Stratford (Ontario) Gondoliers (1984) - Glossary

 

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 1984 (really), with original release date of 1984.

Libretto: https://gsarchive.net/gondoliers/gn_lib.pdf

Act I

• Barataria - the title of Gilbert's mythical island kingdom of Spain comes from Cervante's Don Quixote where the Don promises his companion Sancho Panza the governorship of this island "surrounded by land"
• Dolce far niente - delightful idleness
• nobody contradicente - contradicting
• Ben venuti - welcome
• Gondolieri carissimi! Siamo contadine! - Dearest gondoliers! We are peasant girls!
• Servitori umilissimii! - most humble servants!
• Per chi questi fiori bellissimi? - For whom are these most beautiful flowers?
• Per voi, bel signori, O eccelienteissimi! - For you, dear gentlemen, oh most excellent ones!
• I ciel! - Oh, heaven!
• Buon giorno, cavalieri! - Good morning, gentlemen
• Siamo gondolieri / poveri gondolieri - We are gondoliers / poor gondoliers
• Signorina, io t'amo! / Contadine siamo - Lady, I love your! Peasant girls are we.
• Since we were short-coated - wearing children's clothes
• hidalgo - Spanish nobleman of lowest rank
• grandee - Spanish nobleman of highest rank (how the Duke of Plaza-Toro can be both a Grandee and a Hidalgo is one of Gilbert's paradoxes)
• plebeian position - low class
• the halberdiers are mercenary people - Guardsmen armed with ax-like spears
• cornet-á-piston - cornet (related to the trumpet) with three valves operated by pistons (though the Gondoliers is set in 1750, this valve-piston cornet was not invented until 1813)
• Duke of Plaza-Toro, Count Matadoro, Baron Picadoro - the Duke's titles derive from bull-fighting (Plaza do Toros being the arena, the matador and picador being different types of bullfighters)
• Married by proxy - with someone acting on your behalf, in your absence
• Converted to the metric system - at the time of this production, Canada had undergone this conversion less than 10 years previously. The original line read: "became a Wesleyan Methodist of the most bigoted and persecuting type".
• very knowing, overflowing, easygoing Paladin - heroic, chivalrous knight of old
• To men of grosser clay - of less distinguished and noble blood (clay = body)
• Don Alhambra del Bolero - his name comes from the Alhambra, the palace of the Moorish kings at Granada, with "del Bolero" added as a Gilbertian bit of humour (it refers to a type of dance)
• Jimp, isn't she - fetching, neat
• teach him the trade of a Timoneer - from French timonier, helmsman or steersman
• lying a corpse on his humble bier - the stand on which a corpse or coffin is placed
• your objections are not insuperable - impossible to overcome
• 'tis a glorious thing, I ween , to be a regular Royal Queen - I fancy, or believe
• not seal - refers to the efforts of animal rights activists to stop the annual slaughter of baby seals
• She'll bear away the bell - carry off the prize (from the custom of presenting the winners of horse races with a small gold of silver bell)
• My husband and I - a phrase, well-used, by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II
• fret at the Argentine - the then recent 1982 war between Britain and Argentina fought in the Faulklands
• serve intruders tea - an incident in which Queen Elizabeth II was awakened in the middle of the night to find a stranger in her bedroom
• the Chancellor in his peruke - powdered wig
• aristocrat who banks with Coutts - long-established London bank, used by royalty
• the noble lord who cleans the plate - silver or gold tableware or ornaments

Act II

• or happiness the very pith in Barataria you may see - essence
• This form of government we find / the beau ideal of its kind - model of excellence
• bilingualism - a jab at the federal law which makes Canada an officially bilingual country
• we may hold a Royal Levee - a court reception or gathering, in morning or early afternoon
• polish the Regalia and the Coronation Plate - polish the special emblems of royalty and the silver associated with the coronation (this is not a large plate)
• The Journal - a nightly in-depth examination of daily events following the news broadcast on the CBC
• having passed the Rubicon - the point of no return, a river significantly crossed by Caesar
• Take a pretty little cot - cottage
• Dance a cachuca, fandango, bolero - three Spanish dances (the music here is a cachuca - the fandango and the boler are much slower than this one and danced by two at a time)
• Xeres we'll drink Manzanilla, Montero - xeres is a fortified wine (the name is corrupted in English to sherry); manzanilla a light dry sherry; montero, thought it provides a good rhyme, does not appear to be a drink at all
• Ronny and Nancy - Ronald Reagan, President of the United States at the time of this production, and his wife Nancy
• Peter at Global - Peter Trueman was news anchorman on Canada's Global Television Network at the time of this production
• I tried to tame your great progenitor - father
• With double-shotted guns and colours nailed unto the mast - cannons loaded with twice the usual shot (a reckless tactic) and flag nailed so it cannot be lowered in surrender
• Royal Salute - the Duke is referring to an honorary display, but Giuseppe means a kiss
• Merrily crying out "premé, stali" - two things gondoliers apparently shout: "preme" means to push down on the pole, used to indicate imminent departure; "stali" means stop

Stratford (Ontario) Iolanthe (1984) - Glossary

 

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 1999, with original release date of 1984.

