The Seafarer Glossary
The Seafarer—Glossary-
Prepared by C. Austin Hill- Dramaturg
Page / Character / Word, Phrase, or Concept / Definition, clarification, pronunciation, etc.4/7 / Stage Dir. / Baldoyle—(Baile Dubh Gaill) / the Irish name of town translates to “The Dark Stranger”
8 / Stage Dir / Runners / Sneakers—everyday sports shoes
8 / Stage Dir / Plaster / Short for “sticking plaster”—a band-aid.
8 / Richard / Jarred / drunk
8 / Richard / I’m not able for it / “I’m not up to it”
8 / Sharky / Half ten / 10:30
8 / Richard / Stick / cane
9 / Richard / "the hypocrite's voice haunts his own den" / This is not a direct quote from anything I could find.
9 / Sharky / Jacks / Bathroom—similar to john in American English, but perhaps more common.
10 / Richard / Jacks roll / Toilet paper, sometimes called toilet roll.
10 / Sharky / Kitchen roll / Paper towels
10 / Sharky / Did you get a good kip? / “did you have a nice nap?”
11 / Ivan / Calling in / Stopping by
12 / Ivan / Went over / Fell down
12 / Sharky / Lahinch / Pronounced: LUH-hinch
13 / Richard / Irish / Whisky
14 / Richard / Johnny Weismuller / Olympic swimmer, invented the Tarzan yell. Was reputed to be an alcoholic, but would quit entirely to train. Refused to do endorsements for alcohol companies.
14 / Richard / Delirium tremens / An acute, sometimes fatal episode of
delirium usually caused by withdrawal or abstinence from
alcohol following habitual excessive drinking. It also may occur during an episode of heavy alcohol consumption
14 / Ivan / Elphin / Famous pub in Baldoyle
14 / Sharky / Train (in TCG version “Dart”) / Dublin Area Rapid Transit—light rail train
15 / Sharky / Bonnet of a car / Hood
15 / Sharky / Your man / The man. This expression is common in Ireland.
15 / Richard / Eejit / idiot
16 / Richard / Called into me / Came to visit
16 / Richard / Chipper / Fish-and-chip store
16 / Richard / Head-the-ball / foolish person/ or generic name for any person
16 / Richard / Irish Breakfast / sausage, eggs, bacon, grilled tomatoes, black pudding, white pudding
16 / Richard / White pudding / A type of sausage, it consists of pork meat and fat, suet, bread, and oatmeal formed into the shape of a large sausage
17 / Richard / Off-license / Liquor store
17 / Sharkey / Have a wash / Take a bath
18 / Sharkey / Put right back now / Delayed now
18 / Ivan / Bob / Slang for money—like “bucks” in America
18 / Richard / Kilbarrack / A neighborhood near Baldoyle
18 / Richard / Car park / Parking lot
18 / Ivan / Graingers / A pub in Baldoyle that also has an off-license attached
19 / Richard / Lorry / Truck
19 / Richard / Gobshite / Literally: “mouth shit”—like bullshit in America
19 / Ivan / Off-license serving hatch / The opening behind which the shop keeper would stand. Like the counter.
19 / Richard / Go on out of that / Like “come on”—incredulous—in America
20 / Richard / Gold Label / Powers whisky (put away on page 9)
20 / Richard / In the press / “Press” is slang for cupboard
21 / Richard / That’s only my balls / To wit—the department is doling out my testicles to me, along with everything else. That’s the only sense I can make of that—feel free to explore this sentence!
21 / Ivan / Box room / Storage room (frequently used as a bedroom)
22 / Richard / Go off / Fall asleep
22 / Richard / Is that Gold Label dead / Is the bottle empty?
22 / Richard / On the dry / Sober
22 / Richard / With jar on him / When he’s been drinking
22 / Richard / Digs / Punches
22 / Richard / Chipper / Fish and chips shop
22 / Richard / Guards / Police (An Garda Síochána—guardians of peace)
22 / Richard / Is there ‘ere a shot… / The “ ‘ere” is not present in the Nick Hern publication of the play.
22 / Richard / Poteen / Poitin –pronounced poh-CHEEN—illegally made grain alcohol. Like moonshine.
23 / Sharkey / A piece of ‘em / The apostrophe on “ ‘em” is a typo. He means “em”—the Irish version of “um”—a verbal stall. In the Nick Hern publication there is no apostrophe
24 / Stage dir. / Fairy lights / What we call “Christmas lights”
24 / Richard / (song)-Adeste Fidelis… / “latin for O come, all ye faithful. Joyful and triumphant. Come ye, oh come ye to Bethlehem”
25 / Richard / God rest… / He switches songs
25 / Richard / Foul humour / Bad mood
28 / Ivan / Karen’s after completely doing her nut. / “after” as used here is a remnant of the Irish language. It describes a state of being following the completion of an earlier event. E.g. Karen exists (is) after completely doing her nut (going nuts). The closest transliteration I can come up with is “Karen has finished completely going nuts”. I can explain this more thoroughly, or give examples of the proper usage of “after” in this context.
28 / Ivan / Reefed me out of it. / Reef means to beat up. The sense is “she reamed me out”
29 / Ivan / I’m after ruining… / Same usage of “after” as above
29 / Richard / Auld / old
30 / Richard / Right as dodgers / Everything will be good (I cannot find the origin of this saying)
30 / Richard / Banjaxed / Broken. No good.
