Notes
In the notes below, the reference numbers denote page and line of the hardcover edition of this volume (the line count includes headings, but not rule lines). No note is made for material included in the eleventh edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, except for certain cases where common words and terms have specific historical meanings or inflections. Biblical quotations and allusions are keyed to the King James Version. For further biographical background, references to other studies, and more detailed notes, see Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Unexpected Life of the Author of The Secret Garden (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004); Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, The Annotated Secret Garden (New York: W. W. Norton, 2007); Gretchen Holbrook Gerzina, The Secret Garden: A Norton Critical Edition (New York: W. W. Norton, 2006); Ann Thwaite, Beyond the Secret Garden: The Life of Frances Hodgson Burnett (London: Faber and Faber, 1994; reissued 2007); Frances Hodgson Burnett, The One I Knew the Best of All: A Memory of a Mind of a Child (London: Frederick Warne & Co., 1893).
LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY
Illustrated London News] Founded in 1842, this widely read weekly periodical covered society news and popular culture and events and was the first illustrated English magazine. An American edition was published during the time Little Lord Fauntleroy was written.
coupé] A closed, horse-drawn carriage seating two to four people.
entrées] Likely what we call appetizers, or starters, not the main course. However, it is possible that Burnett meant the word in the American sense of main courses.
Penny Story Gazette] This title is likely an invention, meant to suggest a penny serial, one of the cheap, sensationalist magazines, better known as “penny dreadfuls,” popular in the nineteenth century.
Tiffany] A New York store founded in 1837 famous for its diamonds, crystal, silver, and engraving, Tiffany quickly became synonymous with the height of luxury.
“The Tower of London,” written by Mr. Harrison Ainsworth] William Harrison Ainsworth (1805–1882), was an English popular writer of historical romances about the Tudors and Stuarts. The Tower of London, published in 1840, is about Lady Jane Grey Dudley, often referred to as “the Nine Days’ Queen.” She was beheaded at the age of sixteen in 1554 on the order of her Catholic rival to the English throne, Queen Mary I (1516–1558).
Bloody Mary] Mary I, known as Bloody Mary because of her merciless persecution of Protestants.
Delmonico’s] This is a joke on the young lawyer’s part. Delmonico’s, in lower Manhattan, was known as perhaps the best fine dining restaurant in the world.
Newport] Another way the lawyer is teasing Dick. Newport, Rhode Island, was the home of some of the wealthiest people in America, who lived in magnificent mansions known as “cottages.”
A LITTLE PRINCESS
Lascars] A British term, dating from the seventeenth century, for sailors from Southeast Asia or India.
salaams] A respectful greeting, sometimes accompanied by a low bow of the head with the right hand touching it. The literal meaning of the word is “peace” in Arabic.
Sahib] A title of respect to a man, meaning “master.” That Sara is called “Missee Sahib” is an acknowledgment of her social position as a European girl in a colonial society.
ayah] Term for a nursemaid or nanny employed by Europeans in India. In The Secret Garden, Mary Lennox also has an ayah in India. Though Burnett never visited India, she was fascinated by its culture.
rajah] A prince or chief in India or Southeast Asia.
“Comme elle est drôle!”] French: This girl is funny! (Or, How funny she is!)
“Elle a l’air d’une princesse, cette petite,”] French: She has the air of a princess, this little girl.
Bastille] A medieval fortress in Paris that served as a prison under the French kings. It was stormed on July 14, 1789, marking the beginning of the French Revolution.
brass farthing] An old British coin of very little value.
Henry the Eighth had six wives] Henry VIII reigned over England from 1509 to 1547 and disposed of four of his six wives by divorce, annulment, and beheading.
the Count of Monte Cristo . . . Château d’If.] In The Count of Monte Cristo, an 1844 adventure tale by the French novelist Alexandre Dumas (author of The Three Musketeers), the titular hero is falsely accused of treason and imprisoned in an island fortress called Château d’If.
Melchisedec] A priest and king featured in the Old Testament book of Genesis, an ironic name to give to a rat.
trac’] Religious tracts, stories used by missionaries and others to convert nonbelievers to Christianity.
‘Non, monsieur. Je n’ai pas le canif de mon oncle.’”] French: No, sir. I don’t have my uncle’s knife.
chrysoprase] An apple-green gemstone.
Widow Capet.] After the end of the French monarchy was declared in 1792, during the French Revolution, the royal family name was changed to “Capet.” Marie Antoinette was called “Widow Capet” after her husband Louis XVI of France was guillotined. She was beheaded later the same year, 1793.
Alfred the Great] Alfred the Great (871–899 c.e.), king of Wessex and of the Anglo-Saxons. Known for protecting England from the Danes, he was a great administrator and promoter of learning. A story about King Alfred says that he entered a cottage in disguise while fleeing from Danish invaders. When the peasant wife returned and saw him, she scolded him for letting her cakes burn.