Libretto: https://www.gsarchive.net/iolanthe/iollib.pdf

Act I

• The Peer and the Peri - a Peer is a high-ranking nobleman, and a Peri is a fairy
• Arcadian shepherd - an idealized rustic, the standard hero of the 18th-century genre of pastoral, mythological drama
• a ward of Chancery - a minor under the guardianship of the Courts of Chancery
• bow ye Broadbents and Mulroneys - Brian Mulroney was the Prime Minister of Canada (Conservative) and Ed Broadbent was the head of the New Democratic Party at the time of this production, 1984
• I'll stick to my pipes and my tabors - pastoral musical instruments; flutes and drums
• in lowly cot alone is virtue found - cottage
• never throw dust in a juryman's eyes - same as pulling the wool over his eyes
• When tempests wreak thy bark - your ship, i.e. when you are in trouble
• Taradiddle, Tol-lol-lay - Taradiddle is a fib, Tol-lol may mean languid or so-so (as in the name of the character Lord Tolloller), but may be just nonsense syllables here
• Foreign Phrases - The Peers flaunt their linguistic learning in the following:
• with wase canaille - as the Fairies note, "That word is French" for low rabble
• a heard of vulgar plebs - "a Latin word" for the common people
• twould fill with joy... the hoi polloi - "a Greek remark" meaning common folk
• The new Arts Council Head - Maureen Forrester (Queen of the Fairies had just been appointed to this post at the time of this production, 1984

Act II

• when all night long, a chap remains on sentry-go - sentry duty
• when in that House, M.P.s divide - Members of Parliament, voting by physically going to one side of the House or other
• yet Britain won her proudest bays - laurel wreaths, given to victorious heroes
• Knowlton Nash - anchorman of the CBC National News at the time of this production, 1984
• nothing 'twixt you and the ticking - material covering a mattress or pillow
• be your law the ancient saw - old saying. This song, like "Things are seldom what they seem" in H.M.S. Pinafore, strings together many 'old saws.'
• not worth a maravedi - a Spanish coin of very little value
• as an old equity draughtsman - a barrister who draws up complex legal documents
• two strings go to every bow... grief 'twill bring if you've two beaux to every string - a pun on the phrase 'to have two strings to your bow', meaning to be prepared for emergencies (when you resort to your second string), and the French word 'beaux', meaning boyfriends, whom one may have on a string

Stratford (Ontario) H.M.S. Pinafore (1981) - Glossary

 

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 1999, with original release date of 1981.

Libretto: https://www.gilbertsullivan.org/documents/HMSPinafore2014/HMS_Pinafore_Libretto.pdf

Act I 

• Buttercup's wares:
• jacky - twists of tobacco soaked in rum (for chewing)
• soft tommy - a kind of bread
• chickens and conies - wild rabbits
• pretty polonies - smoked sausages named, like the sandwich meat, after Bologna, the Italian town where they were first made
• reddest beauty in all Spithead - a body of water off Portsmouth
• Dick Deadeye, Bill Bobstay (boatswain), Bob Becket (carpenter's mate) - the last names of these sailors all refer to parts of a ship's ropes or rigging
• foremast hands - those sailors who serve "before the mast" (those below the rank of officer) [see quarter-deck]
• quarter-deck - the deck to the aft of the mainmast where only commissioned officers may promenade
• ship a selvagee - a hank of rope yarn made into a strap or sling
• Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. - Knight Commander of the (Order of the) Bath (high honour)
• band the loud nine-pounders go - the smallest of the battery of the cannons carried on Royal Navy ships (which also include 18 and 32-pounders)
• pocket borough - refers to a parliamentary seat controlled by a single individual (usually wealthy landowner); these seats were abolished by the Great Reform Act of 1832
• British tar - slang for sailor
• Cimmerian darkness - according to Homer's Odyssey, the Cimmerians lived in a land where the sun never shines

Act II

• bumboat woman - boat used to peddle provisions to ships in port
• the prospect is Elysian - in Greek mythology, Elysian fields were the home of the blessed
• cat-o'-nine-tails (or simply "the cat") - a whip with nine knotted lashes used for punishment
• fo'c'sle - short for "forecastle", the forward part of the ship usually containing the crew's quarters
• no telephone - the first telephone transmission was in 1876, and the first London exchange opened in June of 1878, a month after Pinafore did

Stratford (Ontario) Pirates of Penzance (1985) - Glossary

 

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 1999, with original release date of 1983.

