Dracula's Guest And Other Weird Tales (58 page)

1
.   
Stone
: Located in Staffordshire, about seven miles north of Stafford and seven miles south of Stoke-on-Trent, Stone was the early capital of Mercia before Stafford and then Tamworth.

2
.   
Wulfere… Christianity
: Contrary to Stoker’s interpretation, King Wulfhere in reality embraced Christianity and married a Christian Kentish princess, Eormenhild, in about 660. The Mercian king gave every assistance to Christianity, providing much land for the founding of monasteries and seeing to it that they were richly endowed. Wulfhere was also father of a saintly daughter, St Waerburh.

3
.   
My father is Lord Lieutenant of the County
: The Lord-lieutenant of a county acted as the chief executive authority and head of the
magistracy. First introduced in the sixteenth century, his role was the active defence of the realm, and up until 1871 he had extensive powers with regard to the militia. Although the position is now mainly ceremonial, the position of Lord-lieutenant retains some of its former powers, including the recommendation of persons for appointment as justices of the peace.

4
.   
several black snakes
: There are no wholly black snakes indigenous to Britain. Stoker could, however, have been alluding to the black racer or black rat snakes of America, both constrictor snakes, or perhaps the poisonous Australian hooded black snake,
Pseudechis
, of the cobra family.

5
.   
She was clad… her sinuous figure
: In an article entitled ‘Character Note: The New Woman’, published in
Cornhill Magazine
23 (1894), the New Woman is depicted thus: ‘She dresses simply in close-fitting garments, technically known as tailor-made. She wears her elbows well away from her side. It has been hinted that this habit serves to diminish the apparent size of her waist… It certainly adds to a somewhat aggressive air of independence which finds its birth in the length of her stride… Her attitudes are strong and independent, indicative of a self-reliant spirit.’

1
.   
so brutal as to be hardly human
: The mid-nineteenth-century theory of polygenism posited the theory that the human races are separate biological species. Non-white races were held to be essentially another – lesser – form of life, closer to the animals, thus ‘justifying’ their inferior status.

2
.   
he treated her… a deity
: If Oolanga is a practitioner of Voodoo, then his adoration of Lady Arabella and her snakiness correlates to the voodoo worship of Dan, the great snake. Often depicted as a snake biting its own tail (and also represented in the form of a rainbow circling the earth) who creates a bridge between heaven and earth, Dan is symbolic of unity in the world, and is also responsible for the control of all the activities of the numerous nature gods. The snake is a very important figure and symbol in Voodoo rites and worship, whilst (like Lady Arabella) the Voodoo
hounon
(priest) traditionally wears white.

3
.   
the local Jamrach
: Johann Christian Jamrach (1815–91) was an importer of wild animals for zoos and circuses, and a well-known East End personality. Having moved to England in 1843,
Jamrach eventually established his business on the Ratcliffe Highway. Jamrach’s business is also mentioned in
Dracula
as the place where Bersicker, the grey wolf which escapes from the London Zoological Gardens, was purchased.

4
.   
the coigns of vantage
: A position affording facility for observation or action. Cf. William Shakespeare,
Macbeth
(I, vi, 7–9): ‘No jutty frieze, /Buttress, nor coign of vantage, but this bird/Hath made her pendent bed and procreant cradle.’

5
.   
dacoits in Burmah
: Derived from the Hindi word
dakait
(‘a robber’), dacoits were a class of robbers in India and Burmah who plundered in armed bands. Previously an independent kingdom, Burma (Myanmar) was invaded by the British in 1824–6, 1851– 2 and 1885–6 and became a part of India. It regained independence from Indian administration in 1937, becoming a sovereign state on 4 January 1948.

6
.   
Lilla all fair… her mother’s race
: Such physiological contrasts between two characters are a common feature in Stoker’s work. See also Mina Harker and Lucy Westenra in
Dracula
, and Abel Behenna and Eric Sanson in ‘The Coming of Abel Behenna’.

1
.   ‘
Advance, Australia!
’: ‘Advance Australia Fair’ was composed by Glasgow-born Peter Dodds McCormick (
c.
1834–1916), under the pseudonym ‘Amicus’. The first public performance is thought to have been given in Sydney on 30 November 1878. On 19 April 1984 it was proclaimed Australia’s national anthem, to be played at all official and ceremonial occasions. ‘God Save the Queen’ subsequently became the ‘royal anthem’, to be played when the Queen or members of the Royal Family are present.

2
.   
‘They stumble that run fast’
: Cf. William Shakespeare,
Romeo and Juliet
(II, iii, 94): ‘Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast.’

3
.   
legend of the ‘Worm Well’… near Bamborough
: See
Appendix II
.

4
.   
shikaree
: A hunter or sportsman.

5
.   
The condition of things… possibility of survival
: Evolution theory’s emotive principle of a ‘struggle for survival’ inspired many writers from Thomas Hardy to H. G. Wells. The premise of large primeval creatures, existing in vast subterranean caves, who challenged the hegemony of
Homo sapiens
was an enduring
concept in fiction, appearing in such works as Charles John Cutcliffe Hyne’s ‘The Lizard’ (1898) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Terror of the Blue John Gap’ (1910) and
The Lost World
(1912).

1
.   
the Christy Minstrel
: Minstrelsy was a form of music that began in the United States in the 1820s. It was often staged by white performers who used cork to make themselves up in blackface, although there were many black groups also. While not, as he claimed, the leader of the first blackface minstrel troupe, Edwin P. Christy (1815–62) indisputably led one of the most renowned. Formed in New York in 1842, Christy’s Minstrels crystallized the pattern of the minstrel show. For over ten years Christy and his troupe had great success all over the United States (including Broadway), most notably performing the works of Stephen Collins Foster (1826–64). E. P. Christy himself eventually retired in 1854 and committed suicide in 1862. Minstrelsy continued as a part of the American music scene until the 1950s.

