Episode One of Season Three! — A Sunday-evening full episode IN WHICH —

0:04:10: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE:

• We hear of a spooky coincidence (or is it?): John Dryden, the poet and playwright who became England's first Poet Laureate in 1668, was an astrology buff, and pulled the charts for his newborn son Charles. They were not good news ... but that astrology stuff is just for fun, right? —right?

0:09:10: ROSE MORTIMER; or, THE BALLET-GIRL'S REVENGE:

• SUMMARY OF OUR STORY SO FAR: A Cliff's Notes version to bring new listeners up to speed on the events of Chapter 1-5.
• CHAPTER 6 (starts at 18:50): Rose isn’t out of the woods yet. She’s in this strange house, with this ruffian and his haggish mother, and she can’t help wondering if she’s jumped out of one frying pan and into another. The hag orders her to go upstairs and get some rest. She’d love to … but something tells her these two are not to be trusted, and her host keeps staring covetously at the costume-jewelry bracelet she’s wearing. Is she in danger? (Spoiler: Yes.) How will she escape from their clutches? (Spoiler: By — just kidding! Tune in and you'll soon find out!)

0:34:50: A GHOSTLY SHORT STORY, to wit —

• AN ACCOUNT OF SOME STRANGE DISTURBANCES IN AUNGIER STREET, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu, from 1851. This is Part 1 of 3 parts (Part 2 will come next Sunday).

PLUS —

• We learn a new Flash song (starting around 0:31:30): "Moll Spriggins," full of fun highway-robber slang (see below). — And ...
• We read a satirical letter proposing a New System of Poetry in Punch, the comedy magazine of the 1840s (starting around 0:57:20). — And ...
• We learn a few more Victorian "dad jokes" from good old Joe Miller!

Join host Finn J.D. John. for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London! Grab a flicker of blue ruin, unload your stumps, and let's go!

FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:

From intro and outro patter:

• GNOSTIC: Knowing one
• OUT-AND-OUTER: Excellent young person of high spirits
• FLYERS: Shoes
• DEW-BEATERS: Feet
• LUGS: Ears
• BEAKS: Magistrates and judges

• TOWN TABBY: Dowager lady of quality

• PIKE OFF: Flee to avoid being caught
• RED WAISTCOAT: Uniform of the Bow-street Runners, London's first police force
• KNIGHT OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellow wandering amok in fields and ditches trying to stagger home

From comedy article in Punch Magazine:

• SNOB: A shoemaker's helper, also known as a Knight of the Awl
• QUARTERN: A quarter pint, usually of gin

From Flash poem, "Moll Spriggins":

"To the hundreds of Drury I write": Drury-lane was notorious for prostitutes in the early 1800s

"To those who are down in the whit": Whit means prison

"Rattling their darbies with pleasure": Darbies are handcuffs or manacles.

"Who laugh at the rum culls they've bit": Culls are prostitutes' customers.

"And now they are snacking the treasure": Snacking means divvying up.

"The harman is at the Old Bailey": A harman is a constable or beadle.

"For if that they twig ye, they'll nail ye": To twig mean to notice or get wise to.

"She tipt such a jorum of diddle": Diddle was gin.

"Garnish is the prisoner's delight": Garnish was a "fee" charged to new prisoners. This means they made Moll share her gin.

"Her fortune at diving did fail": Diving was pickpocketing.

"The nubbing cull pops from the pit": Nubbing means hanging (nub meant neck).

"O then to the tree I must go": The gallows, as in "Tyburn tree." Not a literal tree.

"And then comes the gownsmen you know": Gownsmen were clergymen or priests.

"The ladder shoves off — then we morris": To morris off meant to depart; it's a reference to being hanged, though, and the "morris dance" done after the drop.

EPISODE ART is the cover art from the original 1867 publication of Rose Mortimer; or, The Ballet-girl's Revenge. It has, of course, been cleaned up and colored.