30 / Richard / (song) oh the weather… / Perhaps a bastardization of “let it snow”?
30 / Nicky / “Is mise le meas, Sean Lemass!”: / “Is mise le meas” means, essentially, with regards, or sincerely yours. It is pronounced “Iss mishe lay mas”. Sean Lemass (1899 – 1971) was an Irish politician and war veteran. He is known for his efforts to develop Irish industry, and trying to forge links between the republic and Northern Ireland.
34 / Nicky / Fleeced / Swindled and broke
34 / Lockhart / Crack / Irish word “Craic”: means fun and good times. Particularly related to pubs
35 / Nicky / “dog skin” anorak by Versace made in Germany / I can find no reference to this type of coat actually existing.
36 / Lockhart / The green / The park (probably a small piece of open space common around Baldoyle)
36 / Richard / Old meths / Methylated spirits. Very cheap booze, and somewhat poisonous.
36 / Sharkey / Don’t talk to me / Sense of “tell me about it” in America
37 / Lockhart / Bridewell Police Station /
37 / Sharkey / Shebeen / Term for an illicit bar or club where alcohol is
served without a license.
38 / Lockhart / Cardiff Rose / I cannot find what this refers to. Interestingly, all of my searches lead me to references of pirates and pirate ships.
38 / Lockhart / On the lash / Very drunk
39 / Lockhart / Old hole in the wall / Irish slang for an ATM machine (although that isn’t clear until later in the play).
39 / Richard / Banshee / Irish mythological figure. Folklore holds that the howl of the banshee was a harbinger of death for those that hear it.
40 / Nicky / Bins / Garbage cans
40 / Nicky / Slash / Pee
42 / Ivan and Richard / Ave Maria… / This is probably Shubert’s version of the song. The Latin translates to:
Hail Mary, Full of grace,
Mary Full of Grace
Hail, Hail Lord
The next verse is mis-printed. It is actually “Dominus tecum” meaning:
“The Lord is with thee”
“Dominum Tecum” (as it is in the script) means “you are with the Lord”. I assume it’s a typo?
(this song is not in the Nick Hern publication or the Theatre Communications Group publication of the play at all)
43 / Richard / Would you go on out of that? / Sense: that’s not true, knock it off!
43 / Nicky / Fuck all / nothing
44 / Richard / Antrim / A county in Northern Ireland
45 / Nicky / Trawlers / Commercial fishing boat
45 / Nicky / Gay capital / Actually, it appears to be either London or Amsterdam…nowhere in Ireland even makes the list
45 / Richard / Moon juice / Moonshine—the poitin (poteen)
46 / Nicky / Snooker / A ball-and-cue game. Not too unlike billiards
46 / Nicky / Cheesemongering / Selling cheese
46 / Nicky / Thrifties / I can’t find a reference for this. Presumably a shop, a pub, or the like.
47 / Lockhart / Auld / Old.
47 / Lockhart / Doss houses / Flop houses
48 / Ivan / Stephen’s Night / The feats of St. Stephen is the day after Christmas. It’s an important cultural holiday in Ireland
48 / Ivan / It starts to run right down / Presumably the money
50 / Richard / Giving out / Criticizing someone
50 / Richard / Auld Lang Syne / Reference to the song of remembrance sung at New Years. He means “dwelling in the past”
50 / Richard / Holy water / Here—booze
56 / Richard / Bluebottle / A type of fly
59 / Lockhart / Love’s Young Dream / A poem by Irish poet Thomas Moore:
Oh! the days are gone when Beauty bright
My heart's chain wove,
When my dream of life from morn till night
Was love, still love.
New hope may bloom,
And days may come
Of milder, calmer beam,
But there's nothing half so sweet in life
As love's young dream:
No, there's nothing half so sweet in life
As love's young dream.
Tho' the bard to purer fame may soar,
When wild youth's past;
Tho' he win the wise, who frown'd before,
To smile at last;
He'll never meet
A joy so sweet,
In all his noon of fame,
As when first he sung to woman's ear
His soul-felt flame,
And, at every close, she blush'd to hear
The one lov'd name!
No, -- that hallow'd form is ne'er forgot
Which first love trac'd!
Still it lingering haunts the greenest spot
Of memory's waste.
'Twas odour fled
As soon as shed:
'Twas morning's wingéd dream:
'Twas a light, that ne'er can shine again
On life's dull stream!
Oh! 'twas light that ne'er can shine again
On life's dull stream!
60 / Lockhart / Pig’s mickey / Pig’s penis
61 / Nicky / scarpered / Run away
61 / Ivan / Ringing / Very wet
61 / Richard / Gobaloon / Idiot with a twinge of crazy thrown in
62 / Richard / Lough Derg / the third largest lake in Ireland
62 / Richard / Opposite of Midas / He turns everything to shit, essentially
63 / Richard / Donaghmede / Pronounced Dunny-Meed
64 / Sharkey / Sponger / Freeloader
68 / Richard / Berk / Rhyming Slang, short for 'Berkshire Hunt', meaning 'cunt'
71 / Lockhart / Hole in the wall / ATM machine. The gateway to hell is through the ATM machine.
73 / Nicky / Jo / Short for jo maxi—rhyming slang for taxi
74 / Richard / Balls up / Screw up
76 / Richard / Maudlin / drunk enough to be emotionally silly