A squad of constables debouched from College Street, marching in Indian file.
The 57th Cast. Page 133, line 412.
A squad of constables debouched from College street, marching in Indian file. Goosestep. Foodheated faces, sweating helmets, patting their truncheons. After their feed with a good load of fat soup under their belts. Policeman’s lot is oft a happy one. They split up in groups and scattered, saluting, towards their beats. Let out to graze. Best moment to attack one in pudding time. A punch in his dinner. A squad of others, marching irregularly, rounded Trinity railings making for the station. Bound for their troughs. Prepare to receive cavalry. Prepare to receive soup.
Episode 8. Early afternoon. Mr. Bloom has come south
down Westmoreland Street and arrived in front of the Bank of Ireland (formerly
the Irish Parliament), marked with a star on the map below.
He has not yet had lunch, and his mind
is full of food-related fantasies.
In 1904, there was a police station at the east end of College Street, marked by the red circle on the map below. In 1915, the station was moved to the opposite side a little farther east, where it remains to this day.
On the site where the police station once stood, there is now a pub called Doyle’s.
“Indian file” means a single-file line.
This expression comes from the way
Native Americans were said to move in a line.
“Goosestep” means a marching step in
which the legs are kept straight without bending the knees.
“Policeman’s lot is oft a happy one.” is a parody of a line from the song “A Policeman’s Lot,” sung by the Sergeant of Police and the policemen in the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by William S. Gilbert. ⇒ ♪
Sergeant. Our feelings we with difficulty smother –
Police. 'Culty smother,
Sergeant. When constabulary duty's to be done –
Police. To be done.
Sergeant. Ah, take one consideration with another –
Police. With another,
Sergeant. A policeman's lot is not a happy one.
Police. Ah!
“Pudding time” means mealtime.
This is because pudding used to be
eaten at the beginning of the meal.
It does not mean snack time.
Pudding time ”The time of dinner,
pudding being formerly the dish first eaten.”
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
In British usage, “dinner”
means the main meal of the day.
It does not necessarily mean supper.
What does it mean that mealtime is
suitable for an attack?
Does it mean that crime is easier because the police are thinly spread at that hour? Or does it mean that it is the best time to attack the police themselves, because the officers are off their guard?
“Trinity” refers to Trinity College, which lay
to the south of the police station.
“Prepare to receive cavalry.” is the command to brace
for a cavalry charge.
When infantry received cavalry, they
formed up as shown below.
This is the formation taken by the
British army at the Battle of Waterloo.
Later in this passage, Mr. Bloom
recalls a time when he was once chased by the police.
He seems to have a particular dislike of them.
For the method used in this blog, ☞
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