Jesus. The angel has told the shepherds of the birth, and they spread news of the things the angel tells them. “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
10 (p. 170) Reynolds’s “Choir of Angels”: Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), an English portrait painter, was admired for his paintings of women and children done in the tradition of Van Dyck and Titian. This painting titled “Choir of Angels” was very popular and much reproduced.
11 (p. 171) women who went with Mary: The reference is to the Bible, Luke 24:1-10, in which Mary Magdalene and others find Jesus’ tomb empty.
12 (p. 175) nationalizing of the land: The debate over nationalization, or state ownership of industry and agriculture, began in Edwardian England, with socialists and radicals calling for state control of coal, railways, and land. The issue was much debated at the turn of the century because many small farms were economically threatened by the inexpensive grain imported from the United States. The movement reached its height after 1945 and came to a stop with Margaret Thatcher’s government (1979-1987).
13 (p. 178) gaby: See page 49 for alternate spelling, “gabey.” This is a term for a fool, or simpleton.
14 (p. 180) Hemlock Stone: This irregularly shaped mass of red sandstone is one of the most famous landmarks in the British Midlands. While the Hemlock Stone has often been linked to the Druids, who built similar stone monuments throughout Britain, geologists now say the formation is entirely natural.
15 (p. 184) “annunciation”: In the Bible, Luke 1:26-38, the Angel Gabriel comes to Mary and announces that she will be the mother of Jesus.
16 (p. 185) letters of the law: The reference is to the Ten Commandments, which God delivers to Moses in the Bible, Exodus 20:1-26.
17 (p. 185) Bank Holiday crowd: Bank holidays are days on which the banks of Britain close, and are the equivalent to public holidays in the United States. Most workers in both the public and private sectors have Bank holidays off.
18 . (p. 186) Mary Queen of Scots: Mary Stuart (1542-1587), Queen of Scotland, was imprisoned several times, for her belief in Roman Catholicism and other misdeeds, in Wingfield Manor. She was eventually beheaded.
19 (p. 187) Crich Stand: The reference is to a well-known signal beacon that stood atop a hill outside the village of Crich in Derbyshire.
20 (p. 188) Veronese’s “St. Catherine”: Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) was an Italian painter of the Venetian School who specialized in large, detailed, and brightly colored paintings, almost always of religious themes. Saint Catherine is the patron saint of girls.
21 (p. 189) But there was a serpent in her Eden: This is a reference to the Bible, Genesis 3:1-6, in which the devil takes the form of a snake and enters the Garden of Eden to tempt Eve with the forbidden apple.
22 (p. 190) who died for the souls of men: It is a fundamental Christian belief that the Lord sacrificed his one son in order to save the eternal souls of mortal men. D. H. Lawrence concentrated much of his intellectual energies on questions of religion. In his later life, he became interested in primitive religions.
23 (p. 193) Jean Ingelow: The works of this immensely popular English poet and novelist (1820-1897) include her long poem “High Tide on the Coast of Lincolnshire, 1571.”The poem recounts a historic incident in which high tides flood the North Sea coast. Although the mayor of the town of Boston climbs the belfry tower to ring a warning peal across the land—“Play uppe, play uppe,” he commands—a young woman named Elizabeth drowns and is found “floating o’er the grassy sea.” The poem inspired an equally popular song.
24 (p. 194) “The Flowers o‘the Forest”: Jane Elliot (1727- 1805), a member of a famous Scottish clan, wrote this popular ballad lamenting the Battle of Flodden (1513), in which as many as 10,000 Scots died at the hands of the English.
25 (p. 195) “Coons”: This is a reference to the performances in which white singers dressed as blacks. Such productions originated in America around 1840 and soon became a popular family entertainment in Britain.
26 (p. 196) some sad Botticelli angel: Sandro Botticelli (1444?-1510), an Italian painter, depicted religious and mythological subjects in a decorative style with extreme attention to detail and fine, idealized forms. Paul later compares Miriam to a Botticelli Madonna (see page 306).
27 (p. 196) Norman arches: Norman arches, also referred to as Romanesque, were built from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries and have rounded tops.
28 (p. 196) Gothic arch: Gothic arches were built from the twelfth to the sixteenth centuries and have pointed tops. Norman arches and Gothic arches were commonly used in churches and cathedrals.
Chapter 8: Strife in Love
1 (p. 200) the King’s shilling: By tradition, a recruiting officer would give a new soldier enlisting in the army a token bit of money.
2 (p. 205) Women’s Rights: Feminists in nineteenth-century Britain worked to improve the educational prospects of all women and the economic prospects of working women, and also to reform the place of the woman in the domestic sphere. Due in part to industrialization and the founding of various cooperative societies, women of this time came together in a way never previously seen. D. H. Lawrence paid attention to the feminist rumblings. In a letter to his editor Edward Garnett dated April 1912, D. H. Lawrence writes, “... every evil that could be urged against a working man is urged by his women-folk. They are all aristocrats, these women, to the backbone. They would murder any man at any minute if he refused to be a good servant to the family. They make me curse.”
3 (p. 208) Verlaine: Paul Verlaine (1844-1896) was a French lyrical poet who was influential in the early Symbolist movement.
4 (p. 212) lived and moved and had her being: The reference is to the Bible, Acts 17:26-28, which provides part of the definition of God that the apostle Paul offers to the Athenians: God “hath made of one blood all nations ... ; for in him we live, and move, and have our being.”
