Gaslight digest of discussion from 97-apr-25 to 97-apr-27
----------------------------THE HEADERS---------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 06:52:28 -0700 (MST)
Date-warning: Date header was inserted by MtRoyal.AB.CA
From: Moudry
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 08:58:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tom and Gail Ross
Subject: Re: Sabine Baring-Gould [11358] [11364]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 09:58:45 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 07:02:15 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Kwaidan [11366]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 07:39:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Karen Hedelund
Subject: Kwaidon [11367]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 09:40:04 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Re: Kwaidan [11368]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:02:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debah(at)aol.com
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365] [11369]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:30:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: RE: Kwaidon [11367] [11370]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:31:13 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Hearn readings [11371]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 10:49:17 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: Kwaidan [11368] [11372]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 11:58:26 -0700 (MST)
Date-warning: Date header was inserted by MtRoyal.AB.CA
From: Moudry
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365] [11369] [11373]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:32:21 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Re: Hearn readings [11371] [11374]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 13:48:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Chris Carlisle
Subject: Hearn site [11375]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 14:06:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Chris Carlisle
Subject: More Hearn on the Web [11376]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 14:50:32 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Re: Kwaidan etc. [11377]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 18:49:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: More on Hearn sites [11378]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 17:03:33 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: More on Hearn sites [11378] [11379]
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 17:54:49 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: Kwaidan etc. [11377] [11380]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 00:35:43 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: another true crime story by Wilkie Collins [11381]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 13:48:36 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: Thieves' slang rhyme [11382]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 16:00:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: RE: Thieves' slang rhyme [11382] [11383]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 16:25:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Peter E. Blau"
Subject: about Arthur Train and Old Man Rice ... [11384]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 15:17:03 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: BJB: Martin L. Friedman [11385]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 18:09:46 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Max Adeler's "A desperate adventure" [11386]
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 20:16:54 -0600 (CST)
From: "Ruth W. Jeffries"
Subject: Re: What is "porching" or "church-porching"? [11317] [11350] [11387]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:10:51 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: bodysnatching revisited [11388]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 19:39:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: re: bodysnatchers [11389]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 20:24:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: More bodysnatching [11390]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 20:33:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Re: More on bodysnatching [11391]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 21:15:24 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: bodysnatching [11392]
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 22:01:08 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood"
Subject: Re: More bodysnatching [11390] [11393]
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 01:20:22 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Sutherland's "The mystery of the pencil factory" [11394]
-----------------------------THE POSTS-----------------------------
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 06:52:28 -0700 (MST)
Date-warning: Date header was inserted by MtRoyal.AB.CA
From: Moudry
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363]
Thank you, Linda, from the bottom of my black heart. For all these years I
thought that I was the only human being on the planet who considered Ms
Austin not worth the effort. Now I know that there are at least two lit'rary
deviants prowling the darkened stacks of midnight libraries....
Saturnally,
Moudry
At 18:55 24/4/97 -0700, you wrote:
>I'm sorry. I apologize in advance. I can't *stand* anything written by
>Jane Austen. I know it's base of me as I love Thomas Hardy and nearly every
>one else in the era but I just *gag* on Jane Austen. Her comedies of
>manners that elicit guffaws from my husband and sister just make me puke and
>change the channel.
>
>I love Charles Dance. I wish I had been able to see him in Sir Larry's
>triumph of yesteryear but- I couldn't. sigh. She isn't funny! she isn't
>good! I can't stand her! Pride and Prejudice- bah! I don't understand it.
>Trollope is better. then again, so is Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. oi vay is mir.
>
>I'm going on the porch of our local churches tonight- but no one we knew
>from family is buried here- will that make a difference or will the dead
>travel knowing we are looking for them?
>
>I have a latin teacher on line for those who need help in translation. I
>forgot about Mdme Christine Fuller and just tonight called her and asked if
>she had email. She does. If Father John or someone would again send me the
>latin bits for translation she is willing to have a go at them. She also
>does Greek. Teaches in a local high school (and one of only 3 in the area
>to offer Greek and Latin not being church related).
