight.
dk A king, queen, jack, or ace.
dl Street thugs.
dm One-handed fencing stick fitted with a hand guard.
dn Inflammatory skin disease.
do Well-known auction house, like Sotheby, mentioned below.
dp Sulfuric acid.
dq Reference to the Bible, Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death” (KJV).
dr A cockade was an ornament worn on a coachman’s hat as a livery badge.
ds Family coat of arms.
dt London’s equivalent of Wall Street.
du Victoria Cross, a medal for bravery.
dv Quarrel.
dw South African Dutch for veranda.
dx See the first story in this volume, “The Adventure of the Empty House.”
dy Apparatus for carbonating water.
dz Named for Cardinal Jules Mazarin (1602—1661), minister to Louis XIV of France.
ea This is the first time in all the stories that we hear of a waiting room at 221B Baker Street; or of the “second exit” on the this page.
eb Squealed, ratted on.
ec Boatman’s song from Tales of Hoffman, by Jacques Offenbach (1819—1880).
ed Sly fellow.
ee This first-name address is very un-Holmesian, raising deep suspicions about the authorship of the story.
ef This snide comment to a social inferior is behavior inconceivable for a gentleman.
eg Raphael Sanzio (1483—1520) was one of the great painters of the Italian High Renaissance.
eh The First Folio, the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s works, was printed in 1623. It is extremely valuable.
ei Since when did Holmes ever need anyone else’s opinion to settle a matter?
ej Reference to the Bible, Isaiah 36:6: “Thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed” (KJV).
ek Not the sort of self-assessment we’ve ever heard from Holmes before.
el Mentioned here and on p. 560 but nowhere else in the stories.
em Puzzle that represents a word or phrase by a picture or symbol that sound like parts of the words in question.
en Commodities market, where wheat and other grains are traded.
eo Hanging tree where public executions took place until 1783; stood near Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, London.
ep The early Georges (I-IV) ruled between 1714 and 1830; George V ruled from 1910 to 1936.
eq From the ancient Greek city of Syracuse in Sicily.
er Sloane (1660-1753) was a naturalist, physician, and collector; his library and collection of curiosities were important contributions to the British Museum when it was founded in 1753.
es Catalog of the crimes of the inmates of London’s Newgate Prison.
et Short crowbar used in burglaries.
eu Sycamore tree.
ev Popular women’s magazine specializing in romances.
ew Boosting your reputation.
ex Scottish expression meaning “out of the way.”
ey Fictitious place; combination of Cambridge and Oxford.
ez London Post Office abbreviation for “Eastern Central.”
fa Tube inserted into a body cavity to drain fluid or give medicine.
fb Old word for psychiatrist.
fc Reared up.
fd Sussex Downs, a chalky, treeless expanse on the southern coast of England.
fe Student at Oxford or Cambridge who represents the university in a sport.
ff Loose or crumbly earthy deposit containing calcium carbonate; can be used as a fertilizer.
fg Forced out of its normal vessels into surrounding tissue.
fh The text never makes quite clear that Cyanea capillata, also known as the Lion’s Mane, is a type of jellyfish.
fi Wombwell and Sanger were proprietors of well-known traveling circuses.
fj A white wine from Burgundy.
fk Counterfeiter.
fl Reckless gambler on horse races.
fm Uncomfortable circumstances, especially financial trouble.
fn Fashionable street known for its many doctors.
fo People who hang around racetracks looking for tips about horses.
fp Actually, the femur doesn’t have an upper condyle (protuberance).
fq Four-wheeled carriage that has an elevated seat in front for the driver; inside, two facing double seats; and, over the back seats, a folding top.
fr Sufficient retirement income to meet one’s needs.
fs Principal bishops in the Coptic Church, an Egyptian branch of Christianity.
ft Royal Albert Hall is a huge concert building in London; no singer named Carina has been identified.
fu Crockford’s Clerical Directory lists all the clergy of the Church of England.
fv Reference to the Bible, I Corinthians 14:40: “Let all things be done decently and in order” (KJV).
fw Institution in Berkshire for the criminally insane.
fx So called because cricket features eleven players on each side.
fy Home of great violin makers from the Amati family, as well as Antonio Stradivari.
fz Medical personnel who bandage wounds and surgical incisions.
ga Abbreviation for two pence, or 1/6 of a shilling.
gb Scottish writer Thomas Gordon translated the works of the Roman historian Tacitus into English in 1728. Sir William Temple (1628-1699) was an English essayist. Alexander Pope wrote acclaimed translations of Homer’s Iliad (1720) and Odyssey (1725-1726). The Spectator was a popular and influential daily paper published from 1711 to 1712 by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was a poet, essayist, novelist, and dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
gc The huge bureaucracy that administered British rule in India.
gd Returning by the post office after rejection by a publisher.
ge Just the opposite judgment has been true: Without Holmes, his name would be known only to scholars and his descendants.
gf Name of the home in which Arthur Conan Doyle lived.
gg The painter is the rope that attaches the bow of a boat to its mooring.
gh Bus with rows of seating for sightseers.
gi Contradicted (from the Latin root meaning “to cross”).
gj A character, known as the “gentleman burglar,” in novels by Maurice Leblanc (1864-1941).
gk William Gillette (1855-1937), American actor who portrayed Holmes on stage and on film.