notes: Stratford (Ontario) H.M.S. Pinafore (1981)

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.

Act I

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

notes