>
>
>Linda Anderson
>
>
Joe Moudry voice: (205) 934-3945
Development & Training fax: (205) 934-6530
The Univ. of Alabama (at) Birmingham
Moudry(at)uab.edu
UAB's HRM Webmaster: www-hrm1.vpad/uab.edu
Saturn Web: www-hrm1.vpad.uab.edu/saturn
Producer/host: Classic Jazz, Big Band Jazz, & New Jazz
on WUAL (91.5 FM, Tuscaloosa/Birmingham),
WQPR (88.7 FM, Muscle Shoals/NW Alabama), &
WAPR (88.3 FM, Selma/Central Alabama)
/|/
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 08:58:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Tom and Gail Ross
Subject: Re: Sabine Baring-Gould [11358] [11364]
Hid behind the door? That's priceless! How apt!
This song is now greatly controversial in some denominations.
THe United Church of Canada had it removed from their newest hymnal on
the grounds that Christianity is a peace-loving religion, not a war
I disagree, and still like to sing it.
Gail ross.
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 09:58:45 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365]
The saturnal Moudry may wish to know that his view was shared by
none other than Mark Twain. A perfectly good library can be started,
Twain once opined, by first leaving out all the works of Jane Austen.
I like Jane Austen, but am not of the cult of Jane. Austen is
not, it seems to me, one of those writers you either love or hate.
She has something to offer everyone. She does not, however, demand
that you honor her offer.
Bob Champ
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 07:02:15 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Kwaidan [11366]
May I strongly recommend that those who belong to the BOMC (or its
subsidiaries) immediately go into debt (it's about $60.00) and purchase the
videotape of the above? As many of you know, the 1965 film is Kobayashi's
film version of four of Lafcadio Hearn's supernatural stories. The ads say
that it "ranks with Gate of Hell as the most beautiful film ever made in
Japan"; I'd be tempted to remove the qualifications. I've never seen a more
visually stunning film. But it's also a great dramatic film, wonderfully
composed and acted. Moreover, each episode has a different narrative
texture. And this is the best print (I've seen the film at least twenty
times in theater: I have already two videotape versions) I have ever, ever
seen: letter-boxed, with literate subtitles. Home Vision Cinema.
For those who might watch it for the first time, two warnings about the
first episode (The Black Hair). One: it has the brilliant, slow modulation
of a great horror story, along the lines of James or LeFanu: be patient.
Two--the payoff: be prepared to be shocked, abruptly (after I'd seen it for
about ten times, I would watch the audience to see them jump: literally).
Among films of the supernatural, Kwaidan ranks for me with Nosferatu,
Vampyr, and Epstein's Fall of the House of Usher. Don't miss this, folks.
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 07:39:14 -0700 (PDT)
From: Karen Hedelund
Subject: Kwaidon [11367]
I also ordered "Kwaidon". It is one of my all-time favorite movies. I
haven't seen it since it first came out in the US movie houses. "Kwaidon"
introduced me to the works of Lafcadio Hearn who is one of my favorite
authors.
Karen Hedelund, aka Nora Bonesteel, aka Karken-Odegaard Undergraduate
Library, U W, 206-543-1947 karenh(at)u.washington.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 09:40:04 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Re: Kwaidan [11368]
Yay for Jack!! Somebody else has said what Bob Champ, at least, knows I've
been saying for quite awhile. Of course I love the Kwaidan stories, and
came to love them more last year while doing what passes for research with
me, preparatory to writing a Hearn story--supposed to be ghost-written
(pardon the pun) by him before his death. I tied it into 'Genji' which has
been a favorite read of mine since the 60s. But until I wrote my story
("The Last Ghost") I'd never actually found the Kwaidan film. Then my
friend Kiwi in St. Louis did find it--and we watched it and just shuddered
through the whole thing. Considering when it was made, and the comparative
simplicity of the 'special effects' (as compared to nowadays' it stands the
test of time superbly. The sound track is as chilling as the visual
effects, too.
Thanks, Jack, for making everyone aware of this!
Athan (a Hearn fan)
ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:02:25 -0400 (EDT)
From: Debah(at)aol.com
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365] [11369]
In a message dated 4/25/97 7:38:31 AM, you wrote:
>I like Jane Austen, but am not of the cult of Jane. Austen is
>not, it seems to me, one of those writers you either love or hate.
>She has something to offer everyone. She does not, however, demand
>that you honor her offer.
Thanks Bob. I gather we all have authors we love or hate but I rather think
that is all personal. I, too, like Jane Austen and could defend her humor
and merits if I thought it was important or was teaching a class. But we
aren't opening a debate here. Jane has stood her test of time and if there
are those out there who do not appreciate her, Twain included, at least her
books are still available to me.
