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Glossary for the Seeking Solus series.
P.B. Phillip's own take on the key terms, places and supporting characters from the series, providing a deeper understanding of the Seeking Solus world.
Armour de l’amour: Pun on the French for love and protection; armour in this case is a condom.
Arther, Dorothy: Wig maker and other business interests.
Apothecary: Pharmacy. Chemists. Shop to buy primary health care.
Acadia/Acadian: Area of North America covering parts of, Nova Scotia, New France, and New England.
Ambergris: Luxury flavouring for exotic food and scents.
Antiphons: Specific Christian rhymes sung or recited in the seven days before Christmas Eve, December 17th to 23rd.
Attainder/Bill of Attainder: Government approval to hold a person in jail without trial.
Avery, Henry: Captain of the pirate ship Fancy. He is also known as Henry Every.
Bank of Aldgate Pump: Famous non-existent bank.
Barbury: North African region, with its coast on the Mediterranean Sea.
Belladonna: Also known as “Deadly Nightshade”, highly poisonous plant.
Bellarmine: Stoneware pottery from Germany, often with grotesque faces imprinted.
Blackwall, Cuckold’s Point: Notorious locations of Royal Navy capital punishments.
Blake: Zeb & Anne, husband and wife owners of the Round Court Smithy. Zeb alias is Daniel Williams.
Blueskin: Alias of Joseph Blake, former navy blacksmith. Husband of Edgeworth Bess, brother of Zeb Blake.
Britannia: A higher standard of purity of silver than Sterling (92.5% silver). Britannia (95,8% silver) was introduced by William III in C.E 1697. The intent was to force silver smiths to use Britannia standard silver in objects whilst coin was still produced at Sterling purity. In Filigree of Gold, Jonathan Wild lies to Bess saying that melting Sterling goods to be used for making coins to pay for the army would be especially profitable when Britannia standard is legalized. This is not true. Wild never let the truth get in the way of a sales pitch.
Burgess: Propertied freeman of Westminster acting as a local councillor.
Cinque Port: One of the major ports around the South East coast of England. Originally there were five (cinque) ports but by C.E 1696 there were seven ports plus another nine that had similar Crown benefits. The Crown had rights of import duty management at these ports and gave the Cinque Port authorities tax benefits for providing harbour and ships at a time of war.
Cleopatra: Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. Highly intelligent, articulate, multilingual, educated ruler in the ancient world. Skilled political operator.
Cook: Rebecca Scott's servant and confident.
Cordwainer: An area of London known for making shoes.
Coulter, Simon: Apprentice of Zeb Blake.
Coulter, Katherine:
Court of Burgesses: Legal court in Westminster.
Cow’s knee: Leather cover used to protect flintlock pistols from the rain.
Croaker, Thomas: Cordwainer petty criminal.
Crupins: Defense lawyer, an unusual legal position, most people did not get a formal defense.
Cuckold’s Point, Blackwall: Notorious locations of Royal Navy capital punishments.
Culliford, William and Eleanor: Former guardians of Rebecca Scott. William was an MP.
Cupel: Small container, made from deer antler to separate silver from impurities.
Damask: Woven patterned cloth.
Davis: Rebecca Scott's driver and footman. Loyal to Rebecca.
Dray: Large, powerful cart horse.
Dowry: Money, property or both provided by a bride’s family to the groom.
Doxy: Sex worker.
Durbury: Lawyer.
DuVal, Claude: Real life French highwayman, operating in England in C.E 1665-1670. He was known as the Thief of Hearts. P.B. Moved Claude forward in time by 20 years so he could live in The Thief Taker Tales timeframe, because he is a irresistible character.
Filigree: Very fine intricate filament. Gold, silver or lace tracery.
Firkin: A small barrel of about 9 gallons, typically used for liquor or expensive wines or spirits.
Folio: Collection of documents.
Fortnight: Fourteen days; two-weeks.
Frumenty: A spiced and sweet wheat porridge, made with cream. Flavoured with nutmeg, cinnamon, raisins, and honey. Traditionally served at Christmas.
Fuller / Fulling: The pounding of wool cloth to tighten the weave. Fulling Mills were usually water driven and powered heavy wooden mallets to pound the woolen until the fibers meshed creating a strong fabric for clothing manufacture. In the late seventeenth century England and Devon especially, had the best fullers, fulling mills and cloth production in Europe.
Garret: A room/s in the attic space of a house. Typically for servants.
Garthwaite, Madame: Designer of high-end male clothing.
Gazette: One of the first official newspapers in London.
Gig: Small two-wheeled carriage or seated cart, typically drawn by a single horse.
