Opera Chapter

About the Opera

HMS Pinafore

H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan’s first great joint success, and it brought them outstanding fame on both sides of the Atlantic. The show opened at the Opera Comique on May 25, 1878. Although initially well received, an exceptionally hot summer kept audiences away until Sullivan started playing selections from the show at promenade concerts for which he was the musical director. That turned the tide; the opera went on to run for more than 570 performances, and it has been one of the most popular works on the musical stage ever since.

In H.M.S. Pinafore Gilbert satirizes British class consciousness and pokes fun at a First Lord of the Admiralty who knows little about ships –– which just happened to be true to life in England at the time. In Pinafore, too, Gilbert firmly established the style of producing humor by treating a thoroughly ridiculous situation in a thoroughly serious manner. He added to the effect by insisting on accurate settings and costumes, and by rigidly restraining actors who wanted to ham up his lines or engage in any sort of slapstick. H.M.S. Pinafore remains a joy as well as a landmark in the history of musical theater.

Characters

H.M.S.
His, or Her, Majesty’s Ship. Signifies a ship of the Royal Navy.
Pinafore
A child’s dress or apron. Allen (3) says there is reason to think that Gilbert had originally named the opera H.M.S. Semaphore (anything nautical to rhyme with “one cheer more”) but changed it to Pinafore at Sullivan’s suggestion. Naming a fighting ship after such an unprepossessing item of apparel must have appealed to Gilbert’s sense of the ridiculous, particularly as it contrasted with such formidable names as Goliath, Audacious, Minotaur, and Majestic (which were in Nelson’s fleet). Then give three cheers for Sir Arthur’s part of the libretto! An incidental note: Shipley (266) imagines that the term arose from a mother’s admonition, “Don’t spot your dress. Here’s something to pin afore it.”
Rt. Hon. [The Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. ]
Right Honourable is a prefix accorded certain high-echelon politicians, judges, and others distinguished for their public service who have been appointed members of the Queen’s Privy Council (243). A Privy Council is “a body of advisors, theoretically selected by the sovereign, whose function it is to advise the sovereign in matters of state” (250). Despite the elaborate uniform invariably affected by Sir Joseph, the First Lord of the Admiralty is not an admiral, but a politically appointed civilian responsible for managing the navy. Prestige (243) notes that in the traditional D’Oyly Carte productions his uniform “was that of a Privy Councillor, with the badge of a K.C.B., to both of which he was fully entitled.” Hyder (160) adds the warning that he should never wear epaulettes because they are accouterments reserved strictly for military officers.

Speaking of Privy Councilors, I am reminded of Queen Victoria’s favorite Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. When asked how he managed to get along so well with her, Disraeli replied, “I never refuse; I never contradict; I sometimes forget” (203).

K.C.B.
Knight Commander of the Bath. In England, one of the highest orders of knighthood. “Bathing as a purification ritual was probably introduced in a religious context with knighthood in the 11th century” (225). See also The Sorcerer and Utopia, Limited.
Ralph [Ralph Rackstraw –– Able Seaman ]
Our hero’s Christian name should be pronounced Raif. Remember that Buttercup’s second act revelation includes these lines:

In time each little waif

Forsook his foster-mother,

The well-born babe was Ralph––

Your captain was the other!!!