Deborah
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:30:16 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: RE: Kwaidon [11367] [11370]
Hearn is an oft-mentioned author on Gaslight, but we have
never discussed any of his works. I hope one day
that can be remedied. Hearn had a rich mind, a
rich style, and rich materials with which to work. His
life was as interesting as that of any writer you can
imagine; and he _could_ become the pretext for discussing
the influence of things Japanese on our period. (Most
of that influence was on the decorative and visual
arts. But when has that ever stopped a discussion on
Gaslight?)
Hearn also had a lengthy American period in which he
produced a number of articles and essays. Knowing his
penchant for the out-of-the-way place, for the exotic
and unknown, we may well see in these works a vision of
America in our period such as we have glimpsed only
obliquely so far.
Thanks to Jack for mentioning the new and improved
version of _Kwaidan_, a great film. Hearn's stories,
and his accounts of life in Japan, are also moving, beautiful,
and often scary--though of course the life he wrote about
and the life he actually knew in Japan were quite different.
These stories, like the film, are finely textured, reading
more like fairy tales than horror stories. They have about
them an air of timelessness and delicacy--like an ancient
Japanese print.
Hearn, btw, was also a wonderful nature writer, producing detailed
portraits of creatures like fireflies and crabs, but always
relating these to the human world. I think that he and someone
like Robert Chambers would have gotten along very well indeed.
Bob Champ (another Hearn fan)
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:31:13 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Hearn readings [11371]
Stephen--
Maybe we could put one of Hearn's stories out there for all of us to read?
Or maybe the essay on fireflies :) Or is there still a copyright problem
with that?
Athan (Firefly) Chilton
ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 10:49:17 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: Kwaidan [11368] [11372]
>But until I wrote my story
>("The Last Ghost") I'd never actually found the Kwaidan film. Then my
>friend Kiwi in St. Louis did find it--and we watched it and just shuddered
>through the whole thing. Considering when it was made, and the
>comparative simplicity of the 'special effects' (as compared to nowadays'
>it stands the test of time superbly. The sound track is as chilling as
>the visual effects, too.
Thanks, Athan. Frankly, I think the visual effects are as fine as I've
seen. But you're right: I neglected to mention the sound, which is
wonderfully minimal and thus in every sense appropriate.
I made a mistake in my earlier post in suggesting that this film offered at
least as fine a visual reality as anything in Japanese cinema. I was wrong:
in "Hoichi-the-Earless" there are scenes visually unparalleled in anything I
know.
And what a post-modernist story is "In A Cup of Tea."
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 11:58:26 -0700 (MST)
Date-warning: Date header was inserted by MtRoyal.AB.CA
From: Moudry
Subject: Re: Jane Eyre [11361] [11363] [11365] [11369] [11373]
At 12:02 25/4/97 -0400, you wrote:
>
>In a message dated 4/25/97 7:38:31 AM, you wrote:
>
>>I like Jane Austen, but am not of the cult of Jane. Austen is
>>not, it seems to me, one of those writers you either love or hate.
>>She has something to offer everyone. She does not, however, demand
>>that you honor her offer.
>
>Thanks Bob. I gather we all have authors we love or hate but I rather think
>that is all personal. I, too, like Jane Austen and could defend her humor
>and merits if I thought it was important or was teaching a class. But we
>aren't opening a debate here.
'
====> Jane has stood her test of time and if there
====>are those out there who do not appreciate her, Twain included, at least her
====>books are still available to me.
>
>Deborah
>
Beautifully said, Deborah!
Saturnally,
Moudry
Joe Moudry voice: (205) 934-3945
Development & Training fax: (205) 934-6530
The Univ. of Alabama (at) Birmingham
Moudry(at)uab.edu
UAB's HRM Webmaster: www-hrm1.vpad/uab.edu
Saturn Web: www-hrm1.vpad.uab.edu/saturn
Producer/host: Classic Jazz, Big Band Jazz, & New Jazz
on WUAL (91.5 FM, Tuscaloosa/Birmingham),
WQPR (88.7 FM, Muscle Shoals/NW Alabama), &
WAPR (88.3 FM, Selma/Central Alabama)
/|/
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 12:32:21 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Re: Hearn readings [11371] [11374]
Athan,
the Hearn collection in town is not comprehensive,
and I have trouble determining at a glance which are his
better stories. If you could suggest a few, then I will
see what I can locate for June. There should be no copyright
problem anywhere in the world with etexting Hearn.
At least one of his books available to me locally
is a pretty little thing that must be untied to be read.
