All page & line references are to Chester Anderson's Viking Press edition.
Epigraph: Et ignotas animum dimittit in artes: Latin, "And he applies his mind to unknown arts" [the line continues, "and changes the laws of nature"]. Description of Daedalus in Ovid's Metamorphoses, VIII:188.
CHAPTER I
7.32 press: closet
7.25 cachou: a candy and breath freshener
8.17 prefects: teachers who work as housemasters and supervise outside activities
8.25 the third line: Clongowes children under thirteen
8.27 greaves in his number and a hamper in the refectory: shinguards in his locker and a private supply of treats in the dining hall
9.28 peach on: to "tell on"
9.29 rector: administrative head of the college
9.30 soutane: black gown with sleeves
10.11 Hamilton Rowan... ha-ha: Patriot and friend of Wolfe Tone, in 1794 supposedly took refuge from soldiers in the castle and threw his hat on a bank or dry moat as a decoy
10.31 hacking chestnut: dried chestnuts were attached to strings and swung sharply against one another; the one that does not break is the winner
11.10 lower and third lines: see 8.25; the lower line is boys from thirteen to fiteen
11.18 suck: a sycophant, a boy who "sucks up" to a teacher
12.3-4 York... Lancaster: the two English houses opposed in the War of the Roses
12.10 a wax: a rage
12.17 elements: English, math, geography, history, Latin
13.30 higher line: boys fifteen to eighteen
16.1 a cod: a joke or prank
17.30 hob: shelf at back or side of a fireplace
19.15 ironingroom: room where armor was formerly stored
20.2 cars: horse-drawn vehicles
22.21 Brother Michael: a man bound to the Jesuit order by vows but not educated as a priest would be; usually assigned housekeeping duties
24.06 cope of black and gold: a long vestment in the colors appropriate for a Funeral Mass
27.29 boss: a sort of hassock or footrest
28.9 a birthday present for Queen Victoria: Casey was probably picking oakum as hard labor in prison for political activities
28.37 jack foxes: male foxes
29.36 Ally Dally: the best
30.1 pandybat: a stiff, reinforced leather strap
32.33 pope's nose: part of the turkey's rump
35.30-31 Tower of Ivory. . . House of Gold: epithets for the Blessed Virgin Mary from the Roman Catholic Litany of Our Lady
36.1 tig: a game like hide-and-seek
38.5 whiteboy: member of a group working for land and tax reform sometimes using terrorist means
40.11 fecked: stole
40.16 scut: literally, tail of a rabbit; here, "turned tail and ran"
41.1 boatbearer: one who carries the container of incense before it is lighted
41.03 censer: vessel in which incense is burned
41.13 sprinter: someone training in short-distance bicycle racing
41.22 prof: captain of cricket team
41.23 rounders: British ball game
42.10 square: the school latrine or urinal
42.15 smugging: probably a mild sort of homosexual play
43.23 The Calico Belly: joke on Caesar's Comentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic Wars)
43.33 six and eight: number of blows with the strap given as punishment
44.2 prefect of studies: assistant to the rector in charge of academics
46.14 monstrance: vessel of precious metal in which the host is displayed
48.9 provincial. . .general: highest jesuit authority in Ireland, ultimate Jesuit authority, in Rome
55.35 saint Ignatius Loyola: (1491-1556) founder of Society of Jesus (Jesuit Order)
55.36 Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam: For the Greater Glory of God, the Jesuit motto. Students in a Jesuit school might abbreviate the phrase "AMDG" and attach it to their compositions.
59.17 gallnuts: rounded growths on trees caused by insects
59.18 long shies: long hits by the batsman in cricket
CHAPTER II
60.02 black twist: strong tobacco twisted into a rope
65.15 caravans: horse-drawn, covered cart or wagon
67.21 pantomime: popular show with song, dance, a loose story line and local references
67.29 stone: fourteen pounds
68.30 crackers: decorated noisemakers, often with small gifts inside
69.9 tram: means of public transport, during this period changing from horse-drawn to electric-powered
70.10 emerald exercise: patriotic green notebook for student work 70.21 second moiety notices: legal notices involving bankruptcy
71.4 L.D.S.: Laus Deo Semper (Praise to the Lord Always), a jesuit motto that might be appended to student work
71.21 christian brothers: another order like the Jesuits, thought to be less prestigious
72.16 the corporation: the Dublin Corporation, the city's administrative and legislative body
73.1 Whitsuntide: week beginning with Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter
73.5 Stewards: ushers
73.11 fastened: detached
76.22 beads: saying of the Rosary
78.9 Confiteor: prayer in preparation for Confession
81.9 slates in the yard: on the walls of the urinal
81.9 the loft: place for punishment at Clongowes
83.9 in a great bake: angry or agitated
87.35 jingle: a horse-drawn car
89.29 come-all-yous: street ballads
89.4 drisheens: a sort of sweetbread, made with sheep's intestines
90.36 street arabs: poor or gypsy children
91.10 free boy: boy on a scholarship
92.2 maneens: insulting term ("little men")
93.6 slim jim: a long jelly candy
93.25 lob: some amount of money
93.29 jackeen: arrogant, lower-class person
94.8 Tempora mutantur nos. . . illis: "Circumstances change and we change in them" (in the second version, "with them"). Both are grammatically correct, the second metrically correct.
