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Wondrous Words Wednesday: Old is new

From one of those several bookstore-browsings I did recently, I found Short Stories from the 19th Century by David Stuart Davies. I have heard of or read most of them already in school or at home; the authors much more so. But I bought the book as I was after what Davies had to say in his introduction of each story.

Today I join Wondrous Words Wednesday, a meme hosted by Bermuda Onion's Weblog, and share words that are new to me. The story is very old, so are the words (again to me), but that's where I find the appeal of the read. Davies conveniently provided notes to the text, making comprehension a lot faster:

1. posset - "If you'll take my advice Mr. Higgins, you'll have your bed warmed, and drink a treacle posset just the last thing."

~ posset is a hot-drink remedy for a cold made with curdled milk and spices

* When I saw treacle preceding posset, I thought of Harry Potter's treacle tart, but that was eaten, not drunk.

2. Griselda - "Mr Dudgeon compelled himself to smile assent with the grace of a masculine Griselda."

~ Griselda is a model of enduring patience

* I didn't find this word/name that old. I have a cousin named Griselda, but its usage in the story is what's new to me :-)

3. Church-and-king-and-down-with-the-Rump - "...I conjecture, though the name is singular enough: Church-and-king-and-down-with-the-Rump."

~ it's a reference to the causes of the English Civil War. The horse was named after a cry given by the supporters of King Charles I and the loyal members of his Parliament

These words are from Elizabeth Gaskell's The Squire's Story.

Comments

Anya said…
Hi Hazel
They are very lovely and special words it was nice to read it :)
I never heard from
"Wondrous Words Wednesday"
I go look at that site .....

Purrss from Kareltje =^.^=
Anya :)
bermudaonion said…
Thanks so much for participating today! You found some great words last week.

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