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

marked for the sword-belt – that means that Barclay was going to be granted a knighthood

the small affair of Uriah and Bathsheba – Holmes refers to the Bible story of King David’s seduction of Bathsheba who was the wife of a soldier named Uriah. King David fell in love with Bathsheba and in order to get rid of Uriah sent him in the first lines of the battle where Uriah was killed.

tour de force – feat of strength ( French )

Scylla and Charybdisare two sea monsters of Greek mythology. They threatened Odyssey from the opposite banks of narrow waters. The proverb “between Scylla and Charybdis” has the meaning of “having to choose between two evils.”

a ramblemeans a walk for pleasure without a certain aim

general practitioneris a doctor who deals with acute and chronic illnesses and treats patients of all ages and sexes

sanctum – holy place ( Latin ). Here it means a private place.

London University – founded in 1836, the University of London is the third oldest university in England and the second largest university in the UK. It incorporates several Colleges that are the main educational and research bodies.

King’s College Hospitalwas opened in 1840 in one of the poorest areas of London in order to train medical students of King’s College, one of the two Colleges that formed the original University of London.

Lady-dayis the day of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (march 25). Lady-day is one of the four days in which traditionally rents are paid in England.

Fool’s errand(aka snipe hunt) is a type of joke that consists in giving an impossible, imaginary or useless task.

Impis a mythological creature of a nasty character. Here it refers to a naughty child.

Vernetwas the surname of three French painters of the same dynasty: Claude-Joseph Vernet (1714–1789), a landscape and marine painter; Claude-Joseph’s son Antoine-Charles-Horace Vernet (1758–1836), a battle painter; and Claude-Joseph’s grandson Émile-Jean-Horace Vernet (1789–1863), sport and military painter.

Whitehallis a street in the City of Westminster where the buildings of His/Her Majesty Government of the UK are placed. It is also a metonym for the Government itself.

bona-fide – good faith ( Latin ). Here: real.

common – common land is an area on which people have certain traditional collective rights such as to let their livestock graze freely or to collect firewood and so on

The Daily Newswas a national British newspaper published from 1846 to 1960 (since 1912 under different names). Its founder and first editor was Charles Dickens.

X2473 – in Victorian Britain most newspapers maintained anonymous post-boxes with identification numbers for personal use. Communication through such a newspaper box allowed both the poster and the respondent to conceal their identity.

A life preserveris a self-defense weapon, for example a bludgeon.

Mesmericrefers to hypnotic. The term derives from the name of Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815) a German physician, the author of the “animal magnetism” theory. Mesmer was a skilled hypnotist.

The Triple Alliancewas a secret military alliance of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Italy opposed to Triple Entente Alliance between Russia, the UK and France. The Triple Alliance was formed in 1882 and lasted until the start of World War I in 1914.

Paisley shawl – Paisley is a town in Scotland where copies of Indians Kashmir shawls were woven during the 19 thcentury

Coldstream Guards – Her Majesty’s Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards is a still-existing Foot Guard regiment of the British Army. In the 19 thcentury it took part in the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, Egypt expeditions, the Second Boer War.

Bertillon system of measurementsnamed after its inventor, French police official Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914), aimed to reliably identify individuals by physical measurements of body parts. Bertillon system was widely used by European police forces during the late 19 thcentury.

The big gamehunt refers to hunting dangerous and/or exotic animals, such as lions, tigers, leopards, elephants etc.

Reuters, a world known news agency, was founded in London in 1851 by Paul Julius Reuter. Reuter used telegraph, radio and even carrier pigeons to report the news to newspapers.

“Not let the grass grow under one’s feet”is a proverb that has the meaning of “not waste time by delaying doing something.”

The Lowther Arcadeis a toy-market gallery located at the Strand opposite Charing Cross Station.

carpet-bags – in the 19 thcentury travelling bags made of carpet were very popular for their durability. It was believed that a good carpet-bag could last a lifetime.

coup-de-maître – a master stroke ( French )

Salle-à-mangeris a French term for a dining room at the train station.

Grosvenor Hotelis a luxury hotel located near Buckingham Palace.

The Reichenbach Falls – a range of five cascades on the River Aar in Bern canton, Switzerland. The Reichenbach Falls are among the highest waterfalls in the Alps.

the Honourable – the title is used before the names of children of peers

the Earl of Maynoothis a fictitious title of nobility. Maynooth, a village in County Kildare, Ireland, was the stronghold of the FitzGeralds, one of the noblest families of Ireland (the Earls of Kildare from the 14 thcentury and the Dukes of Leinster from the 18 thcentury).

Australian Colonies – in the 19 thcentury Australia was divided in 6 British colonies: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. The Colonies formed a British Commonwealth in 1901.

Park Laneis running along the eastern boundary of Hide Park from Oxford Street on the north to Green Park on the south. In the 19 thcentury Park Lane was a residential address for British aristocrasy.

Carstairsis a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland.