Script for a Jester's Tear - Forgotten Sons
“This is dedicated to all those who fell on a
pavement outside Harrods last Christmas.”
(Intro Forgotten Sons - Real To Reel)
Harrods is an exclusive shop in Knightsbridge, London. On December 17, 1983,
an IRA bomb exploded, killing six and wounding many others.
‘Armalite’
Armalite is an American arms company. They make the M16 - the
standard American assault rifle. It is often called the Armalite. It is
sometimes believed that they are the standard weapon used by the IRA. This
is in fact cack. Most of the IRA's weaponry used to come from deals with
people like Libya’s Col. Khaddaffi, and was therefore more often of Soviet
(CIS) stock.
‘Boys baptised in wars’
Julien Gauthier said:
"In World War II, when regiments were ready
to go to war, they gathered together in front of a priest to get baptised."
(I think that this alludes to the fact that many of the young men
fighting in the conflict had been born in the earliest part of the Troubles
and had never known peace. - Ed.)
‘Morphine’
Chris Charette said:
"Soldiers tend to carry a few syringes of
morphine with them, in case they get injured. They shoot it so they can
endure the pain."
‘poison pen’
A poison pen letter is one which contains bad news, conveyed in an
unsympathetic way or abuse often anonymously.
 ‘Saracen
hull’
Saracens are armoured cars used by the British Army (see right).
They were originally built in the 1950s, but were used in Ireland well into
the 80s.
‘Tricolour’
The Irish Tricolour. P. T. McNiff
said:
"Green: Catholics (or, the people of the
Republic of Eire)
Orange: Protestants (or, the people of Northern Ireland, often called
Orangemen)
White: The unity and peace between the two."
‘Whitehall’
Whitehall is a road off Trafalgar Square, but is a generic name
for the civil service part of British Government, but the MoD - Ministry of
Defence is actually based in Whitehall itself.
‘Minister’
Minister is the title given to a Member of Parliament put in
charge of a particular portfolio; e.g. Education, Industry, Scotland,
Defence etc.; a nice pun on the religious meaning, which is not as obvious
as may seem as most Christian religious leaders in Britain are not called
Minister although Scotland has many more Ministers than England does.
‘emerald aisle’
The Emerald Isle is another name for Ireland, on account of the
lush green grass that grows there.
‘dolequeue’
Dolequeue is the British slang for the unemployed people queuing to
receive their benefit payments from the Government.
‘Monday signings’
In the UK, when you are on the ‘dole’, you have to register at the
Department of Social Security (DSS) - to get your payment called Social
Security Benefit. Anyway, the act of registering is know as ‘signing on’ and
takes place once a fortnight. (c.f. ‘Armed with
Antisocial Insecurity’ from Market
Square Heroes)
‘Ring-a-ring-o-roses, they all fall down’
An old English nursery rhyme. It came about at the time of the
Black Death in the 17th century. The rhyme is:
‘Ring-a-ring-o-roses,
A pocketful of posies,
Atishoo! Atishoo!
They all fall down!’
The rhyme developed out of the fact that sneezing was the first sign that
death by plague was imminent; those who sneezed died! The rhyme is rarely
perceived to be as nasty as it really is; it’s about death!
However, Ian
Munro's Ring A Ring A Roses FAQ adds a few things.
"First, the rhyme's not old enough to be
about the plague. Second, the early versions are clearly not about the
plague.
The earliest printed source for the rhyme dates from 1881. A folklore
book published in 1883 claims that versions of the rhyme were circulating in
Massachusetts in 1790, but no printed evidence is available.
This earlier date is 125 years after the last major plague of the
English-speaking world, and roughly 450 years after the Black Death, the
14th century plague most commonly associated with the poem.
Furthermore, as the variations page demonstrates, most early versions
of the rhyme would be extremely difficult to interpret as references to the
plague."
(Someone was kind enough to send me this info but I have been
stupid enough to lose the details. If it was you, please get in contact so I
can credit you! - Forgetful Ed)
‘Peace on earth... ...lost her child,’
The whole ‘Peace on earth and Mercy Mild’ is a paraphrase of the
carol - Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Knees up Mother Brown is
an old Cockney dancing/ drinking song - it is a quintessential English name!
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