2
.   
à l’outrance
: Literally ‘at outrageousness’ (French); to the bitter end.

1
.   
an Obi-man… a user of Voodoo
: Voodoo is a set of religious practices deeply rooted in African culture whose adherents believe that nature and natural forces are animated by divinities and spirits, and that in ecstatic states, such as trance, it is possible to establish direct contact with them. In Jamaica, the faith brought from Africa continues to flourish as Obeah, hence an Obeah man is one that practises the rituals of Voodoo.

1
.   
the scheme of a First Cause
: Cf. Revelations 22:13: ‘Christ is the First and Last Cause.’

2
.   
‘the effectual fervent prayer… availeth much
’: James 5:16.

3
.   
the dove became… the nunnery
: In Christian iconography the
dove is a traditional symbol of love and peace. A dove was supposed to have been released by Noah after the flood in order to find land, returning with an olive branch. A dove also symbolizes the Holy Spirit in reference to Matthew 3:16 and Luke 3:22 where the Holy Spirit appears as a dove at the Baptism of Jesus.

4
.   
Penda
: Penda, pagan king of Mercia (r. 626–55), consolidated and enlarged the Kingdom of Mercia. His military achievements ensured the emergence of Mercia as one of the most important kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon era.

5
.   
King Offa… restored Christianity
: Although supporting Christianity, Offa actually sought to control it in England by maintaining effective political control over the Kingdom of Kent, and so over the Archbishop of Canterbury.

1
.   
a comparative anatomist
: Comparative anatomy is the study of similarities and differences in organisms.

2
.   
a new Berserker fury
: see
Dracula’s Guest and Other Weird Stories
, ‘The Coming of Abel Behenna’, note 8.

1
.   
the Yang-tze-kiang
: At 6300 kilometres long, the Yangtze Kiang is the longest river in Asia, flowing eastward from Tibet into the East China Sea near Shanghai.

2
.   
which who might read
: Cf. Habakkuk 2:2: ‘Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables that he may run that readeth it.’ The inference is that the depression is so obvious that anyone on two legs would notice it.

3
.   
the universal darkness… with pain
: Cf. Revelations 16:10: ‘And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain.’

1
.   
decadence
: Decadence was a highly emotive term in the later nineteenth century, referring to the supposed decline of society due to moral weakness.

2
.   
ancient Egyptian relics… mummies
: Stoker’s interest in Egyptian history manifested itself in his 1903 novel,
The Jewel of Seven Stars
. His enthusiasm for Egyptology may have been fired during his Dublin years by his frequent visits to 1 Merrion Square, the home of Sir William and Lady Jane Wilde, the parents of Oscar Wilde. Sir William Wilde had been a keen archaeologist and explorer in Egypt, and was a tireless campaigner for the transportation of Cleopatra’s Needle to England (finally accomplished in 1878, two years after his death).

1
.   
Bes… destructive power of nature
: Bes was a dwarf god protecting against evil with his tambourine or harp, swords, maces and knives. He is usually depicted with somewhat leonine facial features, tongue sticking out, standing on bow legs, his genitals prominent, and often with a lion’s tail. He was also thought to be able to strangle bears, lions, antelopes and snakes with his bare hands and as such was held to be able to protect people from dangerous creatures of all types. In this role, despite being thought of as a demon, he was seen as a supporter of the god Ra, helping to defeat his serpent enemies.

2
.   
Sir Thomas Brown’s Popular Errors
: Sir Thomas Browne,
Pseudodoxia Epidemica, or Enquiries into Very Many Received Tenents, and Commonly Presumed Truths
(1646). The quotation Stoker gives here is actually taken from Book 2, Chapter 3: ‘A Rejection of sundry opinions and Relations thereof, Naturall, Medicall, Historicall, Magicall’.

3
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Mr Graves
: John Greaves,
Pyramidographia: or a Description of the Pyramids in Ægypt
(1646).

1
.   
the Gold Coast
: The Gold Coast was a British colony, formed in 1821, on the west coast of Africa. It became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.

1
.   
an æolian harp
: A stringed instrument adapted to produce musical sounds on exposure to a current of air. So named from Aeolus, the Greek god of the winds.

2
.   
Siam
: Siam first changed its name to Thailand in 1939, and definitively in 1949 after reverting to the old name post Second World War.

1
.   
the sextant
: An astronomical instrument resembling a quadrant used for measuring angular distances between objects, and specially for observing altitudes of celestial bodies, thus calculating latitude at sea.

1
.   
Benin or Ashantee
: Benin and Ashanti (now an administrative region in central Ghana) lie on the west coast of Africa. Both states participated in the African slave trade with Europe until its abolition in the nineteenth century. Ashanti’s wealth was based primarily on the region’s substantial deposits of gold, whilst Benin is notable for being the country from which Voodoo worship originates.

1
.   
amour propre
: Self-esteem (French).

2
.   
Smith and Wesson
: Founded in 1856, the gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson (first established by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Wesson) is now America’s largest producer of handguns.

3
.   
the Cimmerian darkness
: The Cimmerii were a nomadic people, the earliest known inhabitants of the Crimea, who overran Asia Minor in the 7th century
bc
. As described in Homer’s
Odyssey
(Book XI, 12–19) they were fabled to live in a state of perpetual darkness.

4
.   
veined bloodstone
: A precious stone spotted or streaked with
red, bloodstone was supposed to have the power of staunching bleeding when worn as an amulet.