Libretto: https://www.gsarchive.net/pirates/pirates_lib.pdf

Act I

• let the pirate bumper pass - a bumper is a cup or glass filled to the brim, as for a toast
• scuttling a Cunarder - sinking a passenger ship of the Cunard line
• cutting out a White Star - separating a passenger ship of the White Star line from the surrounding ships in order to capture it
• Custom House - a house or office set up to collect levied custom (at a seaport like Penzance) for exported or imported goods
• the glass is rising very high - weather-glass; a barometer (or possibly a thermometer), indicating fair weather
• on breakers always steering - always making mistakes and getting into trouble; as when steering a ship toward waves breaking on rocks
• your pirate caravanserai - as "caravanserai" is a sort of inn for caravans and their occupants, the only excuse for applying this word to a group of men is that it rhymes with Chancery (almost)
• Wards in Chancery - minors under the protection of the Court of Chancery
• from Marathon to Waterloo - in 490 B.C. the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon (the messenger who died after running the 26 miles to Athens with the news, somehow inspired modern marathons). Napoleon's final defeat was at Waterloo in 1815.
• the scientific names of beings animalculous - an animalcule is a microscopic animal
• I answer hard acrostics - a parlour game similar to charades, with acted-out words, whose first letters then spell the real message to be discovered.
• quote in elegiacs all the crimes of Heliogabalus - even the use of a verse form (elegiacs) could not soften the awful deeds of this most appalling Roman emperor (212-222 AD)
• In conics I can floor peculiarities parabolous - conics is the study of geometric properties of a cone cut by imaginary planes, producing parabolas, ellipses, and hyperbolas. To floor is to defeat (as in wrestling). Parabolous is Gilbert's adjective variant of parabolic.
• I can tell undoubted Raphaels from Gerard Dows and Zoffanies - three painters, from three different centuries and countries, and with quite distinct styles.
• the croaking chorus from The Frogs of Aristophanes - a comedy produced in Athens in 405 B.C. (the croaking chorus goes "Brekekekex, koax, koax")
• a washing-bill in Babylonic cuneiform - a laundry-list, in ancient wedge-shaped writing
• every detail of Caractacus's uniform - this Welsh king who resisted the Roman invasion of Britain had a limited uniform: it consisted of a woad, a blue dye... and nothing else
• whistle all the airs from that infernal nonsense Pinafore - H.M.S. Pinafore was the Gilbert & Sullivan show which preceded Pirates. It was their first great success.
• mamelon and ravelin - terms for strategic earthworks: mamelon is a mound used in fortifications, ravelin is a sort of ridge
• such affairs as sorties and surprises - sudden troop movement outward when besieged
• has never sat a gee - never ridden a horse ("gee-gee" being a childish way of referring to a horse, derived from a word of command to horses)
• John Turner - a Liberal Prime Minister of Canada who was in office for only 2 months in 1984
• Divine Emollient! - something that softens, as poetry apparently does, even for pirates
• dimity - a thin cotton fabric

Act II

• dishonour on the family escutcheon - shield displaying heraldic insignia; family crest
• threatened with émeutes - a French term for riots or brawls
• coster's finished jumping on his mother - costermongers (street vendors of fruit, fish, etc.) were sometimes rather rough characters
• life preserver - a stick or bludgeon loaded with lead, intended for self-defense, but all too often used by evil-doers (as in this case)
• unshriven, unannealed - without having made confession or having received extreme unction 
• with humbled mien - manner, or general bearing
• we love our House of Peers - the House of Lords, one of two Houses of Parliament. A peer has at least one of the following titles: duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron.

Stratford (Ontario) Trial by Jury (1962) - Glossary

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of "19862", with original release date of 1962.

Libretto: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Trial_by_Jury_(1911)

