The Highwayman's Coat

I was recently looking at a list of obscure colors, and I came across this gem of an obscure word: claret. This word holds a somewhat special place in my heart because I heard it - or read it, more appropriately - for the first time about 15 years ago in a poem.

I was 12 years old and in a literature class (one of a gazillion English classes I've taken...I am an English Major, after all). It was the very first day of class, and I only remember this because it was the very first time I flipped through the text book we were given. As I flipped, I came across a picture that caught my attention. It was a painting of a dashing rogue on horseback. He was elaborately dressed, and he was leaning over the neck of his horse, holding his hand down to the beautiful young woman standing on the road below him.

The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes is easily one of my favorite poems of all time. It is a narrative poem that tells of a highwayman who stops by an inn in the middle of the night on his way to rob someone. He stopped to visit Bess, the woman he loves, to tell her that he'll return for her soon with a great deal of gold in his pockets. But things go wrong. Soldiers seize the inn and take Bess hostage. They tie her to the foot of her bed, and tie a musket up next to her with the muzzle against her chest. As the soldiers are looking out the windows waiting for the highwayman, she wiggles around enough to put one finger on the trigger. When the highwayman comes into view and the soldiers are all taking aim, Bess pulls the trigger "And warns him with her death." Thinking he'd been shot at, the highwayman turns and rides away. But, the next morning, when he hears what Bess did, he's seized by rage, and he races back to the inn where the soldiers are still waiting. They shoot him down. Still, to this day, the highwayman visits the landlord's daughter on winter nights.

So, this is not the happy-go-lucky love story that most little girls love, but I was just in love with the highwayman in the picture, and so I inhaled the poem. Now for the obscure word: Claret. Sorry it was a little late in coming. The Highwayman is described thus: "He'd a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin, /A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin;" Of course, whenever I hear the word "claret," I think of wine. However, Claret (Klar-it) actually refers to the color of the wine: a deep red-purple.

This post is somewhat different from previous posts because I'm not really discussing the word itself, but instead the memories the word evokes. I discovered about 8 years ago, 7 years after reading the poem for the first time, that The Highwayman is actually my father's favorite poem. I very rarely see my father, and the fact that we have something in common was actually quite a shock to me. For some reason, despite being certain that we are related, I was under the impression that because my father and I never had any interraction, we would have absolutely nothing in common. It sort of makes the poem extra special.

Anyway, that's all for this time around. Thank you for reading. Until next time!

Signs of a Gentleman

Today's word is Baisemain. I used this word once in my past blog, but I love the word so much I think I'll write about it again. A Baisemain is literally a kiss on the hand. Obviously, the word is latin in origin. The spanish word for kiss is besar and the word for hand is mano. A very close resemblance.

I've seen many, many movies and read many, many more books in which - upon meeting - a man will take a woman's hand ever so gently and kiss the back of it. Usually, this sparks a whirlwind romance - because the woman is always virginal enough that she's never experienced something quite so erotic - and there are secret meetings between the star-crossed lovers; and unhappy families; and reconciliations between said families; and jealous friends who will try to destroy the relationship, but it is undestroyable because the relationship was meant to be; and spawn-of-Satan siblings who will try to destroy the relationship due to the lady's less-than-spectacular dowry and upbringing, but again, the relathipship is undestroyable because the couple is in it for the long haul; oh.....and weddings. And, all of this is due to that one little baisemain.

Even though the description above is a bit melodramatic, the life-altering power of one little kiss to a very innocent place is still quite viable, I think. Humans, as a rule, are centered around physical contact. When a girl in high school sees her friends in the morning, she will hug each of them, establishing and reaffirming friendships. When a football player scores a touch down he high fives or knocks chests with a team mate. When two people meet for the very first time, they shake hands in order to relay to the other person trustworthiness (to some people, this tradition is even meant to mingle energies). At a very early age, we seek comfort through hugs, kisses, and other physical contact. And, let's not even go into the more intimate ways in which adults seek comfort.

We are a very physical species, and imagine the effects of a baisemain to a young woman who has been sheltered her entire life - a woman who is starving for attention from the opposite sex. A young woman whose hormones are completely off-the-charts-out-of-this-world raging? It would be devastating. I imagine this little gesture contributed to a LOT of swooning, in the age of corsets, although among the Ton, the baisemain was more or less frowned upon. A gentleman was expected to bow over a lady's hand. But, anyway....

Nowadays, the baisemain is seen as quaint, sweet, and even somewhat weird to some (Unless of course the gesture is accompanied by a tall-dark-and-handsome man with an accent. Then it is no longer quaint, but is WOW.) I find it sad that the baisemain has gone out of style. It was a custom that allowed a woman to be a lady by gracefully accepting a gentleman's praise, and it allowed a man to be a gentleman by bowing to a lady, and showing her that she is desirable and worthy of his attention all in one swift move. I'd love to see a revival of the baisemain. It might even make the world a nicer place!

Take Ten Paces!

So, the very first true post is about a word at the very beginning of the alphabet! A fitting opener. As I was scrolling through a list of obscure and obsolete words, the word "addorsed" jumped out at me. Literally this word is defined as "turned back to back in heraldry."

Of course, this word is so fascinating to me because I just love anything that has to do with heraldry - especially anything to do with heraldry in the Victorian age. I'm pretty certain my interest in this word means I am a bit of a freak because directly after being addorsed, two men walk ten paces and then try to shoot each other. Sounds like my idea of a great Sunday morning!

But, really, can you imagine a modern world where duels still exist. Talk about your population control. Every single incident of road rage would end in a duel at dawn. Instead of a man deciding to get out of his car at a stop sign and punching the woman in the car in front of him in the head, he'd get out and toss a glove at her and name the time and place. It would certainly solve some of the world's long lasting squabbles - maybe we could just let a coupld of the world's leaders go at it. I can see it now: Obama and some nasty world leader addorsed in the middle of a large field. They begin to walk ten paces a piece away from each other down an alleyway formed by the respective countries' heads of state. Suddenly, both swing around, extend their arms, and the silence of the morning is broken by the sound of.........semi-automatic handgun fire? Actually, I'm thinking more like lazer pistols. Que the sound of Star Wars lazer guns!

A fun thought to be sure.

Anyway, that's all for this post. I am now addorsed with bedtime. So, have a great day/evening/night, and farewell until the next post!

A Word To The Wise

Despite the sound of the title, this blog is not meant to provide advice. It's merely meant to celebrate words. I love words. I love how they can be put together to form a phrase that will bring tears to your eyes. I love how the coupling of two or three words can give you goose bumps or bring happiness where there was only sadness before.

A couple of years ago, I worked on a blog in which I unearthed an obsolete word and used it in my blog, and I think I will do so again. I'm hoping other will find it as entertaining to read as it is to write.

So, that's all for now. Until the next post!