I will try to convey some of that thru the website by
the time Hearn comes up.
Can someone point me to Hearn's writing about
Canada? I am under the impression he wrote one or
more articles about a trip he was paid to undertake,
possibly as he was leaving North America for the Orient.
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 13:48:30 -0600 (CST)
From: Chris Carlisle
Subject: Hearn site [11375]
I just found a site with a brief biography of Hearn at:
http://park01.park.or.jp/Edutainment/Cr02/D29/syouga_e.html
It has a nice illustration from one of the ghost stories, too.
There's a Kwaidan page at:
http://members.tripod.com/~tapion13/index.html
and there are several Hearn stories there, including The Faceless
Woman. Note, all of the story links did not work during my visit.
Kiwi
carlisle(at)wuchem.wustl.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 14:06:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Chris Carlisle
Subject: More Hearn on the Web [11376]
http://www.tiac.net/users/eldred/lh/hearn.html
This site has 5 stories from Kwaidan, and a few other things.
None of my favorites, unfortunately...
Kiwi
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 14:50:32 -0500
From: ayc(at)ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (athan chilton)
Subject: Re: Kwaidan etc. [11377]
>
>I made a mistake in my earlier post in suggesting that this film offered at
>least as fine a visual reality as anything in Japanese cinema. I was wrong:
>in "Hoichi-the-Earless" there are scenes visually unparalleled in anything I
>know.
That's the part of the soundtrack that really sticks with me too--that
voice calling 'HOICHI!!' Ooh! Yikes!
Has anyone ever seen the film 'Chushingura' (also called 'The Forty-Seven
Ronin')? It also has some beautiful film effects, and a musical score that
made me get teary-eyed when I first saw it in 1969... I don't remember if
it's a Kurosawa film, but Toshiro Mifune was in it.
>
>And what a post-modernist story is "In A Cup of Tea."
I'll have to go re-read that one--for some reason it's escaped me just now.
And me the Green Tea drinker!
athan
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 18:49:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: More on Hearn sites [11378]
Many thanks to Kiwi for the URLs devoted to Hearn. Of the sites, the
easiest to reach for me was the one at www.tiac.net, which features
links to the others as well as to a few Kiwi didn't mention (there are
simply too many to list all of them). Tulane University, I note, has
a travelling exhibit devoted to Hearn, and there is another Louisiana
homepage on him that I was unable to access (Hearn lived in the state for a
time).
Most sites stress Hearn's contribution to the opening up of Japan: his
many stories and articles brought a new appreciation of that country to
America. Less noted is the fact that Hearn was instrumental in
introducing English literature into Japan, where he was a lecturer
at a university.
If you don't know Hearn, these sites can serve as an excellent introduction.
They offer biographical materials, photos, bibliographies, as well as
stories and articles.
I would like to put in a word here for _Kotto_, another volume of stories
along with a few essays. It contains excerpts from the diary of a poor
Japanese woman (translated by Hearn, of course) that makes for a very
touching story. Hearn, btw, never fully mastered the Japanese language,
though most of the ghost stories in _Kwaidan_ were personally collected
by him. It is in the English telling, however, that all the art lies.
Bob Champ
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 17:03:33 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: More on Hearn sites [11378] [11379]
>Hearn, btw, never fully mastered the Japanese language,
>though most of the ghost stories in _Kwaidan_ were personally collected
>by him. It is in the English telling, however, that all the art lies.
And, if I may say one word more, supplemental to Bob & others' excellent
posts, it is Kobayashi's filmmaking that gives full dimension to Hearn's
rather sketchy, fable-like stories in _Kwaidan_. In other words, the movie
is far better than the book.
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 17:54:49 -0700
From: Jack Kolb
Subject: Re: Kwaidan etc. [11377] [11380]
>Has anyone ever seen the film 'Chushingura' (also called 'The Forty-Seven
>Ronin')? It also has some beautiful film effects, and a musical score that
>made me get teary-eyed when I first saw it in 1969... I don't remember if
>it's a Kurosawa film, but Toshiro Mifune was in it.
According to Maltin, directed by Hiroshi Inagaki (1962). I've never seen it
(Maltin gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 4, and says that it is sometimes called
the _Gone With the Wind_ of Japanese cinema). Apparently it's not available
on videotape: I couldn't find it in an admittedly brief glance at
Videohounds or the current Facets catalog).