Groat: Four pence.
Guinea: Unit of currency, Twenty-one shillings. One Pound and one shilling.
Hanseatic/Hanseatic League/Hansa: Confederation of North European towns, managing restrictive monopolistic trading. Governed by merchant guilds.
Harley, Sir Robert and wife, Sarah. Sir Robert would become a huge political player in English politics, yet he was not without his troubles. Sarah is distantly related to the future Queen, Kate Middleton.
Havly Pashtamal towel: A Turkish towel, famed for its light cotton material and excellent water absorption.
Hedges, Sir Charles: Real Merchant, MP and lawyer. Profited as an importer of luxury goods into England. Highly Educated. Wife, Letty.
Herbert, Arthur: Known as Rear Admiral Torrington.
Herbert, Marquess of Powis: Plotter in a failed, botched, attempt on King William III's life.
Hevva cake: Cornish fruit scone.
Holt, Lord: Lord Chief Justice.
Hope: Servant to Rose, the landlady.
Houghton, Sir John, and Lady Elizabeth: Friends of Rebecca Scott and people of science.
Immortal Seven: The men who wrote the letter inviting William and Mary to invade England and replace James Stuart (James II).
Jackson: Shop owner and future husband of Sarah Twining as well as being a key player in the tea trade in England.
Jacobite: Supporter of former King James II and the Scottish Stuart Royal line of descent. Typically, but not always a Catholic.
Janssen, Sir Theodore: Highly influential banker and investor.
Janus, Jacob: Also known as Arno Jackob. Catholic.
Joseph Blake: alias Blueskin: former navy blacksmith. Husband of Edgeworth Bess.
Jougs: Iron, or wooden slaving collar.
Kakiemon: Japanese white porcelain with delicate, ornate, overglaze decoration.
Kangxi: Chinese ceramics, typically blue and white but also in yellow, green or red with bluish glaze.
Kernow: Cornish. From Cornwall. Pilchard Poachers.
King’s Messengers: Also known as the Silver Greyhounds. Private elite government messengers and part of The Crown’s secret service, managed by the Lord Chamberlain.
Lake, Kitty: Wife of Captain Lake.
Letter Locking: The art of folding letters in on themselves in such a manner that if opened the paper must be damaged showing the intended reader that the content has been viewed by others.
Lombardy Licence: The licence gives legitimate status to buy, sell, work precious metals. Lombardy, comes from the Italian bankers who originally were money lenders to the English Crown and Government. The licence in reality was the status afforded the Freeman of the Company of Goldsmith’s.
Litharge cakes: Chunks of Lead ore used in refining silver.
Little Caesar: Bloodhound and prized pet of the Cullifords.
Lübeck: Centre of the Hanseatic League.
Madeira: Sweet fortified wine similar to port from Madeira Island.
Mantua: Luxurious long dress, often made of expensive materials. Only used for special occasions.
Marshall, Toby: Famous real instrument maker in London.
Mary Tavy: A parish just outside of Tavistock, Devon and another name for the Wheal Betsy mine.
Millie: Bawd and thief.
Mousehole: Small Cornish fishing village. Birthplace of Wenna Penhellen.
My Sow’s Pigged: Card game.
Netsuke: Japanese carved toggle, used to attach items to traditional clothing, or as way of keeping wrapping closed.
Nesh: Cold weather. A person feeling the effects of cold, or damp weather.
Oakum: Old rope covered in tar to plug gaps in ships planking, to keep water out of the hull.
Oggie: Devon or Cornish pasty; pastry encased pie with meat and vegetable filling.
Old Bailey: Court in London, near to Newgate Prison. The Old Baily was and is the focus of criminal justice in London city to this day.
Old Tom: Westminster bell, moved from Westminster to St Paul’s Cathedral in C.E. 1699.
Ottoman Empire: Region centred on Turkey; covering Greece, Levant, Egypt and the Black Sea. The Empire also had influence over Eastern-Europe and North Africa.
Oubliette: Prison cell, typically underground, where prisoners are unable to escape. Lightless, airless, restrictive jail. Little Ease was a tiny oubliette built into a recess in the wall of the Tower of London.
Overbeeke: Dutch coach driver and confederate of Jacob Janus.
Overseer: A protector of criminals; for a fee.
Parish child: An orphan looked after by the parish.
Parish searcher: Person paid to inspect the dead, and record the cause of death.
Penny/one pence/1d: Small unit of currency; enough to buy a drink.
Peri-wig/Peruke: Fake hair, typically styled into un-natural styles and colours.
Perry: Pear cider.
Petiver, James: Real life apothecary, naturalist.
Phaeton: High end carriage.
