slacker - a person who shirks work + sluggard - one who is naturally or habitually slow, lazy, or idle + 'Go to the ant thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise' - (Proverb, condemnation of the slothful) While this is an obvious reproof of those who are physically idle, there is a much more important spiritual lesson to be learned from these verses. These are words of warning directed toward those who are spiritual sluggards, who are living only for today, who give no consideration to death, judgment end eternity.
"Once upon the time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo." (A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN)
mister + meester (Dutch) - master.
chairman - the officer who presides at the meetings of an organization
come up - to present itself as the subject of attention
gag (Irish) - conceited young fellow, foppish young man
bachelor + badger - one who buys corn and other commodities and carries them elsewhere to sell; an itinerant dealer who acts as a middleman between producer (farmer, fisherman, etc.) and consumer.
rake - a man of loose habits and immoral character; an idle dissipated man of fashion; a long-handled tool with a row of teeth at its head + Bachelor's Walk, Dublin.
town major - the major of a town-guard, as formerly in Edinburgh; Applied vaguely to the chief magistrate or administrative officer of a foreign town.
wesz - obs. f. was, pa. tense of be (v.) + wesz (Polish) - louse + West.
swingy - that swings; characterized by swing + Mac Suibhne (mok swini) (gael) - son of Suibhne ("well-going"); Mac Suibhne na dTuath Toraighe ("of the districts of Towery [Island]") is sometimes called MacSweeny of the Battleaxes by mistake of Tuath for Tuagha, "Axes" + Ulysses.12.1066: 'Smashall Sweeney's moustaches'.
got up - dressed in a certain way
regardless - heedless, indifferent, careless
cock - an upward turn given to the brim of a hat; a mode of so turning it up; concr. the turned-up part of the brim
Kildare - county and town in Ireland, W. of Dublin; Gael. Cill Dara (kildore): "Church of the Oakwood" + Kildare side (Irish) - right hand side.
Tattersall - designating (a fabric with) a small and even check pattern or garments made from such a material. Also absol. From the traditional design of horse blankets.
muffler - a glove or 'mitten'; A wrap or scarf (usually of wool or silk) worn round the neck or throat, by both men and women, for warmth. Also gen. anything used to muffle the head or face or any part of the person + raggamuffin - a person, typically a child, in ragged, dirty clothes.
contrivance - a device that very useful for a particular job; an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade
The Wearing of the Green (song)
busby - a tall fur cap, with or without a plume, having a bag (generally of cloth, and of the colour of the facings of the regiment) hanging out of the top, on the right side; worn by hussars, artillerymen, and engineers.
per- - by, thoroughly
lousy + free and easy - unconstrained, natural, unaffected; also, careless, slipshod. Hence, easy-going.
mrówka (Polish) - ant + good morrow - a salutation used at meeting in the morning, equivalent to the later good morning.
everybody + weevily - infested with weevils + boll weevil - pest of cotton.
Naas, town, County Kildare + Naas - race-course + nas (Serbian) - ours + nice.
Nagle - Irish informer + Nagel (ger) = nagel (Dutch) - nail + eagles.
fex - sediment, waste, excrement + fex- (ger) - harvest + fix + fox.
miles (l) - soldier + Miles de Cogan - 12th century governor of Dublin [.20]
fort (Irish Pronunciation) - forth
comb + The Coombe - street and area west of Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.
grizzly - grey; greyish; grey-haired + grizzle - gray hair + grizzly bear (Slang) - hair.
foxy - sly, clever; fox-coloured, reddish brown or yellow
freak - a capricious prank or trick; a fleck or streak of colour
Empire + ump = umpire + pyr (gr) - fire + There's Hair Like Wire Coming out of the Empire (music-hall song about the "Empire" in Leicester Square, London).
Sirr, Major - British officer who, with Major Swann, captured Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Among Sirr's brutalities was "half-hanging" the Irish.
wants his calico back (notebook 1924) → [In Lubaland a goat cost four yards of calico, and a woman-slave was also sold for four yards, ergo, chief Kavovo concluded, a goat = a woman. Crawford: “As usual, he does not want his calico back, he wants payment, not in cash but in kind, and that kind the best kind, yea, the human kind.” Joyce used this item in December of this year, 1924, when he was redrafting III.3, Yawn, and he was obscuring and ‘adding shadows’ in the best Mallarméan sense, to the psychic retelling of Battery at the Gate and the incident with Herr Betreffender of I.3. The first draft ran: “– Faith then, first he wanted a match.’ Using his Bihe material, Joyce changed this into: “– Faith then, first he wanted his calico back.” Which is already fairly fishy, but still crystal-clear compared to the final mudthick: “Ump pyre and, half hang me, sirr, if he wasn’t wanting his calicub body back before he’d to take his life or so save his life.” (Robbert-Jan Henkes)]
counting 30 secs... (notebook 1924) → Irish Independent 19 Sep 1924, 8/5: 'Topics of the Day. Opinions of Our Readers. A Gorey Raid': 'the other two men had Mr Sheehan on his knees lower down, counting 30 seconds, swearing and cursing at him to know who burned the hay, which the man knew nothing about'.
Browning - the name of John M. Browning (1855-1926) of Ogden, U.S.A., applied attrib. to various weapons ranging from pistols to machine-guns, esp. automatic ones, designed by him + (pocket watch).
wann (ger) - when + wan (Chinese) - ten thousand; a large number + one + SDV: — First he wanted a match. Then counting 30 seconds and cursed at him to know who burned the hay which the man knew nothing about.