Rackstraw
The other seamen on the Pinafore are given nautical-related surnames, and we wonder if Gilbert intended the same for Ralph. The word is uniformly avoided by all ordinary dictionaries that come to hand. I did, however, find a 1921 seaman’s manual (31) that defined rack as slang for a berth. See also Gibson (125). So I propose that Ralph’s surname might refer to straw-filled ticking. Hyder (161) comments that, although the other sailors have seagoing names, “Ralph is a man set apart. Anyway, Gilbert never liked tenors.” In any event, Gilbert might have derived quiet pleasure in assigning a seaman such a bucolic-sounding name, for the expression “to rack straw” means to pitch straw into a storage rack. Knight (177) says “This was a demonstration of Ralph’s rustic background in opposition to Josephine’s supposed superior social status.” Kesilman (47) agrees that Rackstraw implies humble origins, but disagrees with the bucolic association. He points to Josephine’s lament about what life would be like with Ralph. In it she describes a squalid urban setting.
Able Seaman
A sailor certified as possessing all-around nautical capabilities; one step above the lowest rating, or ordinary seaman. Such seamen are more often referred to as “A.B.’s,” short for able bodied seamen.
Deadeye [Dick Deadeye ]
A deadeye is a round block of wood with three holes drilled through the flat face. They are used in pairs as a crude block-and-tackle to maintain tension in the shrouds supporting a mast. Deadeye is clearly a superb name for a one-eyed character.
Bobstay [Bill Bobstay ]
A bobstay is a wire, rope, or chain running from the end of the bowsprit diagonally downward to the stem of the ship. Its function is to keep the bowsprit from being pulled upward by the tension in the forestay. See picture of nautical terms.
Boatswain’s Mate
A boatswain is a non-commissioned naval officer who supervises work ordered by a higher ranking officer. The word is usually pronounced “bosun.” A boatswain’s mate is his assistant. Brewer (56) says the “swain” comes from the Saxon word swein, meaning a boy or servant.
Becket [Bob Becket ]
A becket is a short length of rope used to secure coils of line, spars, oars, etc. For convenience, it is usually formed with an eye (loop) at one end and a hook at the other.
Midshipmite
The OED (228) defines this as a sailor’s perversion of midshipman. The latter is defined as “in the navy, the designation of a rank intermediate in the line of promotion between that of naval cadet and that of the lowest commissioned officer (i.e., in the British navy that of sub-lieutenant, in the U.S. navy that of ensign).” Another definition is “a diminutive midshipman” (115). As traditionally cast, the midshipmite is indeed a little mite of a lad –– a Gilbertian visual pun.
Bumboat [Buttercup is identified as a bumboat woman ]
A boat that goes from ship to ship in a harbor, selling articles to seafarers. BosdĂŞt (43) suggests the term was derived from the fact that the boats developed from scows that, in the seventeenth century, had been used to transport dung out to sea, hence the disreputable name.

