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4.12: Exploring Sweeney Todd's murder-vault! — Yet another HORRID MURDER! — The highwaymen find a secret door! — A murdering earl hanged like a commoner!
Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!
PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 42:00:
- 00:55: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: The account of a murderous attack made on a landlord’s steward made 174 years ago today.
- 03:00: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 68-69: Late that evening, at St. Dunstan’s Church, four gentlemen arrive and let themselves in with a key. They are Sir Richard Blunt, with the senior churchwarden, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary’s assistant. They are soon joined by the Lord Mayor of London. They are there on an official visit to the vaults below St. Dunstan’s. Sir Richard has something he wants to show the others….
- 28:45: A TRUE-CRIME BROADSIDE: “HORRID MURDER Committed by a Young Man on a Young Woman.” A “catchpenny” — that is, an article that claims to be true but probably isn’t.
- 32:10: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The story of the crime, sentencing and execution of the Earl of Ferrers for murdering a servant in cold blood in 1769.
PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 42:30 — 1:23:45:
43:00: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 36-37: Tom and Dick pass through the door, re-lock it, and bar it on the other side. Then they look around. It’s a strange room … and in the center of it, they find a piece of equipment that explains a good deal about why Mr. Waghorn didn’t want the officers to follow them into the basement … but for Dick and Tom, the more important question is, is there a way out? We shall see …
1:08:45: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside.”
1:12:55: TWO VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "The Pensioner” (about a gent whose ladyfriend brings home the bacon in the Oldest Professional way) and “The Upright” (“upright” was slang for “erection”).
1:19:50: A FEW MILDLY DIRTY JOKES from what passed in 1830 for a dirty joke book: "The Joke-Cracker."
*The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a wood west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.
GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:
- • BOBTAIL: A naughty lady.
- • BON VIVANT: A choice spirit.
- • KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
- • CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
- • CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
- • PENSIONER: A man who lives off the earnings of a prostitute.
- • DONE BROWN: Done to perfection, finished off very neatly.
- • BLOWEN: A prostitute, or at least a lady of very easy virtue.
- • BLUNT: Money, with the implication that there is plenty of it.
- • MEAT: Generic slang for naughtybits, especially ladies’. Also MUTTON.
- • ROOT: Penis.
- • TREE: Word-playing reference to a very large “root.”
- • COVES: Informal reference to men, like “dudes” in modern slang.
- • COME IT FLASH: Cut a flashy figure on the scene.
- • FANCY GAL: A hot, sexy-dressing blowen.
- • GAY: Sporty, possibly naughty.
- • SHERRY OFF: To run away at top speed. Adopted from the nautical term "to sheer off."
- • FLATS: Suckers.
There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at https://pennydread.com/discord in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.
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By Finn J.D. John/ Pulp-Lit Productions
4.4
99 ratings
Join host Corinthian Finn, a.k.a. Finn J.D. John 18th Baron Dunwitch,* for a one-hour-long spree through the scandal-sheets and story papers of old London!
PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 42:00:
- 00:55: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: The account of a murderous attack made on a landlord’s steward made 174 years ago today.
- 03:00: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 68-69: Late that evening, at St. Dunstan’s Church, four gentlemen arrive and let themselves in with a key. They are Sir Richard Blunt, with the senior churchwarden, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary’s assistant. They are soon joined by the Lord Mayor of London. They are there on an official visit to the vaults below St. Dunstan’s. Sir Richard has something he wants to show the others….
- 28:45: A TRUE-CRIME BROADSIDE: “HORRID MURDER Committed by a Young Man on a Young Woman.” A “catchpenny” — that is, an article that claims to be true but probably isn’t.
- 32:10: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: The story of the crime, sentencing and execution of the Earl of Ferrers for murdering a servant in cold blood in 1769.
PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 42:30 — 1:23:45:
43:00: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 36-37: Tom and Dick pass through the door, re-lock it, and bar it on the other side. Then they look around. It’s a strange room … and in the center of it, they find a piece of equipment that explains a good deal about why Mr. Waghorn didn’t want the officers to follow them into the basement … but for Dick and Tom, the more important question is, is there a way out? We shall see …
1:08:45: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside.”
1:12:55: TWO VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONGS: "The Pensioner” (about a gent whose ladyfriend brings home the bacon in the Oldest Professional way) and “The Upright” (“upright” was slang for “erection”).
1:19:50: A FEW MILDLY DIRTY JOKES from what passed in 1830 for a dirty joke book: "The Joke-Cracker."
*The Barony of Dunwitch is located in a wood west of Arkham (where, as H.P. Lovecraft put it, “the hills rise wild, and there are valleys with deep woods that no axe has ever cut; there are dark narrow glens where the trees slope fantastically, and where thin brooklets trickle without ever having caught the glint of sunlight.”) Actually it is a good 3,000 miles west of Arkham. It is not to be confused with Dunwich, the English seacoast town that fell house by house into the sea centuries ago, or Dunsany, the home until 1957 of legendary fantasy author Edward J.M.D. Plunkett, 18th Baron Dunsany.
GLOSSARY OF FLASH TERMS USED IN THIS EPISODE:
- • BOBTAIL: A naughty lady.
- • BON VIVANT: A choice spirit.
- • KNIGHTS OF THE BRUSH AND MOON: Drunken fellows wandering amok in meadows and ditches, trying to stagger home.
- • CORINTHIAN: A fancy toff or titled swell. Used here as a reference to Corinthian Tom, the quintessential Regency rake depicted in Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (usually referred to as "Tom and Jerry").
- • CHAFFING-CRIB: A room where drinking and bantering are going on.
- • PENSIONER: A man who lives off the earnings of a prostitute.
- • DONE BROWN: Done to perfection, finished off very neatly.
- • BLOWEN: A prostitute, or at least a lady of very easy virtue.
- • BLUNT: Money, with the implication that there is plenty of it.
- • MEAT: Generic slang for naughtybits, especially ladies’. Also MUTTON.
- • ROOT: Penis.
- • TREE: Word-playing reference to a very large “root.”
- • COVES: Informal reference to men, like “dudes” in modern slang.
- • COME IT FLASH: Cut a flashy figure on the scene.
- • FANCY GAL: A hot, sexy-dressing blowen.
- • GAY: Sporty, possibly naughty.
- • SHERRY OFF: To run away at top speed. Adopted from the nautical term "to sheer off."
- • FLATS: Suckers.
There are more! But we’re out of space here. A full glossary of all the flash-cant terms used in this episode is at https://pennydread.com/discord in the "#season-4-episodes" thread.
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