96.20 exhibition: outstanding performance in one of the annual national academic examinations
CHAPTER III
103.17 balefire: large fire in the open air
104.22 prefecture. . .of the sodality: leadership of an honorific student association
105.3-8 Quasi cedrus. . .odoris: from Ecclesiasticus 24, 13-15, a Biblical book oif the Catholic Bible, from what Protestants call the "Apocrypha" ("I was exalted like a cedar tree of Lebanon, or a cypress on Mount Sion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Engadi, or like the rose bushes in Jericho; like a fine olive tree in the field; I was exalted like a plane tree. I gave forth a perfume like cinnamon and camel's thorn, and I spread fragrance like choice myrrh. . . .)
105.23 sums and cuts: math problems, generally based on Euclid
105.30 game ball: good luck
106.26-27 first beatitude. . .second beatitude: being "poor in spirit" and "meek", from the Sermon on the Mount in the Douay (Catholic) Bible version, Matthew 5.
107.13 special confessors: priests to whom a penitent goes regularly
108.22 simoom: a hot wind, seasonal in some deserts
117.28 non serviam: "I will not serve," Satan's defiant statement
125.16 blue funk: extreme depression and fear
128.22 poena damni: torment of the damned (removal from God's sight)
134.27 act of contrition: formal prayer expressing remorse
142.9 brown habit of a capuchin: belted robe worn by Capuchins, a branch of the Franciscan order of friars
146.21 ciborium: vessel that holds the host during communion
146.22 Corpus Domini nostri: the Body of our Lord
146.26 In vitam eternam: unto everlasting life
CHAPTER IV :
147.18 ejaculations: brief outcries or prayers
147.28 supererogation: acts beyond the requirements of duty to establish a "reservoir of merit"
148.17 chaplets: The cycle of prayers called a rosary is divided into thirds, each called a chaplet, and subdivided into decades.
149.1 Paraclete: term for the Holy Ghost
150.36 twigging: brushing with a short broom
152.11 foxpapered: having pages that are "foxed," or discolored
152.13 canticles: the "Song of Songs" or "Song of Solomon" in Protestant Bibles
152.19 Inter ubera mea commorabitur: "He shall lie between by breasts," from "Song of Solomon."
154.24 dominican: order founded by Saint Dominic
154.25 franciscan: order founded by St. Francis of Assisi
155.7 les jupes: French for "skirts"
156.12 muff: a bungler, novice, or outsider
157.17 a vocation: a "calling" for the priesthood
158.25 thurible: censer, in which incense is burned
158.25 chasuble: long outer vestment worn by a priest celebrating the mass
158.33 tunicle of subdeacon: vestment with wide sleeves worn by the person who prepares the sacred vessels during the celebration
158.35 humeral veil: veil covering the shoulders
158.35 paten: plate on which the eucharistic bread is placed
159.1 dalmatic: wide-sleeved vestment worn during celebration of High Mass by the deacon, the person ranked second to the celebrant himself
159.3 Ite, missa est: "Go, the mass is completed"
159.35 novena: a series of spiritual exercises lasting nine days
160.31 novitiate: time of probation for aspiring priests
161.19 S.J.: Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order)
167.20 thingmote: place where Danes held council of law when they ruled Dublin in medieval times
167.35 Stephanos: Greek for crown, wreath, or garland
168.2 stuff in the kisser: punch in the mouth
168.4-5 Bous Stephanoumenos! Bous Stephaneforos!: Greek variants for "ox bearing wreaths" (i.e., being led for sacrifice).
169.1 artificer: inventor or craftsman (i.e., Daedalus)
170.8 the stoneblock: term for a group of rocks on the side of Bull Wall suitable for diving
171.4 cerements: burial clothes
CHAPTER V
174.28 going for blue: working as hard as possible (alternatively, "bluing" is used in washing clothes)
176.12 sloblands: local term for a particular trashy area of tidal flatland
176.29 waistcoateers: prostitutes (Elizabethan term)
176.30 chambering: wanton sexual indulgence (Elizabethan term)