Act I

Portsmouth [on the Portsmouth tide ]
The chief naval base in Great Britain.
Men-o’-war’s men [Hail, men-o’-war’s men ]
A man-of-war is a naval vessel, and the second “men” refers to her ratings, i.e., her unlicensed crew.
Jacky [I’ve snuff and tobaccy, and excellent jacky ]
This one is controversial. Most authorities are split between gin (8, 115, 228, 234, 251, 254, 299, 301) and chewing tobacco. (21, 98, 147, 149, 286). Green (145) ventures that it is rum-soaked chewing tobacco. Gilbert, in his Bab Ballad “The King of Canoodle-Dum” (127), tells of a cannibal king who orders that “every lady, and every lady’s lord should masticate jacky (a kind of tobaccy), and scatter its juices abroad.” All this leads me to conclude that Buttercup’s jacky is most likely chewing tobacco soaked in gin or rum.
Treacle [I’ve treacle and toffee ]
TREE-kul
The mundane meaning is simply molasses –– which is the residual product of the sugar refining process. But the word has an older and more romantic meaning: an antidote for the bite of wild beasts. Venice treacle, for example, was a compound of 64 drugs in honey –– which sounds like the electuary mentioned in The Yeomen of the Guard. See Brewer (54). Paulshock (238) avers that the best treacles always included “chopped, powdered, or distilled vipers, as well as opium, honey, and a slew of other ingredients, many very rare and difficult to obtain.” She adds that “the original recipe called for periods of storage for up to ten years to allow all 50 or so ingredients to ferment and blend … ” I think that is all very interesting; but I also think Buttercup was selling molasses, or something like it, and not that vile medicine.
Soft tommy
Grand Pierre (144) defines this as baker’s bread. Sailors use the term in contradistinction to biscuits (115).
Chops
Slabs of meat with the bone still attached.
Conies
The term can mean either rabbit meat or rabbit fur. In the context, meat seems more likely.
Polonies
Collins (75) says this is “A kind of partly-cooked sausage.” Hyder (161) says the word is a corruption of Bologna, the city of its origin. The American corruption is baloney.
Spithead [the reddest beauty in all Spithead ]
The sheltered stretch of water between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight.
Dissembled [I have dissembled well ]
She means she has used various artifices to improve her figure and complexion. Another interpretation is applied to the same word in the second act.
Canker-worm [there may lurk a canker-worm ]
A destructive grub or caterpillar. Buttercup is speaking figuratively and hinting at her dark secret. Her words remind us of Shakespeare’s lines in Twelfth Night: “She never told her love, but let concealment, like a worm i’ th’ bud, feed on her damask cheek.”
Three-cornered [And I’m three-cornered, too, ain’t I? ]
Dick Deadeye is usually portrayed as permanently bent at the waist and with one shoulder carried higher than the other in a deformed, almost triangular configuration.
Madrigal
The word has several meanings. In this case it means a lover’s lament set to music.
Minstrelsy [The pearl of minstrelsy ]
MIN-strelsey
The art or practice of a wandering poet or musician.
Menial [To do her menial’s duty ]
A menial is the humblest sort of servant, one assigned to do the most degrading tasks. Proofreading lexicons is a depressing example.
Some nautical terms [Drawing of ship with numbers ]
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List of Nautical Terms
1. Fo’c’s’le8. Main truck
2. Forestay9. Reefed sail
3. Bobstay10. Pennant
4. Quarterdeck11. Topman
5. Poop deck12. Gun port
6. Fore mast13. To’gall’n’m’st
7. Foremast yard arm14. Shrouds
Foremast hand
A common sailor. The term derives from the practice of housing the officers aft (i.e., near the stern) and the common seamen in the forecastle. See drawing of nautical terms.
Quarterdeck
That part of the upper deck extending from the main mast (near mid-length) to the stern. The officers, being accommodated in the stern, consider the quarterdeck “their” territory. Unlicensed seamen avoid the quarterdeck unless called there in the line of duty. See drawing of nautical terms.
Fore-yard arm [who lays out on the fore-yard arm ]
See drawing of nautical terms. Item No. 6 is the fore mast, and Item No. 7 is one of the fore-yard arms: i.e., a yard arm on the fore mast. Sailors must “lay out” on the yards in order to handle the sails. See Item No. 11.
Main-truck [he hoists his flag at the main-truck ]
The very top of the main mast –– the highest point of the entire ship, and a suitable place for the highest officer to display his flag. See drawing of nautical terms, Item No. 8.
Hoists … his slacks
In his children’s version (132) Gilbert explains that “hoisting his slacks” means hitching up the waist-band of his trousers to put them in their proper place.
Peer [Though related to a peer ]