Swann, Major William - he and Major Sirr captured Lord Edward Fitzgerald + 111.
authority + In 1647, during the English Civil War, Cornet George Joyce, a soldier and tailor, demanded that King Charles I accompany him by 'the authority of his pistol'.
fore - Of time: Before + forecasting + (notebook 1924): '...& cursing at him...'
Hasculf (or Ascall) - last Norse King of Dublin. His fortress is believed to have stood on the modern site of Dublin Castle. After the 1171 invasion under Strongbow, Ascall's kingdom was captured by Cambro-Norman mercenaries allied with King Dermot MacMurrough. He was forced to flee to the Scottish Highlands, where he raised an army among his relations there. When he returned and attempted to regain his kingdom by force, he was defeated and killed. The objective Irish annals state that he was killed in battle. The unreliable writings of Giraldus Cambrensis, however, tell a very different story, likely a fabrication. Allegedly captured on the sands of the harbor while attempting to flee back to his ships, Ascall paid a large ransom in exchange for his release. However, before his release could be finalised, he allegedly told his captors that they had only seen a small fraction of his power and that next season he would return with an even bigger army. The Normans responded by pocketing the ransom and beheading him in the town square.
fanden (Danish) - the devil + fanden (ger) - found.
Mac Cogadhain (mok kugan) (gael) - son of Cogadhan (pet form of Cuchogaidh, "war-hound") + Miles de Cogan - 12th century governor of Dublin [.12]
John Donne (1572 – 1631) - English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest
for sent (Danish) - too late + sent for.
Montague - (1) a flat curl, several of which were used to dress the front of the hair, often forming a fringe; (2) noble family in Romeo and Juliet
(notebook 1924): 'the way he was attacking X X ran away' → Freeman's Journal 29 Dec 1923, 5/2: 'Home on Leave. Story at Inquest on Army Officer': 'Witness, continuing, said the way Keane was attacking the sentry; the sentry ran away'.
wolf - to behave like a wolf + wanting + (notebook 1924): '...to know who burned the hay...'
perchance - Qualifying a statement so as to express possibility with uncertainty: It may be that.
wilt = will
Cains + kings.
Patch Purcell - in the 19th century, the principal mail-coach owner in Ireland + Patsch (ger) - slap, pop, smash.
factotum - a person with many activities or responsibilities; an ornamented oversized capital letter + fac totum (l) - do everything!
protagonist - a proponent, advocate, or supporter (of a cause, idea, etc.); the chief personage in a drama; hence, the principal character in the plot of a story, etc. + antagonist + planta genista (l) - broom-sprig: emblem, thence surname of English dynasty.
Bog (Pan-Slavonic) - God + 'The Book of the Dead'.
sponge - an immoderate drinker, a soaker
mashter (Anglo-Irish Pronunciation) - master
Pashto - the native name of the language of the Afghans, intermediate in character between the Iranian and Sanskritic families of the Aryan languages + matter of fact.
nonplus - at a nonplus, perplexed, embarrassed (obs.) + amplush (Irish) - a fix, a difficulty.
turbot - a large flat fish (Rhombus maximus or Psetta maxima), having a wide scaleless body covered with conical bony tubercles, with the eyes normally on the left side, found on the European coasts and much esteemed as food + Talbot Street, Dublin.
perplex - to trouble with doubt; to distract, confuse, puzzle
pumpship (Slang) - to urinate (from the expression that refers to pumping the bilge water form a ship) + pawnshop
whelp - the young of the dog + what the hell.
Memphis, Egypt + compos mentis - having control of one's mind, in one's right mind.
...knew nothing about (Joyce's note)
sarsen - one of the numerous large boulders or blocks of sandstone found scattered on the surface of the chalk downs, esp. in Wiltshire; Saracen (obs.)
O Fearghail (o'faryil) (gael) - descendant of Fearghal ("supervalor") + The Rising of the Moon (song): 'Shawn O'Farrell'.
Tandy, James Napper (1740-1803) - "Oh I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand..." He was a stupid, unreliable United Irishman, immortalized in "The Wearing of the Green." + Napoleon, Parnell, Patrick.
burgess - an inhabitant of a borough + Moore and Burgess - blackface minstrels whose troop, Mr Athenton says, came to London in 1862. One of their catch-lines was "Take off that white hat."
medley - combat, conflict; fighting, esp. hand-to-hand fighting between two parties of combatants (Now only arch.); a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources.
unusual + Annu - Heliopolis + annuus cursus (l) - the course of the year.
complement - that which completes or makes perfect; the completion, perfection
manner - pl. (formerly also sing.) External behaviour in social intercourse, estimated as good or bad according to its degree of politeness or of conformity to the accepted standard of propriety.
celi- - belly, abdomen + caelicola (l) - inhabitant of heaven + circular
angelic - like an angel; hence, of superhuman nature, intelligence, innocence, purity, sweetness + (notebook 1924): 'angelic warfare' → Irish Independent 18 Jun 1924, 6/2: 'Seaside Holiday Camp. FOR YOUNG MEN and BOYS. Campa na Féinne Aingli. KNOCKADOON, CO. CORK. Irish-Speaking District. Excellent Cuisine. Terms - 21/- a Week. Write for Clár to the FATHER DIRECTOR of the ANGELIC WARFARE, ST. MARY'S, CORK'.
photoplay - a cinematic representation of a play or drama; a motion picture + Photoplay - American movie magazine + photo finish - the finish of a race in which competitors are so close that the result has to be determined by reference to a photograph of the situation.
finis (l) - limit, boundary, end + finster (ger) - dark + Finistére - French department where, some say, Tristan died + SDV: — In other words, Was that how it all the funeral sports began? / — Like that. Truly. /