Jack Kolb
Dept. of English, UCLA
kolb(at)ucla.edu
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 00:35:43 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: another true crime story by Wilkie Collins [11381]
POSNMEAL.NON
"The poisoned meal" is another true crime story
designated by Wilkie Collins as one of the "Cases
worth looking at". It takes place in late 18th C
France. There is a large cast of charcters in this
one-sided machination, so I may be forgiven for
getting confused. Can someone tell me if Hebert
is a sergeant or a surgeon or both? I am wondering
if the story has some typos.
Send to: Mailserv(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
the following command:
send [gaslight]posnmeal.non
or visit the webiste at:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/programs/arts/english/gaslight
===> nonfiction ===> Wilkie Collins
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 13:48:36 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: Thieves' slang rhyme [11382]
Hi Gassers:
I've been reading G. W. M. Reynold's _Mysteries of London_ (no small
undertaking--3 volumes, each 400 large pages of small print!) and came across
the following rhyme which I thought others might enjoy:
THE THIEVES' ALPHABET.
A was an Area-sneak leary and sly;
B was a Buzgloak, with fingers so fly;
C was a Cracksman, that forked all the plate;
D was a Dubsman, who kept the jug-gate.
For we are rollicking chaps,
All smoking, singing, boozing;
We care not for the traps,
But pass the night carousing!
E was an Efter, that went to the play;
F was a Fogle he knapped on his way;
G was a Gag, which he told to the beak;
H was a Hum-box, where parish-prigs speak.
CHORUS
I was an Ikey, with swag all encumbered;
J was a Jug, in whose cell he was lumbered;
K was a Kye-bosh, that paid for his treat;
L was a Leaf that fell under his feet.
CHORUS
M was a Magsman, frequenting Pall-Mall;
N was a Nose, that turned chirp on his pal;
O was an Onion, possessed by a swell;
P was a Pannie, done niblike and well.
CHORUS
Q was a Queer-screen, that served as a blind;
R was a Reader, with flimsies well lined;
S was a Smasher, so nutty and spry;
T was a Ticker, just faked from a cly.
CHORUS
U was an Up-tucker, fly with the cord;
V was a Varnisher, dressed like a lord;
Y was a Yoxter that eat caper sauce;
Z was a Ziff who was flashed on the horse.
For we are rollicking chaps
All smoking, singing, boozing:
We care not for the traps,
But pass the night carousing.
There are copius notes on the meaning of the slang expressions, some of which
occur earlier in the book:
Area-sneak: a thief who sneaks down areas to see what he
can steal in kitchens
Buzgloak: common thieves
Cracksman: burglar
Dubsman: turnkey
Jug: prison
Efter: a thief who frequents theatres
Beak: judge
Hum-box: pulpit
Parish-prig: chaplain
Ikey: a Jew fence: a receiver of stolen goods
Swag: booty, plunder
Jug: prison
Kye-bosh: 1s. 6d.
Leaf: the drop
Magsman: swell-mobites
Nose: informer
Chirp: inform
Onion: a watch seal
Pannie: burglary
Niblike: gentlemanly, agreeable
Queer screen: forged note
Served as a blind: served to deceive the unwary
Reader: pocket-book
Smasher: person who passes false money
Nutty: pretty
Ticker: watch
Cly: waistcoat pocket
Up-tucker: Jack Ketch
Varnisher: utterer of false sovereigns
Yoxter: a convict returned from transportation before his time
eat caper sauce: hanged
Ziff: a juvenile thief
Flashed on the horse: privately whipped in prison
Enjoy!
Jim st. Andre
jgs3(at)midway.uchicago.edu
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 16:00:47 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: RE: Thieves' slang rhyme [11382] [11383]
A mighty expression of thanks to Jim St. Andre for "The Thieves'
Alphabet." I trust that this poem didn't come tripping off the
pen of a professional rhymester but was made by a poeticizing
thief who had found his true subject just by looking around him.
I notice that the alphabet doesn't mention the thieves' companions
of the opposite sex--a signal omission. We have all heard of
the hypnotic power of crooks over women (and men) of light
virue, and sometimes even heavy virtue. But we are, after all,
settled among the Victorians in this book.
Have to go--and nose on the efter that lifted my onion.
Thanks again, Jim.
Bob Champ
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 16:25:59 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Peter E. Blau"
Subject: about Arthur Train and Old Man Rice ... [11384]
With regard to Arthur Train's "A murder conspiracy", I recommend THE DEATH
OF OLD MAN RICE: A TRUE STORY OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE IN AMERICA, by Martin L.
