[247-1] The fogs of London are famous. A genuine London fog seems not
like the heavy gray mist which we know as a fog, but, as Dickens says,
like "palpable brown air." So dense is this brown air at times that all
traffic is obliged to cease, for not even those best acquainted with the
geography of the city can find their way about.
[251-2] _Bedlam_ is the name of a famous asylum for lunatics, in London.
In former times the treatment of the inmates was far from humane, but at
the present time the management is excellent, and a large proportion of
the inmates are cured.
[252-3] Workhouses are establishments where paupers are cared for, a
certain amount of labor being expected from those who are able.
[252-4] In England formerly there existed a device for the punishment of
prisoners which was known as the _treadmill_. A huge wheel, usually in
the form of a long hollow cylinder, was provided with steps about its
circumference, and made to revolve by the weight of the prisoner as he
moved from step to step.
[253-5] Links are torches made of tow and pitch. In the days before the
invention of street lights, they were in common use in England, and they
are still seen during the dense London fogs.
[254-6] Saint Dunstan was an English archbishop and statesman who lived
in the tenth century.
[254-7] This is one of the best-known and oftenest-sung of Christmas
carols. In many parts of England, parties of men and boys go about for
several nights before Christmas singing carols before people's houses.
These troops of singers are known as "waits."
[258-8] The splinter-bar is the cross-bar of a vehicle, to which the
traces of the horses are fastened.
[261-9] There is a play on the word _bowels_ here. What Scrooge had
heard said of Marley was that he had no bowels of compassion--that is,
no pity.
[277-10] Scrooge sees and recognizes the heroes of the books which had
been almost his only comforters in his neglected childhood.
[284-11] "Sir Roger de Coverley" is the English name for the
old-fashioned country-dance which is called in the United States the
"Virginia Reel."
[300-12] Biffins are an excellent variety of apples raised in England.
[301-13] _Baker's_ here does not mean exactly what it means with us. In
England the poorer people often take their dinners to a baker's to be
cooked.
[303-14] A _bob_, in English slang, is a shilling.
[311-15] _Five-and-sixpence_ means five shillings and sixpence, or about
$1.32.
[319-16] In what sense has Scrooge "resorted to the sexton's spade that
buried Jacob Marley" to cultivate the kindnesses of life?
[320-17] "I love my love" is an old game of which there are several
slightly different forms. The player says "I love my love with an _A_
because he's--," giving some adjective beginning with _A_; "I hate him
with an _A_ because he's--; I took him to--and fed him on--," all the
blanks being filled with words beginning with _A_. This is carried out
through the whole alphabet.
[346-18] The Laocoön is a famous ancient statue of a Trojan priest,
Laocoön, and his two sons, struggling in the grip of two monstrous
serpents. You have doubtless seen pictures of the group. Dickens's
figure gives us a humorously exaggerated picture of Scrooge and his
stockings.
[349-19] This is a slang expression, used to express incredulity. It has
somewhat the same meaning as the slang phrase heard in the United
States--"Over the left."
[349-20] Joe Miller was an English comedian who lived from 1684 to 1738.
The year after his death there appeared a little book called _Joe
Miller's Jests_. These stories and jokes, however, were not written by
Miller.