‘When did Edward . . . a surfeit of lampreys?’] Edward III became king of England in 1327. King Henry I, who ruled from 1100 to 1135, was said to have died from eating too many lampreys, long, eel-like sea creatures considered a great delicacy in the medieval period.
drosky] An open Russian carriage on four wheels pulled by horses.
Carlyle’s ‘French Revolution.’] Scottish essayist and historian Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) published his important three-volume history of the French Revolution in 1837.
Robespierre] Maximilien de Robespierre (1758–1794) was a lawyer and revolutionary who helped overthrow the French monarchy and became the de facto leader of France during the period of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror.
the Princesse de Lamballe] Another figure from the French Revolution, Marie-Thérèse Louise de Savoie-Carignan (1749–1792), a friend of Marie Antoinette and member of her household, met with a violent and gruesome death at the hands of the revolutionaries.
chatelaine] The mistress of a large household or chateau.
sal volatile] Smelling salts, used to arouse someone who has fainted or is about to.
THE SECRET GARDEN
Mem Sahib] Term of respect in India for upper-class married women (either European or Indian).
“Mistress Mary, . . . all in a row.”] A popular nursery rhyme, originally published in 1744 but probably dating before then.
“Riquet à la Houppe.”] In 1697 French author Charles Perreault published this story about the love of an ugly and deformed prince and a beautiful but dull princess who are both transformed.
brougham] A light four-wheeled open carriage drawn by horses.
Martha] In Luke 10, Mary and Martha are sisters who host Jesus as he travels. Mary sits at his feet as he talks, but Martha is left to do all the work.
a black’s a man and a brother] In the period of the British abolitionist movement in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, a medallion and image created by Josiah Wedgwood showed a kneeling slave in chains, surrounded by the words “Am I not a man and a brother?”
mahouts or palanquins] Mahout: someone who is a driver or keeper of elephants. Palanquin: a covered, enclosed litter carried on two poles on the shoulders of several men, in which one person can ride.
fakirs] A Muslim or Hindu ascetic who makes his living by begging for money or food. They were sometimes associated with wonder and magic because of their mystical practices.
dervishes] Members of a Muslim religious order who use wild dancing or movement to achieve trance. Often referred to as “whirling dervishes.”
“Praise God from whom . . . Holy Ghost.] This is a doxology, a short hymn of praise.
“Where you tend . . . cannot grow.”] Likely a commonplace or truism.
Lake of Como] A lake in the Lombardy region of northern Italy popular with travelers and tourists.
OTHER WRITINGS
jeune premier] The juvenile lead in a play.
“Your sister, Betsey Trotwood;”] A character in Charles Dickens’s novel David Copperfield, the aunt of the protagonist, who is so disappointed at Copperfield’s birth that he is not a girl that she becomes estranged from his family for a period of time.
Vivian Grey] The male title character in Benjamin Disraeli’s 1826 novel of the same name.
Machiavellian] Referring to the philosophy of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) that all means are justified in achieving political ends.
supplice] French: punishment or torture.
Mr. Birch’s] English-American painter and illustrator Reginald B. Birch (1856–1943) illustrated this piece as well as many of Burnett’s early novels, including Little Lord Fauntleroy.
Jersey suits] Clothing made of stretchy fabric, often used for bathing suits and casual wear.
Great Desert] The Sahara Desert in northern Africa.
Romulus and Remus] According to myth, twin brothers who founded Rome. Abandoned by their father and left to die, they were found and raised by a wolf.
vestal virgins] The virginal priestesses of Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth.
simooms] A hot strong wind that blows in the desert, full of dust and sand.
Hancock!] Winfield Hancock (1824–1886), who ran against Garfield as a Democrat in the 1880 presidential election.
Garfield!] James A. Garfield (1831–1881) was the winner of the 1880 presidential election. A Republican, he was assassinated in 1881, just six months after his inauguration. Burnett and her family were living in Washington and were friends of Garfield.
‘Give me liberty or give me death!’] Patrick Henry was one of the Founding Fathers and served as governor of Virginia. The quotation comes from a speech he gave in 1775 during the American Revolution.
billets doux] French: love letters.
bonne mine] French: good looks.
paquebot] French: a packet boat, or mail ship.
Eton collar] A stiff white collar worn over the lapels of a suit.
boucles blondes] French: blonde curls.
déjeuner à la fourchette] French: a light lunch, which often includes meat or eggs.
pourboire] French: a tip or gratuity.
Marie Antoinette] See note 289.4.
the Princess de Lamballe] See note 319.33.
the Widow Capet] See note 289.4.
the Sepoy rebellion] The Indian Mutiny of 1857–58, when Indian troops called sepoys rebelled against the British East India Company.
Laurette Messimy roses] A double-flowered rose, often in a pink color.
Montreux] A resort town on Lake Geneva in Switzerland.