Friedland (New York: New York University Press, 1994). It's a fascinating
story, demonstrating that some aspects of the relationships among money,
media, and justice have not changed a bit since 1900. And there's even a
connection to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle . . .
|| Peter E. Blau ||
|| 3900 Tunlaw Road NW #119 ||
|| Washington, DC 20007-4830 ||
|| (202-338-1808) ||
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 15:17:03 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: BJB: Martin L. Friedman [11385]
I am overjoyed to hear from Peter B that Friedman has produced
more crime histories than the two I list below. His accumulation
of detail and unearthing of original illustrations made for
gripping reads with these titles. I have long wanted to make
CD-ROMs out of them, which is the only way I can think to
involve the reader in the subject any more than Friedman already
has.
These Book Jacket Blurbs were originally posted 95-apr-08
1985
Martin L. Friedland: _The trials of Israel Lipski_
Dust Jacket: On Tuesday morning, June 28, 1887, Miriam Angel, six
months pregnant, was found murdered in the East End of London.
The cause of death: nitric acid had been poured down her
throat. Israel Lipski, a twenty-two year old Polish immigrant,
was charged with her murder, thus initiating one of the greatest
legal mysteries of all time.
Did he do it? Lipski was a neighbor of the Angels, and
like them, was a Jew newly arrived in England. What was his
motive? He was friendly but kept mostly to himself. Why was there
as much evidence of his innocence as there was his guilt? Lipski
was found in Miriam Angel's room, unconscious. Traces of nitric
acid were found in his mouth.
Drawing on the exhaustive records of this famous, tragic
case, noted legal authority Martin L. Friedland presents
fascinating material, including evidence that Lipski's case may
have been influenced by the Victorian attitude regarding
immigrants. Innocent or guilty? _The trials of Israel Lipski_
is a true mystery far more intriguing than any work of fiction.
1986
Martin L. Friedland: _The case of Valentine Shortis: a true story of
crime and politics in Canada_
Dust jacket: Two men were shot and killed in the office of the Montreal
Cotton Company in Valleyfield, Quebec, on a night in 1895. A third
victim, shot through the head, managed to survive. Charged with
the murders was Valentine Shortis, a young Irish immigrant. His
trial, the longest on record at that time in Canada, was played
out against one of the most dramatic periods in Canadian political
history. Before the case closed it had involved some of the most
important names in the country.
Did Valentine Shortis commit murder in the course of
a bold robbery, as the Crown and the citizens of Valleyfield
believed? Or was he insane, as the defence argued and the
leading psychiatrists contended? The best-known lawyers in
Quebec fought out the issues in the courts, while policiticians
used the case to further their careers. As the trial dragged on
it became part of the political tapestry of the day, along with
the Manitoba schools question, the revolt of the 'nest of traitors'
from Mackenzie Bowell's cabinet, and the federal election of
1896, in which Laurier used the Shortis case to help him become
prime minister.
As well as Laurier, other prominent Canadians made
appearances in the case. Lady Aberdeen, the wife of the
governor-general, mysteriously put a word in the ear of Sir
Charles Hibbert Tupper, the young minister of justice. We
meet the larger-than-life psychiatrists, C.K. Clarke and R.M.
Bucke, sex-educator Arthur Beall, and even Mackenzie King and
his spirits.
Martin Friedland has vividly reconstructed one of the
most dramatic criminal cases in Canada's history. Along the
way he reveals much about our political past, French-English
relations, and the history of psychiatry and corrections.
Above all he tells a fascinating and compelling tale of
murder and politics.
(End of quotes)
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
P.S. my library follows the
irritating habit of listing the
author as "M.L. Friedman" which
prevents anyone looking for
"Martin Friedman" from finding
him.
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 18:09:46 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Max Adeler's "A desperate adventure" [11386]
DESPADVT.SHT
Max Adeler, in a bygone style of humour, treats of
a small group who wish to commit suicide in "A
desperate adventure". (Year unknown)
Send to: mailserv(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
the following command:
send [gaslight]despadvt.sht
or visit the website at:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/programs/arts/english/gaslight
===>Fiction ===> Max Adeler
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
===0===
Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 20:16:54 -0600 (CST)
From: "Ruth W. Jeffries"
Subject: Re: What is "porching" or "church-porching"? [11317] [11350] [11387]
On Wed, 23 Apr 1997 23:31:35 -0700 (MST),
STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE wrote:
> It took some scouring, but I found the phrase "porching"
> again in Bleiler's _Guide to supernatural fiction_ (1983).