Pilchard: Fish, also known as a sardine.
Pixley, Dameris: Wife of Samuel, she is an exceptional social climber and a driving force within the Pixley family.
Pixley, Samuel: Importer of coal and goods into London. His empire of corruption stretches from the top of the Norfolk coast to London docks. Wife Dameris.
Pound/Pound Sterling: Unit of currency, Two-hundred and forty pence.
Portmanteau: Box or pouch for keeping items safe, usually for travel.
Prig: A criminal, usually a thief.
Prig Napper: A catcher of thieves, a thief taker, bounty man.
Privateers: Officially sanctioned pirates.
Queen of Misrule: A Christmas tradition, where a servant became the master or mistress for the day or evening.
Rooke, Admiral Sir George: Real life person born 1650 in Canterbury. He fought in the Anglo Dutch wars against the Dutch and then for the (Dutch) King William III of England, bringing William to England. Commanded The HMS Nonsuch with a future legendary pirate. Married three times.
Roesia: Close friend of Kit Pascoe. Roesia is more influential than almost anyone knows in Exeter politics.
Rose: Landlady of Kit Pascoe's lodgings at Naggs Head Alley.
Rowley, Young: Kit Pascoe's horse and a character in his own right. He was a gift from Rebecca Scott. Rowley is named after a famous Old Rowley, who was a stud horse of significant reputation.
Royal Peculiar: A parish, church or cathedral overseen by the Crown directly, rather than a Bishop’s see.
Sanders: EIC employee.
Sarnie, Jenken: Trader in used clothes. He loved the very best in clothing and saw it as art. Likes a drink.
Scawen, William: Governor of the Bank of England.
Shilling: Twelve pence. Twenty shillings to the Pound.
Shōki and Oni: Japanese mythical figures, usually depicted as a pair; representing good and evil. Shōki is the demon slayer trying to kill evil; Oni is the demon endlessly tormenting Shōki.
Sgain Dubh: Small knife.
Snogging Club: An easily grippable, wooden handled weapon of about nine to twelve inches in length in total. The offensive element is an approximate two-inch spherical lead ball attached on one end. It can be used as a weapon, for defence, or originally for throwing up into trees to stun game birds, or squirrels.
Stargazey pie: Fish, egg and potato pie, traditionally cooked in Mousehole on the twenty-third of December. The fish used is typically pilchard or mackerel with their heads cooked outside the pie crust looking towards heaven.
Steinkirk: A necktie, similar to a cravat.
Tally sticks: The physical record of taxes paid or debt owed. The idea goes back to just after the Norman invaders stole England. King Henry I’s court used the unique pattern in the wood grain of a split stick and the alignment of notches made to represent money. It was a reasonable idea that has stood the test of time however, People made or lost fortunes in the Pudding Lane fire of A.D. 1666.
Talt, William: Newgate jailer in the pay and under the control of Jonathan Wild.
Tangiers: A notoriously squalid, below ground, cell in Newgate Prison.
Tanner, William: Also known as Beadle, head of the Westminster Watch and highly savvy of London criminal activity. Likes a bribe.
Thief Taker: A finder of criminals and stolen goods, for a reward. Also known as a Prig Taker.
Thruppenny: Three pence.
Ticket Porters: Licenced private couriers in London. Quicker and more secure than the penny post.
Torrington, Rear Admiral: Delivered the letter from the Immortal Seven to William of Orange to invade England.
Trace, Captain: Former navy man who manages procurement at Chatham docks. Has financial issues.
Trace: Oakum dealer, brother of Captain Trace.
Truss, Eli: Jacob Janus's stableboy.
Twopenny/Tuppenny/Tu’penny Venus: Sex worker.
Twining, Sarah: Tea house partner of Rebecca Scott.
Tyburn: Notorious location of public gallows.
VOC/Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie: Dutch East India Company, rival to the East India Company.
Victualling Office/ Victuals: Food and provisions
Violet, Madam: Bawd and owner of a brothel in Tonbridge, Kent.
Wassail / Wassailing: Christmas or Winter celebration with meaning “Good health”. Usually, a door-to-door carol singing with spiced cider/wine/ale drinking with a call-and-response toast to the host, the coming year.
Williams, Daniel: Alias of Zeb Blake.
Wiry: Book seller, investigator of legal documents. Likes a drink.
Wheal Betsy: The mine seam of the mine in the Mary Tavy parish just outside of Tavistock, Devon.
Whybourne, Mother: Head of a number of brothels in London and Glasgow. Her main location was the Pink Turtle in Dury Lane / Covent Garden area. Not short of cash, but very short of teeth and morals.