the blues (for 'blue devils') - depression of spirits, despondency (colloq.)

moist - that which is moist; moisture

crossroad - the place where two roads cross each other

puzzler - one who or that which puzzles;                     crossword puzzle - a puzzle in which a pattern of chequered squares has to be filled in from numbered clues with words which are written usu. horizontally and vertically, occas. diagonally.

breadth - width, extent across

nonplus - to bring to a nonplus or standstill, to perplex

ell - a measure of length varying in different countries; The English ell = 45 in.

quarter - region, district, place, locality

descry - to catch sight of, esp. from a distance; to discover by observation; to find out, detect.

spancel - to fetter or hobble with a spancel or spancels (a rope or fetter for hobbling cattle, horses, etc.)

blossomy - covered or adorned with blossoms; flowery

at full stretch* - reclining at full length;                     foule - a light woollen dress material with a glossy surface.

daffydowndilly - a daffodil (the genus Narcissus)

narcosis - the production of a narcotic state (or the quality of producing this); the operation or effects of narcotics upon the system; a state of insensibility.

fetter - to bind with or as with fetters; to chain, fasten, shackle

footlights - a row of lights placed in front of the stage of a theatre, on a level with the feet of the actors, and furnished with reflectors so as to throw all their light upon the scene.

halo - the circle or disk of light with which the head is surrounded in representations of Christ and the Saints.

spud - a potato (slang and dial.)

hover - to hang or remain suspended in the air over or about a particular spot.

epicure - a philosopher of the school of Epicurus (obs.); the distinctive doctrines of Epicurus were, 1. That the highest good is pleasure, which he identified with the practice of virtue. 2. That the gods do not concern themselves at all with men's affairs. 3. That the external world resulted from a fortuitous concourse of atoms.

waltz - to dance a waltz

shoot - a young branch which shoots out from the main stock of a tree, plant, etc.

Aran - of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the Aran Islands, off the west coast of Ireland.

pho - an exclamation expressing contemptuous rejection or making light of anything.

pulp - the fleshy succulent part of a fruit

seamless - without a seam; of a garment, woven without a seam; The word was used very freely by 17th c. divines in such phrases as Christ's seamless coat, garment, vest, etc. with reference to John xix. 23, as typifying unity in the Church.

nebulose - resembling a cloud or mist; inclined to be foggy or misty.

melanite - a velvet-black variety of andradite

cream - cream-coloured, yellowish white

custard - a dish made with eggs beaten up and mixed with milk to a stiff consistency,  sweetened, and baked.

comet - a celestial body moving about the sun in a greatly elongated elliptical, or a parabolic orbit, and consisting (when near the sun) of a bright star-like nucleus surrounded with a misty light, and having a train of light or 'tail', sometimes of enormous length, and usually directed away from the sun.

members - a part or organ of the body; chiefly, a limb or other separable portion (as opposed to the trunk) (arch.)

lentiginous* - full of freckles

clay - earth as the material of the human body; hence, the human body (living or dead) as distinguished from the soul; the earthly or material part of man.

clomb = climb

sworn - affirmed or promised by an oath; confirmed by swearing; to which one is sworn.

Star Chamber - a court, chiefly of criminal jurisdiction, developed in the 15th c. from the judicial sittings of the King's Council in the Star Chamber at Westminster. The judges were the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper, the Lord Treasurer, the Lord Privy Seal, and any peers that chose to attend. The rules of procedure of the court rendered it a powerful instrument in the hands of a sovereign or a ministry desirous of using it for purposes of tyranny, and the abuse of it under James I and Charles I have made it a proverbial type of an arbitrary and oppressive tribunal. It was abolished by an Act of the Long Parliament in 1641.

quiry = equerry - an officer in the service of a royal or other exalted personage, charged with the care of the horses                query

bodiment - giving of form or body; embodiment

bug - schoolboys' slang for 'boy'

notion - an idea or concept

nought* - nothing                                                                                                                                                           midnight

esker - 'the name given in Ireland to the elongated and often flat-topped mounds of post-glacial gravel which occur abundantly in the greater river-valleys of that country'.

ridge - a long and narrow stretch of elevated ground; a range or chain of hills or mountains.

clatter* - to rattle; to move rapidly with such a noise, to rattle along, down, over, etc.

spoor - the trace, track, or trail of a person or animal, esp. of wild animals pursued as game.

trail - to follow the trail or track of, to track. Also in gen. use, to follow.

wavy - fig. Fluctuating, wavering, changing

partition - each of the parts into which any whole is divided, as by boundaries or lines.

blister - a thin vesicle on the skin, containing serum, caused by friction, a burn, or other injury, or the action of a vesicatory.

recordership - the office, or term of office, of a recorder (Formerly, a certain magistrate or judge having criminal and civil jurisdiction in a city or borough. Now, in England and Wales, a barrister or solicitor appointed as a part-time judge presiding esp. over certain Crown Courts).

caper - to prance as a horse;                     chase - to pursue with a view to catching.

aniseed - a liqueur flavoured with aniseed; the seed of the anise, used as a carminative, and in the preparation of Oil of Anise, Spirit of Anise, Anise water, and Anisette.

prompt corner - the prompter's corner off-stage;                        prompter - Theat. A person stationed out of sight of the audience, to prompt or assist any actor at a loss in remembering his part.

hiker - one who hikes or goes on a hike

rere - obs. form of rear;                        in the rear - at or from the back, behind.

rope - to tie, bind, fasten, or secure with a rope

globetrotter - one who goes globe-trotting (extensive and hurried travelling over the world for the sake of sight-seeing).

by way of - as an instance of, somewhat under the form of

afterthought - a subsequent or second thought

sprout - something resembling a sprout in appearance, formation, or growth; a shoot from a plant, root, or stump of a tree, shrub, or plant.

...The favourite scorched away to win by four lengths.

bawl - a shout at the top of one's voice, a loud prolonged rough cry.

mascot - a person, or a thing, animate or inanimate, supposed to bring luck.

patsy - a person who is ridiculed, deceived, blamed, or victimized.