• is this the Court of the Exchequer - a common-law court that dealt with revenue cases and never for Breach of Promise suits
• Be firm, be firm, my pecker - in Britain, the word means "mouth" and here refers to keeping a stiff upper lip or keeping one's chin up in an act of courage
• Your evil star's in the ascendant - your astrological timing couldn't be worse
• Tink-a-tank - onomatopoetic sound of a guitar (or ukelele)
• love unchanged will cloy - become too much, or too sweet, for pleasure
• never be reversed in banc - overturned by a superior court
• I was ... an impecunious party - one who is short of money
• a swallow-tail coat - a coat with a forked tail like that of a swallow
• a brief which I'd bought of a booby - papers summarizing a court case; a fool
• in Westminster Hall I danced a dance like a semi-despondent fury - the site of the High Court of Justice from 1755 to 1884; furies were female avenging spirits
• as rich as the Gurneys - a wealthy Quaker family who established a thriving banking firm that was later taken over by Barclays in 1896
• at the Bailey and Middlesex Sessions - the names of courts in London
• an incubus then I thought her - a nightmarish oppressor
• I threw over that rich attorney's elderly ugly daughter - abandoned, jilted
• it is patent to the mob - obvious to everyone
• my being made a nob was effected by a job - a nob is a person of wealth or distinction; a "job" means a dirty trick, or string-pulling
• O'er the season vernal time may cast a shade - springtime; metaphorically, youth
• Camberwell became a bower, Peckham an Arcadian vale - prosaic, working-class suburbs of London
• Breathing concentrated otto - from attar of roses, i.e., perfume made of rose petals
• An existence ... a la Watteau - Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) painted idyllic scenes
• water from far Cologne - the counsel is here referring to "Eau de Cologne" as a substitution for smelling salts
• to marry two at once is Burglaree - the counsel is inept that he confuses this word with "bigamy"
• for the maid had bought her trousseau - bride's collection of clothing, linens, etc.
• a nice dilemma - demanding great precision and delicacy
• I'm not prepossessing, as you may be guessing - attractive
• if, when in liquor, he would kick her, that is an abatement - something which subtracts from the value (here, the damages to be awarded for the loss of such a fiance)
• I'll reward him from my fob - a small waistband pocket (the reward is presumably small)

Stratford (Ontario) Mikado (1983) - Glossary

An extra feature of the dvd is the following Glossary.

Note that the dvd has a copyright date of 2004, with original release date of 1983.

Act I

• Town of Titipu - Actually, such a town exists (now the cement capital of Japan). It is a few hours northwest of Tokyo by train.
• serried ranks assembled - should to shoulder
• and a rumbelow - nonsense word used in many sea-chanties
• her anchor's a-trip and her helm's a-lee - A-trip means clear of mud and ready to be hauled aboard. A-lee means away from the wind; ready for making sail.
• to lay aloft - to climb up into the rigging in order to raise or lower sails
• unless connubially linked - matrimonially (i.e., unless married)
• Pre-Adamite ancestry - before Adam (and Eve)
• I a salaried minion ! - servile underling
• you very imperfect ablutioner - the implication is that the person addressed has not done a good job of washing himself (well, it does rhyme with "executioner").
• cut a dash on their wedding day - put on a showy display
• she'll toddle away, as all aver - declare
• freed from its genius tutelary - guardian spirit, guiding influence
• my father, the Lucius Junius Brutus of his race - A Roman consul (500 B.C.) who condemned his two sons to death, for their plotting to restore the monarchy
• to embrace you thus con fuoco - Italian for "with fervor"
• and for yam I should get toco - "Toco" is schoolboy slang for punishment; "toco for yam" is an expression meaning getting something bad in exchange for something good.
• interrupted an apostrophe - an exclamatory address to a person or thing
• with grief condign - suitable
• in a dull, dark dock - small enclosed space, or cell (originally, an animal cage)
• a cheap and chippy chopper - the headsman's axe is apparently not of the best quality
• perform the Happy Dispatch - suicide
• Oh blind, that seest no equipoise - counterbalancing factor
• O ni! bikkuri shakkuri to! - This choral outburst is variously translated, but might mean "Demon, you surprise and shock us!" Some think that "hiccup" is involved somehow.
• I'll spoil you gay gambado - caper, from the French gambade a leap or spring

Act II

• he glories all effulgent - giving off a flood of light
• though the tocsin sound ere long - a warning bell
• I never even killed a blue-bottle - a large fly
• Miya sama, miya sama / On n'm-ma no mayé ni / Pira-Pira suru no wa / Nan gia na / Toko tonyaré tonyaré na? - This is a legitimate Japanese song and was of fairly recent composition when Gilbert appropriated it for The Mikado. A war song of the Japanese Imperial Army, it was sung by the loyalist troops who put down a rebellion in 1877. Translations vary.
• make each prisoner pent - locked up
• mystical Germans who preach from ten till four - evangelical German Lutherans who had recently been touring England
• to ride on a buffer in Parliamentary trains - The buffer is the shock-absorbing bumper on British railroad cars. When an Act of Parliament in 1844 required that at least one train a day run to every station on a line, these slow trains were "Parliamentary trains."
• Monday Pops - weekly London concerts of classical music organized by Chappell, the music publishers of the Savoy operettas
• in fitless finger stalls - protective covering for an injured finger
• I drew my snickersnee - a long knife or small sword (from the Dutch)
• Niagara-on-the-Lake - picturesque Ontario town near Niagara Falls. It is the site of the Shaw Festival, a rival to the Stratford Festival where this production originated.
• give artistic verisimilitude - appearance of truth