In general, a nobleman. More specifically, “a member of any of the five degrees of the nobility in Great Britain and Ireland, namely duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron” (250). As Asimov (11) observes, when one is related to a peer, one finds ways to work it into the conversation. See also Iolanthe, The Gondoliers, Utopia, Limited, and The Zoo.
Hand [I can hand, reef, and steer ]
In this case, hand means to take in and furl a sail. See the OED (228). The expression “hand, reef, and steer” is an old nautical cliché describing the skills required of an able seaman.
Reef
Reduce the area of a sail exposed to the wind by partially furling it. Item No. 9 shown on the drawing of nautical terms is an example of a reefed sail.
Ship a selvagee [and ship a selvagee ]
Smyth’s Sailor’s Work Book of 1867 defines selvagee as “a strong and pliant hank, or untwisted skein of rope-yarn marled together, and used as a strap to fasten round a shroud or stay, or slings to which to hook a tackle to hoist in any heavy article.” This is as quoted in the OED (228). To ship a selvagee is to place it in working position.
Ancestral timber [That ever blossomed on ancestral timber ]
The family tree.
Tackle [She does not seem to tackle kindly to it. ]
From the context, the word means take, i.e., accept. The question is how it should be pronounced. I have always heard it pronounced, on stage, to rhyme with shackle. Yet, I wonder. Seamen traditionally pronounce it TAY-kill in “block-and tackle” and similar applications. If Corcoran elects to pronounce it the authentic seagoing way (TAY-kill) the audience will more easily understand the meaning; so why not?
Own [Sad are the sighs that own the spell ]
Acknowledge.
Venerate
To regard with reverence.
Gilded [Not to some gilded lordling? ]
Brewer (54) defines Gilded Youth as “Wealthy and fashionable young men, principally engaged in the pursuit of pleasure.” That seems reasonably close to what Captain Corcoran must have had in mind. In his children’s version (132) Gilbert adds a footnote: “I should have thought he would have liked a gilded lordling, but you never can tell.”
Fie [Oh fie! ]
Brewer (56) avers that the exclamation is appropriate when reproving something exceptionally dirty or indecent.
Solecisms [he would commit solecisms that society would never pardon ]
SAHL-eh-sizms
A solecism is a badly worded, ungrammatical expression that may range from the absurd to the vulgar. Or it may mean a breach of etiquette. Again, in his children’s version Gilbert has Corcoran aver, “He would drop his h’s and eat peas with a knife.” Brewer (55) says the word comes from the Greek soloikos, which means to speak incorrectly, and derives from the town of Soloi, the residents of which spoke a debased form of Greek.
Barge [Sir Joseph’s barge is seen ]
This would be a large oar-propelled boat with cushions within a wood or canvas shelter in the stern for the honored passenger’s comfort –– and that of his guests.
Poop-deck
A deck forming the top of a superstructure in the aft part of a ship. The term is derived from the Latin puppis, meaning the stern of a ship. See drawing of nautical terms Item No. 5.
Barcarolle
The original meaning was a boating song of the Venetian gondoliers, but now it means any boating song. Barca is Italian for boat.
Nine-pounders [Bang-bang the loud nine-pounders go ]
Cannon firing a nine-pound ball. This was a relatively small cannon, but well suited, as in this case, to firing blanks as a salute. British ships of the period carried batteries of cannon firing balls weighing 9, 18, or 32 pounds (7). But, this brings up the question of to what degree the Royal Navy fired salutes for a civilian bureaucrat such as Sir Joseph. Gilbert, in any event, has given him a “bang-bang” and Sullivan has given him accompanying thumps on the tympani.
Royal N.
The Royal Navy.
Pennants dipping
Pennants are long, narrow streamer-like flags flown at the mast heads of a war ship. Dipping them is a form of courteous salute to an approaching dignitary. See drawing of nautical terms, Item No. 10.
Writs [I served the writs with a smile so bland ]
To serve a writ means to deliver a summons ordering a person to appear in court (142). To be effective, a writ must be delivered to the recipient’s hand (60).
Articled clerk
Make that second word rhyme with bark.
An apprentice who has signed articles of indenture (or covenant) to a law firm. The apprentice is bound to serve for a fixed number of years, during which time he (or she) learns law. Burgess (60) says that at the time the opera was written the articled clerks paid a fee for the privilege, whereas today they are paid a salary.
Pass examination
An examination to be successfully completed before becoming a solicitor (112). The term solicitor is explained in Trial By Jury.
Institute
Terry (286) explains that “The Incorporated Law Society’s Hall … was colloquially known as the Law Institute.” Bradley (46) states that the Law Society is the governing body for solicitors and handles the qualifying examinations for entry into the profession. Goodman (140, 141, 142) adds that the Institute is situated in London’s Chancery Lane, No. 113, indeed.
