Артур Дойл - Лучшие расследования Шерлока Холмса / The Best of Sherlock Holmes

cockneysrefers to the working class population of the East London

Day’s Music Hall – Day’s Crystal Palace Concert Hall was a Birmingham concert hall named after its owner James Day and opened to public in 1862

By Jove – a mild oath that expresses surprise, probably of the Roman origin. “Jove” could originate from the Latin “Jovis” (Jupiter), the Roman King of Gods.

the City Police – the financial and business core of London, the City, has its own law enforcement body – the City of London Police (aka the City Police)

Justice of the Peace (J.P.)is a local judge entitled to deal with minor civil and criminal cases

Dungareeis a kind of sturdy cotton fabric used for working clothes. The term originates from a Hindi word.

eight-knot tramp – eight knot is a type of knots used in sailing. Hudson means that he has been tramping here and there in difficult circumstances for two years.

N. Lat. 15 degrees 20’, W. Long. 25 degrees 14’ – “N. Lat.” stands for “North latitude,” “W. Long.” stands for “West Longitude.”

dibbshere refers to money

We’ll make the coats of some of these soldiers redder – from the late 17 thtill the early 20 thcentury British soldiers wore red uniform coats.

the Bay here refers to the Bay of Biscay

brown sherry – aged strong sweet sherry wine of dark color (dark brown or black)

a witness-boxis a part of a courtroom reserved for witnesses.

starboard quarter – the right part of the stern. “Starboard” is a nautical term indicating the right side of a ship when an observer faces the front.

V. R.stands for “Victoria Regina,” Latin for “Queen Victoria.”

recherché – out of the ordinary ( French )

branch was a cadet one – the cadet branch is a line of descendents of a younger son of a patriarch

mullioned windows – windows (commonly arch windows) divided vertically in two by a special architectural element called mullion

I am member for my district – Musgrave means that he represents West Sussex in the Parliament

café noir – black coffee ( French )

blazonings and charges – blazoning refers to a coat of arms ( archaic ); charges are marks and devices placed on a shield of a coat of arms

The Norman Conquestis the occupation of the British Isles by the army of William II the duke of Normandy (France) aka William the Conqueror. The way to the Conquest was opened at the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066) when Saxons were defeated and Harold the King of England was killed.

personal equation – the scientific term here refers to difference between the intelligence of Holmes and Brunton. Holmes means that the butler is as smart as the detective himself.

Charles the First – Charles I (1600–1649), the King of England who came into conflict with the Parliament which resulted in the beginning of the English Civil War and the execution of the King.

Cavalier – cavaliers were the Royalist party, supporters of Charles I and his son Charles II (1630–1685) who left the country during the English Civil War and became the King of England in 1660.

this battered and shapeless diadem once encircled the brows of the royal Stuarts – the House of Stuart (also spelled Stewart or Steuart) is a royal House that ruled England since 1603 till 1714. The Stuart reign was interrupted in 1649 by the execution of Charles I and restored in 1660 when Charles II acceded to the throne. The crown of Stuart House is believed to be destroyed by the Parliament after Charles I’s execution.

Pope’s ‘Homer’– Alexander Pope (1688–1744) was an English poet best known for his translation of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. The translation was published by volumes during many years. It was absurd to steal only one piece of a Pope’s Homer set.

to crack a crib – Conan Doyle loved criminal slang, and peppered his stories with it whenever the occasion arose. Francis Grose’s 1811 “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” defines “to crack a crib” as “to break open a house.”

parishis a political subdivision of a British county, usually corresponding in boundaries to an original ecclesiastical parish (church division)

Queen Anne – the queen of England, Scotland and Ireland (1702–1707), then the queen of Great Britain (1707–1714). During her reign the most popular architecture style was the English baroque.

Malplaquet – the battle of Malplaquet (11 September 1709) took place during the War of the Spanish Succession

you will find it useful at the trial – in the 19 thcentury ballistics technology level didn’t allow identification of a certain gun as the murder weapon. It was only possible to determine if the bullet in question could have been fired from a gun of that type.

You may not be aware that the deduction of a man’s age from his writing is one which has brought to considerable accuracy by experts. In normal cases one can place a man in his true decade with tolerable confidence. – It was widely believed in the 19 thcentury that a competent handwriting-expert could determine gender, age, character and so on from handwriting, but nowadays this manner of reading personality is proved to be impossible.

The Guild of St. Georgewas founded in 1871 by John Ruskin (famous English art critic, philosopher and philanthropist of Victorian era) to reduce the grave social effects of the industrial capitalism. The Guild still exists in the form of a charitable Education Trust.

in the dock – a dock is a part of a courtroom where a person charged with a crime stands

Warrantis a legal document issued in order to authorise a restriction of individual’s rights, such as a search or an arrest.

Street Arabis a homeless child.

harum-scarumrefers to an irresponsible person