>
> It is not a subheading, and not strictly about ghosts as I
> had thought. The entry reads thus:
>
>DEATH WATCH. (A folkloristic belief that the
>spirits of those due to die within the next
>year will be seen at a certain time and place--
>usually the church. In England called porching
>or church-porching.)
A very funny "ghost" story about church-porching is Thomas Hood's "St.
Mark's Eve," in _Hood's Own_.
Ruth Jeffries
University of Minnesota
jeff0002(at)gold.tc.umn.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 18:10:51 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: bodysnatching revisited [11388]
Dear Gassers:
I've dredged up something else from _The Mysteries of London_ that I thought
might be of interest. There was a recent discussion of tales related to
body-snatchers, esp. Stevenson's.
Chapter 62, which is the biography of a resurrection man (one of the evil
characters in the plot), includes an episode where he inadvertently
dis-inters the body of the girl he was in love with (who had died suddenly
while he was away) for a "sawbones" who wanted to determine the cause of
death. It is not supernatural, but the shock leads to other episodes in his
life which make him a confirmed criminal.
[Volume 1, p. 194-5]
I don't know whether such stories were common, or whether Stevenson drew on
Reynold's account; does anyone know if there are other such accounts?
(Perhaps in Mayhew's work?)
Jim St. Andre
jgs3(at)midway.uchicago.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 19:39:35 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: re: bodysnatchers [11389]
Jim writes:
>Chapter 62, which is the biography of a resurrection man (one of the evil
>characters in the plot), includes an episode where he inadvertently
>dis-inters the body of the girl he was in love with (who had died suddenly
>while he was away) for a "sawbones" who wanted to determine the cause of
>death. It is not supernatural, but the shock leads to other episodes in his
>life which make him a confirmed criminal.
>[Volume 1, p. 194-5]
>I don't know whether such stories were common, or whether Stevenson drew on
>Reynold's account; does anyone know if there are other such accounts?
>(Perhaps in Mayhew's work?)
I associate with Burke and Hare, though I am not altogether certain that
this is part of their legend, the murder of a young woman who was so
physically perfect that the doctor who received her body preserved
rather than send it to the dissecting room. He had it put into a large jar
filled with the preservative fluid (don't know what that could have been)
and displayed it to select friends. A terrible end for beauty.
Bob Champ
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 20:24:20 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: More bodysnatching [11390]
Jim's request for body-snatching sources led to me another, rather
unusual, tale which is told in C. E. Maine's _The World's Strangest
Crimes_, but which I'm sure can be found in any number of other places,
including biographies of the great composer Franz Josef Haydn (d.
1809). Here are the relevant facts re: the actual of an important part of
Haydn's anatomy in Maine's own words:
>>At the time when Haydn died, Austria was being invaded by the
French. Enemy troops were fighting their way into Vienna. His
burial was therefore a rush job with little pomp or ceremony. He
was interred in a churchyard at Hundsthurm, near Vienna, where
he had lived.
Two nights later, while the French were still bombarding the
capital, four men carrying spades and a lantern stole into the
cemetery, dug open Haydn's grave--not a difficult task, as it had only
recently been filled in and the soil was still loose-and took the lid
off the coffin. This was not just an ordinary body-snatching expedition;
The raiders merely wanted a particular piece of Haydn's body. They
cut off the head of the corpse and carefully wrapped it up, after which
they closed the coffin and filled in the grave again. Then they departed
as quietly as they had come, taking the severed head with them. In due
course the head was delivered to a man named Johan Peter, who was
superintendent of two prisons in Vienna.
The grisly decapitation of the dead body of the celebrated composer
had been arranged by Peter for an unusual purpose. His hobby was
phrenology, and he took this hobby very seriously indeed. In order
to make practical "scientific" tests of the theories of Dr. Gall, the
deviser of phrenology, Peter had for some time been collecting the
skulls of identifiable dead people so that, by means of meticulous
measurement of the cranial structure, he could related bone shape
to the talents and propensities of the owner of the skull when he or
she had been alive. As a prison executive, Peter encountered little
difficulty in obtaining an adequate supply of run-of-the-mill heads
of executed criminals who, if they possessed any "bumps of knowledge"
at all, undoubtedly wore them on that part of the cranium devoted to
murder and crime. The death of Haydn in the confusion of ware
offered an ideal opportunity to acquire a really worthwhile subject
for his pseudo-scientific phrenological tests. Haydn's head had been
cut off in order to find out if he possessed a "bump of music." <<
Haydn's head went through many adventures afterwards and was not
reunited to his body until 1954, one hundred and forty five years
after his burial.