Pocket borough
A borough is a town represented in Parliament (167). A pocket borough was one that was effectively under the voting control of an individual or family. British laws now make the term obsolete.
Fettered
Chained at the ankles. More broadly: shackled.
Patronize [Don’t patronize them, sir ]
The pat in patronize rhymes with rat.
Assume the air of a superior to one you are addressing.
Smarter [There’s not a smarter topman in the navy ]
Ralph isn’t claiming superior intelligence, but he wants to be known as an agile (and probably highly motivated) seaman.
Topman
One of those agile sailors sent aloft when work needs to be done high in the rigging (311). See drawing of nautical terms, Item No. 11. Massie (201) says these men, “had been picked for their quickness, agility, and courage and they had fierce pride in their ability and their ship’s standing.”
Hornpipe [Can you dance a hornpipe? ]
A lively jiglike dance performed solo and traditionally favored by sailors. Its name was derived from a folk clarinet formed of two ox horns, one housing the reed and the other forming the bell (250). Kravetz (181, 182) says “When I was a lad” is actually composed in the form of such a dance, as is the fast section of “A British tar.”
MS. music
Music manuscript.
Grog [see that extra grog is served out ]
Grog is rum thinned with cold water. Prestige (245) says the standard mix is one part rum, two parts water. The OED (229) traces the word back to an admiral named Vernon, who habitually wore a grogram (grosgrain) cloak. He was nicknamed Admiral Grogram. After he instituted the water-and-rum drink in the British Navy, his foreshortened name was applied to the drink. Knight (178) says before the admiral’s time the crew drank their allowance of brandy or rum clear. He adds that grog was abolished in 1970.
Ship’s company
The crew, not the visitors.
Seven bells
That could be at 3:30, 7:30, or 11:30, either AM or PM. It would occur half an hour before the changing of the watch.
Tack [You’re on a wrong tack ]
Read: You’re headed in the wrong direction.
Messmates [Messmates, ahoy! ]
The term “mess” can mean a space where meals are served on shipboard. Messmates refers to the group of seamen who eat together, thus implying social equality. See also Ruddigore.
Tar [A British tar is a soaring soul ]
This is a slang term for a common sailor, sometimes in the form of Jack Tar. The OED (229) proposes that it derives from tarpaulin, (heavy canvas such as is used in sails). Indeed, in the 1600s a seafarer was at times referred to as a “tarpaulin” (115).
Furl [and his brow should furl ]
Read: wrinkle.
Tang [the tang of a tyrant’s tongue ]
The first meaning of tang is a strong taste or flavor. Another meaning pertains to a sharp projection on any sort of hardware. Let us interpret it here as a sharp, acidic tongue.
Antithetical [a combination of antithetical elements ]
Directly opposed.
Cimmerean [the Cimmerean darkness of tangible despair ]
sih-MEER-ee-an
Homer told of the Cimmereans, who dwelt in a land “beyond the ocean stream,” where the sun never shone. In post-Homeric times the Cimmereans were an ancient people who lived on the shores of the Black Sea, from which comes the name (54).
Ganglion [I am but a living ganglion of irreconcilable antagonisms ]
The OED (228) assures us that a ganglion is a tumor, or a knot on a nerve forming a center from which nerve fibers radiate, or a class of organs that includes the thymus gland, the thyroid body, and the adrenals. The Random House Dictionary (250) uses similar terms but adds “a center of intellectual or industrial force, activity, etc.” I have heard the word used as meaning a snarl. Several of my knowledgeable friends (265, 273, 289, 326) opine that Ralph’s nervous system was immobilized by conflicting signals into a quivering pulp. Prestige (243) on the other hand believes that Ralph was carried away and simply used an impressive-sounding word in the wrong place. Occam and I tend to support Prestige.
Jove’s armoury
Bolts of lightning, the favorite weapon of Jove, also known as Jupiter, the supreme deity in Roman mythology.
Adrift [cuts my hopes adrift ]
Literally broken from moorings, out of control, and at the mercy of wind and tide.
Ensign [Has hung his ensign high above ]
En-sin
The literal meaning is the national flag displayed aboard a ship. The poetic meaning (which applies here) is that the sun (Apollo’s ensign) is high in the sky and shining away.
Roundelays [In dreamy roundelays ]
Simple songs with recurring themes, often associated with circle dances.
Bated breath [With bated breath and muffled oar ]
Bated is short for “abated.” With bated breath is defined as “breathing restricted from fear, etc.” (75). Shakespeare uses the expression in The Merchant of Venice.
Muffled oar
To ensure quiet rowing, with little splashing from the oars, oar blades may be wrapped (and so muffled) in cloth.