176.35 Synopsis Philosophiae. . .: A Synopsis of Scholastic Philosophy for the Understanding of St. Thomas (Aquinas)
177.13 hoardings: billboards
179.14 Ivory, ivoire, avorio, ebur: the same word in English, French, Italian, and Latin.
179.16 India mittit ebur: India sends (or produces) ivory
179.23 Contrahit orator... vates: "The orator summarizes; the poet [or prophet] amplifies [or transforms]"
179.25 in tanto discrimine: "in such a crisis"
179.27 implere ollam denariorum: to fill the jar with denarii (Roman silver coins)
180.34 Gael: Irishman or Celt
181.12 cycles: related groups of Irish myths and legends
181.20 tame geese: joke on "the wild geese," term for Irish who went into exile
182.4 hurling match: Irish game, a sort of field hockey
182.7 buff: skin
182.7 minding cool: playing safety
182.10 woeful wipe: huge blow to the ball
182.11 camaun: curved stick used in hurling
182.11 aim's ace: very small amount or distance
182.18 yoke: any artifact
183.25 handsel: good luck omen or gift; also money, as in a tip
185.15 levite: subordinate priest
185.17 canonicals: prescribed vestments
185.17 ephod: Old Testament religious garment
186.1 Pulchra sunt quae visa placent: "That is beautiful which gives pleasure to the eye"
186.7 Bonum est in quod tendit appetitus: "That is good toward which the appetite is moved" [or which is desired]
186.27 Similiter atque senis baculus: "Like an old man's walking stick"
189.15 insufflation: breathing on someone or something to symbolize the coming of the Holy Ghost and the banishing of evil spirits
190.19 Per aspera ad astra: "By rough ways to the stars" (a clich )
190.35 Kentish fire: prolonged stamping or clapping to show impatience or disapproval
194.11 Closing time, gents!: How the end of legal drinking hours might be announced at a pub
194.26 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.
194.28 Quod?: "What?"
194.32 Per pax universalis: "For universal peace"
195.5 Credo ut vos. . .estis: "I think you are a bloody liar, because your face shows you are in a damned bad humor"
195.18 Quis est. . . vos: "Who is in a bad humor, you or me?"
196.28 rescript: originally, an epistle issued by the pope regarding some question referred to him
197.5 cod: a joker or fool
198.3 Pax super. . .globum: "Peace over the whole bloody world"
198.31 Nos ad. . .jacabimus: "Let's go play handball"
199.27 matric men. . .second arts: referring to a set of four examinations to be passsed before a degree is granted
200.28 super spottum: "on the spot"
202.2 fianna: Irish (Gaelic) for Fenians
202.17 league class: class in Irish language sponsored by the Gaelic League 204.20 eke: archaic for "also" [Cranly probably means to say "e'en"]
205.27 carmelite: order of nuns
207.32 Pulchra sunt. . .placent: see 186.1
210.7 Pange lingua gloriosi: "Tell, my tongue, in glorious. . .", part of the opening line of a hymn by Aquinas
210.10 Vexilla Regis: from "Vexilla Regis Prodeunt", "The Banners of the King Advance"
210.14 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."
210.23 plucked: flunked
216.15 stewing: unintelligent, grinding study
216.20 Ego credo. . . Liverpoolio: "I believe that the life of the poor is simply awful, simply bloody awful, in Liverpool" (Dog-Latin)
217.8 seraphim: the highest order of angels
217.35 villanelle: nineteen-line poem using only two rhymes, with rhymes and lines repeated according to a set pattern
218.16 censer: holder for incense, often roughly spherical
221.11 potboy: waiter who serves beer or ale
224.4 ashplant: Joyce's term for a staff made of the wood of an ash
225.7 augur: Roman professional prophet
229.16 a touch: sexual play or intercourse
229.17 hack. . .hunter: ordinary horse. . . prize horse
230.14 Pernobilis et pervetusta familia: "Of a noble and venerable family"
230.24 paulo post futurum: grammatical term referring to the verb form used for an event about to happen
231.26 ballocks: set of testicles (figuratively, a clumsy oaf or a mess)
231.35 dual number: obsolete grammatical form for nouns indicating a pair
233.14 pavan: a formal kind of Elizabethan dance
236.23 sugan: rope made of straw (Irish)
238.8 jarvies: horse-cab drivers
239.1 easter duty: going to communion service on Easter
243.31 penal days: period (mostly in the eighteenth century) when especially repressive "penal laws" against Irish Catholics were enforced
244.13 Mulier cantat: "The [or a] woman sings"
244.24 Et tu cum Jesu Galilaeo eras: "And you were with Jesus of Galilee"
244.27 proparoxyton: rhetorical term for a (Latin) word having the acute accent on the next to last syllable
248.14 Item: term used in wills in enumerating bequests
248.16 veronica: a cloth bearing the image of Jesus' face
248.19 decollated: beheaded
248.29 B.V.M.: Blessed Virgin Mary
249.6 risotto alla bergamasca: a rice dish made as in Bergamo (Italian)
250.21 Tara. . . Holyhead: Tara is the traditional Irish seat of kings, Holyhead a Welsh port commonly used by Irish leaving the country.