Bob Champ (who regrets that he can't come up with more "resurrection"
stories of this kind. What is the name of that book about
the London constabulary? It certainly has resurrection
stories. Do you remember it, Ruth? We discussed it once
a long time ago.)
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 20:33:39 -0500 (EST)
From: Robert Champ
Subject: Re: More on bodysnatching [11391]
Ach! I just recalled the name of that book, saints be praised! Percy
Fitzgerald, _Chronicles of Bow Street Police-Office_. You'll find
some stories of the resurrection men there, Jim, including one about
a resurrection man who nearly ended up in the grave himself.
yrs,
Bob
rchamp(at)europa.umuc.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 21:15:24 -0500 (CDT)
From: james george st andre
Subject: bodysnatching [11392]
Thanks, Bob, for the pointers to other sources; I enjoyed the stuff about
Haydn very much.
I have seen but only read bits of _Chronicles_; I will have to sit down and
read it through after I finish Reynolds.
(Who, by the way, to take up another recent thread, has extensive segments on
gypsies)
Jim
jgs3(at)midway.uchicago.edu
===0===
Date: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 22:01:08 -0600 (MDT)
From: "p.h.wood"
Subject: Re: More bodysnatching [11390] [11393]
For those who are interested, here follows an example from the Isle of
Man, which dates back to the 1940's. Certain names and places have been
deleted, as the families of those involved are still living in the
district. I heard this story from the son of the village policeman.
In the parish of Andreas, in the North of the Island, there lived an
elderly man who was both the local undertaker and the sexton of the parish
church. In the late 1930's he fell in love with a young woman of the
parish, the daughter of a local farmer, who, sad to relate, died of T.B.
whilst she was still only seventeen. She was buried in the churchyard in
the family plot.
Some ten years later, rumours began to circulate concerning the sexton.
The same family, who had recently buried another member, commented that
the fittings on the coffin were very like those they remembered from that
of their young daughter, though the undertaker had assured them that they
were the latest pattern, only newly introduced.
Eventually the scandal grew to such proportions that the sexton took to
his bed with illness. Whilst he was there, the aggrieved family obtained
an exhumation order for the grave plot, and discovered to their horror
that their daughter's coffin was empty.
The police went to the sexton's house, and could get no reply. They broke
in, and discovered him lying in bed with his throat slit and a razor in
his hand. In the bed beside him were the remains of a female body, which,
according to the coroner, had been dead for some years.
Investigation revealed that the sexton had been selling the coffin
fittings to other undertakers in the Island. The body of the young woman
was buried in what was thought to be her grave, though her true identity
remains uncertain to this day.
I confess that I have used some of these incidents in one of my own
fictional works, changing location and dates as necessary. I do not
recommend anyone to try and investigate further; they will almost
certainly learn nothing.
Peter Wood
===0===
Date: Mon, 28 Apr 1997 01:20:22 -0700 (MST)
From: "STEPHEN DAVIES, MT. ROYAL COLLEGE"
Subject: Etext avail: Sutherland's "The mystery of the pencil factory" [11394]
Alfred Uhry (_Driving Miss Daisy_) was interviewed on
CBC Radio this a.m. about his latest play, _The end of
Ballyhoo_. It is a direct examination of the suppressed
Jewishness of certain Southerners. He attributed the
the desire of Jews to self-censor their religious
affiliation to an incident that happened 84 years ago,
on Constitution Day, 1913-apr-26, in Georgia.
PENCLFCT.NON 29 kb
Sidney Sutherland lays out the unsolved mystery of
who killed Mary Phagan, and the unfair treatment of
Leo Frank in "The mystery of the pencil factory" (1929).
While the account is interesting, Sutherland is as
prejudiced in some of his descriptions as he accuses
the population of being toward Frank. Be warned.
Send to: Mailserv(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
the following command:
send [gaslight]penclfct.non
Or visit the Gaslight website:
http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/programs/arts/english/gaslight
===> Non-fiction ===>Sutherland
Stephen D
SDavies(at)mtroyal.ab.ca
End of Gaslight digest.