Act II

Regent [Bright regent of the heavens ]
An acting ruler.
Sixes or sevens [why is everything either at sixes or at sevens? ]
The origin of this phrase (more commonly “sixes and sevens”) is obscure. It applies to a state of confusion; or of persons, unable to come to an agreement. Brewer (55) says the phrase comes from dicing. Another explanation proposes that the term arose from the ranking in importance of medieval guilds in London. The tailors and the skinners had equal claims to sixth rank in annual processions. To compromise the conflict they agreed to switch sixth and seventh places each year. The expression has been found in literature dating about as far back as 1340 (115).
Court martial
In this case a gathering of naval officers convened for the trial of a person charged with violating naval law. (We think Sir Joseph is bluffing.)
Staunch [you are staunch to me ]
Rhymes with launch.
Firm, constant, loyal, true, and trustworthy –– like a Boy Scout.
Fain [I would fain see you smile ]
Gladly.
Aloof [You hold aloof from me ]
The term means to maintain a distance, and is derived from a nautical expression meaning to stay upwind (56).
Highlows [Highlows pass as patent leathers ]
Highlows are variously described as high shoes reaching over the ankles, and as low boots. In the present context we can take them as being workaday shoes.
Jackdaws [Jackdaws strut in peacock feathers ]
Walters (301), who is an ornithologist as well as a Savoyard, explains that jackdaw is “the English name for Corvus monedula, a small species of crow. The allusion is to Aesop’s fable of the jackdaw who dressed himself in peacock feathers to appear better than he really was, and was rejected both by his own kind and those whom he sought to emulate.”
Logs [Storks turn out to be but logs ]
Brewer (54) reminds us that this alludes to Aesop’s fable of King Log and King Stork (1, 2). In the story, some frogs asked Jupiter to give them a king. Jupiter responded by throwing a log in the water. The frogs didn’t admire the log’s style and asked Jupiter for a more active leader. The replacement was a stork, who proceeded to eat his subjects. Moral: be satisfied with a passive ruler.
Bulls [Bulls are but inflated frogs ]
This pertains to Aesop’s fable of the frog and the ox (8, 170). In the story a mother frog wants to impress her children by making herself as big as an ox that is grazing nearby. She puffs herself up beyond the bursting point, and the story comes to a sudden climactic and tragic denouement: Pop!
Drops the wind and stops the mill
The windmill will stop when the wind dies. I presume, this is another hint to the captain that he may be in for a change, and not for the better.
Turbot and brill [Turbot is ambitious brill ]
Turbot and brill are related varieties of flatfish. The turbot, however, is a distinctly bigger and tastier fish, and more fashionable. One serves turbot at dinner parties but (horrors!) never brill. Knight (177) mentions that brill have scales while turbot do not.
Farthing [Gild the farthing if you will ]
A British coin of minimum value, withdrawn from circulation in 1960 (294), it was worth a quarter of a penny (under the old system). “Farthing” means one fourth (56). Bosdêt (43) states that gilding a farthing was a common method of deceiving foreigners and drunks since, if well done, it could easily pass for half a sovereign.
Oracular
An equivocal pronouncement. See also The Sorcerer.
Once a cat was killed by care
From an old expression, “Hang sorrow –– care’ll kill a cat.” Brewer (54) ascribes this to Ben Jonson’s Everyman in His Humour (a play produced in 1598). There’s a moral: Although a cat has nine lives, care can wear all of them out.
Wink [Wink is often good as nod ]
Brewer (54) cites the proverb, “A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.” This can be taken to mean a hint is useless if the other party does not catch on.
Spoils the child who spares the rod
From the Biblical injunction, “He that spareth the rod hateth his son,” or the more recent, but now unfashionable “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”
Lambs [Thirsty lambs run foxy dangers ]
This brings to mind Aesop’s fable of the lamb who was accosted by a wolf while drinking from a stream. The story ends with the wolf eating the lamb (8, 170). Captain Corcoran is such a ganglion of irreconcilable antagonisms at this point that he can’t tell fox from wolf.
Dogs are found in many mangers
This alludes to Aesop’s fable about the dog who insisted on napping in the straw that was intended for the ox’s meal. The disappointed ox observed that people sometimes begrudge to others what they cannot themselves enjoy.
Paw of cat the chestnut snatches
This alludes to the ancient fable about the monkey who persuaded a cat to pull chestnuts from the fire. The cat burned his paw in so doing, while the monkey ran away and ate the nuts. The term “catspaw” has come to mean someone who is used for another’s benefit.
Worn out garments show new patches
Knight (177) recalls the Biblical saying, “No man putteth a piece of new cloth into an old garment.”
Only count the chick that hatches
This is from the ancient advice about not counting chickens before they’re hatched. Evans (113) says the expression is derived from one of Aesop’s fables, although there is also the possibility that the fable was derived from the advice.
Catchy-catchies [Men are grown-up catchy-catchies ]
After mouthing a string of platitudes, Corcoran uncorks this mystic expression. Some authorities (21, 149, 286) hypothesize that the term refers to babes in arms. (That’s what you say when you toss the kid up and catch him, we hope.) Rees (251) ventures the opinion that the term is derived from what you say when you tickle a baby under the chin: “Kitchi-kitchi.” Halton’s guess is that the allusion is to a game of tag (147), while Walmisley (299) and Dunn (100) hedge their bets and suggest either alternative. Let’s just say men are nothing but oversized kids.
Gilbert’s note [Captain/Buttercup duet ]
In his children’s version (132) Gilbert follows the Captain/Buttercup duet with this comment:

