Weird Women
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XXXVII. This is a line from Tom Taylor’s 1853 play Plot and Passion.
XXXVIII. Romeo’s cousin in Romeo and Juliet.
XXXIX. Spoken by Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet.
XL. A reference to this line from Shakespeare’s 1623 Macbeth: “If trembling I inhabit then, protest me/The baby of a girl.”
XLI. A line from George Farquhar’s 1700 play The Constant Couple.
XLII. From George Lovell’s 1633 play Love’s Sacrifice.
XLIII. Mercutio’s famous line from Romeo and Juliet.
XLIV. The play The Wandering Jew, adopted from Eugene Sue’s novel by Leopold Lewis (author of The Bells), opened at London’s Adelphi Theatre in 1873.
XLV. From the 1859 poem “The Shore” by Owen Meredith.
XLVI. Temple Bar was a British literary periodical that ran from 1860 to 1906.
XLVII. Thomas Adolphus Trollope’s article “An Artist’s Tragedy”, about the painter Andrea del Sarto, appeared in the July 1870 issue of Temple Bar.
XLVIII. Dr. John W. Draper put forth these theories in his 1856 Human Physiology, Statical and Dynamical.
XLIX. From Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton’s “The Haunted and the Haunters,” a short work published in 1861.
L. From George MacDonald’s 1860 story “The Portent.”
LI. From Swinburne’s poem “At a Month’s End”; at the end of the poem, the narrator bears “the wild-beast mark of panther fangs” from his lover.
LII. Unknown reference.
LIII. Asphaltum is a bituminous mineral substance that was indeed used in the preparation of mummies, although they were hardly a primary source of it.
LIV. Bullier’s was a popular Parisian dance hall.
LV. Although this patriotic French song was originally written during the French Revolution, it became more popular in the nineteenth century.
LVI. The Marquise de Brinvilliers (1630–1676) was a French aristocrat convicted of the murders (by poison) of three; she was tortured, beheaded, and her body burned. She was a popular subject for writers and artists after her death, although the story of the man trembling before her portrait is unknown.
LVII. The Flying Dutchman is a famous ghost ship destined to sail the seas forever, unable to make port.
10. The Lady with the Carnations (1896): by Marie Corelli
I. Jean-Baptiste Greuze was an 18th-century French painter who specialized in vivid portraits and domestic scenes. His work is on display in the Louvre.
II. The Apollo Belvedere is one of the great sculptures of classical antiquity, dating back to about the first century A.D. It has, however, never been displayed in the Louvre, so Corelli may have confused it with several other classical Apollo pieces at the museum.
III. This probably refers to the famous statue of Artemis popularly called “Diana of Versailles,” which was first displayed in the Louvre in 1602.
IV. Le Grand Hotel was built in 1862 and is a short distance from the Louvre.
V. Founded in 1680, the Théâtre Français is in Paris, situated between the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.
VI. Quimperlé is an ancient town built at the confluence of two rivers near the coast of the Brittany region in the northwestern part of France.
VII. An in-joke on the part of the author, since A Romance of Two Worlds was the title of her first novel.
VIII. “Treacherous heart”
IX. In English: “Ah, Madame! If we knew!” followed by, “I believe that there is a story there!”
X. “Faithful heart.”
XI. A small piece of furniture used for prayer.
14. The Banshee’s Halloween (1903): by Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
I. In ancient Scottish and Irish folklore, Halloween was believed to be a night when the borders between worlds were at their thinnest, and malicious fairies—or sidh—could cross into our world (along with spirits of the dead) and cause mischief and mayhem.
II. Yes, that Darby O’Gill: Darby O’Gill and the Little People is a 1959 film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O’Dea, based on Kavanagh’s books of tales about the Irishman and produced by Walt Disney Productions.
III. Tea
IV. The literal translation of “banshee” is “female fairy.” Banshees appear frequently in Irish folklore, where their wailing announces the death of someone nearby; in some versions of the legend, they visit over three consecutive nights, with their wailing increasing in volume and intensity with each appearance.
V. A rascal.
VI. Darling, sweetheart—a term of endearment.
VII. “Sunders”—separated.
VIII. A narrow country lane.
IX. An expression of sorrow—each word is occasionally used alone—like “alas and alack.”
X. Terms of endearment.
XI. “Bad cess” is an Irish version of “bad luck.”
XII. In the first of the Darby O’Gill stories, “Darby O’Gill and the Good People,” Darby goes after the fairies when they steal his favorite cow, but after he tricks them, they concede and the fairy King becomes Darby’s friend.
XIII. A “stiver” is the smallest amount of money.
XIV. A boy.
XV. An Irish beret.
XVI. Darby first met Sheelah in “Darby O’Gill and the Good People.”
XVII. Agra has the same meaning as the English slang expression “luv,” used in referring to a person.
XVIII. “Bad food [or fare] to you!”—a curse.
XIX. A fool or simpleton.
20. The Swine-Gods (1917): by Regina Miriam Bloch
I. A type of woman’s gown from the Middle Ages.
II. Bloch likely meant either “cease” or “cessation” here, since “cess” refers to either “luck” or a type of tax (both Irish meanings).
III. A body of water.
IV. Baal was originally the name of various gods in the Mesopotamian and Semitic religions, but after the Protestant Reformation it was more commonly applied to icons and false gods.
V. Moloch was originally a Canaanite god that demanded child sacrifice, but it has come to refer to anything demanding a heavy sacrifice. Moloch also appears in Milton’s 1667 Paradise Lost, in Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent classic Metropolis, and even in episode 8 of the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
VI. Cloven-hoofed feet are often listed as a characteristic of the Devil.
VII. Mammon is a Hebrew word meaning “money,” but is sometimes personified as a demonic deity. He also appears in Milton’s Paradise Lost.
VIII. A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion.
IX. Frozen or frosty.
X. The Roman god of war.
XI. Small cakes or crackers.
XII. Bellowed or roared.
WEIRD WOMEN
Pegasus Books Ltd.
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Compilation and Introduction copyright © 2020 by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger
First Pegasus Books cloth edition August 2020
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Cover design by Faceout Studio, Tim Green
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