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4.14: The horrors in the vault beneath Sweeny Todd’s shop! — A sea-cave in Scotland steeped in blood, gold, and horror. — The highwaymen give the officers the slip!
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!
This is our Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode, the second of our two weekly shows. It comes in two parts, to-wit:
PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 45:30:
- 01:00: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: A priest is prosecuted for clobbering a parishioner with his umbrella after she converted to Protestantism (Dec. 11, 1852).
- 03:10: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 70-71: Sir Richard leads the party to the captive cook’s bakehouse-prison so that they can witness his captivity, and also to exchange letters with him. The letters are orders for him to carry out in the role he is to play in bringing Mrs. Lovett to justice. Then Sir Richard tells the others there is something else he must show them … something, he adds, “more horrible than all the horrors your imagination can suggest.” … He's not kidding.
- 31:10: GRIM/DARK BROADSIDE: “Horrible Murder at Nantwich!” A brief story, and a lengthy poetical lament, about a drunken domestic quarrel that ended in murder.
- 35:40: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: (With Illustration) A grisly account of the 25-year run of the “Monster of Scotland,” a highway robber and serial murderer who, with his equally criminal wife, moved into a secret cave on the remote coast of Scotland and lived on the flesh of the travellers they robbed.
PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 46:00 — 1:21:30:
- 46:30: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 38-39: 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 …
- 1:07:05: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside”: “The Beggar-Girl” and “The Rose of Britain’s Isle.”
- 1:11:30: A VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONG: "Beating an Attack; or, The Drummer in Arms in the Park” (about a young lady who conceived a passion for a well-dressed Army drummer, and their subsequent frolic in a secluded part of the park).
- 1:16:50: 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:
- PRIME COVES: Sporting men of the first order.
- FLY DOXIES: Dashing, possibly dangerous women.
- 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.
- TO SPEND: To ejaculate.
- SWADDY: A soldier.
- SHERRY OFF: To run away at top speed. Adopted from the nautical term "to sheer off."
- FLATS: Suckers.
- FLY TO: Wised-up about, aware of.
- FAKEMENT: Plot or scheme.
- BUMS: Bailiffs.
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!
This is our Ha'penny Horrid 'Hursday episode, the second of our two weekly shows. It comes in two parts, to-wit:
PART I: "THE HA’PENNY HORRIDS," 0:00 — 45:30:
- 01:00: DICKENS' DREADFUL ALMANAC for today: A priest is prosecuted for clobbering a parishioner with his umbrella after she converted to Protestantism (Dec. 11, 1852).
- 03:10: SWEENEY TODD, THE BARBER OF FLEET-STREET, Chapter 70-71: Sir Richard leads the party to the captive cook’s bakehouse-prison so that they can witness his captivity, and also to exchange letters with him. The letters are orders for him to carry out in the role he is to play in bringing Mrs. Lovett to justice. Then Sir Richard tells the others there is something else he must show them … something, he adds, “more horrible than all the horrors your imagination can suggest.” … He's not kidding.
- 31:10: GRIM/DARK BROADSIDE: “Horrible Murder at Nantwich!” A brief story, and a lengthy poetical lament, about a drunken domestic quarrel that ended in murder.
- 35:40: TERRIFIC REGISTER ARTICLE: (With Illustration) A grisly account of the 25-year run of the “Monster of Scotland,” a highway robber and serial murderer who, with his equally criminal wife, moved into a secret cave on the remote coast of Scotland and lived on the flesh of the travellers they robbed.
PART II: "THE TWOPENNY TORRIDS," 46:00 — 1:21:30:
- 46:30: BLACK BESS; or, THE KNIGHT OF THE ROAD (starring HIGHWAYMAN DICK TURPIN), Chapter 38-39: 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 …
- 1:07:05: SOME STREET POETRY from an 1830s “broadside”: “The Beggar-Girl” and “The Rose of Britain’s Isle.”
- 1:11:30: A VERY NAUGHTY COCK-AND-HEN-CLUB SONG: "Beating an Attack; or, The Drummer in Arms in the Park” (about a young lady who conceived a passion for a well-dressed Army drummer, and their subsequent frolic in a secluded part of the park).
- 1:16:50: 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:
- PRIME COVES: Sporting men of the first order.
- FLY DOXIES: Dashing, possibly dangerous women.
- 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.
- TO SPEND: To ejaculate.
- SWADDY: A soldier.
- SHERRY OFF: To run away at top speed. Adopted from the nautical term "to sheer off."
- FLATS: Suckers.
- FLY TO: Wised-up about, aware of.
- FAKEMENT: Plot or scheme.
- BUMS: Bailiffs.
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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