Captain Corcoran –– though very uneasy at her portentous utterance –– was rather disposed to pat himself on the back for having tackled her on her own ground in the matter of stringing rhymes, and (as he thought) beaten her at it. But, in this he was wrong, for if you compare her lines with his, you will see that whereas her lines dealt exclusively with people and things who were not so important as they thought themselves to be, his lines were merely chopped-up proverbs that had nothing to do with each other or with anything else.

Dissemble [I’ll dissemble ]
The OED (229) defines dissemble as “To alter or disguise the semblance (of one’s character, a feeling, design or action) so as to conceal, or deceive as to, its real nature.” I have heard it argued, however, that it should be defined in the narrower sense of pretending that some fact is not true; the opposite, to feign, is to pretend that something is true when it is not. For example, Buttercup is dissembling when she hides what she knows about the captain’s babyhood: Sir Joseph is feigning when he pretends to be of exalted birth. (That he started his career sweeping floors and polishing handles reveals his humble origins.)
Creep on apace [The hours creep on apace ]
Gilbert has fed Josephine an oxymoron to deliver. The OED (229) defines creep thus: “To move softly, cautiously, timorously or slowly; to move quietly and stealthily so as to elude observation; to steal.” It defines apace as “With speed; swiftly, quickly, fast.” Consider her extreme youth and forgive her.
“Blue and white” [“Blue and white” Venetian finger glasses ]
This presumably refers to the oriental ceramics that were then all the rage in England. But where do “Venetian finger glasses” come in? They were more likely to be red or orange. Stedman (274) and Walters (302) believe there should be a comma after “blue and white.” I think they are right.
Finger-glasses
Finger bowls (for rinsing fingers after a meal).
Gillow’s [And everything that isn’t old, from Gillow’s ]
A smart London store for furniture and gewgaws. Walters (301) adds that the store is now named Waring and Gillow.
Pudding basin [dinner served up in a pudding basin ]
This implies that family members will not eat off individual plates, but will convey food directly from a communal basin to their mouths exactly the way Chekov describes the everyday life of Russian peasants (73). Irish peasants ate that way as well (89).
Brown right hand
This implies an outdoor life indicative of lower class working conditions.
Organs [Where organs yell ]
Josephine is complaining about the loud, incessant, and crude decibels arising from a grind organ (sometimes called a barrel organ). For an illustration see the entry for “Organ boys” in Princess Ida.
Lordship [Though his lordship’s station’s mighty ]
Sir Joseph was First Lord of the Admiralty, a political appointment (245). One must not assume that he was a peer of the realm. He would not be correctly addressed as Lord Porter, or even Lord Porter, K.C.B. Being a social climber, however, he probably did nothing to discourage people from committing that solecism.
Jurisdiction [I admit the jurisdiction ]
The bounds of legal authority.
Elysian [The prospect is Elysian ]
Delightful. Elysium was the Greek equivalent of Heaven, where “the shades of the virtuous lived a life of passive blessedness” (75).
Cat-o’-nine-tails
A whip made of nine lead-tipped leather thongs joined at a handle. The traditional persuader of the British navy, it was abolished in the Royal Navy in 1879 (201). Bosdêt (43) says the expression “not room enough to swing a cat” refers not to a real cat, but to a cat-o’-nine tails. Brewer, in the 1895 edition (55), says it refers to a once-popular sport of swinging cats by their tails. In the 1970 edition, however, the cat-o’-nine tails version is favored (42). In short, we really don’t know. Forgive this digression.
Boat cloak
A long cloak worn by ships’ officers.
Pull ashore
Means to pull on the oars and row ashore
Hymen [Hymen will defray the fare ]
The Greek god of marriage and nuptial solemnities (75).
Defray
Cover the cost.
Supercilious sneer
A facial expression effected by curling the upper lip or turning up the nose (or both), showing proud and haughty contempt. See also Trial By Jury.
Meanest [The meanest in the port division ]
The lowest in rank or pecking order.
Port division
Presumably refers to the port watch. Ship’s crews were in those days divided into two groups for alternating work. These were called the port and starboard watches.
Epauletted scorn [The butt of epauletted scorn ]
The term is one coined by Gilbert to mean the scorn shown by ships’ officers. Epaulettes are those shoulder decorations, usually with tassels, worn on naval officers’ uniforms.
Quarter-deck derision [The mark of quarter-deck derision ]
This refers to the sneers of officers.
Mould [Above the dust to which you’d mould me/him ]
Cast down.
Roosian, Proosian, and Itali-an
These mispronunciations may be interpreted as typical British disdain, if not contempt, for “them furriners.”
Reprobation [In uttering a reprobation ]
A scolding, or good chewing-out.
Damme [Why, damme, it’s too bad! ]
Rhymes with clammy.
A contraction of damn me! (Shocking!)
Ribald [Go, ribald, get you hence ]
Rhymes with nibbled.
A vulgar person who uses coarse language.
Celerity [To your cabin with celerity ]
Haste. Contrary to popular rumor, celerity is not a young woman. Note lower case c.
Fo’c’sle [love burns as brightly in the fo’c’sle ]
FOKE-sill
Correctly fo’c’s’le: the sailors’ usual way of speaking of a forecastle, a raised deck in the bow of a ship. In medieval ships the forecastle was an elevated platform in the bow from which archers could shoot at the enemy. Protection was afforded by a wooden bulwark (wall) on which shields were often hung. Extending somewhat above the bulwarks, the collective shields resembled the castellated top of a castle wall, hence the term “forecastle.” See Item No. 1 on the drawing of nautical terms.
Fell [with this sailor fell ]
Villainous.
Telephone
Bell invented the device in 1876. The first London exchange opened two months after the opera opened (7).
Baby-farming [I practiced baby-farming ]
Collins (75) defines a baby farmer as “one who, for a fee, accepts on a relatively large scale the care of infants but is indifferent as to their welfare.” Wilson (320) maintains that Buttercup could not be accused of being “indifferent as to their welfare.” He notes that “except for her one great carelessness, Buttercup seems quite an affectionate, matronly sort of woman.” Wilson is probably right in defending Buttercup, but Kanthor (169) produces evidence that baby farmers, in general, had a thoroughly rotten reputation. Knight (178) believes most of the babies were illegitimate.
Nussed [Two tender babes I nussed ]
Buttercup’s way of pronouncing nursed to make it rhyme with crust. Gypsy blood makes one a natural poet, or poetess, as the case may be. Or at least it confers poetic license. (Actually, nuss was a commonly used pronunciation among the lower classes of that period.)
Patrician
A person of noble birth.
Waif
A homeless or neglected child.